Discovering Unity Evening Course

April 27 – June 15, 2017

A seven week evening course in Central Oxford. “Who in the world am I. Ah, that’s the great puzzle” Lewis Carrol.

Course Description

This evening course is devoted to a practical exploration of the unity of being. From a perspective of oneness, it asks us to pay deep attention to our relationship with ourselves and the world. The course includes meditation, contemplation and conversation.

This will be the 9th running of the course and is limited to a small intimate group. It’s spirit is one of gentle gathering in genuine self-enquiry, to enhance the opening of our natural ability to consciously experience the grace of who we are beyond any pre-condition or belief.

These are the words of Ally Stott, one of the facilitators on this course:

“These are extraordinary times that we live in, each day a new arrival. A challenge, a shock, a joy. So much uncertainty, so much potential, so much opportunity. We can often feel pressed to meet what is presenting itself, we can feel bewildered or simply overwhelmed and feel the need to turn away. And all of these feelings and fears are heightened when we believe that we have a separate identity, that the felt sense of ‘me’ has independent existence from other ‘things’ in the ‘world’.

How would it be to gently and heartfully explore this illusory self that believes itself to be separate? If it is of interest to you to deepen your understanding of your true-nature, to really see the face of God everywhere you turn, or to find more skilful means to navigate you way through this life, you may wish to consider joining us for this course.”

Course Dates

The evening course format is meetings on a weekly basis on Thursday evenings (7.30pm – 9.45pm)

Meeting Dates:
April 27th
May 4th, 18th & 25th (plus the afternoon on Saturday May 27th)
June 1st, 8th & 15th

Facilitators

The course facilitators are Derek Elliott & Ally Stott

Derek has a contemplative background. He is a practising yoga teacher and active poet. He is also a noted figure in the contemporary furniture movement. www.derekelliottyoga.co.uk

 Ally accompanies people as they make their way on a journey towards knowing themselves. She has a background as an artist, is a registered transpersonal psychotherapist and loves being in her allotment. www.allystott.co.uk

Booking & Fees

Cost: £80

For a booking form please contact: oxford@discoveringunity.org.

For further information please contact:
Derek Elliott on 07771 707 178 or Ally Stott on 07968 691 870.

A course introduction is available on request.

‘Pieta’ by Fenwick Lawson in Durham Cathedral. Photograph by Derek Elliott.

‘You suppose you are the trouble
But you are the cure
You suppose that you are
the lock on the door
But you are the key that opens it
It’s too bad that you want
to be someone else
You don’t see your own face,
your own beauty
Yet no face is more beautiful than yours.’
                                          Jelaladdin Rumi

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

Ibn ‘Arabi and the Ecological Crisis: a Merciful Nemesis? Revisited

September 16th, 2023 (14:00–17:00 BST)
The October Gallery, London

A talk by Peter Coates about the ecological crisis and its deeper significance.

The Ways of the Heart III: The Compassionate Heart

​5th September – 14th November 2023
Tuesdays, 20:00 – 21:30 GMT

An online Beshara course exploring a spiritual life in the contemporary world.