Events List

MESP 2014 Partner Events

Sun, 08 Dec 2013 10:44:36 +0000

Title: MESP 2014 Partner Events
Venue: The Scottish Storytelling Centre / Edinburgh
Category: MESP 2014 Partner Events
Date: 15-02-2014 - 21-03-2014
Time:
Description:

MESP 2014 Partner Events
Saturday 15 February – Friday 21 March 2014

Event: Storytelling: The Queen Who Flew Through the Sky to Seek Her Beloved.

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SR.
Date: Saturday 15 February 2014.
Time: 7.30pm (1hr).
Event Description: “Once there were two lovers whose great love for each other endured through lifetime after lifetime…” So begins the tale of Queen Chudala and King Sikhidvaja in one of Hinduism’s most esoteric texts. Their love burns bright through partings and reunions, twists and turns replete with yogic miracles and mystical teachings. Storyteller Sharadha Bain takes us on a journey to ancient India for this epic romance. Adults.

Cost: £6/£4 (Concession).
Contact: www.tracscotland.org and 0131 556 9579.

Event: Storytelling: Café Voices: Voices from the Olive Trees.

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SR.
Date: Thursday 13 March 2014.
Time: 7pm (2 hrs).
Event Description: Jan Sutch Pickard draws on encounters as an Ecumenical Accompanier/Peace Observer and experiences of planting saplings and harvesting olives in the West Bank, alongside Palestinian families and Israeli peace activists. Come and share a story or just listen and enjoy. 14+

Cost: £5.
Contact: www.tracscotland.org and 0131 556 9579.

Event: Storytelling: Kingdom of Fire & Clay: Iran vs. Israel.

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SR.
Date: Friday 21 March 2014.
Time: 7.30pm (1hr 15 mins).
Event Description: Two young artists meet; one an Israeli, the other an Iranian. Sworn enemies, or possible best friends? After performing two separate but highly successful shows at the International Storytelling Festival Amsterdam, they decide to combine forces and make a show that dives into their pasts, their cultures and the source of their countries' enmity. Kingdom of Fire and Clay combines classical Jewish and Iranian tales, as well as the personal stories of storytellers Raphael Rodan and Sahand Sahebdivani. Words are mixed with music; friction with moments of intimacy. 16+

Cost: £10/£8 (Concession).
Contact: www.tracscotland.org and 0131 556 9579.

MESP 2014 Exhibitions

Sun, 08 Dec 2013 11:04:48 +0000

Title: MESP 2014 Exhibitions
Venue: Near Edinburgh / Near Edinburgh
Category: MESP 2014 Exhibitions
Date: 28-02-2014 - 31-05-2014
Time:
Description:

MESP 2014 Exhibitions
Friday 28 February – Saturday 31 May 2014

Event: Exhibition: The Sacred Face.

Venue: St John's Church Hall, Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4BJ.
Dates: Friday 28 February – Monday 24 March 2014.
Times: Monday to Friday: 8am-4.45pm.
Saturday: 8am-12.30pm.
Sunday: 8am-7pm. Closed between 2pm and 5pm.
Event Description: The 21st century is seeing a widespread revival, and renewal, of the Orthodox Christian tradition of icon-painting, many people feeling drawn to this sacred visual language which crosses denominational boundaries. On a broader scale, connections can also be made with the iconographies of different religious traditions, such as the image of the Buddha. The endeavour to depict the 'holy face' is a spiritual discipline in its own right, and a perennial way in to meditation and prayer. This exhibition features the work of five artists mostly based in Edinburgh : Basia Mindewicz, Monika Walendziak, Marta Kamila Pawelek, Andrew Paterson and Rafal Urbaniak.
Opening with Concert: Friday 28 February 2014, 6pm: Toczka, a trio (Monika Niemczynowicz, Anna Pietrzkiewicz-Read and Anna Rogus) working within the vast vocal traditions of Ukraine, Poland, and Russia. Edinburgh Georgian Singing Group, led by David Tugwell. The group aspires to follow Frank Kane’s approach of focusing on vibration in the body as the path to finding the authentic voice within ourselves and to connecting with other singers.
Event: The artists taking part in the exhibition will lead a public discussion on the subject of how we may find 'ways in' to spiritual realities through visual art, both as makers and viewers. Saturday 1 March 2014, 12pm-1.30pm.

Cost: Admission Free. Everyone Welcome.
Contact: Basia - http://basiamindewicz.blogspot.co.uk/
Monika - http://benedictworkshop.blogspot.co.uk/
Marta - http://martakamilapawelek.blogspot.co.uk/
Andrew - 2andrewpaterson@gmail.com
Rafal - http://www.rtu_artist.iportfolio.pl/
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Photography Exhibition: 'Haneen lil watten' - a yearning for my homeland.

Venue: Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh. EH3 9BZ.
Dates: Sunday 11 May - Saturday 31 May 2014.
Time: During Filmhouse opening hours.
Event Description: 'Haneen lil watten' (a yearning for my homeland) is a series of photographic portraits resulting from the photographer's encounters with various Palestinian people living in Scotland. Using 'home' as a central theme, a fluid and diverse concept to people of Palestinian descent, each sitter is viewed in a moment of contemplation as they think of 'home'. 'Haneen lil watten' has been, for the photographer, a personal exploration of the issue of Palestine, now shared with a wider audience.

Cost: Admission Free. Everyone Welcome.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

MESP 2014 Main Events

Sun, 08 Dec 2013 12:48:57 +0000

Title: MESP 2014 Main Events
Venue: Near Edinburgh / Near Edinburgh
Category: MESP 2014 Main Events
Date: 01-03-2014 - 23-03-2014
Time:
Description:

MESP 2014 Main Events
Saturday 1 March – Sunday 23 March 2014

Registration Forms

On-line Booking

Event: Day Workshop: Health, Wellbeing, and Healing through Spiritual Dance and Movement.

Facilitators: Merav Israel (The Feldenkrais Method: Awareness Through Movement); Susan Scarth (Inner/Outer); Catherine Wright (An introduction to the practice of Movement Medicine); and Linda Wyman (An Introduction to the Alexander Technique).
Venue: Islay Room, Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Date: Saturday 1 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Day Workshop: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: Join us for a joyful day of sharing spiritual dance and movement for health, wellbeing, healing and peace. We will all be together throughout the day, building community and celebrating diversity through spiritual dance and movement.

9.30am-10am: Arrival and Registration.

10am-11.20am: Linda Wyman: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique.

A simple and effective way of regaining natural balance and ease of movement improving physical and mental wellbeing. It is a learning process which teaches you how to best use your body helping you to increased energy and more efficiency in all you do.

Linda Wyman trained at Fellside Alexander School in Cumbria for three years and did her post graduate term at the Institute for the Research and Development of the Alexander Technique in New York in 1991. She currently teaches in Edinburgh and East Lothian. www.lindawyman.co.uk

11.20am-11.40am: Break.

11.40am-1pm: Merav Israel: The Feldenkrais Method: Awareness Through Movement.

Merav Israel is a certified Feldenkrais Method practitioner, somatic movement teacher, dancer and choreographer, www.lanua.org, www.tomovefeldenkrais.lanua.org

The Feldenkrais Method was developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais – scientist, physicist, engineer and martial artist, who synthesized insights from physics, motor development, bio-mechanics, psychology, neurology and martial arts.

The method offers a process of learning through movement, sensing, thinking and imagining to free us from habitual patterns and allow new possibilities to emerge. Through this work we can improve mobility and increase energy and enjoyment in our activities.

The method has two strands: Group lessons called Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration which are one-to-one lessons. The lessons consist of verbally directed movement sequences, which are comfortable and easy and which gradually evolve into movements of greater range and complexity. Through the learning process you will be able to find new ways of moving while increasing sensitivity and improving efficiency. This workshop will offer an introduction to the method and a practical experience. Please bring enough layers of warm clothes and a blanket/mat to lie on.

