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Middle Price Deadline July 12th
Take advantage of our middle price for the upcoming Esoteric Quest conference in Granada, Spain. To register click here or contact Andrea Lomanto at 212-219-2527x101 or write quest@opencenter.org.
A Message from Andrea Lomanto, Conference Registration Director
Hello, and welcome to our fourth Esoteric Quest newsletter*! My name is Andrea Lomanto, and I am the Registration Director for our Esoteric Quest in Andalusia. I know many of you from our time together last year in the Czech Republic and Germany where I also organized registration; others I remember from our conference in Florence, where I had traveled as an Open Center staff person with my then ten-year old son.
I must say that it has been a great pleasure to speak with so many of you over these past few months about our upcoming conference. In our conversations, I’ve been able to get a sense of just what it is that so many of you are responding to, as more and more folks register to join us in September. And what it seems to me is that people are finding themselves strongly drawn to an example of a period and place in history where Islam, Judaism and Christianity not only co-existed harmoniously, but also inspired and informed each other, and they are deeply eager to challenge the assumption of an inherent conflict among these three traditions at our own critical point in time.
And that all this takes place amidst the whitewashed walls and potted orange blossoms, within reach of the snowy Sierras and under the brilliantly azure sky of southern Spain, a land of such beauty and cultural richness, only sweetens the experience.
I am grateful to be able to participate again in such a project. For what expands one’s vistas, challenges pre-conceptions, calls forth inner resources, and humbles a person, as does travel? Where else are we offered such a concentrated opportunity to practice grace in the face of the unexpected, the unfamiliar, the not-according-to-plan, or to experience wonder and awe and connection in the face of the same?
In the spirit of smooth sailing (or flying), I’d like to share some practical suggestions that have enhanced my travels over time. First, the plane. This might be stating the obvious, but one of the best ways to stave off jet lag is water, water, and more water. Remember to stay hydrated on the plane, to avoid (or keep to a bare minimum) alcohol, and to stretch! And for those overnight flights, whether or not you were able to fall asleep during your plane ride, remember to hold off on sleeping until the night time of your first day in Spain to help your body adjust more naturally to the new time zone. And finally, while this is not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional, I also have found that taking along grapefruit seed extract capsules, non-refrigerated probiotic acidophilus, and garlic capsules, are a tremendous aid to keeping the digestive system happy in new environments.
So, till next we meet, please note that July 12 is the deadline for mid-rate registration, and July 18 is the deadline to register for Marrakech and be able to fly together as a group. Pre-conference welcome packets will be out in mid-to-late July with forms to fill out and return to me, and details about our first night in Granada. And also know that I look so very forward to meeting you all, as we bring our most open-hearted selves, all that we are and all that we seek to share, over to Spain, and into Morocco, for a genuinely transformative week, or weeks, to come.
Andrea Lomanto, is, among other things, a visual and theater artist, a visiting artist in the NYC public schools, and the Membership Coordinator at the Open Center where she has been a staff member for over ten years. She is also a certified yoga teacher having recently completed the The Open Center’s Prana Yoga Teacher Training.
*To see the our other newsletters please click here.
Faculty Spotlight
Stephen Hirtenstein, M.A., is the author of The Unlimited Mercifier, a spiritual biography of Ibn ‘Arabi, and co-translator of two treatises by Ibn ‘Arabi, Divine Sayings and The Seven Days of the Heart. He has been the editor of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society’s Journal since its inception in 1982 and is a co-founder of Anqa Publishing.
Besides being an author, editor and lecturer you are a co-founder of Anqa Publishing, can you tell us about that company?
Anqa Publishing is dedicated to publishing works by and about Ibn ‘Arabi and those who have followed in his footsteps – it is a very broad brief as that includes not only the large number of works he himself wrote (nearly 300 in his reckoning, of which probably over 100 have survived) but also almost all the major spiritual masters in the Islamic world since his time! Ibn ‘Arabi has been revered for centuries in the Islamic world, but has gone largely unnoticed outside that sphere, perhaps because he wrote in Arabic and perhaps because his work has been considered only suitable for the spiritual elite. Of course it is a voice that urgently needs to be heard in our times, as it has given expression to the noblest human realities and the profoundest insights.
