 Could you tell us a bit about who you are? What would you like for the SGTI community to know about you?
How do you define spiritual companionship? How do you practice spiritual companionship?
What are your hopes/wishes about working with SGTI?
You can learn more about Tejai on the SGTI Faculty page.  (2023)Within each of us there is a silence
-a silence as vast as the universe . . . When we experience that silence, we remember who we are: creatures of the stars, created from the cooling of this planet, created from dust and gas, created from the elements, created from time and space…created from silence… Silence brings us back to basics, to our senses, to our selves. -Gunilla Norris, Shared Silence For a week next March (2023), SGTI co-founder, Jeanette Banashak, and Creative Director of Spiritual Directors International, Matt Whitney, will be co-facilitating a Nature Immersion and Deep Listening experience in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Silence, peace, and joy will be nurtured through guided shinrin yoku (forest bathing) walks and optional community and solo building activities from creativity-making to reflections and storytelling around a campfire to group spiritual direction/companionship with humans and the more than human world. Forest bathing is designed to awaken the senses in an intentional way and facilitate aliveness of life. Slowly and mindfully, we engage with the natural setting and cultivate awareness of, relationship with, and appreciation for the more than human world. If you would like to join us in the “wood wide web” (Suzanne Simard) or would like more information, here is the website with a video, explanation, and FAQs: https://www.sdicompanions.org/product/sdi-journey-the-forest-as-companion-nature-immersion-and-deep-listening-march-19-25-2023/ Note: Registering before Oct. 8 allows participants to receive a $500 discount.  In Suzanne Simard’s book, Finding the Mother Tree, she writes, “There is no moment too small in this world”. This is her creed - she is writing about appreciating and embracing all aspects of nature. Children have a natural way of wondering about and connecting in the natural world. The cultural historian, scholar of world religions, and self-described geologian Thomas Berry, stated that depriving children of time in nature denies them their “inner intuitive identities”. For Berry, what is learned in nature is a kind of knowledge that is the bedrock for making meaning of our lives and appreciating beauty.
Recently, at one of our yearly siblings (and partners and children) camping trips, I took my young nieces and nephews on a forest bathing experience and invited them to ask a tree if we could approach it, touch it, and be with it. I asked them to pay attention to how the tree responds to their inquiry. After a few quiet moments passed (this was a miracle), they each said that the tree is ok with them approaching and touching it. What intuition! Without hesitating, my five-year old niece gave the tree the biggest hug (I had never seen her hug a human in the same way), while my eight-year old nephew proceeded to climb its branches. The others explored around the tree’s base collecting curiously placed bones. A sense for Mystery begins in nature. By noticing the changes that occur outside in a day, in a season, by watching birds, interacting with insects, and engaging with trees, we build our capacity for relationships with the human and more than human world. When we build relationships in nature, we co-create spaces for belonging. With our understanding that we all belong to each other, we become compelled to look out for each other, we learn to right any wrongs that we commit, and we work to make things better. Thomas Berry remarked, “As [children] grow to understand their belonging within this larger context, their natural longing to create a better world will increase and they can learn new ways of functioning and creating within a sustainable life context.” What are ways we can invite children to have direct experiences in nature? It begins with modeling – spending time immersed in the natural environment, prioritizing – making the decision to designate time in nature as more important than other activities, and embedding nature in daily life – building reciprocity and solidarity with nature within and outside the home. After the experience my nieces and nephews and I had in the forest, I asked my five-year-old-tree-hugging niece a question because I had noticed how familiar she seemed with the trees: Do you prefer hugging trees rather than people? Oh yes, she said, I prefer hugging trees for sure. ~ Jeanette Banashak This year Spiritual Directors International hosted another wonderful conference (first year hybrid!) with the theme of Engage. One of the workshops I really appreciated was Cindy Lee’s "Decolonizing the Spiritual Direction Space" where Dr. Lee explored hospitality and the power dynamic within a spiritual guidance relationship with BIPOC and facilitated practices she calls movements of spaciousness for BIPOC seekers.
