In My Own Way

It all started with a devilish question:  
Can a robot be human?  
Was always interested in the great philosophers  
but wanted to go beyond the consolations of philosophy  
to the turning point, you know  
where the bible meets the knitting bible,  
the hidden spirituality of men meets building great sheds,  
the technological society meets a hand-made life.  
   
Being alive … staying alive … being human …  
it’s not easy when you’re in the world but not of it.  
I’m not trying to walk through walls,    
I’m just on a healing quest,  
the spiritual journey  
and you need poetry with an edge  
to cut through the spiritual bypassing.  
So you slowly learn the secret language of the soul  
and suddenly you find there’s treasure everywhere;  
earth to spirit where the process of creativity  
and long practiced mastery hold the key;  
it’s where miracles happen spontaneously -  
sudden moments of happiness invade one’s life  
and even heavenly seconds of being surprised by joy.  
Life becomes a sacred balance between tools for conviviality  
and the wisdom of the desert.  
   
And the future? What’s the long and the short of it?  
Balancing the whale and the reactor holds the key at one level  
though with the pentagon of power ever flexing its muscles  
who knows? What can we say?  
Some point to cybergrace; maybe.    
But me? I’m sticking to zen -    
that’s zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by the way.  
   
   
   
   
   
In My Own Way (an autobiography), Alan Watts, New World Books, 1972/2007  
Can A Robot Be Human? (33 perplexing philosophy puzzles), Peter Cave, OneWorld Books, 2007  
The Great Philosophers (an introduction to western philosophy), Bryan Magee, OUP, 1987  
The Consolations of Philosophy, Alain de Botton, Penguin, 2000  
The Turning Point (science, society and the rising culture), Fritjof Capra, Bantam Books, 1982  
The Bible (take your pick)  
The Knitting Bible (the complete handbook for creative knitters), Claire Crompton, David & Charles, 2005  
The Hidden Spirituality Of Men (ten metaphors to awaken the scared masculine), Matthew Fox, New World Library, 2008  
Building Great Sheds, Danielle Truscott, Lark Books, 1999  
The Technological Society, Jacques Ellul, Alfred Knopf, 1964 (trans from French, Libraire Armand Colin, 1954)  
A Handmade Life (in search of simplicity), William Copperthwaite, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2002  
Being Alive (the sequel to Staying Alive), Neil Astley (ed), Bloodaxe Books, 2004  
Staying Alive (real poems for unreal times), Neil Astley (ed), Bloodaxe Books, 2002  
Being Human (more real poems for unreal times) Neil Astley (ed), Bloodaxe Books, 2011  
Walk Through Walls (a memoir), Marina Abramovic, Penguin/Crown Archetype, 2016  
Healing Quest (in the sacred place of the medicine wheel), Marie Herbert, Samuel Weiser Books, 1997  
The Spiritual Journey, Anne Bancroft, Element Books, 1991  
Poetry With An Edge, Neil Astley (ed), Bloodaxe Books, 1988  
Spiritual Bypassing (when spirituality disconnects us from what really matters), Robert Augustus Masters, North Atlantic Books, 2010  
The Secret Language Of The Soul (a visual guide to enlightenment and destiny), Jane Hope, Duncan Baird Publishers, 1997  
There’s Treasure Everywhere (a new Calvin & Hobbes collection), Bill Watterson, Warner books 1996  
Earth to Spirit (in search of natural architecture), David Pearson, Gaia Books, 1994  
Creativity (the psychology of discovery and invention), Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Harper Collins, 1996  
Mastery (the keys to success and long-term fulfilment), George Leonard, Penguin/Plume, 1992  
Miracles, C.S. Lewis, Fontana Books, 1960  
Happiness (a guide to developing life’s most important skill), Matthieu Ricard, Atlantic Books 2007 (tr from French, NiL Édtions 2003)  
Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis, Fontana Books, 1959  
Tools For Conviviality, Ivan Illich, Calder & Boyers, 1974  
The Wisdom Of The Desert (sayings from the Desert Fathers of the fourth century), Thomas Merton (translator), Sheldon press, 1974  
The Long And The Short Of It (a guide to finance and investment for normally intelligent people who are not in the industry), John Kay, Erasmus Press, 2009  
The Whale And The Reactor (a search for limits in an age of high technology), Langdon Winner, Univ of Chicago Press, 1986  
The Pentagon Of Power (the myth of the machine, part 2), Lewis Mumford, Secker & Warburg, 1964  
Cybergrace (the search for God in the digital world), Jennifer Cobb, Crown Publishers, 1998  
Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance (an enquiry into values), Robert Pirsig, Corgi, 1976