The Upanishads: Refinding the Source

Saturday July 9, 2016

An introductory talk followed by readings and discussion at The October Gallery in London, with Elizabeth Roberts

The Upanishads are the mystical and philosophical wisdom of the sacred scriptures of Ancient India. They call us to the discovery of a realm deep within ourselves which is our native state.

Also known as Vedanta – the end or goal of the Vedas – the Upanishads provide the basis for the subsequent religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism and present the inner teachings of yoga, namely direct realisation of and union with the Divine, recognised as the ground of being, including one’s own.

The tremendous equation ‘The Self is Brahman’ (Tat tvam asi – thou art That) is the central discovery of the Upanishads. Nothing less can satisfy the heart than this reunion, which the Upanishads describe as sat-chit-ananda: absolute reality, pure awareness, unconditioned joy.

All this is full, all that is full, 
From fullness, fullness comes. 
When fullness is taken from fullness,
fullness still remains. 
– ISHA UPANISHAD

You are what your deep
driving desire is.
As your desire is, so is your will
As your will is, so is your deed
As your deed is, so is your destiny
– BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD

Elizabeth Roberts, BA Oxon. M.Phil. is a yoga teacher, a Yoga Philosophy tutor, and an Ayurvedic Educator and Practitioner. She has also taught literacy and philosophical enquiry in community and adult education.

Address: The October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Road, London, WC1N 3AL.

Tickets available at the door. £10 / 5 (concessions)
Enquiries: London@beshara.org

The October Gallery

Restoring the Broken Order

Learning from Ibn ‘Arabi

Saturday 20th April 2024
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London

An exploratory seminar on some themes from the Wisdom of Breathing Out in the Word of Seth, the second chapter of Ibn ‘Arabi’s Fusus al-Hikam (The Ringstones of Wisdom).

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.