Course Themes

Preface: Introduction to Ibn Arabi and his perspective.
1. The unity of being
2. Creation, the coming into being and the love to be known
3. The human being
4 .The human being and the natural world
5. The spiritual path

Each theme is divided into one or more sessions (see full syllabus below) and supplemented with background reading/video/other formats that address the topic in a variety of ways – including the perspective of other traditions or modern thought.

Course Syllabus

Introductory residential weekend: Friday 16th – Sunday 18th October 2026 at The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay
(if unable to attend in-person, it will be possible to join the main sessions through Zoom)

• Introduction to the course
• Introduction to Ibn ‘Arabi’s life and thought by Cecilia Twinch
• Full reading and discussion of Know Yourself introduced by Cecilia Twinch (translator)
• Introduction to meditation and 2-3 daily group meditation sessions
• Work as service
• The role of devotion and devotional practices

Online Presentations and Seminars

Live online presentations and seminars: Thursday evenings 19:00–20:30 GMT

1. Different Faces of Unity (Jane Clark) – 29th October 2026
2. The One and the Many – a sacred discourse in geometry (Jane Carroll) – 12th November 2026
3. Creation (Jane Clark) – 26th November 2026
4. Singleness, Oneness and Singularity: the metaphysics of unity. Part 1 (Avi Abadi) – 10th December 2026
5. Singleness, Oneness and Singularity: the metaphysics of unity. Part 2 (Avi Abadi) – 7th January 2027 (Q & A with Avi, Sat am 9th January)
6. The Truly Human Being (Part 1): Adamic images and principles (Stephen Hirtenstein) – 21st January 2027
7. The Truly Human Being (Part 2): Adam in the Fusus al-hikam (Stephen Hirtenstein) – 4th February 2027
8. Humankind and the Natural World (Peter Young) – 18th February 2027
9. The Spiritual Path 1: remembrance, receptivity and the “private face”. (Jane Clark) – 4th March 2027
10. The Spiritual Path 2: the road is long, the sea is deep. (Rim Feriani) – 18th March 2027

Chisholme residential weekend/10-day course 1st–11th April 2027

In addition to the above programme there will be an option to attend a second residential at Chisholme House (Scotland) at the end of the course.
https://www.chisholme.org/

Attendance can be either for the weekend or for 10 days. This retreat will be available for Foundation course Alumni as well as current students.

The Learning Environment

Our main focus will be on the writings of Ibn Arabi, as a sound foundation from which to appreciate the metaphysics not just of Islam, but of other spiritual traditions. This proposes a different approach from the usual idea of knowledge as something one might acquire. It can nonetheless be very helpful to have a clear intellectual grasp of Ibn Arabi’s metaphysics, which are in themselves intrinsically beautiful, and can bring us to a place that is beyond the grasp of the rational mind.

Ibn Arabi often expounds that the reality he is referring to can only be known through unveiling or experience. Terminology such as “re-realisation of Divine taste” is also used. This implies that there is a place in each one of us that can experience a kind of re-cognition of this knowledge of ourselves, although we are normally veiled by our creatural condition. “Knowing“ in this sense is experienced as a kind of remembrance or realisation, as it comes from  our essential interior reality, which is the same as the reality underlying everything.

We begin every session with an invocation or prayer for the meaning to be opened for us and ask to be brought to its level rather than be confined to our own understanding. This is followed by a short meditation. Equally we end with an acknowledgement and appreciation of the meaning we may have been given collectively and individually, whether it be an insight, image, feeling, greater clarity or movement of the heart. For all action, whatever it may be, is ultimately a matter of love.

Inner Experience and Practice

As indicated above, the approach to the material will be from the point of view of the spiritual seeker rather than it being a matter of purely academic knowledge. To reinforce this element of practice, aspects of the spiritual path (theme 5) will be woven into themes 1–4.

In order to bring the knowledge alive, students will be given something related to the topic to contemplate or practice during the interval between sessions and for them to journal how this has affected or changed their everyday way of seeing things. These insights can be shared at the beginning of each following session.

Depending on where in the world students are based, it might also be possible to meet for an informal session or meditation during the week we are not studying together.

Course Materials

Materials will include an introductory video presentation of each session’s subject matter (this will be recorded so can be viewed at any time), together with some reading material, as preparation for live online discussion meetings. A more extensive list of background reading will also be provided as a guide for anyone who wishes to go further.

Learning Platform

The materials will be available on Google Classroom, a learning platform used to store videos and files, keep in touch with the students, submit any assignments and provide the link to the live zoom sessions. It also offers a streaming facility for students to share questions and understandings linked to each theme.

Reflective assignment

At the end of the course, students will be invited to complete one piece of work (essay, reflective diary or video presentation) of approximately 1000 words/10 mins on a topic to be agreed.

Certificate

Students may, if they wish, request a Certificate of Attendance, listing all topics studied, hours spent and assignments.

The following presenters will introduce the different themes covered in this course through specially prepared pre-recorded videos:

• Avi Abadi has been studying the teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi, and the Fusus al-Hikam (Ringstones of Wisdom) in particular, at the Beshara School for over forty years.
• Jane Carroll is an architect practising in Southern California. She studied under Keith Critchlow at the Architectural Association with an emphasis on geometric systems used in traditional and sacred architecture. She was a student at the Beshara School, a former trustee of the Beshara Trust and a founding member and former secretary of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society (MIAS) in America.
• Jane Clark MA is a Senior Research Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society (MIAS). She is a student of the Beshara School, has a Masters’ degree in Medieval Arabic Philosophy from the University of Oxford, and has been studying, teaching and lecturing on the ideas of Ibn Arabi for more than forty years. She is the Editor of the Beshara Magazine which aims to bring together traditional wisdom with contemporary thought.
• Dr Rim Feriani is a passionate education leader. She is currently serving as the Professional Learning Lead in a Swiss International Boarding School. With a rich background that includes roles as a University Lecturer at prestigious London institutions, Head of Arabic in Abu Dhabi, and Director of Languages in Essex, Rim brings diverse expertise to her work. Her 2016 doctoral thesis explored how internationally-acclaimed writers engage with Islamic heritage, combining Ibn Arabi’s Sufi thought with Paul Ricoeur’s philosophy. Rim previously served as education director at MIAS and developed an education programme inspired by her research on the journey and imagination, further demonstrating her commitment to innovative educational approaches to spiritual experiences.
• Stephen Hirtenstein is editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society (MIAS), a MIAS senior research fellow’ and director of Anqa Publishing. He is an editor for Encyclopaedia Islamica (Brill), and teaches Sufism and Sufi poetry at the University of Oxford. Since 2001 he has been working on the MIAS archiving project cataloguing the historic manuscripts of Ibn Arabi. He lectures internationally on Ibn ‘Arabi, and his publications include Patterns of Contemplation (2021) and Prayers for the Week (2021), both with Pablo Beneito, The Alchemy of Human Happiness (2018), and The Unlimited Mercifier (1999).
• Cecilia Twinch is a Senior Research Fellow of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society, Oxford. She studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University and has also spent several periods of study at the Beshara Schools. Besides working as a teacher, translator and editor, she has lectured on Ibn ‘Arabi and mysticism worldwide since 1990. Her publications include an English translation, with Pablo Beneito, of Ibn ‘Arabi’s Contemplation of the Holy Mysteries and a translation of Know yourself: An explanation of the oneness of being (Ibn ‘Arabi/Balyani).
• Peter Young studied Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. He was a student of the first six-month course of the Beshara School at Chisholme House, after which he co-facilitated a number of courses both at Chisholme and elsewhere. From 1984 he served as Principal of the Beshara School at Chisholme House, working closely with Bulent Rauf until the latter’s death in 1987. He stepped down from this role in 2015, since when he has been teaching green woodworking skills, and continues to be closely involved with Chisholme’s courses.

Four facilitators will support the students throughout the course, encouraging questioning of texts and correlating the group discussions. The facilitators are:

Sakeena Adamjee studied Ethnomusicology and Comparative Literature at SOAS, University of London. She also studied and worked in fashion and textiles having studied at the University of the Arts London (UAL). She currently works as an educational consultant in London integrating blind children into mainstream education. She often travels to Andalusia to continue her flamenco dance training and occasionally teaches workshops. Sakeena is a student of the Beshara school and Chisholme Institute and has recently completed the six month residential retreat at Chisholme. She has facilitated on Discovering Unity and Foundation of Natural Intelligence Courses at Chisholme Institute. She also completed the Foundation Course in 2024.

John Brass studied Fine Art at Canterbury College of Art and then taught painting. In his early twenties he came upon Beshara where he began studying the works of Ibn ‘Arabi. He attended both the preliminary and the advanced six-month Residential Retreat Courses at the Beshara School of Intensive Esoteric Education, under the direction of Bülent Rauf, and has continued to facilitate students who are interested in the spiritual vision of Ibn ‘Arabi. John works as a conservator in gilding and carving for the colleges of Oxford University.
Hugh Tollemache studied under and worked with Bulent Rauf for ten years and was instrumental in helping to establish the Beshara School in the 1970s, both in Gloucestershire and at Chisholme House in Scotland. Since then Hugh has been involved in a number of NGOs and public duties without losing sight of the main objective.
Andrew Watson is a linguist working as a translator and editor and living in London. Previously he was a language teacher, and for ten years a lexicographer at the Oxford English Dictionary. He has lived and worked in several European countries, including Greece, Turkey, Russia and Portugal. He has been a student of Beshara for the last fifteen years.

The introductory weekend will be held in person at The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay, near Oxford. If you are unable to attend in person, it will be possible to join the study sessions via Zoom.

• Full Abbey weekend, accommodation and food + zoom course – £575 (single room)
• Single occupancy en suite and food + zoom course £595
• Full Abbey weekend, accommodation and food + zoom course – £465 (shared room)
• Shared occupancy (twin or double bed) en suite and food + zoom course £545
• Weekend attendance including food but no accommodation at Abbey + zoom course – £410
• Zoom attendance at Abbey + full zoom course – £225

The introductory weekend will be held at The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay, near Oxford.
https://theabbey.uk.com/.

If you are unable to attend in person, it will be possible to join the study sessions via Zoom. However being together physically is important so participants are encouraged to try and attend in person if at all possible.

A non-refundable deposit of £125 is required on acceptance onto the course in order to secure your place. Spaces on the course are limited so early booking is recommended.

Discretionary concessions for students are available on application to The Beshara Trust.

The course is open to students 16 years of age and over.

To request an application form please contact the Administrator. Email: besharacourses3@beshara.org

Student impressions from the last course:

Mayavati:

I felt all three facilitators gave way more than I would have expected of their time and enthusiasm; they are knowledgeable and easy to talk to. Immense gratitude and good wishes to you all, and to the presenters. I have not had the luxury being able to ask questions about practices so freely in other groups, which added a very useful dimension.

Alejo:

I liked the structure. I liked that we had homework that was practical and homework that was theoretical. I loved all the course. What you showed us is nourishment for the soul.

Julienne:

I loved all the course – the teaching, the seminars, discussion – and thank you, all, very much, for the care, love, compassion, planning and teaching that goes into such a wonderful Beshara spiritual education course. 

Rouya:

The fortnightly meetings were the cornerstone of my schedule. The Chisholme retreat was instrumental in putting together the conceptual and practical process of the course work.