Merav has been studying movement and somatics for 20 years and integrating her experience and understanding in her work as dancer, dance maker and teacher. Though usually her teaching approach combines somatics, improvisation and contact improvisation in her own unique way and experience, in this workshop the focus will be on The Feldenkrais Method.

1pm-2pm: Lunch.

2pm-3.20pm: Catherine Wright: An introduction to the practice of Movement Medicine.

Movement Medicine is a dance practice and an awareness practice. It reconnects us with our hearts through our bodies. You need no prior dance experience, only a desire to move your body and connect with your own wisdom and wildness. Movement Medicine offers tools and maps to help us dance deep into the experience of being embodied. In this session we will dance with the elements. We will dance with Earth, Water, Air and Fire, both around us and within us. This practice keeps bringing us back to the dancer inside us. We access the wisdom of our body, the depth of our heart and the creativity of our imagination.
For more information visit www.schoolofmovementmedicine.com

Catherine Wright is an Interfatih Minister. Dance has been one of her spiritual practices for 15 years. She has been dancing and studying with Susannah and Ya’Acov Darling Khan for 12 years. For the past four years she has been an apprentice Movement Medicine practitioner, teacher and facilitator.

3.20pm-3.40pm: Break.

3.40pm-5pm: Susan Scarth: Inner/Outer.

Susan Scarth, who continues to develop a model of therapy and somatic practice called Sensorimotor Movement Therapy, offers a movement workshop to explore the theme of Inner/Outer; how the external world impacts on our moving body and how our internal sense of self impacts on the external world through movement. Essentially, this exploration allows us to stop, breathe and spend time with our whole selves to achieve a physical, psychological and spiritual re-balancing. The effect of movement and dance in a group allows us to experience a sense of integration within oneself while gaining a greater sense of belonging when sharing movement and space with others.

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” Rumi

Cost: £25/£20 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2014 Middle East Festival Forum on Religion, Violence and Ecology.

Speaker: Prof Robert Segal is Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen.
Title: The Myth of Gaia.
Chair: Dr Louise S Milne, School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh.
Forum on Religion, Violence and Ecology.
Forum Panellists: Nancy Adams, is member of the Scottish Palestinian Forum and a student of Mediation and Conflict Resolution; Brian Larkin, Coordinator, Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre; Eurig Scandrett is an educator and activist who, after an initial career as an environmental scientist, spent 15 years in community education and campaigning on environmental, peace, gender and trades union issues.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 1 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: The myth of Gaia is the revival of the ancient Greek concept of the earth as a goddess. The Greek myth of creation, called the THEOGONY, makes Gaia one of the original personalities in the emergence of the physical world. The contemporary depiction of Gaia plays on the notion of the earth as a personality, one able to renew itself. When James Lovelock wrote his first book on the topic, GAIA, in 1979, he unhesitatingly marvelled at the capacity of the earth to save itself--as if it were a thinking personality, which is to say a god. He has since backed off from his personification of the earth, but the personification remains among those who "worship" Gaia. What has come to supplement admiration for the ability of the earth to sustain itself has been the advocacy, by Lovelock and others, of our responsibility for helping the earth. The two sides of the myth are, then, the ability of the earth to sustain itself and the dependence of the earth on help from humans.

Robert Segal is Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen, where he has taught since 2006. Previously, he was Professor of Theories of Religion at Lancaster University. Prior to coming to Lancaster in 1994, he taught at several universities in his native United States, including Reed College, Stanford University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Tulane University. He writes and teaches on theories of religion and of theories of myth. He has written or edited THE POIMANDRES AS MYTH, THE GNOSTIC JUNG, JUNG ON MYTHOLOGY, THE MYTH AND RITUAL THEORY, THEORIZING ABOUT MYTH, MYTH: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION, and the BLACKWELL COMPANION TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Day Workshop: A Sufi Perspective on Peace – Within and Without.

Facilitator: Alice Fateah Saunders.
Venue: Islay Room, Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Date: Sunday 2 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Day Workshop: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: Murshid Samuel L Lewis, Sufi mystic of the last century, was clear in stating that achieving peace between people is an active process rather than a passive acceptance. One might call it a “doing” rather than just “being”.

But what are the qualities needed in our own hearts that make us a peaceful person, capable of taking necessary action to achieve peace with others? How might we achieve those inner qualities?

The Dances of Universal Peace – as envisioned by Samuel Lewis - are one means by which some of those inner qualities can be awakened.

During the day we will use many of these Dances, and also focus on other Sufi practices concerning breath, repetition of sacred words, the movement of our bodies in walking, and spend quiet time sitting in meditation. Readings from various Sufi mystics will accompany our journey.

Fateah Alice Saunders has been following a Sufi path for 20 years and previously trained for several years in psychotherapy and counseling skills. She leads Sufi sessions and Dances of Universal Peace in Edinburgh, further afield in Scotland and elsewhere.

The day will be supported with music from Gavin and Clare.

Cost: £25/£20 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2014 Middle East Festival Forum on Conflict, the Arts and Therapy.

Speaker: Prof Nigel Osborne, Former Reid Professor of Music and Co-Director of the Institute for Music in Human and Social Development (IMHSD), Music, University of Edinburgh.
Title: TBC.
Chair: Dr Katie Overy, Director, Institute for Music in Human and Social Development (IMHSD), University of Edinburgh.
Forum on Conflict, the Arts and Therapy.
Forum Panellists: Hugh Donald leads the work of Place for Hope, an ecumenical organisation offering the means of peace building and reconciliation to address conflict within churches and community. Formerly a lawyer, Hugh is an experienced mediator, facilitator and coach; Dr Amy Hardie, Head of Research, Scottish Documentary Institute; Samir Mehanovic is a BAFTA award winning film director who has also directed for the BBC.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 2 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description:

Nigel Osborne has pioneered the use of music in therapy and rehabilitation for children who are victims of conflict. Much of his work was carried out in the Balkans during and following the wars in that region during the 1990s, and he has also worked in the Caucasus, Africa and the Middle East.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Day Workshop: What is Spiritual Transformation?

Facilitator: Sr Fionntulach.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 8 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Day Workshop: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: What, if anything, changes in us? Or are we already perfect inside somewhere? How does inner change happen? What is the difference between most psychology/therapy and spiritual transformation? Can we measure our change? Or is the whole notion of spiritual transformation just a part of the illusion, as some people today suggest?

These are some of the many questions I brought with me into the tradition I belong to when I found it almost thirty years ago. Some of them may strike a chord in you too. In our day together I want to talk about spiritual transformation as it is approached in the Céile Dé tradition; an ancient Celtic Christian esoteric path that, thirty years later, still keeps me on my toes and challenges the assumptions of my ‘False Self’ every day, thank God.

In our day together, we will explore some of the ancient teachings, terms, and practices that give us a map, a compass and the means to begin the walk towards our Spiritual True North which, paradoxically, has always been hidden in the very core of us…

Sr. Fionntulach belongs to the Céili Dé (The Servants or Spouses of God), a Celtic Christian spiritual Order based in Scotland. Since 2004 she has been Head of the Order.

Today, she is a teacher of the tradition and an Anam Chara (‘Soul Friend’ or Spiritual Guide). Her life is divided between leading a contemplative life, serving her community and giving teachings to the growing number of people, both in Europe and in the USA, who feel called to walk the Céile Dé Path in these times.

Sister Fionn, as most people call her, describes the tradition as “a glorious blend of Celtic reverence for Nature, disciplined practice, great beauty and Christ-consciousness - the transformative power of Love.”

For more information, see - www.ceilede.co.uk

Cost: £25/£20 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2014 Middle East Festival Forum on Spirituality, Politics and Culture.

