Find Your True Self by Discovering Your Spiritual Temperament
Deepen Your journey and Locate Your True Path
Reverend Sara shared with me the following precept:
“One’s True Path is their duty, their work in this life. We all need to find and walk our true path, to be in our true place. This supports the world’s unfolding in love. We best find this by understanding ourselves, including our spiritual temperament.”
She developed her Spiritual Temperament assessments to support people who want to discover their natural spiritual inclination(s). These evaluations are rooted in the firm belief that:
“Everyone has a part to play in the world. You have a part to play in the world. Your part matters. You matter. We come to know what our part is, in part, by coming to know ourselves, which is a multi-faceted endeavor. One part of knowing ourselves is understanding our spiritual temperament. This understanding allows us to deepen and grow on the spiritual journey.”
There are four spiritual temperaments. Think of it like a spiritual version of a Myers Briggs personality test.
- The path of Philosophical Reflection. (R)
- The path of Loving Devotion. (D)
- The path of Active Living. (A)
- The path of Experimentation. (E)
While most of us have only one or two types leading the way, we all contain all four in some ratio. The ultimate goal of the assessment is to first spark curiosity about your inner life and then to suggest practices that will likely support you in coming more fully alive.
The Path and Practices for Loving Devotion
From my assessment, my two leading types are D and A, which means my spiritual temperament is Devoted Active (DA).
My primary temperament is “Loving Devotion.” This is the path to your Higher Power through love – no matter who your Higher Power is (I call mine God), and it’s for people who are naturally affectionate and devoted. On this path, people tend toward devotional faith and often have deep affection for their Higher Power specifically and life in general.
Among other things, it involves refining one's state of mind, knowing your Higher Power, and directing the love that lies at the base of every heart toward your Higher Power. People on this path receive deep meaning from approaching their lives and activities from a place of love and devotion. Music tends to be very meaningful.
Furthermore, “Loving Devotion” people have a deep longing for connection with their Higher Power and to deeply experience this connection. Not only is a person with this spiritual type willing to starve the ego by giving heart and will to their Higher Power, but they find this “giving up” enriching.
In short, Loving Devotion is rooted in recognizing that life is powered by love and then living into that belief. Reverend Sara then set me on the following course:
· Adore your Higher Power with every element of your being.
· Unite with your Higher Power in a union of love, the very highest form of friendship.
· Love your higher power dearly for love’s sake alone
· Know your joy, for nothing is so joyous as being fully in love.
· Strengthen your affection for your Higher Power – and loosen the world’s grip.
· Learn to see the reflected glory of your Higher Power in the world.
Reverend Sara then gave me practices to follow to help me love out my temperament to the fullest. These are guides, so please use them as such. You know yourself better than anyone else.
Suggested Practices:
- Praying with wholehearted devotion
- Music – chanting, singing, hymns, and using any genre, as long as it connects you with your Higher Power
- Worship
- Mantra
- Reading scripture
- Service
- Surrender
- Loving devotion as an attitude towards life
The Path and Practices for Active Living
My second temperament is “Active Living.” This is the path of unselfish action, one preferred by naturally active and energetic people. On this path, you develop the ability to regard any activity – from physical exercise to one’s profession – as devotion and dedication, whether it’s your Higher Power, life in general, or one’s duty. You also do it wholeheartedly for the benefit of others and/or without being attached to the outcome.
Adherents to this path derive deep meaning from work of any kind, be it in the home, in a job, in sport, or wherever they focus their energy. People who have this spiritual type have a deep longing for composure and a deep sense of peace in their work, even when it’s intense. They long to learn to live apart from fear, craving, self-pity, self-aggrandizement, and extreme reactiveness.
Overtime, someone with this temperament acts and does his or her duty with no thought for their own fame, privilege, or financial reward, but simply out of dedication to their Higher Power. I’ve seen this path lived out by homemakers, teachers, doctors, executives, carpenters, garbage collectors, and everything in between.
Reverend Sara recommends the following practices for people on the “Active Living” path:
· Do one thing at a time.
· Do not rush – unless it is an emergency (and even then, be thoughtful).
· Regard physical exercise as a spiritual activity and put your all into it with devotion.
· Do each thing as it comes, as if it were the only thing you need to do. Having done it, turn to the next in similar spirit.
· For each task that falls to you, put your all into it. Once you have done that one task, let it go, and do not be attached to the outcome. Learn to dissociate yourself from the act. Let the chips fall where they may.
· Learn your secret of work: “Every movement can carry you Godward, even while other things are being accomplished.”
No matter which path is yours, the goal of all four paths is to return to and know pure consciousness, to know your Higher Power, and to truly know our Selves. I encourage you to first discover your Spiritual Assessment and then follow that path and its related practices to find your True Self.
Interested in exploring how your personal Spiritual Assessment can help you become a better leader, partner, friend, parent, and person? Contact me today to set up your initial consultation.