17

Basic Postulates for a Transpersonal

Psychotherapy
Bryan Wittine

The Greeks had a word, pou sto, meaning a place to derlies the world's religious doctrines with their cultural
stand, a ground, base, or set of principles from which to and historical idiosyncracies. This esoteric perspective
operate. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a pou sto permeates the whole approach of the transpersonal thera-
for the practice of trans personal psychotherapy (Grof, pist. What differentiates transpersonal therapy from other
1985; Vaughan, 1986; Wilber, 1977, 1980). orientations is neither technique nor the presenting prob-
It is common knowledge that the beliefs and state of lems of clients but the spiritual perspective of the
mind of the therapist-both conscious and uncon- therapist.
scious-determine to a great extent the nature of the ther- The word transpersonal (from the Latin trans mean-
apy and, in particular, its outcome. Therefore, I believe it ing beyond and through and persona meaning mask or
will be useful to make explicit some of the fundamental personality) has been defined as referring to states of
assumptions held by many transpersonal therapists. consciousness extending beyond the customary ego
As I see it, trans personal therapy is an approach to boundaries and the ordinary limitations of time and space
healing/growth that aims to bridge the Western psycho- (Grof, 1985; Walsh & Vaughan, 1980). Fadiman (1980)
logical tradition, including psychoanalytic and existential suggests the word transpersonal can also be used to char-
psychological perspectives, and the world's perennial acterize the entire process of growth through the person-
philosophy. Huxley (1944) defined the perennial philoso- ality to spiritual states of being. I believe it can also be
phyas: recognized quite simply as an amalgam of transcendental
. . . the metaphysic that recognizes a divine Reality sub- and personal. Seen in this light, a transpersonal approach
stantial to the world of things and lives and minds; the seeks to help clients integrate the transcendental or spir-
psychology that finds in the soul something similar to, or itual and personal dimensions of existence, to help them
even identical with, divine Reality; the ethic that places fulfill their unique, creative individuality while pointing
man's final end in the knowledge of the immanent and toward their rootedness in the nontemporal, formless,
transcendent Ground of all Being." (p. vii)
depth dimension of being.
More specifically, I am referring to the perspective The following five postulates are an attempt to
of an esoteric or mystical tradition that Huxley and others weave Western psychology and the perennial wisdom.
(Schuon, 1975; Smith, 1976; Wilber, 1977) believe un~ They form a pou sto for trans personally oriented clinical
work. I suggest transpersonal psychotherapy affirms: (a)
the need for healing/ growth on all levels of the spectrum
Bryan Wittine • Graduate Program in Transpersonal Coun- of identity-egoic, existential, and transpersonal; (b) the
seling Psychology, John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, Cal- therapist's unfolding awareness ofthe Self, or deep center
ifornia 94563. of Being, and his or her spiritual perspective on life as

269

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© Plenum Press, New York 1989
270 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

central to the therapeutic process; (c) the process of sance, alchemists turned inward to practice their' 'Great
awakening from a lesser to a greater identity; (d) the Work," the goal of which was to discover the philoso-
healing, restorative nature of inner awareness and intui- pher's stone, a symbol for a true Self lying behind and
tion; and (e) the transformative potential in the beyond our surface personality. The Hindu Vedas and
therapeutic relationship not only for the client but for the Upanishads, some esoteric Christian teachings, the say-
therapist as well. In this chapter, I will discuss these ings of the Buddha, and in modem times psychoanalysis
postulates and some of the themes suggested by each. and existential-humanistic psychology-at the heart of
In considering them, however, I wish my readers to each of these are the simple questions, Who am I? and
be aware of two important points. First, these postulates What am I?
are my pou sto, the frame of reference through which I And the answer? Wilber (1977, 1979), one of trans-
work with my clients. They do not comprise the belief personal psychology's most influential and prolific expo-
system of every trans personal therapist. They are where I nents, suggests it depends entirely upon where we are
stand at this point in my life. Although I believe most identified in a spectrum of identity. Our identification is
transpersonal therapists would substantially agree with determined by where we draw the boundary line between
me, each is also likely to differ in many ways according to what we identify as "I" and what we exclude as "not-I."
his or her individual perspective. In other words, when I describe myself, I am identified
Secondly, when reading mystical literature, words with everything on the inside of that boundary line. Ev-
such as Self and Being must not be taken literally and erything not me is outside.
confused as things or objects. According to the world The Self, or depth dimension of Being, is the true
view of the perennial philosophy, what these words point nature and condition of all sentierit beings. As a result of
to eludes objectification. Our true nature cannot be our conditioning, however, we limit ourselves and our
known completely by the mind, for the experience of the world and tum from our original nature to embrace a
Self is beyond the range and reach of conceptual, dualistic boundaried existence. "Our originally pure con-
thought. Even giving it a label and calling it the Self can sciousness," Wilber (1979) wrote, "then functions on
be misleading, for this implies our true nature is an it, a various levels, with different identities and different
thing or object separate from an observing subject. boundaries. These different levels are basically the many
In order to be truly known, transpersonal dimensions ways we can and do answer the question, 'Who am I?' "
of consciousness must be directly experienced. Transper- (p. 5). In other words, the world of individual forms is an
sonal experiences occur as we transcend the "eye of the appearance of the Self.
flesh" and the "eye of the mind" and awaken our "eye Borrowing from Wilber (1977, 1979) and Walsh and
of contemplation" (Wilber, 1983). The elusiveness of Vaughan (1980), I emphasize three levels, dimensions,
perennial philosophers tends to frustrate those of us who or bands in this spectrum-the egoic, existential, and
have yet to discover realities outside our ordinary sense transpersonal-extending from the strictly isolated and
perceptions. and strictly rational conceptualizations; individual to the wholly inclusive and universal. I view
nevertheless, the perennial philosophy explicitly states them as interpenetrating levels in a "hierarchy of
that only individuals whose vision penetrates behind the wholes." The higher dimensions go beyond, yet include
veil of worldly appearances can experientially verify my- the lower. Just as a cell is a tiny life existing within the
stical realities. larger life of, say, the brain, and the brain is a smaller life
existing within the greater life of the physical body, so too
our egoic identity is one component of our greater exis-
POSTULATE 1 tential self, and our existential self functions within a still
greater, all-encompassing transpersonal reality. The
Transpersonal Psychotherapy is an approach to transpersonal may not be truly known while we are ex-
healing/growth that addresses all levels of the clusively identified at the existential level, just as the
spectrum of identity-egoic, existential, and existential self is only partially experienced when we are
exclusively identified with the ego.
transpersonal.
"Who am I?" and "What am I?" are the central
Egoic Identity
questions addressed in the field of psychology. The quest
to find answers to these eternal questions is as ancient as I define egoic identity as a stable, relatively con-
the questions themselves. Inscribed above the door to the stant, and enduring system of mental seJf- and world con-
Temple of Apollo were the words, "Man, Know Thy- structs that gives us the sense of being particular beings
self!" Self-knowledge was the aim of the mystery schools separate from other particular beings.
in ancient Greece and Egypt. In the Europe of the Renais- If we take the view of the perennial philosophy, as
17 • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY 271

