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Ritual for Self-Care

12 October 2023 ·

Why a book on ritual, in this modern age?

Ritual, in its true sense, imbues our lives with meaning and comes with a host of benefits – yet, while it still exists within the context of religious worship, and we still observe some life passages, routine encounter with ritual is in steady decline across a majority of cultures.

In this modern technological and increasingly secular age, we can develop our own, personally significant rituals, to build or support families and communities, to make transitions and mark important events, to express our joys and sorrows, and as a way of exploring and sustaining our identity. In this book: for self-care.

In the religious context, ritual allows believers to demonstrate and strengthen their belief system. Ritual is a form of communication: within oneself to the deep mind; between self and other humans; with our deities, saints and prophets, spirits, ancestors, nature, or the cosmos. We form rituals based on our most cherished values, whether religious or secular, and as such, we are more mindful, while life becomes more enriched and meaningful and the profane becomes sacred in its own way (Bell & Kreinath, 2021).

The cup of tea we relish each day at sunrise, and the silence of the hour, our deepest thoughts, a passage of the Tao te Ching or the poetry of Byron, a few moments of meditation, a sense of connectedness – individually routine, they coalesce to become personally meaningful ritual.

Psychologically, ritual serves to regulate our social connections with others, our emotions, and our own goals and aims (Hobson et al., 2017; Wojtkowiak, 2018). It provides a coping mechanism whereby we can reduce anxiety and other stress response, maintain some sense of control over our environment, increase performance toward our goals, strengthen both personal and group identity, and create or enhance the presence of meaning in our lives (Newberg, 2020; Rossano, 2020).

In personally relevant rituals, we convince our brains of constancy and predictability in order to buffer against our sense of uncertainty; ritual contributes not only to positive emotions, but also increases the pain threshold – thereby, enhancing both resilience and endurance. It has been shown to lower blood pressure and heart rate, improve sleep, decrease anxiety and improve mood. And by its very nature, consistent and repetitive, it strengthens our sense of the rhythm of life and our place within it. (Dein, 2020; Kress & Kerr, 2019; Yaden et al., 2020)

One type of ritual that remains worldwide, while differing from one culture to the next and changing over time, concerns the ways in which we mourn our dead. The psychological benefits are clear: we honor the deceased, grieve our own loss, share that loss in community, and thereby contribute to the reduction of our own innate death anxiety.

As Malidoma Patrice Somé, in his 1993 book, Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community, depicted in the traditional funereal rituals of his Dagara tribe in Dano, Burkina Faso, when a member died the entire community came together for several days of rituals – not only to mourn the deceased but also to grieve previous losses not yet fully mourned.

My own life has been imbued with ritual for most of my 60 years, first in the Protestant religion of my childhood, then in personal forms of ritual for the past 4 decades. Each day, I begin with a greeting: candles lit, incense burning, I greet each of 4 ancient goddesses long ago worshipped in the land where I now reside, and whom I view archetypally; I then greet my ancestors of blood, spirit, land, and hearth, and finally the natural world through various aspects. In not more than 5 minutes I’ve set the tone for my day – and I do the same in closing, before retiring each night. Each day, therefore, is bookended, framed, with ritual – and as such, sacred.

So – what actually is ritual?

Ritual is a predefined sequence of symbolic actions, typically formal or sacred and repetitive, with no apparent mundane purpose (Bell & Kreinath, 2021). Whether religious or cultural, rituals serve as a reenactment of relevant myths, or to honor rites of passage or other significant events. They can take the form of communal or personal devotion, signifying magic or religious action, the former likely in a trance state while the latter typically in prayer. Both religious and cultural rituals typically include music, forms of chanting, movement, atmospheric elements such as candles and incense to delineate a significant space, and the ingestion of food and drink.

Rituals often strengthen family (Harrist et al., 2019) or societal bonds (Stein et al., 2021), within-group identity, and when used in personal context, individual identity as it relates to the group as well as one’s self-understanding (Chistyakov & Chistyakova, 2020). As social dynamic, rituals facilitate group emotions around a shared set of symbols and thus are the foundation for beliefs, morals, and culture (Summers-Effler, 2006). They are typically accompanied by emotions of awe, respect, and sometimes dread in the presence of the supernatural.

And secular, personal ritual? This provides a very effective method for conscious living, setting and working toward an intention, clarifying our thoughts and feelings on a topic, and accessing unconscious material: noetic or heretofore unknown knowledge, and our own shadow or sublimated self (Utriainen, 2020).

Ritual, whether sacred or secular, also facilitates mystical experience, including peak experience or bliss, flow state for creativity, and ego dissolution; the latter further includes oceanic boundlessness or infinite expansiveness, and universal interconnectedness to humanity as well as the natural world. In the trance state often associated with ritual, we can enhance our psychological wellbeing by reorganizing our thinking around a particular topic or area of life, much as cognitive-behavioral therapy attempts to achieve; we can develop our thinking, express and transform our emotions, and face our fears (Paloutzian & Park, 2021).

A typical secular use of ritual in a majority of cultures has been to mark the cycles of life: birth, maturity, marriage or other union, holidays, and death, thereby enhancing one’s identity and sense of belonging. This helps us to live consciously, honor important events, and accept change. Ritual has also been used across cultures to mark seasonal changes or other significant ecological events, thereby connecting us more deeply to nature and its cycles, and our place in the natural world.

In addition to life transitions and overall construction of meaning, ritual has been applied to facilitate healing, for achieving personal development or a state of wholeness, to honor and commune with ancestors, to engender creativity, for mystical experience, to access both personal and collective unconscious, and as a form of deep ecology – all of which will make up our 9 keys in this book.

There are common elements to ritual (Boyer & Liénard, 2020), some of which include clear intention, the use of symbols, talisman, and myth, and an atmosphere that sets the ritual apart from ordinary space and time. We do well to remember: the unconscious mind is that of a primary state, or preverbal, and as such, responds to symbols; the objects we may use in ritual, then, must be highly significant, their symbolism speaking directly to our own unconscious.

Altered states of consciousness are common, achieved through meditation, prayer, dreaming, trance, or similar, with elements of music or other sound, dance or other movement, and poetry or song. Mental time travel, a psychological construct denoting one’s ability to recall the past or imagine the future in detail, is also highly relevant (Fineberg, 2023), can be performed collectively (Topcu & Hirst, 2022) – and can even be conducted with an ‘alternate self’ (Ikier et al., 2022).

Transpersonal psychology, established in 1968, is a school of thought based on Jungian theory, and both humanist and depth psychologies, the primary objective of which is to reintegrate spiritual aspects of humanity into scientific study of the human mind and behavior (Lattuada, 2020). As such, the sacred – religious or spiritual, collective and personal myth, the symbolic and metaphoric or nonrational, the numinous or supernatural and the mystical, are all of interest to this field insomuch as they speak to the human condition (Marovic & Machinga, 2017). In addition to personal and interpersonal aspects, the transpersonal – that which is beyond ordinary human experience – is a primary focus, including altered states of consciousness (Garcia-Romeu & Tart, 2013; Nardini-Bubols et al., 2019), meaning-making and creativity, and all things transcendent. As such, the use of ritual for personal transformation is of increasing interest to the field (Bottorff, 2015).

Ritual has a typical framework or pattern. There are 3 fundamental stages: a preparation phase for departure from the ordinary; a liminal stage, the core of the ritual, in which one is ‘in-between’ space and time, often (though not always) in some altered state of consciousness such as prayer, meditation, or trance, and with a particular focus or purpose; and finally, a phase of returning to the ordinary realm, which includes a process of reflection for integration of the experience or insight gained (Yaden et al., 2020). This general pattern is further detailed by one’s personal belief system, whether religious, spiritual, humanist, animist, or some combination thereof.