There has been a burgeoning interest in Ibn ‘Arabi as scholars begin to take an interest in his work, and glimpse his importance for today’s world. So far we have been able to publish 5 of Ibn ‘Arabi’s shorter works and 2 studies of his writings, as well as one of the first major studies of a 16th-century Ottoman master, who was one of the great interpreters of Ibn ‘Arabi. We are hoping to be able to bring out more of these shorter works every year, in as beautiful a way as possible to reflect their content.
Your afternoon workshop at the conference is titled "Rumi and Ibn ‘Arabi: The Meeting-Place of Two Seas" please tell us a little bit about your thoughts on the connection between Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi.
It has always fascinated me that these two spiritual giants should have been near-contemporaries and had such close links: Ibn ‘Arabi belonged to the generation before Rumi, but his foremost disciple and spiritual heir, Sadruddin Qunawi (Konevi), was Rumi’s best friend. There are also stories of a meeting between Ibn ‘Arabi and Rumi in person, but whether this actually happened or not, their teachings certainly overlapped. All three were instruments of a gathering of energies, a movement to reunify Muslim hearts, and the synergy of the two schools which they represent is at the origin of a powerful revival of Islamic thought: one might say that they refounded Muslim thought on a more universal level, in conformity with the true spirit of the Quran.
There are many parallels in their lives as well: they both left their homelands, one from the West and one from the East, and settled in the resurgent cultures of the Middle East; their writings were immense outpourings, one in Arabic and the other in Persian, one primarily in prose, the other in verse and so on.
The title of the talk also alludes to a deeper, inner connection between them as exemplars of the Complete Human, but that will have to wait for September!
There is a book by Ibn 'Arabi called "Sufis of Andalusia" can you tell us about it and a few thoughts on Sufism in Al Andalus?
The book known in English as “Sufis of Andalusia” (which is actually an extract of a much longer work by Ibn ‘Arabi) is an intimate portrait of the men and women who acted as teachers and companions to Ibn ‘Arabi when he was in al-Andalus – he wrote it apparently to show the Sufis of the east (Mecca, Baghdad, Anatolia etc) that there were special masters living in the west who were at least their equal. It is a wonderful evocation of the actual teaching going on at the time, from an insider’s perspective, and especially valuable as hardly any of these people are known in other sources.
There are stories of Ibn ‘Arabi’s discussions and meetings with them, and interestingly it includes two women teachers who Ibn ‘Arabi particularly admired – and they demonstrated to him that spirituality was open to men and women equally, a point which he stresses quite forcefully in his later writings. It also gives us a glimpse of the rich tradition of Islam in the Maghrib at this time, very alive and profound and full of character – quite different to the picture provided by history books...
You will be the guide of our post conference trip to Andalusia, what are some of the plans and how the tour will be in the footsteps of Ibn 'Arabi?
The first four days will be devoted to two of the great centres of al-Andalus: the caliphal capital of Cordoba, with its glorious Great Mosque still standing, and just outside, the spectacular palace of Medina al-Zahra (in many ways an even more amazing structure than the Alhambra); and the bustling provincial capital of Seville, home to Ibn ‘Arabi and many of his contemporaries. The second part of the trip will then open out onto vistas of the wonderful countryside of Andalusia, mountains, gorges, seas (with time for swimming...), as well as ruins and fortresses (and windmills!).
According to Ibn ‘Arabi, “spiritual wandering consists of travelling across the earth to meditate on the spectacle of vestiges of centuries gone by and nations that have passed away.” So in that sense the post-conference trip is really planned as a kind of investigative meditation. We can read first-hand accounts of people and events that bring these places alive in a completely different way. There are no tombs of saints left, and most of the physical presence of al-Andalus has been submerged under layers of catholicised Spain, quite literally sometimes several feet below the surface of the modern towns. Yet there is a buried history within the places we visit, which we can penetrate into by an exercise of sensitive imagination and openness: by reading and contemplating stories of spiritual events/discussions which took place in these places, we can gain a different insight into that time. For example, in Seville we will be able to see how people have continuously worshipped Truth in different forms in the Iglesia de San Salvador, where archaeologists have uncovered a Roman temple, a Visigothic church, a mosque, a church dedicated to the Virgin and then the current church of Jesus the Saviour, one built on top of the other over the ages.