Dr. Lee referenced Margaret Gunther’s text Holy Listening and Gunther’s theme of hospitality on the part of the spiritual director. Yet, Lee turned the question around and asked what if it’s the seeker who is the hospitable one, generously opening up to spiritual directors with their stories? With this posture, and especially as we meet with seekers with different identities than our own, we consider ways to be responsible with our power. We actively seek understanding about the impact of our roles, education, race, gender, ethnicity, class, ability, sexual orientation/affection, etc. This stance invites us to receive whatever stories are shared and be open to being changed by the stories. Dr. Lee discussed ways to facilitate spaciousness in order for our companions to “access their sacredness”:
I am left with questions like where do I need to slow down in my life? What inner work am I in need of doing so I can continue to do what is mine to do? I am grateful for SDI’s vision for the conference and speakers including Cindy Lee and Yavilah McCoy, among so many others, who have opened up new pathways for deepened connection with self, seekers, the natural world, and the Divine. The Wondering Process of Spiritual Inquiry: A Description of an Interreligious Event in Chicago5/2/2022
 One of the ways in which the SGTI engages with others who practice different religious, spiritual and ethical traditions is by participating in ‘day pilgrimages’, which are experiences in sacred spaces. Recently, one of our co-founders attended an event that The Chicago Theological Seminary, in collaboration with the Lutheran School of Theology Chicago, Parliament of World’s Religions, American Islamic College, and Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council hosted: A trolley tour through Chicago in acknowledgment and celebration of the convergence of so many sacred holidays during the month of April. The trolley tour stopped at five different sites and the experience culminated with iftar, the meal eaten by Muslims after sunset during the month of Ramadan. The title of this post is credited to a statement that one of Chicago Theological Seminary’s staff used in an introduction to the event. Indeed, the entire day felt like a “wondering process of spiritual inquiry” as we made our way through Chicago’s diverse southside neighborhoods. The first stop was Rockefeller Chapel, a Gothic Revival Chapel on Chicago Theological Seminary’s campus. We heard from three speakers: a Sikh who described Vaisakhi, the collective unification of the Sikh community; a Hindu who discussed Ram Navami, which celebrates the birth of Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of the deity Vishnu; and a Jain, who discussed the celebration of Vardhaman Mahavir, the birth of the last enlightened one. On our second stop we visited Ebenezer Baptist Church, a former Jewish synagogue and the birthplace of gospel music. At the church, we heard from the leadership about the Christian holiday, Easter which celebrates the cycle of life, death, and resurrection.
On our third stop we visited KAM Isaiah Israel Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Chicago. There, we learned about the Jewish holiday, Passover, where Jews look to the past to remember the Israelites’ freedom from slavery in ancient Egypt and expectantly look to the future.
On our fourth stop we visited Claret Center, an organization that incorporates psychotherapy, spiritual direction, craniosacral therapy, acupuncture, and workshops. We also had a conversation with two scholars and practitioners who identify as multiply religious: an ordained Buddhist and ordained Christian who identifies as Christo-Buddhist and an ordained Buddhist priest and Zen monk. Our fifth stop before returning to the seminary for iftar was a mosque, the Taqwa Center for Community Excellence Rehab Project associated with the African-American Muslim leader, theologian, philosopher, Muslim revivalist, and Islamic thinker, Warith Deen Mohammed. We learned about Muslim culture and the celebration of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. On our final stop, we learned more about Ramadan and participated in a prayer before iftar. We considered how fasting is both a metaphor for emptiness for God to inhabit, as well as a mechanism for calling us to live in an “altered and restored state where we are more connected to people”. The overall experience was very positive and served to facilitate new questions about the traditions, people and practices; considerations of interior movements, such as thoughts, imaginings, emotions, inclinations, desires, feelings, repulsions, and attractions; physical/body sensations that were felt during the event; and growth in appreciative knowledge for the dedicated and devoted seekers of the religious, spiritual, and ethical traditions. Experiences like the trolley tour and iftar remind us that building relationships across traditions enhances respect and understanding, promotes continued learning, improves our attitudes towards differences, highlights our commonalities, and diminishes fear. We extend our gratitude to Chicago Theological Seminary and additional collaborators and sponsors for hosting such a meaningful event. ~ Jeanette Banashak  The foundation of SGTI's sacred listening protocol we use with students, mentees, and colleagues is called Pure Presence. This interfaith and interspiritual approach to formal presence training is the most comprehensive way we know to both deepen and advance spiritual understanding and care in our homes, neighborhoods, workplaces and religious communities. One of the key questions we ask ourselves as a result of Pure Presence awareness and practices is this: 'Who are we to one another?' Today, we share an excerpt from the Pure Presence Workbook and Journal which offers an answer to this pivotal question. We can keep in mind as we intersect with others that we are spiritual beings. We are also very human. We are “divine-humans”, and, because we are, every person is unique and of value. Every person is a unique expression of the Divine (and this includes you). Each person has a sacred tale to tell and to engage with them in all their uniqueness is a gift.  