This is a questionnaire that reflects your level of spiritual transcendence and also places your spiritual profile on a matrix-like map of spirituality. The spiritual landscape is sometimes a bewildering and confusing one such that it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where one is situated. This questionnaire will help to orientate you in this landscape.
PREPARATION
I do not want to say too much about the content of the questions at this point, until you have had the chance to complete the project. But I need to clarify one important issue: For the purposes of this questionnaire I differentiate between the idea of soul and spirit. A soul is an incorporeal or non-material aspect that is inherent in the nature of some thing, animal or human and which also has a personality. A spirit on the other hand is an incorporeal or non-material being that has a personality but which has an existence that is independent of any physical creature or object. This important distinction needs to be borne in mind as you score the statements in the questionnaire.
You will need a pen and piece of paper for this task. There are 72 statements listed below and you must rate each one in terms of how much you agree or disagree with it using the following scale:
-5 Totally or strongly disagree
-3 Disagree
-1 Slightly or mildly disagree
0 Neither agree nor disagree OR do not understand the statement.
+ 1 Slightly or mildly agree
+ 3 Agree
+ 5 Totally or strongly agree
Read the statement carefully – some are fairly complex in concept, and most of them unite a couple of ideas together in one statement. To strongly agree with the statement, you have to agree to all the aspects of the statement, not just part of it. But do not spend too much time on pondering your answer once you understand the content of the statement. Just go with your first instinctive feeling. Some statements are also obscure and may seem strange – if you really do not understand the statement, then score it as zero. For the moment do not concern yourself with the codes at the end of each question, or try to anticipate what they mean. They will be used later in assessing the results. You just need to note which rating goes with which question number. So ideally, write numbers 1 – 72 on your paper leaving a space by each for your rating score. Or if you are working on a paper print out, write your rating by each statement.
When you are ready you can begin the project.
THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Please rate each of these statements in terms of how much you agree or disagree with them using the rating scale above.
1) All people, regardless of how they behave, will finally cease to exist as individuals and return to One Undifferentiated Spirit, like a drop of ocean spray returning to the sea. E5
2) In the end, I just return to dust like everything else. A5
3) By adopting certain behaviours and rituals I (or some specially trained or sensitive people) can gain a command of hidden and obscure forces in the universe. PrS3
4) By stilling the mind and focussing within, (some) people can communicate with spirit-beings in order to get guidance and help. Cii4
5) Every person, animal and object in nature has a soul – animals, birds, trees, waterfalls, mountains – everything. Bii2
6) Everything in nature, whether it is alive or not, has a soul - therefore I need to behave ethically and respectfully with regard to my environment, monitoring my behaviour and taking care to behave well. Bii3
7) Everything in the natural world is an expression and manifestation of God who at the same time is also transcendent and above it. Div2
8) Everything is an expression of One Inherent Primary Soul that is inherent in the nature of the universe, therefore I should take care to behave in a respectful and right way. Biii3
9) Spirituality is just a theoretical construct and spiritual experiences can be understood purely in biological and physiological terms such as brainwave patterns and altered modes of consciousness. A6
10) God is not distantly transcendent but is expressed and revealed in all that exists creating an essential Unity in the separate parts of the Universe. Diii5
11) God is expressed in all things and yet at the same time is also Transcendent of all things and is therefore the Unifier of all that is. Div5
12) God is not distant and above us – the things of nature are a manifestation and expression of God. Diii2
13) God is not remote and distant in any way, but revealed and present in all things, including me, and thus is a Source of Wisdom and Light within me. Diii4
14) There are many gods and goddesses and they all serve to unite the world in harmony. Di5
15) I am beginning to think seriously about the possibility of the real existence of a whole panoply of spirit-beings – angels, demons, nature spirits and so on. Cii1
16) I am beginning to think that there may be some truth in the idea that there are lots of deities or gods and goddesses. Di1
17) There is a unifying field or energy or force that unites and underpins the whole universe, though scientific research has not found it yet. PrS5
18) I am starting the seriously think that there is just one God. Dii1
19) There is no spiritual being that I have to face after death so I do not need to change or monitor my behaviour because of such a false idea. A3
