Nine Gates Mystery School
What can the ancient wisdom schools teach us about living in our modern world? Haven’t we evolved as a species with our brilliant innovations, technologies, and abilities to multi-task, think strategically, and live independently? In an hour, we can accomplish what once took days to complete. Strides in medicine and healthy life styles allow us to live well into our 80s or 90s. Yet increasingly we are more distracted, detached, unavailable, and perhaps even less happy.
In our attempts to become something “more”, we seem to have lost what our ancestors once knew.
What have you forgotten?
That you can train like the sages to…
Seek direct experience as the path of transformation ~ inviting embodied revelations to become your teacher, rather than outer authority. Although books and lectures can provide information and perspective, your wisdom roots in the marrow of direct experience, growing into a living body of inner truth.
Access and harness the full spectrum of your energy field and body’s wisdom ~ exploring a wisdom, impossible to replicate with sophisticated technology or reasonings of the mind. Your body is comprised of the same elements as the stars; containing energy vortices that receive, transform, and transmit modulating frequencies and coded information faster than the speed of light.
Train your mind out of its practiced dullness and resulting reactivity ~ first training your mind into stillness. From a stable still point, you can tend the movement of your mind, recognizing how you create your beliefs, biases, preconceptions, and ways of being. You begin to wake up.
Die before you die ~ experiencing that what you believe is real and lasting is in fact a continuous process of arising from, and returning to, the undefined. When you die in each moment to fixed ideas, your sense of self and other, your rigid patterns of thinking and feeling, you experience freedom. You are reborn.
The great wisdom of the ancient schools was never lost during the thousands of years between their flourishing and now. Rather, the teachings were relegated to living schools in various traditions, each capable of maintaining the teachings until human consciousness was again ready to live in harmony, anchoring peace on our Earth. These schools were referred to as mystery schools.
Program Structure
Mystery School is an inter-spiritual experience of total immersion with 10 Master Teachers from the Hawaiian, African, Native American, Spiritual Psychology, Sufi, esoteric Christian, Hindu, Sound Healing, Kabbalah, and Buddhist wisdom traditions.
Our Teachers
The teachers of Mystery School do not teach “about” a tradition. They teach from their lived experiences, as integrated wisdom. You will feel their authenticity. As a student of Mystery School, you will never be told what to think or believe. Rather you will be invited to engage directly with the teachings, to explore and express in your own way what is being uniquely revealed.
Every Mystery School teacher acknowledges that at the heart of all wisdom traditions flows one universal truth ~ that You are not a separate “thing”. Rather, we live as part of an intricately woven energy field, a unified universe, where our distinction exists without separation.
This is not a new age concept. It is a radical, embodied remembrance. The Teachers of Mystery School will invite you to remember.
[Click on photos to read teacher bios]
Deborah Jones ~ Program Leader and Teacher
Deborah Jones is the Executive Director of Nine Gates Programs, Inc., serving as the spiritual leader and primary teacher of the Mystery School and other Graduate Programs. She is also the Founder of Nine Gates 11-day Graduate program, the Esoteric School.
Deborah has worked intensely with wisdom keepers from around the world ~ practicing the healing arts, shamanism, the integrative application of the Hindu and Buddhist tantric paths, tribal trance dance, the transpersonal psychology of spiritual awakening through the energy and emotional bodies, and other ancient arts of the wisdom tradition schools. Her spiritual initiations led her to Egypt, India, Greece, Turkey, Australia, Rome, the Yucatan, and the Orient. Deborah devotes her life to the awakening spirit, alive and vital in all human beings. You will feel this devotion flowing toward you when you meet. In this way she serves as the cornerstone of Nine Gates' Graduate community.
Deborah is a powerful, awe-inspiring anchor for the entire Mystery School process. Her competence and capacity to serve us, guide us, and teach us is amazing. She has mastery, and her integrity is palpable. A rare gift and role model for the teaching world.
Tammy K ~ Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Deborah Jones
Program Leader & Teacher
Dr. Gay Luce ~ Founder
In 1985, Gay founded Nine Gates Programs, Inc., a non-profit organization chartered to design and offer spiritual training. Out of that organization, and Gay’s fierce commitment to the development of human potential, sprang the Nine Gates Mystery School. Years earlier, Gay founded SAGE, a revitalization program that became the prototype for current work on aging.
During her spiritual initiation, she spent time in India with Gopi Krishna, joined Claudio Naranjo's Seekers of Truth, and worked extensively with Rinpoche Tarthang Tulku and other Tibetan masters. Gay’s compassion and devotion are larger than life itself, inviting everyone she meets into a heart space capable of loving all of existence. Although she isn’t consistently present at Mystery School now, her spiritual guidance and inspiration remain ever present.