We love supporting and contributing to the great work of Spiritual Directors International (SDI) and wanted to share briefly how in this month SGTI is present in SDI videos and publications. Jan Lundy is a member of its Coordinating Council and was highlighted in a video entitled An Invitation from the SDI Coordinating Council: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4DeEt5gzHQ
Jeanette Banashak wrote a piece entitled In Praise of Slow and it can be found in the February edition of Connections. (You need to be a member to access.) https://www.sdicompanions.org/content-restricted/?r=151626&wcm_redirect_to=page&wcm_redirect_id=151626 And we are proud to announce that one of our alumna, Allyssa Jomei, has been selected to be a part of the 2022 New Contemplatives community with SDI: https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-events/conferences/conference-2022/new-contemplatives/?mc_cid=81761ca414&mc_eid=40c3119a6a  What does it mean to offer “pure presence” to someone? According to James E. Miller, author of The Art of Being a Healing Presence, presence is "the condition of being consciously and compassionately in the present moment with another or with others, believing in and affirming their potential for wholeness, wherever they are in life." I cite Miller’s definition here because, in my view, it perfectly aligns with our understanding and practice of presence in the purest sense. His definition states that this type of presence is something we create within ourselves. It also makes very clear that whenever we intersect with anyone in this way we have the opportunity to affirm their essence—their divinity as well as their deep humanity. Our conversational efforts become the practice ground for viewing the individual in a wholesome way. This can be our highest hope as well as the intention that guides us throughout this training: to have open-hearted conversations that can lead to enhanced relationships and positive outcomes with whomever we meet. It is presence without agenda. It is presence that welcomes each individual who steps across our threshold (mental or physical) with wholeheartedness and compassion. This is not any easy thing to do today given our ethnic, religious and political differences. For our purposes here, we can think of presence as a calm, openhearted space of welcome and service. When we offer someone presence, we invite him or her into our circle of care for conversation and the sharing of life experiences. We hold presence and we offer presence for the benefit of the other. We are here to serve. “Pure Presence”, as presented in the SGTI curriculum, is a unique protocol for sacred listening that can enhance and deepen one’s ability to offer presence to clients and seekers of any tradition. It is uniquely designed for caring professionals to be used in a myriad of settings, ministry formats and private practice. Pure Presence allows an individual to listen deeply; to offer the deepest empathy and spiritual care to whomever they are with. ©2017 Janice L. Lundy Pure Presence: A Workbook and Journal  This post is in honor of one of SGTI's most luminous students, Bijayananda Singh, who departed this earth one month ago. Bijay was a graduate of our "Interfaith and Interspiritual Wisdom Training" program and was much loved by all who studied with him. He lived in India, a devoted son, husband and father. He will be dearly missed. Bijay had a heart of service and enormous love for young people. He was Secretary/Executive Director of the NFP, "Solidarity for Developing Communities" (www.sfdc-org.in/institutionalbased). He headed up a residential school for marginalized students, especially those considered to be "untouchable", instilling in them the skills and values to be "human harmonizers." "Human Harmonizers are expected to grow physically, mentally and spiritually in a balanced manner. As they grow holistically, they are expected to influence others by their thoughts and actions leading to ushering transformational changes within and outside their own communities." Bijay's heart of compassion lives on through his colleagues at SGTI. He penned many beautiful poems as part of his SGTI learnings and submitted them for assignments. With his family's permission, we share one of them here. His words convey the essence of Interspirituality which he believed was necessary for world peace, and the commonly held value of compassion. We hope you will be moved by it as we were. Bijay, your spirit of service, unconditional love and respect for others of all religious traditions, is something we can all aspire to. We are honored to have walked the earth with you. Thank you for being a way-shower for us. Peace be upon you. Shalom. Om Shanti, dear friend. Compassion Compassion is to be avatars as Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Moses, Muhammad, Nanak