40 Day Intensive Summer Retreat

May 6 – June 16, 2017

A retreat for anyone who wishes to look deeply or further into their complete human potential and find a means and orientation to help on the road to realising it.

Course Description

People are essentially extremely beautiful, they are a hidden treasure; this hidden treasure is there to be discovered by each person – the hidden treasure within themselves. That discovery is completely transforming…
Peter Young, Principal at Chisholme 1987–2015

The core premise of the retreat is the unity of all existence and that all things are naturally interconnected. Therefore it follows that our attitude, awareness and understanding of ourselves, nature, the world and the universes is of great importance. This premise is reflected throughout the content and structure of the retreat and this principle of unity lies at the heart of the world’s great wisdom traditions.

This is a retreat of deep learning and unlearning and is for anyone who wishes to look deeply or further into their complete human potential and find a means and orientation to help on the road to realising it.

During this retreat some of the finest spiritual literature will be studied, including the Tao, the Baghavad Gita, the poetry of Rumi, the writings of Meister Eckhart and the work of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi.

This is retreat is immersive, full-time and continuous for 40 days. Each day time is devoted to study, work, meditation and devotional practice. Study sessions involve exploring texts with your fellow students and then uncovering their meaning through discussion and reflection. Education is a process of self-discovery on these retreat courses, not a matter of learning from a teacher. Work is contemplation, whether in the house or woodlands, the garden or the kitchen.

Throughout the retreat the focus will be centred on cultivating the heart’s awareness of what is happening in the instant, both inside and outside, and entering deeply into conscious and compassionate relation to ourselves, to others and to the world.

Booking & Fees

Fee: £1400 (deposit: £200).

Closing date for applications: 31 March, 2017

Bursaries:
A 90% bursary will be offered to one qualifying student to complete the 40-day retreat (i.e. the holder of the bursary will pay only £140). If you wish to apply for this bursary please contact info@chisholme.org

Reimbursement:
If for any reason you have to leave a course early you will be reimbursed at £28 per day not used.

The 40-day retreats will run subject to sufficient student numbers. In the event that a course is unfortunately cancelled, your deposit will be refunded in full. Confirmation that the course is running will be sent shortly after the closing date for applications.

Applications:
For more information and to receive an application form please contact secretary@chisholme.org or call +44 (0)1450 880 215

Course / Event location

Chisholme House, Hawick TD9 7PH, UK
Rumi & Ibn 'Arabi

The works of two great poets, mystics and thinkers from the 12th & 13th century – Rumi and Ibn ‘Arabi – are favourites for study in depth, as they offer a comprehensive, multi-faceted view that addresses both the unseen world and the visible world as one.  The shifting points of view that both these writers freely and thoroughly adopt break up our pre-established patterns of thought and their texts invite students to radically new perspectives.

Students by studying mystical texts from other traditions can learn to correlate ideas, and discover for themselves the single truth that runs through all human thought.

Ibn ‘Arabi famously writes

O Marvel! a garden amidst the flames.
My heart has become capable of every form:
it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
and a temple for idols and the pilgrim’s Kaa’ba,
and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Quran.
I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love’s camels take,
that is my religion and my faith

Love and Knowledge in the Light of Unity | the Direct Path

A Beshara Foundation Course

Introductory weekend at Sutton Courtenay Abbey, Oxfordshire
16th – 18th February 2024
(Zoom attendance also available)

10 x fortnightly online sessions
29th February – 4th July 2024
Thursday evenings, 19:00–20:30 GMT/BST

This is a new foundational course in esoteric education that provides a full introduction to the principles of Beshara in terms of both knowledge and practice. Taking the metaphysics of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi as a starting point, the course explores what it means to understand oneself and the world in the light of unity.

Contact: besharacourses3@beshara.org

The Alchemy of Human Happiness: Online Study Group

Weekly from late January 2024
Saturdays 13:30–15:30 GMT online via Zoom

An opportunity to study and explore a recent translation of an influential work of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi.

This group is now full. If you would like to be added to a waiting list for a possible new group, please contact london@beshara.org

Cover Addresses 1

Addresses by Bülent Rauf

 

Weekly from 16th January 2024
Tuesdays:
21:00–22:00 GMT

 

An online study and reading of Address by Bülent Rauf. This is an existing group with a limited number of places. New participants are very welcome.

 

Contact: Yafiah Katherine Randall
yafiahkatherine@gmail.com

Nestled in the Womb of God

Hindu-Muslim comparative inquiry

9th December 2023
14:00–17:00 GMT
The October Gallery, London

A seminar by Hina Khalid

This seminar ventures into the relatively unexplored terrain of a Hindu-Muslim comparative inquiry into the intimate presence of the divine reality to the finite world. It offers a comparative analysis of the conception of the infinite in the worldviews of two major philosopher-poets of the Indian subcontinent – Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941).

Work by James Suzman: A Discussion

The history of work from the stone age to the age of robots

Sunday 3rd December 2023
15:00–16:30 GMT via Zoom

A chance to discuss the topic of Work as discussed by James Suzman in a book recently reviewed in Beshara Magazine.

“It is rather hearts, clinging to the door of the Divine Presence”

Learning from Ibn ‘Arabi

4th November 2023
14:00–17:00 GMT
The October Gallery, London

A talk and seminar by Eric Winkel

Mystic, philosopher, poet, sage, Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (1165–1240) was one of the world’s great spiritual teachers. Since 2012, Dr Eric Winkel has dedicated his life to the first-ever translation of and commentary on the entirety of Ibn Arabī’s al-Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah (The Openings Revealed in Makkah). Ten thousand pages of the original handwritten manuscript make up 37 books of the complete work. In this seminar, he will discuss Ibn ‘Arabi’s seminal work and its significance for us now.

Drowning in the depths of Rumi’s Masnavi

‘You are not a single you, o good comrade; nay, you are the sky and the deep sea’ – Rumi

30th October – 27th November 2023
Weekly Zoom sessions
19:00–20:30 GMT

This course is an opportunity to study and explore some of Rumi’s main spiritual teachings from the Masnavi, which is considered to be his masterpiece.

How Rumi Opens the Eye of the Heart

14th October 2023
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London

A talk and seminar by Alan Williams

The 13th century Masnavi of Jalāloddin Rumi is not a story book, yet, like the Bible and the Quran, it is full of stories. What are the secrets the Masnavi reveals? They may be summed up in the phrase ‘the opening of the eye of the heart’. The primary question of this lecture is: how does the Masnavi effect the opening of the heart?

The Mysticism and Spirituality of St. John of the Cross

2 online series of 3 Meditation Workshops

30th September, 28th October, 26th November
Saturdays, 10:00–12.30 BST/GMT
and
October 12th, November 9th, December 7th
Thursdays, 17:00–19.30 BST/GMT

Two poems by St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night and The Spiritual Canticle, will form the basis of our meditation.

Gustav Klimt

Exploring the meaning of ‘Know Yourself’ according to five wisdom traditions

27th September – 6th December 2023
Fortnightly Zoom sessions
19:00–20:30 BST/GMT

This course offers the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of what it is to Know Yourself in the mirror of five Ancient Wisdom traditions and to explore their relevance to each of us and to the current modern era.

This course is now full. If you would like to join a waiting list for the next one, please contact admin@beshara.org