On one of the previous trips I have taken round Andalusia, one person summed up the trip beautifully as “travelling while standing still”, following the threads of meanings inwardly at the same time as traversing plains and hills in an air-conditioned coach.
(For more information about the post conference trip to Andalucia please click here).
Lastly, how is Ibn 'Arabi viewed in today’s Muslim world?
Throughout the Muslim world Ibn ‘Arabi is still extremely well known – you can easily buy copies of his works in most good bookshops in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, Istanbul, Tehran etc (although the Arabic texts are often unfortunately full of mistakes). In some Muslim countries he is seen as the key to true spiritual understanding while in others he is viewed as a controversial figure, either being venerated as one of the greatest saints within Islam or criticised as too dangerous or difficult for ordinary believers. However, the number of people who actually read his writings is quite small, so people’s attitudes are often formed by hearsay rather than real engagement and reflection. Increasingly, he is being viewed as a symbol of the true universal spirit of Islam, in contrast to the narrow aberration of fundamentalism.
Faculty Update
Unfortunately,
Pierre Lory will not be able to join us for our conference. The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has informed him that he has been appointed as head for the
Arabic studies at the French Institute in
Damascus
and he will have to be in
Syria
by the beginning of September.
We are thrilled to announce that Brian Cotnoir
will be replacing him. Author Brian Cotnoir is a dedicated Alchemist who has
been working in the field for over thirty years. His first full-length book is The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy. He has
contributed several articles to Parachemy:
Journal of Hermetic Arts and Sciences, the alchemical laboratory bulletin
of Frater Albertus. He is currently hard at work on completing his magnum opus,
Alchemy: The Poetry of Matter. What
others are saying about Brian’s book:
"Brian
Cotnoir's book provides an excellent and rare Ariadne's thread, allowing the
reader to safely penetrate the labyrinthine mysteries of alchemy, and an
excellent concise method to elucidate its enigmatic wonders and the practical possibility
to discover its secrets. I highly recommend it."
--
Stanislas Klossowski de Rolla, author of The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings
of the Seventeenth Century and Alchemy: The Secret Art
"This
is a lucid and sympathetic introduction to the inner and outer hermetic art of
alchemy written by someone with a deep knowledge and love of the subject. Brian
Cotnoir is committed to upholding the spiritual purpose hebind practical
alchemical endeavour and his book is an indispensable guide to the Great Work.”
-- Nicholas
Goodrich-Clarke, Professor of Western Esotericism, The University of Exeter,
and speaker for The Esoteric Quest.
Upcoming Events of Interest at The New York Open Center:
Learning Conversational Spanish: An Intensive
Bernardo Palombo
El Taller Latino Americano’s conversation-focused Spanish classes have long been recognized as among the best and most effective in NYC. Its unique acoustic method, developed specifically to teach Spanish to English speakers by Taller’s founder and Artistic Director, Bernardo Palombo, integrates cultural information, artifacts and events into its curriculum. The method uses songs, poems, music and videos.
The beginning of each class will be dedicated to grammar exposition and verb drills in a “call and response” format; then we will focus on developing conversational ability, including idiomatic phrases and the most-used verbs. Join us, and you will be communicating in Spanish quicker than you ever thought possible.
Field Trips: Go on optional weekend field trips to various locations that demonstrate Latin cultural diversity in NYC. Visit the studio of artist Angelo Romano, sample an art class in Spanish, attend Tango night with a master teacher, learn Dominican drumming and the first steps of Merengue, and be introduced to a Latino restaurant and its legendary cuisine.
