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Issue 6 Summer 1988 BESHARA KATHlEEN RAINE The Puer Eternis PETER YOUNG The New JOHN BARROW The New Cosmology WILLIS HARMAN For a New Society, A New Economics plus the Global Survival Conference, The Visit of the Dalai Lama, Stephen Hirtenstein on The Abrahamic Tradition, dom Sylvester Houedard on Meister Eckhart, Richard Twinch on Paul Davies' 'The Cosmic Blueprint', reviews of books on Zen and Science, Visual Islamic Arts at the Royal College of Art and more ... Ismail Hakki Bursevi's translation of and commentary on FUSUS AL-HIKAM by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi rendered into English by BULENT RAUF with the help of R. Brass and H. Tollemache The Fusus al-Hikam is one of Ibn 'Arabi's most important works. It consists of twenty-seven chapters, each treating a unique aspect or 'bezel' of the Divine Wisdom as exemplified in a particular prophet in the line from Adam to Muhammed. Volume 2, just published, includes chapters on Noah, Idris (Enoch), Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. Volume 1, consisting of Ismail Hakki Bursevi's Introduction and chapters on Adam and Seth, is still available. "This book is beyond ordinary measure. It is beyond the general run of mystical writings and it is more than just a book of meanings. It is to do with the very meaning of meanings, with the meanings, the realities and the knowledges of God... " from Rosemary Brass's Foreword to Volume 2 Hardback £40.00 (including postage worldwide) A vailable from all good bookshops and from the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society, 23 Oakthorpe Road, Oxford OX2 7BD, England BESHARA BESHARA THE MAGAZINE OF THE BESHARA TRUST Issue 6 Summer 1988 NEWS FEATURES Islamic Art and Spirituality J by S. H. Nasr 2 9 Reviewed by Layla Shamash Global Survival The Puer Eternis Temenos The Global Conference of Religious Kathleen Raine discusses the meaning 9 and Parliamentary Leaders was held in of this archetypal figure and the contri­ Christine Hill Oxford in April. bution of lung to modern thought. 35 4 13 The Visit of the Dalai Lama EXHIBITIONS The New Visual Islamic Arts A report on the nine day visit to the UK Peter Young Richard Twinch reviews this year's during April. degree show at the Royal College of 14 Art. For a New Society, a New Economics Or Willis W. Harman. President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. California. considers the great changes taking place in the global economy. 19 TII" \-\'orhrs moSI admll('('d Ie/(,S(,OI)(', IIIl' AlIglo· The New Cosmology Americall (AA T) al Sit/lie\' S"rillg, Nc\-\' SOlllll Or lohn Barrow reveals the latest sci­ I �cs. AlIslrolia, PllOlogrol'" hr .Iamic SII""IIerd. The Opening of the Samye­ entific ideas on the expanding Universe, whether the universe is infinite or finite, Ling Temple BESHARA and Crealio ex Nihifo. 24 Sidney Street, Oxford OX4 3AG. A traditional Tibetan temple will open Telephone: Oxford (0865) 243406 in the Scottish border country in Fax: Oxford (0865) 722103 August. ISSN 0954-0067 REVIEWS 6 EDITOR: lane Clark. 26 ASSISTANT EDITORS: Alison Yian­ Swedenborg's Tricentenary BOOKS gou, Cecilia Twinch. I I ART EDITOR: Lesley Abadi 7 The Cosmic Blueprint ILLUSTRATIONS: lulia Dry, Ruth Kenner, Evelyn Morrison Terra Sancta by Paul Oavies ADMINISTRATION: ludy Keams Stephen Hirtenstein considers Reviewed by Richard Twinch the COVER DESIGN: Lesley Abadi after a Abrahamic Tradition painting by Mondrian New Books on Meister Eckhart dom Sylvester Houedard BESHARA is published by the Beshara Trust. a registered educational Books on Zen Regular Features charity, No.296769. Letters 2S Martin Notcutt Beshara Trust News 37 Copyri/iht on all articles is held hy The New Books on Science Beshara Trust, Permission Jor multiple Notes on Contributors 38 lane Clark photo-copyin/i and reprintin/i is required. SPRING 1988 BESHARA Global Survival NEWS GLOBAL SURVIVAL Religious and political leaders acknowledge dependence and stewardship. by Martin Notcutt ometimes I call our planet 'mother"'. said the Dalai Lama. "BSecause of the planet we human beings came into existence. Now it seems as though our mother is telling us .. My chil­ dren. my dear children. behave in a more harmonious way. My children. please take care of me.' "We arc approaching the next century. the 21 st century. I feel it is extremely im­ portant to seriously consider long-term The Earth as seen from abolle the Pacific Ocean. Taken by returlling Apollo 2 astronauts. benef it rather than short-term interest. I think our time has come to think very plenary sessions. addressed by speakers purpose') carefully about this matter. on various themes. These were fo llowed "What we must do now is well within "When wc talk about global crisis. or a by work ing sessions during which dele­ our power. but it