developed by Wilber (1977, 1979), that an individual is As Masterson (1976) puts it, "Their capacity to love
first a Buddha and becomes an ego, then we are born as is crippled by the need to defend themselves against inti-
pure Being, completely open, innocent, and undifferenti- macy by clinging and/or distancing; their satisfaction at
ated from nature and mother. But we cannot live our lives work is crippled by the need to avoid individuation" (p.
in this state of unconscious, undifferentiated oneness. We 3). They are usually struggling to break free from archaic
must survive in the world. So, under the influence of ties and conflicts with introjected parental and early au-
primary caretakers, we "fall" from our "sinless" state thority imagos and consolidate a realistic sense of them-
in unconditioned Eden into the "sin" of egoic separate- selves, others, and the world.
ness. Developing a stable egoic identity, or concepts of
Our mental-egoic identity is a whole constellation of self and concepts of others that are realistic, integrated,
concepts, images, self- and object representations, identi- and whole, gives them a firmer inner foundation from
fications, subpersonalities, and coping and defense which to form more satisfying relationships and adjust to
mechanisms associated with the feeling of being separate ever-present psychosocial pressures. When they learn to
persons, different from all other persons. This system of stand as separate, independent persons, they can enter
mental constructs is fashioned from the early interactions into more fulfilling relationships rather than becoming
between our inborn and unfolding givens-our capacities . enmeshed in the identities of others or distancing them-
for bodily pleasure and pain, thought, perception, memo- selves out of the dread of self-fragmentation and loss of
ry, movement, affect, and the like-and the environmen- their already impoverished feeling of individual selfbood.
tal inputs of primary caretakers and life experiences. The These clients usually come to therapy with polarized
various parts of our self- and world construct system are views of themselves and the world. Their identities are
the building blocks of our house of personality. How we caught in extremes of good and bad, right and wrong,
consciously and habitually organize, perceive, and give either this or that, and they neglect to see the full spectrum
meaning to ourselves and our world are conditioned by of possibilities between the extremes. Two case examples
the structure of our mental-egoic self. illustrate my point. One, an emotionally distant, detached
Theories of character structure are basically psycho- man with a schizoid trend in his personality could not
analytic (Horney, 1950). Recent innovations are the psy- experience his personal needs and feelings because he
chiatric classifications of DSM-III (Millon, 1981) and the was terrified he would lose control. As a child, he learned
neoanalytic approaches of ego psychology (Blanck & his needs and emotions were dangerous; they upset his
Blanck, 1974, 1979), object relations theory (Horner, perfectionistic mother who threatened him with her ill-
1984; Kernberg, 1975; Masterson, 1976, 1985; Miller, nesses and her possible death if he needed nurturance or
1981), and psychoanalytic self-psychology (Kohut, expressed anger. Another male client, tender but passive,
1971, 1977; White & Weiner, 1986). My conception of rejected being assertive and going after what he wanted
the mental-egoic identity is fundamentally the same as because to do so made him like his aggressive, dominat-
Masterson's (1985) "real self," a term he used to desig- ing father who humiliated both him and his mother. In this
nate' 'the sum of self and object representations with their pre-egoic state he was unconsciously enmeshed with the
related affects" (p. 21). mother. He also engaged in grandiose success fantasies,
As I see it, one primary task of transpersonal psycho- all of which would be realized in some distant tomorrow.
therapy is identical to that of many other Western psycho- However, continuing to see his father as all bad and hav-
therapies: to facilitate the emergence and development of ing rejected him completely, he also rejected the power
a stable, cohesive egoic identity when this is needed by and practicality he needed to realize some of his dreams.
the client. Many individuals come to therapy needing a These men were seeing things in black and white and
clearer sense of who they are as separate, distinct indi- missing the color in between. The first had disowned his
viduals. Their self-identity can be described as preegoic. entire emotional nature. The other had split off his ag-
They are identified almost entirely with certain accept- gressive impulses and became, in his own words, "a
able aspects of their total selves (what Jung called the sweet man with no balls." Their respective journeys in
persona) and deny, repress, or project their unacceptable psychotherapy helped them realize that living at the ex-
aspects (Jung's shadow). Their self-definition is vague, tremes of emotional distance or passivity out of a fear of
distorted, and significantly limited; their boundaries, becoming hysterical or aggressive and dominating is self-
shifting and unstable. Consequently, these understruc- defeating. Each in his own way went beyond preegoic
tured individuals either form addictive, symbiotic rela- splits to the cohesion and integration of ego. Thus work at
tionships that are highly intense and chaotic, or withdraw the egoic level builds boundaries, integrates polariza-
into an ivory tower, becoming estranged from others. tions, replaces nonfunctional concepts of self and other,
Both types feel extremely vulnerable in a world of over- and modifies character structure so clients can interact
whelming proportions. with others and the world in a more fulfilling way.
272 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Existential Identity Horney claims the real self is the "original force
toward individual growth and fulfillment," the "spring
Once individuals with preegoic identities have de-
of emotional forces, of constructive energies, of directive
veloped a more realistic conception of themselves and
and judiciary powers." This "alive center," she says,
others, a more cohesive egoic identity, they can embark
"feels more real, more certain, more definite" with
on a process that takes them further on the journey of self-
every experience we have of it.
discovery, that of unfolding their existential self, or their
For BugentaI, the primary characteristic of the "1-
true inner individuality.
process" is "feelingful awareness." He differentiates
Other clients enter therapy with a more stable, co-
this "I" from the mental-egoic self with its images and
hesive self-definition. They have a relatively solid feeling
concepts of what we and the world are. To Bugental
of being particular persons separate from others. For
(1981), the mental-egoic self is a construct of awareness,
them, problems and concerns develop not so much be-
a perceptual object, whereas the "I" is the "livingness,"
cause they have too little structure but because they have
the being who is aware:
too much. Their difficulties come from being overboun-
daried, not underboundaried. They have become overly Most basically, the I is ... feelingful awareness ....
rigid and defended in their self-definition and patterns of But, . . . our awareness discloses other aspects of our
being: we are finite; we have the potential to take action;
living. I am here referring to the differentiation made by we can choose from among actions and non-actions that
psychoanalytic metapsychology between preneurotic and which we will make actual; and we are separate but relat-
neurotic characters. The work of transpersonal therapy ed with other men. These, clearly, are aspects of the 1-
for the so-called neurotic character is focused on eman- process. The being of the individual person is what we
point to by the term I or I-process. It is possible, for
cipating a deeper" existential self' from the prison of the discussion purposes, to think of the I-process chiefly as
mental ego's constricting armor. combined awareness and choicemaking, with the other
What I am calling the existential self! has been attributes subsumed under this composite function.
termed the "real self' by Horney (1950) and the "1- (p. 204)
process" or the "essential being" by Bugental (1981).
In general, it seems to me clients unfold the inherent
Horney (1950) says:
potentialities of their existential self as they confront what
Whatever the conditions under which a child grows up, Bugental (1981) terms the existential givens or the condi-
he will, if not mentally defective, learn to cope with tions of being human. As human beings, we are embod-
others in one way or another and he will probably acquire
some skills. But there are also forces in him which he
ied, finite, capable of making choices and taking action,
cannot acquire or even develop by learning. You need and separate from, but related to, others. Each human
not, and in fact cannot, teach an acorn to grow into an oak being is subject to these conditions of existence whether
tree, but when given a chance, its intrinsic potentialities or not he or she pays attention to them. "When a person is
will develop. Similarly, the human individual, given a aware of himself and world and lives in accord with these
chance, tends to develop his particular human poten-
tialities. He will develop then the unique alive forces of conditions of being alive, he is a harmonious part of all
his real self: the clarity and depth of his own feelings, being. When, however, he distorts some of the condi-
thoughts, wishes, interests; the ability to tap his own tions of his being, he loses that very being in the process"
resources, the strength of his will power; the special ca- (Bugental, 1981, p. 15). In Existential Psychotherapy,
pacities or gifts he may have; the faculty to express him-
Yalom (1980) argues convincingly that the root of many
self, and to relate himself to others with his spontaneous
feelings. All this will in time enable him to find his set of neuroses is the inability to face these realities.
values and his aims in life. In short, he will grow, sub- The fact of our embodiment means we are subject to
stantially undiverted, toward self-realization. And that is youth, maturity, and age, to continual change, to illness
why I speak . . . of the real self as that central inner and health, to all the joys and anxieties of being physical
force, common to all human beings and yet unique in
each, which is the deep source of growth. (p. 17) and dwelling on planet earth. Because we are embodied,
we are also finite. Nothing embodied is permanent. The
1I am using the term existential in this chapter in a restricted one certainty of our earthly life is that it will end; the
sense. May (1983) wrote, "Logically as well as psychologi- greatest uncertainty is when. We are subject to fate, to
cally we must go beyond the ego-id-superego system [the men-
tal-egoic identity] and endeavor to understand the 'being' of life's contingencies, to limits and endings. Despite all our
whom these are expressions." He also wrote, "Being is to be efforts to control our lives, what will happen and when are
defined as the individual's 'pattern of potentialities.' These ultimately beyond our knowing.
potentialities will be partly shared with other persons but will in During this limited time in which we are alive, we
every case form a unique pattern in each individual" (p. 17).
May is clearly referring to a pattern of intrinsic individual po-
act and choose. We are free to make choices, take action,
tentialities and not to spiritual realms that transcend the be creative, and discover meaning and purpose. Our lives
individual. are precious, or as some Tibetan Buddhists have put it,
17 • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY 273