What a blessing to sit at the knees of this inspiring woman and Founder of this work.
Gay's continued commitment to these teachings and sharing her passion and vision
provide a model for us all on what is possible to make a lasting contribution in our lives.
Jillian R, Tucson AZ
Dr. Gay Luce
Founder
Mark Saito ~ Hawaiian Tradition
Raised in a culture where the Earth is considered as sacred and holy, the heavens, where Consciousness is known to reside in a plant, in the birds, in the oceans, mountains, and in you, Mark embodies human life. As a Kahuna and Ninjitsu martial arts Master, he teaches that being grounded is an essential connection to the ancient wisdom entrusted to earthly existence, and that your grounded attention puts you in touch with the wholeness of yourself and the entire Universe.
Beyond beliefs that spiritual work requires only an upward orientation, you can experience the release of old thoughts and ways of being, opening into realizations that your body is the center of significant spiritual awareness and awakening. With Mark you will root deep.
Mark is an adept teacher and master healer ~ grounded and present.
He guides you into and through experiences that can blow your mind
without leaving your body. An entirely new embodied world opens in his teachings.
Rick D ~ Lincoln, CA
Mark Saito
Hawaiian Tradition
Michael Eller ~ Native American Tradition
Since childhood, Michael has explored and cherished the wonders of, and our shared interconnections with, the natural world. Under the tutelage of his Navajo teacher, Michael honed the craft of ceremony, incorporating the teachings into his decades-long profession as a wilderness guide and mentor.
Michael uses the Native American tradition and ritual to facilitate your experiences of inner investigation as a catalyst for letting go and emergence. Through his creative and holistic approach, Michael shares his Insightful guidance, careful listening, and playful humor.
Thoughtful, passionate, and gentle. Michael lets the Earth speak. The sound of the drum, the space, the sky, it was immensely Beautiful. I can only assume that he is way beyond knowledge.
Inge B ~ El Cerrito, CA
Michael Eller
Native American Tradition
Munir Peter Reynolds ~ Sufi Tradition
Munir is a Sufi, a guitarist, senior Dance mentor, and a Sheikh in the Sufi Ruhaniat International order. He holds an M.A. in Culture and Spirituality from Holy Names College and worked for years as a professional body worker and healer. Since 1995, Munir has led the Dances of Universal Peace at Sufi camps and retreats throughout the world and serves on the Guidance Council for the Dances. He is former Executive Director of Dances of Universal Peace International.
Munir’s life is devoted to awakening consciousness, serving a more just and integrated world. Munir is a song unfolding within the heart ~ a living, breathing movement Toward the One. You will be invited into the heart’s view of non-duality.
A gentle soul, enormous heart, and the gift to energize with music, movement, and story! Munir unlocked the doors to a felt sense of deeper compassion, appreciation, and heart-centered alignment in my life.
Greg Z ~ Hansville, WA
Munir Peter Reynolds
Sufi Tradition
Shabda Kahn ~ Sufi Tradition
Shabda has been a disciple of Sufism since 1969. He is a direct disciple of sufi master Murshid Samuel Lewis and in in the lineage of the great sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan. Since 2001 Shabda serves as the Pir [Spiritual Director] of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, the sufi lineage tracing from these great masters. He is currently the Spiritual Director of the Dances of Universal Peace worldwide, a spiritual practice begun by Murshid Samuel Lewis.
Shabda is an Indian Classical Vocalist, Raga singer and teacher, has performed for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and is the director of the Chisti Sabri School of Music. Shabda is also a disciple of the illustrious Tibetan Master, His Holiness the 12th TaiSitu Rinpoche.
Shabda travels the world spreading the Sufi Message of Love, Harmony, and Beauty. You will experience his warmth, humor, and devotion in assisting seekers on their path to Awakening. You will explore deeply the mysticism of breath and the spacious capacity of your own heart.
So genuine, kind, and devoted to awakening the heart. Shabda’s message is exactly what I needed to hear ~ to be open to life, to intimacy with all things, to love, and to devotion. Get past the mask of ego and connect with All That Is.
Nancy S ~ Summerville, SC
Shabda Kahn
Sufi Tradition
Steven Bonsey ~ Esoteric Christian Tradition
Born on Molokaʻi and raised in Honolulu, Steven came into life with a sense of connection to the energy of the Earth and community. Grounded in the body by that place, his life took him eventually to Yale Divinity School where he met and married Elisabeth. As an Episcopal priest, Steven served in Virginia, Hawaii, and Massachusetts in campus and parish ministries, and finally at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.
