Excerpts from the book of Brian Hodgkinson, In Search of Truth
Some excerpts from the book of Brian Hodgkinson, In Search of Truth, about our School:
The School in Cyprus, like Brussels, celebrates its fortieth anniversary in the same year as the whole School worldwide celebrates the centenary of Leon MacLaren's birth. It was founded by a Cypriot student who had attended the London School. A house is now owned in Nicosia. Cyprus has long been beset by disunity, particularly between those of Greek and of Turkish origin. Appropriately enough MacLaren sent a message to the Cyprus School in 1992 that resonated with the students there:
The truth is always one and not divided. When the ego arises, it always divides and sets limits and so people find themselves divided and in opposition to each other, thus leading to confrontations and warlike activities. But in unity there are no enemies; there is the one truth and no second. So, in a divided world, there is a special need for the realisation of unity at all levels. This is the particular work of the School. Blessings and good wishes with you.
Cyprus was well prepared for the teaching of Advaita, through its traditional Greek Philosophy, on one hand from Plato and on the other from the texts of the Orthodox Church, notably the Philokalia. Both of these sources supplement the material used by senior groups. Courses are conducted mainly in Greek, but a few groups in Nicosia and Limassol provide for English-speakers. Turkish is available if needed. Sanskrit, Platonic practical Philosophy, Christian scriptures and the Conversations support study groups, with the Shankaracharya's Good Companyfor children.* A ladies handicraft group is also popular. The School offers courses at Larnaca, the birthplace of the Stoic philosopher, Zeno. In addition to the School leaders from London, Bernard Saunders has also made many instructive visits to Cyprus. The School made a major step forward recently, when a donation of land and the services of a lady architect enabled a house for residentials to be built near the Troodos forest. Many other students give money, time and skill to completing the work there. ……
* Clarification: The Good Company material for children is taken basically from the material of the Irish school, Christianity and Plato.
To Thine Own Self Be True
Yet here, Laertes! Aboard, aboard for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for.
There ... my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg’d comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel but, being in,
Bear't that th' opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man;
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell; my blessing season this in thee!
William Shakespeare