I hope you are well. All blessings to you for the festive season! I hope you’ve had a restful time with your loved ones. I have three sons, two of whom are away at university most of the time, so I’ve loved spending time with them over Christmas. As a parent, it’s a lovely feeling when your children come home and your family becomes a complete entity again.

I don’t know if I’ve told you before, but as well as three human boys, our family includes two cat boys. (My wife feels a little isolated as the only female.) We collected Neo and Coco (already named) from an animal sanctuary five years ago. Coco is an alpha male who was quite aggressive when he first came to live with us. Now he has mellowed a lot, after five years of love. His brother Neo has always been a softie. He is the most relaxed cat I have ever known. He spends a lot of time lying on his back, rolling around on the carpet. And when he sleeps, he is so relaxed it’s as if he becomes lighter than air, and floats away on a cloud. (There are a couple of recent photos of him below.)

We can learn so much from animals. I remember Eckhart Tolle saying somewhere, “I have met many Zen masters – all of them cats.” Animals like cats and dogs exist in a state of pure being and presence – which is, of course, why we love to spend time with them. They remind us of the harmony of being that we once possessed and which still exists within us, obscured beneath the restless surface of our minds. (I’ll include a poem on this theme at the end of this newsletter.) 

New Thinking Allowed Interview
 

Over the last month, I’ve done quite a few interviews about my new book Time Expansion Experiences. One of the best is with Jeffrey Mishlove for his wonderful New Thinking Allowed series. It was a privilege to be interviewed by Jeff, as he is a researcher and author himself, and full of wisdom and insights about the topics. The video is here
 

         Time Expansion Experiences Audiobook 
 
Time Expansion Experiences is now available as an audiobook. In the UK, you can order it here

If you’re in the US, you can order it here
 

Upcoming Online Event about the Book 

On January 15^th, I am holding a free event about the book, organised through Watkins Books. You can register for the event here
 

Debate about Psi Phenomena 

Many mainstream psychologists and scientists are sceptical about psi phenomena such as telepathy and precognition. There is a kind of fundamentalist orthodoxy that denies their existence. However (as shown in the chapter on precognition in my new book) I have always accepted their existence, partly because I’ve often had such experiences myself. i'm sure many of you have had such experiences too. 

I’m glad to say though that in recent years, a more open attitude to psi phenomena has developed (at least here in the UK). I recently introduced and co-ordinated a debate about the topic in The Psychologist magazine. The debate is between between Professor Chris Roe and Prof Chris French. You can read it here

Bill’s Painting

In keeping with the family theme of this newsletter, I’d like to share this painting by youngest son, 15-year-old Bill. He did this for a school project, and I love its symbolic beauty! 
 

Poem 

Let me end this newsletter with a poem about animals, inspired by my cats. 

Animals and Humans

Animals don’t carry grudges.
If I stroke my cat in the wrong place -
just below his belly, where he’s sensitive - 
he might lash out, and bite or scratch me. 
But half a minute later, he retracts his claws
and starts putting again, as I stroke his chin
as if we never fell out.

Animals don’t wage wars.
When my cat spots next door’s tabby creeping through our grass 
he bristles and howls and chases her away.
He chases squirrels and birds too 
and occasionally kills birds and mice.

But he’s never joined a large collective of cats
who plot campaigns of destruction
and slaughter other groups systematically 
to avenge an ancient trespass
or to increase their power and wealth.

Animals live lightly, carrying nothing but their instincts. 
They don’t attach their mind to their suffering 
look for causes, complain or apportion blame.
Their pain passes by, leaving them untouched. 
That’s why my cat sleeps so soundly
and purrs with deep contentment.

But the human mind is heavy.
As we walk through the present, we drag the past behind us.
And the longer we live, the more unhappiness we collect
like travellers who buy goods at every town they pass through
until they’re so weighed down they can hardly move.

That’s why we share our lives with cats and dogs –
to remind ourselves of harmony
and faintly glimpse our old freedom 
as we share their peaceful presence.

All best wishes and blessings for the new year,

Steve