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39-585: Historians of philosophy like Ilsetraut and Pierre Hadot have argued that spiritual direction was already practiced and recommended by the main schools of philosophy, as well as by physicians like Galen , as part of spiritual practices in Ancient Greece and Rome. While there is some degree of variability, there are primarily two forms of spiritual direction in the Roman Catholic Church: regular direction and retreat direction. They differ largely in

78-731: A Qutb or a Universal Man upon the earth who would be the perfect manifestation of God and at the footsteps of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . Later writings on spiritual direction (as per Top ten reading list for spiritual directors – January 19, 2013): Ilsetraut Hadot Ilsetraut Hadot (born 20 December 1928)  in Berlin , is a philosopher  and historian of philosophy who specialised in Stoicism , Neoplatonism  and more generally in Ancient Philosophy . In 1978, Hadot won

117-518: A Doctor of Arts at Paris-Sorbonne University (Paris IV). She met Pierre Hadot during a symposium in  Cologne  in 1962 and they married in Berlin in 1966. He is also a specialist of Ancient Philosophy . Together, they wrote  Learn to Philosophize in Antiquity , in 2004. Ilsetraut Hadot is a classical philologist and a specialist about Ancient Philosophy . She has written about Seneca ,

156-601: A "Holy Trinity", according to the Qur'an, is forbidden and deemed to be blasphemy . The same prohibition applies to any idea of the duality of God ( Allah ). The Baháʼí Faith has the concept of the Most Great Spirit , seen as the bounty of God . It is usually used to describe the descent of the Spirit of God upon the messengers/prophets of God who include, among others, Jesus, Muhammad and Bahá'u'lláh . In Baháʼí belief,

195-451: A daily basis for one hour. During these daily meetings, exercises or spiritual disciplines such as lectio divina are given to the directee as sustenance to further their spiritual growth. The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola are a popular example of guidelines used for spiritual direction. Most of ancient schools of philosophy remarked the importance of spiritual direction in order to improve moral education . This guidance,

234-668: A distinction between the spirit and psyche , which is also seen in the Pauline epistles . According to proponents of the History of religions school , the Christian concept of the Holy Spirit cannot be explained from Jewish ideas alone without reference to the Hellenistic religions. And according to theologian Erik Konsmo, the views "are so dissimilar that the only legitimate connection one can make

273-1247: A kind of "therapy of the souls", led the pupils to self-awareness of their faults and progress. Socrates can be considered as the ideal of spiritual director among his followers, but Plato also guided his students with personal advice and comfort through their learning process. Aristotle would have fixed some rules for a proper spiritual guidance of pupils in the second book of his Rhetoric . Other examples can be found in Cynics , Epicureans —who used epistolary form for this purpose (e.g., Metrodorus )— or Stoics —like Marcus Aurelius , Seneca , Musonius Rufus or Epictetus in his Discourses —who actively practiced spiritual direction. Philodemus ' work On Frank Criticism showed that spiritual guidance should be based on freedom of speech ( parrhesia ) and mutual respect between master and pupil. A physician like Galen , not affiliated to any school of philosophy, recommended to follow spiritual guidance from an aged and experienced man before attempting self-examination. Within Christianity , spiritual direction has its roots in early Christianity . The gospels describe Jesus serving as

312-558: A long unbroken history of elders and disciples, such as Sophronius and John Moschos in the 7th century, Symeon the Elder and Symeon the New Theologian in the 11th century, and contemporary charismatic gerontes such as Porphyrios and Paisios . Sergius of Radonezh and Nil Sorsky were two most venerated startsy of Old Muscovy . The revival of elders in the Slavic world is associated with

351-524: A mentor to his disciples. Additionally, Acts of the Apostles chapter 9 describes Ananias helping Paul of Tarsus to grow in his newfound experience of Christianity. Likewise, several of the Pauline epistles describe Paul mentoring both Timothy and Titus among others. Tradition also states that John the Evangelist tutored Polycarp , the 2nd-century bishop of Smyrna . Theologian John Cassian , who lived in