Speaker: Donald Smith is Director of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, and a development worker for the traditional and community arts in Scotland.
Title: Freedom and Faith.
Chair: Lari Don is a children’s writer, storyteller and occasional political activist, who is passionate about the power of stories and hopeful about the future of Scotland. www.laridon.co.uk
Forum on Spirituality, Politics and Culture.
Forum Panellists: Dr Mairi McFadyen, Teaching and Research, Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, the University of Edinburgh; Leena Nammari, is a Palestinian artist living in Scotland; Eleanor Yule, filmmaker.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 8 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: Religion and politics in Scotland are longstanding bedfellows. But dramatic changes in both over recent decades have created a new landscape. What are the opportunities and pitfalls of our new situation, and is it a Scottish question or a global one? This talk looks at culture, spirituality and social change, and discovers an emergent Scotland that is both secular and spiritually resonant.

Donald Smith is Director of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, and a development worker for the traditional and community arts in Scotland. He has written a series of plays, novels, and performance poems on Scottish themes, as well several non-fiction works on religion and culture. He teaches and lectures widely beyond the academy, and is currently a Visiting Professor at Edinburgh Napier University. His book ‘Freedom and Faith’ is recently published by Saint Andrew Press.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Afternoon Workshop: Heroic Journey: Transforming Personal Experiences.

Facilitator: Dr Michael Williams is a professional storyteller, story coach & mentor and a narrative consultant.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 9 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 3.15pm-3.30pm. Afternoon Workshop: 3.30pm-6pm.
Event Description: As soon as we have an experience, our brains are busy digesting the event and processing it so that it can be stored as memory and shared as a relevant and meaningful narrative in the future. Yet often we struggle to make sense of our experiences, we find it difficult to express or find meaning in them. We know we have a story to tell, but we find it difficult to weave our words and images into a coherent and creative narrative.

This workshop invites you to explore a personal experience and transform it into a compelling story using a mythical framework and some basic storytelling skills and techniques. No previous experience of storytelling necessary. Simply bring an open mind, open heart and a willingness to enjoy yourself and others.

Michael Williams is a professional storyteller, story coach & mentor and a narrative consultant to business and other organisations. His clients have included the Aberdeen Leadership Forum, the Scottish Government, the Church of Scotland, VisitScotland, Edinburgh University, the National Museum and others. He also works with small groups and individuals, helping them create and craft stories and improve their communication skills.

In 2009 Michael travelled to the Middle East where he and his colleagues used storytelling skills to encourage dialogue and mutual understanding between Arabs and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians. The following year he was appointed Storyteller-in-Residence in Charlottetown Canada where he helped young people transform their stories into video and coached adults in storytelling. In 2012 he co-founded the Aberdeen Leadership Forum inspiring corporate and community leaders to share their stories of leadership and innovation.

Currently, Michael is facilitating a project with Action for ME (Scotland), enabling those suffering from myalgic encephalomyeletis and chronic fatigue syndrome to tell their stories through film, sharing what it's like to live with this crippling illness. In short, Michael helps people create the stories that can change their world.

Cost: £8/£7 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2014 Middle East Festival Forum on Armed Conflict, Rape and Sexual Violence.

Speaker: Dr Lesley Orr, feminist historian, theologian, writer and activist.
Title: Waging A War Against Women? - Armed Conflict, Rape and Sexual Violence.
Chair: Lynn Jamieson is a Co-Director of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships www.crfr.ac.uk and a Professor in Sociology at the University of Edinburgh. She has had a long interest in gender and violence. Her portfolio of research includes studies of rape and sexual assault trials in Scotland.
Forum on Armed Conflict, Rape and Sexual Violence.
Forum Panellists: Cath Campbell, Rape Crisis Scotland; Lily Greenan, the Director of Scottish Women’s Aid; A refugee woman from Refugee Women’s Strategy Group.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 9 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: In April 2013, Foreign Ministers of the G8 issued a ‘landmark’ Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, committing the world’s richest nations to challenge the culture of impunity around ‘one of the greatest and most persistent injustices in the world’ (William Hague). But millions of women and children in Syria, the Sudan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other conflict zones continue to endure rape and sexual violence, and suffer the consequences. What does it mean to describe rape as a weapon of war? Why a culture of impunity? What does it have to do with the wider politics and practice of gender? And is it possible to prevent sexual violence in conflict? This forum will wrestle with these challenges for international law, human rights and gender justice in a violent world.

Dr Lesley Orr is a feminist historian and activist, engaged in research, education and writing. She has worked at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, in the voluntary sector and with the Scottish Government’s Strategy to Address Violence Against Women. She has been active for many years in movements challenging gender based inequality, abuse and violence, and discrimination against LBGTQ people in faith communities and wider society. She was consultant for the World Council of Churches project: ‘Overcoming Violence Against Women’ (2000-2005) and is a member of the ecumenical Iona Community.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Day Workshop: Mediation and Peacemaking.

Facilitator: Charlie Irvine, course leader on Strathclyde Law School’s MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 15 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Day Workshop: 10am-5pm
Event Description: Conflict is a pervasive reality at home and around the world, often with devastating effects. Mediation is one response associated with efforts to end violent conflict and build peace. Charlie Irvine, Course Leader on Strathclyde University’s MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution, presents this one-day workshop on mediation and peacemaking.

The workshop will provide an overview of mediation’s key features, including:

1) Understanding conflict
2) Our own “conflict style”
3) Effective communication
4) Negotiation
5) Problem-solving

Participants will learn what mediators do, and have the opportunity to consider applying these approaches in their own situations. Mediation is a practical activity, best learned by doing, and so the day is built around skills practice and discussion.

There will also be opportunities to consider deeper questions raised by this form of non-violent conflict resolution: what is the place of justice? How do mediators deal with “bad guys”? Should conflict be resolved? Resolution v transformation. What are mediation’s values?

Charlie is a freelance mediator and trainer, former Chair of the Scottish Mediation Network and Course Leader on Strathclyde University’s MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. Recent research includes an evaluation of community dialogue in responding to sectarianism in Scotland. He has written extensively on mediation and conflict, and his articles can be accessed at http://ssrn.com/author=873941

Cost: £25/£20 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2014 Middle East Festival Forum on Positive Spirituality, Creative Inspiration, and Cross-Cultural Leadership for Peace.

Speaker: Dr Fahri Karakas is a London-based Lecturer in Business and Leadership at University of East Anglia.
Title: Bridging East and West: The Role of Positive Spirituality, Creative Inspiration, and Cross-Cultural Leadership for Peace.
Chair: David Lorimer, Programme Director, the Scientific and Medical Network.
Forum on Positive Spirituality, Creative Inspiration, and Cross-Cultural Leadership for Peace.
Forum Panellists: Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz; Rev Ali Newell, Associate Chaplain, University of Edinburgh; Prof Dabir Tehrani, Honorary Professor at Heriot-Watt University since April 1984.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 15 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: Dr Karakas will share his experience, reflections, and research on cross-cultural and interfaith peace-building in this talk. The session will focus on the new global mind-sets and heart-sets for citizens of the interconnected world; weaving together latest research on spirituality, creativity, and leadership. Building on global human virtues and shared positive values, the talk will embark on the possibility of exploring and building an inspiring human ethos crossing ethnic, cultural, religious boundaries. In particular, several social innovation initiatives aimed at fostering a sense of global peace and hope will be discussed; including Noah's Pudding events, the Pangea Day, United Religions Initiative, and Charter for Compassion.

Dr Fahri Karakas is a London-based Lecturer in Business and Leadership at University of East Anglia, Norwich Business School. His research - published in several leading international journals - focuses on benevolent leadership, creative competences, spirituality at work, social innovation, positive management education, and design thinking.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Mindful Peace Walk.

Venue: The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR.
Date: Sunday 16 March 2014.
Time: 9.30am-11am, meet at West Gate entrance to the John Hope Gateway, Arboretum Place, at 9.30am.
(Introduction to mindful walking at 9.45am and walk begins at 10am). No access from East Gate.
Event Description: This silent walking meditation is an open event. It will be led by the lay members of the Edinburgh Sangha of the Community of Interbeing, who follow the practice and teachings of Zen Buddhist Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. The walk begins at the John Hope Gateway of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Before the walk begins there will be a brief introduction to mindful walking as meditation practice. This is not a protest or a campaigning event, so please do not use any banners. Children are welcome when accompanied by adults. Please remember to wrap up warmly.

‘We walk just for walking. We walk with freedom and solidity, no longer in a hurry. Let us enjoy every step we make.’ Thich Nhat Hanh.

Cost: Admission Free. Just come along on the day. For further information:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Afternoon Workshop: Narrative Approach to Transformational Leadership.

Cost: £8/£7 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Evening Workshop: Awakening to Your True Self.

Facilitator: Sharadha Bain is a spiritual healer, and Ian Bain has served on the teaching faculty for the four-year training in Nondual Kabbalistic Healing with A Society of Souls.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 16 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6pm-6.30pm. Workshop: 6.30pm-9.30pm.
Event Description: “Kabbalah is, above all, a means of joining with the Divine.
It is a path of profound transformation,
the fruit of which is to awaken into Life in such a way
that our former lives seem like sleep in comparison.
It brings about the ultimate healing of the human soul.”
Jinen Jason Shulman in
‘Kabbalistic Healing: A Path to an Awakened Soul’

Nondual Kabbalistic Healing is a revolutionary path of personal healing and spiritual awakening.

It unites mystical Kabbalah with the nondual teachings of Advaita and Buddhism; it also seamlessly weaves together contemporary psychotherapeutic understanding with the timeless wisdom of the world’s spiritual traditions.

Above all, it is a path that reveals the unbroken unity of Reality and in doing so, brings us to wholeness moment-by-moment through kindness and love.

In this workshop, we will discover the Kabbalistic map of the Four Universes and explore what these ancient teachings tell us about our true nature. You will also be guided through the Healing of Immanence, a foundational healing on this path, which many people experience as life-changing and a turning point on their spiritual journey.

No prior knowledge of Kabbalah or nonduality is required to participate.

Nondual Kabbalistic Healing was created by Jinen Jason Shulman, one of the foremost spiritual teachers of our time. A unique combination of contemporary kabbalah master and Dharma lineage holder in the zen tradition, he is the founder of A Society of Souls (ASOS), a school dedicated to nondual healing and awakening. More information about Jason, the programmes he has developed, his books and music, can be found at www.societyofsouls.com

Sharadha Bain is a spiritual healer, teacher and writer based in Edinburgh. She comes from one of India’s oldest Hindu communities and grew up immersed in the path of Vedanta and Advaita. She has built on this with studies in the field of healing and personal growth and since 1990, has studied with numerous teachers in the Middle East, India, Europe and the United States. She is a certified Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner; a Brennan Healing Science practitioner; and a graduate of the three-year training in psychodynamics from the Center for Intentional Living. For the last 12 years, she has been studying and practising Nondual Kabbalistic Healing with A Society of Souls.

Ian Bain has served on the teaching faculty for the four-year training in Nondual Kabbalistic Healing with A Society of Souls. Previously, he was a Fleet Street journalist and public relations consultant.

Cost: £10/£8 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2014 Middle East Festival Forum on Spirituality, Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Speaker: Rev Prof John Swinton, Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, King's College, University of Aberdeen.
Title: Is spirituality good for your well-being?: A reflection on the role of “spirituality” in the practices of health care.
Chair: Steve Tilley. From 1993 Dr Stephen Tilley taught Nursing students at the University of Edinburgh to look critically at the evolving discourses on spirituality and health care. Having personal and professional interests in spirituality and mental health, he watches with interest the gathering of spirituality, recovery and well-being round common themes of 'meaning, purpose and fulfilment.'
Forum on Spirituality, Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Forum Panellists: Edie Irwin, Tara Rokpa Therapist; Jim Pym is a Quaker, with strong links to Buddhism and Advaita; Dr Brion Sweeney is a Tara Rokpa Therapist and Trainer who has been working with Tara Rokpa Therapy for over 30 years.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Thursday 20 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: The talk will explore the relatively recent movement within healthcare, towards incorporating “spirituality” into the ways in which we understand health and well-being. Whilst there is much talk and a good deal of literature claiming that ‘spirituality’ is helpful in enhancing human well-being and assisting a movement towards health, the actual meaning of the term ‘spirituality’ remains unclear. If we don’t know what spirituality is, how can we claim that it is good for our health and well-being? The talk will look at some of the reasons why the term spirituality has become opaque and slippery and will offer a perspective that suggests that while some of what we say about spirituality may be “made up,” that is, not relating directly to a “thing” called spirituality, a focus on the areas that are brought to light by reflecting on what people consider to be the spiritual dimensions of human beings brings to light vital practical aspects that do have the potential for transformation and improved health and well-being. Spirituality may be “made up,” but it is nonetheless real in its effects.

John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care in the School of Divinity, Religious Studies and Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen and an honorary Professor of Nursing at the University's Centre for Advanced Studies in Nursing. He has a background in mental health nursing and healthcare chaplaincy and has researched and published extensively within the areas of ageing, dementia, mental health and illness, spirituality and human well-being and the theology and spirituality of disability. He is the Director of Aberdeen University's Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability (www.abdn.ac.uk/cshad), and Co-Director of the University's Kairos Forum (www.abdn.ac.uk/kairos-forum). His publications include: Dementia: Living in the Memories of God (2012). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans/London SCM Press; Spirituality in Mental Health Care: Rediscovering a "forgotten" dimension. (2001) Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London. Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness (2008) (with Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier) IVP.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Saturday 22 March - Sunday 23 March 2014

Event: 2-Day Retreat: The Resurrection of Life: Teachings and Spiritual Practice of the Aramaic Jesus.

Facilitator: Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz directs the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning (www.eial.org) in Edinburgh.
Venue: Skye Room, Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Dates: Saturday 22 March - Sunday 23 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat Days: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: During this two-day retreat, we will use teachings and practices suggested by the words of Jesus in his native Aramaic language to deepen in our own sense of resurrection and renewal. Resurrection can occur whenever we forget the small self, allowing it to dissolve "like the dew drop into the shiny sea." Opening to the divine we can then allow ourselves to become channels for blessing and healing. This was the practice of Yeshua, whose spirituality we will explore through a mixture of teaching, silent meditation, walking meditation, chant and sacred movement.

The main thread will be the prayer of Yeshua (the “Lord’s Prayer”), which we will meditate with, chant and use in a cycle of Dances of Universal Peace. The background for this is in my first book Prayers of the Cosmos (HarperCollins 1990). In addition, I will draw teachings and spiritual practice from my later work on Jesus’s teachings, as found in Blessings of the Cosmos and I Am: The Secret Teachings of the Aramaic Jesus. I will also share some of my recent unpublished work-in-progress on the Jesus traditions in early Islam.

Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz directs the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning (www.eial.org) in Edinburgh, Scotland and co-founded the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, now in its eleventh year. He is the past chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion and has published several books on Middle Eastern spirituality and peace, including Prayers of the Cosmos (1990), Desert Wisdom (1995, revised 2010), The Hidden Gospel (1999), The Genesis Meditations (2003), The Sufi Book of Life (2005), Blessings of the Cosmos (2006) and The Tent of Abraham (2006, with Sr. Joan Chittister and Rabbi Arthur Waskow). His most recent work on the Aramaic Jesus is "I Am: The Hidden Teaching of the Aramaic Jesus," a recorded course from Sounds True. In 2005 he was awarded the Kessler-Keener Foundation Peacemaker of the Year award for his work in Middle Eastern peacemaking. Information about his work internationally can be found at the website of the Abwoon Resource Center, www.abwoon.com

Cost: £125/£100 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Alice Fateah Saunders, alicefateah@btinternet.com, +44 (0)131 664 6206.

