The Four Stages of Spiritual Development - Scott Peck Stage I is chaotic, disordered, and reckless. Very young children are in Stage I. They tend to defy and disobey, and are unwilling to accept a will greater than their own. They are extremely egoistic and lack empathy for others. Many criminals are people who have never grown out of Stage I. Stage II is the stage at which a person has blind faith in authority figures and sees the world as divided simply into good and evil, right and wrong, us and them. Once children learn to obey their parents and other authority figures, often out of fear or shame, they reach Stage II. Many so-called religious people are essentially Stage II people, in the sense that they have blind faith in God, and do not question His existence. With blind faith comes humility and a willingness to obey and serve. The majority of good, law-abiding citizens never move out of Stage II. Stage III is the stage of scientific skepticism and questioning. A Stage III person does not accept things on faith but only accepts them if convinced logically. Many people working in scientific and technological research are in Stage III. They often reject the existence of spiritual or supernatural forces since these are difficult to measure or prove scientifically. Those who do retain their spiritual beliefs, move away from the simple, official doctrines of fundamentalism. Stage IV is the stage where an individual starts enjoying the mystery and beauty of nature and existence. While retaining skepticism, such people perceive grand patterns in nature and develop a deeper understanding of good and evil, forgiveness and mercy, compassion and love. Such religiousness and spirituality differ significantly from that of a Stage II person, in the sense that it does not involve accepting things through blind faith or out of fear, but because of genuine belief, and does not judge people harshly or seek to inflict punishment on them for their transgressions. This is the stage of loving others as oneself, losing ones attachment to ones ego, and forgiving ones enemies. Stage IV people are labeled as Mystics.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 03:11:33 +0000
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