390-522: A possessive suffix is added the definite article ha is dropped). The Holy Spirit in Judaism generally refers to the divine aspect of prophecy and wisdom. It also refers to the divine force, quality, and influence of the Most High God, over the universe or over his creatures, in given contexts. For the large majority of Christians , the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost , from Old English gast , "spirit")

429-629: A priest or consecrated in general, provides counsel to a person who wishes to make a journey of faith and discovery of God's will in their life. The spiritual guide aims to discern and understand what the Holy Spirit , through the situations of life, spiritual insights in the fruit of prayer, reading and meditation on the Bible, tells the person accompanied. The spiritual father or spiritual director may provide advice, give indications of life and prayer, resolving doubts in matters of faith and morals without replacing

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468-497: A simple numerical one . The rabbinical understanding of the Holy Spirit has a certain degree of personification , but it remains, "a quality belonging to God, one of his attributes". The idea of God as a duality or trinity is considered shituf (or "not purely monotheistic"). According to theologian Rudolf Bultmann , there are two ways to think about the Holy Spirit: "animistic" and "dynamistic". In animistic thinking, he

507-505: Is "an independent agent, a personal power which (...) can fall upon a man and take possession of him, enabling him or compelling him to perform manifestations of power" while in dynamistic thought it "appears as an impersonal force which fills a man like a fluid". Both kinds of thought appear in Jewish and Christian scripture, but animistic is more typical of the Old Testament whereas dynamistic

546-648: Is common in some communities though not all; the spiritual director called a mashpi'a occurs in the Chabad-Lubavitch community and also in the Jewish Renewal community. A mashgiach ruchani is the equivalent role among adherents of the Mussar tradition. The purpose of Hashpa'ah is to support the directee in their personal relationship with God , and to deepen that person's ability to find God's presence in ordinary life. Amongst Lubavitchers this draws on

585-512: Is difficult to maintain. In his Introduction to the 1964 book Meditations , the Anglican priest Maxwell Staniforth wrote: Another Stoic concept which offered inspiration to the Church was that of "divine Spirit". Cleanthes, wishing to give more explicit meaning to Zeno's "creative fire", had been the first to hit upon the term pneuma , or "spirit", to describe it. Like fire, this intelligent "spirit"

624-505: Is more common in the New Testament. The distinction coincides with the Holy Spirit as either a temporary or permanent gift. In the Old Testament and Jewish thought, it is primarily temporary with a specific situation or task in mind, whereas in the Christian concept the gift resides in persons permanently. On the surface, the Holy Spirit appears to have an equivalent in non-Abrahamic Hellenistic mystery religions . These religions included

663-510: Is the third person of the Trinity: The "Triune God" manifested as Father , Son , and Holy Spirit; each Person being God. Two symbols from the New Testament canon are associated with the Holy Spirit in Christian iconography : a winged dove, and tongues of fire. Each depiction of the Holy Spirit arose from different accounts in the Gospel narratives; the first being at the baptism of Jesus in

702-600: Is with the Greek term πνεῦμα [ pneuma , Spirit] itself". Another link with ancient Greek thought is the Stoic idea of the spirit as anima mundi – or world soul – that unites all people. Some believe that this can be seen in Paul's formulation of the concept of the Holy Spirit that unites Christians in Jesus Christ and love for one another, but Konsmo again thinks that this position

741-746: The Jordan River where the Holy Spirit was said to descend in the form of a dove as the voice of God the Father spoke as described in Matthew , Mark , and Luke ; the second being from the day of Pentecost , fifty days after Passover where the descent of the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ , as tongues of fire as described in the Acts of the Apostles , as promised by Jesus in his farewell discourse. Called "the unveiled epiphany of God ",

