Transpersonal Psychology

 By: Rebecca Roberts

This final paper paper was written on April 27, 2018 for Transpersonal Psychology, a graduate level course I took with Dr. Regina Kelly as an undergraduate student at Plymouth State University. This course was pivotal in shaping the woman I am so proud to be today.

Before taking this course, I struggled with being able to define Transpersonal Psychology. I knew it had to deal with the ego and consciousness, and I knew it had to deal combining principles of the East and West, but that was about it. Now, I would define Transpersonal Psychology as a holistic approach to finding the perfect balance between mind, body and soul.

The discipline covers how to handle relationships with yourself, others and the universe. According to Welwood (2002),  Eastern culture has been more traditionally focused on discovering one’s true nature, while in the west, we are much more focused on staying within the realm of personality. Chodron (2016) explained that Eastern cultures tend to focus on ancestry and community, while Western cultures are centered more on individualism. Transpersonal Psychology decides that neither eastern or western tradition is complete, and takes the best from both in approach. First, I’m going to talk about how Transpersonal Psychology helps us grow our relationships with ourselves, and eventually others. Finally, I’m going to talk about how this growth brings us closer to the discovery of our relationship with the universe.

During the course, one of the groups discussed the three marks of our existence in When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron; there is an additional fourth mark that she describes at the end of the chapter. In my reading, I resonated strongly with them, and hearing about them again in class strengthened the meaning I drew from impermanence, suffering, and egolessness, and peace. Pema Chodron describes how thinking that there is wrong with any of these things “is like thinking that there’s something wrong with our fundamental situation,” which she later describes as “joyful” (Chodron, 2016, p. 59).

Impermanence, in Pema’s words, “is the goodness of reality…just as day becomes night, light becoming dark becoming light again” (Chodron, 2016, p. 59). The trick is not to view this impermanence as negative. To represent constant change, I created an analogy between the sun, moon and ocean in my Mandala. The sun and moon rise and set continuously and the tides come and go. We have to cherish them, like the good, in their temporary state to be on the path to Enlightenment. “The enlightened state is experienced as an all-encompassing perception of the oneness of all of life” (Temple-Thurston, 2011, Chapter 2). I learned that there’s a perfect balance between being hopeful and not being disappointed when things come to an end. Happiness sometimes feels like impermanence in my life, as I’ve struggled with chronic depression for as long as I can remember. I thank my depression all of the time for the soul work it’s forced me to do, and the concept of impermanence is meaningful to me because it informs me that my thanks weren’t wrongly doled out. My happy times are even more beautiful and my sad times, constructive.

In the assignment to identify a struggle, I drew on feelings of anxiety and depression. I represented this in my mandala. The ocean is red because it’s supposed to be blue – it represents the constant stream of anxiety that’s been trying to pull me under lately. Sometimes it feels like my sun and moon are imbalanced but they’re accurately depicted. Rather, it’s my anxiety, the red ocean, that’s upsetting me. This represents my realization that by shutting my anxious and depressed feelings out, without acknowledging their existence, I’m doing myself harm.  Pema asks us, “Who ever got the idea that we could have pleasure without pain?” (Chodron, 2016, p. 60)  and serves to say that neither opposite is good nor bad. In regards to polarities Chodron wrote, “the point isn’t to cultivate one thing as opposed to another, but to relate properly with where we are” (Chodron, 2016, p. 60). What she’s telling us is not to wish pleasure or fear pain, to simply let things happen because they’re going to help us grow into better versions of ourselves.

The process of making the mandala was very soothing to me. I started out with two groups of colorful strings – one of natural colors to represent my nature, and the other fiery colors to represent the intensity of my anxiety. I didn’t know where to go from there, but the analogy I drew between my nature & personality, and the moon, sun & ocean just came out of me during the creative process. I began the weekend with the notion that I wouldn’t learn tools to get rid of my anxiety. At the end of the weekend, I learned that every feeling I feel, good or bad, will help me discover my true nature and bring me the direction of enlightenment. There was actually no getting rid of to be done.

At first when I was unsure what to do on my Mandala, I was scrambling to figure it out. Eventually, I fell into the “flow” of what I was doing. I’m typically a very creative person, but before this course I had let life take over and hadn’t been channeling my creativity. I forgot what it felt like to get into the creative flow. I was able to let go of all of my side thoughts and just be involved with making art. Prior to this course, I’d never formally meditated. After this course I realized that the closest I’d come was channeling my creativity. In the words of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is a “kind of a toned-down ecstasy, something that does have some of the characteristics of ecstasy – feeling that you’re losing yourself in something larger, the sense of time disappears – but flow happens in conditions that are usually rather mundane” (Temple-Thurston, 2011, Chapter 2). One of the ways we can find flow is through art. He proceeds to explain something vastly important which is that “flow” isn’t just inevitable. We need to set ourselves up in a situation where we are mostly at peace already.

