At Divine Handover

What kind of life makes a good oration? It’s the kind of life that reflects the fact that you are a child of God. That alone will stand out in this world.

Because, we can live without fear because of what God has done for us. God promises that He will take care of us, whatever our circumstances or what’s going on in the world around us. People today are scared. They’re scared of wars, the economy, the government…it seems the news is a constant fear-fest these days.

We know that we are safe and secure in God’s arms and that He will always take care of us, even in the hardest of times. Our lives should reflect our faith in that Truth. That kind of living is what makes you “holy” or “stand apart” from the world. The very fact that you can go out and live unafraid is a witness and a testimony to the world.

Prepare to Leave Your Comfort Zone

Safety doesn’t always equal comfort, though. Living in the world means we’re always going to see things and hear things that make us a little uncomfortable. And that’s OK. Sometimes God places us in situations where we’re uncomfortable just so we turn the light up a little bit brighter.

To do this, we don’t have to get all “religious”. All you need to do is let your light brighter. Loving, calm, happy, gracious behaviour will stand out. That will be a light in a dark place.

In these tough times, we need God more than ever. God needs us to be acting on His behalf. He needs us to go out and shine His light into the darkness of the world. Believe today that you have what it takes to not be afraid and to be a person that God can use to change people’s lives.

Worth mentioning here is that this state of mind lasted in me for several months. Though it was wonderful, it put me in an awkward situation in terms of action. My life was since far from being blameless; it needed a lot of reformation before I could be compatible to that spiritual level. My family members were apprehensive lest I should go mad. Perhaps, after all it was delusion. I intensely feel that I was altogether unworthy of such a flood of grace. Gradually the effect wore off, and I made no effort to retain it and I think that it was right. I was too deeply attached in the world to change the course. Nevertheless, I am quite sure and happy that I had felt the finger of God, who wanted to lead me on the right path. The sweet memory of this experience still helps me understand the unfathomable joy that saints used to relish each moment of their life.

I have had many such experiences that could be called mystical or supernatural. One of these experiences worth mentioning here is that of composing verses and hymns in praise of God everyday. Every morning I went up the Nandi Hills where I got the intuition; a spell of thoughts and words would descend rhythmically unto me that I would pen down immediately. I just held the pen in my hand to paper and the words spilled out effortlessly, seemingly without any effort on my part. Next day the poem or verse would be on the college display board. I seemed to do my best writing then.

One day while I prepared to write as usual, something was different about it. Instead of getting what I called ‘thought blocks’ which I would translate into words on paper, I could hear internally within my mind, not with my physical ears, the entire text being dictated to me.

“Wait a minute,” I thought, “I don’t get it.”

The voice slowly and carefully repeated what it said while I wrote it down. When I was finished, I felt crazy and had the impulse to show it to my classmates including my junior. Well, they felt amused and inspired to see it. I stayed out the entire day, confessed to my classmate Govinda how I felt about becoming a monk and finally decided to think for a while. It was dozy and painful, it actually facilitated a big change in me. I probably changed my mind to hold it.

All power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe it; do not think that you are weak. Do not believe that you are a crazy lunatic, as most of us do nowadays. You can do anything and everything, without anyone’s guidance. Stand up and express the divinity within you. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t searching for my deeper self nor had I the wish to become enlightened till my mom told me “You have the opportunity of a life time to study further.”

Curious as I am, whenever there are such opportunities I grab them with both hands! In fact I cannot explain the big change within me; my friends couldn’t believe it! I can only say that my soul was deeply touched by everyone and everything. All the vibes in me and out of me were connected to a deeper world resulting in an instant change within me. Venerable Sri Govinda Tirth Annaji was the warden at Sri Sathya Sai School. He was a spiritual man and his loving heart continues to be my inspiration even today I thought I can never forget the love and encouragement that he bestowed upon me. At that time, I felt like becoming a saint in future and for that I thought I should study Sanskrit. Overpowered with excitement I left for the Himalayas one fine morning, and covered almost 56 kilometers along the Bangalore highway by foot. But alas! The deputy warden found me and brought me back to school where a large crowd of students was waiting to see me.

Thoughts of the future now started tormenting me. My parents too were concerned about it; and they disturbed me very much. Having decided to become a saint, I did not go to school for several days. Worried with my unusual behaviour my mother asked me about my plans for the future. My father, who was very keen that I receive good education, was in tears. He observed that this school here was not to my interest and the English language too was new to me. The situation was a cause of great concern for him. He asked me, “If you don’t want to study then what will you do in future? Tell me.”

