Chart 6: Stages of Spirituality
Chart 6: Stages of Spirituality
The contemplative-traditions chart referenced directly in the body text (see Is Spirituality Developmental? The Five Definitions) — Sufism, Buddhist Mahamudra, Christian and Islamic mystics, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, and a dozen Western researchers of faith/spiritual development, across three sub-parts (6A, 6B, 6C in the source).
Transcribed and cross-checked against the source page images
(library/2000-integral-psychology-images/00040.jpg-00045.jpg); draft, not yet
independently verified by a second pass.
Hazrat Inayat Khan, Mahamudra, and Fowler
| Level | Structure | Hazrat Inayat Khan (Sufism) | Mahamudra (stages of meditation) | Fowler (stages of faith) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensorimotor | Matter | Matter (nasut) | — | — |
| Sensation | Vegetable | |||
| Perception | Animal | 0. Preverbal, undifferentiated | ||
| Phantasmic-emotional | Impulse/emotion | Mundane-person (bodily desires) | — | — |
| Image | — | |||
| Symbol | — | Concepts and beliefs of gross mind | 1. Magical, projective | |
| Rep-mind | Endocept | Material-person (earthly gain) | — | 2. Mythic-literal |
| Conop | Rule/role, early | — | Right beliefs | 3. Conventional |
| Rule/role, late | — | — | ||
| Formop | Formal, early | Artistic person (beyond conventions) | — | 4. Individual-reflexive |
| Formal, late | — | — | ||
| Postformal | Vision-logic, early | Idealistic (universal principles) | Foundations: universal-ethical practices | 5. Conjunctive faith |
| Vision-logic, middle | — | Meditation: access; 1. one-pointedness, gross union | 6. Universalizing | |
| Vision-logic, late | — | — | — | |
| Psychic | Early (vision) | Djinn (genius) | Subtle perception, luminosity | — |
| Late | Vision mind (malkut) | — | ||
| Subtle | Early (archetype) | Soul (angelic) | 2. Simplicity | |
| Late | Akasha (archetypal) | Cessation, emptiness | ||
| Causal | Early (formless) | Arwah (divine luminosity) | 3. One taste, unity form/formless | |
| Late | Wahdat (witness) | — | ||
| Nondual | Early | Djabrut-cessation, formless | 4. Non-meditation | |
| Middle | Zat: absolute, consciousness, nondual | — | ||
| Late |
Underhill, Helminiak, and Funk (against the worldview stages)
This source page repeats Chart 1's worldview column in full (archaic through nondual) — not re-transcribed here.
| Corresponding worldview stage | Evelyn Underhill | Helminiak (spiritual development) | Funk (contact with Numinous) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archaic-magical / Magical | — | — | Libidinal, preperonal |
| Magic-mythic / Mythic-literal | Conceptual faith and beliefs | Conformist | Personal |
| Rational-universal | — | Conscientious-conformist, conscientious | Psychological |
| Integral-holistic | Contemplative illumination | Compassionate | Creative |
| (Global) | — | Cosmic | (Global) |
| Psychic (shamanic, yogic) | 1. Nature mysticism: union with stream of life, lateral expansion of consciousness | — | Nature mysticism |
| Subtle (archetypal, saintly) | 2. Metaphysical mysticism: recollection (archetypal), luminosity | — | Archetypal, theistic mysticism |
| Causal (formless) | Contemplation-divine love, divine ignorance (cessation) | — | — |
| Nondual | 3. Divine mysticism: dark night, union, constant consciousness | — | Spirit, union with absolute |
Daniel Brown, Ibn 'Arabi, and St. Palamas
Back to the basic-structures spine.
