Welcome to our latest newsletter.
The yellowing leaves in the image above remind us that we’re into November and winter approaches. November is a time of commemoration, and we mark the season with a talk on Rudyard Kipling and the Great War (details below). With this in mind you may also be interested to read this haunting poem ‘Magpies in Picardy’ by T. P. Cameron Wilson here.
November also includes the feast of St Cecilia, patron saint of music. We are offering another chance to hear the recording of Andrew Baker’s session St Cecilia - From Roman Martyr to Patron Saint of Music, which he gave on 22nd November last year: listen here. Andrew is presenting two more Zoom sessions this month, bringing to light the work of Platonist philosophers Floyer Sydenham and Peter Sterry, accompanied by two beautiful films, which he made in the grounds of Fintry earlier this year. But before all that - a Zoom session with Iain McGilchrist speaking on his work The Coincidence of Opposites – also not to be missed!
As for ‘in person’ events, we’re happy to announce two Fintry retreats in the new year. There will be a Silence & Well-Being retreat from 4 - 7 January 2023. Also the Mindfulness & Compassion retreat which had to be cancelled in September will now take place 31 March – 2 April 2023. You’ll also find details below of the online course Mindfulness and Compassion in a Turbulent World.
Fintry Trust AGM:- Please note that the Trust AGM will take place as a webinar on 4th November at 3:00 pm. It will include a presentation on the Trust Strategy 2018-22 and reports on the Lifelong Learning programme and the Learning Management System. We do hope that you will join us. The registration link is here.
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 To mark Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, writer and lecturer Harry Potter will be offering a session on Rudyard Kipling’s attitude to the Great War and his work with the Imperial War Graves Commission commemorating the fallen, of whom his only son was one. Much of what we see in Flanders Fields we owe to Kipling.
Harry has given lectures, talks and podcasts on historical and legal topics to a wide range of institutions, including the BBC, the Western Front Association, the Kipling Society, the School of Philosophy and Economic Science and the Cabinet Office. He has also just published a biography of the great prison reformer Alexander Paterson, which paints a fascinating portrait of a war veteran, charity worker, author and giant of prison reform. The book is available from Boydell & Brewer website, where you can secure a 35% discount using the code BB135.
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Introducing the new Integral Wisdom course Mindfulness and Compassion in a Turbulent World
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We are pleased to announce the launch of our new online course: Mindfulness and Compassion in a Turbulent World, available now on ‘Integral Wisdom’ – the Fintry Trust’s online learning platform.
A one-off purchase of Mindfulness and Compassion gives you lifelong access to lessons, guided meditations and practices for mindfulness and compassion that you can take in your own time and at your own pace.
People have always faced challenging times, individually and collectively. Learning to be kind to ourselves and to the wider world, through compassion practices is key to transforming suffering. Mindfulness and Compassion in a Turbulent World responds to the S.O.S of our times: the suffering of ‘Self’, ‘Others’ and the wider ‘System’, and helps us reconnect to a deeper healing presence in life.
Learn more about the course here.
Regular Price: £45.
Under-35 Discount: £35
To register please visit the Fintry Trust online learning site IntegralWisdom.org, where you can create your account and purchase courses as they become available.
We also welcome you to follow Integral Wisdom online at:
Facebook: facebook.com/IntegralWisdom/
Twitter: @Integral_Wisdom
Instagram: @IntegralWisdom |
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Calendar Note: Bodhidharma (15th November)
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 Bodhidharma (early 5th century AD) is traditionally considered the transmitter of Buddhism to China and the First Ch’an Buddhist Patriarch. Ch’an Buddhism found a home not only in China, but spread to Japan, where it was known as Zen Buddhism, and beyond.
Bodhidharma came to China either from Persia, as some accounts assert, or from India, as is more generally believed. From South China, Bodhidharma travelled to Lo-yang in North China and settled at the Shao-lin Monastery. Here he engaged in formless meditation in silence for nine years, gazing at a wall, as it is reported. It is not clear whether Bodhidharma died at the monastery or elsewhere.
Bodhidharma’s teachings to his disciples were based in The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, which emphasizes inner enlightenment, doing away with all duality. His teachings and practice were founded not on words and letters but on meditation as the way to see into one’s own nature and so to realize Buddhahood.
When a man, abandoning the false and embracing the true, in singleness of thought practises the Pi-kuan (i.e. wall-gazing), he finds that there is neither self nor other, that the masses and the worthies are of one essence, and he firmly holds on to this belief and never moves away therefrom. He will not then be a slave to words, for he is in silent communion with the Reason itself, free from conceptual discrimination; he is serene and non-acting.
(Bodhidharma, from The Transmission of the Lamp XXX)- RKC
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More Information
For details of the programme of events, please contact the Administrator by email.
To enquire about hiring Fintry for a residential retreat, or to book the studio for a regular class, please enquire by email.
For a listing of upcoming retreats and Studio events organised by independent hirers, being held at Fintry you'll find a listing here .
Any contributions/suggestions/questions regarding the content of this newsletter, please contact the Manager.
And if you've missed a newsletter, find them all on the News page of our website. |
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Make a donation to The Fintry Trust
The Trust is grateful for all donations: even small amounts made on a regular basis are beneficial. Click to donate now. |
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