Shai Tubali, Ph.D.
August 31 – September 5, 2026
The Supreme Realization
An Immersion in the Yoga Vasishtha and the Direct Recognition of the One Self
Summer Retreat 2026
Reveal the Gold in Every Experience
A retreat dedicated to the highest insight of spiritual realization
August 31 – September 5, 2026 · Estrela Serenity, Portugal
Direct Seeing Beyond Illusion
Explore the Yoga Vasishta’s radical vision of reality — a way of seeing that dissolves confusion and reveals the unchanging ground beneath all experience.
From Crisis to Liberation
Discover how depression, disillusionment, and inner crisis can become gateways to freedom, as revealed through the timeless dialogue between Rama and the sage Vasishta.
Silence, Space, and Integration
Rest in extended silence, surrounded by the vast stillness of the Serra da Estrela, allowing insight to mature beyond the mind and into lived reality.
When the old way no longer works
Seeing Reality as It Is
When meaning collapses, a deeper clarity becomes possible.
What if your greatest challenge could become a gateway to realization?
There are moments in life when the familiar ways of understanding ourselves and the world no longer hold. What once offered direction begins to feel thin or empty. Meaning fades, not because something has gone wrong, but because a deeper question is beginning to form.
From the perspective of the Yoga Vasishta, this moment is not a failure — it is a threshold. When the structures of the false self loosen and the old explanations no longer satisfy, the possibility of direct seeing emerges.
Yoga Vasishta, one of the great masterpieces of spiritual realization, begins exactly here. It tells the story of Prince Rama, who finds himself in such a moment of inner collapse — disillusioned, overwhelmed, and unable to find meaning in the life before him.
Rather than offering comfort or solutions, the sage Vasishtha recognizes something else: the readiness for liberation.
This teaching speaks to the moment when we can no longer pretend, improve, or explain our way forward — and are quietly invited to see more deeply.
This is the invitation of this year’s Summer Retreat with Shai Tubali.
Walking the Path of Realization
Recognizing the Gold Beneath All Forms
Shai once said that if he could take only one book with him to a deserted island, it would be the Yoga Vasishta.
Not because it offers methods or systems, but because it presents the most complete and refined vision of reality he has encountered.
At the heart of this teaching lies a strikingly simple insight: just as a bracelet is nothing but gold taking form, the world itself is nothing but absolute reality appearing as experience. The confusion does not lie in the forms — it begins when we forget the gold.
From this perspective, liberation is not something to be achieved or attained. It is a matter of recognition — seeing clearly what has always been present beneath every form, thought, emotion, and event. When this recognition dawns, what binds us loosens naturally, without effort or struggle.
This is why Shai considers the Yoga Vasishta the most comprehensive and complete teaching of spiritual liberation: it does not lead away from life, but reveals life itself as an expression of an indivisible whole.
Walking the Path of Realization
A Journey from Crisis to Freedom
This retreat unfolds as a lived journey inspired by the Yoga Vasishta. Rather than offering a system or method, it invites you into a sequence of inner recognitions — beginning in disillusionment, deepening into clarity, and returning to the world with a new ground beneath experience.
Beginning Where Meaning Falls Away
The journey begins where the Yoga Vasishta itself begins: with Rama’s depression. When life no longer makes sense and familiar explanations collapse, the teaching does not rush to console or repair. Instead, it invites a radical honesty — a willingness to fully enter the moment where meaning has fallen away.
Learning to Be Truly Depressed
As Shai often says, it is not enough simply to be depressed — one must learn how to be truly depressed. Not as resignation, but as clarity. When all false consolations dissolve, something essential can finally be seen. This stage opens the door to a deeper recognition that cannot arise through effort or striving.
Recognizing the Gold Beneath All Forms
At the heart of the retreat lies the central insight of the Yoga Vasishta: just as a bracelet is nothing but gold taking form, reality itself is one, appearing as many. Through contemplation, dialogue, and silence, this insight is not merely understood, but entered — until recognition replaces confusion.
Walking with Rama and Vasishtha
The Yoga Vasishta unfolds as a dialogue — intimate, vivid, and deeply human. Through its stories, realization becomes tangible and applicable to life. Together with Rama and his mentor Vasishtha, we explore how clarity matures, how insight stabilizes, and how freedom becomes lived rather than abstract.
Returning to the World from Clarity
The journey does not end in withdrawal. The Yoga Vasishta completes the circle by returning to the world — showing how life, relationships, and action can make sense again when rooted in recognition rather than confusion. This return is not a compromise, but the fulfillment of realization.
