Lifescape update and letter, August 2007
August’s articles are now posted below, including ‘If self is a location, so is love’, inspired by the classic books written 50 years ago by Viktor Frankl and Eric Fromm . The title is a line taken from Seamus Heaney’s wonderful poem, the ‘Aerodrome’ from his latest collection District and Circle.
Poetry, creativity and development – My new series of talks and workshops is being launched on September 23rd at a ‘Sunday conversation’ event at the wonderful Nant y Coy arts centre in Pembrokeshire. The series consists of a list of themes that can be delivered as talks, workshops or seminars. The first will be a ‘conversation’ entitled ‘the poet in the landscape’. Please contact me if you’re interested in having one of this new series of talks and workshops at an event or training day.
In search of the secular soul: the last two editions of Resurgence magazine have carried major attacks on Richard Dawkins in an editorial by Satish Kumar and a two-part keynote by Deepak Chopra. I touch on the issues that this debate raises in the article below.
In Dawkins’ new series on Channel 4 – Enemies of Reason – he takes a rather bemused and despairing look at astrology, spiritualism, water diviners, healing. alternative health and the whole gamut of new-age self-help ‘nonsense’ that offers everything from angels to auras – with seances and tarot readings in between. He also interviews Satish Kumar editor of Resurgence magazine on his spiritualist views, and challenges ’self help guru’ Deepak Chopra’s “one-man alternative health industry” (see Michael Harrison’s review in the Daily Telegraph). Presuming that the programme had been made, and interviews conducted last year, maybe that’s why the Resurgence attacks took place!
Happy reading, and please post a comment!
