What Does Spiritual Friendship Look Like?
As an introvert and a loner, I’m a tad shy of friends. And that mostly works for me. But when I came across the words “spiritual friendship”, I paused to see what I thought that would look like.
Spiritual friends walk alongside each other on connected paths
Friendships are often based on similarities and mutual interests. That means we share values, are at similar stages of development and each has about the same level of knowledge and experience around our mutual areas of interest.
We are peers, fellow travelers going the same direction – at least for now. The more esoteric my path becomes, the further afield I have to wander to find like-minded friends. I keep looking because everyone comes bearing gifts.
I get excited about what I’m learning and discovering, and I need to share that fascination and amazement with someone who understands what I’m talking about. Having someone on a similar path helps me go even deeper in my own exploration. My spiritual friends offer me insights and experiences that are aligned with our mutual journey. We learn from each other.
Your role in a spiritual friendship may shift back and forth from student to teacher to student to teacher
In a spiritual friendship, we have shifting roles. Sometimes you are the teacher who deeps our mutual journey with your insights and observations. Sometimes you are the student who asks questions that make both of us stop and think. And we’re always partners on a journey, walking steadily beside each other, shining our lights on the unfolding path before us and walking alongside each other in illumined service.
We learn from each other. We teach each other. We challenge each other. We encourage each other.
At some point, our paths may separate. We usually walk alongside a spiritual friend for only a portion of our journey, taking from the experience what we need to deepen and expand our own journey and give what we’re destined to give to the other person. The length of our journey together may vary from long to short, even a momentary connection, but the impact will be profound and long-lasting.
You’ll find your spiritual friends everywhere
Once you begin looking for spiritual friends you’ll find them in all manner of unexpected circumstances. One of my spiritual friends is a healer friend I’ve known since I lived in California and we have currently deepened our connection. Another is a doctor who was assigned to be my partner in a shamanic online course we took together. I talk with both these spiritual friends regularly on Skype.
Another spiritual friend is a very special man I took a course from five years ago. There was and is a deep connection which continues even though his field is entrepreneurial advancement. We read each other’s newsletters and posts and steadily support each other through periodic emails.
Thanks to the Internet our spiritual friends can be found any place in the world.
Who have you walked beside?
If you look back over your life, you may recognize times when you’ve shared your path with someone. I only became aware of the idea of walking beside someone in service four years ago when my one male spiritual friend shared the concept and said that is what I was doing. Now that I have fully and enthusiastically embraced the idea, I consciously work to walk beside others whenever I can. With this awareness, I can look back over my past and see other spiritual friends who have walked beside me for a while.
The spiritual friends I currently find myself walking alongside happen to be from a younger generation. They’re at different crossroads in their lives. Their objectives are different – not yet ready to retire, but doing a bit of planning for it. They’re at a high point in their careers. However, we are spiritually on similar paths, and we each bring our unique experience and insights to our walk beside each other. We enrich each other’s journey. We learn from each other.
Your unique personalities add differences deepen your learning experience
My shamanic partner is a medical doctor who has been studying shamanism several years longer than I have. In our exchanges, she helps me clarify and consciously apply the principles. I offer insights from my extensive holistic background. I’m also approaching shamanism from a creative and free-flowing direction and that broadens the range of our mutual exploration. We bring our individual approach to our spiritual friendship and weave it together into a stronger journey for us both.
She stretches me. I stretch her.
Our needs are different. She is preparing for her retirement in six or seven years. At 85 my focus is to still be here and still contributing. But for the time being, we walk beside each other in spiritual friendship.
Each person you spend extended time with is sharing their gifts with you. What are you giving? What are you receiving?
How do you actively seek spiritual friendships?
I was feeling very alone until I redefined how I saw myself.
I’ve thought of myself as a metaphysician, a spiritual philosopher, a Light Worker, a Transformational Thinker, an Agent of Change, a student of Taoism, and a shamanism practitioner, but that is such an eclectic mix I can usually only find people who embrace one facet. And I could not bring myself to identify with only one group.
Then one day I came across a broader, more encompassing definition for myself that brought me in alignment with many, many people all over the world. I saw myself as part of a larger, more expansive group instead of a unique collection of all my individual interests.
Stephen Dinan of The Shift Network said, “You are part of the shift if you are growing a business that is offering products or services that help enlighten, evolve, or transform humanity.”
Enlighten, evolve, transform. Big words. Big job. Big purpose. I suddenly know a great many people who are doing this kind of work and I feel connected, intertwined, supported by and moving forward with them as we walk along this broader path together.
It’s not the type of work you do, it’s the spiritual intention behind it that connects you with other spiritual partners.
What words do you need to find to describe your work to yourself that will lift your awareness of the many light beings who are actually already walking beside you on the same path? Think in broad, encompassing, spiritual definitions rather than the specifics of how you do the work. That will help you identify others on your same path.
Look online for people who are on a similar path. They may be teaching, or studying, or simply shining their light through their work. Offer an unconditional generosity of spirit, and reach out to your fellow travelers by shining your light in their direction.
Let your spiritual friendships evolve and take you where you need to go – together
Opportunity for spiritual practice and spiritual friendship is not someplace else – it’s right here. We can make a move to establish it.
Who will you reach out to next? How will you find more spiritual friends?
To Sing a Deeper Song, Consider:
How You See Yourself – You Are
The Path of Supportive Service
Live in the Center of Your Being
What are the Foundation Stones Upon Which You Build Your Life?
