American Educator and Spiritual Guidance Leader
Travels to Istanbul, Turkey to Connect with Sufi Roots
Robert Frager, Ph.D., Chair of the Spiritual Guidance M.A. Program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) in Palo Alto, CA, has been a Sufi for over 30 years.
Robert Frager, Ph.D., Chair of the Spiritual Guidance M.A. Program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) in Palo Alto, CA, has been a Sufi for over 30 years and a Spiritual Guide in the Halveti-Jerrahi Turkish Sufi Order for over 25 years. This month Dr. Frager travels to Turkey, returning to his Sufi roots for a summit at his Order's International Center, located in Istanbul.
Professor Frager was ordained as a Sheikh, or Spiritual Guide, in the Sufi mystical tradition in 1985 and is a well-known figure in Turkey. He has been the subject of several newspaper and magazine articles and two of his books on the subject of Sufism are available in Turkish; Love is the Wine: Teachings of a Sufi Master in America; and Heart, Self and Soul: The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance, and Harmony. His book Spiritual Guidance, Sharing Sacred Stories, is also published in Turkish. His latest book, Sufi Talks, will be published next year in both English and Turkish. Dr. Frager was also trained in Aikido in Japan where he was a personal student of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of the Japanese Martial Art, and holds a 7th degree black belt—the highest honor ever awarded to a westerner. He is a Transpersonal Psychologist, Consultant, and Educator.
Dr Frager started the Spiritual Guidance M.A. program at ITP in Fall 2010 with the intent to develop a program designed for students who have a passionate interest in spirituality and a deep desire to serve as professional spiritual guides or spiritual directors. This program is also meant for professionals and practitioners in counseling, psychotherapy, and other related fields who desire formal training in working with clients' spiritual issues. ITP's program is unique in that it focuses on the professional practice of spiritual guidance drawing from a variety of spiritual traditions with an interfaith perspective, while similar programs focus on a specific religious or philosophical perspective.
While in Istanbul, Dr. Frager will be spending two evenings a week with his Sufi community. The evenings are long by Western standards. The Sufis gather between 8 and 8:30 pm and sometimes leave at 1 am or later. In addition to working with his Sufi Order at the International Center, Dr. Frager will be teaching Aikido classes at the dojo of one of his colleagues.