Event: The 2014 Middle East Festival Forum on Inner Power, Transformation and Leadership.

Speaker: Scilla Elworthy PhD, founded the Oxford Research Group in 1982.
Title: What is Inner Power, and how do we use it?
Chair: Brian Smith, former Bishop of Edinburgh in the Scottish Episcopal Church..
Forum on Inner Power, Transformation and Leadership.
Forum Panellists: Dr Thomas Clough Daffern, Director, International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy. John Drummond, managing director of Integrity Works and a Principal of Integrity Works Inc, three years ago he co-founded the Constitutional Commission with Canon Kenyon Wright; Professor Bashabi Fraser MA PhD, Joint Director, Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs).
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 22 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: Drawing on half a century of helping prevent violence, Scilla Elworthy will show how Inner Power works by describing the most effective use of spiritual work in defusing conflict. She will tell the stories of those who use it best - how Aung San Suu Kyi prevented student protesters being shot; how Dekha Ibrahim Abdi helped stop the riots after Kenyan elections in 2007; what Nelson Mandela and his colleagues learned on Robben Island; how the Truce 20/20 youngsters defuse fights on the streets of Newham, in east London; how US soldiers were able to avoid being lynched in the streets of Iraq – and draw conclusions for our daily lives.

Scilla Elworthy PhD founded the Oxford Research Group in 1982 to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics, work which included a series of dialogues between Chinese, Russian and western nuclear scientists and military, and which formed the basis for later treaties. She founded Peace Direct in 2002 to fund, promote and learn from local peace-builders in conflict areas, leading to the acceptance by the UN of the value and cost effectiveness of ‘locally-led’ initiatives. Peace Direct was voted ‘Best New Charity’ in 2005. Scilla was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in 2003; she has been three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was adviser to Peter Gabriel, Desmond Tutu and Richard Branson in setting up ‘The Elders’; she is chair of the Civil Society sector of the Hanwang Forum in China; director of the Institute for Transformational Futures, a Councillor of the World Future Council, author of numerous books, patron of Gender Rights and Equality Action Trust, Voice of a Woman, Oxford Research Group; and a member of the steering Committee of PAX, a service to help prevent wars and genocides.

Cost: £6/£4 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Evening Workshop: Conversations about Counselling, Spirituality and Faith.

Facilitator: Alette Willis, PhD, is a researcher in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Edinburgh.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 23 March 2014.
Time: Registration: 6pm-6.30pm. Workshop: 6.30pm-9.30pm.
Event Description: Once upon a time, people thought that counselling and psychotherapy would replace religious attendance and spiritual practice, but what has come to pass is something quite different. Alette Willis has worked with counsellors across Scotland, collecting stories of what religion and spirituality mean to them and to their practice. The picture that emerges is an ever evolving one of intersection and complementarity. Many people report being drawn to counselling through their religious or spiritual values. Many of the secular counselling services that are around today were originally set up and funded by churches many decades ago. Join Alette to explore your own story of counselling, psychotherapy, religion and spirituality in relation to oral history material from people key to the history of this field in Scotland, as well as in relation to contemporary practitioners from a range of backgrounds. Discuss what it means to be a counsellor with a strong faith or spirituality in Scotland today. We will work creatively and respectfully using readers’ theatre, reflective journaling, open discussion and found poetry techniques.

Alette Willis, PhD, is a researcher in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Edinburgh. You can find out more about the project she worked on at: www.counsellingandspirituality.co.uk. In her spare time, she is a storyteller and a published author of fiction for children and adults.

Cost: £10/£8 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

MESP 2014 Future Events

Sun, 08 Dec 2013 11:58:14 +0000

Title: MESP 2014 Future Events
Venue: Near Edinburgh / Near Edinburgh
Category: MESP 2014 Future Events
Date: 13-04-2014 - 30-11-2014
Time:
Description:

MESP 2014 Future Events
Organised by, or jointly by, the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace,
EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996

Event: Girish Chant Workshop and Girish Kirtan.

Facilitator: Girish.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 13 April 2014.
Time: Registration: 3pm-3.30pm. Girish Chant Workshop: 3.30pm-5.30pm.
Registration: 7pm-7.30pm. Girish Kirtan: 7.30pm-9.30pm.
Event Description: Girish Kirtan: Girish, an accomplished musician of many genres, sings traditional Sanskrit mantras with a modern, funky, yet deeply devotional twist. Accompanied by his amazing band, Girish invites his audience to participate by singing along and dancing.

Girish Chant Workshop: Girish’s chanting immersion is for anyone seeking to bring the bliss of Sanskrit chanting into daily life or to deepen an existing practice. No previous experience necessary!
Girish is currently on tour to support his new album (Mondolaya, December 2013) His widely acclaimed seven previous releases and tours popularized his original music in yoga studios, churches, and music festivals worldwide. www.girishmusic.com

Cost: £12/£10 (Concession) for each of the Workshop and the Kirtan, £24/£20 (Concession) for both.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: 2-Day Retreat: The Journey to Your True Self.

Facilitators: Sharadha Bain is a spiritual healer, and Ian Bain has served on the teaching faculty for the four-year training in Nondual Kabbalistic Healing with A Society of Souls.
Venue: Stockbridge House, 2 Cheyne Street, Edinburgh, EH4 1JB.
Dates: Saturday 26 - Sunday 27 April 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: “Awakening is the birthright of every created being. To know God is our destiny.

What would it feel like if you realised that, from the very beginning, you were designed to look for, to find, and to receive God? That you were designed to awaken to reality? How would it feel to know that this would definitely happen in your lifetime, because you were made to accomplish this very thing?

If you let yourself feel this, many things will drop away. Those are the things you no longer need. Try to let them go. What is left is the answer you were looking for and the reason you were born.”

Jason Shulman in
‘The Instruction Manual for Receiving God’

Join us for two days of healing, meditation and spiritual exploration, drawing on the revolutionary work of Nondual Kabbalistic Healing developed by Jinen Jason Shulman.

This gentle yet profound path of personal healing and spiritual awakening unites theistic traditions such as the Kabbalah and Christianity with the nondual teachings of Advaita and Buddhism. It also weaves together contemporary psychotherapeutic understanding with the timeless wisdom of the world’s spiritual traditions.

During this weekend, we will inquire deeply into the fundamental questions of life and death, suffering and healing, the experience of being human with the heart’s yearning to love and feel loved by God, and our longing to take our rightful place in the larger reality.

Using teaching, discussion, and short meditations and spiritual practices, we will explore:
A new understanding of the ego on the journey of awakening
How we can be with God every moment
The revelatory paradigm of the Four Universes of the Kabbalah

We will also learn and practice the Healing of Immanence, which many people describe as life-changing and a turning point on their spiritual journey.

No prior knowledge of Kabbalah, Advaita, Buddhism or any other tradition is required to participate. People of all faiths are very welcome.

Nondual Kabbalistic Healing was created by Jinen Jason Shulman, one of the foremost spiritual teachers of our time. A unique combination of contemporary kabbalah master and Dharma lineage holder in the zen tradition, he is the founder of A Society of Souls (ASOS), a school dedicated to nondual healing and awakening. More information about Jason, the programmes he has developed, his books and music, can be found at www.societyofsouls.com

Cost: £100/£80 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji Visit to Edinburgh, Scotland.

For finalised details check www.eicsp.org or:

Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: 2-Day Retreat: Retreat in the City - conducted by Sr Ajahn Candasiri, a Theravada Buddhist nun.

Facilitator: Sister Ajahn Candasiri, has been active in the evolving community of nuns at Chithurst Monastery, Amaravati Monastery and, more recently, at Milntuim Hermitage in Perthshire.
Venue: Skye Room, Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Dates: Saturday 10 May - Sunday 11 May 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat Days: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: This weekend will be an opportunity to practise ancient methods for settling the mind that were prescribed by the Buddha over 2,500 years ago. It is open to people of any faith, or none.

