Transpersonal Journal

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In this journal I will post ideas, findings and experiences of transpersonal development.

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"The transpersonal has been defined as experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos.[1] On the other hand, transpersonal practices are those structured activities that focus on inducing transpersonal experiences.[1]

In the Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology, Scotton[2] defined the term as "development beyond conventional, personal or individual levels." It is associated with a developmental model of psychology that includes three successive stages: the prepersonal (before ego-formation), the personal (the functioning ego), and the transpersonal (ego remains available but is superseded by higher development).[2]" - Wikipedia

 

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In order to understand the transpersonal stage it's useful to also look at the personal stage of development. There are many models for describing personal development and I will focus on the three stages mentioned in the Wikipedia article about transpersonal development: "... three successive stages: the prepersonal (before ego-formation), the personal (the functioning ego), and the transpersonal (ego remains available but is superseded by higher development)."

It also useful to look at other models of personal development. In this recent video Leo explains the first part of a model with nine stages of personal development;

 

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I like to start as simple as possible. The simplest distinction I have now is that the personal stage is conceptual awareness and the transpersonal stage is trans-conceptual awareness. This is a more radical approach than for example in transpersonal psychology.

In this video Shunyamurti explains this simpler view compared to psychology:

 

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It of course depends on what definitions are used but it sounded to me like Shunyamurti talked about getting rid of the ego. Yet, the Wikipedia article said that the ego is still there in the transpersonal stage. And Leo talked about several stages of ego development. And also from an integral perspective the ego is transcended and included. So how to resolve that?

My solution is to say that in the transpersonal stage we have a trans-conceptual ego. In the personal stage there is identification with concepts, even the self is identified as a concept in that stage. Thoughts are concepts, so it's easy to see how the personal stage is stuck on the level of concepts.

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"Concepts are defined as abstract ideas or general notions that occur in the mind, in speech, or in thought. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition.[1][2] As such, concepts are studied by several disciplines, such as linguistics, psychology, and philosophy, and these disciplines are interested in the logical and psychological structure of concepts, and how they are put together to form thoughts and sentences. The study of concepts has served as an important flagship of an emerging interdisciplinary approach called cognitive science.[3]" - Wikipedia

 

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In the transpersonal stage there is intersubjectivity or else it would still be only individual subjectivity. A common definition of intersubjective is: adjective  - existing between conscious minds; shared by more than one conscious mind. In the personal stage all relationships are conceptual where the mind makes an image, a concept of another person, thing or event and then makes a concept of the self and of the personal relationships.

In this way there is a layer, a wall of concepts in the personal stage that prevents or at least severely hinders intersubjectivity. As an example, in the personal stage we have relationships with our own mental images instead of directly with and as reality. Obviously this causes loads of conflict since each person has relationships only with his or her own mental images.

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The conceptual identity as a self in the personal stage is held as tensions in body and mind. It's a constant effort of holding on to all the content that makes up the personal identity. This insight adds a new dimension to body awareness. The tensions are more than just repressed emotions and past traumas. In the personal stage of development the tensions are the whole sense of an individual self.

Notice that when we think, then thoughts are held in our awareness. And in the same way, in the personal stage the self is a thought that the mind holds on to all the time. In the transpersonal stage the concept of self relaxes into a flex-flow identity which transcends the need for being held constantly as tensions in body and mind. Because at least as I have defined it, the transpersonal stage is also trans-conceptual.

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In psychology there is a distinction between crystallized cognition and fluid cognition. The crystallized kind is the use of stored knowledge and the fluid kind is formless cognition. What I meant by flex-flow personal identity is that the sense of self becomes fluid cognition. In the personal stage of development the sense of self is always crystallized into a fixed identity.

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Fluid intelligence (gf) refers to basic processes of reasoning and other mental activities that depend only minimally on prior learning (such as formal and informal education) and acculturation. Horn notes that it is formless, and can "flow into" a wide variety of cognitive activities [8] Tasks measuring fluid reasoning require the ability to solve abstract reasoning problems. Examples of tasks that measure fluid intelligence include figure classifications, figural analyses, number and letter series, matrices, and paired associates.[6]

Crystallized intelligence (gc) refers to learned procedures and knowledge. It reflects the effects of experience and acculturation. Horn notes that crystallized ability is a "precipitate out of experience," resulting from the prior application of fluid ability that has been combined with the intelligence of culture."[8] Examples of tasks that measure crystallized intelligence are vocabulary, general information, abstract word analogies, and mechanics of language.[6]" - Wikipedia

 

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How to develop a fluid self? In the personal stage the self is clunky, crystallized, rigid and mechanical. At the same time there is a sense of individual free will in the personal self. That's necessary or else we would feel like mechanical robots.

