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Created page with "{{Short description|Attempt to deepen a relationship with the divine}} {{More citations needed|date=February 2021}} '''Spiritual direction''' is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the divine, or how they are cultivating a life attuned to spiritual things. The director listen..."

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{{Short description|Attempt to deepen a relationship with the divine}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2021}}
'''Spiritual direction''' is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the [[divinity|divine]], or to learn and grow in their personal [[spirituality]]. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the divine, or how they are cultivating a life attuned to spiritual things. The director listens and asks questions to assist the directee in his or her process of [[Introspection|reflection]] and spiritual growth. Spiritual direction advocates claim that it develops a deeper awareness with the spiritual aspect of being human, and that it is neither [[psychotherapy]] nor counseling nor financial planning.

Historians of philosophy like [[Ilsetraut Hadot|Ilsetraut]] and [[Pierre Hadot]] have argued that spiritual direction was already practiced and recommended by the main schools of philosophy, as well as by physicians like [[Galen]], as part of [[spiritual practice]]s in Ancient Greece and Rome.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Hadot|first=Pierre|title=¿Qué es la filosofía antigua?|pages=219, 232–240|publisher=Fondo de Cultura Económica|year=1998|place=México, D. F.|isbn=968-16-5358-0|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharpe |first=Matthew J. |title=Ilsetraut Hadot's Seneca: Spiritual Direction and the Transformation of the Other |url=https://www.academia.edu/30194775 |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=academia.edu}}</ref>

== Roman Catholic forms ==
While there is some degree of variability, there are primarily two forms of spiritual direction in the Roman Catholic Church: regular direction and [[retreat (spiritual)|retreat]] direction. They differ largely in the frequency of meeting and in the intensity of reflection.{{needs citation|date=September 2020}}

Regular direction can involve a one- to two-hour meeting every four to eight weeks, and thus is slightly less intense than retreat direction, although spiritual exercises and disciplines are often given for the directee to attempt between meetings.

If the directee is on a retreat (lasting a weekend, a week or even 40 days), they will generally meet with their director on a daily basis for one hour. During these daily meetings, exercises or spiritual disciplines such as [[lectio divina]] are given to the directee as fodder to continue his or her spiritual growth.

The [[Spiritual Exercises]] of [[Ignatius of Loyola]] are a popular example of guidelines used for spiritual direction.

== Historical traditions ==

=== Ancient Greece and Rome ===
Most of [[Hellenistic philosophy|ancient schools of philosophy]] remarked the importance of spiritual direction in order to improve [[moral education]]. This guidance, a kind of "therapy of the souls", led the pupils to [[self-awareness]] of their faults and progress. [[Socrates]] can be considered as the ideal of spiritual director among his followers, but [[Plato]] also guided his students with personal advice and comfort through their learning process. [[Aristotle]] would have fixed some rules for a proper spiritual guidance of pupils in the second book of his ''[[Rhetoric (Aristotle)|Rhetoric]]''. Other examples can be found in [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynics]], [[Epicureans]] —who used epistolary form for this purpose (e.g. [[Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger)|Metrodorus]])— or [[Stoics]] —like [[Marcus Aurelius]], [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], [[Musonius Rufus]] or [[Epictetus]] in his ''[[Discourses of Epictetus|Discourses]]''—, who actively practiced spiritual direction. [[Philodemus]]' work ''On Frank Criticism'' showed that spiritual guidance should be based on freedom of speech (''[[parrhesia]]'') and mutual respect between master and pupil. A physician like [[Galen]], not affiliated to any school of philosophy, recommended to follow spiritual guidance from an aged and experienced man before attempting self-examination.<ref name=":0" />

=== Western Christianity ===
Within [[Christianity]], spiritual direction has its roots in [[early Church|early Christianity]]. The [[gospel]]s describe [[Jesus]] serving as a mentor to his disciples. Additionally, [[The Book of Acts|Acts of the Apostles]] Chapter 9 describes Ananias helping [[Paul of Tarsus]] to grow in his newfound experience of Christianity. Likewise, several of the [[Pauline epistles]] describe Paul mentoring both Timothy and Titus among others. Tradition tells us that [[John the Evangelist]] tutored [[Polycarp]], the 2nd-century bishop of [[Smyrna]].

