Protocol 2: The Community Audit

STOP.

You have read the diagnosis of relational extraction — the Dunbar Wallet depleted by parasocial spending, the oxytocin deficit that digital connection cannot address, the architecture of isolation built into the homes and cities where you live. You understand it intellectually.

Now measure where you actually stand.

The Community Audit produces a single composite score across three dimensions of relational health. It takes approximately ten minutes. You need a pencil and honest answers. No device required. Answer based on your actual current life — not the life you intend to have, or the version you would describe to someone who asked.

Dimension 1: Relational Depth

The quality and honesty of your closest relationships.

Question 1: Genuine Vulnerability How many people in your life know you well enough that you could tell them something genuinely embarrassing or difficult — a failure, a fear, a current struggle — without significant anxiety about how they would receive it?

5 or more → 10 points
3–4 → 7 points
1–2 → 3 points
None → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Question 2: Shared Experience When you last experienced something significant — a professional setback, a health concern, a genuine joy — how quickly did you share it with someone in person?

Same day, naturally and without deliberate effort → 10 points
Within a few days → 6 points
It took weeks, or you mostly processed it alone → 2 points
You did not share it with anyone in person → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Question 3: Voice Contact How many people outside your immediate household do you speak with by voice — not text, not social media — at least once per week?

4 or more → 10 points
2–3 → 7 points
1 → 3 points
None → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Dimension 1 Subtotal (max 30): \_\_\_\_\_\_

Dimension 2: Dunbar Wallet Allocation

Where your relational capital is actually going.

Question 4: Parasocial Hours How many hours per week do you spend consuming content from people who do not know you exist — podcasters, influencers, commentators, newsletter writers, creators of any kind?

Fewer than 2 hours → 10 points
2–5 hours → 6 points
5–10 hours → 2 points
More than 10 hours → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Question 5: First Recipient When something good happens to you, who do you tell first — and does that person share physical space with you at least regularly?

Someone I see in person regularly, who knows the full context of my life → 10 points
Someone I know well but rarely see in person → 5 points
I post it publicly, or tell someone I have never met in person → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Question 6: Emotional Availability After a typical day of phone and media use, when you sit down with the people in your household or call someone you care about — how present do you feel?

Fully present — the interactions feel genuine and energizing → 10 points
Partially present — I engage but feel somewhat depleted → 6 points
Largely absent — I am physically there but mentally elsewhere → 2 points
I avoid those interactions or find them draining after device use → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Dimension 2 Subtotal (max 30): \_\_\_\_\_\_

Dimension 3: Physical Presence and Reciprocity

The practical infrastructure of your real community.

Question 7: Recurring Gatherings How many times in the past month did you gather with other people in a physical space with no commercial transaction required — a meal at someone’s home, a community event, a neighbor’s porch, a club or team?

6 or more → 10 points
3–5 → 7 points
1–2 → 3 points
Zero → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Question 8: Practical Reciprocity In the past month, how many times did you show up for someone in a practical, physical way — helping with a task, driving someone, bringing food, sitting with someone who was struggling?

4 or more → 10 points
2–3 → 7 points
Once → 3 points
Zero → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Question 9: Crisis Capacity If you were in a genuine crisis tonight — medical, emotional, or logistical — how many people within 30 minutes of your location could you call, who would come without significant hesitation?

3 or more → 10 points
2 → 7 points
1 → 3 points
None → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Question 10: Recurring Commitment Do you have a recurring commitment — weekly dinner, neighborhood gathering, sports team, faith community, club, Saturday coffee — that puts you in physical contact with the same group of people on a predictable schedule?

Yes, and I attend consistently → 10 points
Yes, but I attend irregularly → 5 points
I had one but have let it lapse → 2 points
No → 0 points

My score: \_\_\_\_\_\_

Dimension 3 Subtotal (max 40): \_\_\_\_\_\_

Your Community Audit Score

> Optional Companion: Maha OS > > You can track this audit on paper alongside the previous two. > > If you prefer longitudinal tracking and reminders, Maha OS provides a digital version of this protocol. Continue with the book normally.

Dimension 1 (Relational Depth): \_\_\_\_\_\_ Dimension 2 (Dunbar Wallet Allocation): \_\_\_\_\_\_ Dimension 3 (Physical Presence and Reciprocity): \_\_\_\_\_\_

Total Community Audit Score: \_\_\_\_\_\_ / 100

Date: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

What Your Score Means

80–100 — Green Zone Your relational infrastructure is intact. The Presence Protocol is refinement, not repair. Your primary work is deepening the thick relationships you already have and protecting the recurring commitments that sustain them.

60–79 — Yellow Zone Your community is functional but thin. You likely have warm relationships but insufficient practical reciprocity and physical co-presence. Begin the Parasocial Purge and the Physical Presence Practice this week. A 30-day re-score will show measurable movement.

0–59 — Red Zone Your relational system is in deficit. The Presence Protocol is the emergency protocol for this chapter. Do not move to Part II until you have at least initiated the Saturday coffee or its equivalent — one recurring, low-barrier physical gathering. Part II’s doctrine is inaccessible from a baseline of genuine isolation. The community must be started before the philosophy can be absorbed.

Your Complete Part I Profile

If you have completed all three protocols, you now hold a three-dimensional baseline of your current capacity:

Protocol 0 — Maha Readiness Score (body): \_\_\_\_\_\_ / 100 Protocol 1 — Attention Audit (mind): \_\_\_\_\_\_ / 100 Protocol 2 — Community Audit (spirit): \_\_\_\_\_\_ / 100

Write all three numbers here and on the inside front cover of this book. Return to all three assessments in 30 days.

These are not three separate scores. They are three measurements of the same system at different scales. A low body score makes the mind harder to clear. A fragmented mind makes community harder to build. A depleted community makes it harder to sustain the discipline that the body and mind protocols require. The three protocols running simultaneously produce results faster than any one running alone — because they are addressing the same problem from three directions at once.

The diagnosis is complete. The medicine is in your hands.

Part II will show you what you are capable of building once the foundation is repaired.