My assumption is that life is automatic. So the sense of free will is only a necessary trick for the personal stage to develop. And in the transpersonal stage the sense of free will is transcended and replaced by trans-conceptual awareness. The experience of free will requires a conceptual self in order to work. With a fluid self, the sense of being a separate entity has dissolved and the experience of individual free will is replaced by fluid cognition.

Therefore my idea is that being aware of the transpersonal stage and recognizing the personal stage is enough for transcendence to happen. And it's an automatic process. So my strategy at the moment is to learn about both the personal and the transpersonal stages (even that is an automatic process) and then through that I will move from a crystallized self to a fluid self.

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The Wikipedia article about transpersonal also mentioned a prepersonal stage. I will use pre-conceptual to define the prepersonal stage. Trans-conceptional requires complete personal development. Pre-conceptual on the other hand means that conceptual thinking hasn't even developed yet.

Interestingly this is similar to the pre-trans fallacies Ken Wilber has talked about. In a prepersonal stage people can behave instinctually and impulsively, such as acting without careful planning, and in the transpersonal stage action can appear like in the prepersonal stage without planning yet it's a totally different form of action. Because the prepersonal stage is full of conflict whereas the transpersonal stage has transcended conflict.

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How can the transpersonal stage as I mentioned be free from conflict? That may sound utopian. But the answer is simple. In the transpersonal stage there isn't any crystallized self and therefore no conflict!

Then why is there conflict in the prepersonal stage? Because then, even though there isn't any crystallized conceptual self developed yet, it's on an instinctual level based on individual survival. So the prepersonal stage lacks both a conceptual self and fluid self.

In the transpersonal stage the fluid self is connected with, and therefore in harmony with, all of reality instead of as in the previous stages where it's about individual survival needs. Here is an example of the transpersonal stage:

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"“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. ... Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

You cannot serve both God and money.

... Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ... For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." - Matthew 5-6

My interpretation is that "serving God" means the transpersonal stage (trans-conceptual awareness) and "serving money" means being stuck on the level of concepts (money is a primary example of concept) and represents the personal stage (conceptual awareness). In the personal stage, money is what holds society together while the personal relationships are shaky because they are based on conflicting concepts (each person has relationships only with his or her own mental images [concepts]). Money on the other hand is a concept that everybody in the personal stage agrees on what it represents and therefore is the main social "glue" in the personal stage of development.

Edited September 3, 2020 by Anderz

[Anderz]

How is it possible to love one's enemies in the transpersonal stage? First what is meant by enemy must be defined. And that's easy to do. An enemy is ..... a concept! And it's easy to love concepts, which are useful labels and harmless and empty in themselves.

And if someone slaps you on the right cheek, what to do? Here the same reasoning applies. Who is this 'someone' that if he or she slaps you would cause you concern? Again, the someone, just like for the enemy, is a concept. You can't be slapped by a concept.

So it's about an extreme shift of perspective, a radical recontextualization, from a perspective based on identification with concepts (the personal stage) to another perspective (the transpersonal stage) where the concepts are recognized for what they actually are: empty labels.

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A concept is a lifeless label. A concept cannot do anything yet in the personal stage there is the belief that there is a separate person able to do things. And therefore because of that misperception there is a lot of effort, friction and conflict in the personal stage. It's a necessary delusion for the purpose of developing unique individuals.

In the transpersonal stage it's recognized that individual action is an illusion and therefore the friction and conflicts are removed while the actions become more efficient than in the personal stage.  Here is another example of the transpersonal stage:

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"The master does nothing,
yet leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet much remains to be done." - Tao Te Ching, Verse 38

 

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Aaron Abke has this new video where he explains the crystallized ego with the constant I-thought that is a part of the personal stage:

 

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The "meditation" technique presented by Bentinho Massaro in this new video is an interesting alternative to body awareness practice. He said that body awareness practice is useful but there is then still a separate self having attention in the body. The technique he described here instead takes the perspective of including all of one's experience seen from the I Am consciousness.

I will experiment with combining this I Am awareness with body awareness, so that even the "external" environment becomes a part of one's "body". Me as a crystallized ego cannot become a fluid ego, but I can learn to recognize the crystallized ego from the I Am perspective. 

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Also traditional mindfulness practice is limited in the same was as ordinary body awareness practice is limited. When there is nonjudgmental observation of thoughts and emotions, then it's still the crystallized ego that is doing the nonjudgmental observation. At least that's how I have been doing it.