Grounded in tradition, Steven’s ministry took deeper roots through his association and studies with the Society of St. John Evangelist, Cynthia Bourgeault, the Nine Gates Mystery School and Esoteric School, his training with Be Present, Inc., his yoga practices, and his love for chanting the psalms.
In 2017, Steven co-founded Wisdom & Money, compelled by his and Elisabeth’s 30-year personal practice of embracing the energy of money and its conscious movement within the flow of Spirit and service. Now he invites others to explore this flow as a spiritual practice for serving the Earth and human communities.
If you were to ask Steven what continues to shape his life of service, he would say, “I am interested in the space in each of us where, by our consent, Spirit takes root in flesh. I believe this space is governed by love, and I believe that the wisdom of Jesus invites us to risk entering that space and giving our consent.” Steven invites students to explore this possibility for themselves.
Steven Bonsey
Esoteric Christian Tradition
Baba Harihar Ramji ~ Hindu Tradition
Babaji is a Sadhu, a teacher and Hindu holy man. He is the founder of Sonoma Ashram in Northern California and Bal Ashram in Varanasi, India. Babaji is a descendant from the ancient mystical lineage of Avadhuts in Northern India.
Unlike most babas, as a young man he lived and worked as a business owner in the United States. Those years of experience uniquely allow Babaji to be a bridge between our Western world and his Hindu lineage. Because of his experiences he can bridge the teachings into our lives rather than talking to us about our lives. Drawing on the timeless wisdom of his Hindu tradition and his own direct life experiences, Babaji presents to you practical ways to live a life of surrender and devotion…an expression of bhakti in action.
Babaji is Presence ~ still and deep. Everything he said I held onto. The teachings were hard on the ego yet liberating once the other side of me (my true Self) showed up.
Tatyana M ~ Richmond, VA
Baba Harihar Ramji
Hindu Tradition
Megan Wagner & Jim Larkin ~ Kabbalah Tradition
Megan and Jim are Kabbalists and the Founding Directors of the Tree of Life Teachings International. They have dedicated themselves to the embodied practices and wisdom of the ancient Kabbalah, teaching individuals from around the world the integrative path of the Tree of Life, Jacob’s Ladder, and other ancient Kabbalist truths.
In addition to teaching, Megan and Jim assist individuals, couples, and families in psycho-spiritual development and healing through counseling, spiritual direction, astrology, sacred art, and rites of passage. As part of their body of teaching, they also take seekers on initiatic spiritual journeys to Damanhur, Italy; Crete; Istanbul; and Thailand. Jim and Megan live from Teferet, the heart at the center of the Tree of Life. They will introduce you to the Central Pillar that when walked awakens the initiate into the truth of the Divine Marriage – human and God.
For years I have looked up the Kabbalah and been totally confused with the ancient words, what they mean, and that strange Tree of Life symbol. Now I know. Eye-opening experiences for sure.
Barney C ~ Coarsegold, CA
Megan Wagner & Jim Larkin
Kabbalah Tradition
Who Attends?
Who attends Mystery School? Individuals who recognize that merely “talking about” spiritual awareness, compassion, and equanimity will not change their life or aid in the needed transformation for our Earth. They take responsibility for their growth, rather than abdicating it to someone or something external. They understand personal responsibility as the greatest of all freedoms. They know significant growth does not happen by accident or coincidence, but rather through their curiosity, dedication, and devoted practice. Those who attend Mystery School embrace life as their ongoing creation, rather than as a fixed product of their past or some hoped for future.
From ages 18 to 94, from every walk of life or background, the men and women who attend Mystery School seek to live with intention, offering grateful service as the gateway to liberation from suffering.
Who attends Mystery School? Individuals like you who accept that our world will never be better or more constructive than we are; and that life on this Earth depends on what we individually and collectively become.
Our Community
We hear about the importance of being part of a community, yet because our western culture values individualism as much as it values life, we likely don’t understand or trust the concept of community. And yet, there’s something old and ancient in our bodies that tells us community has its place in our lives.
The Journey Continues
Mystery School provides the foundational training for all Post Graduate Programs. The School’s energetic technology, shared vows, skills to create coherence, and the cultivated true spirit of community allow Graduate events to ground immediately and move quickly.
Graduate Programs do not constitute a sequential, ongoing curriculum. Rather each creates opportunities for Graduates to deepen spiritual competencies and learn new skills and practices for awakening human potential. Like the Mystery School, Post Graduate Programs are experiential, evocative, and initiatic.