20) I feel an inner affinity with some of the gods and goddesses that govern the world such that they sometimes give me insight into how the world really is. Di4
21) I am beginning to consider that I have (or am) a soul that forms an essential part of my human nature and that will survive my physical death and I am beginning to consider the implications of this. Bi1
22) I have an essential unity or oneness with all that exists because all that exists springs from One Primary Soul that makes up its inherent nature. Biii5
23) I have to appease and obey the various ruling gods and goddesses and make sure that my behaviour is worthy of them. Di3
24) I listen to the inner voice of the One Primary Soul that is inherent in all that exists. Biii4
25) I must follow certain routines or rituals in order to keep mischievous imps and spirits at bay and thus avoid minor accidents and misfortune. Ci3
26) If people deal with spirits they have to behave in a way that does not anger the spirit and bring misfortune, but deal with spirits in a way that gains their approval, bringing success and happiness. Cii3
27) I have started to think about the real possibility of there being house-sprites, familiar spirits or fairy-folk. Ci1
28) I have begun to consider the idea that the earth, perhaps even the whole universe, has a Soul as an inherent aspect of its nature. Biii1
29) I want to start to explore idea that the hidden sciences, such as alchemy, clairvoyance and astrology, contain important truths about hidden forces and powers in the material world. PrS1
30) If I would find God I need to get rid of God. Dii6
31) Everything is a manifestation of God who in Essence is also transcendent of all, therefore I am beginning to change my behaviour in order to become who I really am – a manifestation of Transcendent Spirit. Div3
32) In the end, I need to forsake my acceptance of gods and goddesses in order to unite with Transcendent Spirit. Di6
33) Inherent in all that exists is One Primary Soul that is the foundation of everything. Biii2
34) Ultimately, I may be embraced by the one God but I can never become one with God by becoming the same as God. Dii5
35) It is important to be eco-friendly and respect our environment because God is not in heaven – rather, everything in the world is an expression of God. Diii3
36) It is possible for a sprite, elf or similar spirit-being to enter my body and give me instructions, insight and advice from within, or even to cause me to act in an uncharacteristic way. Ci4
37) Ultimately, there is no difference between me and other people, animals or objects, because everything is essentially one soul. Biii6
38) My soul and the souls of animals, birds, trees, water and fire Ultimately lose their distinction and separateness. Bii6
39) There is One God - the Creator and Lord of all the earth. Dii2
40) My soul can connect with the souls of other people, trees or animals and thus gain insightful knowledge of them. Bii4
41) I am beginning to think that only matter is real – spirituality is probably a fable or
myth A1
42) Since everything is simultaneously both Infinite Spirit and a finite expression of Spirit, as such a finite expression of Spirit myself, I seek to emulate my True Nature as Absolute Spirit and try to avoid divisive or disharmonious behaviour. E3
43) My soul is an inner source of light, peace and harmony. Bi4
44) Since in my True Nature I am God Who is in Essence Transcendent of all, there is in me, even as a finite being, an inner Source of Infinite Light and Wisdom. Div4
45) Since my Essence is no different from Absolute Spirit, I am my own Source of Infinite Wisdom. E4
46) In the end, my soul will join the vast company of other souls to remain with them for all eternity. Bi5
47) Spirits affect natural forces in this world – there are storm spirits, sea spirits, tree spirits and so on – some good, some mischievous - all of them active in the world around us. Cii2
48) Conventional views of spirituality are just mental projections and theories. Though Spirit is manifest as all things yet God is not this, not that. E6
49) Sprites, goblins, elves and fairies and other spirit-beings are not real, they are aspects and metaphors of the One Unknowable Undifferentiated Spirit. Ci6
50) The fact that everything has a soul means that in the end, the souls of animals, plants and objects will continue to exist forever in a spirit-universe. Bii5
51) The fact that I have (or am) a soul inherent in my nature, distinguishes me from other aspects of and creatures in the universe. Bi2
52) The forces and energies that underpin the universe can never be known, conceptualised or understood. PrS6
53) The future state of my soul after my physical death is dependent on how I live my life now. Bi3
54) The idea that animals, birds and other creatures have souls is something that I am beginning to consider. Bii1
55) The idea that God is both in all things and simultaneously Transcendent of all things is an idea that I am starting to explore. Div1
56) The natural world has no hidden spiritual aspect – it is purely physical. A2
57) Though God is expressed in all that is and is simultaneously Transcendent of all that is, the Universe can only point to That which cannot be known or conceptualised. Div6
58) The Spirit of the one God resides in me as the still small voice. Dii4