they are "auspicious occasions." We are responsible for The Bhagavad Gita (Saraydarian, n.d.) is especially ap-
the living of our lives. Although there are obviously limits propriate: "It is better for a man to perform his own
to our freedom, each of us has far more potential for life dharma [the law and truth of his being] imperfectly than to
than we let ourselves know. perform another's perfectly. It is better to die in one's
Finally, we are separate, distinct individuals, yet in own dharma. To do the dharma of another is dangerous"
some way related to all other persons and all living things. (p. 31). Shakespeare put it even more succinctly: "To
We make our choices and take action in relationship to thine own self be true."
other people in close connection and to the world at large. The task of transpersonal psychotherapy at this level
We are capable of having both our individual identities is to help loosen the hold of the rigidified mental ego so
and intimate relationships. that the dharma of the individual may come forth. Clients
In my own clinical practice, I often find that as cli- gradually liberate their energies from the superstructure
ents encounter these givens, they become more aware of of their conditioned mental-egoic identity and put them in
themselves, other people, and the world. They begin to the direction of actualizing the skills, talents, and func-
prize authenticity and gradually make their outer behavior tions that are uniquely their own. Rather than remaining
and communication congruent with their inner thoughts the persons their primary caretakers wanted, or the
and feelings. They come to treasure a way oflife ruled by culture deemed they should be, they begin to make
the dictates of their "alive center," the existential self, choices based on what they feel and want, and express
and less by the need for approval or direction from outside who and what they more essentially are. If it is their
authority-a kind of healthy narcissism, if you will. dharma, the truth of their being, to be musicians or cre-
More sPecifically, we can speak of clients unfolding ative artists or athletes, they begin to actualize and ex-
potentialities in three areas: personal power, love, and press these intrinsic capacities-just as it is the dharma of
creativity. Clients who encounter the existential givens dogs to bark, of fires to bum, and of the earth to tum on its
begin to awaken to a greater feeling of personal power. axis.
They realize they are neither victims of the world nor the
aggressors. Rather, transcending the victim/aggressor
Transpersonalldentity
syndrome, they discover the courage to affect life in
meaningful ways; they become more proactive than re- In transpersonal psychology, it is assumed our men-
active, more choiceful and purposeful, more spontaneous tal-egoic and existential selves are incomplete. When our
and passionate in their living. They are willing to live' 'on identity is primarily egoic, we are identified with a mental
the edge," to take greater risks to shape life according to conception of who we and the world are, a conception
their desires, and to accept full responsibility for their determined substantially by the self- and object represen-
wants, desires, and actions. tations formed through interactions with primary care-
Similarly, when identified with their existential cen- givers during childhood. In the vernacular, we are "liv-
ter, these people begin to give and receive love without ing in our heads" and split off from our intrinsic
losing themselves to others or maintaining overly rigid individuality and our physical bodies. When our identity
boundaries. Having come to a greater acceptance of their is existential, we have begun to confront and accept the
separateness, they are less dependent and absorbed in givens of human life-that we are embodied, finite, free,
others and more centered in themselves, as well as more and related-but we are still individuals and therefore at
realistically aware of others. They are "self-ful, " and not the same time separate from others, the environment, and
selfish. Consequently, they are able to enter into interper- the universe. According to the perennial philosophy
sonal relationships with an ability to care wholeheartedly (Vaughan, 1986; Wilber, 1977, 1979), we cannot be truly
for both themselves and for the other. whole ul}til we awaken to the wholeness of a deeper level
Finally, existentially identified individuals seek to of identity, the Self.
express themselves creatively in ways which contribute to The perennial philosophy tells us that we come from
the life of their times. They experience a surge of creati ve (or are grounded in) the One Self, that we are estranged
energy and long to be expressive in activities that are from or unaware of our origin, and can return, not by
usually meaningful not only to themselves but to their learning something new, but by remembering our true
families and to society. Often they are keenly motivated identity. Each historically conditioned religion has its
to offer something of themselves that will affect signifi- own way of saying this. For example, in Christian my-
cantly the lives of others and society as a whole. A change sticism we are to marry Christ as our Beloved and enter
of profession is not unusual because they begin to recog- the Kingdom of Heaven. Buddhists, who espouse the
nize a need to express what is intrinsic to them as unique doctrine of annatta, or the nonexistence of any sort of
individuals. In this regard, Krishna's counsel to Arjuna in separated self, speak of awakening to our original condi-
274 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

tion, Buddha nature, which is ultimately empty and void. 1982). If the ego is defined as "a constellation of self-
In the yogas of India, the goal of the journey is to realize concepts along with the images, fantasies, identifica-
Atman, the ground of personal being (God immanent), tions, subpersonalities, motivations, ideas, and informa-
which is one with Brahman, the ground of universal tion related or bound to the separate self-concept"
Being (God transcendent). In this chapter, I speak of the (Wilber, 1980), the Self is what is left insofar as one is
realization of the Self, or the nontemporal, formless, completely disidentified from these. The experience of
depth dimension of Being, which is both immanent and dis identification from the ego is that of being con-
transcendent. 2 sciousness itself, the context or field in which egoic pro-
Although definitions are misleading because of the cesses occur, transcendent to, and therefore capable of,
reasons I mentioned earlier, concepts can be useful to observing all thought, feeling, sensation, and expe-
point toward our true Self. Here are four useful ways for rience. As I will later discuss, this deep center of Being is
thinking about the Self: often experienced paradoxically as both individual and
universal.
1. The Self is pure transcendent consciousness, be-
4. The Self is a source of love, wisdom, and cre-
yond all boundaries and all subject-object distinctions. It
ative inspiration within the individual, like a fountain or a
is nontemporal, changeless, formless, indivisible, and
natural spring arising from within the earth (Assagioli,
whole. As pure, transcendent Being, the Self is the es-
1965). Intuition comes from and leads to this higher pres-
sence of the entire world, of all worlds, inner and outer,
ence in the human being. So do our inner promptings
and all levels of identity, high and low, above and below.
toward integration, synthesis, and wholeness of being
As Mind (Big Mind or No-Mind to Zen Buddhists and
(Jung, 1959). In some contemplative traditions, such as
Universal Mind in some systems of Western meta-
Tibetan Buddhism (Evans-Wentz, 1958), esoteric psy-
physics), the Self is the source of all individual ininds.
chology (Bailey, 1934), and Christian mysticism (de
According to Brunton (1943), a modem philosopher of
Mello, 1978), this source is visualized as an inner Buddha
the perennial wisdom, it is the origin of the separate self-
or Christ, an angel, sage, divine child, or warrior of the
sense, the personal feeling of "I" and everything associ-
light. The 22 major trumps of the Tarot cards and various
ated with the individual personality. The Self gives birth
Tibetan tanka paintings are also symbolic representations
to the ego, contains and sustains it for some time, then
of various aspects of the Self. The meditator visualizes
calls it back to Itself again at death.
these images, dialogues with them, and eventually be-
2. The transcendent Self is shared, not individual.
comes absorbed in the states of consciousness they sym-
There is but one Self residing in the hearts of all persons,
bolize. Answers to deeply and sincerely asked questions
not a different Self for each individual. There are not
may come from the Self or from superconscious regions
billions of Selves, but one Self in billions of forms. Per-
of the psyche through these transpersonal wisdom figures
$ons who realize the Self often say they become aware of
(Assagioli, 1965; Progoff, 1975).
their essential unity with all living things, that their seem-
ing individuality is really an inseparably interrelated part
When our egoic and existential needs are generally
of one wholeness, and that love, unchanging and eternal,
met, many of us, therapists and clients alike, thirst for a
links all parts together.
greater life. We may have everything we want-a loving
3. Immanent within the individual, the Self can be
spouse, children, a house in the suburbs, two cars, plenty
experienced as a true "I," or a deep center of being and
of money, the American dream. We may have actualized
consciousness distinct from everything associated with
and expressed much of the creative potential. Yet, after
the separate, personal ego (Assagioli, 1965; Deikman,
fulfilling our material goals and achieving a feeling of
personal significance, still we recognize the unsettling
2It is beyond the scope of this chapter to detail the many levels of feeling of a "divine discontent." This experience of in-
transpersonal consciousness mapped in both Eastern and West- ner poverty is not limited to those who have become
em sacred traditions. The reader is referred to Green and Green successful in the terms of our society. The sense that
(1971), Smith (1976), and Wilber (1977) for contemporary
something intangible and enigmatic is missing in our
overviews, and to Aurobindo (1955), Bailey (1925), Fortune
(1935), and Govinda (1960) for cartographies of specific spir- lives, something we cannot put our finger on, can come to
itual traditions. My own thinking has been influenced signifi- anyone at anytime.
cantly by integral philosophy (Aurobindo, 1949; Chaudhuri, In the course of psychotherapy, some clients begin
1965, 1974; Satprem, 1968); occult metaphysics (Bailey, 1934; to recognize a profound truth: No matter how great they
Case, 1947; Fortune, 1935; Scott, 1935); Buddhist meditation
practice (Goldstein, 1976; Trungpa, 1976b); and A Course in
will ever become, how much they will ever possess, and
Miracles (Anonymous, 1975), a Gnostic-Christian rendition of whatever they will ultimately accomplish, still they will
the perennial wisdom. never be fulfilled. The first of the four noble truths of
17 • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY 275