So the trick for entering a fluid ego state is to recognize that the crystallized ego is still the center of one's activities and experiences. Even the practice of abiding in the I Am can easily become trapped in the crystallized ego. Fortunately it's probably enough to be aware of those traps for there to be a true transcendence into the fluid ego and the transpersonal stage, since that transition is an automatic process.

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In the personal stage our awareness is trapped in thinking. To the point that we even turn consciousness into a thought, a concept. And then we try to explain consciousness as a concept. But consciousness itself is not an object! The word consciousness is a concept while consciousness itself is necessary for there to be awareness of that concept.

So in the personal stage the mind tricks itself to become trapped in thoughts which it experiences as the foundation of the self. And consciousness becomes something that the crystallized ego has, such as an epiphenomenon produced by the brain. That's a misperception of reality since consciousness is the awareness of the thoughts and is therefore the foundation of the self.

The transpersonal stage includes realizing consciousness as the foundation instead of as in the personal stage where the material world is experienced as the foundation. In this video Leo explains what consciousness is:

 

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Notice that all thoughts are separate appearances in consciousness. Even emotions have a locality to them, such as experienced in certain areas of the body, at least within or near to the body and not experienced as belonging to the entire external world (in the personal stage at least). And even the external world, that too is made of separate appearances in consciousness!

And since all those appearances are separate, they lack independent existence. It's impossible to have something truly separate and still be within the same one reality. Consciousness is a unified whole and therefore consciousness is the "container" and the physical world is appearances within the container of consciousness.

I have quoted from the Bible and from the Tao Te Ching. Even more clearly transpersonal perhaps is the ancient scripture Ashtavakra Gita:

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"Janaka said:

How is one to acquire knowledge? How is one to attain liberation? And how is one to reach dispassion? Tell me this, sir. 1.1

Ashtavakra said:

If you are seeking liberation, my son, avoid the objects of the senses like poison and cultivate tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment, and truthfulness as the antidote. 1.2

You do not consist of any of the elements — earth, water, fire, air, or even ether. To be liberated, know yourself as consisting of consciousness, the witness of these. 1.3

If only you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself as distinct from the body, then even now you will become happy, peaceful and free from bonds. 1.4" - Ashtavakra Gita 1:1-4

To know oneself as consisting of consciousness and distinct from the body. Why distinct from the body? Because the body is a concept. There is no body as a separate object. And even the concept, the word 'body' is distinct from the changing process we experience as the physical body. The physical body is a shifting appearance in consciousness just as everything else experienced is appearances in consciousness. There are no actual separate objects, not even separate bodies or separate thoughts.

Edited September 4, 2020 by Anderz

[Anderz]

In theory the transpersonal stage is really simple. In the personal stage we are identified with our thoughts, even the self is experienced as a concept, a separate entity. Entering the transpersonal stage is merely about taking a step back into consciousness, and from there thoughts including the separate self are recognized as appearances in consciousness.

Is the transpersonal stage the same as spiritual enlightenment? Maybe not, because as Ken Wilber has pointed out there can be spiritual enlightened at different personal stages. But I myself have no way of verifying that so I will stick to the term transpersonal stage. To make it easy I defined the transpersonal stage as trans-conceptual awareness.

Trans-conceptual awareness is a direct result of stepping back into consciousness. In practice however this is a huge step since the entire personal stage is an immense heap of identifications with memories and a separate sense of self. And the crystallized ego cannot itself step back into consciousness because the ego is an appearance in consciousness.

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Another deception in the personal stage - in addition to a false perspective of separations - is that thoughts appear fundamental and absolute. If thoughts are just appearances in consciousness, then how can they appear so dominating? Because the thoughts come with huge amounts of emotional content attached to them.

And it's the emotions that primarily drive the personal stage, not the thoughts as in some objective detached form. In the transconceptual stage the trick of sticky emotional content is seen through. No longer then can thoughts hijack all of our awareness through emotions attached to them. The emotions become an integrated part of the whole transpersonal experience instead of being separate carrots and sticks for the crystallized ego.

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Now I got an idea of what the difference between the transpersonal stage and spiritual enlightenment is! Of course it depends on what definitions are used, but Ken Wilber said that there can be spiritual enlightenment at different stages of personal development.

With the definitions I use there is indeed a difference. Trans-conceptual awareness as I define it includes fluid cognition of experiences including of the self. Spiritual enlightenment on the other hand can happen even at the personal stage of development, before fluid cognition of the self has been development. And then the enlightened person experiences himself or herself as consciousness yet still operates with crystallized cognition!