Welcome to the first newsletter of 2023. We wish all our subscribers a very happy and blessed New Year.
Our three presenters on the January Zoom programme are Dr Joseph Milne, Dr Athena Potari and Mary Attwood. It is exactly 25 years since Joseph Milne gave his first session for the Fintry Trust, thus initiating the education programme - more about this below. Athena Potari is Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University and founder of Atheonoa, a school of philosophy based in Athens, where philosophy is taught as a wisdom tradition. Athena will offer a single session entitled ‘Know Thyself’, followed by a 3-session course ‘Apollo: The Light of Consciousness’. Mary Attwood, an art historian with a special interest in the ways in which our perceptions of art can awaken us to a deeper dimension of being seemingly lost in our post-modern age, will be offering a session ‘Tending the Soul’ on the words and images of St Teresa of Avila.
As for ‘in person’ events, we have two Trust retreats taking place at Fintry: a Silence & Well-Being retreat from 4th – 7th January 2023 and the Mindfulness & Compassion retreat from 31 March – 2 April 2023 (previously scheduled for September).
Fintry Trust Summer School: We’re also delighted to announce a Fintry Trust Summer School 20th – 23rd July 2023 on the theme of Reconnecting to Source, which will explore universal approaches to spirituality, religion and the devotional path. This will be a hybrid event welcoming residential and online participants to key sessions, including talks from Anne Baring, author, historian and Jungian psychologist. More information will be available over the coming months – in the meantime, please save the dates!
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25th Anniversary of the Fintry Trust Education Programme
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This month marks the 25th anniversary of the Fintry Trust education programme. Dr Joseph Milne gave the very first talk for the Trust entitled ‘Plotinus and Western Mysticism’ at Hilderstone College Broadstairs, Kent on 30th January 1998. We were honoured then to have him give the first study day to be held at Fintry in July 1999, followed over the years by many informative and enchanting presentations on Shakespeare, Ficino, Bonaventure, to mention just a few of his offerings.
Now, a quarter of a century later we are pleased to open the 2023 season with Dr Milne’s Zoom session entitled ‘Natural Law & the Harmonious City’, a subject he has long been engaged with. As John O’Donohue wrote in his introduction to Dr Milne’s Metaphysics and the Cosmic Order: ‘His grounding axiom is that the human sense of totality is in fact a pre-intuition of all that is.’ This is an approach that shines through all Dr Milne’s work.
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Treasures of the Fintry Trust Library
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 This month we publish the second of an occasional series of articles describing notable books in the Trust Library. Its purpose is to show some fine examples of the Library holdings and to complement the current online exhibitions.
The second of these ‘treasures’ is entitled The True Prophecies or Prognostications of Michael Nostradamus Physician to Henry II, Francis II, and Charles IX, Kings of France, and one of the best Astronomers that ever were. A work full of Curiosity and Learning.
Click here for a full description of The True Prophecies.
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Calendar Note: Rāmānuja, Vaishnava sage and saint, 11th/12th cent. AD (12th January)
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 Rāmānuja was a renowned Hindu philosopher of the Vedānta school and mystic in the Vaişņava tradition. He was born in the Southern Indian village of Śrīperumbudur.
After studying Vedānta, one of the six principal systems of Hindu philosophy, as a youth, Rāmānuja renounced the world and became a monk at Śrīraṅgam, where he remained the rest of his life, travelling occasionally to different parts of the country, where his teaching attracted many disciples. Along with his original works, Rāmānuja wrote important and influential commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sūtra.
Rāmānuja accepted the philosophy of Advaita (nondualist) Vedānta, with qualifications. He taught that plurality as well as unity are real. In his view, being and consciousness are not identical, and material objects, living beings and individual souls are not in essence the same as Brahman, the imperishable, eternal Absolute, but have a real existence of their own.
Rāmānuja emphasized love of the divine. He considered that the path of good works and the path of knowledge culminate in the path of devotion.
Venerated as one of India’s greatest saints and teachers, Rāmānuja left a profound influence which endures to this day. - 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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