and the like Compassion is striving to find the way outs by the avatars for the sufferings of the humankind Compassion is avatars’ desire to pass their wisdom to their next generations Compassion is infinite manifestation of the Unmanifest Compassion is infinite names of the Nameless Compassion is infinite forms of the Formless Compassion is the attraction of man and woman Compassion is the potential on a seed to produce infinite seeds Compassion is a plant not germinating with ripen fruits with it Compassion is an untaught bird weaving nest for its kids Compassion is a baby fish able to swim instantly Compassion is a caterpillar taking time to become a butterfly Compassion is roots of trees on the sunshine and on the shed sharing food secretly Compassion is my mother’s ability to not eat after her children eat up everything Compassion is our school peon’s love that donated one of his kidney to his son Compassion is missionaries leaving their land for another country Compassion is trees breathing out oxygen Compassion is Mother Teresa’s desire to document her aridity of God’s love Compassion is father burping his baby putting on his shoulder Compassion is trees dropping their ripen fruits gently down on the ground Compassion is our country supported by other countries during this pandemic Compassion is Creator creating infinite emptiness to house infinite things Compassion is getting in touch with our own hearts and functioning from it Compassion is watching the tongue lest it slip a bad word Compassion is Nature’s food cycle Compassion is meeting of your eyes with the eyes of your dog Compassion is praying for know and unknown, asked or unasked Compassion is loving-kindness or kindness plus love Compassion is Dalai Lama’s pet name Compassion is mother’s milk ready when baby is on the way Compassion is birth pain Compassion is the worms forming on the dead body for it to decompose Compassion is silence understood without speaking a word Compassion is death in God’s time Compassion is wondering what is not compassion? Compassion is Sun’s desire to evaporate water to form cloud in the sky Compassion is cloud’s desire not to hold the rain up in the sky Compassion is willing to write a book on the compassion Compassion is jasmine’s wish not to hide its fragrance inside Compassion is Earth’s ability to nurture its infinite plants, on its womb, with sweet, bitter and sower milks Compassion is being compassionate to the compassionless Compassion is cooperation of an iron to be modeled as a tool Compassion is patience of a reed flute to be holed to produce a melody Compassion is empathy, sympathy and mercy, all put together Compassion is heart’s ability to feel the feelings of ‘others’ Compassion is intuiting, everyone and everything is One Compassion is not surplus of compassion, but deficiency of it Compassion is gratitude, sometimes, overflowing Compassion is innumerable births as Bodhisattva Compassion is common to all the faiths without which it is not a faith Bijayananda Singh Module 10 Buddha Purnima 2021   Guest post. Words and image by SGTI alumnus Christine Hiester “If your everyday practice is to open to all your emotions, to all the people you meet, to all the situations you encounter, without closing down, trusting that you can do that–– then that will take you as far as you can go. And then you will understand all the teachings that anyone has ever taught.” ~Pema Chödrön What if this practice of opening– this discomfort, this deep presence with exactly what is in each sacred moment (and they are all sacred) – is the only work? What if understanding “all the teachings that anyone has ever taught” can be summed up in the everyday encounters with our inner responses to the mysteries, struggles, frustrations, and quiet joys experienced in the midst of this very human life? What if trusting the moment-by-moment unfolding within us is the path that will also take us outward, to the edges of the cosmos, and the great insights of existence? Or maybe these questions are too lofty. Maybe they remove us from our lives and place us in an ideal that is all too easy to ponder rather than live out. Maybe with feet on the ground, in the messy reality of life, we instead ask these questions: Whom will we meet today? What interruptions will derail our plans? What conflicts will arise at work, or at home, that will push every button we have? What physical pain will distract us as we go about the tasks of our day? What if stubbing a toe, getting cut off on the highway, receiving a phone call with bad news, or being caught in a downpour which makes us late to an important meeting are each divine opportunities to open, open, open our hearts fully to the journey that will make us whole? What would it feel like to resist the closing, and instead open to everything– everything! – with soft heart and deep breath? How are you living into your holy “What ifs?” today? How can you invite others to do the same? Christine Hiester is an interspiritual spiritual companion, retreat facilitator, artist, and musician. She finds her home in spacious places where contemplative and creative practice meet deep connection in community. You can find her on her website www.shapingtheriver.com and on Instagram at @shapingtheriver
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About this blogDeepening the understanding, practice and importance of spiritual guidance-companionship across traditions. 
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