An esoteric school offers special conditions for practical work. It is not simply a group of people meeting and discussing higher ideas, attending lectures, or reading books. A school is also not geared to healing trauma or illness, or to attracting wealth, relationships, success, or special powers. In fact, the only problem a school can rightly claim to address is the problem of lack of consciousness, the absence of presence.

Higher school exists for a single aim:  To provide tools and conditions that help us establish and sustain a connection with our Higher Self. While benefits to our lower self may result from that connection, they are not the goal. School is for people who realize that long and sometimes difficult work is required, and that they need outside help and direct guidance to do that work.

The special conditions that a school provides are:

• A conscious teacher who can guide us through the deceptive maze of the lower self. A teacher helps us to see ourselves and to distinguish what is real from what is false. A teacher is also the living reminder of what a human being can achieve.

• A precise, objective body of knowledge with a living connection to a conscious tradition, and proven methods of attaining self-knowledge and increasing consciousness.

• A supportive environment in which to work, and the presence and friendship of others engaged in the same work and using the same methods.