January 26, 2013

Dr. Martin Lings: Human Origins and Destinies According to the Great Religions of the World

Shakespeare's Spirituality: A Perspective. An Interview With Dr. Martin Lings.

Wikipedia:
Martin Lings (January 24, 1909 – May 12, 2005), also known as "Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din", was an English writer and scholar, a student and follower of Frithjof Schuon, and Shakespearean scholar. He is best known as the author of a very popular and positively reviewed biography, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, first published in 1983 and still in print.
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In addition to his writings on Sufism, Lings was a Shakespeare scholar. His contribution to Shakespeare scholarship was to point out the deeper esoteric meanings found in Shakespeare's plays, and the spirituality of Shakespeare himself. More recent editions of Lings's books on Shakespeare include a foreword by Charles, Prince of Wales.[citation needed] Just before his death he gave an interview on this topic, which was posthumously made into the film Shakespeare's Spirituality: A Perspective. An Interview With Dr. Martin Lings.
NY Times - Martin Lings, a Sufi Writer on Islamic Ideas, Dies at 96 (May 29, 2005):
Martin Lings, a widely acclaimed British scholar whose books on Islamic philosophy, mysticism and art reflected his own deep belief in Sufism, the esoteric, purely spiritual dimension of Islam, died on May 12 at his home in Westerham, Kent County, England. He was 96.

His publisher, Virginia Gray Henry, director of Fons Vitae Publishing, announced his death.

Dr. Lings's long career was studded with accomplishments, some quite novel - like his 1996 book comparing his interpretation of Shakespeare's spiritual message to Sufism. His books on Islamic calligraphy were influential, as was his biography of an Algerian Sufi saint.
Video Title: Human Origins and Destinies According to the Great Religions of the World. YouTube Video Description - [Channel: ImperiumUltimum. Posted on January 21, 2012]:
Dr Martin Lings
Recorded in London at The Temenos Academy.