Graal Light School for Spiritual Awakening (formally called Shamballa Society) was founded in 1994 by Phil Teertha Mistlberger. It is a personal growth school that focuses on the Western and Eastern esoteric traditions. It offers four different Weekend Workshops (The Breakthrough, Levels I and II, The Art of Conscious Relating, and the Art of Manifestation). It also offers three 9-month long trainings (Mage’s Training I, II, and III). These long term trainings are intensive programs that involve structured grade initiations, similar to those used by mystery schools of the past. The courses are richly comprehensive and involve a balance of the theoretical and the practical. They are not casual courses, however; the 9-month long trainings in particular require a strong commitment on the part of the student. The School also provides guided workshop-tours of Egypt and western England.
A “mystery school” is a school that focuses primarily on esoteric spiritual teachings. By “esoteric” is meant that body of learning that historically has been associated with the inner or secret teachings that often lay at the source of many of the world’s great religions. Since the late 20th century we have lived in a time where most of these esoteric teachings are no longer secret. However the sheer profusion and availability of spiritual and esoteric teachings does not necessarily mean that they will be effectively understood, let alone properly used.
The problem within many spiritual or personal growth organizations has typically been the issue of imbalance between the theoretical and the experiential. More commonly, the theoretical outweighs the experiential, and the work of the school leans more toward the simply academic. Occasionally, the experiential outweighs the theoretical, in which case problems can ensue around failing to achieve a long-term, sustained overall development—something beyond the mere quick fix, or the dramatic breakthrough that fades within a week or two.
Historically, “mystery schools”, tracing back to ancient Greece and Egypt, put emphasis on the experiential, mostly via initiation, and the ritual re-enactment of sacred myth. Owing to the cloak of secrecy that was prevalent in those times much of the detail of their rites of passage are unknown. In current times, however, we have available a wealth of information relating to the theoretical models of reality and human nature. What has tended to be lacking within personal growth schools has been the experiential factor, especially as it relates to archetypal ritual and sacred myth.
The Graal Light School for Spiritual Awakening employs a balance of the theoretical and the experiential to work toward the integration of body, heart, mind, and spirit. To this end we utilize tools from many traditions, including psychotherapy, meditation, yoga, sacred dance, and ceremony. The primary focus is on the Western Esoteric Tradition, including Egyptian and Hebrew mysticism, Gnosticism and Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Theurgy (high magic), and Thaumaturgy (the art of manifestation). In addition, methods and teachings from A Course In Miracles, the Gurdjieff Work, and the Enneagram are used, along with teachings from Reich, Jung, Assagioli, and Wilber. Eastern teachings are also part of the framework, particularly from the Zen and Tibetan traditions.
.