“Father, does God not give livelihood to the ones who are illiterate?” I replied.

“I don’t want to say any such thing that breaks your heart,” his voice quivered.

It was evident from his tearful eyes that he was greatly pained to see me resolute and unwilling to study. I was arrogantly disdainful of considering my parents’ wise counsel. Being their dearest son, I was the centre of their life and love and had never been so haughty before. My father then with utmost patience narrated to me the example of his Guru Sri Mastram Baba, a saint of the ‘Digambar’ sect who is a native of Ganjam district of Odisha and highly qualified with Double Masters degrees from Madras Presidency and a Doctorate. He used to give discourses that to be a successful person one should attend to his own family, and only then can one attend to the world. A man is not perfect without marriage. While quoting that instance, my father then fervently advised me that he would feel proud and be the happiest person in the world if I completed my higher studies and led a married life.

After days of persuasion, I decided to continue my studies. Though I resumed studies, I was actually not interested. My hands, eyes and ears worked like a robot, but my heart was not complying. My inquisitive eyes continuously sought an answer, “O Lord! What would be my future? Will I have to spend this entire life studying these things for materialistic gains? Give me an answer my Lord! I am not interested in all these things but only You.”

An incident that occurred at the time of the final examination is worth mentioning here. I had not filled in the forms for the examination. Astonishingly the Government extended the deadline by seven days and I filled in my application form for the examination only on the last day. My parents were happy that I filled up the application form for the exam. A miracle happened during the examination. Though I had not studied well, I went on asking for more and more additional answer sheets to write. My friends were surprised and complained to the Principal as to what I was writing with all these answer sheets. My Principal Sri Sreenivas called me and asked me to answer all the questions one by one—the ones I answered in the examination hall. I started reciting all the answers from memory. He was astonished to see that all my answers were correct. It was beyond my imagination that he wanted to know, I was not indulging in any sort of malpractice or writing something else; and it was all amazing when the results came. All the students including me had come out with flying colours securing 100% results, and that brought a lot of laurels and pride to the college.

So much love, so much happiness and so much gratitude… and so much fun! The energy at college was amazing. I let go of a lot of emotions and situations that were obviously holding me back. The processes were so incredibly powerful! The intensity of emotions I felt, the intensity of letting go and surrender… it is very difficult to describe. I do not remember the last time I had so much fun! I had the best time of my life there! I can tell without thinking that this is the best place that was ever given to me! My heart opened so much! I have surrendered so much! “Life is enthusiasm, Life is joy, and Life is love!” I felt such love, enthusiasm and joy there. We have all celebrated life, we were all like one! It was just magical when our dearest Govindteerth Annaji opened our hearts, helped us all to raise our energy and to open, to celebrate, to love, to enjoy…! He is such an amazing leader, teacher and a father figure; such love and light…! I wish, I could spend all my time with him! He gave us so much, taught us in abundance, I am so grateful to him as well as to all other teachers, people who were there, and to our dearest Guruji! Whenever I think of him, his picture surfaces in my heart, I feel such gratitude and love that my heart feels warm. Wonderful…!

My studies were back on track. I graduated in Commerce from Sambalpur University. After that I never stopped or looked back. Now I have attained a number of such highly acclaimed degrees. I got a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Utkal University and Masters Degree in Journalism from California State University, San Francisco. I successfully completed a Post Graduate Diploma course in Management from IIBM Patna and MBA Finance from JRN University, Rajasthan.

I also obtained a Post graduate Diploma in Labour Welfare from Indian Labour Institute, Patna, and Master of Philosophy in Entrepreneurship Management from Global Open University of Nagaland. I got the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Russia besides completing many other certificate and advanced diploma programmes in Law, Human Rights, Community Services and Intellectual Property Rights et cetera. One may wonder that forty years of my life would have been spent to achieve so many academic achievements and distinctions. I must clarify here that many of these study curricula were taken up simultaneously by dividing my time suitably so that around the age of 35, I could achieve all these distinctions.

As far as my flashback portrays, I did not have confidence in my abilities and was astonished whenever I won any prize or scholarship. However, I guarded my character zealously. The least little blemish drew tears from my eyes. Whenever I got a scolding, deservedly or otherwise it was unbearable for me. I remember once having incurred corporal punishment. I did not so much mind the punishment, as the fact that it was considered to be my just dessert. I never took part in any exercise, cricket or football till they made it compulsory. My shyness was one of the reasons for this indifference, which I now see was wrong. I then had the false notion that games had nothing to do with education. Today I know that physical training should have as much place in the curriculum as mental training.

