The Beshara Lecture 2019

‘Ecosystems as Love Processes’

From biological war ideology to understanding reality as alive

Speaker: Andreas Weber

Saturday 16th November 2019 (from 2pm)

Venue: Royal Asiatic Society, 14 Stephenson Way, Kings Cross, London NW1 2HD

Lecture Details

Why is our economy still destroying the environment and creating inequality? The answer is that it might rest on a wrong image of life, where the strongest wins and fitness grants success. Two doctrines rule our times: Neo-Darwinism and Neoliberalism, which are deeply connected and together form one overwhelming ideology of inevitable competition and deadly strife. Biological life, however, is never about one winning, but rather an endless celebration of reciprocity. Ecosystems are ways to organise giving that allow the whole to flourish and the individuals to take what they need. If we understand this desire for mutuality as inbuilt in the living world will we be able to imagine a culture that does not destroy life, but that mimics ecology, enacting what may be seen as a practice of love?

The Beshara Lecture is a lecture held annually, for the furtherance of the knowledge of the unity of existence and its ramifications in areas of human endeavour. Sponsored by the Beshara Trust.

Speaker

Andreas Weber is a Berlin-based philosopher, biologist and writer, who teaches philosophy at Leuphana University, Lüneburg, and at the University of Fine Arts, Berlin. He holds degrees in Marine Biology and Cultural Studies, and during his studies collaborated with the pioneering biologist and brain researcher, Francisco Varela. His books in English include ‘The Biology of Wonder: Aliveness, Feeling, and the Metamorphosis of Science’ (2016), and ‘Matter and Desire: An erotic ecology’ (2017).

Read an interview with Andreas in Issue 7 of Beshara Magazine…

Image: Andreas Weber and 7 year old Max discover wild irises in a meadow in Crawinkel, Germany. Photograph: Martin Schutt, courtesy of Picture-Alliance.

Booking & Fees

Cost: 

£10 from Eventbrite
Concessions: £7 (student/unwaged)

Entry by ticket only

Expressing joy: a honey bee performs a dance in response to a delicious flower. Photograph: Bob Peterson from North Palm Beach, Florida, via Wikimedia Commons

Jelaluddin Rumi

One Light: Jelaluddin Rumi

May 4, 2017
The Nomads Tent, Edinburgh, UK

An informal evening dinner followed by the poetry and stories of Jelaluddin Rumi with storytellers Ashley Ramsden and Flora Pethybridge.

The Ways of the Heart I

25th February – 19th May 2022

The One Calling the Many: the first Ways of the Heart course exploring a spiritual life and unified perspective in the contemporary world.

NB. This course will be held at GMT.

Contact: besharacourses@beshara.org

Jonah and the whale

Beyond Religion?

Saturday March 11, 2017

A seminar exploring the relevance of the story of Jonah to the contemporary world, facilitated by David Hornsby at the October Gallery, London.

The Alchemy of Human Happiness

December 7th, 2019 (2–5pm)
Rudolf Steiner House, London UK

An introduction to a new translation of a core chapter from Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi’s Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya with the translator, Stephen Hirtenstein.

What is a well-integrated spirituality? The practical wisdom of Ibn ʿArabī

September 12, 2018 (6.30pm)
Sydney, Australia

A talk by Jane Clark exploring some of the practical implications of Muhyiddin Ibn ʿArabī’s teaching, and asking how can we integrate these into our lives in the 21st century?

Mysticism in Comparative Perspectives

December 14 – 16, 2016

A conference at the University of Glasgow seeking to renew the comparative study of mysticism

Singleness, Oneness & Singularity

Speaker: Avi Abadi

Saturday 15th July 2023
2:00-5:00pm BST
The October Gallery

The metaphysics of unity according to Ibn ‘Arabi

 

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.

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.

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?

Ibn ‘Arabi Study Retreat: The Ground of Beneficence

August 26 – September 2, 2017
Chisholme Institute, Scottish Borders, UK

Meaning and relevance in the ‘Twenty-Nine Pages’ and the chapter on Loqman from the ‘Fusus al Hikam’

Know Yourself & The 29 Pages

Weekly from 18th September 2022
Sundays
13:00–14:30 PST

Online study exploring the oneness of being in the teachings of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi