Glossary

VOCABULARY

Altered Reality – During periods of Altered Reality (AR), your ego’s normal integrity and defenses are temporarily let down or relaxed. Medical research has identified areas of the brain that are more active during AR and spiritual experiences, resulting in a sense of greater and more global (sensory) awareness and, often, deep relaxation. Within the framework of Map of the Spirit, AR represents a time when your Resistance is temporarily lowered, which presents an opportunity for your Seeking to move forward. There are many ways to induce AR—some self-initiated and others initiated by forces beyond your control.

Awareness Stage - The second stage of spiritual development where you have some awareness of your spiritual beliefs but have not yet internally committed to following them (see Stages of Spiritual Development).

Commitment Stage - The third stage of spiritual development where you are both aware of your spirituality and have internally committed, at least partially, to following it but have not yet actually manifested or lived out that internal spiritual commitment. Internal commitment is the internal decision to let spiritual goals and desires take precedence over those of you or your ego for all, or at least some significant aspect(s), of your life (see Stages of Spiritual Development).

Deism - Deists believe in a God(s) or other Divine entity(-ies) that is, in some way, greater than or beyond human experience. In Deism, each person has an eternal aspect, such as a soul, spirit, or essence that persists in some form after death. The individual and the soul exist in relation to, but are separate and/or somehow qualitatively different from this Divine entity. In some Deist cosmologies God is seen as “transcendent”—existing totally separate from and outside the individual, whereas in others God is “immanent”—with some aspect or “spark” of the Divine residing within each individual. For Deists, life has an inherent meaning that is known most completely to God and which may be revealed, to some extent, to humans in the course of our spiritual development. Deists’ primary spiritual goal is to ascertain and then live within their relationship with God and the primary spiritual tool they use to accomplish this goal is prayer—communication between the individual and the Divine. Examples of major Deist religions include, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.

Existentialism - In Existentialist cosmologies, humans, like all biological beings, live in a world bounded by the (ordinary five) senses, human reason, and natural physical laws. Death marks the end of our existence and awareness. There is no soul or any other eternal aspect of us, beyond our bodies’ chemical elements, that continues after death. There is no God or other transcendental or eternal force with which humans could either strive to establish a relationship or rejoin in any way. The primary overarching spiritual goal in Existentialism is to create meaning in an inherently meaningless world. Existentialists pursue these goals by devoting themselves to a “Cause(s)” that creates meaning for them.

For the purposes of Map of the Spirit, I include atheists in the Existentialist group because they typically do not believe that anything eternal or Divine exists beyond humans, rejecting both Deist and Non-Dualist cosmologies. I also include Agnostics in this group, since, by stating that it is not possible to know for certain whether anything exists beyond humans, they let human reason and physical experience, rather than any spiritual source, define the boundaries of their spiritual or transpersonal beliefs.

Map of the Spirit– Map of the Spirit presents a universal framework of human spiritual development—a common process with stages through which we all pass in the construction and living out of our spiritual beliefs. Map of the Spirit divides human spiritual development into four sequential stages – the Pre-awareness, Awareness, Commitment, and Union Stages. Movement and transition between these stages is determined by your balance between two forces—Seeking, the forward-tending force, and Resistance, the force that blocks or holds back Seeking. Map of the Spirit uses a Questionnaire to let you rapidly and accurately determine how important spirituality is to you and your health and where you are in the course of your spiritual development. Map of the Spirit arose from the clinical work of Michael F. Cantwell MD, MPH at the Health and Healing Clinic of the Institute for Health and Healing in San Francisco, CA.

Non-dualism - Non-dualists believe in a single great force, energy, substance, or spirit that is inherently indivisible and from which all things arise and are comprised. The principal spiritual goal for Non-dualists is to recognize and move beyond any illusion of separation from this “One”. Non-dualists have many names to describe ultimate reunification with the “One”, including “Merging”, “Bliss”, “Union”, or “Enlightenment.” The primary tool Non-dualists use to accomplish this goal is meditation. Examples of major Non-dualist religions include, Buddhism and Taoism.

Pre-awareness Stage - The first stage of spiritual development where you have no awareness or information about what you believe in, spiritually (see Stages of Spiritual Development).

Resistance – The force in your spiritual development that blocks or holds back your Seeking. Resistance can come from sources outside you (External Resistance) or from within yourself (Internal Resistance). Potential sources of External Resistance include, family, relatives, friends, acquaintances, work/school, the cultural milieu, health/disease, and time and financial constraints. Sources of Internal Resistance include psychological condition(s) in which your ego or psychological patterns tend to resist change and/or retain control, ranging from simple neuroses and affective disorders, all the way to personality disorders and psychoses.

