In a world where the convergence of spirituality and psychotherapy often remains unexplored, Michaël Szyper stands as a beacon of transformative wisdom. A Belgian author and spiritual teacher, Michaël has spent over two decades guiding individuals toward the realization of their true nature and the profound liberation of consciousness in daily life. His journey, marked by a spontaneous childhood awakening and a near-death experience, has culminated in the co-founding of the School of Reality with his partner Della in 2016. This unique institution, operating in Belgium and Quebec, offers a novel approach that seamlessly integrates spiritual awakening with psychotherapy, emphasizing the inherent qualities of gentleness, openness, and empathy in our relationships. Join Mystic Mag as we delve into the life and insights of Michaël Szyper, exploring his path from the legal and business realms to becoming a herald of unconditional love and infinite light.
Can you share more about your spontaneous awakening into emptiness during your childhood?
As I was watching dead bodies being put in a pit on the black-and-white TV screen, I suddenly realized that it was only a matter of time before I and everything I loved would die. The ephemeral nature of existence struck me. In the blink of an eye, everything—“I,” my family, the buildings, the earth, the sun, and the stars—disappeared into formless nothingness. Existence suddenly revealed itself naked, prior to any superimposed concept. It was a brutal awakening into emptiness that left me crying for hours as the little 4-year-old kid had lost everything. After a couple of weeks, I made the conscious choice to put it aside as I felt the need to keep growing as a child.
How did this experience shape your early life and future spiritual path?
This spontaneous awakening ignited my thirst for truth. Discovering the true nature of reality and embodying it in an integral way as a human being became my most important pursuit in life.
In my twenties, I explored various therapeutic modalities as well as Eastern spirituality. I traveled to India to sit with enlightened beings. I made peace with the unmanifested and timeless dimension of life. The non-dual realization of consciousness settled in permanently. There was no longer any separation between emptiness and form. From then on, I did not experience identification with the “me” and the mind.
However, it was only more than two decades later, through a near-death experience in which my awareness merged back into God’s Love Light, which is pure unconditional love, infinite light, and the eternal source of everything, that my heart was fulfilled.
What inspired you and Della to co-found the School of Reality?
The heart’s intent is to share the Love that we are and assist others in their own journey of self-discovery. We are on the cusp of a collective shift in consciousness from separation to unity. I am grateful that I can contribute to it.
After leading retreats for many years, we wanted to accompany people on their inner journey on a more continuous basis and do deeper work. This is how the School of Reality was born in Belgium and Quebec. Most of the material was “downloaded” from our inner guidance as the School progressed.
How does your approach bridge the gap between spiritual awakening and psychotherapy?
The way to bridge spiritual awakening and therapy is to recognize the need for awakening to be lived through an undefended heart and to include all aspects of our humanity. In other words, to consider human beings as a whole.
In our work, we train people to become aware of the instinctive and mental self-protective mechanisms that maintain the limited identity and recreate separation in the now, which we call the “guardians of separation.” The first step towards inner freedom is the awareness of how these mechanisms engineer suffering and limitations so we can free ourselves from their grasp. The second step is to look at those separating mechanisms with love and tenderness. Even if they create suffering in our lives, in reality, they do their best to protect who we believe ourselves to be. The third step is to learn to reclaim our sovereignty over them.
Oftentimes, non-dual teachings emphasize emptiness, the absence of self. Yet, individuality is an integral part of the cosmic unfolding of Consciousness. The soul is divine, eternal, one with God. It can hatch from the cocoon of separation, let go of limited identity, and bloom to share its unique fragrance. So we can rejoice together and share the Love and Beauty that pulsate at the core of our being.
What type of services do you offer?
I offer a limited number of individual consultations and the group programs in our School.
In your teachings, you emphasize qualities like gentleness, openness, and empathy in relationships. How can individuals cultivate these qualities more effectively?
All those qualities belong to who we truly are. Our souls are profoundly gently, sensitive, empathic and joyous. We all come from the Unconditional Love of Source. We just have forgotten the Brightness of God’s essence. We have learned to protect ourselves in order to survive in a world that can be really harsh.
The more we connect to who we truly are and abide in Presence, the more those qualities manifest. As we learn to live consciously and be present, to embrace what arises from within with less and less resistance, and to live a life that is in tune with the impulses and inner wisdom of our soul, these qualities effortlessly shine in our personal lives and relationships.
How can one maintain a state of profound liberation and awareness amidst the challenges and demands of everyday life?
It really depends on what our soul intends to experience. If we want to live in a state of boundless openness, then challenges become golden opportunities to open up to Love. They are no longer seen as obstacles, but as doorways to the depths of our heart.
We have the incredible power to change the way we perceive life. In that sense, we do create our own reality through the way we perceive it. We can learn to taste it, live it, feel it, and enjoy it with a silent heart, filled with compassion and understanding, open to limitless possibilities. This starts by challenging all our negative beliefs, judgments, assumptions, and preconceived ideas about ourselves, others, and reality.
Life then becomes a grand journey of discovering and sharing God’s essence, light, and love. One day, this will be the natural state for humankind, and we will wonder how we could have strayed so far from it.