Theologian [[John Cassian]] who lived in the 4th century provided some of the earliest recorded guidelines on the Christian practice of spiritual direction.<ref name=christ>{{cite web | title = Got Your 'Spiritual Director' Yet? |publisher= [[Christianity Today]] | url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/aprilweb-only/4-28-51.0.html?paging=off
|date=April 1, 2003| access-date = 2014-07-22 }}</ref> He introduced mentoring in the monasteries. Each novice was put under the care of an older monk. [[Benedict of Nursia]] integrated Cassian's guidelines into what is now known as the [[Rule of Saint Benedict]].

Spiritual direction is widespread in the Catholic tradition: a person with wisdom and spiritual discernment, usually but not exclusively a priest or consecrated in general, provides counsel to a person who wishes to make a journey of faith and discovery of God's will in his life. The spiritual guide aims to discern, understand what the Holy Spirit, through the situations of life, spiritual insights fruit of prayer, reading and meditation on the Bible, tells the person accompanied. The spiritual father or spiritual director may provide advice, give indications of life and prayer, resolving doubts in matters of faith and morals without replacing the choices and decisions to the person accompanying.

===Eastern Orthodoxy===
[[Eastern Orthodoxy]] comes from the same pre-schism traditions, but the role of a "spiritual director" or "elder" in Orthodoxy has maintained its important role. The original Greek term geron (meaning "elder", as in gerontology) was rendered by the Russian word [[starets]], from Old Church Slavonic starĭtsĭ, "elder", derived from starŭ, "old". The Greek tradition has a long unbroken history of elders and disciples, such as [[Sophronius of Jerusalem|Sophronius]] and [[John Moschos]] in the seventh century, [[Symeon the Studite|Symeon the Elder]] and [[Symeon the New Theologian]] in the eleventh century, and contemporary charismatic gerontes such as [[Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) of Kafsokalivia|Porphyrios]] and [[Paisios (Eznepidis)|Paisios]]. [[Sergius of Radonezh]] and [[Nil Sorsky]] were two most venerated startsy of Old [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]]. The revival of elders in the Slavic world is associated with the name of [[Paisius Velichkovsky]] (1722–94), who produced the Russian translation of the [[Philokalia]]. The most famous Russian starets of the early 19th century was [[Seraphim of Sarov]] (1759-1833), who went on to become one of the most revered Orthodox saints.
The [[Optina Pustyn]] near [[Kozelsk]] used to be celebrated for its startsy (Schema-Archimandrite Moses, Schema-Hegumen Anthony, Hieroschemamonk Leonid, Hieroschemamonk Macarius, Hieroschemamonk Hilarion, Hieroschemamonk Ambrose, Hieroschemamonk Anatole (Zertsalov)).[1] Such writers as [[Nikolay Gogol]], [[Aleksey Khomyakov]], [[Leo Tolstoy]] and [[Konstantin Leontyev]] sought advice from the elders of this monastery. They also inspired the figure of Zosima in Dostoyevsky's novel [[The Brothers Karamazov]]. A more modern example of a starets is Archimandrite [[John Krestiankin]] (1910-2006) of the [[Pskov Monastery of the Caves]] who was popularly recognized as such by many [[Orthodox Christianity|Orthodox]] living in [[Russia]].

=== Judaism ===
In [[Judaism]], the Hebrew term for spiritual director differs among traditional communities. The verb ''Hashpa'ah'' is common in some communities though not all; the spiritual director called a ''mashpi'a'' occurs in the [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] community and also in the [[Jewish Renewal]] community. A ''mashgiach ruchani'' is the equivalent role among adherents of the ''[[Musar movement|Mussar]]'' tradition. The purpose of ''Hashpa'ah'' is to support the directee in her or his personal relationship with [[God in Judaism|God]], and to deepen that person's ability to find God's presence in ordinary life. Amongst [[Lubavitchers]] this draws on the literature and praxis of [[Hasidism]] as it is practiced according to Chabad standards, and to [[Jewish mysticism|Jewish mystical tradition]] generally. Spiritual mentorship is customary in the Hasidic world, but not necessarily in the same way.

