I have been blessed, on the whole, with good health for most of my life. Last week though, I was somewhat dealt a curved ball that really upset my apple cart when I came down with a sore throat.
It was so bad that it was painful to swallow anything so my liquid and food consumption went down to virtually nothing. What it also made me review was my ability to function with my life’s mission without a voice that could record audio.
Now I am sure there are many with much more severe afflictions of the throat, and other areas, that send their lives into a tailspin. I seem to be on the mend now and can catch up with my monthly commitments.
It did lead me to look at other options. I have already been playing with a kind of, but not quite, AI-based ambient music generator called Wotja. You can listen to something that it generated with minimal input from me here.
And here’s the dramatic effect the track that I named ‘Dreaming in Indigo’ had on one listener on Insight Timer :
“I have been meditating with you for a few years now and it’s been amazing to see how you have transformed your meditation practice. This was such a beautiful experience and a magnificent piece of work! So much detail, vibrations, movement, even color to this piece. I could feel movement and flight and peace, and relaxation. I think this is your best ever! Thank you for your creativity and for sharing. 🙏🏻💕”
The lack of a voice though lead me to investigate British AI text to voice engines. I found an intriguing one called Play.ht that even had a voice with the name of Thomas.
Then I dug a little deeper and discovered they can even clone your own voice from a 30 second sample. Here’s the 30 second sample I used to seed the engine.
[Note that this is a sample from my latest meditation on Insight Timer recorded while I had my voice intact]
What’s more, I then found it had a plugin for WordPress that allowed you to convert a blog post from text to audio. One of the benefits of this, of course, is to help create an alternate way for visitors to a web site to absorb content.
The two technologies together could of course be used for nefarious purposes to create deep fakes and even breach copyright. I have been a little sceptical about AI but I realised that they could be used to give a content creator a kind of immortality.
The lesson, of course, is a simple one. In all adversity lies opportunity. My condition is the inability to speak which I hope is temporary. What if more severe conditions visited a content creator’s door such as stroke, dementia or ultimately shedding this mortal coil?
In the meantime, let me share with you a synthetic audio version of this mindfully short moonthly blog.
P.s. and here’s the cloned audio version of this blog. I am very impressed it pronounce the non-English product name Wotja correctly though and, if you listen closely, you can hear the odd retention of breath in between sentences.
Just when everything was going so well with our refurb project, our builders discovered a layer of asbestos between the walls of the ground floor and the roof joists. Apart from an unexpected emptying of our bank account, it’s put the project back by a good moonth.
Fortunately, the hard part of the project and construction of the new extension was virtually finished before this happened. It means, once the asbestos is removed by the end of July, it is more like a conventional project with 1st fix, 2nd fix, decoration, followed by a phase move back in.
A big hiccup like this though pulls the rug from under your feet. The delay means that we will only just be in for Christmas so we are looking for a short term, out of season holiday let from October. We also made the decision that the motorhome is going as, after living in it for five months, we think we will want to see the back of it.
Hopefully, selling the moho will more than fund the asbestos hiccup and still allow to decorate and furnish the interior of the house as we envisaged it.
It does however make you take stock and check in on what you are doing elsewhere in your world.
The Path to Overstanding
Although the noise of band saws and hammers has meant it’s been tough to keep up with the recordings, I still have managed to hit every delivery date – aided my Sister Moon, of course. I am about two months ahead with the writing of the scripts and 2-3 weeks ahead with recording and production.
More importantly, I can see the end of this section of the path now and I am chuffed that I have expanded upon, and contemporised, the seven levels of initiation in the classic Cube of Space. More importantly, I have created an 8th and 9th level of initiation which, as far as I know, is a first in the recent history of humanity.
Onwards and Upwards !
Insight Timer Premium Content
I hear that launch is imminent, this month even, so my current 8 bits of premium content will go live soon. There will be a lag but it means that monthly income should start to increase from September onwards. This is important as it funds my creative output. By the end of the year, I’ll upload a new track each month to build a considerable archive of metaphysical wisdom
In the interim, each month I create and upload a new ambient track and a new guided track that I upload to the app with free access.
Keeping Plates Spinning !
Plans for 2024
Plans are forming for next year.
First and foremost, the Path to Overstanding audios will be converted to a print and ebook.
Second, I’ll be starting a new project to create a fully immersive audio version of my novel, Soulwaves : A Future History. At 100 chapters long, I will create 10 parts each of 10 chapters and upload one a month to Insight Timer Premium. My muse and inspiration for this is the radio version of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
After 10 months, I will then segue straight into the serialisation of the third book in the trilogy, The Duadex. Incidentally, the 1st part of which is already written and recorded, so writing can start in Spring after the Book to Overstanding is being readied for publication.
So our three month temporary rental has come to an end and we are now in the moho for the rest of Spring, all of Summer and we hope just the start of Autumn. The photo above is going to be our main location – one, cos of the view and two, as it is 3 mins drive to our house.
In other news, my audio studio has been reinstated which means that, at weekends I can record stuff (as no building work) and in the week write new stuff and edit old stuff. This is just perfect as I can keep the Overstanding project plate spinning. Also, Insight Timer are just on the cusp of launching ad hoc Premium content. You have to search for it at the mo but our profiles will be updated over June so it’s findable. I am in the beta release so have 8 tracks uploaded already see below.
It’s also inspired me to start a project I have had in mind for many years. One of my inspirations for my novel Soulwaves was Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. While not as funny as ‘The Guide’, the observant amongst you will spot the references, like Deep Thought and the teleporting dolphins.
To this day, the original radio show is by far the best version – better than the book, TV show or film.
In lockdown, inspired by the novel Soulwaves, I composed an album of ambient music to augment the book. Now is the time to merge the audiobook and album into a mullti-part ‘meditale’ … streaming soon exclusively via Insight Timer Premium. Watch and listen to this ‘space-time’.
When it comes time for extending yourself massively, you really need a strong support behind and underneath you.
Again, life is mirroring my art. In my metaphysical serialisation, the Path to Overstanding, the flavour of thought of extension features highly, as those walking the path with me expand their awareness and consciousness.
By way of physical contrast, piles have been sunk down by six metres and a massive steel frame is now sitting on top of them, poised to support our new ‘living space’.
In the front garden, a large hole has been dug to accommodate a 5000 litre rainwater harvesting tank. It is insurance against a warming planet to ensure we can water the garden and flush toilets.
Adding to all of this, at the end of the month of May, I am steeling myself to living in the motorhome for four to five months. To make this more palatable, we’ve acquired an air awning to give us extra space to hang out.
For most of this period, we will be close to our house so we can monitor progress. Most importantly, I’ll have my audio studio back in action so I can continue content creation. I am also hoping to get some reading and writing done. New locations often inspire new directions and openings.
On this front much is happening each month (and moonth) :
I write a daily Just for Today, inspired by the amazing artwork of Siri Opli
this gives me the script for the following month’s meditation which I upload for free on Insight Timer
where, shortly a huge archive of my back catalogue will be published under the new Insight Premium offering
I also try and upload a new ambient track each month but have held back on any Live events until the Autumn
in parallel with all of this, and sync’ed to the Moon Phases, I create four new assets for the Path to Overstanding – namely serialisation of the book, a meditation on a key, music inspired by the keys and an uberstanding conversation
All in all, a busy year and one that I am steeled for …
We are well into the house refurbishment now. Walls are demolished, floor ripped up, 200 tonnes of soil removed for new parking area and piles driven 6 metres into the ground to support the new 1st floor extension where it meets the garden.
So, we cannot go back. We are temporarily in rented accommodation until the end of Spring and will then spend Summer in our motorhome. We are well passed the point of no return and have no option but complete the build.
For some this would be a scary place to be. Apart from anything, there’s a considerable amount of investment required and the classic wanting to be back in before the winter sets in.
Lady Luck however seems to be on our side. The short term rental property was an amazing stroke of luck. There are not many places available that are happy to have two dogs and where you can park a motorhome and two cars.
Our builders seem to know what they are doing and are hitting all the deadlines. Problems like getting steels past high voltage overhead electricity lines are being dealt with.
Going passed the point of no return needs more than having deep enough pockets and a large amount of patience. It requires that we trust. This is not trust in a our main contractor or the plumber. It is about trusting the Universe that all of this is part of a bigger plan. This is the karmic plan we signed up for before incarnating. Demolishing and rebuilding a house that is more energy efficient is only of any worth if living in such a place means even more of the karmic plan can be fulfilled.
