Tuesday, April 12, 2016

A Map Of Spiritual Development

"Even "grown-ups" can continue to evolve more complex mental systems, analogous to the transformation from childhood to adolescence, enabling a more responsible, less egocentric grasp of reality."
Robert Keagan

Could it be true? Could I become more spiritually grown up? This map is very general but it encourages me. I see that these stages are fluid and we move in and out of them as we experience life.



  1. The Concrete Stage- Everything in life relates to "me" and "mine". We are not able to be empathetic with those outside of our own group
  2. The Abstract Operations Stage- Our conscious begins to expand. Still, we are intolerant of opinions counter to our own and we become defensive. Not able to put ourselves in another's shoes. Our self-worth is equated with achievement. We try to meet other's expectations and are untrue to our own.



3. The Content Aware Stage- We become aware of the unreliable nature of our own thoughts. We begin to get some distance from our own thoughts and the content of our mind. We start to tune into the wisdom of our body and learn to understand our emotions. We start to gather knowledge from more than just our rational mind.
4. The Construct Aware Stage- We become aware that our own perceptions and world view are only partial views of things as they really are. We value intuition and spiritual promptings more. We start to see that things are right as they are and that everything has been provided for us. 
5- The Unitive Stage- We profoundly experience the interconnectedness of all things. We feel a vaster reality. Losing the sense of being a separate self, we are in the present moment. Our perspective of the trials of life change.  

Keagan, among several other modern psychologists. reports that continual development to higher stages of human capacity is especially likely when supported by appropriate life practices.

What could those be?


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