cannot be done merely by crisis of human i ty. we cannot blame Cl few gates divided into groups to discuss the hoping. It re4uires serious changes. not politicians. a few fanatics or a few troub­ issues. During the fourth and fi fth plenary just in our ways of thinking but in our way lemakers. The whole o I'humanity has a re­ sessions. a final statement of aims and 0" doing. It re4uires political action." sponsibility because this is our business. intent was jointly drawn up. human business. I call this a sense of universal responsibility." IN THE SAME SHIP The Dalai Lama was speaking at the CHAN(;E WA Y OF DOING Among the political delegates present Global Conference of Spiritual and Par­ Carl Sagan' s contribution was to spell out wcre scicntists from the Soviet Union. liamentary Leaders on Human Survival. some biological aspects of the crisis. Ac­ who stressed the importance of nuclear which was held in Oxford from I I-15th cording to him. the threat to human sur­ disarmament. They saw progress in that Apri l. 19XX. The culmination of more vival has three main sources: the growth direction being achieved through the cur­ than 0 years work by the Global Forum of of man' s powers in the physical world. the rent negotiations between governments. Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on pressure of expanding human popula­ However this had to be extended by the Human Survival. it brought together 200 tions. and above all the ignorance or indif­ mobilisation of a worldwide intellectual religious and political representatives ference of people. Sagan detailed some of potential. from 50 countries. Delegates included the threats to life that come just from our Valentino Tereshkova, the Soviet cos­ well known figures such as The Arch­ ordinary collective activities of seeking to monaut said. "Human beings had to break bishop of Canterbury. Mother Teresa of keep warm. eat. travel. etc. These now out into space to realise how beautiful is Calcutta. the astrophysicist Carl Sagan. make a much greater impact on the envi­ their cradle. planet Earth. But it is small, Dr Evguenij Velikhov of the Soviet Acad­ ronment than they did before. Of the fragile and defenceless as well. While in emy of Sciences and the Secretary-Gen­ nuclear arms race he said, "The United space one tends to think about the Earth. It eral of the United Nations. Perez de States and the Soviet Union have booby­ comes in the images of people who are Cue liar. They also included Sheikh trapped the world with 60,000 nuclear near and dear. our k in and kith. who incar­ Ahmed of Kuftaro, the Grand Mufti of weapons ... nate for each and every one of us the Damascus. Dr Karen Singh (the founder "The visions we present to our children nucleus of People. Motherland. Human­ of the Virat Hindu Samaj in New Delhi) s/lIJpe the future. Our children (and we ity. and a party from the Hoppi Nation in ourselves) long for realistic maps of a " These moral values are recognised by Arizona. future that they and we can be proud of. all people regardless of their race. politi­ The conference consisted of a series of Where are the cartographers of human cal conviction and religious beliefs. We 2 ISSUE 6 Global Survival BESHARA can preserve those values only by pooling spiritual nature of humanity and recog­ "I believe that people of all faiths share our efforts. by seeing ourselves as a crew nise the 'divine spark' in all human sufficient common ground to recover for of one spaceship - planet Earth." beings ... human kind two necessary qualities for "We must learn to affirm together the our survival. The first is reverence ...The centrality of the spiritual in our various second and related quality necessary for SHARED CONCERNS traditions, and that the unity of all human survival is cooperation." Several delegates pointed out that this beings is grounded in an ultimate unity conference was not an isolated event. which is greater than the recognition of it NO STOPPING PLACE Mention was made of the gatherings in in each of our traditions ... There were certain recurrent themes in the Assisi in 1986, where the spiritual heads "We need. as never before, to share our conference. One was the image of the of all the world's faiths met. and of the diffe rent spiritualities with each other. Earth seen from space, which has done so first meeting of the World Congress of Our world is in danger of being pervaded much to precipitate the sentiment for the Faiths. convened by Sir Francis by a widespread pessimism about the world as one world. Another was the need Younghusband in Oxford in 1937. future of humankind. There is a dimin­ to begin from what people love. and to One contribution came from a group ished sense that our problems can be re­ draw upon the capacity to extend that called The InterAction Council.
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