In addition to settling the mind, there will also be time and encouragement to consider deeply our human predicament. Such pondering can enable the arising of insight that will help us to maintain a sense of inner tranquillity and balance after the retreat in surroundings that may not always be as tranquil and balanced as we would prefer.

Attendance for the whole weekend is strongly recommended.

Ajahn, or Sister Candasiri was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She was one of the first four women to enter monastic training at Chithurst Buddhist Monastery in West Sussex in 1979 under the guidance of Ajahn Sumedho (the first Western disciple of the late Ven Ajahn Chah of the Thai forest tradition). Since then, she has resided there and at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery where she has been involved with the development of a training for nuns in community.

In 2011, a property was purchased near Comrie in Perthshire where she is establishing a quiet hermitage for nuns of the Amaravati/Chithurst communities.

Cost: £50/£40 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Findhorn Eight Hour Kirtan - Non-stop enchanting mantra music experience.

Organisers:Jointly organised by the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996, and ISKCON Scotland, Scottish Charity, SC001127.
Venue: Universal Hall, The Park, Findhorn, Forres, IV36 3TZ.
Date: Saturday 7 June 2014.
Time: 1pm-9pm.
Event Description: KIRTAN (pronounced keertan) is an ancient participatory enchanting mantra music experience. One of the oldest sacred music traditions of the world, the kirtan call-and-response chanting genre comes to us from India. Using ancient Sanskrit mantras to the accompaniment of instruments, the kirtan calls upon sacred energies which serve to quiet the mind, remove inauspicious things from the heart, to bring us back to the centre of our own identity and awaken divine peace and love within us. It is the yoga of sound.

The word “mantra” means to deliver (tra) the mind (mana), and it is one of the easiest methods to use. The mantra itself, depending on which one used, often incorporates a vibrational formula to call various energies or powers to oneself, or to awaken one to higher states of awareness, perception and realization.

Kirtan is a spiritual journey: usually starting off with a slow tempo, gradually building up to euphoric crescendos bringing with it the concomitant emotions of joy and elation. The captivating nature of the melodious tunes fused with the eclectic blend of instruments induces the heart with deep sentiments and enlivens the self to profound levels of delight.

All can participate in this chanting, the more participants, the greater the efficacy. Whether one is musically gifted or hasn’t got a rhythmical inclination, not considering caste, creed, colour, religious background or gender; all unite through the medium of this musical experience, transcending the mundane platform and transporting them to a spiritual realm

Vegan food will be served.

Drop in at any time.

Cost: Admission: £5 suggested donation. Everyone Welcome.
Contact: scotlandkirtan@facebook.com, 07726688778.

Aisha Salem Visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, 23-29 June 2014.

Organised by the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace,
EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996. www.eicsp.org

Event: Celebration and Satsang.

Facilitator: Aisha Salem.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Monday 23 June 2014.
Time: Registration: 4.30pm-5pm. Event: 5pm-9.30pm. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early.
Event Description: An evening of Celebration in Truth with meditation in movement and Satsang-meeting ~ in deep healing, clarification and surrender to Ultimate Honesty. Participants will have time to eat a snack that they bring themselves in between the dancing and the satsang.

Cost: £15.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Individual sessions with Aisha Salem.

Facilitator: Aisha Salem.
Venue: Details confirmed on booking.
Dates: Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 June 2014 (day appointments only - 40 minutes).
Time: Details confirmed on booking.
Event Description: Individual meetings in Truth, Life and Being through direct enquiry with Aisha Salem.

Cost: £45.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: 5-Day Retreat with Aisha Salem.

Facilitator: Aisha Salem.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Dates: Wednesday 25 – Sunday 29 June 2014.
Times: Wednesday - Saturday: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat: 10am–4.30pm. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early.
Sunday: Registration: 3.30pm-4pm. Retreat: 4pm-9.30pm. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early.
Event Description: A treasure of an invitation to enter the flame of purification, healing and clarification. For a time of working closely with Aisha on your awakening; purification of Heart and clarification of Mind, through a period of 2-5 days in complete honesty of Silence/Truth and Presence. On-going satsangs, social silence, meditations, chanting, movement, self-investigation, contemplation, transmission and integration.
*Full information will be given to those confirmed prior to commencing Retreat.

Cost: £70 per day - £30 discount on full 5 days participation.
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

About and further information:

Aisha Salem is a woman living from the deepest of dedication to Truth. For more than a decade, her dedication has brought her Being into fulness as pure Love as well as beyond, to the realization of Truth beyond existence. Aisha travels the world, giving Satsang, retreats and offer her facilitation in realization, wherever the world calls for her Love and cutting edge honesty.

Aisha Salem’s website offers articles, writings, video links, pointers, her full schedule and information about retreating at the centre in Denmark and also around Europe: http://aishasalem.com/

Event: 2-Day Workshop: Sufi Healing and Meditation Workshop.

Facilitator: Murshid Saul Barodofsky, assisted by Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz.
Venue: The Old Kirk, Kirkcaldy, Fife.
Date: Saturday 20 - Sunday 21 September 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Event: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: This is the first UK workshop led by Murshid Saul from the USA, an original student of Murshid Samuel Lewis and founder of the Dervish Healing Order in 1971. Saul is a master of active practices for self-healing and will include chant, breath practice, walking meditation and other active concentrations that help build magnetism and allow one to become a channel for healing for oneself and others. He will also share what the Sufis call baraka or blessing through his telling of some stories about his time with various spiritul healers and with Murshid Samuel Lewis (1896-1971), the founder of the Dances of Universal Peace. Saadi will assist him by sharing some of these healing circle dances. The workshop is open to all and sponsored by the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning with support from the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace.

Contact: Neil and Natalia, info@eial.org

Event: 2-Day Workshop: Sound Voice and Soul Communication: Journey to the Heart of your Voice.

Facilitator: Chloe Goodchild.
Venue: Skye Room, Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Dates: Saturday 27 - Sunday 28 September 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat Days: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: Sound Voice and Soul Communication provides relaxed and empowering context in which you will experience the transformative power of your own unique sound and voice.

However we may feel about the global crisis, whether we experience it as a collapse, or a renaissance of consciousness, there is no question that it is offering us a unique opportunity to wake up and re-invent our lives with greater awareness, discernment, courage and loving kindness. Your unique voice offers a simple fast way to access the language and music of your soul. with courage and compassion. Whether or not you have ever shared sound – performatively or therapeutically - with others, you will be aware of the uplifting presence that vocal music has as it envelops you in a stillness beyond the rational mind. All the more so in the graceful silence that remains after the singing has finished. It invites wonder, reverence and a harmonic resonance that unifies everyone.

Sound visionary and voice pioneer Chloe Goodchild, will introduce you to simple user-friendly and life-changing ways to connect with the authentic voice of your soul.

Meditative, spontaneous, and structured vocal practices invite a depth of self-inquiry and deep listening in a safe and supportive context.

You will soon find yourself expressing yourself and more important, hearing yourself and others in ways you never imagined possible.

You will explore your true voice as:

1) a metaphor for life – a way to live in harmony with yourself;

2) a musicianship of love – an opportunity to explore the full expression of your heart;

3) a metaphysics of being – a gateway into the spirit of interconnectedness.

Chloe Goodchild is Founder of The Naked Voice Foundation. You may wish to have a Voiceline, a one-to-one voice session with Chloe first (Skype or telephone). For more information contact: www.thenakedvoice.com

Cost: £100. For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Evening Workshop: Dances of Universal Peace.