For more than 30 years, I’ve studied shamanist practices (animist + a central religious figure, or shaman; originated in the steppe region of Eastern Siberia) in a range of cultures, including 10 years’ residence in Korea where a 5000-year tradition of shamanism is still actively followed today. Having my own practice of personal ritual even longer, and having witnessed numerous group rituals across traditions – not only shamanist but also Buddhist, Catholic, Orthodox, Islamic, Judaic, Hindu, pagan, and secular – alongside my background in transpersonal psychology, I can personally attest to the universality of this pattern; it is essential that one ‘open the door’ with clarity of intention, engage in the work as planned, and ‘close the door’ in a final stage that includes reintegration and reflection. (Perhaps of interest: this closely follows the pattern of psychotherapy sessions.)

Modern, personal ritual can take many forms, from simple to elaborate, spiritual to mundane. By definition, it takes into account one’s individual psychology and worldview, has clear intention and a sense of meaning, and is performed regularly (Silverstein, 2020). Generally, one would prepare the space and its atmosphere, ensuring privacy and minimal distractions, and also prepare oneself as well as the ritual itself, including taking the time after its design to imagine it from beginning to end. Entering the ritual space can be done by a focus on one’s breathing, slow and steady, or any other means to quiet the mind and enter an alternate state of consciousness; stating the intention of the ritual aloud is useful, as you are speaking to your own unconscious.

The ritual itself can take the form of meditation, guided imagery, visualization, chanting, singing, writing, praying, or any other means personally meaningful and in keeping with its purpose. It needn’t be long; rituals range from a few minutes to hours, depending on person and intention. When the body of the ritual is complete, reenter normal reality gradually; you can focus once more on your breathing, for example, or consume food and drink as a way of reentering ordinary time and space.

Reflection afterward is essential, or the ritual is less meaningful; by speaking with someone, writing about it, spending some time in contemplation, or whatever method is preferred, we interpret its significance and the ritual is integrated into our waking state.

We can also consider the conscious use of body positioning in ritual. In her doctoral research, Arrien (1993) noted 4 universal positions for meditation which matched purpose: sitting for acquiring knowledge or insight, lying down for healing, standing for empowerment, and repetitive moving for accessing creativity. I have found it very useful to align positioning to purpose when developing the structure of a personal ritual.

Some samples of personal rituals, in addition to my daily opening/closing ritual outlined above, include a ritual to begin a new project or meet a goal, in which the details and one’s intentions are clearly delineated and the ritual serves to initiate the new endeavor as well as motivate the participant(s); similarly, the start of a family event, of time spent in nature, or of anything anticipated to be difficult can be given its own ritual beforehand. Life passages are obvious for personal rituals, but we can expand this to include a divorce, an honoring of our own birth in retrospect, adoption, an acknowledgment of menopause or of the transition to one’s elderhood, a preparation of one’s own impending death. Rituals of compassion, for self and for others, can be very beneficial, such as the Loving Kindness Meditation in Buddhism. Even electronic dance events have been deemed ritual (Redfield & Thouin-Savard, 2017).

We can transform our morning exercise into ritual, as we go through a stretching or strengthening routine in a meditative or mindful way, caring for and recognizing the worth of our physical body, seeing the sacred in the mundane – candles, incense, music if you wish. Similarly, preparation of and engagement in meals can become a form of ritual, in which we are preparing and ingesting our meals mindfully and in some form as a sacred or meaningful event – as ‘nourishment’ in a larger sense, in communion with our deities or spirits, or by inviting the essence or memory of ancestors or significant others who have passed to join us.

Ritual often occurs outdoors, particularly if one’s belief system is animist or generally eco-spiritual – or for any other personally applicable reason. Sacred places can be determined by the group or individual, and the same goes for pilgrimages, or long travels for the purpose of spiritual or personal growth – which can also be deemed moving meditation, or ritual (Eade, 2020); I undertook a 500-km solo trek as ritual, for purposes both sacred and personal – twice. (More on that later.)

Rituals may not always be ‘magic’ or ‘sacred’ but can be closer to self-care, as in the exercise routine and cooking/dining examples above – though self-care with a larger significance, for ultimately, ritual is that: significance. Soaking in a bath, with candles and incense but also meditation, for example, can be framed as a meaningful ritual; the coffee or tea at sunrise as earlier described, or going outdoors each month to greet the full moon; reading one passage of something meaningful each day – a sacred or meditative text, or profound and beautiful poetry; or, the regular keeping of a journal as a means of exploration and discovery, particularly when the journal-writing is set aside from ordinary space and time in some way.

Rituals are similar to routines, but with deep meaning attached, sometimes adorned with whistles and bells and other times quite simple but poignant. We might well make the distinction here: a ritual can be highly involved and imaginative, or it can be quite simple, but the primary distinction between routine and ritual is in the meaning imbued in the latter. In theory, then, even conducting a routine action such as eating one’s meal, if performed mindfully and with purpose, could border on ritual instead.

We should also distinguish between healthy and unhealthy uses of the term ‘ritual’ and its forms. While the sacred or similar meaning is used throughout this book, the term can also denote rigid patterns of behavior in which one finds flexibility or change difficult, as in ritualized thinking that is robotic, or the ritualistic behavior of obsessive-compulsive disorder, for example – and we also have ritual patterns of serial killers, of course.

There are a number of outcomes to rituals of meaning. In addition to the benefits mentioned previously, generally anticipated results include increased insight, wellbeing, presence of meaning and purpose, and overall connectedness. Mystical experience sometimes results, particularly if altered states of consciousness are engaged; rather than (or in addition to, if you prefer) a supernatural quality, these experiences are a phenomenon of shifting brain chemistry and neural function (Fischer et al., 2023; Tonna et al., 2019) – and even so, isn’t it nice to know that our brains can perform such magical events?

Self-transcendence, the goal of Buddhist meditation and byproduct of psychedelic ingestion, among others, is a common outcome of ritual – again, particularly when altered states of consciousness are engaged. This is also known as ego dissolution or death, and when experienced for the first time can sometimes be alarming – as if the self is disappearing, in a simulation of actual death or psychosis. In the healthy brain, however, this is normal and short-term, the ultimate outcome typically one of pure bliss.

Safeguards can be useful, if altered states are to be included (as opposed to that peaceful cup of tea at sunrise, for example). Conducting ritual with other people present is one such, or pre-arranging a conversation with a friend for immediately after. Processes of grounding are crucial, of confirming to one’s brain that this is not a dream or other state but that you are back to ordinary waking consciousness; this can be in the form of such a conversation, or other mundane aspects such as food and drink, or firmly grasping a pre-arranged object that is decidedly physical and connected to ordinary reality – such as one’s companion animal. Some form of integration is also necessary: a period of contemplation, journal-writing, creation of art, or other form to discern meaning from the event.

Mine has been a lifetime of ritual for a host of purposes. As we explore our 9 keys – ritual for healing, wholeness, initiation or life passage, ancestors, meaning-making, creativity, mystical experience, collective unconscious, and deep ecology – I look forward to sharing this with you.

Let’s dive into our exploration of ritual, shall we?