This class is perfect for beginners. Enrollment is limited.
Note: An additional $15 (to be paid directly to Bernado Palombo) will be required for each field trip that is taught with an additional instructor (e.g., tango, art). These special field trips also require a minimum of 10 participants.
A WEEKLY COURSE
(8 sessions, meeting twice a week)
Tuesdays, July 10–July 31, 8–10pm
Thursdays, July 12–August 2, 8–10pm
07SPS51T Approved for CEUs
Open Center Members $270 / Nonmembers $290
Practique Cantando-Improve Your Spanish by Singing
Bernardo Palombo
This class was designed for students who already have some working knowledge of the Spanish language. In it, we will learn new vocabulary and how to improve our rhythm and pronunciation through the singing of 16 different well-known songs, composed by artists from throughout the Caribbean and South America (including such traditional popular songs as Las Mañanitas, Volver and La Tierra del Olvido). Besides greatly improving our language skills, we will also be increasing our knowledge of the different cultures of the Americas. Here’s a great opportunity to dramatically improve your Spanish, find new avenues of self-expression, and have a lot of fun. Enrollment is limited.
A WEEKLY COURSE
(4 sessions, meeting twice a week)
Tuesdays, August 7 & 14, 8–10pm
Thursdays, August 9 & 16, 8–10pm
07SPS52T Approved for CEUs
Open Center Members $135 / Nonmembers $145
Bernardo Palombo, a long-time, successful Latin songwriter and composer, has over 30 years’ teaching experience, including at the New School and Sarah Lawrence, has written songs for Sesame Street and founded the groundbreaking acoustic language instruction and cultural center, El Taller Latino Americano in 1979. www.tallerlatino.org
To register for either course please see www.opencenter.org or call 212-219-2527
Event of Interest Outside of The Open Center:
Cities of
Light: The Rise & Fall of Islamic
Spain
National
Broadcast on PBS
August 22nd
Click here to see a trailer
Caliphs & Kings: Art and Influence of Islamic Spain
Smithsonian Institution Online Exhibit
Click here to see it now
Help Us Spread the Word
Postcards: we have some extra postcards announcing
the conference. If you can help us distribute some or know of a good location
for them please let us know by writing to: quest@opencenter.org.
List Serves/ Links: Do you know of some good list
serves that we should send our information to? Or do you know of a good
organization we can link to? Again, please let us know at quest@opencenter.org.
Website: Please send your friends to our website at www.esotericquest.org.
Newsletter: Did you enjoy this newsletter? If so
please forward it to a friend.
The Esoteric Quest is presented by
The New York Open Center, a non-profit holistic learning center offering
evening events, full-day workshops, ongoing classes, advanced trainings, and
graduate degree opportunities.
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| The Quest News
4th Edition,
July, 2007
Quest news is produced to introduce you to our staff and faculty and as well to pass on exciting information about thee upcoming Esoteric Quest.
Our conference will be a quest for the beauty and spiritual philosophy of medieval Andalusia when a culture of tolerance among Moslems, Christians and Jews produced works of enduring spiritual and artistic genius.
Outstanding speakers and scholars from Spain, France, Britain and the United States will address the Zohar, the Sufis of Andalusia, Ibn ‘Arabi and Rumi, the knowledge system of Ramon Lull, and the place of Spain and Islam in the Grail stories. Evenings will be filled with poetry, flamenco, and music that emerged from the blending of ‘Las Tres Culturas’.
The conference will be taking place September 15th-20th in Granada, Spain.
Please see www.esotericquest.org for more information.
* Middle Price Deadline
* Message from the Conference Registration Director
* Faculty Spotlight
* Faculty Update
* Upcoming Events at the Open Center and Beyond
* Help Spread the Word
The Esoteric Quest is presented by The New York Open Center, a non-profit holistic learning center offering
evening events, full-day workshops, ongoing classes, advanced trainings, and
graduate degree opportunities.
Alhambra Palace overlooking Granada
Ronda and its gorge
Court of the Myrtles, the Alhambre Palace
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