Facilitator: Dominic Ashmole, has been leading Dances of Universal Peace since 2007.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 4 October 2014.
Time: Registration: 5.30am-6pm. Evening Workshop: 6pm-9pm.
Event Description: The Dances of Universal Peace are a powerful group spiritual practice originating in Sufism. We sing or chant sacred phrases while dancing in a circle. By opening our voices and hearts, dancing together and honouring sacred traditions of many different peoples and times, we may experience feelings of connectedness, joy, playfulness, healing and strength.
Dominic Ashmole has been leading Dances of Universal Peace since 2007. Under the guidance of his teacher, Philip O’Donohoe, he became a certified leader in November 2010.

Cost: £10/£8 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Sufi Kirtan and 2-Day Retreat: Harmony: Hearing the Symphony of Life: Sufi Music and the Mysticism of Sound.

Organisers: Jointly organised by the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996, and the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning, EIAL.
Facilitators: Philip Tansen O'Donohoe and Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz.
Venue: Friday 10 October 2014: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Saturday 11 - Sunday 12 October 2014: Stockbridge House, 2 Cheyne Street, Edinburgh, EH4 1JB.
Dates: 10-12 October 2014.
Times: Friday 10 October: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Kirtan: 7pm-9.30pm.
Time: Saturday 11 October: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat: 10am-5pm.
Saturday 11 October: Retreat Evening of Sufi Zikr and Storytelling: 7.30pm-9.30pm.
Sunday 12 October: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: “Why does a mystic give such great importance to harmony? Because for a mystic his or her whole life is one continuous symphony of music, each soul contributing to the symphony by his or her particular part in the music. Success, therefore, depends upon the ideal of harmony the person has. Very few people in the world give attention to harmony. They do not know that without this, there is no chance of being happy. Only the harmonious ones can make happiness and partake of that happiness. Otherwise it is hard to find happiness in the world. The fighter has no peace; battle will be ever increasing. It is the peacemaker who is blessed. No doubt to make peace, one will have to fight with oneself in order to be able to make peace with others.” - Hazrat Inayat Khan

The weekend will begin with a Friday evening of "Sufi Kirtan," which uses traditional forms of music in new melodic and rhythmic ways. The intention remains, as it did for our Sufi ancestors, to open ourselves to the deepest connection with the divine Beloved. The evening is open to all.

This weekend workshop will continue to explore the ancient methods Sufis have used to experience music as a spiritual practice and prayer. In this way, 'one becomes an hollow reed,' as Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi recommends. At the same time, we will explore and experience new Western styles of Sufi music, linked to group movement and prayer, chanting, poetry, meditation, Dances of Universal Peace and storytelling. Saturday evening, Tansen and Saadi will guide workshop participants in an extended experience of Sufi zikr, using movement and music in various forms. Disabled access available.

The workshop leaders are UK senior teachers (murshids) in the Chishti Ruhaniat tradition of Sufism (see www.sufiruhaniat.eu), in the line of Sufi Ahmed Murad Chishti and Hazrat Inayat Khan Chishti. Saadi (Neil Douglas-Klotz) is the author of several books on Sufism and Middle Eastern mysticism, including The Sufi Book of Life, Desert Wisdom, The Tent of Abraham and Prayers of the Cosmos. He is the co-founder, with Neill Walker, of the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, MESP. Philip Tansen is a singer and musician who has made a life-long study of use of sound in healing and spiritual development. He has trained in various forms of meditation over the last 30 years.

Cost: Friday Evening Sufi Kirtan: £10 (This evening is open to all).
Saturday and Sunday: £140/£110 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Alice Fateah Saunders, alicefateah@btinternet.com, +44 (0)131 664 6206.

Event: Edinburgh Eight Hour Kirtan - Non-stop enchanting mantra music experience.

Organisers: Jointly organised by the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996, and ISKCON Scotland, Scottish Charity, SC001127.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 18 October 2014.
Time: 1pm-9pm.
Event Description: KIRTAN (pronounced keertan) is an ancient participatory enchanting mantra music experience. One of the oldest sacred music traditions of the world, the kirtan call-and-response chanting genre comes to us from India. Using ancient Sanskrit mantras to the accompaniment of instruments, the kirtan calls upon sacred energies which serve to quiet the mind, remove inauspicious things from the heart, to bring us back to the centre of our own identity and awaken divine peace and love within us. It is the yoga of sound.

The word “mantra” means to deliver (tra) the mind (mana), and it is one of the easiest methods to use. The mantra itself, depending on which one used, often incorporates a vibrational formula to call various energies or powers to oneself, or to awaken one to higher states of awareness, perception and realization.

Kirtan is a spiritual journey: usually starting off with a slow tempo, gradually building up to euphoric crescendos bringing with it the concomitant emotions of joy and elation. The captivating nature of the melodious tunes fused with the eclectic blend of instruments induces the heart with deep sentiments and enlivens the self to profound levels of delight.

All can participate in this chanting, the more participants, the greater the efficacy. Whether one is musically gifted or hasn’t got a rhythmical inclination, not considering caste, creed, colour, religious background or gender; all unite through the medium of this musical experience, transcending the mundane platform and transporting them to a spiritual realm

Vegan food will be served.

Drop in at any time.

Cost: Admission: £5 suggested donation. Everyone Welcome.
Contact: scotlandkirtan@facebook.com, 07726688778.

Brenda Carter Blessings Visit to Edinburgh, Scotland.

For finalised details check www.eicsp.org or:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Afternoon Workshop: Education with Head, Heart and Hands.

Facilitator: Satish Kumar, Editor of Resurgence Magazine.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 1 November 2014.
Time: Registration: 1.30pm-2pm. Half Day Workshop: 2pm-5.30pm.
Event Description: Our current educational system serves the interest of the economy rather than the individual but we need an education which places equal importance to head, heart, hands and homes. Of course we need to learn to think and use our brains but we also need to develop our intuition, our imagination and our heart qualities.

Cost: £30/£25 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: An Evening with Satish Kumar.

Speaker: Satish Kumar, Editor of Resurgence Magazine.
Title: Soil, Soul, Society.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 1 November 2014.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pn. Event: 7pm-approx 9pm.
Event Description: The future well being of humanity and the earth is dependant on a new world view in which the care of the planet, nourishment of the soul and the nurturing of the human community are integrated and seen as a continuum. As the trinity of Egalité, liberté and fraternité, we need a new trinity for the age of ecology which has wholeness, integrity and cohesion. I propose the trinity of soil, soul and society. Our reverence for the earth, our care of the soul and a just order in society represent a vision of sustainability, spirituality and justice.

When he was only nine years old, Satish Kumar renounced the world and joined the wandering brotherhood of Jain monks. Dissuaded from his path by an inner voice at the age of eighteen, he left the monastic order and became a campaigner for land reform, working to turn Gandhi’s vision of a peaceful world into reality.

Fired by the example of Bertrand Russell, he undertook an 8,000 mile peace pilgrimage, walking from India to America without any money, through deserts, mountains, storms and snow. It was an adventure during which he was thrown into jail in France, faced a loaded gun in America – and delivered packets of ‘peace tea’ to the leaders of the four nuclear powers.

In 1973, he settled in England, taking the Editorship of Resurgence magazine. He has been the editor ever since (30 + years!). He is the guiding spirit behind a number of ecological, spiritual and educational ventures in Britain. He founded the Small School in Hartland, a pioneering secondary school (aged 11-16), which brings into its curriculum ecological and spiritual values. In 1991, Schumacher College, a residential international centre for the study of ecological and spiritual values, was founded, of which he is a Visiting Fellow.

Following Indian tradition, in his fiftieth year, he undertook another pilgrimage: again carrying no money, he walked 2,000 miles to the holy places of Britain – Glastonbury, Canterbury, Lindisfarne and Iona. Meeting old friends and making new ones along the way, this pilgrimage was a celebration of his love of life and nature.

In July 2000, Satish Kumar was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Education from the University of Plymouth. In July 2001 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the University of Lancaster. In July 2009 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Exeter University.

In November 2001, Satish Kumar was presented with the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Abroad.