I may mention however, that I was unaffected by abstaining from exercise. That was because I had read in books about the benefits of long walks in the open air; and having liked the advice, I had formed a habit of taking long walks which remains with me even today. These walks gave me a hardy constitution. Not many can match my drive and dedication. The article ‘My Love of Competition’ has helped me use my God-given talents in a positive way. Nevertheless, talented teammates and classmates, dedicated coaches and teachers have helped me. I rise before you today to bring my colleagues’ attention to an exciting event.

After the college days everything fell into place in synchrony. Everything took place elegantly, like it should have, happening in its best way. When I think of something that might worry me, I just surrender it to God and let go; and after that the situation takes such a twist that it is hard to believe! Wow, I really experience the power of surrender, trust and letting it go. It is so wonderful! How loving, happy and uplifting are we all! I feel like our lives have undergone reorganization like something new, big and amazing has started…!

I want everyone to feel like we do, feel good and keep going…! I always feel some invisible and inherent linkage between all that I have attained today and those obscure days of the past. I feel that many things in my life today are somehow connected to some or other time of events in the past. Things I like, things I dislike, things I am not able to do, the way I am… There has to be a reason for all this, but what is it? I used to question myself.

Well, the answer was surely the eternity process. A part of the experience is right here.

In one of the past lives I was a disciple of a guru who used to teach us kids under a tree, just like the gurukuls we had in ancient times. His message was to ‘Love everyone around you’. Then many years later I became a teacher, and children used to come to me for knowledge. I had a special bond with those kids. There was one particular child I was very close to…the naughtiest one. My Guru while leaving had told me, ‘I am always with you…you don’t have to worry’.

One beautiful thing I realized is that we have existed in this universe since ages and ages. This life is like a sailing schooner, another jaunt to surpass and move on! The whole perspective towards life has changed since I know that I exist since and till eternity! Let’s now talk about the spiritual side of my life. There is always something in our life for which we can never find an answer. Experiencing the Love and Grace of Swami, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I have discovered many such questions for which nobody can ever provide a satisfactory answer. Some of these can of course be summarized as under:

All are equal in the eyes of God; why then do some people seem ‘blessed’ while others seem ‘less-blessed’?

At what point in time does the Lord enter one’s life?

Why does Swami do the things that He does?

The above questions are not an attempt to delve. For now, it is best to leave these questions unanswered. However, one would have to admit, when Swami does enter one’s life or confers an experience, you just could not miss it. Swami comes into your life with all the Love, Grandeur, Majesty, Grace and Omnipresence which leaves you completely flabbergasted. I remember my father telling me once, “People get possessed by Ghosts. It is our good fortune that God possesses us. Our lives are sanctified, for He will never leave us. If a mere ‘ghost’ has so much power of possession, imagine how powerfully the Lord will be able to do the same!”

Now, while talking of the Holy Guru, I feel deeply the urge to relive some interesting episodes through which Swami entered and became the centre of my life and convinced me of His divinity. I remember very clearly three such distinct episodes from my childhood; The background to which, as I have already mentioned in ‘My First Memorable Interaction With Sathya Sai As His Student’, is that Swami had got me as a free-devotee i.e. to say, when my father told me Swami was God, I had simply accepted it sans any prejudice.

God has done beautiful things in my life. I could not think of a better memory to go with this story than the personal version of recollections made out of this, from the diary unchained, sadness and happiness at the same time, bringing so many other memories on its own. The great lesson to learn is that I am not the standard by which the whole universe is to be judged; each man is to be judged by his own idea, each race by its own standard and ideal, each custom of each country by its own reasoning and conditions.

I could never disregard my teacher’s affection. Today I cannot but think with gratitude of Ven. Govindtirtha Annaji and Aithal Annaji, my favourite teachers; for had I not acquired the little Sanskrit that I learnt from them, I would have found it very difficult to take any interest in our sacred books. In fact, I deeply regret that I was not able to acquire a more thorough knowledge of the language, because I have since realized that every Hindu boy and girl should possess sound Sanskrit learning.