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References:

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Bell C and Kreinath J (2021). Ritual. In: Segal RA and Roubekas NP (eds), The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119092797.ch27

Bottorff DL (2015). Emerging Influence of Transmodernism and Transpersonal Psychology Reflected in Rising Popularity of Transformational Festivals. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 17:1, 50-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2014.957607

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Dein S (2020). Religious healing and mental health, Mental Health, Religion & Culture 23:8, 657-665. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2020.1834220

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Nardini-Bubols M, da Silva DS, dos Santos-Silva A et al. (2019). The Altered States of Consciousness in Transpersonal Approach Psychotherapy: Systematic Review and Guidelines for Research and Clinical Practice. Journal of Religion and Health 58, 2175-2194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00855-1

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Mystical Experience

11 October 2023 ·

Mystery. The unknown, the unknowable. While the majority of us may never have direct experience of it – we remain intrigued nonetheless.

We must begin any discussion of the mystical, however, with a distinction between mysticism – the unknowable – and mystical-type experience, the direct human experience of that which seems unknowable. In the latter, while we still may not be able to attribute the phenomenon to a source, we can acknowledge, and even measure, an individual’s experience of it, rendering it well within the realm of human psychology and thus, scientific (Breeksema & van Elk, 2021).

It surely isn’t anything new; disciplines of anthropology, philosophy, and theology have long studied this phenomenon (Mosurinjohn et al., 2023), and all religions have recorded such ‘divine inspiration’ throughout their histories, each with its own mystic tradition. Evidence for sacred use of biologic hallucinogens, to shift consciousness and commune with the spirit world, can be seen among many ancient cultures of the Americas, India, Greece, China, and the Steppe region of today’s Siberia, where shamanism was born, while in his 1954 autobiography, The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley described his own experience with mescaline. Synthetic hallucinogens, unintentionally developed first in 1938, were undergoing active research in the 1950s-60s that fell out of favor (and legality); today’s resurgence of interest in all manner of psychedelic-assisted therapies has seen a spike in research about the associated phenomenon of mystical experience, which may even be predictive of therapeutic outcome (Ko et al., 2022).

Several key qualities are found in such experience: the alert state of consciousness has been altered; the event is perceived as intense, sometimes overwhelming, and revelatory or ‘mind-revealing’ (Schoeller, 2023), akin to sudden inspiration – the eureka effect or ‘Aha! moment’. It typically defies explanation (Blum, 2023); and, along with its revelatory nature, it is noetic, or imparting knowledge from some unidentifiable source (Wahbeh, Fry, Speirn, Hrnjic, et al., 2022).

In fact, all these characteristics were delineated more than 100 years ago by William James, father of modern psychology. He identified 4 markers of the mystical experience: its ineffability, in that it cannot be described but can only be understood through direct experience; noesis, as a revelatory source of knowledge including ‘divine truths’; its transient nature, and the person’s passivity or lack of control over its time frame (James, 1902). The latter today is perhaps more debatable; while true of psychedelic-induced and spontaneous forms of mystical experience, other methods of induction allow for a measure of control, several of which we will explore.

In mystical phenomena, another relatively common experience is that known as ego death or dissolution, when one’s sense of self seems to disappear. This can be accompanied by a feeling of boundlessness, as we expand outward into the universe and infinity; it can also be one of universal interconnectedness, as we sense ourselves irrevocably connected to all sentient beings, to the natural world, or even to the cosmos (Cardeña & Lindström, 2021). But the very phenomenon of one’s selfhood dissolving or disintegrating can be quite disconcerting, feeling like death itself or insanity; paradoxically, following such experience one typically finds the fear of death diminished or even absent altogether, representing a profound psychological shift.

Suffice it to say, while most respond positively even to the point of ecstasy or bliss, profound joy and wonder, such experience can also result in overwhelming anxiety. Fortunately, the latter, while intense, is typically brief in duration.

Why would anyone, however curious, willingly pursue such experience? Why a book about 9 keys to achieving mystical experience – 9 that are alternatives, that is, to that of psychedelics?

For all its profundity and potential anxiety, and as such not for everyone, the mystical experience has life-changing potential. It has also been described as a sense of complete unity or wholeness, timelessness, ultimate reality, and sacredness (Bronkhorst, 2022). Self-transcendence is the goal of such traditions as Buddhism and Hinduism, and is therefore interrelated with secular applications of mindfulness and concepts such as the ‘quiet ego’. And so – it intrigues.

The phenomenon is known to engender compassion, empathy, and altruism (Barros & Schultz, 2023), its very purpose in Buddhist practice. It’s been noted, in a review of 44 studies (Kangaslampi, 2023), to contribute to mental health, general wellbeing and life satisfaction, positive changes in attitude and behavior, and decreased anxiety. And while many struggle with the paradox between existential isolation – the understanding that one is fundamentally alone – and a personal sense of meaning, those who have had some type of mystical experience no longer relate the two, and presence of meaning becomes easier to attain (Sielaff et al., 2022).

Our purpose in this book, then, is one of multiple uses for mystical-type experience: personal growth, self-transcendence, the ‘reboot’ that is ego dissolution, wellbeing and self-care, healing – especially post-trauma resolution, noesis or insight, spiritual development and presence of meaning, creativity and inspiration, insight and problem-solving, social bondedness and prosocial engagement, grief resolution, increased compassion and kindness, gratitude, deep ecology, peak experience and awe, happiness and life satisfaction, healthy aging, ancestorhood and rootedness – and maybe even more. Touching mystery, accessing inner wisdom, experiencing the extraordinary: this is strong medicine.

This type of phenomenon, while it can be spontaneously experienced, is induced through an altered state of consciousness. We very nearly access mystery when we dream, to be later discussed; in our waking life when actively engaged in such pursuit, we must therefore enter a dream-like or liminal condition between waking and sleeping states, for which a number of methods will be explored as our keys.

While the nature of consciousness itself is still debated among philosophers, psychologists, theologians, and biologists, we understand what it means to alter it from the alert state; brain rhythms drop from that of waking consciousness to slower rhythms such as those found in meditation and hypnosis. This is often accompanied by an awareness of the ‘transpersonal’ or ‘beyond-person’ aspect of human consciousness to be soon discussed, and even to experience the self in its prism of characteristics, as sub-personalities or ego states (Furlong, 2022).

It’s been suggested that these altered states are similar to the ‘primary states’ found in childhood or senility, uninhibited by social concerns, a pure fusion of emotion, communication, and action; they’re best facilitated by a relaxing of control, often referred to as ‘letting go’ or ‘surrender’ (Schoeller, 2023). The more profound states can be facilitated by hypnosis, trance, religious experience, creative breakthrough, psychedelics, and psychosis, while milder forms can be seen in meditation, flow, daydreaming or mind wandering, mental time travel, and many more (Tart, 1975; Garcia-Romeu & Tart, 2013).

Let’s explore the mystical experience in greater detail, shall we?

In a survey of 40 scientists and academics who have each had their own ‘spiritually transformative experience’ (Tressoldi & Woollacott, 2023), a full 85% reported ego dissolution; related phenomena of universal interconnectedness, and oceanic boundlessness or infinite expansiveness, were experienced by 62.5%, while 45% reported feeling pure and unconditional love. The nature of reality, a noetic awareness common to this type of experience, was understood as unitive (60%), unconditional love and bliss (47.5%), and as luminosity (27.5%), while others sensed it as one of energy, sentience, and timelessness; all reported an innate authenticity of the experience.

The phenomenon of encountering disembodied entities is not uncommon, according to Lutkajtis (2021); nonhuman, these ‘spirits’ or ‘beings’ often provide insight both personal and transpersonal – or sometimes, are perceived to perform surgery or other procedures on the experiencer’s body; this can be experienced positively, as in the removal of something the experiencer considers undesirable, or as disorientation, anxiety, fear, panic, or paranoia. In a large survey by Nayak and Griffiths (2022) of 1,606 respondents following a single psychedelic use, many reported a form of animism, in attributing consciousness to nonhuman entities such as other primates, quadrupeds, insects, fungi, plants, and even inanimate objects; this was experienced positively, contributing to enduring personal meaning and insight, while superstitions and beliefs regarding free will remained unchanged. Both disembodied entities and animistic forms of consciousness are common features in the shamanism practice across cultures, to be later discussed.

