Transpersonal Psychology

Transpersonal Psychology (TPP) is the study of those experiences in which we move beyond the personal in our life.  This means experiences such as caring for others and the earth, being moved by a sunset or music, and spiritual, mystical or religious experiences. 

Transpersonal psychology is beautifully described on the TPP website in the following way:

 “It refers to experiences in which there is an expansion beyond our ordinary sense of self and a feeling of connection to a larger, more meaningful reality”.

So, the transpersonal refers to our sense of purpose and meaning in life, and to the deeper moments when we let go of our attachment to self and selfish needs and connect to something more true and valuable, more profound and moving.  I am particularly interested in those moments that move us to tears, such as at weddings, Christenings, Bar Mitzvahs, or seeing your child on stage or facing a challenge with courage.  I feel that these are the moments we connect to what is TRUE and REAL and for some people, they point the way towards the reality of the Divine.

TPP is also concerned with;

• Exploring mystical, transcendental, meditative and peak experiences; and the psychological factors that may contribute to these experiences.
• Enhancement of human potential and psychological well-being. *
• The role of meditation in self-exploration and self-development. *
• The psychology of religion.
• Eastern psycho-spiritual traditions. *

*These are the areas covered by the AMAZING Lyfe Project.

This and more information can be found at the TPP section of the British Psychological Society website at:

http://www.transpersonalpsychology.org.uk/index.html

On a personal note.

Awareness of the transpersonal as a reality can also help us survive and grow.  For example, awareness that life has purpose, that events have meaning and that my life is connected to a deeper and more loving reality, helped me to carry on when my life was particularly difficult.  When I went through a time of intense suffering, what kept me going was the knowledge (or belief if you prefer) that there was a deeper reason for what was happening to me, and that this pain would eventually pass and give way to something else. 

Through this understanding I found the strength to endure and my belief was not in vain.  My suffering opened my heart wider (this seems to be the purpose of suffering).  My heart became more tender, more compassionate, more humble.  I began to feel deep gratitude for the times in my life that I was joyful, I became more peaceful, more accepting, less judgemental.  All this came from entering fully into the depths of pain, rather than avoiding it, and allowing the process to work itself through.

I was only able to let go and enter the process because I chose to trust that a deeper reality was supporting and holding me in my process.  I have lived my life based on this belief for the past twenty years and it has NEVER let me down.  I have been supported in ways beyond what I thought possible.  I have no doubt of the reality of an immanent and transcendent loving consciousness. Based on my experience to this point I understand that consciousness to be made up of what I am made up of, but more than that; made up of all life, but more than the sum total of that too.  I will elucidate further.

Gary Zukav puts it beautifully when he describes that divine reality as an ocean.  Each drop of water in that ocean is one life (you or I) & each cup of water from that ocean makes up the eternal spirit that is our unique energy pattern & that moves in and out of many existences, lives and states.  We never leave that ocean for a moment, but experience ourselves as separate from it when embodied.  I love this metaphor.  It feels true to me.

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