780-558: The 4th century, provided some of the earliest recorded guidelines on the Christian practice of spiritual direction. He introduced mentoring in the monasteries. Each novice was put under the care of an older monk. Benedict of Nursia integrated Cassian's guidelines into what is now known as the Rule of Saint Benedict . Spiritual direction is widespread in the Catholic tradition: a person with wisdom and spiritual discernment, usually but not exclusively

819-574: The Christian as in the Stoic mind – with the ideas of vital fire and beneficent warmth. The Hebrew language phrase ruach ha-kodesh ( Hebrew : רוח הקודש , "holy spirit" also transliterated ruaḥ ha-qodesh ) is used in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish writings to refer to the spirit of YHWH (רוח יהוה). The Hebrew terms ruacḥ qodshəka , "thy holy spirit" ( רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ ), and ruacḥ qodshō , "his holy spirit" ( רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ ), also occur (when

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858-582: The Holy Spirit as a common expression in the Christian New Testament. Based on the Old Testament, the book of Acts emphasizes the power of ministry aspect of the Holy Spirit. In general, Jews reject any conception of a co-equal, multi-person godhead; anything but an absolute monotheism is contrary to the Shema . They do not consider the Hebrew word for "one" (Hebrew: אחד, ekhad ) as meaning anything other than

897-601: The Holy Spirit is a partner to God in the Godhead, but rather is the pure essence of God's attributes. The Hindu concept of Advaita is linked to the Trinity, according to the theologian Raimon Panikkar . He states that the Holy Spirit, as one of the Three Persons of the Trinity of "father, Logos and Holy Spirit", is a bridge-builder between Christianity and Hinduism. He explains that: "The meeting of spiritualistic can take place in

936-670: The Holy Spirit is generally consistent with other interpretations based upon the Old and the New Testaments. On the basis of narrations in certain Hadith , some Muslims identify it with the angel Gabriel (Arabic Jibrāʾīl ). The Spirit ( الروح al-Ruh , without the adjective "holy" or "exalted") is described, among other things, as the creative spirit from God by which God enlivened Adam , and which inspired in various ways God's messengers and prophets, including Jesus and Abraham . The belief in

975-477: The Holy Spirit is seen as the source of all goodness in the universe, the spark of all life within humanity, and is the ultimate guide for humanity to righteousness and communion with God. The Holy Spirit is put in direct opposition to its eternal dual counterpart, Angra Mainyu , who is the source of all wickedness and who leads humanity astray. The ancient Gnostic text known as the Secret Book of John refers to

1014-503: The Holy Spirit is the conduit through which the wisdom of God becomes directly associated with his messenger, and it has been described variously in different religions such as the burning bush to Moses, the sacred fire to Zoroaster, the dove to Jesus, the angel Gabriel to Muhammad, and the Maid of Heaven to Bahá'u'lláh (founder of the Baháʼí Faith). The Baháʼí view rejects the idea that

1053-526: The Holy Spirit is the One who empowers the followers of Jesus with spiritual gifts and power that enables the proclamation of Jesus Christ, and the power that brings conviction of faith. The Holy Spirit ( Arabic : روح القدس , romanized :  Ruh al-Qudus , "the Spirit of Holiness") is mentioned four times in the Qur'an , where it acts as an agent of divine action or communication. The Muslim interpretation of

1092-518: The Spirit. No new 'system' has primarily to come of this encounter, but a new and yet old spirit must emerge." Atman is Vedic terminology elaborated in Hindu scriptures such as Upanishads and Vedanta signifies the Ultimate Reality and Absolute . In Zoroastrianism , the Holy Spirit, also known as Spenta Mainyu , is a hypostasis of Ahura Mazda , the supreme Creator God of Zoroastrianism;

1131-782: The Victor Cousin prize of the Académie française  for her work The problem of Alexandrian Neoplatonism.   Hierocles and Simplicius. In 2015, she received the François-Millepierres prize by the Académie for her work Seneca. Spiritual Direction and Practice of Philosophy . In 1966, she graduated the Dr. Phil. at the Free University of Berlin  about Seneca and Spiritual Direction in Antiquity . She defended her State thesis in 1977,