The mystical experience is understood in philosophical terms as the distortion of both time and space, spontaneity over intention, absorption into the void, ecstasy and bliss, and numinosity – supernatural or divine (Laughlin and Rock, 2020). Lowney (2023) proposes 4 explanations for mystical experience, not all of them ineffable: (1) a new means of interpretation that offers a remedy for human suffering; (2) a departure from adult cognition to a more primal, pre-verbal state and perception; (3) a coalescence of previously contradictory personal experience, or moment of comprehension; or, (4) a method of acquiring knowledge that requires detachment.

The phenomenon’s noetic quality of accessing new and unattributable knowledge can be discussed in terms of anoetic, noetic, and autonoetic cognitive processing; anoetic focuses on the present moment and knowledge acquired from external stimuli, noetic from purely internal stimuli but without awareness of its source, and autonoetic as internal source but of which we are aware – observing our own thought process (Metcalfe & Son, 2012). I like to think of this as, “I am, therefore I think [anoetic]; I think, therefore I am [noetic]; and, I think that I think, therefore I am [autonoetic].” There may also be a place for the latter when inducing mystical experience over which we maintain dual attention and some measure of control, as we’ll later see.

But is it scientific?

As we noted earlier, the human experience of mysticism is situated in brain and body, and as such, entirely scientific and measurable (Breeksema & van Elk, 2021) – without the need to debate the veracity of mysticism itself. Church et al. (2022) determined both biological and psychological dimensions of transcendent states and autonomic self-regulation, or the control of one’s internal environment. Rogerson et al. (2021) demonstrated the neurobiology of a trance state on fMRI, and similar studies have been done to map the neurobiology of the mystical-type experience. Ko et al. (2022) conducted a review of studies in psychedelic-assisted therapy, and found evidence for mystical experience as a predictor of treatment outcome; they further outlined the current primary instruments used to measure same, including the 5 Dimensions of Altered States of Consciousness Questionnaire (5D-ASC) and corresponding 11D-ASC, the Hood Mysticism Scale, and the Mystical Experiences Questionnaire, among others. The Noetic Signature Inventory was also recently designed (Wahbeh, Fry, & Speirn, 2022). Taves (2020) discerns the need for a more comprehensive framework of study and instruments, however, to be consistently applied across disciplines and cultures, as mystical experience is by its nature self-reported while the terminology and constructs are still too weak and undifferentiated.

And can this seemingly sacred or religious phenomenon also be experienced and beneficial in a secular context?

Steinhart (2023) proposes a Platonic framework of structural insight, a wholeness of nature that is also transcendent and thus profoundly experienced, and ego dissolution or self-transcendence, by which focus shifts from the One toward the Good and thus manifests as interconnectedness. Mystical experiences can also be seen in a naturalist worldview, according to Jones (2022), specifically as a ‘naturalized spirituality’ in which the confined or narrow sense of self is transformed into one with nature. When such experience occurs spontaneously in nonbelievers, however, it can be challenging to integrate, and many tend to shift from ‘atheist’ to ‘agnostic’ or ‘spiritual’ as a means of psychological adjustment, while those who do not may experience negative impact on mental health (van der Tempel & Moodley, 2020).

Integration of such profound experience can be difficult for the religious as well, resulting at times in what’s known as a ‘spiritual emergency’ or inability to integrate extraordinary experience. Such experience can be categorized in 2 ways, according to Taylor (2018): as a sudden collapse of the ego system or selfhood, or as an explosion of energy that can either give the appearance of mania or manifest in somatic symptoms. A sudden or spontaneous experience, of union with the universe, ultimate reality, or the divine, can be initially challenging; eventually, however, it is most often viewed as overwhelmingly positive rather than negative (Corneille & Luke, 2021). Methods of integration especially helpful are practices of compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, and self-awareness, all of which emphasize self-transcendence; also useful are further explorations of the unconscious, placing oneself in deeply peaceful environments, and spiritual means such as prayer or literature, or sharing the experience with someone (Brook, 2021).

And how does transpersonal psychology align with mystical experience?

Areas related to religion or spirituality, and by extension, mysticism, have been largely excluded from psychology since its emergence as a scientific field in the early 20^th century. Established in 1968, the transpersonal psychology field has its underpinnings in the work of the aforementioned William James, Carl Jung, and both humanistic and depth psychologies. Its aim was to return religion and spirituality to the scientific study of the mind, as deeply significant to human experience.

In a review of recent research, Rosmarin et al. (2022) demonstrated that neurobiological correlates for spiritual and religious experiences, such as self-transcendence and inherent religiosity, have been well established by a variety of instruments (EEG, MRI, fMRI, PET, DTI, and more), and have been further associated with various aspects of mental health (e.g., depression, substance use, psychosis, and anxiety). Winkelman (2019b) describes in detail the neurobiological mechanisms related to seemingly supernatural experience. The applications of religion and spirituality to mental health, though more research is always needed, are becoming increasingly clear.

Hartelius (2022, p.5) defines the field thus: “Transpersonal psychology is a transformative psychology of the whole person embedded within a diverse, interconnected, and evolving world that pays particular attention to states of consciousness and developmental models reflecting expansion beyond conventional notions of self.” The field has expanded beyond its original premise to include studies of the individual in systemic context; transformation, both individual and collective, over transcendence; and, intersectional as well as ecological considerations (Richards Crouch et al., 2021).

Transpersonal psychology research has focused since its inception on states of consciousness and mystical experience, and as such, has much to inform us in our 9 keys to mystical experience. Both by the timing of its establishment in the late 1960s and by this focus, the field has often been negatively associated with the ‘New Age’ parapsychology movement that arose at the same time; indeed, there are overlapping interests, while transpersonal psychology has attempted to remain scientific in its approach to spiritual and mystical topics. It was this field, in fact, that first researched mindfulness and introduced it to the wider secular and scientific community, for applications distinct from its religious foundations. And it is transpersonal psychology, over the past 55 years, that has provided much of the research now being applied to the mystical experience in psychedelic studies.

As Hauskeller and Sjöstedt-Hughes (2022) point out: ‘psychedelic’ is an adjective, and as such can be applied widely. Both altered states of consciousness and mystical experience have psychedelic aspects; etymology of the term, developed only in 1956 as an alternative to ‘hallucinogen’, includes psyche or mind / soul, and dēleín, to manifest [Greek] – thus, manifestations of the mind or soul. This is telling, for our purpose in explorations of mystical experience. The term entheogen is also applied to any chemical substance used for altering consciousness, with more religious or spiritual significance in its root term theos or deity; ‘entheogenic spirituality’, then, is an approach that utilizes psychedelic-induced mystical experience for spiritual development and self-transcendence (St. Arnaud & Sharpe, 2023).

An especially promising application is that of virtual reality [VR], which has been shown to induce mystical-type experience and simulate the effects of psychedelics on the mind, including therapeutic outcome. In fact, ‘cyberdelics’, or the concept of using technology to replicate the altered states of consciousness associated with psychedelics, is not new; it first emerged in the 1980s-90s yet, not unlike psychedelics themselves, fell out of interest and is now experiencing a renaissance based on new technological developments (Hartogsohn, 2023). In one such, a multi-user VR allows for ‘energetic coalescence’ in which users’ bodies, experienced as luminescence energy, can fluidly merge; replicating ego dissolution or self-transcendence, one can include and be included by multiple others in a self/other representation – results of which are statistically similar to that of psychedelic research (Glowacki et al., 2022). In another, aptly named ‘Psyrreal’ (psy+surreal), VR mimics the mystical effects of psychedelics and is being applied for the treatment of depression, with promising results (Kaup et al., 2023).