It is amazing how we grow from careless kids to responsible teens. What happens in the course that makes us responsible now? We sow the seeds in the beginning that grows and becomes a huge tree. As I sit here, silently thinking about my growth, enduring the changes, I wonder over some questions that do not have answers; but it is because of such unanswerable situations that life has become a rollercoaster ride. Spirit experiences and expresses values. Values are feelings and emotions—that which cannot be captured totally by words or be understood by the intellect. The goal of the spiritual path is to understand the spiritual dimension of life and live fully all the values that the spirit represents. What are those values? Peace, love, joy, beauty, unlimited knowledge and the capacity to understand both mind and matter.

As a kid, I used to read integral books on great personalities. In one particular book, I read a story about Swamy Vivekananda. From then on, that book has become an integral part of my life. It described how Swamijee raised questions about God. It made me wonder. How could Swamijee attain sainthood so easily in his quest for God? His ideas on education reverberate the inner conscience within me and hence upheld and inspired me in carrying out revolutionary activities in education across India. He always emphasized on the power of mind with which you can achieve anything in your life. One of the greatest lessons I learnt from his life is to pay as much attention to the means of work as to its end; he said “Arise, awake and do not stop until the goal is reached”.

Life is a puzzle to most people, and it is hard to make sense of the enormous difference in the apparent quality of life that people around the world experience. For some people, the hardship and suffering endured by millions around the world is a sign that there is no Divine source of love in the world, but others see the world differently. When I used to hold my father’s hand and go for a walk, I used to observe our surroundings. It always made me curious to know the things that books had taught me. I used to ask innumerable questions to my father but he never grew tired of answering them.

One night, when I was in deep sleep, I had a dream. I was walking miles on the endless road, totally isolated but flanked with beautiful trees on the either side. Fascinated by the greenery, I marched towards it only to end up deeper and deeper into the greenery. I happened to stop upon seeing something. It was a massive, wonderful building. I fell in love with that amazing work of art. Yeah, it was indeed a masterpiece of creativity with every nook and corner touched artistically and lovingly. I do not know why I felt that it was done lovingly. Maybe because, things turn out to be beautiful only when we put our love into it, just like the delicacies prepared by mom which taste more delicious with her love. I explored the house only to fall more in love with it. A slanting roof matched with the greenery around. The large central open courtyard brought to my mind the activities that might have taken place there, which felt lively though now it was completely deserted. The chandeliers and the beautiful interiors made me nostalgic. It is wonderful how such things add life to the spaces which otherwise would have become lifeless structures. Such liveliness and happening converts the pillars into a large building. They say ‘The home is where the heart is’, but now I began to feel it. This is where my heart belongs. This is what I am destined to do.

When I woke up from the dream, I was clear about everything. I realized where those miles of walk intended me to lead. I realized what message my dream wanted to convey to me. Years later, when finally my turn of choosing my destination came, I simply closed my eyes, held that book in my hands, pressed it against my chest and relived the dream. When I opened my eyes, I was sure about what to do. I decided to choose the road less travelled. Yes, I find a dual role on this earth: a successful educational administrator and a spiritual master as my profession because this is what I am destined to do. I wanted to do the same thing that the great saints like Sathya Sai Baba did, i.e., to take pain in building a beautiful house, a ‘Temple of Learning’ and let others stay in it. This is my dream that has come true and the happiness that I derive now from this profession is indescribable.

An outstanding impression that my mother has left on me is that of saintliness. She is deeply religious. During this part of my childhood, one of my greatest strengths was my mother, who possesses a kind of discipline, I have often regretted not having, nor even witnessing, but merely reading about. I never remember being so deeply engrossed in any other book. I was rather recalcitrant to my father’s criticism of the bad reasoning that possessed me during my early childhood. It gave much pride to my identity; and I thank my mother each day for giving that to me… my most respected and beautiful Queen…‘MY MOTHER.’ Care is the biggest form of Love; and this is one of a few most important lessons of life that I learnt. I also learnt that sense of responsibility comes from the heart, not with age. I strived hard to become more humble and speak with more empathy.

One of my friends, Mr Shubhendu Parida, who was highly spiritual asked me once what I meant by ‘a relationship with
God.’ On the one hand, the answer seemed to be self-evident; but on the other, I realized that each of us has so many different kinds of relationships in our lives, some joyful, some casual, some dangerous, some fulfilling, some disheartening and
some painful. With God my sense of relationship is often affected by my moods and struggles.

