Experience outstanding programs from anywhere in the world with Open Center Online Learning webinars. This season, the Open Center is launching a compelling new initiative: live webinars with distinguished faculty, accessible from the comfort of your own home. It’s time to take the Open Center’s work worldwide via the Internet! To participate in any of these events, only a computer and broadband connection to the Internet are needed. Each webinar is an interactive, two-hour experience with an intimate feel. We encourage you to let friends and family outside the greater New York area know that these new programs are now available.

Rumi the Teacher & Ecstatic Lover

Fatemeh Keshavarz, PhD

Born in Afghanistan in 1207 into a family of mystics and scholars, Rumi settled in Konya, Anatolia. He became a professor at the age of 25, but his life changed when he met a wandering dervish. A distinguished Iranian scholar and writer describes Rumi the person, the kind of poetry he wrote and why, and discusses the meaning of whirling.

By registering for this live webinar, for each webinar event you will receive the following:

• 90 minutes of live, interactive webinar content.
• 30 minutes of question-and-answer time with the teacher.
• Access to download a recording of the complete webinar, after the event. (Free software provided to view.)

Computer System Requirements
No matter where you are on the planet, as long as you have a computer with a broadband connection, web browser, and sound capabilities (microphone and speakers or headset), you will be able to participate and engage in the question-and-answer period. If you can watch YouTube videos, you can attend this webinar online. Recommended System Requirements: Windows XP (PC) or Mac OSX 10.5 or higher, and browsers version Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 3, Safari 4, and Chrome 11 or higher. ACCESS INFORMATION WILL BE EMAILED TO REGISTERED STUDENT A FEW DAY PRIOR TO THE EVENT.

AN ONLINE WEBINAR
(1 session) Sunday, July 1, 1–3pm EDT
12OLWSS103 • $29 (No Member Discount)
$25 Early Bird rate by June 18
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Combined price for this webinar and Rumi, the Person and the Past with
Fatemeh Keshavarz
12OLWSS103
$45 Early Bird combined rate by June 10.
$52 if registering for both at the same time after June 10.
No member discount for combine rates.

Experience outstanding programs from anywhere in the world with Open Center Online Learning webinars. This season, the Open Center is launching a compelling new initiative: live webinars with distinguished faculty, accessible from the comfort of your own home. It’s time to take the Open Center’s work worldwide via the Internet! To participate in any of these events, only a computer and broadband connection to the Internet are needed. Each webinar is an interactive, two-hour experience with an intimate feel. We encourage you to let friends and family outside the greater New York area know that these new programs are now available.

Rumi, the Person and the Poet: I Wonder which Me is Me?”

Fatemeh Keshavarz, PhD

Born in Afghanistan in 1207 into a family of mystics and scholars, Rumi settled in Konya, Anatolia. He became a professor at the age of 25, but his life changed when he met a wandering dervish. A distinguished Iranian scholar and writer describes Rumi the person, the kind of poetry he wrote and why, and discusses the meaning of whirling.

By registering for this live webinar, for each webinar event you will receive the following:

• 90 minutes of live, interactive webinar content.
• 30 minutes of question-and-answer time with the teacher.
• Access to download a recording of the complete webinar, after the event. (Free software provided to view.)

Computer System Requirements
No matter where you are on the planet, as long as you have a computer with a broadband connection, web browser, and sound capabilities (microphone and speakers or headset), you will be able to participate and engage in the question-and-answer period. If you can watch YouTube videos, you can attend this webinar online. Recommended System Requirements: Windows XP (PC) or Mac OSX 10.5 or higher, and browsers version Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 3, Safari 4, and Chrome 11 or higher. ACCESS INFORMATION WILL BE EMAILED TO REGISTERED STUDENT A FEW DAY PRIOR TO THE EVENT.

AN ONLINE WEBINAR
(1 session) Sunday, June 24, 1–3pm EDT
12OLWSS101 • $29 (No Member Discount)
$25 Early Bird rate by June 10
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Combined price for both this class and Rumi the Teacher & Ecstatic Lover with Fatemeh Keshavarz
12OLWSS103
$45 Early Bird combined rate by June 10.
$52 if registering for both at the same time after June 10.
No member discount for combine rates.

Amir Vahab and Ensemble, with The Daf Caravan

Amir Vahab has been described by The New York Times as an “ambassador for a silenced music.” One of NYC’s most celebrated composer/vocalists of Persian sacred and folk music, he has recorded six albums, and sings in the evocative, traditional Persian style which embodies millennia of mystical tradition. This evening, Amir Vahab and ensemble will perform songs selected from the poetry of the great Sufi masters Rumi and Hafiz and other legendary mystical poets—to transport us to 13th century Persia with all its beauty and exoticism. The ensemble will also perform lively traditional music from Persian, Turkish, Kurdish and other sources featuring the mystical reed flute, ancient lutes, and the daf drum. The concert concludes with a dynamic drumming performance that echoes the universal heartbeat of existence.

Saturday, July 14, 8pm
12SAN02P
Members: $18 / Nonmembers: $20
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Robert Frager, PhD

“Your task is not to seek ... love, but merely to ... find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” —Rumi

There are two dimensions to Sufi practice:opening the heart and self-transformation. In this class we will explore how to open the heart and access its wisdom as well as how to develop the capacity for greater love and open-hearted service. We will also delve into the Sufi approach to transforming the ego in a seven level process that takes a seeker from the completely self-centered, narcissistic ego to the “pure” ego, the final level of unity and egolessness. Our work together will include immersion in Sufi teaching stories and other Sufi practices and an in-depth look at the process of spiritual guidance in the Sufi tradition.

A ONE-DAY WORKSHOP
Sunday, August 26, 10am–5pm
12SSS30S
Members: $90 / Nonmembers: $100
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John Lloyd and Karl Lorenzen

Sacred Geometry constitutes a common ground between many of the world’s cultures
and traditions. Its language of number and symbol expresses profound ideas about
beauty, proportion and our connection to the transcendent. For the artists of Islam, geometry is an expression of Divine intelligence. Each week we explore aspects of this beautiful work:

1) The Seal of Solomon: The triangle as a six pointed star demonstrates energy crystalizing into form.
2) The Breath of the Compassionate: The square, the universal symbol of Earth, in its manifestation as an octagon expounds the Divine Breath.
3) The Pentagon: As a 10-pointed star, the pentagon forms a pattern of whirling stars revealing the Golden Mean.
4) Arabesques: The spiraling, twining designs of leaves and vines, recall the archetypal Garden of Paradise.

Note: Please bring a compass, ruler, pencils and a pad of paper for the drawing exercises.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(4 sessions) Mondays, August 6–27, 8–10pm
12SSS28T
Members: $80 / Nonmembers: $85 /
Individual Sessions: $22
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