The Retreat’s Structure Combines
Entering Realization with the Whole Being
The insights of the Yoga Vasishta are subtle and far-reaching. To allow them to deepen beyond understanding and become lived recognition, the retreat is supported by carefully chosen practices. These are not ends in themselves, but gateways — creating the inner conditions in which realization can mature naturally.
Silence as the Ground of Insight
Extended silence forms the foundation of the retreat. In silence, the mind settles, the nervous system softens, and perception becomes more refined. Silence allows recognition to sink beneath thought and stabilize as lived clarity.
Kriya Yoga & Subtle Energy Work
Through selected Kriya Yoga and subtle breathing practices, the energy body is gently activated and aligned. These practices support the awakening of inner clarity, allowing insight to be experienced not only mentally, but energetically and somatically.
Inner Cave of the Heart
This contemplative meditation opens a direct doorway into the innermost space of the heart — a place of deep stillness, resilience, and quiet power. Here, realization is not sought, but revealed as an already-present ground of being.
Expansion
The Expansion approach supports a widening of awareness beyond habitual limits. Rather than analyzing experience, it invites direct presence — allowing insight to unfold naturally and integrate across emotional, mental, and energetic layers.
Forest Bathing & Living Nature
Nature plays an essential role in this retreat. Meditative walks and forest bathing in the Serra da Estrela invite the body and senses into rhythm with a larger intelligence. Surrounded by mountains, trees, and flowing water, insight is mirrored and gently grounded.
Supportive Space & Simple Living
Every aspect of the retreat environment is designed to support depth and integration — from nourishing organic meals to the rhythm of the days and the exclusivity of the retreat space. Simplicity and care create a container in which attention can rest and understanding can mature
FEEDBACK
This is what enthusiastic participants say
AMY ELIZABETH FOX
Chief Executive Officer, Mobius Executive Leadership
"Dr. Shai Tubali is one of the great master teachers of our generation."
Ludwig Kramer-kleTt
Entrepreneur and Investor
"Shai Tubali's teachings filled me with an inner peace and feeling of liberation."
VIV SAF
Coach and facilitator of the Work
"Shai's presence, his processes and his enlightened answers to your questions will leave you feeling transformed."
I’m so grateful Shai has chosen to share his wisdom and scholarly knowledge with us. His books, satsangs and courses are a great contribution to humanity.
Viv Saf
Thanh Dang
Police Officer
"Nothing remains but a quiet, open heart full of gratitude and liberation."
Effi Rabsilber
"Through the connection with the light that your retreat revealed to me, I always find my way back to my true needs"
For the first time, I understand what it actually means to be absolutely unconditionally loved and to love unconditionally, and what a need I have to let this realization unfold within me and to fulfill my being and my actions. I perceive this as a key that makes it possible for conflicts and contradictions, pain, pressure, fears and doubts within me and in my relationships with others to truly dissolve. Even if it is not always easy, through the connection with the light that your retreat revealed to me, I always find my way back to my true needs. Life feels less like a burden and more like a miracle that needs to be given space. Knowing that I know almost nothing and yet the ONE essential thing makes me more relaxed about life, which often presents itself to me as a great chaos.
I am infinitely grateful and feel deeply connected.
I wish never to forget that we are all connected.
Konstantinos Schiffmann
"The summer retreat prepares every participant to a possible spiritual awakening, which has happened to me several times during the retreats."
A summer retreat with the enlightened Kundalini Master Shai Tubali is an extraordinary opportunity to merge into the essence of deep silence. To be in silence is more than calming down from the stress of our high demanding and overactive postmodern society. Beyond the psycho-somatic regeneration the subtle energetic systems are stimulated, which leads to unblocking energy blockages and enables it’s free flow from in- and outside to the body-mind-complex.
Satsang, guided meditations, body work, creative writing, music, dance and walks in nature etc. support this process. The summer retreat prepares every participant to a possible spiritual awakening, which has happened to me several times during the retreats. Spiritual awakening is often expressed though strong, even overwhelming feelings of love, compassion, devotion, serenity, bliss, freedom and oneness. One peak experience was merging with the abyss of divinity where oneness can be felt as an orgiastic ecstasy. For me the retreats with Shai Tubali are life changing. Life has gained a new meaning and the sense for beauty has been sharpened. A non-reversible and ongoing process of development and integration has been initiated. I just can express my gratitude and recommend to every interested person to try this wonderfully life changing opportunity.
