The attitude is part of your overleaf chart or soul profile.

Your attitude in the Michael Teachings overleaf framework is your perspective of life.   While the Goal is what you want to learn about in life within the context of your Role and Soul Age and your mode is how you approach it, your attitude is your perspective on how you look at experience and the world.  It is the stance from which you interpret life.  Upon meeting you, this is what others will notice first, as it is one of the very first layers of your personality.

Like all the overleaves, there are 7 of them, with 3 pairs across the axis' of Inspiration, Expression, and Action, and the single overleaf on the Assimilative axis. The pairs are grouped into the Ordinal and Cardinal Overleaf.

Stoic

This is the Ordinal Inspiration Axis attitude.

As the most Ordinal of attitude, resonating with the number one, this is the most inner-focused attitude.  It is related to the Re-evaluation goal and to the Server.

The comment someone with a Stoic attitude would give would be "no comment".  There is little impetus for expression outwardly unless it is balanced by more Cardinal or Expressive Overleaves.

Being on the Inspiration axis, there is an inspiring quality to this attitude.  In the positive pole, there is a quality of serenity that permeates outwardly and affects others in a subtle manner.  The image of the Buddha manifests this attitude in the positive pole of +tranquility.  The negative pole of -resignation sees the world, so to speak, as a pile of dung one must slog through with no choice.  It is a silent position of hopelessness.

Skeptic

The attitude of skepticism is the basis for the vast majority of scientific discoveries or questioning of preconceptions of the world.  It is the Ordinal attitude on the Expression axis, and so it has an inward focused expressive quality.

There is a quality of doubting to the skeptic.  This can be positive doubt, a need to verify for one's self in order to find true knowledge, or it can be a doubt that will not accept anyone's argument except that which is familiar.  Positive doubt leads to the positive pole of +investigation, a curiosity about the world that is the foundation of inner knowledge.  The negative pole is -suspicion, in which nothing is trusted and no foundations of knowledge can be built upon.

Cynic

Many comedians have an attitude of Cynic.  This is the attitude where you focus on what does not work.  The motto is "oh, it probably isn't..".  It is the Ordinal attitude of the Action axis, and so there is an affect on motivation of others and causing a stir in an ordinal fashion.

While the word can have negative connotations, the attitude of Cynic can be very powerful and supportive to others if it is balanced.  Think of reviewers of consumer products; they are the ones filtering out defects, what will go wrong with everything, and reporting on it.  In this way it can be similar to the goal of Rejection.  They cause products to be improved and companies to change their behavior.  They see what works by seeing everything that doesn't and that could go wrong.

The positive pole of +contradiction manifests this in a way that feels good.  There is a contradiction, a speaking out, but without -denigration, the negative pole.  Contradiction comes from True Personality, bringing people closer because it shares honest perceptions and shares energy.  Denigration puts down others in a defensive manner that generally triggers the Chief Feature for all concerned.

Pragmatist

The attitude of pragmatism is a focus on "what works" in a balanced way.  Being the Neutral attitude, there is a flexibility inherent and the person can slide to any of the other attitudes on occasion.  It is a supportive overleaf, assisting the other overleaves such as the Goal and Mode by adding flexibility.  For instance, if a goal of Rejection is chosen, then this attitude would help the person see what types of discrimination work best in different circumstances.

The positive pole is +practicality, in which there is a flexibility that changes one's stance according to the circumstances.  A pragmatist visiting a religious community would change his words so that others would listen, without losing connection to his true thoughts and perception.  The negative pole of -dogma is linked to the neautral chief feature of Stubbornness.  There is an image of "what works" and the person clings to that from whatever Centering they are operating from.

Idealist

The idealist is the Cardinal attitude on the Expression axis.  It is thus a very outward focused, expressive way of looking at the world.  Many activists can have this attitude as the motto is "it should be ____".

Relating to the Sage role, there is a certain childlike simplicity to this attitude.  Like a child looking up at the world with big bright eyes, there is a tendency to create an ideal of how the world should be and work with that ideal.  This can be as influential and inspiring as a child, but can also be oversimplistic as there is a tendency to reduce everything to an ideal.

In the positive pole of +coalescence there is a groundedness involved.  The "should" in the motto becomes a positive direction, something to move towards and motivate while keeping aware of difficulties.  In the negative pole of -abstraction, there may be a disconnection with what others might call "reality".  The person sees only their ideal and does not focus on how to move in that direction or even without questioning on if this ideal might really be the best thing.  There is an oversimplification which leads to naivete.

Spiritualist

The spiritualist is the most far-seeing attitude; they see the universe as it could be.  A spiritualist can look at someone and see the essential "Buddha nature" inherent in their being.  They can look at society and see the possibilities of life in hundreds of years with the economy overheauled to service all of mankind.  As such, this Cardinal attitude (on the Inspiration axis) can either bring others in touch with vast possibilities or be ungrounded and dwell in possibility only.

The positive pole of the spiritualist is +verification, in which the possibilities are brought down to Earth.  There is an inner knowledge of what dreams can happen in one's lifetime or in the next year, which helps lead to patience.  In the negative pole of -Faith, there is a dwelling in possibility to the exclusion of everything else.   This kind of "trust" is about denying perceptions rather than expanding one's inner perception.

Realist

The realist looks at life in an expansive manner, seeing various perceptions, and focus on what "probably is".  It is the kingly attitude and can be both grounding and empowering.  Being action focused, it provides a framework for motivating and creating change.

In the positive pole of +perception, the realist takes in all his inputs and sees, to the limit of their development and Soul Age, what is.  This can be a powerfully clearing and motivating energy to be around.  In the negative pole the idea of "what is" is filled with blocks of preconceptions, fixed beliefs, and fear-based suspicion.  This leads to the quality of -supposition.

Table of Attitudes