A Jewel of Indian Spirituality: Reflections on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

16th May, 2021
15:00 – 16:30 BST

This event is the fourth in a series of seminars under the general title, Unity in Diversity.

Presented by Elizabeth Roberts

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Seminar Description

One of a number of sutra texts from the late Upanishadic period, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is a jewel of Indian spirituality. According to its Indian origins, yoga is not just a physical practice but a sacred science of right living and higher awareness aimed at coming to realise the inner truth of the universe – the Divine, God, the Absolute or whatever name one may use to refer to this highest value.

As a text that focuses on spiritual practice, its methods have been adopted and absorbed into many of the religious traditions of the east, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

Such is its current popularity in yoga studios of the west that, along with the Bhagavad Gita, it has come to represent Hinduism to westerners and can be considered a canonical text of world spirituality.

Speaker

Elizabeth Roberts studied English at Oxford, Philosophical Inquiry at Glasgow University and gained an education in the principles and practice of spirituality through the Beshara school.

After a career spent in education she now teaches and practices yoga and ayurveda in the Scottish Borders and is currently Philosophy Tutor on the Yoga Scotland Teacher Training course. She was Chairman of the Beshara Trust from 2008-2014.

Booking

Cost: FREE via Zoom

Registration is via Eventbrite

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

Love Divine: a conversation between Rumi and St. John of the Cross

Meditation and poetry workshops 

Fortnightly from 18th January – 29th March
Saturdays: 10:00am – 11:30pm (GMT)
or
Fortnightly from 25th January – 5th April
Saturdays: 10am – 11:30am (Pacific Time), 12:00pm-13:30 (Central Time), and 5:00pm-6:30pm (UK time).


Meditation workshops following a format of reading some lines of poetry with contemplative meditation and shared reflections. There are a few places left.

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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.

The Kernel 246

Kernel of the Kernel

Weekly from 24th February 2022
Sundays
13:00–14:30 PST

Online study of The Kernel of the Kernel, a selection of key passages from Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi’s Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah, translated into Turkish with commentary by Ismail Hakki Bursevi (1652-1728AD). Translated into English by Bulent Rauf.

Poetics of Science: Global Human

September 15 – 17, 2017
Chisholme Institute, Scottish Borders, UK

The third of three seminar weekends – interactive presentations and workshops with speakers from diverse backgrounds, films and music nights.

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Saturday 20th September 2025
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London

This interactive presentation will discuss findings from research with young people about loneliness. It will also put forward possible solutions that can help diminish  loneliness in this demographic.

Contact: Michael Cohen  london@beshara.org

Discovering Unity Seven Day Retreat

May 14 – 21, 2016

Learn more about what discovering unity means during this week-long retreat course at The Chisholme Institute

Ibn Arabi Study-week Retreat

August 27, 2016 – September 3, 2016 

‘The Twenty Nine Pages’ revisited and the Wisdom of the Self in the Word of Jonah, in the Fusus al Hikam by Ibn ‘Arabi

The Voyages of Moses (2 of 3)

Saturday October 1, 2016

An afternoon meeting in London to study extracts from Secrets of Voyaging, by Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi.

Open meeting, people sat together on the ground in a circle

Open Meetings

Monday 13th April, 2026
From 17:30 BST

An ongoing open, creative discussion space and e-gathering for sharing thoughts and contributing to the development of Beshara. Please join us in exchanging ideas, having meaningful discussions, the chance to be heard and the chance to listen and for understanding to develop and flourish.

Interweavings: Christian and Sufi Threads in a Divine Tapestry

Poetry and meditation workshops 

Fortnightly from 11th October – 21st February
Saturdays: 10:00am – 11:30pm (UK time)
or
Fortnightly from 1st November – 14th March
Saturdays: 5:00pm-6:30pm (UK time)

Workshop series following a format of reading lines of poetry with contemplative meditation and shared reflections. 

The Impassable Mountain Pass

Saturday February 18, 2017

A seminar exploring the heart as the midpoint between the sacred and the mundane in the teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi at the October Gallery, London.