Spherical thought is soul-based thought; holistic in its processing, seeing all sides of an issue or situation simultaneously and understanding it on all of its possible levels.
Unlike the frenetic concrete mental nature of lateral thought, spherical thought flows naturally from the Buddhic plane to impact upon the lower planes of awareness. Spherical thinking is true Esoteric cognition in its very essence; transcendent in its awareness, abstract rather than concrete, process rather than end product, and unlimited to three dimensions.
Unlike concrete thought, which is limited to the level of lateral processing (see above), spherical thought transcends concrete consciousness into universal consciousness. Spherical thinking can only be approximated while in a relaxed or meditative state of mind; unaccessible from beta-wave brain frequencies, it can only be accessed at alpha- and theta-wave frequencies.
Whereas lateral thought observes a set of FACTS and, without prior assumptions, arranges and rearranges them to come up with a correct solution to a situation, spherical thought begins with a concept and proceeds to make observations about that concept, widening its orb of understanding of the concept with each new observation made, until a total comprehension of the concept is reached (if possible).
Remember, spherical thinking is process-oriented rather than product-oriented, and thus is an infinite process. Spherical thought will approximate total understanding of a concept, but never fully reach it since there is always one more possible view of the concept. In this setting, spherical thought is pure Inductive reasoning, as lateral thought is pure deductive reasoning.
For an example of spherical thought, consider the concept of "World Peace." What does World Peace mean to you? What do you think it would mean to others whom you know, such as your mother/father/brother/sister/kids? Would they view this concept the same way that you would? What do you think "World Peace" would mean to someone living in a war-torn country (or neighborhood)? Or someone who lived in a country where over 30% of the population were starving? Or someone in a country in which a tyrannical dictator governed every aspect of their life and survival? How would they view "World Peace" differently from you? Would there be any similarities? How would World Peace be viewed from a purely masculine perspective? From a feminine perspective? From the perspective of a marine biologist? From the perspective of a priest? From the perspective of a polititian? From the perspective of an average everyday worker in your own country?
As you keep adding different perspectives on to the meaning of the concept of "World Peace," and refining the meaning as you proceed, you draw closer and closer to conceptualizing the true nature of World Peace. If one of your concerns in this life is to help bring about World Peace, it is important to understand it from as many different points of view as possible, rather than from a singular point of view (yours) or a few (your closest associates). To a soldier, World Peace may mean the cessation of all wars on Earth. To a mother of a starving child, World Peace may embody enough food and resources for all people on Earth. To a priest, World Peace may mean the establishment of the brotherhood of all Mankind on Earth. Are these goals conflicting? Can they be resolved into a working plan of action? Can you help envision all of these possibilities and, by your powers, co-create them through prayer, meditation, and a directed focus of power?
As one becomes more adept at being able to think spherically, envisioning as many different aspects of a situation, one will be able to better ideate and create reality from those ideas. World Peace is, of course, a vast concept that will take much effort to manifest; yet, with enough people ideating it in a spherical approach and radiating their interpretation of it in Divine Will, it can be manifested on the Earth. Other conceptual applications of spherical thinking can be related to artistic creation, product development, invention, and innovation, educational systems, and practical philosophies for future living. The purpose of spherical thought is envisioning and ideating the thoughts of Spirit and being able to relay them as accurately as possible to the practical realm where they may be made manifest.