And so – on with our keys. We’ve 9 keys to mystical experience, beginning with peak experience – because, what better place to begin? From there, we explore deep ecology and mystical experience induced by nature. Dreams are our 3^rd key, both supernal and lucid, followed by meditation, a long-established source of mystical experience, which leads us to self-transcendence, including ego dissolution, oceanic boundlessness, and universal interconnectedness.

Our 6^th key is trance, from light (hypnosis) to deep (somnambulistic). This is followed by the use of ritual, which will also include a look at shamanism, the Otherworld concept, and the psychological construct of mental time travel. We follow this with ancestorhood, our 8^th key – communing with our ancestors, not only of blood but also of spirit, land, and hearth, and mystical experiences therein as found in a majority of cultures – with a word about ultimately becoming a good ancestor ourselves. Finally: somatic mysticism, or accessing the mystical realm via the physical body possessed by each of us.

In the words of William James (1902, p. 318): “This overcoming all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic achievement. In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we are aware of our oneness.”

So, let’s get on with peak experience, with side helpings of awe and ecstasy, shall we?

Available on Amazon

References:

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Breeksema JJ and van Elk M (2021). Working with Weirdness: A Response to “Moving Past Mysticism in Psychedelic Science”. ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science 4:4, 1471-1474. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsptsci.1c00149

Bronkhorst J (2022). Mystical Experience. Religions 13:7:589. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070589

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Corneille JS and Luke D (2021). Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings: Phenomenology, Altered States, Individual Differences, and Well-Being. Frontiers in Psychology 12:720579. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720579

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Garcia-Romeu AP and Tart CT (2013). Altered States of Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology. In, The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology (eds H.L. Friedman and G. Hartelius). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118591277.ch6

Glowacki DR, Williams RR, Wonnacott et al. (2022). Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics. Scientific Reports 12, 8995. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12637-z

Hartelius G (2022). What is transpersonal psychology? A concise definition based on 20 years of research. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 41:1. https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/advance-archive/52

Hartogsohn I (2023). Cyberdelics in context: On the prospects and challenges of mind-manifesting technologies. Frontiers in Psychology 13:1073235. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022

Hauskeller C and Sjöstedt-Hughes P (eds) (2022). Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience. London: Bloomsbury Academic: Bloomsbury Collections.

James W (1902). The Varieties of Religious Experience: A study in human nature. London: Longmans, Green & Co.

Jones RH (2022). Secular Mysticism. Religions 13:7:650. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070650

Kangaslampi S (2023). Association between mystical-type experiences under psychedelics and improvements in well-being or mental health – A comprehensive review of the evidence, Journal of Psychedelic Studies 7:1, 18-28. https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2023.00243

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Meaning-Making

10 October 2023 ·

How do we create a life of meaning and purpose? What is the meaning of one’s life?

Religions have all aimed to answer this question since their inception, and for many, their religious beliefs are sufficient. Others don’t identify as religious but as ‘spiritual’ in pursuing a life of meaning and seeking a sense of the transpersonal: interconnection with all sentient beings, and at one with the cosmos, perhaps also seeing a ‘higher power’ – as the collective unconscious of humanity, or as their own superego, the most exalted aspects of the self (Sonnex et al., 2022; Vanhooren et al., 2022).

Still others, identifying neither as religious nor spiritual, may find meaning in a life philosophy, a sense of morals and ethics as they strive to be a good and decent human being concerned with the welfare of others and contributing to the greater good. Sources of meaning are also typically found in relationships – in the act of raising children, and in our social bonds with family and friends, intimate partners, and the greater society: colleagues, neighbors, fellow citizens, and interestingly, especially in shared positivity (Prinzing et al., 2023). We can find meaning in our creativity (Vanhooren et al., 2022), in our professional work, and in ways that we contribute: volunteerism and altruism, kindness and compassion, which we can further identify and emphasize through our gratitude and mindfulness (Lin et al., 2020). The natural world and our relationship to it provides yet another, often deeply felt, source of meaning.

Perhaps life itself, and the crafting of same, carries sufficient meaning (Schippers & Zeigler, 2019). The meaning of one’s existence may well be existence itself, both individually and en masse, and in the here and now – and the fully experienced enjoyment and celebration of it. Being in love with life may well be enough.

The benefits to our health that presence of meaning brings are clear. Presence of meaning contributes to wellbeing (Fischer et al., 2021), mental health (Li et al., 2019), resilience (Grossman, 2022; Ostafin & Proulx, 2020), and life satisfaction (Wolfram, 2022), and has been seen to promote healing (Grossman, 2022); it’s also critical to healthy aging, in both resilience (Mohseni et al., 2019) and in dealing with death anxiety (Brudek & Sekowski, 2021; Dursun et al., 2022). In times of extreme stress our presence of meaning can be shaken or even shattered; however, it can also serve as a buffer or protection of our mental health in such times, as evidenced during the recent pandemic (Arslan & Allen, 2022; de Jong et al., 2020; Humphrey & Vari, 2021).

One’s presence of meaning can be promoted in a number of ways. In a review of 33 studies on meaning-making conducted 2000-2020, Manco and Hamby (2021) identified interventions of mindfulness, narrative (life review; nonspiritual reminiscence), prosocial behavior (compassion, altruism, etc.), psychotherapy, psychoeducation, and spiritual reminiscence. Of these, mindfulness and narrative were noted especially useful for both discerning and constructing personal meaning.

The science regarding ‘life meaning’, an exceedingly subjective term, is far from clear. It’s been variously deemed an illusion and esoteric preoccupation, a rare quality achieved through morality, and a necessity of human existence (King & Hicks, 2021). When thought of not as the broader concept of ‘meaning of life’ but as one of personal meaning, our experience and mental state, it becomes more understandable – and measurable. Positive affect, social connection, religion and worldview, self-understanding, and mortality awareness have all been attributed to presence of meaning – as well as mental time travel, or the ability to project oneself into past, present, future, and even alternate realities (King & Hicks).

It’s also useful to differentiate between ‘presence of meaning’ and ‘search for meaning’, both of which are assessed by the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Steger et al., 2006). These related constructs, relevant to both subjective and psychological forms of wellbeing, are not always present at the same time, however (Li et al., 2021). Presence of meaning is related more closely to trait or characteristic, a generally stable condition; the search for meaning is especially prevalent in times of tragedy or loss, when one’s sense of personal meaning has been shattered. We seek to make sense of and find meaning in catastrophe as a means of coping, in re-establishing a sense of stability or balance (Chu & Fung, 2021).

Transpersonal psychology, emerging more than a half-century ago from a backdrop of Jungian, humanistic, and depth psychologies, seeks to explore the spiritual realm of human experience – religion, metaphysics, mystical experience, states of consciousness, the unknown and the transcendent; vitally important to a majority of humans, this area of experience has been typically ignored in the larger field of psychology, as unscientific and therefore best left to theology and philosophy instead (Yakov, 2020). The transpersonal approach to psychology includes this spiritual realm as an essential part of what it means to be human – a vital component in both mental health and illness. As such, our search for and crafting of personal life meaning is a central focus of psychology’s transpersonal branch (Friedman, 2014).

