The Evolving Vision of My Substack

I already had three blogs and twelve published books, so why did I start a Substack? And why do I need your support?

When you already have three blogs and twelve published books, why would you need a Substack? The answer is that I want to write from my mystic self (that’s me above) and on neurodivergence, introspective art and imaginative meditation, things that don’t fit on the other three blogs. I have the Alkira Publishing blog for writing tips and articles on the books I publish as managing editor of Alkira Publishing (on which I publish an article once every 3 weeks or so). I have the Beyond the Temple blog for anything I want to write on Tibetan Buddhism in relation to cults and religious abuse—I no longer post there. And I have my Tahlia Newland author/editor website blog, which after not writing anything for a while, I started posting pretty much anything I was inspired to write, until I realised that perhaps that might not be best idea since it’s the website front for my editing business.

Juggling Different Content Strands

I started writing about neurodivergence and posting it on my Tahlia Newland website until I realised that some authors might be put off by the thought of their editor being both autistic and ADHD, so I switched that content to here. (You might see the ADHD in the diversity of my inspirations!)

But of course I also want to share my Psychemagination explorations here—my illustrated psycho-spiritual memoirs, AI art music videos, and anything else on using one’s imagination and various expressive arts to explore one’s psyche.

And then I realised that people didn’t actually get the depth of meaning in those Pyschemagination videos, and I got inspired to make video commentaries on them that of course then become blog posts—because, why not? And that content got me back to imaginative meditation, a theme that had come through in my ADHD writings because meditation has been of huge benefit to my ADHD brain.

Meanwhile, I’ve become ever more aware of the importance of my Vajrayana meditation practice in my life and accepting of the fact that I do have some expertise in that area after 30 years of meditation, (20 of it in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, 12 of those years in partial retreat, and 4 of my books related to Vajrayana Buddhism). I’m coming to the understanding that (apart from my expertise in writing that I share on my Alkira Publishing YouTube channel), I can best serve people, and help them live in peace and clarity, by writing a book on the meditation practice I (and my daughter) do daily. (It will follow on nicely from the Psychemagination series.)

My Substack is the place to help me get the content for the book together and inspire people like me to live in peace and clarity while I do it.

Why I Need Paid Subscribers

I have a very important book that I need to write—an in-depth book on the imaginative meditation practice of Maha Vajra and its Buddhist foundations. That book is demanding to be written, in the same way that the practice at the core of that book appeared spontaneously out of a simple formless meditation practice and demanded to be practiced.

The book will be a description of the practice and the teachings that enable people to practice it fully and deeply. In fact, there will be two books: one at a simpler level and one at a more advanced level. For me to describe exactly what this practice is, how to practice it, and the teachings behind it will take a great deal of time and effort to do it properly, but it needs to be recorded because it’s an important practice. It’s perfect for our time, working on many levels at once – from our emotions to the environment and social ills – and it has the potential to be of assistance to a lot of people. So it’s really important for me to write these books and to get them out there, and I need support from people to help me do that.

Two things stand in the way of me spending much time working on the book, the knowledge that this esoteric practice is not for everyone and that writing it will not bring me any income. So I need subscribers both as encouragement and inspiration for the writing, and as income because while I spend time writing, I’m not spending time on finding clients for my business.

If I’ve got some paid subscribers, knowing that you’re subscribing to help me write this book, then I will start working on it, and I will be incredibly grateful. So thank you in advance for subscribing. It’s not just for me, it’s for every person who might one day practice the Maha Vajra practice.

There will, of course, be advantages for paid subscribers:

- Book excerpts as the book is written

- Guided meditations and personal support

- A free “How to Meditate Easily, Effectively and Deeply” ebook

- Early access to any video I create

- For founding subscribers: free Psychemagination ebooks as they’re published

Thank you so much for considering supporting me.