Having conducted hundreds of extensive interviews with research participants, we were able to design a series of key questions that anyone can use to determine which location they are in. This is assuming you are in Fundamental Wellbeing, i.e., you have a sense of fundamental okayness underlying all experience, even if it is way in the background at times.

We’ve used these understandings to design a test that can reliably pinpoint where someone is on the continuum. You can access it for free here.

You can also take yourself or someone else through the series of questions below, which cover the core differentiating features of the first 4 locations. It’s important to have read the information we provide about all of the locations before you use these questions, so that you can fully understand what we’re referring to as we go along.

• First, do you experience emotion?
  

• If no, then you are likely in Location 4, provided the rest of the characteristics fit.
  (In very rare instances it could be Location 5+ on the Path of Freedom, in which case you could ask yourself if you have experienced a persistent change in visual perception, which occurs at Location 5, see that section for more details).
  
• If yes, then do you experience both positive and negative emotion, or only positive emotion?
  
  • If only positive emotion, then you may be in Location 3, or deep in Location 2. If it is Location 3 you would be experiencing that unified meta-emotion of love, joy, and compassion, as well as a sense of union or merger with the divine or an all-pervading consciousness. (In very rare instances it could be Location 5+ on the Path of Humanity, in which case you could ask yourself if you have experienced a persistent change in visual perception, which occurs at Location 5).
    
  • If you experience both positive and negative emotion, you are in Location 1 or 2. The differentiator in this case is, do you have dual or nondual perception? That means, when you look out at everything around you, is there a sense of something in your head that is looking out (dual), or is it all just showing up without a distinct sense of a looker (nondual)?
    
    • If perception is nondual, then you are likely in Location 2.
      
    • If perception is dual, then you are likely in Location 1.
      

The common inaccurate assessment that Finders tend to make of their own location is thinking they are in Location 4 when they are in Location 2. The key question is do you have emotion? If you do, it is Location 2. Some people, especially those who have deepened into Location 2 for a long time, may experience next to no emotion, and this can take a more extensive interview process to pin down accurately.  More commonly, they still experience emotions but they do not feel personally associated with them. This type of experience relates to Location 2.

In addition, despite using these questions as guidelines, it is not at all uncommon for Finders to have difficulty determining their own location. This may be the result of the reduced self-reflexivity that comes with Fundamental Wellbeing. If this is the case for you can write to contact@nonsymbolic.org and we can assist you.