Buddhism-the impermanence, pain, and insubstan- transformed her fear of the unknown into a reverence for
tiality of embodied existence-becomes starkly, even universal Mystery. This woman expected the worst and
shockingly felt. As a result, prompted by an inner imper- armed herself against impending threats by watching her
ative, their attention begins to tum to spiritual questions. own and others' every move. Her childhood was typical
Transpersonal experiences sometimes occur in my for those with a paranoid self- and world construct sys-
practice of psychotherapy when the client incorporates tem. Abused as a child, she learned to see herself as a
one or more of the existential givens into his or her being, vulnerable little force in a world where strong people
or in a very profound way penetrates beneath a well- attacked and got the better of the weak. As a child, the
entrenched defensive pattern. These individuals quite client learned to protect herself and ward off all surprises.
naturally begin to consider their relationship to God, ulti- She did so by becoming vigilant and prepared. In child-
mate Mystery, their place in the evolutionary scheme of hood, this was self-preserving. Now in her adult life, she
things, life after death, parapsychological phenomena, was using the same defense to ward off the reality that she
and spiritual disciplines. Archetypal experiences, en- could never know with complete certainty what would
counters with deities and spiritual guides, and complex actually happen in her life, no matter how hard she tried to
mythological sequences sometimes emerge in their be prepared. She could try predicting the future (indeed,
dreams and imagery, as Grof (1985) has so thoroughly she was a student of a noted psychic) and take precautions
documented. Very commonly, clients encounter child- as fully as possible to ward off possible dangers; still, she
hood God concepts deeply embedded in their psyches and could never know with complete certainty what would
discover greater freedom to question and search in the happen and when.
transpersonal dimensions of their being upon letting go of Slowly she realized if she did not let go of some of
these concepts. the very vigilance that had protected her as ·a child, she
One motif involves the experience of an inner, would never find fulfillment. This realization terrified
transpersonal center. Clients say this center of Being is her. By choosing life, she would be vulnerable to so
still, radiant, and calm, yet dynamic and mysterious, many unknowns. Yet, upon confronting this human real-
and is sometimes likened to a sanctuary in the midst of ity as fully as she could, she began to feel a profound,
the ever-changing whirlwinds of thought, feeling, sensa- quiet strength, like "a mountain." She became con-
tion, fantasy, imagery, and everyday occurrences nor- vinced life would tum out for the good, that she probably
mally associated with egoic and existential life. With would survive physical death; but something of the un-
practice, clients can withdraw into this refuge for suste- known would always be unknown. She called this un-
nance and nourishment, then return to the world and par- known dimension the "Sacred Mystery." For her, this
ticipate in their daily activities in a clearer, less reactive Mystery could be sensed, appreciated, loved, even wor-
way. As one client put it, "Coming here is like taking a shipped. But it could never be conquered or completely
vacation on a tropical island. It is quiet and peaceful, yet known. This, to her, was the Divine.
teeming with life-life as potential, life coming into It is not uncommon for awareness of the Self to be-
being, life decaying and returning to the ground. I come gin unfolding through techniques of active imagination
here not only for sustenance but because I know I will be and symbolic visualization (Assagioli, 1965; Gerard,
inspired. " 1964; Hannah, 1981). Clients can be asked to visualize a
Clients who discover the deep center say here they symbol or scene and let their imagination unfold a story.
are most truly themselves. The experience is one of being This is what happened for Conrad, a 34-year-old execu-
"I" as pure subject, a center of consciousness and being, tive at a major publishing firm who daily interacts with
and not of self as object. Although clients say this center famous writers and executives. When he began his thera-
is most uniquely them, that is, the essential person, and py, everything about him, from his clothes to his walk,
that their bodies and personalities are witnessed as ob- gave the appearance of a slick, stylish, impeccable, well-
jects, paradoxically, the center is simultaneously tran- controlled businessman. But beneath the "veneer," as he
scendent. Something more universal than the individual, put it, Conrad was lonely. No one really knew him. Those
yet not wholly other than the individual, is felt. One man closest to him could not penetrate his suit of armor. And
said, "I am me and not me, both at once. I feel most neither could Conrad.
myself, yet something infuses me, something bigger In therapy, Conrad worked hard to get beneath his
than I. I am it, it is me, and we are other to each." He also veneer. But as he did, time and again he came £0 an
said, "I am all of a piece. I am whole. And I am one with anguished feeling of emptiness, of not being enough, of
you [the therapist] and everything." And finally, "Com- being nothing. Only after many sessions could he stay
ing here is coming home to where God lives me." there and experience these feelings without turning away
For one woman, encountering existential realities from them. Finally, during a particularly painful self-
276 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

confrontation in which he let go to the emptiness, I asked example, we are likely to become more loving and re-
him to imagine a swamp with a figure emerging out of its spond more compassionately to our own suffering and the
murky depths. The figure was small, like a gnome, cov- suffering of others.
ered with leaves and mud and "a slimy green crud that Similarly, at the egoic or existential levels, mean-
reminds me of nose snot." He trembled when he saw it. inglessness can be pervasive; yet, as we open to transper-
The gnome washed itself off, and there, under the mud, sonal identity, we sense human and planetary evolution
was a Divine child surrounded by a halo and radiating are under the direction of some greater authority-in
warm feelings of love and understanding. Conrad burst Christian terms, the will of God. Greater peace of mind
into sobs so strong the tears spurted from his eyes. He unfolds when we align our personal will with the heart-
wept with joy as he and the child began an "energetic beat of a universal Will. Feelings of meaninglessness
exchange." Gradually, Conrad felt his consciousness ab- gradually diminish as we sense our place and function in
sorbed into the boy and becoming one with a field oflight. the cosmic scheme of things.
He said again and again, "This is me, the being I was Finally, at the egoic and existential levels, we often
before I was born." experience ourselves as mentally limited, in the dark, not
Following this session, Conrad went to a church smart or creative enough in comparison to other people
close to my office. He wanted to be alone and savor the we know. Yet, as we open to transpersonal identity, we
sacred feeling. The church was locked, but he sat outside are sometimes astonished to discover an abundant store-
on the lawn, weeping gently and sketching the entire house of creative ideas available to us and find that, by
vision: the swamp, the murky figure, and the golden tapping this reservoir, there is the possibility of greater
child. From that time on, his interpersonal relationships wisdom and understanding. In addition, our perceptions
began to change for the better. heighten, and we become more vividly alive. We begin to
see beyond mundane appearances into deeper levels of
meaning, whereas at the same time remaining well aware
Some Differences between Existential and
of everyday realities and demands. By comparison, reg-
Transpersonalldentities
ular egoic mental processes appear slow and even dull.
Attributes of the trans personal Self appear to broadly
cluster around themes of love, will, and creativeness, in a The Intermingling of Themes from the Levels
manner similar to those of the existential self. However,
of Identity
the transpersonal qualities are more universal than their
existential counterparts. They extend beyond the frame of One final point before leaving Postulate I. It is es-
reference of the separate, individualizing person to in- sential to keep in mind that the egoic, existential, and
clude humanity, the planet, and the cosmos. transpersonal levels of identity are interpenetrating levels
For example, when our self-sense is merely egoic or in a "hierarchy of wholes." Because these levels are
existential, loneliness and isolation can dominate our ex- interpenetrating, the life concerns of clients can involve
perience. Love between individuals is personal, subject all levels simultaneously. This point is often underempha-
to jealousies and heartaches. At times, we acutely feel our sized in hierarchical and developmental models of human
separateness from each other and the rest of creation. Not functioning but becomes apparent when one applies these
so with the discovery of the Self. When we open our- models to clinical work. The issues discussed by clients in
selves to trans personal identity, we begin to discover we the course of psychotherapy do not necessarily revolve
are perpetually united in the core of our being with the consecutively around preegoic, then egoic, then existen-
whole of creation and ultimately can never be separated tial, then transpersonal themes. More often, themes from
from those we love. Brotherhood, in the mystical sense, the various dimensions are intermingled.
acceptance, and loving kindness begin to infuse our con- For example, the life concerns presented by clients
sciousness and become more dominant in the living of our with borderline personality organizations are likely to
lives. This does not mean we will never again be subject center on preegoic and egoic themes. As therapists, we
to grief and despair. On the contrary, the world's greatest support the integration of their all good and all bad self-
mystics suffered a great deal, as any casual reading of and object representations and nurture the emergence of a
some of their biographies will reveal. We inevitably re- solid, cohesive identity. Although the content of therapy
turn to our egoic and existential awareness but can never for these clients will be primarily egoic, discussion of
forget what we have experienced. This experience of existential and transpersonal themes when they are pre-
transcendent love and unity leaves us with wonder and sented by the client can enhance their healing process.
often radically transforms our mental-egoic identity. For Similarly, other clients who have already developed co-
17 • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY 277

