Interspiritual Spiritual Counseling in the 21st Century

We are in the midst of a great transition in world history. Humanity stands at a significant fork in the road, affording us an opportunity to move forward to a more evolved consciousness that has love, wisdom and compassion as its foundation.

In his excellent book, Noticing the Divine, John R. Mabry writes:

”There is no lazy person’s path to enlightenment, and anyone professing to have one is simply not to be trusted. Just as there is no free lunch, there is no free liberation. No one can force someone to do the work, but sooner or later, whether in this life or another, most of us will roll up our sleeves and get down to business. Standing up for our beliefs, prayer and meditation, giving to the poor, abstaining from food and favorite pleasures, going on pilgrimage, creating a rule of life, and doing holy reading can, when used with moderation and responsibility, assist one on the path to spiritual maturity. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. Every tradition honors some form of each of the categories we have discussed, plus others unique to it.

As spiritual guides it is important for us to have firsthand knowledge of many such disciplines, so that we can recognize when one or the other might be helpful for our clients. The greater jihad, the battle that takes place within each of us, is more important than any exterior conflict, because it is within the human soul that the salvation of the world resides, not in weapons and armor, but in the ability to say ‘not my will, but thine.”

As Spiritual Counselors in the Twenty-First Century, we are uniquely poised to learn from the great wisdom keepers of all world traditions as seen through the lens of contemporary knowledge. Through learning the great traditions of philosophy and religion, our being expands, and through this personal evolution we open into a new realm of possibilities that can help our clients, families, communities and the world. We better understand the challenges faced by a wide variety of peoples, and we become much more capable of providing useful guidance in each particular situation.

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