59) The idea that God, spirits and souls in the way that we usually understand them, do not exist and the Unknowability of Transcendent Formless Spirit is something I am starting to explore more deeply. E1
60) There are a number of different gods and goddesses ruling different spheres of nature – one rules the sky, another the sea and so on. Di2
61) Ultimately, my soul will merge with everything else into one undifferentiated Essence. Bi6
62) There are energies, fields and forces in nature that make the universe highly connected and unified. In this way, the time and place of my birth and the position of the planets affect my destiny. PrS2
63) There are some people who have heightened sensitivity to hidden energy fields and forces in nature whereby they gain insights, wisdom and even prophetic abilities. PrS4
64) There is a host of angels and spirits waiting to help unite us all in peace and harmony. Cii5
65) I am going to explore the idea that God is not transcendently distant but rather, close and present or manifest in all that exists. Diii1
66) Sprites, elves and fairies all work together with humans and animals to bring harmony. Ci5
67) There is only one God, who has instructed us to live pure lives and given laws that we should obey. We will have to stand before the one God Who is our Judge. Dii3
68) Though God is expressed and manifest in all things, yet no one thing, nor all the things taken together, is God. Diii6
69) The natural world is a delimited finite material expression of Infinite Formless Spirit which is its Unknowable True Essence. E2
70) Ultimately angels are rendered useless and non-existent in the light of One Formless Spirit. Cii6
71) There are certain places – waterfalls, groves of trees, forests – where sprites, elves or even mischievous hobgoblins are present. Ci2
72) My culturally learned values of right and wrong are my only inner guide. A4
AFTER THE TEST
Now we need to make sense of your rating scores. To do this you will need another piece of paper, a pen or pencil and a calculator will help.
When you have completed the test, you should have seventy-two rating scores each linked to a question number. On your piece of paper draw columns and lines on it like this:
6
5
4
3
2
1
PrS A Bi Bii Biii Ci Cii Di Dii Diii Div E
You now have a matrix grid of 6 lines and 12 columns. Go back through the questions and you will see that at the end of each statement there is a code that looks something like this: Dii3. In this case, this means that you must place your rating in column Dii and line 3, like this:
6
5
4
3 * your rating here
2
1
PrS A Bi Bii Biii Ci Cii Di Dii Diii Div E
Do this now with all your rating scores.
When you have done this you will have 72 rating scores arranged in 6 lines and 12 columns.
Total up the scores for each line and for each column.
Add together the total scores of columns PrS and A.
Add together the total scores of columns Bi right through to E.
Add together each pair of scores for each line in columns PrS and A.
Add together the ten scores for each line in columns Bi right through to E
We are now ready to analyse or interrogate your matrix of ratings.
a) General breadth and depth of transcendent ideas and practice
First of all there is your total score for columns Bi right through to E. In theory, this could be up to plus (+) 300 and down to minus (–) 300. But it will be somewhere in between. But this total figure is far too general to have much meaning on its own. You may have a reasonably strong transcendent monotheistic viewpoint, but you may also have a strong opposition to certain other forms of transcendent thinking and behaviour, such that you may disagree with the notion of say polytheism on the one hand and on the other, you may believe in and accept the idea that there are a panoply of spirit-beings but be opposed to working with such spirits which you may tend to see as mischievous and deceitful. Both of these negative ratings would offset your total general score of transcendence. This total general transcendence score can be refined if you simply total up the positive (+) scores from the columns and ignore the biasing effects of the negative (-) scores.
The score in column A in particular reflects a general attitude to materialistic thinking and practice. If this is a positive (+) rating then the columns Bi through to E should be negative (-). If this the score in column A is negative (-) then at least one or more of the columns Bi through to E should be positive (+). A positive rating in column A AND in any of the columns Bi through to E indicates potential contradictions in thought and concept. One cannot be a materialist and spiritual. However a negative rating in column A (-) does not mean that all of the columns Bi through to E should be positive (+). A person may reject all spiritual categories except say polytheism, which they may strongly agree with and this is enough to give them a negative score in column A. They have a transcendent viewpoint, a spiritual outlook that is strongly centred around the notion of polytheism, which means that they are not materialistic, even though they may also rejects notions of the soul, spirits and other theistic ideas. If we are materialistic then we are not spiritual, and if we subscribe to just one transcendent category, then we cannot be materialistic.
