Bulent Rauf
1911-1987 |
Born in Istanbul in 1911, Bulent Rauf was the grandson of Ismail Pasha, Vice-regent of Egypt, the family having close connections to the Ottoman imperial house. He was educated first at home, where he had a classical Ottoman education, reading Turkish, Arabic and Persian as well as three European languages, and then continued his studies at Roberts College.
He attended Cornell and Yale Universities, and travelled widely. Then in 1945 he married his second cousin, Princess Faiza of Egypt. They were divorced in the early sixties.
He settled in England in 1966 and married Angela Culme-Seymour. Bulent Rauf devoted many years of his life to the establishing of a body of knowledge based on an understanding of the absolute unity of existence. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Chisholme Institute at the Beshara School of Intensive Esoteric Education in the Scottish Borders, where since 1975 hundreds of students have studied the fundamentals of spirituality. He was first president of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society, dedicated to the promulgation of the works of the great Andalusian mystic. His chief literary work was the complete rendering into English of Ibn 'Arabi's Fusus al-Hikam (Settings of Wisdom), incorporating the Turkish commentary attributed to Ismail Hakki Bursevi. He was engaged in translation, research work and counselling until his death in 1987.
Two other sites which includes information about Bulent Rauf:- Bulent Rauf
- Beshara School of Intensive Esoteric Education. This also has information on residential courses which include study of works by Ibn 'Arabi, Jelaluddin Rumi, Meister Eckhart, Bulent Rauf and others.