Gut Level Part 3
December 12, 2025
Gut Level Part 3
Our gut-level feelings are most acute in one of the three primary instincts: self-preservation, social, or sexual syntony (one-to-one). We are sensitive to all three, yet each of us favors one, making it the most developed and instinctively trusted.
Those most attuned to the social instinct are preoccupied with belonging, rank, associates, and status. These are played out in how the person fits within their family, community, social circles, etc. Above everything else, their social standing defines their sense of identity, and their social bonds carry deep meaning and value.
The sexual syntonic, or one-to-one instinct, focuses on the realm of intimate relationships. These individuals are drawn to depth and intensity in one-on-one relationships, seeking emotional and spiritual connection with partners, close friends, and companions. For them, life’s meaning is filtered through closeness and personal resonance with a few select others.
The self-preservation instinct centers on physical and psychological safety. Those who favor it are finely tuned to issues of comfort, well-being, and security. They constantly assess their environment, scanning for what needs to be handled, tackled, or avoided before they can fully relax. This awareness can extend from concerns about room temperature or health to weather, familial, or national concerns. If danger, tension, or conflict arise, they instinctively act to preserve their safety, peace, and stability.
One of these three instincts is dominant, which sets our tone and channels our passion’s expression. While we have all three instincts, the dominant one generates our strategies, preoccupations, and defense structure. Yet even instincts can be influenced by the ego, which can distort perception through fear or desire.
The Holy Idea and Virtue can transform our passions and replace them. Then the gut serves not the ego’s distortion, but the soul’s truth, thus allowing us to perceive the world with grounded clarity and divine awareness.
Spiritual practice: Read Becoming Conscious, Chapter 8, “The Instinctual Subtypes,” which outlines the three basic instincts. Look at the figure that depicts “stacking.” What is the order of your three basic instincts, in importance to you?
Self-inquiry: How does your passion manifest through your dominant instinct?
Prayer:
Dear God, please guide me in my gut-level feelings so that I see the truth and not its distortions. Amen