hesive intrapsychic structures may be struggling with is- than before. The client began to perceive himself as the
sues concerning authenticity, personal freedom, sepa- beloved bride of Christ, pining away for his lost lover
rateness, and life meaning. Hence, the major areas for and yearning to be dissolved in the bliss of Divine union.
exploration in their therapy will be existential. However, In one session, he actually prayed for Christ to come from
in most individuals, ego-level work is rarely, if ever, deep inside him and pull him firmly back down into the
completed; consequently, these clients may not only very center of his being. This yearning is exemplified in
work on egoic blocks but also explore trans personal ques- The Spiritual Canticle of St. John of the Cross (Ka-
tions as a result of or as a way to confront the existential vanaugh & Rodriguez, 1979, p. 410), which holds spe-
issues that concern all human beings. cial meaning for the client:
A specific example will clarify my meaning. A 35-
year-old male client complained of difficult relationships Where have You hidden,
Beloved, and left me moaning?
with male friends. He chose as friends distant, controlling You fled like the stag
men who were unable to respond to him in a consistently After wounding me;
sensitive, caring manner. The client yearned to relate I went out calling You, and You were gone.
deeply and personally to these men and to receive warmth Shepherds, you that go
Up through the sheepfolds to the hill,
and tender care from them. But this type of deep friend- If by chance you see
ship seemed unobtainable from the men he sought out, Him I love most,
leaving him feeling frustrated and hurt. He already sensed Tell Him that I sicken, suffer, and die.
he was asking men for a degree of intimacy and closeness
that bordered on a love affair and, in some respects, was As the therapy progressed, these themes became in-
looking for something that was not of this world. He also termingled in the client's communications. In a single
knew, at least intellectually, that he was seeking to devel- therapy hour, he would start anywhere along the spec-
op attributes of his masculinity mirrored by qualities he trum-with egoic, existential, or transpersonal aspects-
saw in friends. However, the exploration of the pattern of and weave together the other elements until they became
his relationships with men required that he open up to far a composition with many variations on a single theme. He
deeper dimensions of his inner world than he expected. would start, say, with the subjective feeling of loneliness
He explored his childhood nuclear dynamics (egoic and isolation, then would speak of a close friend with
level). His father was distant and austere and dangled love whom he felt frustrated and angry. He would draw psy-
and nurturance in front of the boy like a carrot. No matter chodynamic references to his relationship with his father
how the client would try, he could never get the prize. or speak of qualities of his own inner male projected onto
Then, when he became an adolescent, the father aban- the friend. He would bring in the archetypal references,
doned the family, leaving the son feeling alone and then tap again the feeling of emptiness and lack. Gradu-
unprotected. ally these variations came together into a single constella-
Existential themes also informed the client's explo- tion. The various levels-egoic (references to child-
rations: For example, the fact that someone could aban- hood), existential (references to isolation and emptiness),
don him so abruptly and with such completeness prompt- and transpersonal (the Christian motif) came together as a
ed the boy to close down his hopes for ever developing a unit, until he realized he was yearning, not for a person,
relationship with a male. He yearned for deep contact, but but for attributes of his own transpersonal essence, the
the risk was too great. If an attachment really developed, Christ in this instance being symbolic for the courage,
it could be destroyed, leaving him feeling alone all over strength, potency, and loving passion (the "blood of
again. This led him to explore his separateness, isolation, Christ") of his own Higher Self. This Self, he realized,
and estrangement from others and the "zone of psychic was not something outside of himself. It was neither a
emptiness," experienced as an inner vacuum or hole in separate object he could reach for nor an external entity
his being, which lay beneath his yearning for deep male that would grab hold of him and pull him down deep into
contact. itself. The client began to witness a collapse of the sub-
Then began a series of associations involving Chris- ject-object differentiation between transcendent self and
tian mystical themes, including the archetypal image of individual personhood.
Christ as the perfect lover who wounds the client with As these themes were described again and again, not
love and then goes away, thus involving the client in a in a mere "talking-about" mode but in a deeply experien-
spiritual game of hide and go seek. When these associa- tial way (see Postulate 4), the client became more and
tions began to unfold, the client's searching in his inner more aware of these transpersonal attributes within him-
world became more restless, more insistent and forceful self and began to bring them forth. His relationships with
278 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

all people, men and women, improved,' and he became one degree or another as meditators become more open to
more fully committed to a spiritual path of daily the depth dimension of Being. 3
meditation. If an individual seeking to become a transpersonal
therapist practices meditation or other psychospiritual ex-
ercises' the likelihood is that a spiritual perspective will
gradually characterize his or her outlook on life, and
transpersonal attributes will begin to permeate his or her
POSTULATE 2 being. Eventually a transpersonal context will inform his
or her therapeutic approach.
Transpersonal psychotherapy recognizes the For example, one constellation of transpersonal at-
therapist's unfolding awareness of the Self and tributes that gradually suffuses the consciousness of an
his or her spiritual world-view as central in individual opening to the Self includes unity, love, and
shaping the nature, process, and outcome of brotherhood. If, as I postulated earlier, the Self is shared
and not individual-that is, if there is only one Self with
therapy.
countless individual manifestations-then, at the trans-
As I see it, therapy can be considered transpersonal personal level, all living things are our one Self. Clients
insofar as the therapist seeks to realize the Self, the deep and therapists alike are manifestations of the Self we
center of Being. As I mentioned before, what differenti- share. Although a client in psychotherapy is a unique and
ates transpersonal therapy from other orientations is nei- distinct individual at the egoic and existential levels, at
ther technique nor what clients talk about. The difference the transpersonallevel he or she is us, we are he or she. At
lies in the centrality of the therapist's consciousness and least two manifestations of the shared Self are in the con-
his or her spiritual orientation to life. The therapist's state sulting room-the therapist and the client-and possibly
of mind and orientation inform his or her therapeutic more, for the client can be a couple, a family, or a group.
stance. In short, there is one Self in the consulting room in two or
Early in the movement's history, Sutich (1976), one more bodies.
of the founders of transpersonal psychology, proposed Some clinicians may misinterpret what I advocate as
that transpersonal therapists are characterized by their an enmeshed or narcissistic state of mind. The misunder-
dedication to a spiritual path. Many leading figures in standing is likely to result from a confusion oflevels in the
transpersonal psychology believe the meditative practices spectrum of identity. At the egoic and existential levels,
in Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, therapist and client are indeed separate and distinct and
Sufism, and other traditions are unsurpassed for expand- will always remain so. Therapists must maintain their
ing awareness and awakening to our true nature. How- own integrity and help clients unfold theirs. Although this
ever, the concept of path need not be limited to a formal separateness is kept in the foreground of awareness,
spiritual tradition. As I see it, a path is a course of action transpersonal therapists can also seek to recognize what
or conduct entered into specifically for the purpose of many have discovered through the practice of spiritual
cutting through the ego-mind and opening to the Self. disciplines: From the perspective of the transpersonal
Given that definition, activities such as gardening, writ- level, this separateness is an appearance, not a fact. I
ing, painting, indeed the whole of daily life, are spiritual suggest this recognition of essential unity, when it is di-
practices if-and this is a big if-they are approached rectly experienced by the therapist, can radically affect
with mindfulness (in the Buddhist sense) and entered into the therapeutic relationship, for it undercuts the separated
specifically to expand one's awareness of the depth di- self-sense and utterly transforms the therapist's view of
mension of Being. him- or herself, the client, and the world.
Research into the effects of meditation (Shapiro &
Walsh, 1984) suggests disciplined, consistently practiced 3A metaphor may clarify my meaning. The Self is sometimes
meditation helps individuals to become less defended, symbolized by the sun radiating out rays of light in all direc-
tions. The rays of light are the Self's various attributes. In
more impartial and even-tempered, compassionate and addition to those listed here, transpersonal attributes include
loving. Disciplined meditators tend to become more open beauty, compassion, courage, universality, freedom, broth-
and alert, with enhanced perceptual accuracy and ability erhood, goodness, goodwill, inclusiveness, openness, harmo-
to make choices and take action. Intuition, mindfulness, ny, joy, bliss, light, love, truth, serenity, peace, service, spa-
ciousness, stillness, strength, synthesis, wholeness, and
forgiveness, compassion, the ability to register psychic wisdom. As one draws inward toward the deep center of Being,
impressions, and to discern the value and source of intu- one's personhood is said to become imbued by qualities such as
itive guidance-all of these are attributes that unfold to these, just as one grows warmer the closer one gets to the sun.
17 • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY 279

