Know the Stages of Spiritual Growth

For the most part, it is the hidden key to help us learn and recognize our reason for living. In order to complete it, there are certain stages of development that a person will have to go through.

There are many theories that surround the stages of spiritual growth and much has been written about it over the years. However, there is one particular work that can serve to explain the stages succinctly -- that of Scott Peck. In his book called 'Further Along the Road Less Travelled', Peck details the characteristics of the stages to help anyone seeking spiritual growth know where he is at and where he should be headed.

Here are the different stages of spiritual growth and what they mean:

Stage I Stage One of spiritual growth is also known as Chaotic or Antisocial. This stage is characterized by the lack of spirituality, when a person's life is governed with no principles and much of what he acts on is decided upon by his own will, regardless of the means and the consequences. This is the stage where everything is about the self – what would serve it and how it can be satisfied. Ambition rides high in this stage of spiritual growth and it is often characterized by selfishness and the need for power and prestige, unmindful of the hurt that might result.

Stage II Stage Two of spiritual growth is also known as the Fundamental, Formal and Institutional. This stage is characterized by a strong attachment to dogma and ritual. People in this stage are too legalistic and parochial and believe in their hearts that they alone know the truth. They are threatened and wary of other people who think with a different point of view and so

Stage III Stage Three of spiritual growth is also known as the Skeptic, Questioner and Individual. People in this stage of spiritual growth are the total opposite of Stage Two. This is the stage when people begin to question moral principles and established belief systems, especially those imposed on them by religious parents and elders. While people in this stage of spiritual growth are not antisocial, they become non-religious and may even turn out as atheists or agnostics.

People who are aware of the stages of spiritual growth are likely to be scientifically inclined and may even be involved in science either as a career or as a hobby. They are the kind of people who do not readily believe anything they hear, read or see. People who are advanced for this stage seek the truth about existence actively and may even be ready to move on to the fourth stage of spiritual growth.

Stage IV Stage Four of spiritual growth is the Mystic. Mystics acquire this advanced level through the stages of spiritual growth by leaving Stage III, using whatever ability they have to overcome their limitations and background. They willingly submit themselves to uncertainty and quite happily enter and live in what is unknown. Despite all the chaos and the seeming disorder they have experienced, they realize that whatever confusion that may exist in physical reality, may in truth actually form a cohesive whole.

People who are in this stage of spiritual growth see the world as more than just an individual thing. For them, it is in fact, part of one living organism. Tradition is no longer a limiting force and is replaced by an acceptance of all existence.