We humans, having moved far from our instinctive animal natures of simple existence, seek congruence everywhere; we look for patterns and signs, we seek to understand our purpose in being, and without a sense that our life matters in some way, without that understanding of its meaning and purpose, tend to fall into despondency or worse. We have become a ‘meaning-making’ species, and along with other forms of intelligence, ‘spiritual intelligence’ as a schema has been recently explored (Skrzypińska, 2021; Söylemez & Koç, 2019; Watts & Dorobantu, 2023).

At the start of each new journal, in a practice spanning 40+ years thus far, I write on its first page just one phrase: “…remember who I am…”. We employ a variety of methods for self-awareness, and for me, journaling is one of many – but as both writer and psychologist, an important one. My understanding of identity is not only that of a careful crafting but also one of discovery; ideally, we develop the self throughout the lifespan, in a deliberate, handcrafted engagement, but there is a parallel process of largely spontaneous discovery, of our own unconscious.

Transpersonal psychology undertakes to explore the psyche in personal, interpersonal, and transpersonal aspects, the latter inclusive of self-transcendence. And how does this intersect with the construction of meaning? By including all factors that bring a sense of meaning and purpose, not only personal and social but spiritual as well – and by allowing for the transcendence of the self altogether, as our highest achievement and source of meaning, and one of advanced psychological development (Lin et al., 2020; Papaleontiou–Louca et al., 2022).

Transpersonal approaches to meaning-making fall into several categories: attentional (guided imagery, hypnosis, meditation, mindfulness, neurofeedback), biological (psychedelics / entheogens), depth psychotherapy (especially psychosynthesis), and somatic (e.g., holotropic breathwork, body therapies) (Friedman, 2014). In approaching the unconscious through various altered states, two qualities stand out: ineffability, experience which feels so profound that it cannot be put into words (Brockmeier, 2002; James, 1902), and noesis, an inner wisdom or direct knowing (Wahbeh, Fry, & Speirn, 2022).

Due to the transpersonal field’s emphasis on altered states of consciousness and mystical phenomena within the spiritual or metaphysical aspects of human experience, it has been inaccurately associated with the ‘New Age’ parapsychology movement, both having emerged around the same time. Transcendent states of consciousness have been biologically mapped (Church et al., 2022) and neurologically established (Rosmarin et al., 2022; Valverde, 2022). It was transpersonal psychology research that first introduced the Buddhist practice of mindfulness to western psychology, now applied across multiple disciplines. Transpersonal psychology also closely aligns with the current renaissance of psychedelic research, in alteration of consciousness and associated mystical phenomena, and its broad applications to mental health (Hearn, 2021).

It is of interest that the term ‘psychedelic’, though commonly used to refer to a class of drugs, is an adjective, and as such, can also be used to describe a wide array of transpersonal, mystical experiences (Hauskeller & Sjöstedt-Hughes, 2022). Breeksema and van Elk (2021) also point out that ‘mystical-type experience’ is a human phenomenon, scientifically based and thus able to be studied, as distinct from ‘mysticism’ which refers to the realm of the unknowable.

It is further important to note that, while too often used interchangeably, ‘mystical’ and ‘metaphysical’ are not synonymous; the former refers to specific events outside of ordinary understanding, while the latter is a defensible philosophical construct (Sjöstedt-Hughes, 2023). Both, however, relate to the field of transpersonal psychology in its quest to reintegrate the religious, spiritual, or metaphysical aspect of human experience into the study and understanding of the human psyche.

In this book, we will explore 9 keys for meaning-making that fall within the transpersonal psychology spectrum. We begin with authenticity which, in any discussion on presence of meaning, is an essential starting point; this is followed by noetic experience, or accessing inner wisdom, and then our 3^rd key, somatic experience or the knowledge and wisdom of the body. We move next to mindfulness, and onward to our 5^th key, altered states of consciousness and the associated mystical experience.

One of the hallmarks of the transpersonal framework is beyond-ego psychology, or self-transcendence. Our 6^th key explores this concept in its form of ego attenuation, aka the ‘quiet ego’. From there we explore two primary phenomena of mystical experience, universal interconnectedness and the oceanic state or boundlessness. Our final key is self-transcendence and ego dissolution or ego death, arguably the ultimate in meaning construction.

We end with a bonus section: spiritual emergence vs emergency. As we take a transpersonal approach to meaning-making, we are deliberately engaging in altered states of consciousness including changes to the ego structure itself; while methods outlined have been widely used and are entirely safe, they aim toward a restructuring of the psyche which at times can feel unsettling – and we will explore this.

Let’s begin our journey, shall we?

Available on Amazon

References:

Arslan G and Allen KA (2022). Exploring the association between coronavirus stress, meaning in life, psychological flexibility, and subjective well-being. Psychology, Health & Medicine 27:4, 803-814. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2021.1876892

Brockmeier J (2002). Ineffable Experience. Journal of Consciousness Studies 9. 79-95.

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Chu STW and Fung HHL (2021). Is the Search for Meaning Related to the Presence of Meaning? Moderators of the Longitudinal Relationship. Journal of Happiness Studies 22, 127-145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00222-y

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Dursun P, Alyagut P, and Yılmaz I (2022). Meaning in life, psychological hardiness and death anxiety: individuals with or without generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Current Psychology 41, 3299-3317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02695-3

Fischer IC, Secinti E, Cemalcilar Z et al. (2021). Examining Cross-Cultural Relationships Between Meaning in Life and Psychological Well-Being in Turkey and the United States. Journal of Happiness Studies 22, 1341-1358. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00275-z

Friedman H (2014). Finding meaning through transpersonal approaches in clinical psychology: Assessments and psychotherapies. International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy 5:1, 45-49.

Grossman M (2022). Fostering Meaning Making. In: Promoting Healing and Resilience in People with Cancer: A Nursing Perspective. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06101-1_10

Hauskeller C and Sjöstedt-Hughes P (eds) (2022). Philosophy and Psychedelics: Frameworks for Exceptional Experience. London: Bloomsbury Academic: Bloomsbury Collections.

Hearn B (2021). Psychedelics, Mystical Experiences, and Meaning Making: A Renegotiation Process with the Challenges of Existence. Journal of Humanistic Counseling 60, 180-196. https://doi.org/10.1002/johc.12164

Humphrey A and Vari O (2021). Meaning Matters: Self-Perceived Meaning in Life, Its Predictors and Psychological Stressors Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic. Behavioral Sciences 11:4:50. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11040050

James W (1902). The Varieties of Religious Experience: A study in human nature. London: Longmans, Green & Co.

King LA and Hicks JA (2021). The science of meaning in life. Annual review of psychology 72, 561-584. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-072420-122921

Li JB, Dou K, and Liang Y (2021). The Relationship Between Presence of Meaning, Search for Meaning, and Subjective Well-Being: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis Based on the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Journal of Happiness Studies 22, 467-489. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00230-y

Li PFJ, Wong YJ, and Chao RCL (2019). Happiness and meaning in life: Unique, differential, and indirect associations with mental health. Counselling Psychology Quarterly 32:3-4, 396-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2019.1604493

Lin RM, Hong YJ, Xiao HW et al. (2020). Dispositional awe and prosocial tendency: The mediating roles of self-transcendent meaning in life and spiritual self-transcendence. Social Behavior and Personality 48:12, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.9665

Manco N and Hamby S (2021). A Meta-Analytic Review of Interventions That Promote Meaning in Life. American Journal of Health Promotion 35:6, 866-873. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117121995736

Mohseni M, Iranpour A, Naghibzadeh-Tahami A, et al. (2019). The relationship between meaning in life and resilience in older adults: a cross-sectional study. Health Psychology Report 7:2, 133-138. https://doi.org/10.5114/hpr.2019.85659

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Transcendent Aging

9 October 2023 ·

Aging well. Who doesn’t want that?