With love
Verena Winkler
"All the enlightening words that my thirsty mind absorbed dripped like precious nectar into my hungry heart, supported by the practices that, in their ingenious simplicity, created a space of connection and wholeness."
The Winter Retreat was a healing journey within, into the hidden precious treasure of the heart. It feels gentle and at the same time very powerful. Without a doubt, these mystical days at the end of the old and the beginning of the new year were the most meaningful Christmas gift I could experience. All the enlightening words that my thirsty mind absorbed dripped like precious nectar into my hungry heart, supported by the practices that, in their ingenious simplicity, created a space of connection and wholeness.
From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank you all for this precious encounter and the opportunity for remembering.
With an open heart, Verena
DR. BETTINA PRENEY
Literary scholar
"It is a wonderful intimate journey to one's Self."
A Retreat with Shai Tubali is a wonderful intimate journey to one’s Self.
Bathing in Shai’s pure Energy, we are cleansing and purifying ourselves – like in a bath of Light.
Especially his powerful Life-Force-Meditations let us experience the Unity we are – since I am sure that there are no real boundaries between us – that we are all this flowing Life-Energy.
Really, that gives such happiness!
In the time between the meetings with Shai, we can walk in beautiful landscapes, Yoga-exercises are proposed, Dynamic Meditation – and last not least, we have delicious vegan food.
So, I’m really grateful that I can participate in this new Retreat 2024, thank you for organizing such beautiful events!
Liliane Meier
Yoga Teacher
"My personal transformation process was an immense opening to the inner source."
“My personal transformation process was an immense opening to the inner source.
This connectedness, from which I can draw at any time in order to give, is probably the most sacred thing I have realised. I have experienced so much peace in my being that emotions no longer take up so much space. I react much more calmly and clearly when a storm breaks in from the outside. Decisions are no longer based on offended ego, but in compassion and peace.
I would definitely recommend this training. This training is key and there is probably no one who could not use this kind of healing. Especially now in this time when there is a global awakening going on.”
Dr. Nir Brosh
Medical Doctor, Meditation Teacher
"It is a haven for true seekers of truth and transformation."
“The meditation retreats with Shai Tubali had been one of the greatest engines of true spiritual transformation for me, combining profound spiritual wisdom, with crystal clear guidance, imbued with depth and inspiration. Shai is a true master of spirit, and the atmosphere in the retreats is highly supportive and well thought through- it is evident that every little detail is taken into consideration, in order to create a highly transformative and empowering spiritual field. It is a haven for true seekers of truth and transformation.”
Franziska Schneider
"This Universe is unbelievable and full of miracles – and so is this retreat! "
This Universe is unbelievable and full of miracles – and so is this retreat!
Thank you with all of my heart for all the Love!”
WHAT AWAITS YOU
A Day in the Retreat
Morning
Begin with Hatha Yoga, followed by an inspiring talk on the supreme teachings of Yoga Vasishta, and guided Kriya Yoga to awakens the spiritual force of Kundalini and allow quantum leaps in our experience and understanding.
Midday
Engage in the Expansion Method to broaden your awareness and deepen your mindfulness practice. Enjoy nourishing meals in silence, supporting mindful eating.
Afternoon
Evening
Conclude with silent sitting and written Q&A sessions with Shai, allowing for personal reflection and insight.
Night
End the day with a heart-opening inner cave and AUM meditation, cultivating balance and preparing for restful sleep.
About The Venue
Estrela Serenity
The retreat takes place in one of Portugal’s most serene and picturesque settings. Surrounded by rolling hills, lush forests, and open skies, this sanctuary offers the perfect environment for silence, introspection, and connection with nature.
philosopher and spiritual teacher
Shai Tubali, Ph.D.
As an avid researcher of consciousness, Shai blends academic philosophy and mysticism to explore the transformative power of expanded consciousness. His journey delves deep into how these states shape not only individual lives but also humanity’s present and future. Integrating Eastern and Western philosophies, he offers comprehensive insights into the nature and potential of consciousness.
Holding a doctorate in the philosophy of religion from the University of Leeds, Shai is also a research fellow at its Arts and Humanities Research Institute. His academic works include the publication of “The Transformative Philosophical Dialogue” (Springer, 2023), which showcases his scholarly perspective on consciousness. As the author of several books on inner transformation, he shares his insights widely. Since 2000, he has been guiding workshops, retreats, and professional trainings, impacting countless individuals. He actively engages in programs focusing on emotional maturity, human intelligence evolution, and mystical evolution, blending transformative knowledge with proven methods. His passion has led to the creation of numerous original methods for psychological transformation, including the medically researched Expansion Method.