=== Sufism ===
In [[Sufism]], the term used for spiritual master is ''[[murshid]]'', Arabic for "guide" or "teacher". He is more than a spiritual director and believed to be guiding the disciples based on his direct connectivity with the [[God in Islam|Divine]]. The murshid's role is to spiritually guide and verbally instruct the disciple on the Sufi path after the disciple takes an oath of allegiance or [[Bay'ah]] (''bai'ath'') with him. The concept of Murshid Kamil Akmal (also known as Insan-e-Kamil) is significant in most [[tariqa]]s. The doctrine states that from pre-existence till pre-eternity, there shall always remain a [[Qutb]] or a Universal Man upon the earth who would be the perfect manifestation of God and at the footsteps of the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]].<ref name="Murshid Kamil Akmal (Perfect Spiritual Guide)">{{cite book|author=Sult̤ān Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman|title=Perfect Spiritual Guide (Murshid-e-Kamil Akmal) |date=8 October 2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVxlAQAAQBAJ&q=murshid+kamil+akmal&pg=PT26|publisher=Sultan-ul-Faqr Publications}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Direction of prayer]]
* [[Ho'oponopono]] 
* [[Murshid]]
* [[Pir (Sufism)]]
* [[Spiritual Directors International (SDI)|Spiritual Directors International]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05024a.htm Spiritual Direction] – [[New Advent]] (1913 [[Catholic Encyclopedia]]).

==Bibliography==
===Classics===
* {{cite book|author=Aelred of Rievaulx|author-link=Aelred of Rievaulx|title= Spiritual Friendship|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_b-hRtAbPWIC|year=2010|orig-year =1160-62|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-87907-957-4}}
* {{cite book| title =The Conferences of John Cassian|author=John Cassian|author-link=John Cassian |publisher=[[Christian Classics Ethereal Library]]| url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/cassian/conferences.html |year=1894 }}
* {{cite web |author=Teresa of Avila|author-link=Teresa of Avila|title = Works of St. Teresa of Avila (Online)|publisher=[[Christian Classics Ethereal Library]]| url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/teresa }}
* {{cite book|author=Thomas Merton|author-link=Thomas Merton|title=Spiritual Direction and Meditation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVIL5-aV6LUC|year=1960|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-0412-0}}
* {{cite book|author=Saint Francis de Sales|author-link=Francis de Sales|title=Introduction to the Devout Life (online)|url=https://archive.org/details/anintroductiont00salegoog|year=1885|publisher=M. H. Gill and Sons |location= Dublin}}
* {{cite book|author=Saint Francis de Sales|author-link=Francis de Sales| title = Treatise on the Love of God |translator=Henry Benedict Mackey |year=1997|orig-year= 1616|isbn= 0-89555-526-3|publisher= TAN Books| url = http://www.ccel.org/d/desales/love/}}
* {{cite book|author=Saint Jeanne-Françoise de Chantal|author-link=Jane Frances de Chantal|title=Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOXFvwLyq4YC|year=1988|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-2990-4}}
* {{cite book|author=Samuel Rutherford|author-link=Samuel Rutherford|title=Letters of Samuel Rutherford|url=https://archive.org/stream/lettersofsamuelr00ruthrich#page/n3/mode/2up|year=1891|publisher=Oliphants Ltd. |location= London }} [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42557/42557-h/42557-h.htm# Alt]
* {{cite book | title = Institutio Spiritualis: A Book of Spiritual instruction |author=Louis de Blois|author-link=Louis de Blois | url = https://archive.org/details/bookofspirituali00bloi|year=1900 | publisher=St. Louis MO, USA }}
* --do.-- (1900) ''A Book of Spiritual Instruction: Institutio spiritualis''; translated from the Latin by Bertrand A. Wilberforce. London: Art and Book Company
* {{cite book|title=The Degrees of the Spiritual Life |author=Auguste Saudreau|url=https://archive.org/details/thedegreesofthes01sauduoft|translator=[[Bede Camm]] |publisher=R. T. Washbourne|location= London|year=1907}}

