Historical Notes

In the 1960's a revolution in consciousness began which gave rise to a sea-change in how humanity sees itself. Initially in the west, and predominantly youth-based, this movement had world-wide implications. This was a time of great questioning of the established order, and above all there emerged the feeling that there was more to life and another way to be than simply continuing in the ways of previous generations.

One of the places where this revolution began was England, and it was to England that Bulent Rauf, later to be Consultant to the Beshara School, was directed in the mid-1960's. Born in Istanbul, Bulent had received a traditional Ottoman education. He then went on to receive the best of 'Western' education at Cornell and Yale in the US. All this came on top of what he called an 'atavistic' esoteric education, his family on both sides steeped in the inner, esoteric knowledge of the unity of all existence as propounded by the great mystics of the Middle East. Bulent recognised the need for ideas and insights that had been the sole preserve of a few mystics and spiritual masters, to become part of an education available to all and, with this in mind, was instrumental in the establishment of the Beshara School.

To summarise a long and intricate story, Beshara came about to promote the principle of the unity of existence and its cultural implications to all who might benefit. This knowledge is the essential ingredient in the esoteric development of each person, so that first one knows that one has an aim and then that one reaches this aim. This aim – our purpose here in this life – is to come to know our real identity and consequently to know what may be called God, the Real, our essential humanity, Buddha Nature or whatever. It was for this reason that in 1971, the Beshara Trust was founded, and the Beshara Centre set up at Swyre Farm, in Gloucestershire, headed initially by Reshad Feild (see  Swyre Farm on Facebook, only accessible to Facebook users) The Beshara School was established at the Chisholme Institute in the Scottish Borders in 1975. Since that time, hundreds of students have come from all over the world to spend time at Chisholme, as students or working as volunteers. Here they are immersed in an environment of living study, undertaking an education devoted in every detail to the fact and truth of the unity of existence.

A number of independent groups and charitable organizations set up by students of the Beshara School now also offer courses and study groups in many locations worldwide. 

A recent development is the establishment of the Self Knowledge Global Responsibility Project, which aims to educate and in particular to raise greater awareness about the connection between individual self-knowledge, sustainable development and civic responsibility.

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