March 2014 Newsletter

Dear Friends

Hello from Chisholme. The yellow aconites are budding, snowdrops are brightening quiet corners, and spring seems not so far away...

A warm thank-you to all who sent greetings over the Christmas and New Year’s period. It is wonderful to visit Chisholme, and read some of the cards dotted around the house, hear your news and appreciate how close we can be to each other, even if separated by thousands of miles, and often many years of absence.  

Below you can find out about courses, talks and study programmes for the months ahead, and a few other things which might be of interest to you.

Discovering Unity

The course of 7 evening classes on Discovering Unity is proving to be an invaluable new resource for many groups and individuals around the world, with courses running at the moment, or starting soon in Edinburgh, Oxford, Bristol, Istanbul, Maastrich, and California, and hopefully, in the near future, also in Australia. For details see here...

Going deeper

The On-line based two year Modular Programme offers a wonderful opportunity to walk this way of Discovering Unity more deeply. Students from as far afield as the Netherlands, Pakistan, Israel and the UK embarked on the first course last summer, learning together despite living far apart from each other, and helping to shape and develop this new way of learning.

Applications are now invited for the next course, starting in the summer of 2015.

Applications are also invited for the next Intensive Six-month Residential Study Retreat at Chisholme House, which will start in October 2015.

The Beshara Development Office

It is continuing to build and strengthen the links between the different groups and bodies, nationally and internationally, and to seek wider representation. It has its own pages on the website, where recent news and minutes of meetings are posted.

Job opportunities

Making Beshara and the education it has to offer better known is of course a joy and pleasure for all who hold it dear. However, there is need also for focused attention in certain areas. There are many ways to get involved, depending on personal inclination and experience If you have interest in publicity or public relations, and some spare time, then please read on…

Talks and Seminars

London, Bristol and Edinburgh continue with their lively and very diverse programme of events,  while ‘Rumi in the Present’ will be the subject of a talk and discussion in NSW Australia.

Chisholme House

It is making the most of its extensive residential facilities and beautiful, ‘away from it all’ location to offer a wonderful Summer Programme. Highlights are a series of one-week intensive retreats entitled ‘The Way of Oneness’ and ‘Foundations of Natural Intelligence; a new fortnightly programmefor Volunteers starting in May; times set aside simply to be, in nature; an in-depth study week on Jesus, the Wisdom of Elevation; Mindfulness courses and Adventure into Food and Cooking…

January Conversation Week: brought over 20 people together to focus deeply on the subject of ‘Clearing the Space’. Great help came from a quote by Rumi, which explained the task for the week: ‘The Task? To work with all the passion of your being to acquire an inner light, so you escape and are safe from the fires of madness, illusion, and confusion that are, and always will be, the world. …’

Notes from the course, and Feedback from participants, are on the website in the Alumni Section. Click here…

For recent news from Chisholme, look at the new website page created in the Chisholme section. Follow this link… 

Conversation/Gathering

Last but not least: To all who love Beshara – you are invited to a Gathering at Chisholme at the beginning of September. The Gathering will be on the theme of preparing for the future. More details nearer to the time. 

As this concerns all who hold Beshara dear, we hope very much that you will be able to come.

If you cannot, and many of us will not be able to come from distant continents or for other reasons, we are hoping that you will still be able to participate in another way. Similar local gatherings might be arranged, so that everyone who wants can be included.

Please put the dates (1–7 Sept) in your diary now!

Aliya, who usually sends out the Newsletters, is away for a month, so apologies if I have missed anything out.  Please everyone, keep in touch. Write in with news from your part of the world, which might be of wider interest. It can then be collated by Aliya for the next newsletter.

With love from

Frances, and the Publicity and Communication Team