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SDI Learns From…Cynthia Baga, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXvxiaiRW4Q.
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FirstDirector:: SDI - The Home of Spiritual Companionship
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Title:: SDI Learns From…Cynthia Baga
Year:: 2010
Citekey:: sdi-thehomeofspiritualcompanionshipSDILearnsFromCynthia2010
itemType:: videoRecording
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Abstract
Spiritual Directors International learns from Cynthia Baga, a spiritual director and well-known social psychologist. For more than twenty years she has worked with religious congregations offering spiritual direction and spiritual formation. She lives in the Philippines, and in 2010 received the “Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice” Papal Award recognizing her distinguished service to the Roman Catholic church. Visit www.sdiworld.org to Seek and Find spiritual directors in your area to interview.
Questions this video addresses:
- What is spiritual direction?
- Who benefits from spiritual direction?
- What does one learn and talk about in spiritual direction?
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Notes
Transcript
I’m Cynthia Barga, and people call me Cinch. And I come from the Philippines, and I live from the central part of the Philippines called Iloilo City. And I’m Roman Catholic. And is spiritual direction the language that’s used in the Philippines? Yes, we call it spiritual direction or spiritual companion. But usually when they ask me, because, what are you doing? What is a lady like you?
You’re a laywoman, because there in the Philippines, you know, you associate spirituality with the priests or with the sisters. But what does a laywoman like you do with spiritual direction? So I always just say, you know, it's like giving, making, celebrating space and time to be with a very primary relationship. And what does that mean? Who is our primary relationship? Our creator, our God. And why do I say giving, making, celebrating? Because it has to be deliberate. It’s like, it’s like, yeah, we’re friends, but I’ve got to call you every now and then on the phone. How are you? This is, you know, I’ve been thinking about you. And I remember what we did.And this has enriched me again today, because of the times we spent together, you know, things like that. So it's a deliberate celebration, space, and time with this very important relationship.
Everybody. Because that primary relationship is in there. It’s just a matter of, you know, accessing. So everybody who is able to access that depth will be more herself, himself, and will be more back to original settings, image, and likeness of God. So it defragments you, you know, all of that, to be able to bring back that original relationship, that original self. And so everybody, everybody has, I feel that everyone, even those who do not like to talk about God, you know, has a sense.
And so you just, you know, just talk about that. What is that sense inside? And then it expands. It grows. And after a while, the person discovers what it is, maybe said in many different ways.
Basically, it’s, it’s just, how much time have you spent talking with God in your heart? Or how much time have you just sat and just be quiet there and be present, be together with, just be conscious of that, be aware of that. Because they have had a lot of spiritual practices.
For the seminarians, there are bells to tell them it's prayer time. But for us lay people, even the long drive is, could be a time for prayer. It's a time to be with God.
Yes, they’d be welcome because even the desire, you know, the desire to want to, what’s that all about? That questioning is a desire. And they have to even become aware of that desire from their own questioning. Like, I don’t like to pray. I like that because that’s a start. What's it about prayer that you don't like? Or what’s it about the language that speaks or says God that you don’t like? You know, we can explore that further in conversation. And then, you know, even just to have time for someone, someone listening and coming from there, you know, giving that time for people to be able to talk about those things. Because not a lot of people would listen to those sort of things.
I get allergic, you know, some of them would say that, I’m allergic to that. You know, I don’t like to talk about that. Okay, let’s talk about it. But what is it that is making you feel uncomfortable or allergic? So let’s talk about the allergy. And then after a while, it gets in there. Because I really believe it’s my assumption that it’s already there.
And the more I hear, I don’t like, I don’t have the language, you know, that sort of thing. It says that it has. It’s just Give it time, space. Let’s talk about it. Or if you don’t want to talk about it, okay, I’m just here. One day you might want to talk about it. Because it does come back to you.
Some of them would tell me, you know, these things come back to you at night. Or when you’re alone. And then I think, yeah, I’ll see if she’s not too busy.
In the same way that I spoke about the individual transformation, I think it’s still the same. Now when you have like, a group of people who go through this, who have this kind of experience of you cannot help it. You cannot help it. You know, you become kinder. Like in the Philippines, we have helpers. The workers are workers. They’re not treated the same way that people in other countries are treated. Well, maybe other countries are worse. I don’t know. But, you know, the class, the class distinction. But when, you know, you’re transformed in that core, you become a bit more kind and kinder, you know, after that.
So even my helper of 20 years, she’s telling me recently, you know, she’s like, best friend. She’s telling me, even my husband and daughter, they tell me, you know, you’re calmer. Because I used to have, things have to be this way. But in the way I treat, I think I’m calmer. So the helper is telling me, you know, you are so, so, so peaceful now. So multiply that, you know, peace and all that. And I see a lot of people when we go out in the streets for some of these advocacies, we have, we’re fighting against the coal fire power plant. It’s right there where I live. And we, you know, see the people there. Some people who have a lot of this, they are in touch with the original self, the original relationship. And so whether it’s justice and peace, it’s ecology, and all of that.