I told him, “Stop asking stupid questions and playing with God. You often hear people say that if at all there is a God, why then there is war, famine and all these disasters? Consider this question meticulously and you start to realize that it is a selfcentred question. We take God as a genie to clean up the mess that we create and more than just alleviating the situation, granting us absolution from the guilt of not doing anything about it. Bad things will happen, and capable people with the ability to help should come forward at that time. Just sitting around and asking questions, does not make any sense.” Man has been trying to be like God, since the day when he could realize Him to be superior to him. Many declared themselves gods and that is when we have gotten it all wrong. Beyond God’s power, there is the character of God. We all want to wield unlimited power without practising benevolence, mercy, love and kindness. All we want is the power to shape our world in our own vision and image. We want control, not character. We got all mixed up with what being God is because if God was like any one of us, none of us would be surfing the Internet. We would instead be prostrate and giving continuous worship.

So sit and think, if you were God would you like that the little people you created are questioning you? God has three important qualities: omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience. If God was all knowing, what right does a being of finite capacity hold to ask an infinite and Supreme Being as to what He is doing? I have gone through many dark days during my life in my relationship with God; times when I felt that God had abandoned me or was unfair to me, or simply didn’t care. At other times, I was afraid that God was angry with me for my sins or just meting out punishment unto me. Sometimes, I felt so empty, and I desperate that life seemed meaningless and unbearable. Nearly everyone that I know can talk about such times when they could not say they had a good, personal relationship with God. Nevertheless, in my relationship with God, I have also known a tremendous sense of love, of comfort, of peace, of joy, of strength and of power. So, today, when I talk about my relationship with God, I think of the good experiences, without forgetting the depth of the pain and ‘solitude’ that I felt at times and still feel on many occasions. A good relationship with God is worth talking about and promoting. For, my friend, I simply said that a relationship with God is our sense of connection to God; and a personal relationship goes still farther. Personally relating to God goes beyond believing that God exists or being vaguely aware of His presence. It is like being connected to God in a way that seems personal to us; we can talk to Him, we believe He hears us, we sense He is responding to us in one way or other. A good personal relationship with God involves even more. Not only do I feel connected and believe God is involved in my life, but I also cherish the relationship. I believe God loves me personally. God knows my name and cherishes me too. This personal relationship with God is not as hard to find as we might think, and there is no mysterious formula for getting it.

In spite of all the dark moments in my life, I’ve discovered a deep, personal connection to God that has given me so much life, love and hope, all the while knowing that I have only had a small taste of all that God has in mind for those who seek a personal relationship with Him. A few months ago, a friend asked me, “Who are you?” What a question! Then, from somewhere deep within me a simple answer suddenly emerged. “I am the loved one”. I told him. Somehow, that says it all for me. Having a good, personal relationship with God has helped me to know who I am and to rest in being known and being loved by the One who matters most.

Devout track

Do you get along well with people?

It’s an important question because, let’s face it, people are everywhere. People are in your family…on your job…in your neighbourhood… You can’t get away from them. And the people in your life are not always the way you would like them to be.

Your ability to get along with people greatly impacts the quality of your life. That’s why it’s important to know how to relate to all kinds of people—not just people who are like you.

Personally, I have had to learn how to work with all kinds of people because I literally have hundreds of people working for me. When you are in that situation, you learn that you have to talk to some differently than others. You have to understand them in different ways. You can’t expect the exact same thing out of every single person.

I’ve also learned that people respond to correction in different ways. Some need a little more attention than others. Some need you to pat them on the back at least twice a month or else they feel rejected, while others are fine if you don’t pay any attention to them.

Here’s a common reason why our relationships get messed up: We all have a tendency to try to give other people what we need, instead of giving them what they need.

One of the biggest mistakes we make in relationships is we don’t study people to find out their individual needs. If you will closely observe people, they’ll let you know what “makes them tick”.

Many people are stuck in self-centred mindsets. For example, some opinionated people don’t understand that everybody doesn’t want their opinion. Maybe someone who thinks they’re always right doesn’t “get it” that somebody else would like to be right once in a while. May be somebody who is a big talker doesn’t understand that other people would like to talk occasionally. To have better relationships, start thinking more about others and noticing their needs.