Insofar as we view our clients egoically, we tend to Self-realization can practice penetrating beneath the ap-
see them as separate individuals different from ourselves. pearance of egoic and existential separateness, individual
We see complex patterns of characteristics, subper- symptoms and behavior to the reality of the client's
sonalities, self-images, impulses, drives, motivations, Being. The therapist can practice looking through the
and the like that, in many ways, are quite different than eyes of the Self into the heart of the individual and see
our own. But, from a transpersonal perspective, these there the Self.
make up their mental-egoic identity, formed through the It is a truism that the state of mind of one individual
interaction of their inborn givens and the press of primary can affect that of another for good or for ill. The kindly
caregivers. If we are viewing our clients only in this way, doctor with a soothing bedside manner can help to ease
we are witnessing a limited part of their total selfhood. the pain and suffering of a frightened patient through the
We are seeing the clothes they wear, their personalities, magnetism of his friendliness and radiance of strength
not their spiritual essence. We are missing the Christ, and goodwill. The teacher who is open and loving can
Buddha, or godliness within them and our essential unity inspire others to learn far more than one who is control-
with them. Insofar as we awaken to transpersonal identi- ling and defensive. Many meditators report their practice
ty, however, we also experience our essential unity with tends to be more evocative when they sit in the presence
all human beings and living things. In the eyes of a thera- of an inspired, Self-realized individual, or an advanced
pist on a path of self-realization, therefore, the person practitioner than when they meditate by themselves or
seated opposite the therapist is not just a constellation of with each other. I suggest a therapist who is unfolding
personal characteristics; he or she also becomes an indi- awareness of the Self and recognizing his or her unity
vidualized expression of the Self we share. with the whole of creation tends to develop a healing
What are the implications of this viewpoint? I be- presence along these lines. A therapist whose mind is
lieve there is something very important in this principle, becoming attuned to deeper realms of Being and who
but it is frustratingly out of grasp unless the therapist has realizes, if only for brief moments, the essential unity of
begun to awaken to his or her deep center of Being. Es- all living things, is gradually more open, spacious, and
sentially, it is this: More than anything else, our clients accepting than one who is not and is likely to have a
need to be seen and felt as the Self they truly are, which is corresponding effect upon the state of consciousness of
no different than the true Self we are. As I see it, through the client.
this recognition of the client's and our own true identity The therapist's healing presence is also charac-
we hold an expanded vision of who the client is and what terized by a marked degree of intuitiveness. According to
he or she is capable of. If our frame for holding the client contemplative traditions, intuition unfolds as one's con-
is broad, the client is aided to relinquish some of the sciousness expands. Intuitive awareness can be likened to
crippling egoic self- and world constructs and beliefs that a lightening bolt that cuts through one's linear, analytical,
underlie his or her presenting and ongoing concerns and problem-solving mode and opens one's perceptual win-
to enlarge his or her sense of identity. Recognition of the dows to a vision of one's true nature. Intuition is often
client's true nature, inner light and beauty, creativeness, described in the spiritual traditions as a quiet voice that
power, and dignity, through eyes that are accepting, ap- whispers its guidance when the mind is still. The therapist
preciative, and unconditionally loving-all of which As- who meditates can make use of his or her intuition in
sagioli (1965) contends are attributes of the Self-is the psychotherapy if he or she will pose such questions as
heart of healing in transpersonal psychotherapy. "How do you want me to proceed?" to the Self as a
Goldsmith (1959), a spiritual healer of some re- source of wisdom and guidance and wait patiently for
nown, believed healing occurs when the Christ of the inspiration. In this way, the Self can guide the therapist in
healer touches the Christ of the client, when the Buddha is his or her work. It seems to be the case that if the therapist
seen through the eyes of the Buddha. Thus spiritual heal- can become aware of the guidance of the Self, the therapy
ing results when the healer enters an expanded state of will progress as far along in the process of Self-realization
consciousness in which there is only the Self. A client as the client desires, guided by the Self for which the ally
requesting healing receives it because he or she has has been the therapist.
reached out to the consciousness of a practitioner who The therapist's spiritual awareness and reliance
understands that there are not a client consciousness, a upon the wisdom and guidance of the Self mayor may not
practitioner consciousness, and a Self-consciousness. be made explicit to the client. When a client is spiritually
There is only one consciousness-the consciousness of inclined, therapists may find it useful to openly discuss
the Self. Vaughan (1986) speaks of something akin to this the possibility that a higher healing power than either
as "healing awareness." The therapist who is on a path of client or therapist may be operative, even to the extent of
280 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

using such religious terms as God, Christ Consciousness, self beyond the egoic and socially adapted levels to the
Buddha Nature, and Spirit. With clients who are unin- more authentic layers of their being, from egoic to exis-
terested in things of the spirit, therapists should keep their tential to transpersonal identity. The principle behind this
intention to be guided by the Self to themselves. I do not practice is identical to the third postulate of trans personal
believe that any attempt should be made to force one's psychotherapy: By gradually relinquishing our exclusive
own belief system or meditational practice on a client. identification with our preegoic identity, we can awaken
to our egoic identity; by relinquishing our exclusive iden-
tification with our limited egoic self- and world structure,
POSTULATE 3 we can deepen to our existential identity; by relinquishing
our exclusive identification with our embodied individual
Transpersonal psychotherapy is a process of self-sense, we can eventually transcend to our true identi-
awakening from a lesser to a greater identity. ty as the Self, the origin and source of all our experience.
In Opening to Inner Light, Metzner (1986) pub-
According to A Course in Miracles (Anonymous, lished his amplifications of several metaphors that are
1975), "What you think you are is a belief to be un- applicable to this process. Building upon metaphors from
done. " In The Dhammapada (Byrom, 1976), the Buddha the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Metzner discusses the
taught: process of transformation "from dream state to awaken-
We are what we think. ing," "from illusion to realization," "from darkness to
All that we are arises with our thoughts. light," "from the unreal to the real," "from imprison-
With our thoughts we make the world. (p. 3) ment to liberation," "from fragmentation to whole-
ness," "from separation to oneness," "from being in
In the perennial philosophy, self-identity and sense of the
exile to coming home. " In my practice, I have found that,
world at the egoic and existential levels in the spectrum of
as clients relinquish an old identity and awaken to a new,
identity are viewed as arising from our thoughts and be-
more expanded state of being, these motifs frequently
liefs. As it is stated in The Avatamsaka Sutra (Namgyal,
emerge in their dreams, imagery, and free associations. I
1986):
also find it useful to introduce clients to these metaphors,
The mind is like an artist; for example, by telling transformational myths and fairy
It creates tales, thus providing different ways clients can give
All existential realms.
meaning to the process of transformation they are
All these are created by the multifarious mind. (p. 8)
undergoing.
In transpersonal therapy, healing involves the real- According to Bailey (1950), a British exponent of
ization of a greater identity that comes to light when we the ageless wisdom in the theosophical tradition, any
relinquish our unquestioned conceptions of self and such development, from the lesser to the greater, "is
world. As I expressed earlier, these conceptions of identi- indicative of the livingness of the inner divine entity [the
ty are the constructs of our consciousness. According to Self)" (p. I). Seen in this light, the levels in the spec-
the perennial philosophy, these constructs are not our true trum of identity are not only interpenetrating dimensions
identity. that together constitute a person's wholeness of being
To help his disciples realize the deep center of but stages in a "transpersonal-izing" developmental
Being, Ramana Maharshi (1972), one ofindia's greatest process. When our self-concept evolves from preegoic
saints, taught a method of spiritual practice entitled self- to egoic to existential to transpersonal identity, we are
inquiry. In this practice, we meditate upon the question, undergoing the progressive stages of a transpersonal
"Who am IT' and reject every answer provided by the growth process. Each movement is transpersonal, for, in
discursive mind. By doing so, we probe ever deeper into each, we are becoming more awake, self-realized, en-
the self. For example, if, upon asking the question, we lightened, liberated, and whole. With each transcen-
hear within ourselves our own name, we reject this (' 'No, dence of who we thought we were, we come closer to
that is a name I have been given") and inquire again who we are, until ultimately, paradoxically, we come
("Who is the 'I' who has been given this name?"). Per- home to the Self we never left.
haps the next response that comes is an image of ourselves This postulate has important implications for the
as a warrior of the light or some other archetypal figure. conduct of transpersonal therapy. As therapists, we do
This too we reject and plumb deeper, saying, "No, this is not necessarily use specific practices to help clients have
an image of myself. Who is the 'I' who has this image?" transpersonal experiences. Rather, following the meta-
Those who practice this method within a broader phor of the proverbial onion that is gradually unwound,
context of spiritual development claim to descend into the we compassionately yet persistently help our clients iden-
17 • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY 281

