ABSTRACT
This chapter will focus on the kinds of qualities, capacities and attitudes integral to spiritually inclusive and sensitive practice. These are a combination of those that are more internally focused and those more externally. The inner qualities or capacities include openness, humility and vulnerability, the ability to sit patiently and lovingly particularly with uncertainty and ‘not knowing’, to listen deeply and in the process of listening being attuned to the other person's experience of what is meaningful. More externally focused capacities include understanding the influence of history and social context and connection to place and space. These are complemented by spiritual and cultural responsiveness and the commitment to a socially just approach: to be actively inclusive in advocating for celebration of diverse spiritual and religious perspectives in communities and society generally. While I will explore each of these separately, in practice they interact with each other to form the complexity of engaging holistically with each person or community.
