What is Heaven’s Compass?
John C. Robinson, Ph.D., D.Min.

    As a psychologist and ordained interfaith minister keenly interested in the integration of psychology and spirituality, I have explored many models and maps of the human psyche. One day this one arose in me with the force of revelation. I call it Heaven’s Compass – in a moment you’ll see why. Not only did Heaven’s Compass describe the religious psyche in the simplest terms, it evolved into a powerful source of spiritual growth and revelation that has guided me for over a decade. You’ll be using it before we’re done.

Heaven’s Compass and the Four Realms of Spiritual Life
    Heaven’s Compass tells us that the spiritual journey, with all it problems and joys, operates through four basic states of consciousness (depicted below).

Heaven's Compass
(Figure 1)

    The four states are: Divinity, the infinite consciousness of the Creator; Heaven on Earth, the Creator becoming Creation; the World of Man, human beliefs superimposed on Creation; and Darkness, the unconscious where pain hides as beliefs replace perception.
  Let’s explore this map with me for a moment so you can make it your own. Heaven’s Compass tells us that the Divine (what name you use is ok) creates the world from Itself, that is, the Divine is the world. When the world is directly experienced as the Divine, we begin to discover Heaven on Earth all around us. As you’ll see in my forthcoming book, Finding Heaven Here, the mystics have been telling us this for centuries!
  Why don’t we see Heaven on Earth? Because we live most of our waking lives in the World of Man – a patriarchal thought-world so dense in beliefs, stories, and opinions that we eventually see only what we think. We see “an old lady,” “an expensive car,” “an ugly storefront,” “a tree,” “a democrat,” and so on. These are all concepts that not only block the experience of Heaven on Earth, they cause endless pain and conflict. Beliefs about oneself (“I’m not good enough”), others (“She hates me”) and the world (“It’s a dog-eat-dog world”) create all the suffering psychotherapists see and all the wars now ravaging our world. They also create the realm of Darkness, a state of unconsciousness that holds all our unresolved wounds, anger, and despair that in turn drive the negativity in the World of Man.
  But it doesn’t have to be this way! When we stop thinking for a moment, intensify perception, and examine the world just as it is, something very different appears before us, something far more beautiful, astonishing, perfect, timeless, and holy than anything we believe: Heaven on Earth. The deeper we look, the more we see! We actually glimpse the divine world throughout our lives, for example when we fall in love, stand awestruck before astonishing beauty, or witness the miracle of childbirth or some other thought-stopping event, but just as quickly the conceptual mind takes over and Heaven recedes from sight.
  There is so much more to this map of consciousness than can be described here. You’ll find a full explanation with lots of exercise in Finding Heaven Here. What’s important, however, is that you begin to see how your world could change if you took this journey to Heaven on Earth each day. Every problem, every upset, every conflict is an invitation to move through the map of Heaven’s Compass and discover where you really are. Try it and see for yourself.