tify and let go of those self-definitions and patterns of of transpersonal crisis (Wittine, 1982). In my experience,
living that are impeding enhanced self-awareness and the no matter where a client's locus of identity is found at the
emergence of a greater identity. start of therapy, a dark night unfolds as he or she awakens
That greater state may be egoic, existential, or trans- to any greater identity. Wherever clients begin, the crisis
personal, depending upon the locus of the client's identity of awakening is a time of transition between the dissolu-
when he or she began the therapy. It is greater only in that tion of the old and the emergence of the new. In other
it is in advance of the client's present state. A deeper words, a dark night is a natural rite of passage inherent in
identity already exists. As Wilber (1980) sees it, this psychotherapeutic change.
deeper structure of identity is not created but lies eTifolded This is not the place to detail the dark night as it is
in the client's unconscious as potential waiting to be un- found in psychotherapy. I can do no more than briefly
folded. Clinical experience suggests it is evoked when the describe the feelings many clients experience and follow
client confronts the defenses and unwinds the construc- that by suggesting how a transpersonal therapist might
tions of his or her bodymind that hinder its emergence. In support the client through this stage. If the therapeutic
this sense, transpersonal therapy is grounded in the teach- journey undertaken is thoroughgoing in its exploration of
ings of the perennial philosophy. As A Course in Miracles their psychic depths, clients inevitably realize that some
(Anonymous, 1975) puts it, "The search for truth is but aspects of their old self- and world-construct system func-
the honest searching out of everything that interferes with tion like a suit of armor crippling them and squeezing the
truth" (p. 267). For example, the Course also states the life force out of them. Because the emergence of a new
meaning of love is beyond what can be taught. What is self inevitably involves the destruction of present se-
possible, however, is to remove the blocks to love's pres- curities, they feel their whole existence is held in the
ence, which is our natural inheritance. The task, there- balance. Consequently, the existential anxiety that Rollo
fore, is not specifically to create a greater identity. Ever May (1983) described as "the experience of the threat of
greater dimensions of identity simply are. Rather, our imminent nonbeing" intrudes into conscious awareness.
task is to seek out and eliminate the barriers, defenses, Clients become aware that their present existence, which
and blockages within ourselves that we have built against at least offers safety and security, is becoming uprooted,
them. and they are terrified they may lose themselves and their
world and become nothing. Even a fragmented self, or a
The Dark Night life in captivity, is better than no self, no life at all. As
May (1983) put it:
If, in the course of therapy, the resistances and de-
Anxiety occurs at the point where some emerging poten-
fenses of the lesser identity are gradually relinquished, tiality or possibility faces the individual, some possibility
clients are likely to enter a "dark night" or crisis of of fulfilling his existence; but this very possibility in-
awakening. They become acutely aware that their old volves the destroying of present security, which there-
way of life has little to offer, that its cost in terms of upon gives rise to the tendency to deny the new poten-
tiality. (p. lII)
aliveness and creativity is enormous. Old structures are
recognized as worthless and self-defeating and cherished In addition to the eruption of anxiety, a pervasive
illusions as imprisoning. The old identity gradually un- feeling of emptiness or voidness can also dominate our
ravels and falls apart. Feelings of anxiety, emptiness, clients' inner life during the dark night. Often this void-
darkness, and chaos are the result, for nothing appears ness has pervaded the background of their lives all along.
right away to take the old identity's place. In short, clients It existed half consciously behind the self they were trying
begin to undergo a crisis of death and rebirth (Grof, 1985; to be. As one client described it, "There is nothing inside
Metzner, 1986). me except cold, desolate open space. All I can feel is a
One such crisis involving annihilation and abandon- great vacuum-a yawning, hungry abyss. That's my only
ment occurs when a preegoic client awakens to his or her ground. It's all I am."
egoic identity (Johnson, 1987). Bugental (1981) recog- As the old self- and world-construct system is shed,
nizes another involving a confrontation with the void oc- a deep feeling of loss often emerges. Life no longer makes
curring as a client transforms from egoic to existential sense. Clients may feel arid. Richness is missing in their
identity. St. John of the Cross (Kavanaugh & Rodriguez, lives. Much of the world and everything in it appear to be
1979) called a similar transition the dark night of the unreal. There is no point to anything; there is nothing to
senses and characterized it as a normal stage in spiritual live for, to long for, to aspire to and become.
growth when a spiritual seeker, having tired of the As they loosen their hold on their old self-identifica-
"things of the senses," cannot yet depend upon consola- tions, images of birth and death sometimes emerge in
tion from the' 'things of God. " This is one of many types their dreams, fantasies, and free associations. Depression
282 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

is likely; so also are moments in which suicide is consid- greater self-identity and a renewed feeling of personal
ered as a way out. Some are surprised by a murderous power will emerge out of the darkness.
rage directed toward parents and other authority figures to Clients often say that what they value most during
whom they surrendered their personal authority, power, these times of darkness is our belief and trust in them and
and capacity to make choices, and unconsciously became our encouraging them to keep faith with themselves, to
willing prisoners. Many clients become angry with the hang in there and encounter the anxiety and voidness as
therapist for being the herald of awakening. "Why," directly as possible. As they wander namelessly, appar-
they feel, "can't you let me sleep?" ently without identity, through the valley of the unknown,
None of these emotions need to be dramatic. As what they appreciate most is our willingness to be their
most clinicians are well aware, emotional expressiveness support and friend rather than our clinical interpretative
does not necessarily determine the depth at which a client skill, important as that often is. As therapists, we can be
is working. Many clients work very quietly at this point. empathic and express deep care and respect for their suf-
However, this phase of therapy is usually characterized fering, while also making explicit our conviction, born
by a heightened intensity and a sense that something out of our own journeys through the unknown, that they
important is happening that is beyond either the thera- can emerge on the other side of the dark night with a
pist's or the client's conscious control. greater sense of self and capacity for life, while, at the
It takes both an open heart and great skill to guide a same time, keeping the most cherished aspects of what
client through this crisis of awakening. The attitude of the they are leaving behind. The inward experience of
therapist toward the experience of transformation affects darkness, emptiness, and death, this very void, is in actu-
how the client will, in the words of the I Ching, "cross the ality the womb out of which their greater identity-
great water." It is imperative that therapists realize this is whether egoic, existential, or transpersonal-eventually
a healing crisis, not a pathological one. The client is can be born. Maintaining our faith and confidence in our
falling apart; however, this crisis also heralds the birth of clients' process and making these explicit can be our cli-
a new person. I believe one of our greatest functions as ents' beacon as they walk through the darkness and
therapists is to act as midwives to this birth. awaken to this greater identity.
As therapists, we must be prepared to remain psy-
chologically present and supportive with our clients dur-
ing this experience of giving birth. The most basic prepa- POSTULATE 4
ration we can have is to have undergone our own dark
nights and, through them, to have learned that birth fol- Transpersonal psychotherapy facilitates the
lows death. Without our own experiences and an attitude process of awakening by enhancing inner
of hopefulness , our clients' feelings of death and voidness
awareness and intuition.
can bring forth our own anxiety, and we can unknowingly
abort their transformation process. We may become de- According to the perennial philosophy (Huxley,
fensive in any number of ways. I think our defenses typ- 1944), the truth lies within, and salvation comes by ex-
ically grow out of our own feelings of helplessness and an panding our inward awareness. To tum attention inward
inordinate need to force order onto chaos. What is re- and "self-ward" and become more fully aware of our
quired of us as therapists is that we be present and accept- inner realms is a natural human capacity transpersonal
ing of raw emotion and trustful of the psyche's natural psychotherapy makes full use of. Learning to live directly
healing processes. Trungpa's (1976a) guidance is partic- from an inner center and from one's internal sense of
ularly relevant: things is in itself restorative and healing. However, in
Any state of mind . . . is a workable situation. . . . most of us, this capacity is blunted. As Bugental (1981)
Chaotic situations must not be rejected. Nor must we notes, we have lost our inner sense of being. Our attention
regard them as regressive, as a return to confusion. We is dominated by external happenings or by the mental
must respect whatever happens to our state of mind. events of our analyzing, reasoning mind. Many people in
Chaos should be regarded as extremely good news.
(p.69)
our Western culture minimize the importance of inward
awareness and are frightened by the thought of what they
Keeping an open heart is also crucial. As therapists, might find lurking in the depths of themselves. Conse-
we need to have faith and confidence in the client's ability quently, they rarely pay attention to their internal sense of
to give birth to the new identity. Although it is painful and things.
disturbing for the client to undergo these experiences, the Many spiritual traditions teach us we can realize a
anxiety and emptiness can be befriended. If they are con- greater reality through intuition, which is defined by H.
fronted with an attitude of loving kindness and accepted Wildon Carr (quoted in Bailey, 1932) as "the apprehen-
into oneself as fully and ~s unflinchingly as one can, a sion by the mind of reality directly as it is and not under
17 • TRANSPERSONAl PSYCHOTHERAPY 283

