Unity in the Contemporary World
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Beshara Magazine provides a platform for intelligent and thought-provoking material embodying a unifying perspective. Its concern is not with one particular field of activity, but with unitative ideas and initiatives as they arise in many different areas of contemporary thought – for example, within the spiritual traditions, the sciences, the arts, economics and finance, as well as in our developing understanding of the environment and the fundamentals of well-being.

Our aim is to present just one or two articles each month, allowing the content to grow into a substantial collection over time. As such, we hark back to the original root of the word ‘magazine’, which derives from the Arabic term for a storehouse or treasury (makhzan, pl. makhāzin), as well as to its 19th century English usage as ‘a storehouse for information’ or ‘a portable receptacle for valuable things’.

The word Beshara is originally Aramaic, and its meaning can be rendered as ‘good news’; thus it indicates the very positive and valuable effect that any movement towards a more inclusive and harmonious perspective represents.

This short interview with the editor, Jane Clark, gives more information about the aims and background.

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 Personnel
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Jane Clark (Editor) is a teacher and independent researcher who lives in Oxford. Originally trained in the sciences, she attended courses at the Beshara School in the 70s/80s  and went on to study the Islamic mystical tradition at the University of Oxford. Over the last twenty years, she has given many talks and seminars both in UK and internationally, especially on the  ideas of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi. She has a long-term interest in contemporary expressions of perennial ideas. She works as a support tutor at University of Oxford and has one daughter, Anne.

Peter Huitson (Assistant Editor) grew up in South Croydon. As a child he was fascinated by the precision and patterns of numbers and the beauty of the natural world. He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge. For 25 years he worked implementing information systems worldwide that supported companies in maintaining complex industrial plant. In his forties he reinvented himself through poetry and psychological and spiritual growth. In more recent years he has trained as a Spiritual Guide who helps others cultivate seeds of potential which lie dormant within.
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Nikos Yiangou (Podcast Editor) grew up in South Africa and holds a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology. He worked for some years as a craftsman, followed by a lengthy career in the software industry in Silicon Valley. He was  involved for many years  in the Ibn ‘Arabi Society in the US and was President of the Society until 2021. He has published several articles on the ideas Ibn Arabi as they  pertain to contemporary domains such as psychology, integral thought, and evolution. He lives in the Bay Area in California.

Uzma Chaudhry (Picture Editor) has been a community organiser and advocate for disabled people from a young age. She worked as an Equality and Inclusion consultant for large businesses and charities, while studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics with the Open University. She is currently one of the founders of a community interest company, inPotential.org which seeks the wisdom of a spiritual education in a leadership programme for young adults. Uzma also has a long-term interest in painting, and is newly exploring her affinities for art, picking up a paintbrush for the first time in many years and reviving her passion for visual storytelling.

Personnel

Jane Clark (Editor) is a teacher and independent researcher who has lived in Oxford for the last 35 years. She has a long-standing interest in the correlation between the wisdom of the spiritual traditions and contemporary thought. Originally trained in the sciences, she attended courses at the Beshara School in the late 70s and has remained involved ever since. From 1987–1991, she was the editor of the first incarnation of Beshara Magazine, and from 1992–94 worked as a founder editor of The Journal of Conciousness Studies. In 1998–2000, she took a Master’s degree at the University of Oxford to study the Islamic mystical tradition – in particular the works of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi – in more depth. 

Jane has given many lectures, published many papers and conducted many courses both in the UK and abroad, for organisations such as the Oxford University Department of Continuous Education; Temenos Academy; The British Council; the Ibn ʿArabi Society and various branches of Beshara. She has co-edited two books: The New Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science with Willis Harman (IONS, 1991), and The Kiss: The Beshara Talks of Dom Sylvester Houédard with Charles Verey (Beshara Publications, 2024). For her ‘day job’ she works as a support tutor at University of Oxford, a profession she took up after she was widowed in 2003. She has one daughter, Anne.

Peter Huitson (Assistant Editor) grew up in South Croydon. As a child he was fascinated by the precision and patterns of numbers and the beauty and wildness of the natural world. He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, and for 25 years he worked implementing information systems worldwide that supported companies in maintaining complex industrial plant. In his forties he plunged into an extended mid-life crisis. As this unfolded, he was reinvented through poetry and psychological and spiritual growth. He divided his working life between working as a play therapist in an inner London primary school and providing practical advice and support to those struggling with debt and welfare benefit problems. In his leisure time he built furniture with a focus on finding creative ways to marry beauty, warmth and function using native hardwoods.

In more recent years, he has been initiated in the Inayati Sufi Order founded by Hazrat Inayat Khan; has worked extensively with dreams as a vehicle for spiritual growth and trained as a Spiritual Guide who helps others cultivate seeds of potential which lie dormant within.Peter is drawn to collecting and bringing together seemingly disparate points of view to build a richer and more coherent expression of underlying reality. He loves playing with words to discover fruitful ways to give others a taste of whatever he has understood.

Nikos Yiangou grew up in South Africa and holds a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology. He worked for some years as a craftsman, followed by a lengthy career in the software industry in Silicon Valley. He was  involved for many years  in the Ibn ‘Arabi Society in the US and was President of the Society until 2021. He has published several articles on the ideas Ibn Arabi as they  pertain to contemporary domains such as psychology, integral thought, and evolution. He lives in the Bay Area in California.

Uzma Chaudhry (picture editor) has been a community organiser and advocate for disabled people from a young age. She worked as an Equality and Inclusion consultant for large businesses and charities, while studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics with the Open University. She is currently one of the founders of a community interest company, inPotential.org which seeks the wisdom of a spiritual education in a leadership programme for young adults. Uzma also has a long-term interest in painting, and is newly exploring her affinities for art, picking up a paintbrush for the first time in many years and reviving her passion for visual storytelling.

Proofreaders: Lynne Hector, Janice McAllister

Layout & Design: Robert Cathomas

Editorial Advisory Board: Martha Cass, Richard Gault, Hans von Koten, Elizabeth Roberts, Rosemary Rule, Michael Cohen, Barbara Vellacott

We are always in need of more people to help with the running of the magazine. If you would like to discuss volunteering, please contact Jane Clark on editors@besharamagazine.org.

Publisher

Beshara Magazine is an independent, non-profit publication which is published by the Beshara Trust, a UK-based educational charity (Reg. nos. 296769 England & Wales, SC039933 Scotland). It is supported entirely by donations and all editorial work is undertaken on a voluntary basis. Any donations received through the website go towards editorial expenses and support of the web-site.