SPIRITUAL PATHS MANDALA
Creating your Personal Path

Following is an overview chart of the twelve families of spiritual styles, questions, and traditions.

	Families of Paths	Families of Questions	Families of Traditions
1	Arts	Consciousness	Buddhism
2	Body	Eternality	Christianity
3	Devotion	Existence	Hinduism
4	Imagination	Death	Islam
5	Love	Freedom	Judaism
6	Meditation	God	African
7	Mystic	Good	Asian
8	Nature	Happiness	American
9	Prayer	Reality	European
10	Reason	Spirit Beings	Middle Eastern
11	Relationships	Transformation	Oceanic
12	Wisdom	Ultimate Potential	Science & Philosophy

Note: These are listed in alphabetical order.  But in our Mandala discernment process, each person lines up their personal styles and questions according to the tradition(s) in which they seek answers.

The Paths

For brevity, each of these twelve paths are listed by a single word.  But they should be read as “The Path of the Arts,” The Path of the Body,” and so on.  Further, each of these twelve connotes a broader family of spiritual paths.  For example, the Path of Devotion connotes a family of related paths like faith, belief, and ritual.  The purpose of this list of twelve is not to be comprehensive but to be inclusive.  They are meant to prompt you to ask yourself such questions as: “how to I learn,”  “what is my spiritual path,” “what is my spiritual style.”  The names of paths on this list don’t have to be the same as name you might choose for your own primary paths.  During the course of our lives, our primary and contributing paths will change.  Each is like a tributary flowing into the river of our life, or branches of a trail that all join into a single life-path.

The Questions

The single words for each of the twelve spiritual questions connote a family of related questions.  These are the grand questions we begin asking as children.  They are also the perennial, universal questions asked by scientists, philosophers, and theologians.  For example, the question of consciousness connotes questions related to mind, perception, and knowledge.  Is consciousness physical and what is its ultimate potential?  The questions listed here to are meant to inspire you to ask your own questions and embrace the mysteries that await your answers – answers that will define your own spiritual path.

The Traditions

This process for discerning your own style and path, honoring your own questions, and finding your own answers can be utilized within single spiritual tradition or among variety of traditions.  Five of the major traditions are listed by name, six are indicated by geographical place of origin, and the seventh includes the secular traditions of science and philosophy. Whether your path is formed within a single or multiple traditions, this Mandala is designed to help you engage in a life-long adventure of exploration and discovery.

The Spiritual Paths Mandala, (2-7-12) © Edward W. Bastian, Ph.D.