Weekly Interspiritual Meditation Group: A  weekly group, using meditation methods from the Buddhist, Sufi and Aramaic Christian traditions, continues during most of the year, under the leadership of Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz, author of The Sufi Book of Life and Prayers of the Cosmos, co-founder of the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace. For information, please email.

March 5-March 18: Edinburgh, Scotland:
2010 Edinburgh International Festival on Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace (MESP)

Workshops, performances, panels and talks by grassroots peacemakers, artists, storytellers, musicians and others, including Dances of Universal Peace and inter-spiritual meditation for peace. Featured presenters and workshop leaders will include Rabbi Shefa Gold, Dr Geo Trevarthen, Dr. Andrew Powell, Dr. Stephen Wright, Imam Nusrah Cassiem, Professor Ursula King, Alva Group, Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz and many others. There will be the 2010 Middle East Festival One World Peace Concert, 6/2/2010; the MESP 2010 Middle Eastern Film Festival, 12/2 - 22/2/2010; the MESP 2010 Pre Events, 23/2 - 4/3/2010; the MESP 2010 Middle East Youth Festival, 27/2 - 3/3/2010; the MESP 2010 Main Events, 5/3 - 18/3/2010; and the MESP 2010 Exhibitions and Displays, 11/1 - 31/3/2010.

Contact: Neill Walker. For details of the conference and festival, go to www.mesp.org.uk

March 5-6: Edinburgh, Scotland:
Always Coming Home: Healing, Empowerment and Freedom
Through the Christian and Sufi Spiritual Traditions
with Rev Prof Stephen Wright and Murshid Saadi Shakur Chishti

Home means many things to many different people. For some of us, it has to do with place, nature and culture. For others, "home is where heart is." For still others, we only know the feeling of home when we're already there. In this two-day "urban retreat," two experienced spiritual directors in the Christian and Sufi traditions will guide us in exploring our longing for the feeling of being at home--in our lives, communities and world. What prevents us from feeling as alive and free to express our purpose in life as we would wish? What healing could occur to dissolve these blocks and renew our sense of both individual empowerment and community? Using spiritual healing tools like deep listening, storytelling, chant, body prayer, breathing awareness and guided meditation, we will work with themes such as forgiveness, grief and bereavement, sense of purpose, past and present impressions of authority, the drag of popular culture and media, idealism and presence, patience, humor and a healthy toleration of paradox. Our aim is to leave feeling more empowered to live life to the fullest, as part of a larger community of creation. This two-day retreat is designed as a single experience and we encourage participants to join us for both days. In absolute necessity, it is possible for someone to attend only the first day; however, for continuity and group experience, no one will be able to attend only the second day.

Venue: Meeting Room, Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh. Time: 9.30am for 10am-4.30pm, both days.

Cost: £40/£30 (Concessions).
For a Registration Form Contact: Neill Walker

March 15: Edinburgh, Scotland:
A Beginner's Guide to Beginner's Mind and Heart:

Interspiritual Meditation in the Sufi, Christian and Buddhist Traditions

with Neil Douglas-Klotz

This day workshop will introduce various approaches to meditation in the Sufi, Christian and Zen Buddhist traditions. In addition to sharing various shorter or longer meditations, we will explore approaches to silence in the "empty" and "full" ways, the use of paradox (in the form of Sufi stories and Zen koans), and the roles of music, chant, breathing and body awareness, compassion, devotion, releasing and forgiveness. Knowing which "flavor" of entering silence suits our temperament can help us to establish a regular practice. At the same time, because we human beings share certain essential characteristics (like breathing, body awareness and capacities for love and wonder), approaches to silence also share key features. Knowing how to extract these keys and benefit from the meditations of other traditions can help us to either begin a practice or deepen and enrich the one we're pursuing. It can also help us share a deeper sense of silence and heart in interspiritual gatherings, including those with no overt spiritual content. Ultimately, being able to find our way more easily into a compassionate, inner silence can help us to attain more understanding and empowerment in daily life, a type of "meditation with open eyes," or as St Paul puts it, "prayer without ceasing." This event is offered as part of the 2010 Edinburgh Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace.

Venue: Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh.

Time: 9.30am for 10am-4.30pm. Cost: £20/£15 (Concessions).

For a Registration Form Contact: Neill Walker

May 26: Edinburgh, Scotland:

Forum on Meditation for Health, Well-being and Healing.

Talk: Fr Laurence Freeman, OC, O.S.B..
Title: Meditation and Spirituality in a "Secular Age."
Chair: Murshid Saadi Shakur Chishti (Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz).
Forum Panellists: Ani Rinchen Khandro, Kagyu Samye Dzong Edinburgh Tibetan Buddhist Centre for World Peace and Health; Venerable K Sri Rewatha, Scotland's Buddhist Vihara.
Venue: St John’s Episcopal Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4BJ.
Date: Wednesday 26 May 2010.
Time: Doors: 7pm. Event: 7.30pm onwards.
Event Description: Following the talk by Fr Laurence Freeman, OC, O.S.B., there will be questions and discussion with the panel and with the audience. The panel members will then each give short presentations on the Forum subject, following by further questions and discussion. The event will end with a closing meditation led by Laurence Freeman, OC, O.S.B.. After the event, Fr Laurence Freeman, OC, O.S.B., will be available to sign copies of his books, which will be on sale by St John’s Cornerstone Bookshop.

Fr Laurence Freeman, OC, O.S.B., is a Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Monte Oliveto and Director of The World Community for Christian Meditation. He was born in England where he was educated by the Benedictines and studied English Literature at Oxford University. Before entering monastic life he had experience with the United Nations, banking and journalism. In the monastery his spiritual teacher was John Main with whom he studied and whom he helped in the establishment of the first Christian Meditation Centre in London. Laurence Freeman is the author of many books and articles including Light Within, Selfless Self, Web of Silence, Common Ground, Short Span of Days, Your Daily Practice and Jesus: The Teacher Within. He is also the editor of John Main’s works and a member of the Board of Medio Media, the publishing arm of the World Community. He has conducted dialogues and peace initiatives such as the historic Way of Peace with the Dalai Lama and is active in inter-religious dialogue with other faiths as well as encouraging the teaching of Christian meditation to children and students and in the re-appropriation of the contemplative wisdom tradition in the Church and society at large. In 2009 Fr Laurence was awarded the Order of Canada for his work in the World Community for Christian Meditation for global peace and inter-religious dialogue. www.wccm.org
Cost: £7/£5 (Concessions).
Booking: Tickets Scotland Ltd, 127 Rose Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3DT. 0131 220 3234. http://www.tickets-scotland.com/ 9am-6pm (8pm Thursday), 11am-6pm Sundays.