Temenos Academy Newsletter October 2021
Temenos Academy
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TEMENOS ACADEMY
PATRON HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES
NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2021
LECTURE PROGRAMME
Dante and Spiritual Intelligence The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, who died 700 years ago this year, is many things: a personal crisis, a diatribe against corruption, an unsurpassed poem, a celebration of love. But as it is celebrated this year, it’s possible that its heart, as Dante described it, is side-lined or overlooked. He called it realising that ‘I am more than I am’, discovered by journeying through three domains of reality. So what is the nature of this perceptual expanse and how does it come about? The lecture will examine the transformation Dante underwent, which human beings can still undergo. It will focus on what might be called the emergence of Dante's spiritual intelligence, which is different though not divided from his rational and emotional intelligence. Spiritual intelligence knows many things: that descent and ascent are intimately linked; that time can be experienced in dramatically different ways; that virtues are crucial not so much for moral reasons but because they connect with reality; that the whole of life is one life, unified not through uniformity but, as Dante describes it, like a book of many leaves bound by love, each with its part. Mark Vernon is a psychotherapist and writer, based in London. He has a PhD in philosophy, and degrees in theology and physics. He is the author of A Secret History of Christianity (John Hunt Publishing), which focuses on Owen Barfield; and of Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey (Angelico Press), published on 13 September 2021, the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. He began his professional life as a priest in the Church of England. In the chair Dr Jeremy Naydler
Leonardo’s Adoration of the Magi This lecture will explore the traditional iconography, Leonardo’s originality, what subsequently happened to the picture, the Gospel background, and the esoteric significance of this now recently cleaned masterpiece. This ‘unfinished’ work raises questions about the biography and the genius of the artist. Sometimes the concept “unfinished” is rightly applied knowing the intentions of the artist, and sometimes to the more or less legitimate expectations of a patron or later viewers. There is also a sense in which a work of art merits being seen simply as it is today. It is indeed a salient, if also unexpected, characteristic of the Renaissance that the art is not complete until the observer becomes active in the process of beholding. Leonardo, more than any of his contemporaries, challenges us to engage with him and dare to collaborate in the artistic process he began. Andrew Wolpert’s research in Renaissance Art History is part of a wider interest in the Evolution of Consciousness as expressed in all the arts. He has taught at Emerson College and the University in Stuttgart for Waldorf Teacher Training. In the chair Ian Skelly Venue The Lincoln Centre, 18 Lincoln’s Inn
Fields, London WC2A 3ED Admission free Advance booking only please – space
is limited Covid-19 requirements The rules of the venue will apply and we may ask that you maintain social distancing during the meeting. Please bring a face mask. In the current circumstances the talks are subject to cancellation at short notice – if possible, please check the website (or telephone us) before setting out.
FOUNDATION
COURSE IN THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY The new Study Year gives students the opportunity to further their studies by committing to produce a much more substantial body of work than the six short essays written during the 2-year course. Study Year students will write a dissertation of between 15,000 and 20,000 words under the guidance of one of the Foundation Course tutors. In order to proceed to the Study Year, prospective students will be required to have successfully completed the 2-year Foundation Course. Detailed information about the course and its cost is available on request, or from our website https://temenosacademy.org/study-year/ Applications are open for the coming year, start dates may be flexible.
WORK OF A KABBALIST ‘Work of a Kabbalist’ is a film about
Warren Kenton / Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi made by Chris
Demers and Craig Pallet, scheduled for release in
2022. In the film Warren discusses a range of topics
including Tradition of Kabbalah, the Tree of Life and
Schools of the Soul, as well as his personal
background and training, through a series of
conversations recorded over a span of 15 years.
Excerpts from the project may be viewed on the
Kabbalah Society website
NARRATIVE OF LOVE website The Narrative of Love website is a project of Temenos Academy Fellow and former member of its Council David Cadman, and others. Through discussion papers (of which David has contributed nine), conversations and conferences, the Narrative of Love explores the ways in which Love has been expressed in the great philosophical and wisdom traditions. David’s contribution ranges over the constraints of Language, the meaning of love, and the place of Silence; voices of women both in ancient times and the contemporary world; and other ways of seeing the world, including the I Ching and the Tao. Further information https://narrative-of-love.org/
THE
RESURGENCE TRUST’S FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING Among the speakers at this year’s
Festival of Wellbeing are Satish Kumar (Temenos
Academy Fellow), Professor Kim Samuel (Temenos Academy
Council) and Dr Vandana Shiva.
WEBSITE ARCHIVE The website Archive hosts many audio and video recordings of lectures, digital versions of all thirteen issues of the journal TEMENOS, and the texts of seventy articles from Temenos Academy Review. New material is added regularly. https://temenosacademy.org/main-lecture-archive https://temenosacademy.org/temenos-journal-archive https://temenosacademy.org/temenos-academy-review-archive Many of our audio recordings are available as PODCASTS.
BOOK OFFER If you would like a free copy of Hyperion, or The Hermit in Greece by Friedrich Hölderlin (Melrose Books, 2016, clothbound), translated by the late India Russell, who was a Fellow of the Temenos Academy, please send your name and address to g...@temenos.myzen.co.uk The book includes a transcript of the lecture ‘Friedrich Hölderlin – Lightning Conductor of the Divine’ given by India Russell to the Temenos Academy in 2007. To read a review of the book refer to https://martyncrucefix.com/tag/india-russell If you would like further information and copies of India Russell’s volumes of poetry, please contact the same email address.
PAYPAL GIVING FUND UK The Temenos Academy is registered with PayPal Giving Fund UK. When using PayPal if you choose you may also make a donation in support of the Temenos Academy. Thank you.
FURTHER INFORMATION Telephone 01233 813663 Email temenos...@myfastmail.com
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