Seeking – The forward-tending force in your spiritual development. Your degree of Seeking tells you how important spirituality is to you, in general. Seeking can be inherent, present from birth, and/or acquired, in response to illness, deaths of loved ones, or other stresses and life events. Your degree of Seeking reflects how much of a priority spirituality is to you, how much time, attention, and resources you would like to devote to spiritual pursuits.

Spiritual Development – The process of constructing and living out your spiritual beliefs. Map of the Spirit sees human spiritual development as a universal process, with common stages through which we all pass in the course of our spiritual development.

Spiritual Disease - Any blockage in your spiritual development, in the process of constructing and living out your spiritual beliefs. These blockages may give rise to Spiritual Stress, which adds to your physical and psychological/emotional stress to produce your overall level of Stress, which, in turn, influences your risk of disease.

Spiritual Experiences - Everything we “know” or think we “know” about spirituality can be traced back to "spiritual experiences," either our own or those of others we trust, such as family, friends, and spiritual leaders. A spiritual experience gives you information about and/or advances your relationship with your spirituality. The vast majority of us, at least 70-90% depending on the survey quoted, have had spiritual experiences, ranging from brief spiritual glimpses to near-death experiences, miraculous cures, and profound, life-changing events.
Map of the Spirit classifies spiritual experiences into three discrete and, importantly, sequential types—Awareness, Commitment, and Union Experiences (see Types of Spiritual Experiences).

Spiritual Satisfaction - How satisfied you are with the extent to which you have been able to explore or pay attention to matters concerning spirituality, to date. Spiritual Satisfaction reflects your current balance between Seeking and Resistance. If your Seeking relatively exceeds your Resistance, you are more likely to be progressing with your spiritual development and have higher Spiritual Satisfaction. On the other hand, when your Resistance relatively exceeds your Seeking, your spiritual development will tend to be blocked or stuck and your Spiritual Satisfaction will tend to be low.

Spiritual Stress – Spiritual Stress represents the contribution of spiritual matters to your overall level of Stress. Spiritual Stress adds to your physical and mental/emotional Stress to determine your overall level of Stress, which, in turn, influences your risk of developing a wide variety of diseases. Spiritual Stress increases with increasing Seeking and decreasing Spiritual Satisfaction (Spiritual Stress = Seeking - Spiritual Satisfaction).

Spirituality - Map of the Spirit uses the term “spirituality” in its broadest sense—as whatever you believe 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—Deists, for example, 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.

Stages of Spiritual Development – Map of the Spirit divides human spiritual development in four sequential stages—the Pre-awareness, Awareness, Commitment, and Union Stages.

Pre-awareness Stage - At this first stage of spiritual development you have no awareness or information about what you believe in, spiritually.

Awareness Stage - At this second stage of spiritual development you have some awareness of your spiritual beliefs but have not yet internally committed to following them.

Commitment Stage - At the Commitment Stage you are both aware of your spiritual beliefs and have internally committed, at least partially, to following them but have not yet actually manifested or lived them out. Internal commitment is the internal decision to let spiritual goals and desires take precedence over those of you or your ego for all, or at least some significant aspect(s), of your life.

Union Stage - At this last stage of spiritual development you are aware of what you believe spiritually and have both internally committed to and manifested or fulfilled this internal spiritual commitment, in at least some aspects of your life.

Types of Spiritual Experiences – Map of the Spirit classifies spiritual experiences into three discrete and, importantly, sequential types—Awareness, Commitment, and Union Experiences.

Awareness Experiences – Awareness Experiences, the first type of spiritual experience, are primarily informational, giving you information about what you believe in, spiritually.

Committment Experiences – Commitment Experiences, the second type of spiritual experience, are primarily volitional, involving an internal commitment or decision on your part to follow or cede some measure of control to your spirituality. During Commitment Experiences, you decide to trust your spirituality enough to give it priority over your own personal desires for all, or at least some significant aspect(s), of your life.

Union Experiences – Union Experiences, the third and final type of spiritual experience, are also volitional, involving a decision or action on your part to manifest or fulfill your prior internal spiritual commitment.

Union Stage - The last stage of spiritual development where you are aware of your spiritual beliefs and have both internally committed to them and have manifested or lived them out, in at least some aspects of your life (see Stages of Spiritual Development).