How Spiritual Are You? A Quiz....

[freespirit2001]

I really liked this quiz called: HOW SPIRITUAL ARE YOU? from Time Magazine, October 25, 2004, from the article called "THE GOD GENE: IS GOD IN OUR GENES?" and wanted to share it with others here.

The questions below are true and false, and the scoring of the survey is in the next thread down.

HOW SPIRITUAL ARE YOU?

1. I often feel so connected to the people around me that it is like there is no separation between us. (TRUE / FALSE)

2. I often do things to help protect animals and plants from extinction.
(TRUE / FALSE)

3. I am fascinated by the many things in life that cannot be scientifically explained. (TRUE / FALSE)

4. Often I have unexpected flashes of insight or understanding while relaxing. (TRUE / FALSE)

5. I sometimes feel so connected to nature that everything seems to be part of one living organism. (TRUE / FALSE)

6. I seem to have a "sixth sense" that sometimes allows me to know what is going to happen. (TRUE / FALSE)

7. Sometimes I have felt like I was part of something with no limits or boundaries in time and space. (TRUE / FALSE)

8. I am often called "absent-minded" because I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I lose track of everything else. (TRUE / FALSE)

9. I often feel a strong sense of unity with all things around me.
(TRUE / FALSE)

10. Even after thinking about something a long time, I have learned to trust my feelings more than my logical reasoning. (TRUE / FALSE)

11. I often feel a strong spiritual or emotional connection with all the people around me. (TRUE / FALSE)

12. Often when I am concentrating on something I lose awareness of the passage of time. (TRUE / FALSE)

13. I have made real personal sacrifices in order to make the world a better place, like trying to prevent war, poverty and injustice.
(TRUE / FALSE)

14. I have had experiences that made my role in life so clear to me that I felt very happy and excited. (TRUE / FALSE)

15. I believe that I have experienced extrasensory perception.
(TRUE / FALSE)

16. I have had moments of great joy in which I suddenly had a clear, deep feeling of oneness with all that exists. (TRUE / FALSE)

17. Often when I look at an ordinary thing, something wonderful happens. I get the feeling that I am seeing it fresh for the first time.
(TRUE / FALSE)

18. I love the blooming of flowers in the spring as much as seeing an old friend again. (TRUE / FALSE)

19. It often seems to other people like I am in another world because I am so completely unaware of things going on around me.
(TRUE / FALSE)

20. I believe that miracles happen. (TRUE / FALSE)


This quiz "is adopted from a personality inventory devised by Washington University psychiatrist Robert Cloninger, author of "Feeling Good: The Science of Well-Being."

 

[freespirit2001]

SCORING: give yourself one point for each TRUE answer and 0 points for each FALSE answer.

14 and above = highly spiritual, a real mystic
12-13 = spiritually aware, easily lost in the moment
8-11 = spiritually average; could develope more spiritual life if desired
6-7 = a practical empiricist lacking self-transcendence
1-5 = highly skeptical, resistant to developing spiritual awareness

Any comments?

I felt the questions were "right on' about how I focus and feel about life in general, on the creative and inspiration-wise levels, but not so much relating to my pragmatic work day world attitude in life.

...any unexpected flashes of insight or understanding while relaxing?
...any real personal sacrifices in order to make the world a better place for others?.....

 

[Crazy Liz]

I scored a 13. I answered "no" to several questions because they were too pantheistic for me to agree with, but I could see how by changing a word or two in the direction of God's transcendence, I could have answered "yes."

Did anybody else notice that several of the questions resemble those that distinguish "S" from "N" in the Meyers-Briggs/Kiersey temperament schema?

 

[Rev. Smith]

I scored a 14. I agree with Liz, some of my FALSE were more about wording then negation.

What is this based on?

 

[freespirit2001]

I scored a 14. I agree with Liz, some of my FALSE were more about wording then negation.

What is this based on?

Hi! (I'm glad you responded!) Its based on a Personality Test called the Temperment and Character Inventory" (TCI) devised by Dean Hamer and Dr. Robert Cloninger.

Its funny how surveys can make you think, by the questions used and by the way the questions are asked---down to the fine points of wording...

You should try to find this article in Time Magazine, Rev. Smith! It is interesting to see what the latest science discoveries are finding out about our spiritual genes.

Dean Hamer is a Molecular Biologist and Chief of gene structure at the National Cancer Institute. Hamer believes he has located the genes responsible for our religious or spiritual "moods." "Hamer was conducting a survey on smoking and addiction for the National Cancer Institute . As part of his study he recruited more than 1000 men and women to agree to take a standarized personality test called the "Temperment and Character Inventory" (TCI). Among the traits the TCI measures is one know as self-transcendence, which consists of three other traits: self-forgetfulness, or the abiblity to get totally lost in an experience; transpersoanl identification, or the feeling of connectedness to a larger universe; and mysticism, or an openness to things not literally provable. Put it all together, and you come as close as science can to measuring what it feels like to be spiritual. "This allows us to have the kind of experience described as religious ecstasy," says Robert Cloninger, a psychiatrist at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and the designer of the self-transcendence portion of the TCI."

(In my opinion, it's Hamer's science, not the whole science world in general??? )

 

[Rev. Smith]

Thanks for the additional info, but I'm still not sure about the scoring: My Bishop once described me as "about as mystical as a brick" !

 

[freespirit2001]

LOLXOXLOL!!! I don't know why the scientists wanted to measure the general "mystical" moods and nature in someone... I think the major part of this kind of "quiz" testing centers around spiritual feelings and moods in people...and doesn't really identify the source where our true spirituality comes from....For example, some people who have never really read the bible, and never seem to want to---may still have religious moods---and feel right with God and the world, could take this quiz---and be scored as being very spiritual...but as soon as that mood changes...they might have alot more false than true statements...

