Calendar

Discovering Unity: a seven week class

12 April 2013 to 25 May 2013
Mill Valley, Marin County, California; USA
Beshara School

 

A course combining theory and practice, group investigation and private contemplation, uncovering some of the profound meanings entailed in being human.

Our premise is the ultimate unity of all existence. The course's development reflects this unity as it reveals itself by degrees in our everyday experience, as light and love, knowledge and beauty. It is a journey of self-enquiry and discovery of the unified whole that is our human nature.

The course is offered by alumni of the Beshara School and is based on material and a structure developed by the School for the completely independent use of its students.

Venue: Meetings will take place in Mill Valley, Marin County, in a private home

Dates: April 12 - May 25, 2014 
1 Saturday, April 12, 5pm - 7:30pm
6 Sundays, April 20 - May 25, 12:00pm - 2:30pm

Course fees: $175, enrollment will be limited to approximately 10 students.
Course fees are kept to a minimum and include a light dinner for the first meeting - for subsequent Sundays potlucks will be arranged with the student body. Please contact us in case of financial hardship.

Course Supervisors: Nick Yiangou and Maren Gleason

To apply, and for further details, please send email to 
nickyiangou@comcast.net

A phone conversation with a Course Supervisor can also be arranged for anyone seeking further details or wishing to better understand course outcomes.

The course consists of seven meetings held weekly, together with personal enquiry through selected readings, audio, video and contemplative daily practice at home. Its inspiration and direction derive principally from the teachings of two spiritual giants of the 13th Century, Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi and Jalaluddin Rumi.

The course material and its method have been distilled from forty years experience of running Beshara School courses at Chisholme House in the Scottish Borders.

Syllabus

The meetings will start with a guided mindfulness meditation, followed by 'checking in' and discussing any questions, feelings and insights which may have arisen during the previous week. After a short break, the week's new theme will be introduced, with discussion and notes relating to the theme including texts, artwork, film and audio material, as well as specific questions to contemplate over the week.

Week 1: Beginning from the Beginning:
 How can we create an ideal space, within ourselves and as a group, for this course to happen? How can we establish 'beginners mind'?

Week 2: The One and the Many, Being and Consciousness:
 An exploration of the principle of unity and its relationship to diversity and multiple points of view.

Week 3: The Human Reality and Experience:
 What is the place of the human being and how do we experience unity in everyday life?

Week 4: Relationships: What is the nature of relationship, be it to ourselves, to others, to the earth and its other inhabitants or to God and reality?

Week 5: Closing the Shop that Sells Fishhooks:
 What kind of work is required to realise our essential reality and to become free of our habitual mindsets?

Week 6: Love & Beauty:
 What do we mean when we speak of love and what is its relationship to knowledge, service and beauty?

Week 7: Conclusions and Beginnings:
 A final meeting to address endings, new beginnings and to tie up as many loose ends as possible.

 

A course combining theory and practice, group investigation and private contemplation, uncovering some of the profound meanings entailed in being human.

Our premise is the ultimate unity of all existence. The course's development reflects this unity as it reveals itself by degrees in our everyday experience, as light and love, knowledge and beauty. It is a journey of self-enquiry and discovery of the unified whole that is our human nature.

The course is offered by alumni of the Beshara School and is based on material and a structure developed by the School for the completely independent use of its students.

Venue: Meetings will take place in Mill Valley, Marin County, in a private home

Dates: April 12 - May 25, 2014 
1 Saturday, April 12, 5pm - 7:30pm
6 Sundays, April 20 - May 25, 12:00pm - 2:30pm

Course fees: $175, enrollment will be limited to approximately 10 students.
Course fees are kept to a minimum and include a light dinner for the first meeting - for subsequent Sundays potlucks will be arranged with the student body. Please contact us in case of financial hardship.

Course Supervisors: Nick Yiangou and Maren Gleason

To apply, and for further details, please send email to 
nickyiangou@comcast.net

A phone conversation with a Course Supervisor can also be arranged for anyone seeking further details or wishing to better understand course outcomes.

The course consists of seven meetings held weekly, together with personal enquiry through selected readings, audio, video and contemplative daily practice at home. Its inspiration and direction derive principally from the teachings of two spiritual giants of the 13th Century, Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi and Jalaluddin Rumi.

The course material and its method have been distilled from forty years experience of running Beshara School courses at Chisholme House in the Scottish Borders.

Syllabus

The meetings will start with a guided mindfulness meditation, followed by 'checking in' and discussing any questions, feelings and insights which may have arisen during the previous week. After a short break, the week's new theme will be introduced, with discussion and notes relating to the theme including texts, artwork, film and audio material, as well as specific questions to contemplate over the week.

Week 1: Beginning from the Beginning:
 How can we create an ideal space, within ourselves and as a group, for this course to happen? How can we establish 'beginners mind'?

Week 2: The One and the Many, Being and Consciousness:
 An exploration of the principle of unity and its relationship to diversity and multiple points of view.

Week 3: The Human Reality and Experience:
 What is the place of the human being and how do we experience unity in everyday life?

Week 4: Relationships: What is the nature of relationship, be it to ourselves, to others, to the earth and its other inhabitants or to God and reality?

Week 5: Closing the Shop that Sells Fishhooks:
 What kind of work is required to realise our essential reality and to become free of our habitual mindsets?

Week 6: Love & Beauty:
 What do we mean when we speak of love and what is its relationship to knowledge, service and beauty?

Week 7: Conclusions and Beginnings:
 A final meeting to address endings, new beginnings and to tie up as many loose ends as possible.

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