The Center for Inter-Spiritual Dialogue

“Leadership exists when people are no longer victims of circumstances but participate in creating new circumstances. Leadership is about creating a domain in which human beings continually

deepen their understanding of reality and become more capable of participating in the unfolding of the world. Ultimately, leadership is about creating new realities. — Peter Senge”.

Objective: The “Founder and Director of the Center for Inter-Spiritual Dialogue” considers spirituality

to be an integral component of effective education, leadership, and both organization and individual transformation. The “Founder and Director” coordinates an overarching framework, one that “organizes our whole approach to being. The Director takes ownership over how “the center” creates the relationship we have with people, reality and our lives, what and how you know, what kind of reality we experience, how we can ‘be’ in the world: this includes activities for interfaith understanding, dialogue, community service, fellowship, spiritual formation, life skills mastery, and reflection on a wide range of current ethical issues.

Summary:

The “Founder and Director” of the Center for Inter-Spiritual Dialogue is someone who has a spiritual view of life (including our human nature, work, and the purpose behind one’s calling or lifework), and makes a conscious decision to act, connect, nourish, practice, and lead according to this vision in his or her role, to the best of his or her abilities.

According to Boone, “Spirituality” is a broad term with no generally agreed upon

definition. A few examples are provided below. Cacioppe (2000) conceptualizes spirituality as the discovery of a meaning, a value, or a purpose for one's life and work. Ellison (1983) considers spirituality as a part of humanity's on-going search for meaning and purpose embodied in a super-rational being or a force greater than the self. Mitroff and Denton (1999) see spirituality as one's effort to live an integrated, rather than compartmentalized, existence. Dylan (2002) writes that spirituality involves identifying a moral purpose for our lives that will connect behavior to something that is greater than we are. Houston and Sokolow (2006) note that spirituality requires a person to make a concerted effort to go outside of the self to locate that part of the human being that is more than material and that once found provides a connection to the infinite. Mayes (2001a, p. 6) defines spirituality as "the pursuit of a trans-personal and trans-temporal reality that serves as the ontological ground for an ethic of compassion and service.” Finally, Beazley (1997, p. 13) writes that it is what lies beyond and is independent of the material universe. The term “spirituality” describes a relationship with the transcendent and non-material and a commitment to an idea or cause that is greater than the self.

The Founder and Director of the Center for Inter-Spiritual Dialogue strives to elevate the value of “inner work” by translating a spiritual view of life into instruments (processes, practices, methods, activities, programs, etc.) and behaviors that honor this vision, and will contribute to the learning and development of the board member, the professional staff, the mentee—or student—or volunteer beyond the bond of religious institutions.

The Quaker Schools of George Fox contribute a unique way of creating “Relationship with Spirit, the Value of Silence and Reflection, The Power of Listening and the Examined Life. These ways of educating transform the relationship individuals have with themselves and their spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental life.

These activities constitute “inner work” and are as real and as important as any outer

project or task-activities like journaling, reflective reading, spiritual friendship, and various forms

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of meditation (i.e., concentration, insight, loving-kindness or mindfulness). According to Jay A. Conger, “We must come to understand that if we skimp on our inner work, our outer work will be diminished as well.”

• Many people equate their true self with their Spiritual self or Spiritual nature. How

people describe their Spiritual nature differs from person to person, culture to culture, and will probably be influenced by an individual’s religious beliefs. Some people may describe their Spiritual nature as the divinely inspired life force that not only flows through each of us but ultimately defines us. Others may describe it as that which transcends ordinary human experience and connects all living beings.

• In using the theoretical foundation of the 3-S program (Avants, S. K., and Margolin, A., 2003), we view Spirituality as a precious, but often untapped, resource for coping with the problems of daily life. In the absence of a well-constructed Spiritual self-schema, our habitual self-schemas can obstruct our access to this resource. The goal of the 3-S program is therefore to construct a personal Spiritual path – a Spiritual self-schema – that will rapidly and efficiently provide access to our true Spiritual nature throughout daily life. Creating and maintaining this self-schema takes effort and practice. Vigilance is also required in order to prevent habitually activated self-schemas from intruding and transporting us away from our true nature. Care will also need to be taken not to confuse the self-schema that we will construct, as an expedient means of access, with our true Spiritual nature. As with any self-schema, it is simply a means to an end – a process – one that utilizes both contemporary cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques and religious practices that have been in use for over 2,500 years.

• The emphasis is on helping individuals to understand and connect their own personal mission with that of the organization so that the doing takes place on the combined spirit and energy of the integration of the private and the public. Dr. Robert Lynn, former vice president of religion for the Lilly Endowment and the originator of “depth education” (“depth approach”) describes the approach as a “process [that] evokes a depth of spirit not only within the organization but also in the professional[s] …who use this process.”

• “Leadership that acknowledges and integrates the spiritual does not flee from the deep divide between the private and public. The capacity to move into the void is directly related to the leader’s capacity to deal with their internal polarities. It is in the integration of the inner and outer worlds that true spirituality can be distinguished from false. But this integration is greatly influenced by an internal struggle in the psyche for balance. From this struggle self-knowledge is attained. The process is comparable to a desert experience – it is a place of encounter, deafening in its silence, terrifying in its solitude, frightening and joyous in its discoveries.”