b) Scope of transcendence
Take a look at your total scores for the columns. Is there a wide distribution of positive (+) scores such that a lot of columns have a positive total score? Or on the other hand, are there just one or two columns with a positive score whereas the others have neutral or negative scores? A wide range of positive total scores across the columns reveals an acceptance of a wide scope of notions of transcendence where one is sympathetic to and accepting of many different perspectives and ideas within spirituality. If just one or two columns have positive scores, then this reveals a more narrow focus on particular transcendent philosophies or theologies. Negative scores in a column indicate opposition to that category of transcendent spirituality. A broad swathe of negative scores across most columns indicates a broad and general opposition to transcendent spirituality whereas negative scores in just one or two columns indicate opposition to particular forms of transcendent spirituality.
c) Depth of transcendence
Take a look again at your total scores for the columns but this time look at the values of the total scores. The highest or lowest value that you can have in any column is plus (+) 30 or minus (-) 30. The higher the value - whether it is positive or negative - the greater the depth of response. A high negative value in a column indicates quite strong opposition to the ideas and practices represented in this category column. (We shall see what these ideas are in a moment). A high positive value in a column indicates a strong agreement with the ideas and practices represented in that category column.
d) Intensity of transcendence
Take a look again at your total scores for the columns but this time look at the column with the highest value, whether it is negative or positive. This would seem to indicate your specific gravity as it were, in relation to spiritual transcendence – it is the strongest point and the point to which you most likely gravitate to. This may take the form of positive acceptance or negative rejection and disagreement. Now look at the scores in the columns either side. They may have a reverse polarity to your highest value column – for example, you may score +20 in your highest value column, say Dii, but the columns either side, columns Di and Diii may score minus (–) 10 and (–) 12 respectively. Conversely your highest value column may be say column Di with a score of minus (–) 22, but columns Cii and Dii may score +15 and +12 respectively. A reverse of polarity like this indicates a viewpoint and practice that is intense and narrowly focussed. The more polarised the values, that is the greater the difference between the totals of these columns, the more dogmatic or even bigoted the viewpoint may be. This opposition may be in a category that a person has just moved from. The negative response indicates a distancing and moving away from this category into the category with the highest positive (+) score.
e) Categories of spirituality
What do the individual columns represent? They reflect different categories within and outside of spirituality in general. The columns are as follows:
A) Materialism
PrS) Proto-science – Some forms of alchemy, astrology and magic
B) The realm of the soul
i) Human soul
ii) Non-human souls
iii) One primary Soul
C) The realm of spirits
i) Fairy folk
ii) Spirits and nature spirits
D) Theism or the realm of deities
i) Polytheism
ii) Monotheism
iii) Pantheism
iv) Panentheism
E) Transendantism
Take a look again at your total scores for the columns and look again at the column with the highest value, whether it is negative or positive, note the code letter and check which of these categories that column represents. If it is positive (+) then you subscribe to this category either of spirituality, materialism or proto-science. If it is negative, then you disagree with this particular category of spirituality, materialism or proto-science. If it is a near neutral value then you are either apathetic and disinterested or you do not understand the statement in the questionnaire.
f) A movement to transcendence
From left to right, these columns follow increasingly transcendent lines of thought and concept. For example, on the far left we have materialistic thought – a philosophy that is not sympathetic to spiritual or transcendent realms at all. These ideas are reflected in columns PrS and A. A high score here should give low or negative scores in the other columns indicating a strong sense of the material and physical as the only reality and spiritual transcendence as being something of a myth or delusion. The further you are to the right of this matrix, the more transcendent your conceptualisations and perceptions are. On the extreme right on the other hand, is the kind of transcendent non-dualistic thinking and conceptualisation employed by mystics such as Shankara or Eckhart. High scores towards this end of the matrix should produce correspondingly low or negative scores in column A. Transcendent thought only begins in column Bi – Column A is pure materialism and Column PrS is proto-science, which, whilst it may sometimes have an appearance of transcendent or spiritual thought, ultimately has a foundation in materialistic philosophy also.
