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.

Course Details

This course will explore the poetry of Rumi under various themes through reading and discussion.

Meditation in your own space and time is recommended before and after each weekly Zoom session.

Fees
The course is free but participants are required to have a copy of The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks. ISBN: 978-006-250-9598

The book can be purchased from Blackwells and other good booksellers.

Click here to purchase a copy from Blackwells

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

Places are limited, so please ensure you are able to attend the sessions before committing to the course.

These sessions are supported and sponsored by The Beshara Trust.

Synopsis of The Essential Rumi

This revised and expanded edition of The Essential Rumi includes a new introduction by Coleman Barks and more than 80 never-before-published poems.

Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of thirteenth-century Sufi Mystic Rumi more popular than ever.

The Essential Rumi continues to be the best selling of all Rumi books, and the definitive selection of his beautiful, mystical poetry.

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.

Ibn ‘Arabi and the Ecological Crisis: a Merciful Nemesis? Revisited

September 16th, 2023 (14:00–17:00 BST)
The October Gallery, London

A talk by Peter Coates about the ecological crisis and its deeper significance.

Jami: Lawa‛ih (Flashes)

Weekly from 27th August, 2022
Sundays 13:30–15:30 BST/GMT

Online study of the Lawa’ih (“Flashes”) by Jami, an exposition in poetry and prose of the Unity of Existence as expressed in the work of Ibn ‘Arabi and his school.

“Differing Voices Make Sweet Music”: Unity in Diversity in Dante’s Divine Comedy

27th June, 2021
15:00 – 16:30 BST

An online seminar with Robert-Louis Abrahamson

Running throughout the three canticles of Dante’s Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) is the importance of community, that is bringing together the diversity of individuals into one unified society, all the varieties of humanity conjoined in the Divine Unity. The talk will trace the journey through these three regions, focusing on Dante’s poetic (even mythic) rendition of the soul’s relation to these three aspects of Unity in Diversity.

Registration via Eventbrite

The Holy Spirit in the Counselling of the Soul

September 15th – 22nd, 2018
Melbourne, Australia

A week dedicated to studying largely unpublished material by Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi. This includes an outline of a cosmological framework for understanding the place of the human being in the universe, and consequently, our correct attitude towards other living beings.

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.

Endless Voyaging; Spiritual Journeying in ‛Attar and Ibn ‛Arabi

Saturday, 15th October 2022
19:00–20:30 AEDT
9:00–10:30 BST

An online talk followed by Q&A with Jane Clark.

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.

St Martin and the beggar

The Practical Wisdom of Ibn ‘Arabi

13th January – 3rd March, 2026
Tuesdays at 19:00 – 21:00 GMT (8 sessions)

Exploring Ibn ‘Arabi’s great metaphysical vision and its many implications for our conduct in everyday life. No previous knowledge is required, all texts provided.

This course is now fully booked. To join a reserve list or to receive notification of a future possible iteration of the course, email besharacourses3@beshara.org

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

Some Principles of Esoteric Education

Saturday June 17th, 2023
14:00 – 17:00 BST
October Gallery, London, UK

A conversational seminar with texts. Throughout history the “awakening of the potential for perfectibility” of the human being has been the aim of every school of esoteric education no matter how the outward forms differ. In this seminar we shall explore through conversations and readings how each one of us can nurture and develop this knowledge practically in the contemporary world.

What is the single most important point that must be understood by a person who wants to know?

April 8 & 22, May 13 & 27
June 10 & 24, July 8
(11am – 1pm)
The Salisbury Centre, Edinburgh, UK

A series of themed explorations on the Way of Love