I was able to put so many of my thoughts into the Mandala because we did it after spending the day discussing the relationship between Transpersonal Psychology and ourselves. I now realize that being someone who finds it difficult to sit still for any long period of time, setting myself up to paint, or take photos – whatever it is will help me relax by finding “flow” in these activities. The last piece of my mandala is that it’s a circle made of tree bark with a painting of a sun, moon and ocean in it. Nestled in the moon there is a little house which represents my dreams. I made the circle imperfect because life is much like that, imperfect. The circle was made with tree bark to represent that our edges should be more of our nature and less of our identified personality.

Getting lost in art this way represents a feeling of total groundlessness. Welwood (2011) noted that we feel in times of change, losing our identified personality, and at the brink of finding our true nature. A loss of separateness between self and feelings, is not as simple as it sounds. In 2014 Csikszentmihalyi  stated, “It’s not an experience of mastery so much as surrender. But you also talk about the paradox of control – that in flow states there’s both a mastery and a letting go.” In discovering the relationship between Transpersonal Psychology and ourselves I learned that our self-path is a process of learning how to take in emotions, behaviors, events, in an unbiased way, and accept them as route to learn more about ourselves and our true nature. Our identified personality urges us that we must always “search for something more” (Chodron, 2016, p. 60). In trying to keep up with it, we put ourselves in a constant state of unsettledness. We feel the most peace when we are groundless. Our true nature make us feel groundless. Also the fourth mark of existence, Chrodron described Peace as, “the well-being that comes when we see the infinite pairs of opposites as complementary. If there is beauty, there must be ugliness” (Chodron, 2016, p. 62). It’s a good reminder to interpret everything situation or encounter objectively, or without passing judgement.

At the end of the weekend when I unfolded the paper I folded the first day of the course, in summary of what I took from Transpersonal Psychology I wrote “peace of mind.” I gained a real sense of what Spiritual Emergence is, and how one can manifest it in their lives. To get there, Welwood (2002) defines two different types of unfolding, vertical and horizontal, and “Horizontal shifts occur throughout the unfolding process… [They] allow us to experience our consciousness growing and expanding” (p. 96). Welwood (2002) defines further that, “horizontal shifts allow us to make our implicit felt sense, explicit. This type of reflective unfolding however, happens “mainly within the realm of personality” (p. 96). Vertical shifts, on the other hand, only occur after a long period of horizontal shifts and help someone discover their true nature. In vertical shifts, “the fixed constellation of observer/observed dissolves” (Welwood, 2002, p. 120). Some of the most meaningful activities to me were the polarities exercises. I gained an understanding that for every feeling, there’s an opposite. Our opposites have relationships. To represent this, I drew a Yin-Yang Symbol for the stone rock to represent the peace of mind I achieved. In the Bhagavad Gita, which is the primary scripture of Hinduism, Krishna speaks of the unification of opposites to Arjuna. He says, “You must be free from the pairs of opposites. Poise your mind in tranquility” (as cited in Temple-Thurston, 2000, Chapter 2). The chapter continues to demonstrate the importance in understanding opposites, in being able to, “see the enemy in the friend and the friend in the enemy” (Temple-Thurston, 2011, Chapter 2).

I sought a model from the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology to better emphasize different vertical and horizontal shifts, and how they connect with what I learned throughout this course and give me a plan on how I can apply it to my everyday life. The model is based on universal polarity in intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal relationships. According to Laub and Weiner in 2007,

The horizontal movement relates to a flow between different poles in our lives such as dependency and independence, closeness and distance etc. The vertical movement is related to giving and receiving between the healing force and the most vulnerable place which receives it. The Lower pyramid represents lack of awareness and connection between the poles. In the upper pyramid, there is a tendency toward harmony and balance between the poles, which leads to growth and healing (p. 199).

The top of the pyramid is formed with spirals of both horizontal and vertical shifts. It can be thought of as a person’s complete balance with himself, others and the universe. Our polarities, or poles, are closer together as they approach the top of the pyramid, to represent us using them to our advantage; to understand that every emotion is workable and will help us reach our true potential. In learning about vertical movements, I took from this course how to better exercise love and vulnerability, especially when pertaining to relationships. I learned that we can actually leverage them to help us find enlightenment. Before this course, I had this idea that I really did not need anyone other than myself. The raisin meditation taught me the value of interdependence. I really like raisins, and having to hold it and observe it, and put it in our mouths and just let it sit was difficult for me. I generally just love food, and as shameful as it is for me admit, I don’t typically think about how the food got to my plate. It was difficult to restrain from eating the raisin, but was an important representation of the time and process it took for the raisin to get to me. Nobody can really be totally independent. All of our consumer goods have been produced by others, and this meditation was a good reminder of that. Whenever I get the (stubborn) thought that I don’t need anyone else, I will be reminded of this meditation and my arrogance in that notion. From thi/s course I learned to be less judgmental and more open. One of the ways we can do this, is by practicing vulnerability and compassion particularly in our relationships. One of the groups presented on Dr. Dan Siegals’ (2014) Wheel of Awareness, specifically the 8th sense, interconnectedness, was discussed. To achieve this state, one must have presence, attunement and resonance.

