We usually put in this item of information the religion we are affiliated with. Some put Roman Catholic, others put Protestant, still others just put Christian, or Muslim, or Hindu, or Buddhist or other terms like agnostic or atheist or none.
But today where more and more no longer enter the church or practice their religion or who prefer to be called “the unchurched”, it seems that it will become useless to ask their religion because it does not describe them as to their religious beliefs.
Religion or Spiritual Type?
A better term to put in this item might be “spiritual type”. But since this term is rather new to most people, it will take some time before this item will be put in our biodata or on government forms, if it will be put at all.
The term “religion” refers to what religious group a person belongs to. But the term “spiritual type” refers to his or her spiritual orientation.
Quizzes on Spiritual Types
There are quizzes on spiritual types. Some are serious. Others are just for entertainment. I took one for entertainment. After completing the test I was rated as confident believer. There are eight categories in the results of this quiz, from hardcore skeptic to candidate for clergy.
Another quiz has these categories in the results: sage, prophet, lover, mystic.
How about you? What is your spiritual type?
There are many ways of classifying spiritual types. Here are some of them and you may rate yourself accordingly.
Western Oriented or Eastern Oriented or Both
Your spiritual type is either western oriented or eastern oriented or a combination of both. You are western oriented if you subscribe to the writings in the Western part of the world, like the Christian Bible or the Muslim Qur’an. You are eastern oriented if you prefer to get ideas from the writings in the Eastern part of the world, like the Bhagavad Gita of the Hindus or the Tripitaka of the Buddhists. It is possible that you combine both types, believing in all these sacred writings. After all it is not impossible to be a Christian and yet believe also in reincarnation or practice yoga. Some Christians think that this is impossible to combine, Christianity and belief in reincarnation. But Jesus himself said that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah the prophet.
Theistic or Atheistic or Agnostic
Your spiritual type may be theistic or atheistic or agnostic. It is theistic if you believe in God, atheistic if you do not believe in God, or agnostic if you do not care about this belief or profess that you cannot know anything about God.
Beginner or Proficient or Perfect
In the classical treatment of western spirituality there were basically three spiritual types which were really stages in prayer. These were the beginners, the proficient, and the perfect. The beginners were those who have decided to renounce the world and made a resolve to practice the discipline of prayer. The proficient was one who was already practicing the discipline of prayer and is already progressing in this exercise. The perfect was the one who attained already the contemplative level in prayer, where he or she no longer prays with words or ideas but only with a loving desire focused on God. I want to add here a fourth level, the non-beginners, those who have not yet resolve anything as regards their spiritual life.
A More Useful Classification of Spiritual Types
Perhaps a more useful classification of spiritual types would be: a) The non-conscious seeker of the Spirit; b) The purposeful seeker of the Spirit; c) The finder of the Spirit; d) The sharer of the Spirit.
a. The non-conscious seeker of the Spirit is one who has no idea yet of the spiritual life or spirituality. The majority of people would fall under this category.
b. The purposeful seeker is one who has already begun his or her search for the things of the spirit in a conscious manner. He or she knows that he or she is in pursuit of the things of the spirit and wants to continue.
c. The finder of the Spirit is one who has already found the connection with the Spirit and has a constant communication with him. The spiritual life is not a continuous search for what we cannot find. It has to end in a “eureka”.
d. The sharer of the Spirit is one who leads others to the Spirit. We have here the spiritual teachers who guide others safely to the things of the spirit.
My question is: What is your spiritual type? If you are reading this most probably you are a seeker. Or you may be a finder already. Think about your spiritual type and if you are not yet a sharer of the Spirit, learn more about him. He will guide you to share him with others.
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Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:
http://bit.ly/spiritdev for your spiritual growth
http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health
http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us
http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet
Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.
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