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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Map of the Spirit?

Map of the Spirit is a radical, new approach to looking at spirituality and its connection to health. Map sees human spiritual development as a universal process with common elements and stages through which we all must pass in the evolution and living out of our personal spiritual beliefs. Map views the great variety of existing religions or systems of spiritual beliefs as outcomes of this universal process, not the process itself. The concepts and stages of Map apply to all of us, regardless of our particular type of spiritual beliefs—Deists, Non-dualists, Existentialists, and Agnostics—and even to those of us whose spiritual beliefs defy classification or are not yet well defined.

Is Map of the Spirit a “religion?”

No. Map of the Spirit simply describes the common process of human spiritual development—how all of us construct and then live out our personal spiritual beliefs. Map is a universal process that applies to everyone regardless of their particular type of spiritual beliefs. Map does not seek to describe what your spiritual beliefs should be or what your relationship with your spirituality should be, it just describes the process and stages you go through in the evolution and living out of your spiritual beliefs.

What are the main concepts of Map of the Spirit?

Map of the Spirit has two main concepts. The first is that the importance and directionality of your spiritual development, i.e. whether you tend to progress or not, depends on the balance between Two Forces—Seeking, the forward-tending force, and Resistance, the force that blocks or holds back Seeking. You can assess this balance by determining your degree of Spiritual Satisfaction, from Question #2 on the Questionnaire. The less satisfied you are spiritually, the more likely it is that your Resistance relatively exceeds your Seeking and is blocking your spiritual development. Increasing Seeking and/or decreasing Resistance can address this imbalance and facilitate your spiritual development.

The second main concept of Map of the Spirit is that human spiritual development can be divided into four discrete, sequential stages—the Pre-Awareness, Awareness, Commitment, and Union Stages. Each of these stages describes a deeper relationship with your spirituality, as you evolve from determining what you believe in spiritually (Pre-awareness and Awareness Stages), to internally committing to follow it (Commitment Stage), to, finally, manifesting and living out your spirituality (Union Stage). Map identifies Three Types of Spiritual Experiences—Awareness, Commitment, and Union Experiences. With only two exceptions, these types of spiritual experiences help you identify your current Stage(s) of Spiritual Development.

Your view of “spirituality” seems quite broad. How do you define and use the term “spirituality” in Map of the Spirit?

Map of the Spirit uses the term “spirituality” in its broadest sense—as whatever one believes does, or does not, exist in the transpersonal realm, the realm beyond human experience. From this perspective, everyone has “spiritual” or transpersonal beliefs. Some individuals believe that “something” exists in the transpersonal realm, beyond humans. For example, Deists believe in the existence of God(s) and Non-dualists believe in a transcendent “One.” Even Existentialists and Agnostics have “spiritual” or transpersonal beliefs—they just believe, respectively, that “nothing” exists beyond humans or that knowing what exists “spiritually” is beyond the capacity of human reason.

Map of the Spirit describes the common process by which each of us develops and then lives out his/her own “spiritual” or transpersonal beliefs. The framework of human spiritual development presented in Map applies to everyone, regardless of what his/her “spiritual” or transpersonal beliefs are.

How hard is it to apply the concepts of Map of the Spirit? How long will it take?

Once you understand the concepts of Map of the Spirit, applying them is simple and rapid, usually taking less than 10 minutes. Start by filling out the short Questionnaire. From Questions #1 and #2 you quickly get an approximation of your degree of Seeking and Spiritual Satisfaction and from these you can calculate your degree of Spiritual Stress (Spiritual Stress = Seeking – Spiritual Satisfaction) in Question #4. Question #3 on the Questionnaire helps you identify your sources of Resistance, both External and Internal. Question #5 asks you to review the spiritual experiences you’ve had, if any. Knowing what type of spiritual experiences you’ve had, combined with an understanding of the fundamental distinctions between the Four Stages of human spiritual development, lets you rapidly determine your current Stage of Spiritual Development (Question #6). Question #7 asks you to determine how much you want to progress with your spiritual development.

In very little time, Map of the Spirit lets you understand how important spirituality is to you and your health and where you are spiritually (Diagnosis of the Spirit). But, then it’s up to you to decide what to do with this information. Are you content with where you are, spiritually, at least for now, or do you want to move forward with your spiritual development? If you want to move forward, Map of the Spirit shows you what spiritual tasks lie ahead and how to facilitate your spiritual progress (Treatment of the Spirit).