The topic of aging well has become increasingly prevalent in the past decade, as countries across the globe are facing a ‘silver tsunami’ in the aging of their societies, and as we’re living longer and better thanks to continued advances in medical science. The UN, in fact, declared 2021-2031 as the ‘decade on healthy ageing’, though, while we all hope for good health as we age, the concept of transcendence goes well beyond.

A review of 23 recent studies (2010-2020) conducted in 13 countries across 4 continents, which asked adults age 60+ their views on ‘successful aging’, Reich et al. (2020) identified 6 themes. Most prevalent were social engagement and positive attitude; second were independence and physical health. Interestingly, least important of the six, while still noted themes, were cognitive health and spirituality – though I trust that by the end of this book you’ll agree with me that these should be given greater priority.

We typically consider aging in 3 realms: the biological, psychological, and social. Our elder stage of life is further conceived of in 3 subphases, if you will, and while these differ from one source to another, the most common conception is of ages 65-74 as ‘young-old’, 75-84 as ‘middle-old’, and 85 onward as ‘old-old’. These distinctions are primarily based on typical changes in human physiology, including risk of disease or disability and frailty, while of course we must allow for a multitude of variables.

The psychological and spiritual or metaphysical tasks of each phase can differ enormously, however. As a brief example, in the ‘young-old’ stage, we may be bringing our middle stage of life to a natural conclusion, completing unfinished tasks both personal and professional as well as embracing many new activities we hadn’t time for previously. The ‘middle-old’ stage may be focused more on imparting wisdom and mentoring others, as we also embrace those areas that we’d still like to know and experience while we have time, and we think more in terms of ‘legacy’ or our contribution to a better world. In the ‘old-old’ stage we’re still not finished; we may now turn ever more to self-transcendence, explorations of our inner world as well as the metaphysical, as we prepare to become ‘good ancestors’. (More on that soon.)

Normative expectations for older adults have included disengagement, as we retire from our employment or profession and ‘make way’ for younger workers, conclude the rearing of family, and retreat from other obligations, with newfound freedom and leisure time; there are also longstanding expectations that at the same time we will become more diligent in terms of physical exercise and other ways to stay healthy as we age, and indeed, this is a very good idea. Taken together, however, as pointed out by researchers de Paulo Couto and Rothermund (2022), these also indicate an ageist view: that we should not be a ‘burden to society’ – give over your place to those younger, while ensuring that you remain healthy so that the system isn’t overtaxed by your care. Further expectations include wisdom, that by an advanced age we will have accumulated sufficient knowledge and experience to broaden our perspective and enable us to make sound judgment and advise others, and dignity – a certain gravitas ‘befitting our age’.

Successful aging was described a few decades ago as low probability of disease and disability, high cognitive and physical capacity, and active engagement with life (Rowe & Kahn, 1987; 1997), a concept not without merit but with limitations, in that our elder years aren’t static; rather, we continue to grow and change (Stowe & Cooney, 2015). In fact, a recent in-depth analysis of prior research (Menassa et al., 2023) found 65 models and definitions of healthy aging, 3 focused solely on health-state outcomes, 31 on adaptations across the lifespan, and another 31 that included both views.

We want more. While we all want to maintain our health and a certain measure of strength, vitality, and mental capacity, it isn’t enough. We want to remain engaged, to continue learning, to be resilient, to continue to expand our sense of selfhood and even to transcend it – to thrive.

In 1950, the German American psychologist Erik Erikson introduced his model of lifespan development, relevant to this day, the first to include a late life developmental stage (Erikson, 1950). Rather than achieving our peak in mid-adulthood and steadily declining thereafter, as was commonly accepted, it was proposed that we still had capacity for growth – to our final breath. The focus of that late stage, which Erikson delineated as age 65 and beyond, was one he called ‘integrity vs. despair’; in it, we contemplate our lifespan including its meaning, purpose, and contribution, and either make our peace with our mortality or risk slipping into depression and an overwhelming sense of loss.

Just a few years prior, in 1946 Vienna, Viktor Frankl had posited the pursuit of meaning and purpose in life as a primary focus of human existence (Frankl, 1962). Recent research continues to support the views of both Frankl and Erikson, as one’s sense of life meaning serves as a buffer against despair in later years (Basher, 2022). Further, this isn’t merely a matter of retrospection; an ongoing sense of meaning and purpose in one’s elder years serves as a buffer against decline in both cognition and mood (Abellaneda-Pérez et al., 2023; Lee et al., 2022).

An encouraging theory, that of psychological development through our lifespan. However, we want still more. While reminiscing has its own health benefits, and an ongoing sense of meaning not so difficult to achieve in terms of family engagement, charity donation or volunteerism, and the sharing of accumulated wisdom, we must wonder: are there other achievements still to be reached? Perhaps even worlds to explore?

I have an idea, as I too am entering my ‘third-third’ of life, my ‘third act’, if you will, that we have in fact 4 broad stages of existence: childhood, adulthood, elderhood – and then, ancestorhood. I’m a product of western culture, within which I spent my first 40 years; for the past 2 decades, however, I’ve lived in a succession of Asian cultures with a shared belief in ancestors as integral to daily life. A primary task of one’s elder years in such cultures, then, is in preparing to become a good ancestor – for one’s own family, and for humanity. And I must also be clear: far from minimizing one’s elder years as somehow ‘no longer adult’, this concept places ‘elder’ as an even more highly developed stage – perhaps a sort of ‘advanced adulthood’ — with ancestorhood, then, as one’s most exalted stage of development.

Regardless of religious or secular beliefs about afterlife, one can still consider one’s continuation after death – in the legacy that we leave, in our influence on others while we’re here, in becoming the best person that we can in order to contribute our developed personhood to the betterment of humanity overall. Whether we continue to have a role in some spirit form after our body disintegrates or not is indeed a matter of personal belief – but even as metaphor, working on our development through our elder years in order to become a good ancestor is a worthy aim in my view.

We can also think of these stages in the terminology of both Freud and Jung. Childhood is naturally a stage of pure id, or self-interest; adulthood, then, one of ego, or a balance between our base and better selves, as we focus on career, family, and the tangible realm. Elderhood — a stage, paradoxically, of time running out yet also of time affluence, as we have minimal obligations and long hours to each day — provides us with an opportunity: we begin to focus increasingly on the intangible, the spiritual if you will, not only in terms of afterlife but also of our own development, and of legacy. How have we contributed to humanity and the planet thus far, and how can we continue to contribute? How can we best share all the knowledge and experience we’ve accumulated? And, in what ways can we perhaps have a life even more meaningful than any earlier stage? Thus: superego. We are not suddenly, magically without self-interest, but we have an ever-widening scope as we contemplate the record that we’ll leave behind – and prepare to become a good ancestor.

That fourth stage, then: ancestorhood. While Freud conceived of the id, ego, superego structure of the human psyche, which I’m applying metaphorically to these 3 life stages, it was Jung who developed the concept of a collective unconscious. This, I propose, is the metaphor for our ancestorhood. We become part of the web of humanity as have all who lived before us, and through which we continue to exist, albeit in an entirely different way. (We’ll circle back to this.)

