The Kiss: The Beshara talks of Dom Sylvester Houédard

Saturday, 5th November 2022
14:00–17:00 GMT
The October Gallery, London UK

Contemplative reading of extracts from “The Kiss”, a new collection of the Dom’s talks.

Dom Sylvester Houédard was an artist/poet and Benedictine monk whose life’s work was the search for a universal form of human spirituality. Deeply knowledgeable about the Christian contemplative tradition, such as that of Meister Eckhart, he was also involved in interfaith discussion and monastic dialogue, particularly with Tibetan Buddhism and the Islamic mystical tradition of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi. He had a long-term involvement with Beshara, visiting the school and giving talks to students over a period of twenty years. The Kiss presents ten talks he gave at Beshara centres during the last five years of his life, embodying his unique, integrative understanding of the spiritual life.

This seminar will consist of introductions by the two editors of the book, Charles Verey and Jane Clark, giving an overview of Dom Sylvester’s remarkable life and describing how the book came about, followed by readings and discussion of selections from the text.

Read Charles Verey’s review of an exhibition of Dom Sylvester’s tantric poetries at the Lisson Gallery in London in 2020.

Charles Verey, Dip. Fine Arts (Lond., 1963) and by profession a furniture designer, has been a student of Beshara for fifty years. He met Dom Sylvester in 1965. In 1971-2 he edited a 75-page, retrospective monograph at Dom Sylvester’s request, for Ceolfrith Arts. Since 2008 he has worked towards a full biography of the Dom.

Jane Clark is a long-time student of Beshara and a Senior Research Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society who has given many lectures and written many articles on the Islamic mystical tradition. She has a special interest in the relevance of the great wisdom traditions in the contemporary world, which she explores as the editor of the Beshara Magazine.

Venue:
The October Gallery,
24 Old Gloucester Street
London
WC1N 3AL

Refreshments provided.