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SPIRITUAL
DIRECTORS &
COMPANIONS
JULY 2022 VOLUME 16 ISSUE 3
CONTEMPLATION AND
SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP
by Rev. SeiFu Anil Singh-Molares
Whether it’s prayer, meditation, dancing, we start to see the shore, and our views begin
singing or another form, contemplation is to extend from yards and meters to miles and
central to our calling as spiritual directors kilometers. At the same time, people and
and companions. Contemplative immersion things that were readily apparent on the shore
soaks us in the beyond, saturating us with begin to fade into specks, and then disappear
the infinite, the very process we try to invite altogether. In short, our perspective shifts
and manifest in our practice as spiritual dramatically, expanding and contracting at the
companions. And although it is ineffable and same time. We see more of the larger picture,
beyond description in its essence, it certainly and less particulars, allowing us insights as
lends itself to the poetry of language, which we continue both outward and inward swims
provides tantalizing invitations for us, and the simultaneously.
people we companion. Of course, mystics have
also demonstrated it in various other ways over But the dramatically enhanced perspective
thousands of years. doesn’t end there, because as we turn to the
other side, most often what we will soak
Any of us coming out of deep contemplative in is the blue sky and the blue sea or ocean,
retreats have had cause to reflect on this in vast, and seemingly infinite. And we will feel
(and at) some depth. like solitary, miniscule specks in the face of
eternity.
Contemplative practice is like going for a
swim in many respects. As we splash through Just as we are!
the shallow end of the beach, we jump in
and immerse ourselves, before proceeding The relevance of these deep contemplative
to swim out a bit. What characterizes us incursions (and excursions at the same time)
spiritual companions is that we tend to swim to our practice as spiritual companions is
farther and farther out. And as we do, when significant.
we look back at the shore, things that weren’t
immediately apparent start to come into Like the deep water swimmers that we are,
view: houses, trees, mountain ranges, and the we gain perspective on our lives, and their
like. Instead of seeing just the beach itself, comparative importance (or perhaps better
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