• “As Robert A. Johnson explains, “it is useful to think of the personality as a teeter totter or seesaw. Our acculturation consists of sorting out our God-given characteristics and putting the acceptable ones on the right side of the seesaw and the ones that do not conform on the left.”

Psychologists refer to the underlying structure of our habitual patterns of thinking, feeling,

and behaving that uniquely characterizes each of us as individuals, as self-schemas used to primarily to filter incoming information, they differentiate and generate judgments about sensations (e.g., as self-relevant – desirable / pleasurable, undesirable / aversive, or neutral), and they guide action, at the most primitive level, in pursuit of sensations that are desirable and avoidance of those that are aversive. Thus, through this self-schematic process, we create “the world” of our personal experience believing that this is “Me” this is my “Self” this is how “I” respond predictably and consistently to sensory contact with an otherwise unpredictable, impermanent external world.

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It seems that once accessed, a habitual self-schema, just like a high-speed highway, can be extremely difficult to exit. If we were able to stop and examine it carefully, we may find that it is actually not taking us anywhere that is personally meaningful.

Even if you have found a Spiritual path that is capable of providing meaning and relief

from suffering, chances are that you are finding it difficult to travel this path in the normal course of a day in which it has to compete with the high-speed highway of your habitual self-schemas. Essential to Spiritual Development are the following key processes:

In the process of spiritual coaching the “Founder and Director” is “intentional in creating – a “holding environment” for the life and activities of the group or organization. This environment is a psychological space where focused engagement with a universal human capacity for empathy and love is nurtured, the objective being to promote compassion through engagement and connection with others.

Like all methods of practice, spiritual methods are rooted in a set of values. Since, spiritual coaching is potentially the most powerful of all practice methods, the “Founder and Director” must be focused on the Highest Good, the benefits of loving-kindness, compassion or altruism, reducing the possibility of causing harm to self or others, and how together we can cultivate our highest potential.

The Spiritual Self-Schema (3-S) program is designed to help clients, professionals, mentees or volunteers

• To discover their own Spiritual path that leads to compassion for self and others and to relief from suffering;

• To make their unique Spiritual path increasingly accessible in their daily lives; • To use their Spiritual path to cope with adversity and to change behaviors that cause

harm to self and others. • To recognize the value of social, emotional, behavioral and spiritual learning in

inspiring wisdom of the heart, the authority of deep knowing, and in creating a positive future for all beings.

The three phase 3-S program … The goal of Phase 1 is as follows:

To become aware of the readily accessed, high-speed path (or highway) one typically takes (the habitual self-schema) that defines how one experiences and expresses one’s “Self” in the normal course of life, and to determine the compatibility of its automated pattern of thought, feeling, and behavior with the attainment of one’s personal Spiritual ideals.

The goal of Phase 2 is as follows:

To construct (or strengthen) one’s unique Spiritual path and to transform it into one that is easily accessed, well maintained, and conveniently used.

The goal of Phase 3 is as follows:

To transform one’s Spiritual self-schema into one’s predominant or “habitual” self-schema, such that any previously traveled paths that led to suffering now fall into a state of disrepair from lack of use, and one’s Spiritual path becomes wider, stronger, and available for use in every aspect of daily life, including coping with adversity and changing behaviors that cause harm to self or others.

Responsibilities: To accomplish the above goals the “Founder and Director” must be able to effectively integrate consciousness-based interventions and methods in spiritual transformation with

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meditative practices common to a number of the major religious traditions into a non-sectarian, self-help program suitable for all that prevents them from experiencing and expressing their Spiritual nature, and by developing and rehearsing new cognitive scripts and behavioral action sequences with which individuals can capably construct a Spiritual self-schema (a personal Spiritual Path) that will provide ready access to the experience and expression of their Spirituality throughout daily life. This consists of the following actions;

• Plan and coordinate an inter-spiritual dialogue program. This includes the weekly activities and the special events/services.

• Provide and plan opportunities for spiritual growth and fellowship. This includes special programs with guest speakers, weekend retreats, and programs that invite a lecturer, artist, writer, or performer to visit to explore the relationship between spirituality and life in the modern world.

• Provide opportunities for community service. This includes working with local, regional and national organizations along with local educational institutions and other public, private and non-profit organizations. The program will sponsor participation in community based, local, national and international learning trips or interfaith missions.

• Provide spiritual direction and personal coaching to mentees, mentors, staff and volunteers. The Founder and Director must be available and accessible for both formal and informal life coaching and spiritual direction for persons of all faiths.

• Direct and oversee the work of the Spiritual Coaching and Leadership Council. The Spiritual Coaching and Leadership Council is a group of mentors that work with the Associate Director of Spiritual Care, Purpose, and Life Satisfaction in planning, coordinating and implementing many activities within the Center for Inter-Spiritual Dialogue Program. The “Founder and Director” will work closely with other groups, to provide spiritual dialogue programs for those of other faith traditions and to promote deep and enduring interfaith understanding.