Enter, Transpersonal Psychology. While the previous scheme, one of childhood-adulthood-elderhood-ancestorhood stages of existence, is my own, it’s transpersonal psychology that brings the spiritual realm back into our view of the human psyche. This school of thought formally emerged in the late 1960s but with antecedents much earlier. It integrates the theories of Carl Jung and later manifestations of both humanistic and depth psychology with the spiritual and/or metaphysical aspects of human interest and development, including the 19^th century work of psychologist/philosopher William James. Neither religious nor ‘New Age’, though often accused of the latter because of its inclusion of the mystical, the field nevertheless considers and explores the spiritual dimension — a realm of human experience often critically important to the individual but overlooked in our increasingly reductionist scientific study of the human mind.

Transpersonal Psychology has 3 key areas of focus: beyond-ego or personal sense of selfhood, integrative or holistic approaches to the human psyche, and self-transformation (Hartelius, Caplan, & Rardin, 2007; Walsh & Vaughn, 1980). It overlaps in some areas with that of positive psychology, a more recent school of thought introduced in the late 1990s, in concepts such as engagement and flow, wellbeing, meaning and purpose, mindfulness, creativity, and more. The realm of mystical experience is not only within but central to the transpersonal view, and thus, Eastern constructs such as Buddhism and shamanism are also of great interest.

And how does this relate to our aging well? In a word: transcendence.

A myriad of books on successful aging have been published recently: active, conscious, contemplative, positive, self-compassionate, sacred; elderhood, ‘gerotranscendence’, ‘sageing’. We want not only to go well into our elder years; we want to become elders in the true, indigenous sense of leading our tribes and contributing our wisdom. And we want to explore even more areas, of our own psyches and of the world, than we had before.

Abraham Maslow, who first conceptualized the now widely recognized hierarchy of human need, initially developed his concept culminating with the level of self-esteem, later adding ‘self-actualization’ or personal development as the pinnacle. In his final years, however, he proposed self-transcendence, in which we transcend the self altogether and focus on an expansion beyond the ego and even the physical body – into humanity and society, into the cosmos. In his own words: “Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos (Maslow, 1971, p. 269).

Twenty-five years earlier in 1946, Frankl had posited that the ultimate human development is in forgetting the self altogether – in giving oneself over to a greater purpose, motivated by love. He proposed that self-actualization only occurred as a side note to one’s transcendence of self, that we paradoxically reach our peak of personal development when we deliberately lose ourselves to the service of the greater good (Frankl, 1962).

In 1997, Swedish sociologist Lars Tornstam, informed by such thinkers as Erikson, Frankl, Maslow, and others, developed a theory of social gerontology he called, ‘gerotranscendence’ (Tornstam, 1997; 1999; 2005). His view of positive aging conceptualized the elder years as contemplative; we have transcended our exaggerated concerns for our bodies and for the daily issues of life, and instead turn toward both deeper meaning and engagement in a new way – more selective, with increasing periods of solitude and contemplative, meditative, and/or reminiscent practices. What we transcend, then, are preoccupations with career, body, and ego or selfhood.

And still – we want more. While ‘gerotranscendence’ is an appealing term, it somewhat buys into the stereotype of an increasingly solitary and contemplative existence, a withdrawal from the world. Yes, and. While this is true to a degree and in fact may be an idea we embrace, we can simultaneously remain fully engaged with humanity and the world around us – both externally and internally. (More on that soon.)

And so, our elder years, even as we wonder how our health may decline and other issues unfold, even as we face a succession of losses and understand that at some point we too will physically cease to exist, despite all its uncertainties, can be a time of richness – and perhaps, excitement. As I’m in my 60^th year, I find myself increasingly interested in this new phase of elderhood, of exploring and embracing all that it has to offer, and of preparing to become a good ancestor. The concern of loneliness becomes one of embracing solitude and inner exploration, silence and meditation; the idea of being ‘invisible’ to society becomes my superpower, my ‘cloak of invisibility’ as I can do, say, and think as I wish (with some parameters!) because no one is watching – a freedom. What’s more, the idea of feeling useless or without purpose evaporates when we explore ways to share our accumulated wisdom, remain engaged, and continue to contribute to the betterment of humanity – in part, through our own self-development.

One of the world’s true wise ones, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, passed from this earth just over a year ago in January 2022, having endured a stroke in 2014 that took his ability to speak. As millions who have been changed by his teachings mourned his death, they were also comforted by the Buddhist concept of continuation he espoused – that nothing truly dies, but continues in a different form, still engaging in and remaining part of this world. As he celebrated his beloved earth and his life, he also taught what he called ‘interbeing’, or universal interconnectedness: the individual, the ego, might die, but as we’ve interacted with and affected the lives of others, as we’re connected to and a part of all existence past, present, and future, our essence cannot cease to exist. Because of this interconnectedness, we strive to become the healthiest and most fully realized versions of ourselves, as a way of contributing to the web of all life: health and wellbeing of the species, the planet, the universe itself. This, then, is our sacred duty.

And what of transcendence? In part, it’s ego death or dissolution, in which our subjective ego or sense of self disappears, a state found in meditation and other methods for altering consciousness. This is often coupled with two other phenomena found in mystical experience: oceanic boundlessness or a sense of our identity expanding far beyond the reaches of our physical body, and universal interconnectedness or the feeling of being at one with all sentient beings and even the cosmos itself.

The concept of transcendence covers 5 domains, which also represent means to achieve this state: creativity, contemplation, introspection, relationships or interconnectedness, and spirituality or metaphysics (McCarthy & Bockweg, 2012). Aldwin et al. (2019) proposed wisdom as inclusive of self-transcendence, in addition to self-knowledge, non-attachment, and integration; they further suggested ego-transcendence as a more accurate construct. Other facets have been identified, including mindfulness, flow, awe, and both peak and mystical experience (Yaden et al., 2017). Beyond a late-life developmental stage, beyond the process itself in whatever form, transcendence has also been attributed to personality trait, psychological state, value orientation, and worldview (Wong, 2016). In addition, it correlates with both wellbeing and health promotion in those age 65 and older, a critical bonus (Haugan et al., 2022; Haugan & Dezutter, 2021).

And so, we come to our 9 transpersonal keys to transcendent aging. In this book we begin our exploration in the realm of meaning-making, or constructing sources of meaning in our own lives, as a sacred process. We move on to wisdom, in a look at how we identify, explore, and externalize our accumulated knowledge, experience, skills, perception, and more. Meditation, or inner exploration, is our next key, with specific foci for elderhood, and from there we move on to mindfulness as both trait and state, as nurtured by its practices.

Engagement follows, in many facets, connected by the concept of flow state to our 6^th key, creativity. We go from there to contemplative practices, our 7^th key and distinct from our earlier one of meditation. Then we’re on to peak experiences: how to seek out, embrace, and utilize them for our own transpersonal growth. Our final key is transcendence itself, ways that we can facilitate such experiences, and possible goals and outcomes.

There’s a bonus chapter, too, on emerging elderhood. As we reach our late 50s and into our early 60s, how can we facilitate our transition – spin our chrysalis – to embrace this new stage of life and prepare for a transcendent focus?

Isn’t it lovely, to think that we can continue to grow, expand, and contribute throughout our lifespan – and even perhaps beyond, into ancestorhood?

I’ve lived a life of the mind, my worst fear one of losing my mental capacity and sense of self in my elderhood. Recently, however, in my 60^th year and contemplating my own third act, I’ve begun to experience a profound shift in this regard. Even if my narrative does end in dementia, I’ll still be learning, experiencing, and developing – in another dimension entirely my own, perhaps the ultimate self-transcendence. And what a fascinating adventure that would be.

Let’s begin with meaning-making, shall we?

Available on Amazon

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Anne Hilty, PhD

Psychologist, Consultant

Category: Uncategorized

Ritual for Self-Care

Mystical Experience

Meaning-Making

Transcendent Aging

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