g) Scope of spiritual practice or religious behaviour
Ignoring columns A and PrS, add up your total ratings for each of the lines. Looking across the totals for each of the lines, is there a wide distribution of positive (+) scores such that a lot of lines have a positive total score? Or on the other hand, are there just one or two lines with a positive score whereas the others have neutral or negative scores? A wide range of positive total scores across these lines reveals the acceptance of or involvement in a wide scope of spiritual practices where one is sympathetic to many different religious or spiritual behaviours and approaches. If just one or two lines have positive scores, then this reveals a more narrow focus on particular spiritual or religious practices. The reverse is also true where negative scores are the result. A negative score on a line indicates an opposition to that particular religious or spiritual path. A broad swathe of negative scores across most lines indicates a broad and general opposition to spiritual or religious practices or behaviour.
Now add up your total scores for each of the lines just in columns A and PrS. Looking across the totals for each of the lines just for these two columns, is there a wide distribution of positive (+) scores such that a lot of lines have a positive total score? Or on the other hand, are there just one or two lines with a positive score whereas the others have neutral or negative scores? A wide range of positive total scores across the lines of these two columns reveals a wide scope of practice consistent with a materialistic viewpoint. If just one or two lines have positive scores, then this reveals a more narrow focus on particular aspects of materialistic behaviour. Negative scores on the other hand infer some support of transcendent spiritual practice. A broad swathe of negative scores across most lines for these two columns infers a broad and general support for spiritual practices or behaviour.
h) Depth of spiritual or religious practice
Take a look again at your total scores for the lines of these two column groups (A and PrS; and Bi through to E) but this time look at the values of the total scores. The highest or lowest value that you can have in any line in the two-column group is plus (+) 10 to minus (-) 10. The highest or lowest value that you can have in any line in the ten-column group is plus (+) 50 to minus (-) 50. The higher the value - whether it is positive or negative - the greater the depth of your response.
A high negative value for a line indicates quite strong opposition to the practices represented in this line. (We shall see what these are in a moment). A high positive value for a line indicates a strong agreement with the practices represented in that line. As we have seen before, the two-column group refers to practices and behaviours consistent with a materialistic, non-transcendent viewpoint, so a positive rating here indicates agreement with these behaviours, whereas a negative rating infers openness to or support for non-materialistic, spiritual related behaviours. In contrast, the ten-column group refers to practices and behaviours consistent with a more transcendent or spiritual outlook, so a positive rating here indicates support and acceptance of behaviours and practices linked to transcendent, spiritual perspectives. A negative rating suggests an outlook more consistent with materialism, and even an opposition to or resistance to certain spiritual paths and religious behaviour.
i)Intensity of religious practice
Take a look again at your total ratings for the lines in the two column groups, but this time look at the line with the highest value, whether it is negative or positive. This would seem to indicate your specific gravity as it were, in relation to spiritual paths or religious practice – it is the strongest point and the point to which you most likely gravitate to. This may take the form of positive acceptance or negative rejection. Now look at the scores in the lines just above and below this high scoring line. They may have a reverse polarity to your highest value line – for example, you may score +20 in your highest value line, say line 3, but the lines either side, line 2 and Line 4 may score minus (–) 10 and (–) 12 respectively. Conversely your highest value line may be say line 4 with a score of minus (–) 22, but line 3 and line 5 may score +15 and +12 respectively. A reverse of polarity like this indicates a religious or spiritual practice that is intense and narrowly focussed to the exclusion of other approaches. The more polarised the values, that is the greater the difference between the totals of these adjacent lines, the more dogmatic or entrenched the religious behaviour may be. Moderately high negative values in a line like this may indicate a path or religious practice that one has forsaken or that one is seeking to distance oneself from in favour of another approach, probably the one with the highest positive score.
As before, the two column groups represent opposite approaches: Column group A and PrS deals with materialistic viewpoints so positive scores on these lines represent an acceptance of materialistic practices. Column group Bi through to E represents different aspects of spiritual and transcendent thinking, so positive scores on lines in this column group represents an acceptance of spiritual paths and practices.
j) Categories of religious practice
What do the individual lines represent? They represent different ways of approaching the spiritual dimension, and are based on the ‘Ways’ outlined in classical theology. They are:
1) The beginning of the spiritual walk
2) The path of nature spirituality
3) The path of purgation
4) The path of inner illumination
5) The path of Unity
6) The path of Transcendent negation
It is generally accepted that as we progress through these paths from 1 to 6, there is an increasing level of transcendent practice, with 6 being the most transcendent path of all.
