Gut values → integrity → empathy through self → value as essence

Level 1 — Gut Emotional Reactions

• Form: Immediate sense of liking or disliking, right or wrong, without explanation.
• Example: “I don’t know why, but I really don’t trust this person.”
• Grounding: Raw subjective response.

Level 2 — Personal Likes & Dislikes

• Form: Stable preferences that form part of one’s identity.
• Example: “I’ve always loved acoustic music — it feels authentic to me.”
• Grounding: Inner values built from repeated experience.

Level 3 — Moral Sensitivity

• Form: Awareness of whether something aligns with one’s internal moral compass.
• Example: “I can’t work at this company; their practices don’t feel ethical.”
• Grounding: Applying an inner sense of good/bad to choices.

Level 4 — Individual Integrity

• Form: Living in alignment with personal truth, even under pressure.
• Example: “Even if everyone disagrees, I won’t lie about this.”
• Grounding: Strong identity rooted in values.

Level 5 — Nuanced Emotional Depth

• Form: Subtle awareness of emotional shades and contradictions.
• Example: “I feel both admiration and sadness for him — his ambition is inspiring, but it isolates him.”
• Grounding: Inner richness of emotional texture.

Level 6 — Empathic Resonance (Through Self)

• Form: Relating to others’ emotions by referencing one’s own inner landscape.
• Example: “I know how grief feels because I’ve been through loss — I can sense what she’s going through.”
• Grounding: Emotional mirroring via personal resonance.

Level 7 — Archetype of Authenticity

• Form: Recognizing authenticity vs falseness as a universal theme.
• Example: “Every great story is really about the struggle to remain true to oneself.”
• Grounding: Values expressed through symbolic universals.

Level 8 — Transpersonal Values

• Form: Identifying principles that transcend the personal but still arise from inner truth.
• Example: “All beings deserve dignity — it’s a moral truth that doesn’t need external justification.”
• Grounding: Universal ethics rooted in subjective depth.

Level 9 — Value-as-Essence (Highest Abstraction)

• Form: Experiencing value itself — love, dignity, authenticity — as the core of reality.
• Example: “Existence itself has worth — value is not derived, it is fundamental.”
• Grounding: Pure metaphysical essence of value.

In short:

• Low levels (1–3): raw feelings, preferences, moral compass.
• Middle levels (4–6): integrity, nuance, empathic resonance.
• High levels (7–9): archetypal authenticity, transpersonal ethics, value-as-cosmic principle.

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