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FAITH TO FAITH: SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WITH A MULTIFAITH CONTEXT By RUQAIYAH NABE A DEMONSTRATION PROJECT Submitted to New York Theological Seminary In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF MINISTRY New York, New York, USA 2010 ABSTRACT FAITH TO FAITH: SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WITH A MULTIFAITH CONTEXT By RUQAIYAH NABE This demonstration project addresses the topic of spiritual direction, which is the process of one individual accompanying another on her or his spiritual journey, with the objective to establish, deepen or maintain the individual’s relationship with God, a higher power, an inner or infinite source or the laws of the universe. In the traditional sense, director and directee have been adherents of the same faith tradition: Jewish to Jewish; Christian to Christian; Muslim to Muslim, and Buddhist to Buddhist. In this project the spiritual director, who is a Muslim woman, set out to determine the effectiveness of a Muslim spiritual director who offers and provides spiritual direction services to directees from four different faith traditions--namely, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. The site project was arranged with the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary (OSIS), which has, amongst its numerous programs, a two-year interfaith ministry program, and a two-year interspiritual spiritual direction program—both of which the interfaith minister and spiritual director of this project is a graduate. OSIS provides, as an option and an opportunity, spiritual direction sessions to the ministry students, from the students and graduates of its spiritual direction program. Seven directees (volunteer subjects) participated in the project—four from the OSIS interfaith ministry program; one graduate from OSIS, and two with no affiliation to OSIS: one Jewish, three Christians; one Muslim, one Buddhist and another from a Christian beginning who considers herself Interspiritual—one who borrows and practices from several or numerous traditions. The project was arranged for six months, each directee participated in a fifty- minute session once per month. At the conclusion of the six-month process, each directee completed an evaluation form for the New York Theological Seminary’s D. Min project and also submitted a statement to OSIS to provide feedback regarding the outcome of the .spiritual direction sessions. Based upon ongoing feedback in the sessions but, more importantly, from the completed evaluations and statements, the process was, for the most part, successful. A Muslim spiritual director effectively provided spiritual direction services across faith traditions. Copyright by RUQAIYAH NABE 2010 To my late mother, Estelle Griffin Booker whose loving prayers have sustained me, and who taught me many things, one of which is to have faith, and to my late maternal grandmother, Isabel Long Griffin Ballard who lay her healing hand upon me, and also gave me a dream to remember. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the name of God, Most Beneficent, most Merciful. All praises and thanks to God, Who surrounds me in Light, and Love and Angels, and Who provided all that I needed to walk this journey. I am thankful to my husband, Dr. Oumar Nabe, for being with me and for me in numerous ways. Without him this endeavor would have been more difficult. I am also thankful to:- My family and friends, who encouraged, supported, and cheered me on with their enthusiasm and excitement for me. My advisors and examiners, Dr. Dale Irvin who got me started; Dr. Jerry Reisig who kept me going and Dr. Keith Russell who got me to the finish line. Dr. Eleanor-Moody Shepherd and Dr. Cynthia Diaz for welcoming me to New York Theological Seminary and Dr. Lester Ruiz for insisting on high standards of work My site team members: Shaykh Dr. Ibrahim Abdul-Malik, my spiritual advisor; Doctor Brenda Boyd-Bell, who invited me more than fifteen years ago to work with her in the spiritual arena—publicly; Dr. Joyce Liechenstein, who has provided me services as spiritual director and spiritual director supervisor: Sr. Arlene Ketchum, who afforded me space in which to serve and Rev. Susan Turchin, for Jewish Scripture. Liz Ellmann, of Spiritual Directors International, she was one of the first persons to gather and submit information to me. Khadijah Martin, my sister in faith, whose son contributed some of the Quranic scripture. Carolyn Lewis who served as my spiritual director for this project and Shirma Cadogan, my editor, who took on this written project at a late date in order to see me through its completion. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 9 SPIRITUAL DIRECTION IS ....................................................................................... 10 SPIRITUAL DIRECTION IS NOT .............................................................................. 12 WHO IS A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR? ........................................................................ 14 WHAT DOES THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR BRING TO THE RELATIONSHIP AND THE SESSION? .................................................................................................. 14 TYPES AND MODELS OF SPIRITUAL DIRECTION ............................................. 15 CHAPTER 1 ..................................................................................................................... 18 INTRODUCTION TO THE SITE ................................................................................ 18 CHAPTER 2 ..................................................................................................................... 21 SPIRITUAL DIRECTION: ITS BEGINNINGS, ITS HISTORY ................................ 21 JEWISH SPIRITUAL DIRECTION ............................................................................. 29 CHRISTIAN SPIRITUAL DIRECTION ....................................................................... 31 ISLAMIC SPIRITUAL DIRECTION ............................................................................ 36 BUDDHIST SPIRITUAL DIRECTION ....................................................................... 42 INTERSPIRITUAL SPIRITUAL DIRECTION ........................................................... 47 CHAPTER 3 ..................................................................................................................... 53 SPIRITUAL DIRECTION IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES AND SCARED TEXTS . 53 JEWISH HOLY SCRIPTURES AND SACRED TEXTS ............................................. 53 CHRISTIAN HOLY SCRIPTURES AND SACRED TEXTS ...................................... 55 ISLAMIC HOLY SCRIPTURES AND SACRED TEXTS ........................................... 56 BUDDHIST HOLY SCRIPTURES AND SACRED TEXTS ...................................... 57 CHAPTER 4 ..................................................................................................................... 63 WOMEN IN ISLAM .................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................... 