Friday, August 17, 2007
NEW YORK OPEN CENTER CONFERENCE
The New York Open Center and Lapis Magazine Online, together with the Ibn 'Arabi Society, Centro Abierto Tomillo, and The Lumen Foundation are presenting a conference, "An Esoteric Quest for The Golden Age of Andalusia Sufis, Kabbalists and Christian Philosophers in Medieval Spain" in Granada, September 15th to 20th, 2007.
The conference will consist of a syncretistic mix of mysticism from the Jewish, Sufi, and Christian traditions. According to the brochure;
Andalusia, or Al-Andalus, developed an extraordinary culture of religious tolerance in medieval Spain that produced works of enduring spiritual and artistic genius. Today, when the world seems to teeter on the edge of major religious conflict, this enlightened period when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived in relative amity serves as a powerful reminder of the achievements of co-existence or'convivencia'.
This was the time when the Zohar, the seminal kabbalistic work, was compiled by Moses de Leon. It was also the period of Ibn 'Arabi, the Sheik of Al-Akbar, the greatest of Sufi teachers, while further north in Majorca the Christian philosopher, Ramon Llull, developed a form of wisdom that drew from the deepest esoteric teachings of all three cultures.
Join us on a quest for the beauty and spiritual philosophy of this largely forgotten age...
These are some of the workshop titles:
"The Templars and Islam"
"The Islamic and Jewish Background of Grail Christianity"
"The Elaboration of the Philosopher's Stone
"Doctor Illuminatus: Ramon Llull"
"Alchemy of Creation"
"Tarot and the Kabbalah"
The Christianity that is part of this conference is esoteric Christianity derived from the Cabala. Catholicism is briefly represented by St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. Otherwise alchemy, kabbalah, and tarot will be the topics of the day.
According to the Open Center's website this is the sixth esoteric conference they will present.