Take a look again at your total scores for the lines and look again at the line in each of the two column groups that gives the highest value, whether it is negative or positive. Note the line number and check which of these paths that this line represents. If it is positive (+) then you subscribe to this path either of spirituality, materialism or proto-science. If it is negative, then you disagree with this particular path of spirituality, materialism or proto-science. If it is a near neutral value then you are either apathetic, disinterested or do not understand this approach or practice.
From lines 1 to 6, these lines follow increasingly transcendent ways of behaving. For example, in path 1 we have the very beginnings of interest in transcendent spirituality, where the person starts to actively inquire about some aspect of the transcendent. A high score here indicates a person who is starting out or inquiring about some new aspect of spirituality. The further we ascend these lines on this matrix, the more transcendent our behaviours and practices are. At the top, is the kind of transcendent non-dualistic thinking and conceptualisation employed by mystics such as Shankara or Eckhart. High scores towards this top end of the matrix indicate a tendency to transcendent behaviour.
k) Putting lines and columns together – belief and practice
What we have in this matrix then is levels of transcendence reflected not only by a movement from left to right, but also in a movement from the bottom to the top. This means that the top right hand corner is perhaps the most transcendent spiritual position because it is farthest to the right and at the top. But anywhere around the top line and right hand side column is a pretty transcendent position, with columns representing ideas and concepts and lines leaning towards behaviour and practice.
This means that you can now select your highest positive scoring cell or cells and see where you fall on the (horizontal) materialistic-transcendent conceptualisation and the (vertical) mundane-transcendent practice matrix. You can also find highest negative rated cell or cells and see where your main resistance or opposition lies. The higher the values, then the greater the acceptance/resistance of this particular concept/behaviour group are.
l) Compound or simple spirituality
Take a look again at the general distribution of your scores. Do your high positive or negative scores just centre on a few of the cells, or are your high ratings clustered over a wider range of cells? If your high value cells are limited to a small group, this indicates a simple, well defined spiritual philosophy and practice. On the other hand, if your high ratings are spread over quite a range of cells, this indicates a more complex, compound structure of belief and practice, where a number of different elements of spiritual thinking and practice are combined together. Christianity is an example of a more compound structure, since it spans belief in human souls, a panoply of spirits – of angels and demons and a single God. It also adopts a range of practices mainly centred on path 3 but spilling over into others around it.
m) Apathy or just don’t understand?
Take a look now at your neutral scores – that is, ratings that are around zero or plus or minus one. These low scores indicate either an apathy or disinterest in this particular area, or they may reflect the fact that you did not really understand the concept/practice duality that was represented in the statement in the questionnaire. If you refer back to the questions that you rated as zero, you will soon be able to tell whether your rating reflects apathy or a greater need for explanation of the concept. You will also be able to tell which areas of the matrix apathy and/or lack of understanding relate to.
n) Widening the application
In this project, you have explored your approach to transcendent concepts and practices, situating yourself in classifications on a conceptual map of spirituality and transcendence. You have explored what you think and feel and how you behave in relation to spirituality and in doing so, you have again orientated yourself with regard to classifications on this map. But you could widen the application to explore where you think, say, Christianity falls on this map. In addition, you could do a similar analysis of say Islam, and then see how to two compare – where they are similar and where they are different.
What this approach has not done is to compare and outline the different beliefs and philosophies of different religions in this way. It does not situate you into Christianity, or Islam, or Buddhism. It has gone beneath the surface ideas of these religions to the deeper currents and ideas that inform their doctrines about and relations to the transcendent spiritual realm. Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all monotheistic, yet they work out sometimes quite a different set of ideas on what that means in practice and concept. Butt there is a real sense that these religions are all at a similar level of transcendence, or have similar levels of transcendence within them and that is what will be reflected here.
