The Influence of spirituality as an academic discipline on the understanding and practice of spiritual direction
Spirituality has recently emerged as an academic discipline. How this may influence the understanding and practice of spiritual direction is the subject of this enquiry. The essay first reviews how this academic discipline distinguishes three levels of spirituality: the experience itself that transpires at a real or existential level, the lived actuality of this first level and the practical or academic investigation of the two prior levels.
The paper then examines how this threefold schema may contribute to
an understanding of spiritual direction. It posits the material object
of spiritual direction, the phenomenon to be investigated, is a
directee's spiritual experience. Further, that the formal object of
spiritual direction, the aspect or formality under which the phenomenon
is to be investigated is the transformational, relational process of a
directee with what is Ultimate as he or she perceives it. Drawing upon
this perception about spiritual direction, the investigation proposes
corresponding roles for the spiritual director and the directee. While
the directee is taking a contemplative attitude to his or her spiritual
experience, the director adopts a contemplative stance towards the
directee's contemplative noticing.
The paper then discusses how spirituality within the academy may
influence how spiritual direction is practiced. It proposes that in
adopting a contemplative stance, the spiritual director needs to attend
to the different levels of the directee's transformational, relational
process. It then discusses how the director might attend the directee's
contemplative noticing of these various levels through the director
incorporating insights from Karl Rahner's theological anthropology into
his or her approach. The paper concludes by incorporating the
contribution of recent academic research in two areas: the developmental
influences that shape the practice of beginning and advanced spiritual
directors (Truscott, 2007) and the quality of contemplative presence
practiced by spiritual directors (McLennan Tajiri, 2009)
Stephen Truscott SM, PhD is the Director of the Fullness of Life
Centre Inc. Perth, Western Australia and the Secretary of AECSD
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