| Level | Structure | Daniel Brown (cross-cultural stages of meditation) | Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi (stations of zikr) | St. Palamas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sensorimotor | Matter | — | Mineral world | — |
| Sensation | Vegetal world | |||
| Perception | — | |||
| Exocept | — | |||
| Phantasmic-emotional | Impulse/emotion | — | Animal world | — |
| Conop | Rule/role, early | — | Surface | — |
| Rule/role, late | Signs | |||
| Formop | Formal, early | Preliminary practices | Universal order | — |
| Postformal | Vision-logic, early | — | Integral ideas | — |
| Psychic | Early (vision) | Concentration with support | Intellect in holy forms | Vision |
| Late | Transcending, gross perception | Vision-wholeness | Recollection | |
| Subtle | Early (archetype) | Subtle-perception | Ascending sights, divine light | Divine light |
| Late | Luminosity | Divine light | Theosis | |
| Causal | Early (formless) | Insight | Witness-totality | Formless |
| Late | Cessation, advanced insight | Gnosis, a returned one | Illumination | |
| Nondual | — | Enlightenment: a, b, c | — | — |
Highest Yoga Tantra
A self-contained esoteric sequence discussed directly in the body text (see the quoted passage on Is Spirituality Developmental?) — presented here as its own linear progression rather than forced onto the basic-structures spine. The source also names three "post-Enlightenment" states — savikalpa (luminosity, deity form), nirvikalpa (cessation), and sahaja ("non-meditation", one taste) — running alongside this sequence rather than as further steps within it.
| Stage of practice | Level of consciousness | Phenomenological sign of appearance |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Form (1st skandha) | Gross consciousness (80 gross mental conceptions, overall) | Dissolves into 2nd: mirage |
| 2. Sensation (2nd skandha) | Dissolves into 3rd: smoke | |
| 3. Perception-impulse (3rd skandha) | Dissolves into 4th: fireflies | |
| 4. Emotion-image (4th skandha) | Dissolves into 5th (gross mental consciousness): flickering butterlamp | |
| 5. Gross mental consciousness | — | Steady butterlamp |
| (Dissolution of gross consciousness) | Subtle consciousness: white appearance (luminosity) | Clear autumn moonlight |
| — | Red increase | Clear autumn sunlight |
| 6. Actual clear light attainment (cessation) | Very subtle (causal) consciousness: black near-attainment | Thick blackness of an autumn night |
| — clear light | — | Emptiness, dawn |
| — learner's union | — | — |
| 7. Buddhahood | — | — |
St. Teresa, against the basic structures and the General Great Chain
| Level | General Great Chain | St. Teresa (seven stages of interior life) |
|---|---|---|
| Sensorimotor | Matter | — |
| Phantasmic-emotional | Body | — |
| Rep-mind / Conop / Formop | Mind | 1. Humility; 2. Practice, prayer; 3. Exemplary life |
| Psychic | Soul | 4. Prayer of recollection, early visions |
| Subtle | 5. Prayer of union (ego dies, soul emerges), luminosity | |
| Causal | Spirit | 6. Cessation, formless |
| Nondual | 7. Spiritual marriage |
Chirban, St. Dionysius, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, St. Gregory Nyssa, and Alexander
Five more independent sequences, banded together by rough correspondence rather than a shared spine.
| Rough band | Chirban (Eastern Orthodox Christianity) | St. Dionysius (pseudo) | Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | St. Gregory Nyssa | Alexander (TM) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early / preliminary | Image — preliminary orientation | Prayer of simplicity (vocal) | Cleansing, restraint, pranayama | Darkness of sin | — |
| Turning inward | Metanoia — turning toward spiritual | Prayer of mind (subvocal) | — | — | — |
| Purification | — | (Purification) | Recollection, dhyana, one-pointedness | — | — |
| Detachment | Apatheia — detachment, purification | Prayer of recollection (illumination) | Subtle perception | Faith in God | — |
| Luminosity | Light-divine — luminosity | Prayer of quiet (unification) | Luminosity, shining forth | Light | — |
| Union | Theosis — oneness with God | Prayer of union: "glorious nothingness" (cloud of unknowing) | Oneness of buddhi, cessation (nirodh), raincloud | "Not seeing", luminous darkness | Transcendental consciousness, Witness, permanence, refined "unity consciousness" |
See Also
- Is Spirituality Developmental? The Five Definitions — the concept page this chart is directly cited from in the body text
- Chart 1: Wilber Correlations — the worldview stages this chart's second table correlates against
- Sri Aurobindo / Jean Gebser — recurring reference points for the transpersonal stages this chart's researchers converge on