I learned from one of the groups that one of the ways we can put ourselves out there (be vulnerable) is to recognize the difference between sympathy and empathy. One of the group members pointed out humans’ tendency to respond with “at least,” when someone is in a crisis moment in the context that the situation could have been worse. They showed a video by Brene Brown on the difference between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy is saying “at least,” and trying to sympathize, while empathy is feeling what the other person is feeling and connecting with them. This is something I previously did, without being aware of its potential negative repercussions. On a similar track, we discussed kindness and friendships. We decided that compassion plays a big role in strong friendships.

What really struck me is the concept that you can’t have compassion for others until you have compassion, or loving-kindness for yourself. Pema Chodron (2016) put it, “Learning how to be kind to ourselves, learning how to respect ourselves is important…fundamentally, when we look into our own hearts and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant, what is bitter and what is sweet, it isn’t just ourselves that we’re discovering. We’re discovering the universe” (pp. 75-76). We’re discovering more than ourselves when we first let go. When we let go, we are able to begin to undercover more about ourselves. When we’re open to the way we’re feeling, we can have relationships with others. When we have relationships with others, Transpersonal Psychology practices allow us to have a relationship with the universe.

I found it enlightening the way Barbara Marx Hubbard discussed the apparent downfall of our society and the notion that it has to get worse before it gets better. Maybe this is the worse, and it will soon get better. It’s become increasingly difficult for humans to have a sense of hope that was once given to us. First, we had generations of families living under one roof. We diverged from that lifestyle, and were still very religious. According to Chodron (2016), marriages stayed together because they were intended for function. We didn’t have time to be so concerned with our feelings, but technology has given us much more time to do soul work. We want to be connected to something greater and our society has failed to give that to us. Transpersonal Psychology allows individuals in our society to find their truest potentials and provides a Philosophy on how to use our world to act as our way to connect.

In the words of Barbara Marx Hubbard (2016), “we are at the brink of creative revolution,” and our understanding of Transpersonal Psychology and the world will bring our society there. Hubbard further described a new species, homouniversalis, and basically describes the notion that if we don’t change how we’re doing things, we’re going to go extinct. She alludes Transpersonal Psychology as the driving factor to continuation of society. In an interview we watched in class, Hubbard (2016) said that, “We are the universe, the desire for more is our calling. “About impulse that it’s, “within us all,” and exists to help us expose our true nature.” In our class discussion it was brought up that our ego is like an organizing principle – sometimes we need it to get where we need to go. Transpersonal Psychology gives humans the tools to use our ego as a constructive tool while reminding us that we are okay where we are. We need Transpersonal Psychology to begin to understand the complexities of ourselves. If we grasp the tools it teaches us about mindfulness meditation, loving-kindness, honesty and groundlessness we can share our ways of being with others and promote healing. Our society is in a state of pain and suffering. Transpersonal Psychology gives us the tools to look for and learn from past habitual errors while reminding us to be mindful of the present.

References

Association for the Tree of Life. (2016, April 28). The promise of conscious evolution with Barbara Marx Hubbard (Interview by M. Dowd) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ooJN6P75I

Chodron, P. (2016). When things fall apart: Heart advice for difficult times (20th ed.). Boulder, CO: Shambhala.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014, May 10). Mihaly on flow, ecstasy and the spirituality of positive psychology (Interview by J. Evans). [Transcript]. Retrieved May 4, 2018, from http://www.philosophyforlife.org/ mihaly-csikszentimihalyi-on-flow-ecstasy-and-the-spirituality-of-positive-psychology/

 Laub, B., & Weiner, N. (2007). The pyramid model – Dialectical polarity in therapy. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 39(2), 199. Retrieved from http://www.atpweb.org/jtparchive/trps-39-02-199.pdf

Siegel, D. (2014). Wheel of awareness. Retrieved May 7, 2018, from http://www.drdansiegel.com/resources/wheel_of_awareness/

Temple-Thurston, L., & Laughlin, B. (2000). The marriage of spirit: Enlightened

living in today’s world. Santa Fe, NM: CoreLight. 

Welwood, J. (2002). Toward a psychology of awakening: Buddhism, psychotherapy, and the path of personal and spiritual transformation. Boston: Shambhala.