Description: Investigating Sufi-inspired spirituality in the modern world, this interdisciplinary text combines cultural study with solid data to provide a comprehensive look at how the teachings of Ibn 'Arabi have been adopted and adapted by Muslims and non-Muslims. At the heart of this movement is the Beshara School in Scotland, founded in the 1960s, and now a center of international scholarship. Using the school as a case study, the discussion describes its emergence and evolution, its approach to spiritual education, the origins of its spiritual teacher, its major teachings and practices, and its projection of Ibn 'Arabi. Both rigorous and very timely, this effort points to areas of cultural exchange between East and West and highlights commonalities in the various historical changes both societies have undergone.
Review Quotes: "Empathetic in approach and immensely well-documented, this is an exemplary work. Its great importance for akbarian studies is its discussion of the way in which Ibn 'Arabi's teachings have been received and transformed in the modern world." --Professor Michel Chodkiewicz, author, Seal of the Saints and Ocean Without Shore