• Build and strengthen relationships with local churches, synagogues, mosques and other faith-based organizations. The “Founder and Director” works with local religious groups in order to involve them in the life of high school, college, military, nursing and seminary students and athletes of faith-based communities.

• Teach as a member of the Religious Studies faculty at a local community college, adult continuing education or community center. The “Founder and Director” will teach one course a semester, primarily in the Religious Studies program. The “Founder and Director” may also teach a First Year Seminar or courses within other departments.

• Advise students and participant in faculty governance. The “Founder and Director” will advise new students and Religious Studies Majors and Minors and will serve on appointed committees.

• Administer the Center for Inter-Spiritual Dialogue budget.

Behavioral Requirement(s): • Manage oneself and one's relationships effectively. • Embodies a certain ethical/moral personality. • Respect the truths of traditions and communities other than one’s own.

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• Capable of passing on wisdom, lessons learned, and general knowledge to others. • Reflect strong emotional intelligence (e.g. self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation,

empathy and social skill), analytical reasoning and the ability to work with others effectively leading change.

• Let go of the need to defend your opinions and always be right. • Welcome a diversity of opinions and facilitate openness for dialogue. • Acknowledge the personal rights and responsibilities of others. • Express empathy, acceptance and understanding for others. • Be transparent. This is what the philosopher Franklin Merrill-Wolff calls “Knowledge

through Identity”. • Promote the flourishing of life in all its magnificent forms with Truth and Love. • Lead people to experience more meaning and purpose in their lives, as they become

more loving, kind, compassionate and service oriented agents for positive change in their work, communities and beyond.

Training Requirement(s):

• Training in “The Deep Change Spiritual Intelligence (SQ21) Assessment” (www.deepchange.com), which measures twenty–one skills that combine to create the ability to be wise and compassionate in our behaviors, while maintaining inner and outer peace under great stress. These skills are broken into four quadrants:

• Higher Self / Ego self Awareness • Universal Awareness • Higher Self / Ego self Mastery • Spiritual Presence / Social Mastery

• Training in “The Spiritual Self Schema (3-S) Development Program” developed by faculty at Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, in NIDA-funded behavioral therapies development projects (www.3-S.us)

• Training in the “Foundations of Positive Psychology,” the scientific study of positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions founded on the belief that people want to live meaningful and fulfilling lives (Rooted in the work of Dr. Martin Seligman, world-renowned founder of positive psychology and Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania).

• Training in clear and deep listening to communicate to others that they are being; • heard, • understood, and • accepted

• Training in mindful awareness practices or “MAPs” as they call them at the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA (www.marc.ucla.edu), which can be found in a wide variety of human activities (including eating, sitting, walking meditations, and how to work with difficult thoughts and emotions). These practices develop greater mind-body awareness and reduce stress. You will also learn how to incorporate right-mindedness and focused attention into your daily life;

• Training in the five main skills of emotional intelligence (Richards, Ellis, and Neil): • Self-awareness of one’s own emotions • Managing feelings so they are appropriate • Motivating oneself in the service of a goal • Having empathy and understanding for emotion in others • Being able to interrelate well and work with others

• Training in “Creating Enlightened Organizations: A Practical Guide to Unleashing Full Human Potential in the Workplace” through the Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace – Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas;

• Training in the application of the “Spirit of Project Management” through the Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace – Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas;

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• Training in the Relations Theory (RT) of Very (1992) and Oosthuizen and Jacobs (1982) which takes as its point of departure the idea of people, spiritual beings, existing in their personal experiential worlds surrounded by other people and things (Steyn, 2006);

• Training in commitment, integrity, self-sacrifice, spiritual growth and knowing; and • Training in “Continuity and Change” in the “Life Story” along with use of the “Life Story

Exercise” and “Life Story Interview developed by Dan P. McAdams at The Foley Center for the Study of Lives, Northwestern University (2008).

Experience:

Must be capable of taking inventory of one’s own emotional, behavioral and social development, past relationships (both good and bad), lessons learned through significant experiences, spiritual gifts and personal passions and invest in the world for oneself and by seeking to have maximum positive impact with one's life through active intention, attention, awareness, intuition, contemplative wisdom, inner knowing and ongoing involvement in the lives of others.

Can provide recent examples of individual skills and competencies in the areas of self-

awareness (e.g., emotional awareness, and self-confidence), self-regulation (e.g., self-control, trustworthiness, adapatability), and self-motivation (e.g., commitment, initiative, optimisim).

Must possess an attitude of hospitality, inclusion, trust and a willingness to collaborate with colleagues and scholars from other disciplines as diverse as education, medicine, neuroscience, nursing, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, business, religious studies, sociology theory, and biology.

Education: Ideally, is a graduate student working towards the completion of an advanced degree in

education, organizational leadership, philosophy, psychology, religion, or sociology that bridges individual experience, the wisdom of the world’s spiritual traditions, and the rigor and discernment of science and how it leads to new knowledge, understanding, and practical applications of the powers and potentials of human consciousness transformation.

Appearance/Demeanor/Attire: Neat, pleasant, and well groomed.