What is really needed today? Our world is crying out for better relationships in all spheres of life. What is really needed though? Do our existing relationships lack knowledge, wisdom, sophistication, skills, diplomacy, humility, courage and faith? There’s obviously not one answer that fits every relationship and every situation. The list of how any relationship could grow may be endless, because there is always room for more personal and professional growth for any of us. But something fundamental needs to change, that applies to every person for the sake of the religious institutions, our society, and our world. It’s not as if it is totally absent by any means, but more of it is needed as a top priority for a person going forward.

What’s needed is at its core spiritual—spiritual renewal, spiritual vitality, spiritual growth and spiritual leadership. I’m talking about truly understanding who we are, why we are alive in this world at all, what it means to be a leader and how we can best fulfill our purpose in life.

I define spiritual leadership as knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to use God’s methods to get them there in reliance on God’s power. The effect of spiritual leadership in establishing this sense of leader and follower spiritual survival is to create value congruence across the strategic, empowered team, and individual levels to, ultimately, foster higher levels of organizational commitment, productivity and employee well-being.

The more leaders see themselves as precious children of God, crafted to experience the love of God deeply and personally and to live out their calling in love, the more leaders will be able to function powerfully and effectively from a deeply spiritual base. The basic image is one of a deep well, filled with clean, refreshing water that flows freely to all those who tap into its source. The more leaders become deep spiritual wells, the more they will be capable of meeting the incredible challenges in today’s world and of leading others to greater depth, wholeness and fruitfulness. When I say ‘experience the love of God personally and deeply,’ I mean having a sense of being embraced by God in lifechanging and loving ways. For some, the experience may come as a gentle calling of their name; for others, there will be an overwhelming conviction that they must bend their knee to their Creator. In the dynamic relationship that is formed, there is acceptance, forgiveness, submission and cooperation. There is release, joy, lightness of being and love. There is transformation. There is life.

When I say ‘live out their calling in love,’ I mean leaders will see all that they do as an opportunity to bring God’s love to bear on their sphere of influence. There will be justice, compassion, mercy and intelligent systems that serve the people well. There will be courage, strength and a fierce opposition to any force that seeks to undermine the good of the people. Leaders will value life, preserve life and promote the fullest expression of life.

What we need then are leaders who see themselves first and foremost as spiritual leaders. They value their relationship with God above all else, and then see their vocation as an outgrowth of their spiritual life. Moreover, they both consciously an subconsciously draw on God as the wellspring for their entire life.

Leaders today need many skills, abilities and resources to lead effectively. But the most important ingredient for those called to lead is spiritual depth and vitality, with an ability to let the Holy Spirit work through them in their leadership role.

There are six reasons why spiritual leaders are the most successful in life:

• They know they can avoid the obnoxious noise around them.
• They incorporate intentional habits to slow down.
• There is no eagerness to showcase their accomplishment; in fact there is no need.
• They care for the well-being of the people around them, and do not interfere personal eccentric means and profits to them.
• They quantify success with the internal features more than the external one.
• They understand the truth of life that there is a vast ocean beyond the work/occupation in life.

One of the most beautiful ways to understand the essence of Spiritual Track is that you enter into a dialogue with the intent of letting your spirit reveal to you the story your are living that is your life. No one is born knowing who they are or what they are meant to do in every moment of their lives. What we are meant to do is search. We must each find our way and along the way, discover who we are, what we believe, what we value, what holds meaning for us and what does not, how to love and who to love. We are our own mystery.

Every single experience in life, indeed every moment, is filled with some way to learn yet one more thing about ourselves, to see who we are and how we act or react to the world around us just a bit more clearly. But one of the richest ways we truly come to understand who we are and all that we are – from the darkness of our struggles to the fullness of our gifts – is through sharing our inner self with another person whose personal calling in life is to serve in the trusted position of a Spiritual Director. A Spiritual Director knows what it means to be a Sacred Witness to another person’s life story and to ask the right questions that inspire self-reflection. And a Spiritual Director knows how to assist you in illuminating the dark night that visit everyone’s life somewhere along the line.

I have been with my Spiritual Director every week for two decades. It is my sacred time, my holy time. I rely upon this time for my own inner work, my own time of soul-searching. I share this with you because in this workshop I will introduce the refined art of Spiritual Track to you. It is my intention to create an atmosphere of trust and intimacy in which you can participate in a quality of sharing and spiritual exploration that often results in redirecting how you understand the journey of your life. Perhaps you will come to realize that your challenges are not so overwhelming or that you have more inner resources than you ever realized. Or you may find the beginnings of a thread to a quality of faith and prayer you have been seeking for years.