True Beauty and the Spiritual Path

a Study Weekend Nov 2nd - 4th 2007

This weekend, hosted jointly by The MillenniumTrust and The Prometheus Trust, attracted a capacity attendance. The two days were devoted to exploring the deeper insights of Plato's Phaedrus with the guidance of Tim Addey and Guy Wyndham Jones, each a lifelong student of this profound spiritual tradition.

Two of those who attended sent appreciative reports afterwards:

Rossana Kendal wrote:

Plato on Beauty - A Millennium weekend at Grove House

Two key elements in a weekend like this are the quality of the tutoring and the quality of the supporting environment. On this occasion, both were excellent.Tim Addey is clearly immersed in Platonism, used to thinking in terms of these concepts, and accustomed to applying them in a way that brought them to life. Tim was able to impart the theory with a light touch and then himself use Socratic questioning to help us consolidate it. He was also attentive to the well-being of' the group of people who had joined him for the weekend. A poetic example of his discourse was when he was starting on a meditation on Beauty with us and said that, as we began to think about Beauty, we should be mindful that we were about to enter the palace of a deity. An example of the enlightening quality of his discourse was when he said that we should be aware that our decisions have an effect on our souls, even if there are apparently no immediate consequences in the everyday world.

The weekend took place in the Lellos' home, a beautiful medieval, Victorian, Georgian house, and the sessions on Plato were in the Victorian drawing room, filled with light from two enormous windows looking out onto lime trees and the autumn garden. Angela and Ronald were generous hosts, who clearly like people and like to offer hospitality, good food and lots of coffee.

What could be better than to discuss Beauty in beautiful surroundings, and to digest Plato's ideas while eating wonderful food?

Elizabeth Medler wrote:

True Beauty and the Spiritual Path - An introduction to Plato's Phaedrus

This weekend, dedicated to True Beauty and the Spiritual Path, was jointly run by The Millennium Trust and The Prometheus Trust.   The speaker was Tim Addey.   As one might expect from someone who has written no less than three inspiring books; been a prime mover in republishing the entire works of Thomas Taylor, the great English Platonist, and is now running his own school in Platonic philosophy, this weekend was characterised by a vivific blend of Plato's Phaedrus and lively discussion.   This was punctuated by generous hospitality from the host and hostess; nourishing victuals; plentiful libations, and magical flute music from the gifted flautist Paul Cheneour.   

 Undoubtedly all these things brought us closer to the purpose of the weekend –  to elicit within the soul  a greater understanding of True Beauty and the Spiritual Path.  Surely this is what Plato hoped to achieve when he wrote the dialogue The Phaedrus.  The Dialogue traces the descent of the soul from the Golden Age of innocence and her trials on earth to the remembrance of her spiritual destiny through the extraordinary effects of Eros' arrow which fill her with a powerful longing for Beauty.   We discover that it is Love that gives the soul back her wings and enables her to fly back to her Home in the One. 

Tim inspired us by the vision of Beauty set out in The Phaedrus and encouraged us to 'gird up our loins' so as to engage in that most worthy of occupations – making ourselves fit to follow in the train of the gods.  We dwelt awhile with the great Beauty of the Twelve Mundane Gods and through meditation we were asked  to enter the Palaces of divine Ideas and There possibly behold a god or goddess.  Thus, lifted up, it seemed possible that we might recognise the god or goddess in whose train we followed; to whom we might belong.   Surely we could not have envisaged a purpose so great!

 The Phaedrus begins with the lines, "Whence come you, friend Phaedrus, and whither are you bound?"  We are told that The Phaedrus symbolizes the soul's journey – therefore this weekend called upon us to ask of ourselves those two eternal questions: where have we come from and where are we going?   Undoubtedly this weekend made it possible for us to come closer to answering those questions.

 I am grateful to Tim – our Socrates for the weekend – and to all my fellow participants who grew more radiant in Beauty as the weekend went on.

                                                                                      Elizabeth Medler