Contemplative Witnessing: BIPOC-Centered Spiritual Direction

Contemplative Witnessing: BIPOC-Centered Spiritual Direction

Spiritual direction is a communal spiritual practice that helps open our souls to other human beings. Yet, BIPOC people in the US are surrounded by persistent messages and encounters with social systems that daily deny our souls' dignity and worth. In the face of such challenges, Cindy S. Lee calls for spiritual directors to serve as contemplative witnesses to injustice and to facilitate restoration when BIPOC people's sacredness is dismissed. In Contemplative Witnessing , Lee explores how BIPOC people can experience a liberating spirituality so we can settle into our own bodies, experience the traditions and spirituality of our cultures, and engage with communities that reflect our sacredness back to us. Contemplative Witnessing serves as a guide for spiritual directors to facilitate such encounters. This book equips spiritual directors, who often lack BIPOC-centered tools and training, to journey with and within, and to serve as witnesses as BIPOC people encounter our most sacred and honest selves. BIPOC spiritual directors and other directors who serve BIPOC directees will find this book a resource they have long desired. Cindy S. Lee is a spiritual director, aspiring mystic, and proudly Taiwanese-American. She teaches in the areas of spirituality, mysticism, and spiritual direction. She also trains new spiritual directors. She completed a PhD focused on Christian spirituality from Claremont School of Theology. She also leads retreats on BIPOC-centered spirituality. She is the author of Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation .