[18] The Practical Philosophy course involves a meditative process known as "The Awareness Exercise"[19][20] and discussion of universal themes drawing on the work of European and Indian philosophers such as Plato, Marsilio Ficino, Swami Vivekananda and Adi Shankara, as well as Advaita.

[21] Those who continue involvement beyond five years mainly study Advaita;[22] and are required to take up meditation, to undertake voluntary work to help with the running of the organization and to attend residential programmes.

[23][4][5] Operating under various names, there are branches in Canada, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Holland, Malta, Spain, Ireland, Hungary, Germany, Israel, Argentina and the US.

[51] Gurdjieff is both praised as a charismatic intellectual who brought greater insight to Western thought, and rebuked as an egomaniacal charlatan who worked followers to exhaustion to break down personality.

[107][108] The Channel 4 social affairs correspondent, Victoria Macdonald, interviewed former St. James pupils and the then-headmaster, David Boddy, who said this was the first time the Governors had heard of the complaints.

[16] The report also stated that "there has been a real change in the ethos and conduct of the schools is established by the evidence of those witnesses, not naturally well disposed towards the SES, who speak of them as happy places where there appears to be a relaxed atmosphere between pupils and teachers".

Actress Emily Watson attended St James, where in a 2020 Times interview she says she witnessed "incidents of extreme cruelty that I know have been very scarring for people going forward in their lives".

[114] Teaching at SES is done in small groups, in the form of a dialogue between tutor and students following the Socratic tradition, rather than establishing a set course with a curriculum, textbooks and examinations.

[20] Teaching is based on the precepts of Advaita Vedanta as translated, taped and transcribed from interviews in India conducted by MacLaren with Swami Shantanand Saraswati (d.1997), a colleague of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,[28] from 1961 - 1996.

[88] The introductory philosophy course draws from a variety of sources, including the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Bible, Plato, Marsilio Ficino, Hermes Trismegistus, Shakespeare and Emerson.

[31][65] There is a simple initiation ceremony as described by one of the organisation's American websites:In the School, a traditional system of mantra meditation is made available to all students who have taken Philosophy Works followed by the Foundation Courses.

Seated comfortably in a balanced and upright position, the activities of the mind and body are brought under observation, and then allowed to fall away as the attention is directed to the sound of the mantra.

[66] Course fees are kept low to encourage recruitment; they are a small part of the organisation's income, while donations and wills have enabled the SES to own substantial properties.

[153][154] There are branches in USA, Canada, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Holland, Malta, Spain, Ireland, Hungary, Germany, Israel, Fiji and Argentina.

[176] In 1983, the day before the UK General Election, reporters Peter Hounam and Andrew Hogg, writing in the London Evening Standard, alleged the SES was a cult infiltrating the Liberal Party.

[156] In 1984, Hounam and Hogg wrote a book, Secret Cult, which said that the organisation aimed to establish psychological control over its members and had caused personality change, mental breakdown and divorce.

After the initial meetings, attendance fell off considerably and she started to dread it; however whenever she would lose patience with the instruction, "one of the students would talk about incorporating these lessons into life, and the honesty and eloquence would win me over again."

A higher level of understanding in my existence" and to "To learn how to live again"[5] In his 2012 book Confusion No More, Vedanta teacher and disciple of Nisargadatta, Ramesh S Baleskar, includes the accounts of a student of the School of Philosophy, the SES branch in Holland.

[184] In his 2013 book Philosophy for Life: And other dangerous situations, Jules Evans said the SES relationship with an Indian guru was key to its development, because its members "like Plato himself, were trying to invent a religion."

He added that the day schools are today "apparently run a lot better now by professional teachers, attracting the children of well-to-do parents" and that there has been a shift towards the mainstream of society.

[4] In 2012, he said SES is "a neo-platonic sect which tries to bring its members closer to a divine union" similar to the communities created by Plato and Pythagoras that had the aim of completely transforming personalities, "close to what we would think of today as religious cults".

She read Secret Cult midway through the course and commented that "it was hard to square its horror stories with the SPP, which, like a lot of Americanised British things, wasn't quite as compelling as the original."

He added that the authors had mischaracterised the relationship between SES, the independent day schools founded by some of its members, and the Liberal Party, suggesting that the journalists had distrusted the organisation simply because it was "new and rather unusual".

[188] Commenting on the book Secret Cult, SES member and author Brian Hodgkinson responded to its allegation that the program encourages "destroying the personality".

In response to reports that some people had become emotionally disturbed while attending the program, he pointed out that such cases may have been caused by "outside circumstances, such as family relationships or careers" or pre-existing mental health problems.

Jackman has attended SES branches in the US and Australia[198][199][200][201][202] Author of the 2007 book, There's No More Dying Then, Stephanie Wilson, a consultant Histopathologist at St Mary's Hospital London, was confirmed into the Church of England at an early age and saw Christianity as a good thing.

"In spite of attempts to malign Leon MacLaren and his methods his critics were vastly outnumbered by his supporters and none of the sceptics have ever been able to explain why so many thousands of discerning people flocked to the school".

[205] in 2013, Martha Dewing, raised Episcopalian, now an Interfaith Minister, said studying Advaita Vedanta at the School of Practical Philosophy in New York changed the way she saw her inherited faith, stating "It opened me up and broadened my perspective" and "I see a bigger Jesus.

[121] Notable current members include M&C Saatchi chairman Jeremy Sinclair CBE,[209] actor Hugh Jackman,[196] and Canadian entrepreneur Douglas Freeman.

[210] Notable former members include actress Emily Watson and author Laura Wilson, both of whom were brought up in the SES by their parents;[211] David Boddy, former press secretary to Margaret Thatcher;[177][59] and Richard Stokes, politician.