Do You Know What A Transpersonal Experience Is?
When we talk about transpersonal experience and transpersonal psychology, we are referring to a school of thought that lies outside of what is scientifically accepted. Transpersonal psychology, by its very nature, has not yet been evaluated according to the scientific method that governs the foundations of psychology.
The term transpersonal refers to the transcendence of normal or ordinary boundaries in a person’s experience. These episodes are known as mystical, spiritual, occult, magical, or paranormal experiences. That is, it refers to experiences that go beyond our daily reality.
In Western culture in particular, these kinds of experiences are not accepted as real. Moreover, as these are totally subjective experiences, which the individual lives on edge, it is not possible to study them under the architecture of current scientific methodology.
It is important to clarify this point and recognize that the subject we are dealing with today is outside the realm of science. On the other hand, the motivation of this article is nothing other than to inform about the so-called fourth force born from the most extreme position of humanistic psychology.
What is “normal”?
Any approach to this school of thought begins with a discussion of what is meant by “normal”. A criterion for defining normality would be one that includes what is considered to be majority, common or socially admissible. In other words, anything that falls outside this epicenter would be considered “abnormal”.
The argument of transpersonal psychologists in the face of this fact is to identify that many of these “anomalies” actually represent the first steps and efforts of some people to overcome mediocrity. In this sense, normality would be more of a social construction than a reality.
The discussion also goes through the negative or positive connotations that can be given to this estrangement, or to these attempts at estrangement, from what is socially considered normal. Normal or not, many people talk about these experiences.
The therapeutic approach to problems that may arise from these types of experiences, such as those that arise with any significant change in people’s lives, also varies widely between scientific and non-scientific psychology. Let’s dig deeper.
Transpersonal experience and spiritual emergence
Transpersonal experiences can occur in people who are actively involved in making their lives more transcendent. However, they can also occur in people who are not interested in these issues.
The truth is that these types of states of consciousness, different from the ordinary, can develop with different levels of intensity. A transpersonal experience would correspond to a progressive development of a person’s spiritual potential without disturbing their psychological, social and professional functioning.
In many cases, the experience intensifies and begins to escape the control of the individual. This is what we call in transpersonal psychology “spiritual emergence”. The famous psychiatrist Stanislav Grof, along with his wife, Christina Grof, have dedicated their lives to caring for people in “spiritual emergency”.
The transpersonal experience, an experience beyond the five senses
There are many experiences that can be described as transpersonal. The list is huge, but the most common are near death experiences, energetic phenomena, archetypal universal experiences, overwhelming synchronicities, and an intuitive understanding of universal symbols.
Memories of other lives, identification with the consciousness of other human beings or animals, or the development of planetary consciousness can also be considered transpersonal experiences. As we said a moment ago, the list is long.
For Eastern traditions, this type of experience is not a sign of mental illness. Rather, they are seen as mystical experiences outside of ordinary consciousness and are the gateway to other types of consciousness.
In other words, what for our westernized society is a problem, for the other large part of the world is a sign of evolution. Undoubtedly, in this question of the concept of normality that we spoke about at the beginning, there is much to be said.
Unify the criteria
Transpersonal psychology aims to combine the methodology of conventional psychology with the approaches and disciplines of consciousness from other types of Eastern traditions. This school also offers another way to understand psychopathology.
For transpersonal psychologists, the concept of healing includes altered consciousness and spiritual awakening. They believe that human beings are much more than their ordinary experiences and that, properly taken into account, transpersonal experiences can generate significant psychological improvements. The debate has begun.
Our thoughts Christina Grof’s work and life has inspired millions of people. Find out who this therapist is and what her contributions have been.