101 MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY ..................................................................................... 101 MEMORIES OF EARLY BEGINNINGS ................................................................... 104 THE BEINGS I JOINED ON EARTH ....................................................................... 106 FROM FAMILY TO NEIGHBORHOOD AND COMMUNITY ............................. 109 CHURCHES, CHURCHES, EVERYWHERE! ......................................................... 113 THE DIFFERENT, THE UNUSUAL AND THE NON CHRISTIAN MINORITIES ........................................................................................................................................ 117 THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THE COMMUNITY AND BEYOND ............................ 118 SEARCHING AND SEEKING .................................................................................... 121 I HAD NOT BEEN TO ME ......................................................................................... 126 THERE ARE BLESSINGS IN CALAMITIES ............................................................ 129 CHAPTER 6 ................................................................................................................... 132 vii PLAN OF IMPLEMENTATION: SPIRITUAL DIRECTION SESSIONS WITH DIRECTEES ............................................................................................................... 132 VOLUNTEER SUBJECTS’ (DIRECTEES’) PROFILES ........................................ 137 GENERAL SUMMARY OF ANALYSIS ..................................................................... 159 CHAPTER 7 ................................................................................................................... 167 EVALUATION........................................................................................................... 167 STATEMENTS SUBMITTED BY DIRECTEES FOR THE ONE SPIRIT INTERFAITH SEMINARY .......................................................................................... 168 SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS.................................................................. 172 CHAPTER 8 ................................................................................................................... 181 SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FOR THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR.............................. 181 CHAPTER 9 ................................................................................................................... 194 CONCLUSION AND FORECAST ............................................................................ 194 DIRECTEE TRANSFORMATION ............................................................................. 196 MY OWN TRANSFORMATION ................................................................................. 201 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................ 208 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................. 209 INFORMED CONSENT FORM FOR RESEARCH ................................................. 209 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................. 210 SPIRITUAL DIRECTION EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE .............................. 210 APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................. 223 ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM THE PROFILE SECTION OF THE EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................ 223 RESULTS FROM THE EVALUATION FORM ......................................................... 225 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 244 viii INTRODUCTION This demonstration project for New York Theological Seminary’s (NYTS) doctoral degree in multifaith ministry concerns the subject matter of interfaith, interspiritual and multifaith spiritual direction. Spiritual direction, also referred to as spiritual coaching, spiritual companionship, spiritual counseling and spiritual guidance, is a discipline and ministry that offers and provides its seekers a safe environment where they can be heard and where such seekers can be assisted in the development, and maintenance of their spiritual lives—at an optimal level, with balance, centeredness, clarity and healthfulness. Spiritual direction sessions take place between a spiritual director and a directee or a group of directees. Spiritual direction is an ancient practice. Traditionally, it has been between people who are of the same faith community. It need not be so, however, for spiritual direction can take place in an interfaith or multifaith setting. A group session may unfold between a director of one religious belief and directees of various beliefs. A spiritual director who practices in the interfaith or multifaith mode may service clients from two or more faith traditions. If the director also provides services to directees who consider themselves interspiritual, he or she may be servicing individuals who may or may not have any particular faith tradition; persons who borrow from various faith traditions; those who believe in God but not organized religion; others who question the existence of God or do not believe in God, yet want to incorporate a spiritual practice in their lives. Wayne Teasdale describes the age we are entering as the ‘Interspiritual Age’ “where people are no longer isolated within their home tradition but are exploring 9 other traditions, finding what is useful to their own growth.” 1 Teasdale also defines interspirituality more specifically as “The common heritage of humankind’s spiritual wisdom: The sharing of mystical resources across traditions.”2 SPIRITUAL DIRECTION IS Spiritual Directors International (SDI), which began in 1989, is an organization that describes itself as “a global learning community of people from many faiths and many nations.” Liz Budd Ellmann, the Executive Director of SDI, offers a definition of spiritual direction. She writes: Spiritual direction is the process of accompanying people on a spiritual journey. Spiritual direction exists in a context that emphasizes growing closer to God (or the holy or a higher power).3 If ten different spiritual directors are asked, “what is spiritual direction?” each one may arrive at a different definition, description or explanation. Such was discovered in the workshop offerings in the bulletin of Elizabeth Seaton Women’s Center. Of the seven spiritual directors listed, each one had either a slightly or very different answer. Ellmann goes on to say, Spiritual direction has emerged in many contexts using language specific to particular cultural and spiritual traditions. It is easier to describe what spiritual direction does than what spiritual direction is.4 1 Wayne Teasdale, The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions (Novato, CA: New World Library, 1999), 268. 2 Teasdale, The Mystic Heart, 268. 3 Liz Ellmann, Executive Director, Spiritual Directors International, http://www.sdiworld.org/what_is_spiritual_direction2.html (accessed December 8, 2009). 4 Ibid. 10