Michael Schiesser

Michael has over 28 years of experience in the field of facilitation in the US, Canada, and Europe.  Founder, and a member of the board of directors of the Inner Journey Seminars, LLC, based out of California. Michael created The Inner Journey after almost 20 years of travel, study, and personal and spiritual transformation.  In addition to the inner journey seminar, Michael has created and facilitates various workshops and seminars including the Human Experience Process, the Inner Journey Transformational Facilitation Training, and the Essential Pilgrimage courses. He is a co-creator of A Journey into the Soul of Leadership, a transformational course for organizational leaders, intended to provide them with the tools to effectively lead and manage.  

Michael grew up in the village of Sulzthal in Bavaria, Germany.  Michael's mother, Katerina, was a devotee of Mother Mary., and had a very significant influence in his life. Michael's first career was with the Bavarian Police Force. He left the force a few years later to receive an MA in pastoral Counseling and a BA in philosophy from the Catholic Stiftundsfachhochschule Muenchen (College). This inspired his travels across Europe, Asia, India and North America.  He studied under Graf Duerckheim,  a man who brought Zen Buddhism to Germany and had founded Zentrum Reutte in the Black Forest, where Carl Jung’s work was integrated with Zen Buddhist  teachings. The existential and spiritual approach to counseling that he continues to work with today is based off of these teachings.

Michael has continued his studies with many renowed teachers including  Osho,  and Sri H.L. Poonja, the last living disciple of the Indian Saint/Master Ramana Maharishi. Both of these teachers have had an extremely profound influence on his teachings and work.

In the 90ties, after years of studies in eastern spirituality, Michael reconnected to his Christian-based roots and worked intimately with those teachings while staffing ongoing therapeutic and spiritual seminars called the 'Miracle of Love'. The focus was helping people open to their spiritual connection through profound emotional release work combined with prayer.  Another spiritual shift guided him in 1998 to become a Buddhist monk in Burma in a meditation monastery under the guidance of Sayadaw Upandita. There he deepened his meditation practice in Vipassana meditation, the main practice of Theravada Buddhism. This experience brought Michael a profound understanding of the workings of the Human Mind, leading to the development of his teachings about the Superego, which he called the ‘Supreme Court’ . In parallel he was exploring and training in therapeutic modalities of the Human Potential Movement and Transpersonal psychology learning aspects of Gestalt therapy, bioenergetics, rebirthing and the healing arts. 

He also became an acupuncturist, studying under JR Worsley, the man who brought Chinese 5 elements  acupuncture first to England and then to the US.

More recently Michael has been involved in the teachings of the Diamond Logos Approach by Faisal Muquaddam, whose teachings and practices guide the practitioner back to their essential nature. Faisal’s unique contribution to Michael’s work is the profound teachings of the Enneagram, essential work  and the teaching of our human journey as not being about spiritualizing humanity but humanizing spirituality. This led to the creation of the Essential Pilgrimage programs. 

His studies with the German pioneer of Family Constellation, Bert Hellinger,  deepened his insights into family and organizational dynamics, leading to the creation of the Human Experience Seminar. 

He began facilitating his first groups in 1982 and finally created the first version of the Inner Journey Seminar in 1995 as a culmination of his eastern and western educational experiences.  By now, his work has assisted thousands of people in their personal, professional and spiritual transformation.

In May 2004, Michael became the father of a 'little prince' called Kai, who has been his teacher extraordinaire, teaching him lessons of patience, endurance, joy, empathy, compassion and playfulness. The key lesson has been to understand 'Kai time', meaning that he and life unfold at his/its own timing.

For more about Kai's journey go to friendsofkai.org