1170-607: The choices and decisions to the person accompanying. Eastern Orthodoxy comes from the same pre-schism traditions, but the role of a "spiritual director" or "elder" in Orthodoxy has maintained its important role. The original Greek term geron (meaning 'elder', as in gerontology) was rendered by the Russian word starets , from the Old Church Slavonic starĭtsĭ , 'elder', derived from starŭ , 'old'. The Greek tradition has

1209-547: The disciples based on his direct connectivity with the Divine . The murshid 's role is to spiritually guide and verbally instruct the disciple on the Sufi path after the disciple takes an oath of allegiance or Bay'ah ( bai'ath ) with him. The concept of Murshid Kamil Akmal (also known as Insan-e-Kamil ) is significant in most tariqas . The doctrine states that from pre-existence till pre-eternity, there shall always remain

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1248-512: The effulgent rays that emanate from His Manifestation". The Hebrew Bible contains the term " spirit of God " ( ruach elochim ) which by Jews is interpreted in the sense of the might of a unitary God . This interpretation is different from the Nicene Christian conception of the Holy Spirit as one person of the Trinity . The Christian concept tends to emphasize the moral aspect of

1287-639: The elders of this monastery. They also inspired the figure of Zosima in Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov . A more modern example of a starets is Archimandrite John Krestiankin (1910–2006) of the Pskov Monastery of the Caves , who was popularly recognized as such by many Orthodox living in Russia . In Judaism , the Hebrew term for spiritual director differs among traditional communities. The verb Hashpa'ah

1326-439: The frequency of meetings and in the intensity of reflection. Regular direction can involve a one- to two-hour meeting every four to eight weeks, and thus is slightly less intense than retreat direction, although spiritual exercises and disciplines are often given for the directee to attempt between meetings. If the directee is on a retreat (lasting a weekend, a week or even 40 days), they will generally meet with their director on

1365-586: The history of education in Antiquity and Neoplatonism. She has edited, commentated and translated the commentary of Simplicius , a Neoplatonist philosopher, about the Enchiridion of Epictetus . Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit , otherwise known as the Holy Ghost , is a concept within the Abrahamic religions . In Judaism , the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in

1404-459: The literature and praxis of Hasidism as it is practiced according to Chabad standards, and to Jewish mystical tradition generally. Spiritual mentorship is customary in the Hasidic world, but not necessarily in the same way. In Sufism , the term used for spiritual master is murshid , Arabic for 'guide' or 'teacher'. A murshid is more than a spiritual director and is believed to be guiding

1443-744: The name of Paisius Velichkovsky (1722–1794), who produced the Russian translation of the Philokalia . The most famous Russian starets of the early 19th century was Seraphim of Sarov (1759–1833), who went on to become one of the most revered Orthodox saints. The Optina Pustyn near Kozelsk used to be celebrated for its startsy (Schema-Archimandrite Moses, Schema-Hegumen Anthony, Hieroschemamonk Leonid, Hieroschemamonk Macarius, Hieroschemamonk Hilarion, Hieroschemamonk Ambrose, Hieroschemamonk Anatole (Zertsalov)). Such writers as Nikolay Gogol , Aleksey Khomyakov , Leo Tolstoy and Konstantin Leontyev sought advice from

1482-552: The world, particularly in acts of prophecy , creation and guidance. In Nicene Christianity , this conception expanded in meaning to represent the third person of the Trinity , co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son . In Islam , the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the Baha’i Faith , the Holy Spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and man and "the outpouring grace of God and

1521-407: Was imagined as a tenuous substance akin to a current of air or breath, but essentially possessing the quality of warmth; it was immanent in the universe as God, and in man as the soul and life-giving principle. Clearly it is not a long step from this to the "Holy Spirit" of Christian theology, the "Lord and Giver of life", visibly manifested as tongues of fire at Pentecost and ever since associated – in

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