Basisophy

The Four Realms

Body, heart, mind and soul. Four parts of every life, in the order we grow into them.

Each realm runs on a different mix of sensation (what you feel) and perception (what you make of it). Each one asks you a question, and each one holds a reward. They come in order for a reason: if the body's needs are not met, the heart cannot get much done, and so on up the line. Most of us spend our lives moving back and forth between them.

Body

Mostly sensation.

How much do you fear pain?

We are born afraid of pain and unable to do much about it besides cry for help. How well we learn to cope with pain decides how far we grow out of that fear. The aim is not a life without pain, which nobody gets, but security: making peace with the fact that pain will come, without either running from it or chasing it.

The reward: Peace.

Heart

Sensception: about half sensation, half perception.

How much control do you feel over your life?

Feelings come from hormones and from thoughts, so the heart sits where body and mind overlap. Most of the turmoil comes from other people, whom we can rarely control. At first we handle it chaotically. With time we can find a sense of purpose that holds up even in the chaos, and with it a real passion for life.

The reward: Passion.

Mind

Mostly perception.

How much do you expect the world to bend to you?

Once the body and heart are looked after, we have time to think. Plenty of us do not use it, or use it to defend the opinions we already hold. Moving from opinion toward truth, from "my view" to the wider view, makes most troubles look smaller. That is the real power of the mind: knowing you do not know everything.

The reward: Power.

Soul

Sensception, especially in how you see yourself.

How much are you willing to bend to the world?

Not an afterlife and not a religious claim. In Basisophy the soul is the whole of your life at any moment: your character over time and toward everyone else. Its question is what you do with what you have gained. Hold on to it, or pass it on? The reward is prosperity, for you and for everyone your life touches.

The reward: Prosperity.

Why this matters for your type

Your Baseline Your Life type is a picture of how you are getting along in all four realms at once. Someone can be fearless in the body and still chaotic in the heart, or open-minded and still holding tight to everything they own. Knowing the realms makes your type make sense, and shows you where the next step is.