No one is born into life as a separate body/mind/entity from the Universe - regardless of what you might think or feel, believe or understand. Our notion of duality is learned from the moment we appear to be born: we are erroneously taught to believe we are physical beings, living in a physical universe - separate from everyone & everything. Nothing could be farther from the Truth. Frankly speaking, the idea of separation permeates all cultures; we are indoctrinated into cults of distinction. Whether that be the colour of our skin, our nationality or a particular tradition, we slice & dice reality into little chunks of division with the thoughts and beliefs we entertain & the gods & goddesses we bow down to. While the hypnosis of this separation appears to be deep, it is our birthright to re-calibrate this perception, to un-learn what we have so unconsciously learned. Through the simplicity of Awareness itself, we can re-orientate ourselves and our understanding to the essential nature we Are. We never left home - we only appeared to abandon our home, nurtured by the stories we were told and more importantly, by the stories we continue to tell to ourselves. As Awareness, we are as close to home as we will ever be; home is Where, Who and What We Are. As Awareness, home is here - in the now-ness of ourselves. It is here, in this present moment Awareness that life thrives as the impulse now. It is here – not in time, space or location, where we find wholeness. It is here & now that what we seek is revealed with effortless, benign, understanding. Intimations On Eternity is michael’s 7th book & marks a significant departure from the traditional progressive path - to a direct, non-dual, way of Being. The invitation of this narrative is simple: it encourages us to look innocently & directly as Awareness, into the face of our own Being, where we are already/always sanctified by the wholeness, perfection & divinity of (our) (own) Seeing.

Addressing a neglected aspect of John Clare's history, Sarah Houghton-Walker explores Clare's poetry within the framework of his faith and the religious context in which he lived. While Clare expressed affection for the Established Church and other denominations on various occasions, Houghton-Walker brings together a vast array of evidence to show that any exploration of Clare's religious faith must go beyond pulpit and chapel. Phenomena that Clare himself defines as elements of faith include ghosts, witches, and literature, as well as concepts such as selfhood, Eden, eternity, childhood, and evil. Together with more traditional religious expressions, these apparently disparate features of Clare's spirituality are revealed to be of fundamental significance to his poetry, and it becomes evident that Clare's experiences can tell us much about the experience of 'religion', 'faith', and 'belief' in the period more generally. A distinguishing characteristic of Houghton-Walker's approach is her conviction that one must take into account all aspects of Clare's faith or else risk misrepresenting it. Her book thus engages not only with the facts of Clare's religious habits but also with the ways in which he was literally inspired, and with how that inspiration is connected to his intimations of divinity, to his vision of nature, and thus to his poetry. Belief, mediated through the idea of vision, is found to be implicated in Clare's experiences and interpretations of the natural world and is thus shown to be critical to the content of his verse.