Shai Tubali contemplating the ocean of existence near Sintra, Portugal.
Save a Place Now
How You Can Participate
Date
August 31 – September 5, 2026
Time
The retreat begins at 18:00 with a group dinner. Arrival from 14:00.
The retreat ends on the last day at 14:00 after lunch.
Venue
Estrela Serenity
Caminho das Regadas, Nº1
6290 – 081, Folgosinho
Gouveia – Portugal
Interactive Live Streaming
You can also participate online from home. The whole retreat will be streamed live via our interactive live broadcast platform.
Organizer
Carlos Stickel
carlos@shaitubali.com
+49 178 5175 114
COSTS
ONLINE PARTICIPATION
- Live Stream During the Retreat
- 2 Year Access to All Recordings after the Retreat Ends
- Possibility to ask Shai questions throughout the retreat
- Normal Price: 500€
- Early Bird Price, until May 1, 2026: 475€
ONSITE PARTICIPATION
- Teaching Price: 500 EUR
- Early Bird Price, until May 1, 2026: 475€
- Hotel Price: 725 EUR in a shared double room, or 950 EUR in a single room
- The full price is accordingly: 1200 EUR or 1425 EUR
CHARM AND PANORAMIC VIEW
1. The teaching contribution is €500 €475 until May 1, 2026
2. The contribution for room and full board. This depends on your choice of room:
| Room option | Price in EUR, per person |
| Shared double room | 725 |
| Single Room (fully booked) | 950 |
THIS IS WHAT YOU GET
Join the Retreat Now
Participate live on-site with vegan organic menus that are designed to support the process of spiritual awakening. This package includes online access to all of the video-recordings.
- Date: August 31 – Septembter 1, 2026 — Five nights of full-board hospitality.
- Three meals per day: a vegan, organic, energizing menu that is carefully designed to support the body’s processes.
- Two inspiring and transformative talks per day focused on the experience of the supreme realization.
- Hatha Yoga
- Kriya Yoga
- Immersion in Nature’s Healing Power
- Silent sitting
- Inner Cave of the Heart Meditation
- AUM Meditation
- The opportunity to ask questions in written form throughout the retreat, so you can be supported optimally in your individual process.
- No prior knowledge required.
Price:
- in EUR: 475 Euro
+ Accomodation
FEATURED IN:
You have open questions?
Who Should Attend
This retreat is for anyone ready to:
-
Meet moments of crisis, disillusionment, or inner questioning not as problems to solve, but as meaningful thresholds on the path of awakening.
-
Explore the Yoga Vasishta as a living teaching — not as philosophy, but as a direct way of seeing that reveals the gold beneath all forms of experience.
-
Let go of the need to improve, fix, or optimize the self, and instead discover the freedom that comes from clear recognition.
-
Walk the path from insight back into life — learning how realization can be lived, embodied, and expressed in relationships, action, and the ordinary world.
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Rest in silence, contemplation, and nature, allowing understanding to deepen beyond the mind and mature as lived clarity.
What you will take home:
A lived understanding of the central insight of the Yoga Vasishta: the recognition of reality as one, and the ability to see the “gold” beneath the changing forms of experience.
A new relationship to inner crisis, disillusionment, and depression — no longer as failures to overcome, but as meaningful thresholds on the path of awakening.
A deepened clarity that does not depend on special states, but remains present in ordinary life, relationships, and action.
The ability to return to the world grounded in recognition rather than confusion — engaging with life from a place of simplicity, wholeness, and inner freedom.
Subtle practices and contemplative orientations that continue to support integration, embodiment, and insight beyond the retreat.
GOOD TO KNOW
FAQ
TIP
I am not experienced/have only a little experience with meditation. Can I still join?
What are the accomodation arrangements?
The retreat includes full-board hospitality. You can choose between a regular single room or a shared double room. All rooms have a private bathroom. Please contact us with any questions about accommodation: carlos [at] shaitubali [.] com
TIP
I am not sure if my English skills are good enough to understand everything.
You have more question?
Please feel free to contact us. We are more than happy to get to know you and answer your questions!
Just write an email to: carlos [at] shaitubali [.] com
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