Relational Inquiry
Relational Inquiry is a spiritual/therapeutic practice in which two or more persons undertake, through collaborative action, to unveil the living spirit, the indwelling presence, or dynamic grace 'between' them — as such, it is a practice that is transformative, healing and empowering.
The transcendental realms of eternal spirit, while liberating, miraculous and Real events are simply not complete nor valid until they are grounded in the realm of interpersonal relationship — or what the great poet of the Lebanon, Kahlil Gibran, called 'love's threshing floor'. Relational inquiry is partly based on the co-designing of experiments and practices to increase intimacy, interpersonal encounter, self-transfiguration and charismatic contact — for after fana (or egoic death) — the divinized person still remains, albeit in a new relationship with the world. Furthermore even the greatest of spiritual openings carries the potential for closedness, inflation and appropriation by the isolating ego). Relationship then, becomes the court of spiritual practice for the further incarnation of love in our personal relationships. At its deepest level relational spirituality is built upon the insight of ancient Persian mysticism in which the world is seen as an angelic person — a sacred Thou.
In relationship based spirituality authentic spiritual realization is not found in some individualized 'inner' experience but in the sacred estate of relationship. A guiding assumption of relational spirituality is that the trans/personal (spiritual) is in the interpersonal and when persons begin to unveil the living presence between them — they are also regenerated in spirit — they become naturally charismatic in tone, posture, and gesture. As the human body opens to its own indigenous indwelling source it becomes infused with generative life/love energies.
In this sense Relational Inquiry is also a way of cutting through spiritual narcissism — which we see as anything that separates us from our bodily feelings, life/love energies and felt participation in spirit. By abiding in charismatic relationship and noticing what gets in the way e.g. aversion or compulsion, we can heal the wounds of separation.
The process is deepened over time by repeated inquiry/action cycles with the understanding that participation in group and ritual life will throw up past hurts, unfinished business, competition, or fears... in the learning process of getting beyond these breakers into the wide open Ocean of human/divine potential our relationship with all that is begins to flourish.
