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FAQ
Is it possible to meet Selim Aïssel? Selim Aïssel meets with pupils who participate in courses organised by the School, over the course of the day during conferences, and particularly at meal times. He is present at the many different activities that take place during these courses.

How can we distinguish a true Teaching from imitations?

In Selim Aïssel's own words (**):

  • flee those who demand unconditional obedience to themselves or to their representatives or assistants.
  • flee those who require you to cut yourself off from your family or social relationships.
  • flee those who prohibit you from seeing the people you want.
  • flee organisations that demand large sums of money.
  • flee organisations that display their luxury and wealth.
  • flee those who deprecate other ways.
  • flee those who acknowledge their own teaching alone as valid.
  • flee those who teach you to neglect your family, professional, or social life in order to benefit their organisation.
  • flee those who make a rule out of limiting sleep and restricting your diet, and teach you all kinds of methods that make you physically weaker.
  • flee those who judge and condemn.
  • flee those who require you to believe instead of to understand and verify.
  • flee those who require you to confess.
  • flee those who make you believe you are guilty.
  • flee those who lack a sense of humor.
  • flee those who employ threats or fear.
  • flee those who only talk about spirituality without really practicing it.
  • flee those who promise Heaven after death (especially if you pay them!).
  • flee those who promise Hell if you don't convert.
  • flee those who divide principles and people into good and bad.
  • flee those who adopt stereotyped attitudes, ways of talking, sitting, dressing, and moving.
  • flee those who take themselves to be prophets or messiahs.
  • flee those who often change teachings and teachers.
  • flee those who envy each other.
  • flee those who compete with each other or with other organisations.
  • flee those who only practice within their organisation and not outside of it.
  • flee those who claim that they understand everything and have nothing left to learn.

Who can become involved with this Teaching? Any responsible person who has attained a measure of equilibrium in her or her ordinary life. It is best to abstain from doing so, however, if you are a dreamer or lunatic, if you do not have any discipline, if you prefer living with your illusions, if you devote much of your time to useless things, or if you manifest exaggerated or violent attitudes.
"Anyone who is responsible in his life and in life in general ; he can be trusted ; he has common sense, and both his thinking and his attitudes correspond to his actions, permitting him to be effective ; he has enough discernment to be interested in useful things and have just values ; he understands the necessity of making efforts in order to attain a goal, of paying for what he wants to buy, and of occasionally sacrificing one thing in order to have another." (**).

How can I enter a School of Psychoanthropology? The means of registration presented on this web site is simple but nonetheless requires an effort. Refer to the page "Contact the Teaching".

What happens if I want to leave? You announce your intention and… you leave.

Is this Teaching right for me? If I recognise myself in what is described above, I have the minimum of qualities necessary in order to follow this Teaching.
I must nonetheless verify what is said for myself.

Why reveal this Teaching at this particular moment? This Teaching has been disseminated in book form for over ten years. The objective of this web site is to reinforce and contribute to the means that have been used up until now. Humanity in our time has a great need for men and women who are not merely spectators, but actors of their own destiny.

What about my religion? This Teaching accepts people of all religions and traditions, as long as they are sincere in their search.

And children? The Teaching is addressed exclusively to responsible adults. Children are not admitted to the School.

Do I need lots of money? The conditions of registration are reasonable for people who assume responsibility for their lives. Special conditions apply to people with temporary difficulties.

Does this Teaching have a relationship with other Teachings of the same kind? This Teaching recognises and respects other teachings (Zen Buddhism, Sufism, Gnosticism, among others).

Will I have time to devote myself to this Work?

Twelve conditions must be fulfilled in order to begin the Work with any serious perspective of progress (**):

  1. Know your current possibilities and accept them, with the awareness that by evolving, it is possible to overcome your limits.
  2. See and then understand your own difficulties, with the awareness that the Work provides the means of overcoming them.
  3. Have a real desire to change your current state. Someone who thinks he is fine as he is has of course no interest in changing.
  4. Have a sufficient level of knowledge and cultivation, or acquire it rapidly.
  5. Be able to understand the teaching correctly in order to apply it correctly.
  6. Lead a more or less balanced, regulated life.
  7. Do not compare yourself with other people in the Work, as each person is a unique individual.
  8. In the limited context of Work at the School, submit your egoistic desires to the service of other people and the School.
  9. Be active on the three lines of Work: on yourself, with other people, and for the School.
  10. Have enough time for study at your disposal, without this being detrimental to your family or professional life.
  11. Be living in an environment where study is possible.
  12. Have a sufficient amount of freedom at your disposal.
(**) Refer to the book "When the Iron Birds Fly, the Dharma Shall Come to the West" currently published in French by Oxus Editions.
 
 
School of Psychoanthropology © 2006 - 8 novembre, 2007

School of Psychoanthropology