Welcome From Our Executive Director

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.”

― Rumi

Dear Friends,

We are grateful you are here.

SDI is a learning community for spiritual directors, spiritual companions, and anyone curious about cultivating spiritual practice.

Who We Are

SDI’s Mission and Vision Statement: Cultivating the Practices of Deep Listening and Spiritual Presence Across All Faith Traditions and Spiritual Orientations.

Spiritual Directors International (SDI)  is a registered educational nonprofit with a membership of 6,600 spiritual directors and spiritual companions in 40 countries around the world. We serve many thousands more as we help people find their own spiritual directors and companions through our free online database.

Perhaps you are new to SDI or new to spiritual direction and spiritual companionship. Let us help you get oriented here by responding to a fundamental question about our work.

What is at the heart of the relationship between a spiritual director or spiritual companion and the people they accompany?

Some words come readily to mind:

But perhaps the key element is spiritual intimacy.  This starts with the compassion connection that often develops between spiritual directors/companions and the people they accompany and continues with a growing intimacy between the person who is being companioned and the infinite, which has many names including The Universe, God, Brahman, Tao and the Ground of All Being.

What do spiritual directors/companions do?

Spiritual directors and spiritual companions have a special role to play by establishing a safe space for you, listening deeply and intently, spiritually, and letting your authentic self shine through.

Ideally, we are mirrors that allow you to see yourself more clearly. We strive very hard not to impose our own vision, so as not to distort the image. All of this is meant to allow you to see what is already inside you. What is already whole.

You are your own best teacher.

God/Brahman/Tao/Nirvana is within us all, fully, completely, without reservation or limitation. We have but to look. What greater form of intimacy can there be than to see your true self, your soul, accurately reflected as if you were looking in a mirror?

This is what spiritual direction and spiritual companionship are meant to accomplish.

We seek to inspire trust and safety, to facilitate important conversations around our deepest aspirations and longings, namely our desire to connect with that which connects all beings.

True community is impossible without intimacy. Deep connection depends on it. As SDI strives to become a more welcoming, inclusive community of directors, companions, seekers and contemplative wayfarers of all kinds, we must also work on becoming spiritually intimate with one another – no matter how different we are.

Audacious hospitality

SDI recognizes the uniqueness of each person on this planet. And SDI honors our common potential: that we all have the capacity to embrace peace, to align with love and to find healing through wholeness.

SDI invites you to consider joining us as a member as we transform into an increasingly welcoming community, one centered around “Audacious hospitality.”

So, please make yourself at home.

Pause a moment. Breathe in and out slowly. Listen attentively within. Listen to what makes you curious, to what calls you, to what resonates inside. Then give that deep intuition free reign to explore our home online. Browse our offerings and the pages of our website. If you like, you may follow the “Dive Deeper” path by clicking on the link below. Contact us with questions if they arise.

Nothing would make us happier than to support you on this most important quest – your journey to know yourself and honor – in heart, mind, body and action – that which resonates most deeply and warmly within you.

With gratitude for your presence here,
Rev. SeiFu

Rev. SeiFu Anil Singh-Molares

Deeper

Frequently Asked Questions

Meaningful Answers to Simple Queries

Shopping Cart
Scroll to Top

Welcome!

We're glad you're here.

Subscribe to SDI updates to receive a FREE eBook filled with contemplative wisdom!

As a free gift for signing up for SDI’s updates, we are offering you a 59-page eBook filled with contemplative wisdom!

Please use it as you wish: 

  • for inspiration on your spiritual journey
  • for the delight of finding wisdom that you can feel in body, mind and spirit 
  • for a moment of reflection 
  • as a token of our deep respect for who you are and your contribution to our movement