Part of this is the wisdom and higher perspective that is gained by upsetting the apple cart, living in a new place and meeting new people. Having temporarily decimated a home, it means our place of bliss has been removed. When we eventually get back in, we will appreciate it even more.
In the meantime, in the limbo place from which we cannot go backwards, much adventure can be had. We have a moho and plan to use it. For example, we are a stone’s throw from Stonehenge and have discovered we can park there for free overnight and see the sun rise over the stones.
So what is the real point of ‘the point of no return’?
It is when the realisation dawns that going back and regressing to old ways and patterns serves no purpose. The learnings are not forgotten but embraced, appreciated and integrated. This opens the door to new potentialities and possibilities.
When a new sun comes up, a new day begins, the past becomes a thing of the past and we rise to a bright new future … to help with the ‘returning’ process, treat yourself to an hour of reflection listening to my longest guided meditation, The Paths of Return.
It always amuses me how life emulates art, and vice versa.
Artistically right now, I am taking an old structure and giving it a makeover. Well over 12 years ago, I created the Cube of Karma, inspired by the ancient glyph of the Cube of Space. Since January this year, I have dusted it off and it’s being given a new lease of life – with new features and a new outlook. I am realising that I have only just touched on its potential as a tool for human enlightenment and spiritual evolution.
Life-wise, our tired 1960s bungalow has now been stripped back to a shell.
This is a precursor to completely sealing it as an airtight box so it can become a low-energy eco-home. Bizarrely, or not, it looks like our 1st eco-home is being sold too which very conveniently funds the ‘eco-isation’ of the current house – a kind of ‘house karma’.
Externally to this art-life duality, Insight Timer are expanding the scope of their premium offering which means I can at last upload loads of long-format material. I have been asking them to do since I became a guide on the app back in 2016. This allows me to downsize on my own off-app hosting of materials. In turn, this means I can narrow my focus and produce more with less time and at reduced expenditure.
The most impactful on the surface is moving out of our new home into rental so that it can be made into an energy efficient eco-home. So this week is packing and transition.
We are lucky, or have made our luck, that the builder who walked into our world has a property only 30 minutes drive away that we can rent short term. It’s got a nicely fenced off garden for the dogs and parking for our moho at the front of the house.
We’ve got at least three months guaranteed on the rental, potentially then some moho adventures but then the option of living back on site in the moho for 1st and 2nd fix.
Now this might sound like enough to be getting on with this year but it’s really a background project while the ‘real work’ is going on.
The Cube of Overstanding
This New Moon sees the delivery of the second module in a 12 moonth series of awakenings based around the Cube of Space. It’s been something I have sat on for over a decade, if not several life times. Needless to say, I am both excited and in a little trepidation about what will unfold.
This is the real work in hand and in progress!
It offers the most amazing ability to help people evolve to a new level of consciousness which augurs in a new way of being for individuals and humanity as a whole. Bearing in mind too that this triggers and upgrade to the whole biosphere and even the consciousness of Mother Earth.
Is this too fanciful a postulation? Is is the ramblings of someone who has lost their marbles? Or are you intrigued enough to dive in?
Join Me Live
On the last Friday of each month, I am hosting a free meditalk on Insight Timer Live. The next one is all about the Twelve Councillors of the Light and is on Friday 24th Feb at 2pm UK Time.
On and around the 3rd Moon Quarter of each moonth, I am also hosting a live coaching and mentoring session for those walking, or thinking of walking, the Path to Overstanding with me – register here
It’s fair to say the last three orbits of the Sun have been interesting for humanity. We’ve had two years of global pandemic and a year where the prospect of WW111 has raised its head. In the UK, we’ve seen the worst excesses of an incompetent and corrupt so-called government play out.
Of course, while all this doom and gloom might sound terrible and as if the world is about to end, we should realise that cosmic forces are playing out and influencing affairs on our planet.
While some of the world is in turmoil, it has also shown the best side of humanity. In all probability, the UK Tory government has engineered its own oblivion. Regime change will see an end to hostility between Russia and Ukraine. Do not forget of course other areas of tension and conflict too. The threat of global climate change being one of them.
So what can we do as individuals to help turn the tide. Well, my mission to help get the whole world meditating, one person at a time – with the help of Insight Timer, continues.
With this in mind, I have a whole year of meditations, ambience and courses planned for release, as we orbit our home star once more. There will be at least one new meditation and one new ambient track available to listen to free each month. I also plan to release at least three new courses, one every three months, which are available to Insight Timer Premium subscribers.