His autobiography, No Destination, has sold 50,000 copies and is published by Green Books. Satish’s three other books, You Are, Therefore I Am – A Declaration of Dependence, The Buddha and the Terrorist, Spiritual Compass and his new book Earth Pilgrim are published by Green Books.

In 2008, Satish Kumar presented a 50-minute documentary on the BBC as part of the Natural World series. In the programme Satish introduced the Dartmoor scenes and sights that most inspire him and contemplated the lessons they hold for humanity. A highly acclaimed documentary that mixed eastern philosophy with the western landscape of Dartmoor; the programme was watched by over 3.6 million people.

From March to May 2008 Satish was invited as Des Lee visiting Professor of Global Awareness at Webster University, St Louis, Missouri. Satish teaches lectures and runs workshops internationally on reverential ecology, holistic education and voluntary simplicity.

Cost: £10/£8 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Day Conference: Rabindranath Tagore's Spirituality: Artistic, Educational and Political Expressions.

Organisers: Jointly organised by the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996, and the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs).
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 8 November 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Day Conference: 10am-5pm.
Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Evening Event: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: The conference themes will include the following:
1. the formation of Tagore's spirituality and the evidence of it in his artistic endeavours
2. the contribution of Tagore's spirituality to his action at home and in the world and to his outlook on world affairs
2.1. evidence of Tagore's spirituality in his international contacts, his ideas on politics and the nation and nationalism and a consideration of how his spirituality may have been affected by, or changed by, his action in the world
2.2. the contemporary relevance of Tagore and of his spirituality
3. evidence of Tagore's spirituality in his educational and socio-cultural endeavours
4. evidence of Tagore's spirituality in his dialogues with Gandhi and other political and spiritual leaders of his time
5. linking the themes raised to Scotland - to Scots that Tagore had contact with, and to Scotland today.

Cost: Day Conference: £25/£20 (Concessions)/£10 (Students).
Evening Event: £10/£8 (Concessions)/£5 (Students).
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

David Brazier Visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, 22-30 November 2014.

Organised by the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, ICSP, Scottish Charity, SC03899, www.eicsp.org, and Blue Morpho Body and Mind Centre, www.bluemorphocentre.co.uk

Event: Day Workshop for Professionals: Zen Psychotherapy: Going beyond Mindfulness.

Facilitator: Dr David Brazier, president of the International Zen Therapy Institute, Dharmavidya of the Amida Order of Pureland Buddhism. Zen master, psychotherapist and author.
Venue: Stockbridge House, 2 Cheyne Street, Edinburgh, EH4 1JB.
Date: Saturday 22 November 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Event: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: The Buddhist tradition includes some of the world's earliest texts on psychology and there has recently be wide interest in what this rich source can offer to contemporary psychotherapy. Current interest in mindfulness is only the tip of the iceberg. Many of the methods common in contemporary psychotherapy are anticipated in the tradition, but commonly with significant differences of emphasis over, for instance, the nature of the self, the modes of conditioning of the mind, the nature of psychological liberation and the relative importance of solitude and relationship. Dr Brazier has studied and worked with this material for several decades and lectures on it in Asia, the Americas and Europe. This day workshop for professionals (and others interested) will introduce significant theory and methodology.

Cost: £120. For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: Individual Sessions with Dr David Brazier.

Facilitator: Dr David Brazier, president of the International Zen Therapy Institute, Dharmavidya of the Amida Order of Pureland Buddhism. Zen master, psychotherapist and author.
Venue: Details confirmed on booking.
Dates: Details confirmed on booking.
Time: Details confirmed on booking.
Event Description: Zen Therapy sessions lie in the middle ground between psychotherapy and spiritual direction. The theoretical basis of the encounter is Buddhist psychology but theory is not generally imparted in the session. The actual process of each encounter depends upon the unique need or personal koan of the individual and has the aim of achieving a deepening of faith in life, release of compassionate energy, and/or some inching toward greater liberation

Cost: £40 (1 hour). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Event: 2-Day Retreat: Teachings on Love and Compassion: Awakening the Heart: Cultivating the Mind.

Facilitator: Dr David Brazier, president of the International Zen Therapy Institute, Dharmavidya of the Amida Order of Pureland Buddhism. Zen master, psychotherapist and author.
Venue: Skye Room, Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Dates: Saturday 29 - Sunday 30 November 2014.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Event: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: A 2-day retreat with meditation and Dharma teachings, discussion, a modicum of ritual, and plenty of opportunity for self-exploration. We shall meet to practice together. Those who do not have previous experience of meditation or Buddhist practice will find this a valuable way to get a taste for this ancient path and those who do have experience will find the approach refreshingly distinctive. Buddhism is a spiritual way that encompasses great diversity yet perennially returns to core values of love, compassion, peace and wisdom. These qualities are not just academic concepts but qualities that may be awakened in us. Once the heart is aroused, the mind naturally finds a way. This being a retreat the emphasis is upon contemplative practice, but conceived in the frame of the importance of actual compassionate action in the world.

Cost: £100. For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, mesp2014@hotmail.co.uk, 0131 331 4469.

Biography:

Dr David Brazier, president of the International Zen Therapy Institute, Dharmavidya of the Amida Order of Pureland Buddhism. Zen master, psychotherapist and author. His published work includes nine books, among them, Zen Therapy, Love and Its Disappointment, Beyond Carl Rogers, and Who Loves Dies Well. He is the lead teacher on professional training programmes in Korea, Spain and South America and travels and lectures extensively. He has studied Buddhism for forty five years including periods with Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese), Kennett Roshi (Soto Zen), Saiko Sensei (Shinshu), Chogyam Trungpa (Kargyu) and other leading teachers. He has founded and worked on many social aid projects and gives spiritual direction in various communities but has become known primarily for his work on Buddhist psychology. Between lecture tours he lives at a hermitage in a rural area of central France.

MESP 2014 Middle Eastern Film Festival

Sun, 08 Dec 2013 10:38:17 +0000

Title: MESP 2014 Middle Eastern Film Festival
Venue: The Filmhouse / Edinburgh
Category: MESP 2014 Middle Eastern Film Festival
Date: 16-05-2014 - 30-05-2014
Time:
Description:

MESP 2014 Middle Eastern Film Festival
Friday 16 May – Friday 30 May 2014

Event: Middle Eastern Film Festival: Postcolonial Struggles: Cinema from the Maghreb.
Organisers and Partners: A partnership between The Middle East Festival, MESP, and the Filmhouse, supported by the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Iranian Festival, Screen Academy Scotland, Scottish Documentary Institute, Goethe-Institut Glasgow, Institut Français d’Ecosse, North Edinburgh Arts, Africa in Motion, the Centre for African Studies, University of Edinburgh, among others. Partner cinemas: Filmhouse, Glasgow Film Theatre, DCA, Eden Court, Robert Burns Film Theatre, Bo'ness Hippodrome, and North Edinburgh Arts.

This festival is organised and directed by Neill Walker (on behalf of MESP), with programme curation by James McKenzie and Stefanie Van De Peer, in association with Neill Walker and the Filmhouse, and is managed by Neill Walker (on behalf of the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity, SC038996).

The purpose of the Festival is to provide a focus for the study and promotion of Middle Eastern cinema. The geographic area covered by the Festival broadly covers that outlined in Oliver Leahman’s ‘Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film,’ which includes Central Asia, North Africa, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Iraq.

Following on from the retrospective on Iranian cinema in 2009, Egyptian cinema in 2010, Turkish cinema in 2011, Kurdish cinema in 2012, cinema of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in 2013, this year the season will focus on cinema of the Maghreb (Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria).

There will also be a selection of some of the best of contemporary Middle Eastern cinema from other Middle Eastern countries.

Lead Venue: Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh. EH3 9BZ.
Contact and Booking: 0131 228 2688, www.filmhousecinema.com

Full details on: www.mesp.org.uk