In response to recent events, this assessment was designed to gather information from the YSI community of students, trainees, and teachers about states of our spiritual lives and practices.

Instructions:

Indicate your level of agreement to each of the items below, responding quickly and instinctively to each item.  Answers have a point value as follows:

4 Strongly Agree
3 Somewhat Agree
2 Somewhat Disagree
1 Strongly Disagree

Space for additional comments in response to each question is provided.  If you have feedback about our questions, please provide it there.

Practicing the spiritual path is making me generally happier and more deeply satisfied with life.

I am becoming more genuinely connected with a broad range of people (friends, family, community).

I feel truly centered, living according to my real values and self-image.

I am making my own decisions, am the "captain of my ship," have not given my power or decision-making away to someone or something else.

My acquaintances (family, friends, co-workers, etc.) would say that I am moving in a positive direction in my life.

In my spiritual life, I feel totally welcome and empowered to openly question the path, my spiritual community and my teachers, without fear of any sort of consequences.

The spiritual path I follow is not the one and only true path to reach real spiritual goals, although it might be the most appealing to me personally.

I believe that how I define my spiritual goals and strategies today will likely be somewhat different from how I define them several years from now.

I regularly benefit from ideas and practices that come from other traditions, lineages, etc. to get a richer perspective on the spiritual life.

The practices and truth claims of my spiritual path are confirms by, or at least consistent with, findings in the scientific and academic community.

The practice and truth claims of my spiritual path are faily consistent with the core truths affirmed by the world's enduring religious traditions.

I honestly do not have any repressed nagging concerns about the claims of my spiritual path.

The path I am on, and the spiritual community(s) in which I participate, openly acknowledge and address problems that arise, rather than denying problems--repressing, explaining away, sweeping under the carpet.

My spiritual mentors (teachers, gurus, etc.) have deep knowledge of the spiritual path they are sharing with their students.

My mentors are not experts nor infallible in areas outside their specific area(s) of expertise.

My mentors don't make excessive demands on my time, resources, finances, etc. that might pose undue strain on my life.

If my mentors rely primarily on their strudents for financial income, I have clear and transparent knowledge of how their revenues are spent, and such funds are spent in a way that is respectful of those who have contributed.

My mentors do not have sexual relations with their students (unless in a committed marriage/partnership).

My mentors do not pressure others or use their authority inappropriately along gender lines.

My mentors do not claim or imply that they are categorically superior to other people or to their students.

My mentors respect other spiritual teachers and traditions that have perspectives other than their own; they don't claim exclusive access to truth.

My mentors are open to constructive criticism; they ask for and genuinely listen to input and feedback from others.

My mentors and spiritual community don't claim to have exclusive insights, and unquestionable authority; they collaborate with humility and respect with other groups or teachers whose views differ from their own.

My mentors and spiritual community put the students' personal welfare ahead of he/she/its own personal sucess or the success of their programs.

My spiritual life, and that of my mentors and spiritual community leave a positive wake over time; a high ratio of happy, healthy, fulfilled, evolving followers.

A higher amount of strong agreement to these questions may suggest that your spiritual life is healthy, balanced, and moving in a safe and mature direction.  The purpose and value of this self-assessment is not to acheive a certain "score", but rather to facilitate an internal and social dialogue about issues that might relate to the effectiveness of our spiritual journies.

Please lead any additional feedback below that you'd like to share as part of this assessment.

Thank you for participating!

Additional comments: