The Spiritual Menu: Teachers and Guidance on the Path with Deepa Patel

The New Monastics Podcast (E2): thenewmonastic...
In this episode, we are joined by Deepa Patel, a teacher of Inayati Sufism who works with Charis Foundation on the Future of Religion and Interspirituality dialogues. With Deepa, we explore alternate sources of spiritual guidance (e.g., influential books and family members) which serve to connect us to ourselves, as well as the function of teachers who ‘mirror’ something back to us, helping us take personal responsibility around discipline and discernment. We also look at teachers, like Krishnamurti, who do not claim to be ‘teachers,’ as well as issues of readiness for teaching, making commitments, disappointments with teachers, ‘inner guides,’ and the difficulties of choosing from the spiritual menu.
Deepa Gulrukh Patel is a teacher of Inayati Sufism and the Executive Director for the Zenith Institute, a four-week Sufi meditation camp in the Swiss Alps, where she guides retreats for young adults. She is also a partner in Charis Foundation’s Future of Religion and Interspirituality dialogues, the Chair of Tamasha Theatre Company and the Loss Foundation, a bereavement support service for people who have lost loved ones to cancer. Her past roles have included being a music education producer for the BBC, a campaigner on HIV/AIDS for Action Aid, and Managing Director of Creative Partnerships (a national UK Government Initiative on creativity in schools). She currently facilitates programs for organizations globally on the art of collaboration, conversation and contemplation.
Photo: Deepa Gulrukh Patel