John of the Cross

The four dimensions in the 16-axis model where this thinker scores highest. People in this archetype tend to lean the same way.

• MRMystical Receptivity

  10 / 10
• ATAscetic Tendency

  9 / 10
• RTReverence for Tradition

  8 / 10
• UIUniversalist Impulse

  8 / 10

The six thinkers whose 16-dimensional positions sit closest to this one. Useful as next-reading suggestions.

• Meister EckhartTHRESHOLD

  Become as nothing. The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me.

• Teresa of ÁvilaTHRESHOLD

  Interior castle with seven mansions. Mystical prayer leads to union with God.

• LongchenpaTHRESHOLD

  Dzogchen master — primordial purity beyond all training.

• Catherine of SienaKEEL

  Mystical union with Christ. The cell of self-knowledge. Bridge between God and humanity.

• FazangTHRESHOLD

  Huayan — Indra's net; each part contains the whole.

• ZhiyiTHRESHOLD

  Tiantai founder — three truths held in mutual containment.

Short exercises in the same tradition as John of the Cross's thought. Each takes 5–25 minutes.

• View from above →

  Mentally zoom out — your city, your country, the planet — and look back at your day.

• Memento mori →

  A short, deliberate confrontation with mortality. Clarifying.

• The Examen →

  Five-step Ignatian end-of-day review — what was given, what was missed, what to take into tomorrow.