Top 10 Signs That Your Spirituality Might Be "Integral"

I prepared this list with the LGBT/homophile community in mind, but it might be of interest to you.

10. You don't find yourself easily offended by slights to your ego, subculture, or group identification; therefore "political correctness" has little appeal to you (though you intuitively tend to avoid causing others unnecessary pain through your words or deeds).

9. You have come to a compassionate stance with regard to religious fundamentalists and conservative zealots because you recognize that their own stage of evolution may be less than your own. You pick your battles for justice carefully and strategically, not by reacting out of anger or fear.

8. It doesn't much matter to you what labels other people call you: "gay," "homosexual," "LGBT," or whatever. You wear all signs of identity lightly and strive to avoid compartmentalizing your sexual and overall sense of identity.

7. You don't look for "explanations" of homosexuality as exclusively the domain of biologists, psychologists, anthropologists, social historians, or theologians, but seek comprehensive approaches that include individual and collective dimensions in subjective and objective perspectives.

6. You are non-judgmental not because you want others to like you or you because you seek to avoid being judged by others, but because you recognize your own "shadow" in everything you judge. Nevertheless, you are willing to make value judgments and rankings when it's necessary and practical towards contributing towards your own or another's holistic development.

5. You realize that religious scriptures and traditions are neither "for" nor "against" homosexuality, because they emerged in the context of a world evolving in greater degrees of Spirit and reflect the concerns of earlier stages in religious and cultural development. You realize that all spiritual and secular paths are necessarily partial, but not necessarily of equal value.

4. You prioritize your attention to inner work, and realize that without inner transformation, there is no true "gay liberation". At the same time, you understand that a purely individualistic spirituality too easily becomes narcissistic unless it is situated within a more comprehensive vision and collective action.

3. You are concerned about "gay rights" not only in your community, but for all people around the world, part of your concern to alleviate the suffering and contribute to the holistic development of all sentient beings.

2. You recognize that Eros pervades every dimension of the world, and you celebrate erotic energy as well as spiritual energy because they are ultimately one. Nevertheless, you give sex a unique role for encountering beauty, expressing blissful play, exercising ethical behavior, and for giving and receiving love.

1. You realize that the "coming out" process is not complete with self-acceptance of one's sexual orientation, but must continue onward to "coming out" of all limited conceptions of who you are into a fully authentic sense that accepts everything that arises in an integral embrace as not distinct from your own self.

See more posts by Joe Perez at Integrally Gay.