I don't think in the future we will be taking any spiritual meds or super spiritual ecstasy vitamins to get that spiritual vim and vigor back in our lives....but I wonder where some science seems to be going at times....

 

[Crazy Liz]

Thanks for the additional info, but I'm still not sure about the scoring: My Bishop once described me as "about as mystical as a brick" !

LOL!

 

[seebs]

Thanks for the additional info, but I'm still not sure about the scoring: My Bishop once described me as "about as mystical as a brick" !

But what a brick!

 

[tulc]

hi freespirit!
HOW SPIRITUAL ARE YOU?

1. I often feel so connected to the people around me that it is like there is no separation between us. (FALSE)

2. I often do things to help protect animals and plants from extinction.
(TRUE)

3. I am fascinated by the many things in life that cannot be scientifically explained. (TRUE)

4. Often I have unexpected flashes of insight or understanding while relaxing. (TRUE)

5. I sometimes feel so connected to nature that everything seems to be part of one living organism. (TRUE)

6. I seem to have a "sixth sense" that sometimes allows me to know what is going to happen. (TRUE)

7. Sometimes I have felt like I was part of something with no limits or boundaries in time and space. (TRUE)

8. I am often called "absent-minded" because I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I lose track of everything else. (FALSE)

9. I often feel a strong sense of unity with all things around me.
(FALSE)

10. Even after thinking about something a long time, I have learned to trust my feelings more than my logical reasoning. (FALSE)

11. I often feel a strong spiritual or emotional connection with all the people around me. (TRUE)

12. Often when I am concentrating on something I lose awareness of the passage of time. (TRUE)

13. I have made real personal sacrifices in order to make the world a better place, like trying to prevent war, poverty and injustice.
(TRUE)

14. I have had experiences that made my role in life so clear to me that I felt very happy and excited. (TRUE)

15. I believe that I have experienced extrasensory perception.
(FALSE)

16. I have had moments of great joy in which I suddenly had a clear, deep feeling of oneness with all that exists. (FALSE)

17. Often when I look at an ordinary thing, something wonderful happens. I get the feeling that I am seeing it fresh for the first time.
(TRUE)

18. I love the blooming of flowers in the spring as much as seeing an old friend again. (FALSE)

19. It often seems to other people like I am in another world because I am so completely unaware of things going on around me.
(FALSE)

20. I believe that miracles happen. (TRUE)
tulc(who once had a pastor tell him he had the gift of suspicion )

 

[freespirit2001]

Awww ( ~~~ ~~~ ) tulc!!!

(I love how you repeated the questions WITH YOUR ANSWERS!!!aaahahahhaaahaha!!!)

Wasn't that survey good for confirming the spiritual feelings though????

LOLXOXLOL!!!

 

[Vigil]

Never Mind
Vigil

 

[Abiel]

Only five...oh dear...I dont do the 'at one with nature' thing, and that really clobbered my score. And yet I feel it inside. The test seems to focus on outside in, rather than inside out.

 

[gizmo03]

I scored an 11... and I guess I do agree with what is said about my score.

 

[UberLutheran]

I did answer as honestly as possible — and I know I can lose track of myself when focused on nature or the world around me, because I walked right into a steel pipe sticking up out of the ground while photographing the Colorado River flooding, and sliced my leg open during the past weekend.

 

[Dawn Marie]

1. I often feel so connected to the people around me that it is like there is no separation between us. True.

2. I often do things to help protect animals and plants from extinction. False. But I do care.

3. I am fascinated by the many things in life that cannot be scientifically explained. True.

4. Often I have unexpected flashes of insight or understanding while relaxing. False.

5. I sometimes feel so connected to nature that everything seems to be part of one living organism. True.

6. I seem to have a "sixth sense" that sometimes allows me to know what is going to happen. False.

7. Sometimes I have felt like I was part of something with no limits or boundaries in time and space. False?

8. I am often called "absent-minded" because I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I lose track of everything else. True.

9. I often feel a strong sense of unity with all things around me. False.

10. Even after thinking about something a long time, I have learned to trust my feelings more than my logical reasoning. True.

11. I often feel a strong spiritual or emotional connection with all the people around me. True.

12. Often when I am concentrating on something I lose awareness of the passage of time. True.

13. I have made real personal sacrifices in order to make the world a better place, like trying to prevent war, poverty and injustice. False. I think, anyway...

14. I have had experiences that made my role in life so clear to me that I felt very happy and excited. True.

15. I believe that I have experienced extrasensory perception. True... sort of.

16. I have had moments of great joy in which I suddenly had a clear, deep feeling of oneness with all that exists. False.

17. Often when I look at an ordinary thing, something wonderful happens. I get the feeling that I am seeing it fresh for the first time. False.

18. I love the blooming of flowers in the spring as much as seeing an old friend again. False.

19. It often seems to other people like I am in another world because I am so completely unaware of things going on around me. False.

20. I believe that miracles happen. True.

I guess I'm average.

 

[freespirit2001]

I did answer as honestly as possible — and I know I can lose track of myself when focused on nature or the world around me, because I walked right into a steel pipe sticking up out of the ground while photographing the Colorado River flooding, and sliced my leg open during the past weekend.

Awwwww....Hugs UberLutheran!!! I pray that God's Spirit would give you more instinctive safety perception! I know how that perception about being totally focused and centered in our joy of the moment with the Lord is....