By way of example, just this month, I’ve published these already …
The Cube of Space
I am also extending the materials for the Path to Overstanding. This year we will be exploring a glyph called the Cube of Space – it is like a software upgrade for the soul and some even call it “a death-less reincarnation”.
Note there is no fear-based New Year sale, just maintenance of last year’s prices. It is mindfully and soulfully designed to be an investment affordable to as many people as possible at less than the price of a takeaway pizza a month. This year it will include live ‘moonthly’ group mentoring sessions for those walking the Path or considering embarking upon it – they are called Uberstandings.
Note that you can also take the first step on the Path to Overstanding for free.
Talking of extensions, we are also extending our house and, at the same time making, it as eco-friendly as possible. While doing this is of course introspective, we also want to share our experience of how to restore old, tired, mouldy and cold housing stock.
So this year’s blogs will document my journey and include a mix of how the house refurbishment is going along and an update on progress on the ongoing construction of my metaphorical ‘house of enlightenment’.
I guess I have literally become a builder of the new Adytum – which is one reason I had to unsubscribe as a student of BOTA so I would not plagiarise their materials. My aim remains the same – to take what has been made esoteric (and difficult to understand) and make it exoteric (both accessible and practical in its application).
At the start of this year, we had to say goodbye to our labradoodle Reuben. At 15, his legs gave up on him and we did the thing that all dog owners dread. I was with him as we let him go and told him that we’d see him again soon.
He was a rescue dog who hadn‘t been treated that well. As a result, he was timid but very affectionate and, like all dogs, a little naughty from time to time. He moved silently and stole socks and underwear, attracted by the smell no doubt. He would always be a step or two behind on a walk, leaving the introduction to other dogs to one of his braver companions like Wellington or more latterly, Millie.
For the last 10 months, Millie has enjoyed being the sole centre of attention. We are planning a major house renovation next year and living in our motorhome for nine months or so. So having one, well trained dog seemed like a good idea.
The Universe and soul of Reuben obviously had other plans. My better half wasn’t seriously looking but had an alert out for small, black, male labradoodles. These are Millie’s favourites as she can boss them around.
When a dog reincarnates, as for humans, it knows its soul path and what it wants in life and what it wants to learn. So Reuben liked us and our home and wanted to come back to be brave and adventurous. He’d had enough of being mistreated and had much to give.
So, six months ago, he came back as the progeny of a female golden retriever and small male poodle. This would guarantee he would be the right size to be Millie’s companion again. He even came back with the name of Lucifer, the light shower and change bringer, to make a point. We thought Pickle was a safer name to shout as we walk him past the local church.
Welcome Pickle
His first homing wasn’t right so he managed to nudge the mind of his owner to put him up for rescue. He ended up in a caring home but his new doggie companion was nervous about living with such a ball of energy, so he was put up again for rehoming.
This time, he hit the jackpot. His owner from his previous life spotted him and within a few days, he ended up where he planned to be all along. Dogs know a thing or two.
He slotted straight in and relaxed straight away. He learned that a grumble from Millie was a nudge to back off. He worked out how to wrap his new owners around his paws and do his every bidding. He had come home and was looking forward to another life of adventure and experience.
So this week was the first moonth in many years that I missed publishing a blog on the New Moon. This is just a couple of days late.
There is no particular reason but that I forgot but that I forgot as external events overtook my usual rhythm of creative production.
I had to take a few days out last week at the funeral of an old friend from University. He had been dying for sometime and he very bravely and candidly wrote about it. Actually with the slightest nudge from me, he produced three books of philosophy and poetry in his last two years of life. They are linked from the images above, all thoughts from a dying tosser.
I had the honour of being able to read one out at his funeral and I share one with you here which is the only one I managed to get him to record.
So this mindfully short blog is dedicated to my good and old friend, Nick John Kyneston Bushell – may your light shine brightly from Above and may you come back down to the Below soon.
The lack of a voice though lead me to investigate British AI text to voice engines. I found an intriguing one called Play.ht that even had a voice with the name of Thomas.
The Path to Overstanding
Plans for 2024
Life-wise, our tired 1960s bungalow has now been stripped back to a shell. 
This New Moon augurs in several new moves.
The Cube of Overstanding
The Cube of Space