===Later period===
Later writings on spiritual direction (as per [http://spiritualdirection.com/blog/2013/01/19/what-are-the-top-ten-resources-you-would-recommend-for-spiritual-directors Top ten reading list for spiritual directors] – January 19, 2013):
* {{cite web |author=Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange|author-link=Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange| title = The Three Ages of the Interior Life|publisher= Catholic Spiritual Teaching|year=1938 | url = http://www.christianperfection.info/ }}
* [https://teresablythe.net Teresa Blythe] (2018). ''[https://teresablythe.net/sd101book/ Spiritual Direction 101: The Basics of Spiritual Guidance].'' Apocryphile Press, {{ISBN|978-1-947826-20-5}}
* {{cite web | title = Perfect Spiritual Guide in Sufism | url = http://www.sultan-ul-arifeen.com/en/murshid-kamil-akmal-sultan-ul-arifeen-perfect-spiritual-guide-mentor-imperfect-false-murshid-e-uqba-dunya.php | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150920103237/http://www.sultan-ul-arifeen.com/en/murshid-kamil-akmal-sultan-ul-arifeen-perfect-spiritual-guide-mentor-imperfect-false-murshid-e-uqba-dunya.php | archive-date = 2015-09-20 }}
* {{cite book|author=Pierre Teilhard de Chardin|author-link=Pierre Teilhard de Chardin|title=The Divine Milieu: An Essay on the Interior Life |url=https://archive.org/stream/TheDivineMilieu/The_Divine_Milieu#page/n1/mode/2up|year=1957|publisher=Harper Torchbooks, The Cathedral Library, NY |isbn=978-1-903900-58-1}}
* {{cite book|author=Kenneth Leech|author-link=Kenneth Leech|title=Soul Friend|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lssCsQaT0O4C|date=2001|orig-year= 1977|publisher=Church Publishing, Inc.|isbn=978-0-8192-2539-9}}
* {{cite book|author=Friedrich von Hügel|author-link=Friedrich von Hügel|title= Letters from Baron Friedrich von Hügel to a Niece | url = https://archive.org/stream/MN5160ucmf_0/MN5160ucmf_0_djvu.txt |year=1928|publisher=J. M. Dent & Sons }}
* {{cite book|author=Adolphe Tanquerey| title = The Spiritual Life: A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology| url = https://archive.org/stream/MN41530ucmf_5#page/n7/mode/2up |year=1932|publisher=Society of St. John the Evangelist, Desclée}}
* {{cite book|author=Francis W. Vanderwall|title=Spiritual direction: an invitation to abundant life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVQ2cR4s6ecC|year=1981|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=978-0-8091-2399-5}}
* {{cite book|author=William A. Barry|title=The Practice of Spiritual Direction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KXXFW2dM_ZgC|year=1982|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-86683-951-8}}
* {{cite book|author=Margaret Guenther|title=Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_7S-9BUeh8C|date=1992|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-56101-056-1}}
* {{cite book|author=Charles Hugo Doyle|title= Guidance In Spiritual Direction |year=2011|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Pub.|isbn=978-1463597542}}
* {{cite book|author=Francis Fernandez Carvajal|author-link=Francis Fernandez Carvajal|title=Through Wind and Waves: On Being a Spiritual Guide |year=2012|publisher=Scepter |isbn= 978-1594171666}}
* Hughson, Shirley Carter (1952) ''The Spiritual Letters of Father Hughson of the Order of the Holy Cross''. West Park, New York: Holy Cross Press; London: A. R. Mowbray, 1953

==External links==
=== North America ===
* [http://www.sdiworld.org/ Spiritual Directors International]
* [https://www.sanluisrey.org/retreats-events/spiritual-direction Spiritual Direction in California]
* [http://www.frombeginningtoend.org/ Spiritual Direction in Alberta]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140108023701/http://anamcharacentre.ca/ Spiritual Direction in Calgary]
* [http://www.spiritualdirection.ca/ Spiritual Direction in Manitoba]
* [http://soulstream.org/ Spiritual Directors in British Columbia]
* [http://www.tyndale.ca/seminary/tasd Tyndale Association of Spiritual Directors], Toronto, Ontario
* [http://www.graftedlife.org/ Evangelical Spiritual Directors Association]

=== United Kingdom ===
* [http://www.retreats.org.uk/spiritualdirection.html The Retreat Association], an organisation facilitating Christian spiritual directors in the United Kingdom
* [http://www.lcsd.org.uk London Centre for Spiritual Direction]: an organisation that trains and supports spiritual directors, and promotes spiritual direction
* [http://www.artsd.org.uk Ignatian Spirituality Course]: a training course for spiritual directors in London, UK.

=== Australia ===
* [https://www.fullnessoflife.org/ Fullness of Life Centre (Inc.)] provides spiritual direction, counselling and professional supervision. Services are available in-person and through secure video conferencing.
* [http://www.kardia.com.au Kardia Formation P/L] provides spiritual direction, supervision and a formation program for spiritual directors.
* [http://www.jcs.edu.au Jesuit College of Spirituality] provides Ignatian programs of formation for spiritual directors, supervisors and leaders as a member of the University of Divinity, Melbourne.

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[[Category:Spirituality]]
[[Category:Religious practices]]

Spiritual direction - Revision history