o) Materialism category differentiated
For the purposes of creating this matrix, I have grouped a number of materialistic paths into one category: Category A. For the purposes of greater differentiation of materialistic thought and behaviour in relation to spirituality and transcendence, we can describe two paths within the materialistic framework, both of which exist outside of the spiritual paths listed in the matrix. These two paths were omitted purely to enable simplicity in sorting your ratings. However these paths emerge in the ratings given in the matrix as we shall see. These two non-transcendent paths are:
PATH 0i - THE PATH OF SPIRITUAL DISINTEREST
There are of course many people who are not interested in spirituality or religion of any kind. However, if they are pressed or harassed about spiritual matters, such people may well turn to anger or ridicule. (Path 0ii below). The people here in this path (0i) are simply not engaged in spiritual matters – they do not pray, go to worship, read spiritual literature or engage in any religious practice or discipline. Such behaviour is seen as irrelevant, pointless, not worth the effort and so on. They are not seeking after spiritual truth or particularly against ideas of spirituality or those who follow religion – they are just not interested, having no desires after God or spirituality. At best, if engaged in debate, they may be idly curious - gaining entertainment from the mischievous cut and thrust of the debate rather than being engaged in the content itself. Any transcendental or mystical ‘spiritual’ experiences would be understood by them purely in material terms such as altered states of consciousness due to altered brainwave patterns and so on. As we have seen, scores of near zero may indicate this approach, but such scores may also indicate uncertainty or lack of understanding.
PATH 0ii - THE PATH OF SPIRITUAL OPPOSITION
There are of course also many people who may be hostile to spirituality or religion of any kind and may even be hostile to those who advocate spirituality and religious practice. They may be insolent or arrogant and may ridicule spiritual beliefs and practices and may even blaspheme or misuse sacred things. They may mock those who follow spirituality and generally despise them or treat them with disdain even to the point of falsely accusing them. They certainly do not practice any form of spiritual discipline themselves and regard spirituality and religion as woolly-headed sentimental nonsense, or a sign of weakness at best or the cause of many troubles and conflicts in the world at worst. These people are engaged in spirituality, but in a negative way. The opposition may be against spirituality and/or religion in general, or it may be specifically targeted against one category of religion or spirituality or against a particular spiritual path. Negative scores in this project indicate this attitude of opposition.
p) Beginning to investigate spirituality
The bottom line of the matrix represents a beginning curiosity about each of the categories. Thus cell Bi1 reflects a person starting to inquire as to whether they have a soul or not. The higher the score in one of these line 1 cells, the more one is engaged in starting to explore that particular area of spirituality. A negative score here means that the person is either opposed to even starting to think about the area concerned, or is opposed to that area of spirituality or is already well-established in that area. A negative score therefore in cell Bi1 means that the person either does not want to start to think about the possibility of having a soul, or is opposed to even starting to think about such an idea, or they are already well established in their views about having a soul so they do not need to start to think about it again.
q) Your personal spiritual matrix code.
Taking all the above into consideration, you can now produce a 12 figure personal spiritual matrix code based on how you have answered this questionnaire. This is rather like a dna analysis code, except that it represents your subjective assessment of elements of your thought/behaviour patterns with regard to spirituality and transcendence. Because the bottom line is concerned only with beginnings and initial investigations into aspects of spirituality, this line will be ignored. So, to total up your established code of transcendence, total up the values in each of the columns, ignoring the bottom value (line 1). You will then have 12 numbers. Create a space between the first pair of totals and the remaining ten, because the first pair of numbers are to do with mundane, non-transcendent thought and behaviour. You will then have a code something like this:
-5 -15 3 -2 -10 -5 10 -9 20 -10 -15 -20
From all the above discussion and analysis, you know what category of spirituality each number refers to, you know that the higher the value, the greater your response – be it negative opposition or positive acceptance. You know that values near zero represent either apathy or a lack of understanding of the concepts involved. You know that the further to the right your highest value is, then the more transcendent your outlook and behaviour is. You know that the more narrow your range of positive values are – that is, if there are only one or two positive values then the scope of your spirituality is narrow and selective. If you have five, six or more positive numbers, then you have a broad acceptance of spiritual ideas and practice. You know that if adjacent values to your highest value number have a reverse sign (- or +), then your spiritual views are even more particular and selective. You know that the first two numbers refer to a materialistic perspective and that if one or more of these are positive values, then if you are consistent in your thoughts and behaviours, the remaining numbers referring to spirituality, should be negative.
Finally however, in reducing the lines of the matrix to one line, some differentiation of data has been lost.
For further discussion and explanation of the construction of this grid and it’s categories and paths, see the study document ‘The spiritual matrix’ by Pilgrim Simon.
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