The Twenty-Nine Pages

8th September, 2021 – 24th November, 2021

A 12-week online course by the Beshara Trust studying ‘The Twenty-Nine Pages’, which serves as an excellent introduction to Ibn ‘Arabi’s metaphysics of unity.

Course Description

This is a course studying The Twenty-Nine Pages, which serves as an introduction to Ibn ‘Arabi’s metaphysics of Unity

Drawn from The Mystical Philosophy of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi by A.E. Affifi, originally published by the Cambridge University Press in 1938, the extracts presented in this short book as a continuous text were arranged many years ago by Bulent Rauf, consultant to the Beshara Trust until his death in 1987.

His intention was to provide a complete introductory guide to the language and thought of Ibn ‘Arabi, particularly those aspects of his doctrine which refer to the unity of being and the perfectibility of man.

The rich content, inclusiveness and extraordinary scope of the passages from Ibn ‘Arabi make it an invaluable reference for students of mysticism and the spiritual life, whatever their background. Themes include the one and the many, immanence and transcendence, sainthood, knowledge, the heart, the soul, good and evil, and love and beauty.

Peter Coates, author of Ibn ‘Arabi and Modern Thought (2002), states: ‘This is no dry theoretical piece of metaphysicalising but rather an invitation to each reader to benefit from an acquaintance with one of the most complete and universal mystical visions of reality we have at our disposal.’

The course will be held over 12 sessions with a weekly Zoom seminar on Wednesdays at 19:30 – 20:30 BST/GMT. All Zoom seminars will be recorded should you miss one.

The course will be guided by facilitators who are long-term students of the work of Ibn ‘Arabi.

Students will be expected to have a copy of the book which is available from Beshara Publications.

Booking & Fees

Fees: The course is free but participants will be expected to have purchased a copy of The Twenty-Nine Pages – available from
Beshara Publications

Please contact besharacourses@beshara.org to apply for a place on the course.

Awhad al-Din Kirmani: a talk by Lloyd Ridgeon

Sunday November 20, 2016

Dr Lloyd Ridgeon of the University of Glasgow delivers a talk on the Persian poet Awhad al-Din Kirmani (1163–1238) at the Chisholme Institute. 

Dante’s Divine Comedy

Weekly from 25th October 2022
19:00–20:30 BST/GMT

An introduction to the spiritual journey (online via Zoom).

Know Yourself

January – July 2019 (11am – 1pm)
Every 2nd Sunday each month

The Salisbury Centre, Edinburgh, UK

Exploring the Oneness of Being through oneself

Yurt retreat

Woodland Yurt Retreat

August 12 – 19, 2017
Chisholme Institute, Scottish Borders, UK

Discover what is essential – free from phones, internet and electricity – living in yurts on the edge of woodland and cooking over campfires in the company of fellow students and facilitators.

Essential Rumi

Weekly on Tuesdays from 21st September, 2021
19:30 – 21:00 BST/GMT

A 6-week course focusing on the poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi.

Contact: besharacourses@beshara.org

‘Truth is One but the wise speak of it differently’

(Rig Veda)

7th September 2022 – 31st May 2023

5 x 5 weekly modules over three terms. Wednesday evenings from 7-8.30pm GMT/BST

This course will introduce participants to four major traditions of human wisdom – the philosophies of ancient Greece and India, Christian wisdom and Islamic Mysticism. Students will have the opportunity to explore how these traditions might converse with one another and consider what light they have to shed on the issues the world faces today.

Contact: admin@beshara.org

The Beshara Lecture 2023

The Coincidence of Opposites

Speaker: Iain McGilchrist

Sunday 9th July 2023 14:00 BST (via Zoom)

If there is Oneness, what are the Many? Are they the same? What do we mean?

The Ways of the Heart II: Oneness

30th October 2020 – 28th January 2021
Hosted by The Beshara Trust using the Zoom seminar platform.

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

This course is now fully subscribed but you are welcome to register your interest in further courses to: besharacourses@beshara.org

The Joy of Embodiment

18th April, 2021
15:00 – 16:30 BST

An online seminar with Andreas Weber

Matter. Is it not just “stuff”? Or can it be said to be experiencing as well in some way? In our embodied existences we are at the same time matter (our physical body) and we have an experiencing standpoint. We hence can say something about the joys (and sorrows) of being matter. I will try to sketch a picture of perception not as representation of things, but as co-creation in a “poetic space”.

Registration via Eventbrite

Open Meetings

Saturday 22nd March, 2025
9:00am–10:00am GMT

Inspired by the turn out at the recent open meetings, we are pleased to invite you to our next online Open Meeting. This meeting will give priority to our friends in Australia and the Asia Pacific before we open up the space to continue the conversation with everyone else.

Discovering Unity Weekend Retreat

September 23 – 25, 2016

Explore deeper questions in the light of the unity of all existence. Guided group study of wisdom texts, meditation and more. Held at the Chisholme Institute.

Discovering Unity

February 27 – April 10, 2018
Hosted by Beshara Turkey

A 7-week online course using the Zoom seminar platform exploring human consciousness and meaning.