the form of a perception or conception, nor as an idea or spring runs dry. His only choice is to find another spring.
object of the reason, all of which by contrast are intellec- He begins to search close to the spot where members of
tual apprehension" (p. 26; italics added). However, to his family have satisfied their thirsts for years. But he is
develop intuition and know the intrinsic wisdom of our disappointed. He expands his search to other parts of the
deeper wellsprings, we must relinquish the dominance of oasis but discovers there is very little water left anywhere.
our judging, analyzing mind and shift our attention away Very soon, this oasis will turn to sand. Fearing for his
from its exclusive focus on the objective world. We must own and his family's survival, he is forced to abandon his
become more aware of our interiors. Many, if not most, close surroundings and strike out into uncharted territo-
human beings can access deeper levels of inner wisdom ries. So he gathers a few belongings and some cheese and
and intuit within themselves whatever they need to make dried meat and begins to wander. He searches far away
their lives more the way they really want them to be, if from his desert oasis. He even searches in places where he
they will only turn inward. least expects to find it. One day, as he searches in the most
As Perls (1969) noted, "Awareness per se-by and unlikely and surprising of spots, "Eureka!", he dis-
of itself-can be curative." A number of psycho- covers the water of life.
therapists with humanistic and/or phenomenological ori- Water is here used in its archetypal significance, as a
entations (Bugental, 1978, 1981; Gendlin, 1978; Mahrer, symbol for wisdom and knowledge intuitively derived.
1983,1986; Perls, 1969; Progoff, 1975, 1980; Van Du- The same motif can be found at the heart of some fairy
sen, 1972; Welwood, 1982) have developed techniques tales. For example, at the start of the Brothers' Grimm
of evocation based on this principle. Each of these practi- (1944) tale, The Water ofLife, the king is ill and his lands
tioners, in his own way, encourages clients to (a) center are barren. His son must find a special water to restore the
their attention on a genuine life concern, often as it is old king's health. The hero searches far and wide and
experienced in bodily felt sensations, (b) open their encounters numerous trials and obstacles before discover-
awareness as fully as possible to whatever they are in- ing the water and returning home to his sickly father.
wardly experiencing in the here-and-now, and (c) de- When clients, like the desert man and the old king, feel
scribe what they discover as if experiencing it for the first inwardly impoverished and genuinely concerned about
time-from the vantage point that Suzuki (1970) called the emptiness and aridity of their lives, they spon-
"beginner's mind. " When clients allow themselves to be taneously search for and find the water of life.
as fully as possible in their stream of awareness and give When this teaching principle is followed, both ther-
simple, unbiased, naive, primitive, nonexplanatory de- apist and client are searchers on a shared expedition into
scriptions of whatever they find within their awareness, the well of the inner world. However, it is the client who
they make new discoveries in energetically charged is the central figure in the inward search; the therapist is
flashes of direct knowing. I emphasize "energetically primarily a guide. What is held in highest regard is the
charged" because these flashes are far more than mental expansion of awareness and a thorough description of
insights. They are keenly felt with one's whole being, the inward experiences occurring right here and now in
including the physical body and the emotions. the client; analysis and interpretation of these experi-
Any and all channels to the interior can be used- ences, according to some theoretical system ofthe thera-
physical sensations, feelings, emotions, memories, pist, are useful but of secondary importance. In order to
thoughts, imagery, dreams, fantasies, visions. To the ex- guide the inner search, the therapist suspends conceptual
tent that these channels are blocked, constructive healing frameworks as much as possible, tries to be open and
forces are also blocked. When awareness is trusted and adventurous, and follows the flow of the inward experi-
our clients' natural capacity for inner searching is freed, encing-in his or her client, of course, but also in him-
they discover intuitively-that is, by way of a direct, or herself-wherever it goes.
bodily felt knowing from deep within themselves-great-
er possibilities and meanings. Clinical experience
(Bugental, 1978; Gendlin, 1978; Mahrer, 1986) suggests
that these intuitions, when experienced with one's whole POSTULATE 5
organism, are themselves restorative and healing.
A teaching story told by Bugental (personal commu- In transpersonal psychotherapy, the therapeu-
nication) is often useful in explaining to clients how we tic relationship is a vehicle for the process of
want them to inwardly search during the therapy hour. awakening in both client and therapist.
Think of a man living on an oasis in the middle of a desert.
For years, the water from an underground spring has sus- As I see it, transpersonal psychotherapy differs from
tained him and his family and flocks, keeping thirsts other therapeutic approaches in the kind of attention it
quenched and the soil for planting rich. But one day the gives to the relationship between therapist and client.
284 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

This relationship can be seen not only as a vehicle for the of beliefs. In order to make this explicit, some practi-
client's awakening but for the therapist's as well. tioners of transpersonal psychotherapy have renamed the
Whoever our clients are, whatever their character transference-countertransference phenomenon mirror-
structure and the concerns they bring to therapy-they ing, meaning we see ourselves reflected in the other.
are really quite the same as us (Le., we share the same Whatever a client's character structure or concern, it
human condition). We are not only doctors curing the is useful to assume that he or she reflects back to the
illness of some sick client separate from us nor simply therapist some aspect of the therapist. One important key
guides leading other people to some greater degree of for discovering what in the therapist is being mirrored is
authenticity and identity. Every person who comes to by examining the therapist's emotional reactions to the
transpersonal therapy also offers us an opportunity to heal client. The therapist is always reacting to the client in one
our own wounds and to realize more fully our own au- way or another, including the possibility that having no
thenticity. In their healing, we are also healed; in our emotional response at all is simply another kind of reac-
healing, they too are healed. tion. By analyzing his or her own emotional reactions, the
To expand on this, it is sometimes useful to assume therapist discovers how the client acts as a mirror so that
that everything is projection. What lives inside us deter- the therapist can see his or her own interior processes and,
mines what we see outside ourselves in our world. As A thereby, learn about his or her own unconscious material.
Course in Miracles (Anonymous, 1975) puts it: In this way, the client is a gift to the therapist, offering the
Projection makes perception. The world you see is what therapist an opportunity to reclaim a portion of him- or
you gave it, nothing more than that. But though it is not herself.
more than that, it is not less. Therefore, to you it is Let us take an example. A client with a preegoic
important. It is the witness to your state of mind, the character structure, with narcissistic, hysterical, and par-
outside picture of an inward condition. As a man
anoid tendencies, talks about how his employees are vic-
thinketh, so does he perceive. (p. 415)
timizing him. They do not trust him to make sound busi-
Similarly, in a Tibetan Buddhist text (quoted in ness decisions and are making the choices he himself
Namgyal, 1986, p. 60), it is written: should be making. In the therapy situation, he is emo-
tionally chaotic and in continual crisis, and when his
An external phenomenon is perceived female therapist attempts to intervene in any way, the
Differently by differing levels of consciousness.
A body of enchanting beauty
client dauntlessly defends himself. The therapist is aware
Is looked upon differently: that the same chaos and defensiveness the client manifests
A wandering yogin perceives it as a corpse; in the consulting room are probably what his employees
A sensual man perceives it as an object of lust; mistrust in him. The therapist mayor may not feel inside
A dog looks upon it as food.
herself some of the same mistrust they experience toward
These are three different perceptions.
the client. It is, of course, essential for the therapist to
From the viewpoint of the therapeutic relationship, this is access her emotional reactions, but there is more.
the basis of transference and countertransference phe- My point is that this client offers his therapist the
nomena, especially when defined as the total emotional opportunity to work with some of her own preegoic re-
reaction of the client to the therapist, and vice versa, in the sidual material, in whatever form it takes. Her material is
treatment situation (Kernberg, 1975). I suggest that trans- likely to be quite different than the client's. She may not
personal psychotherapy expands upon the psychoanalytic act out her hysteria as much as the client, but she nonethe-
interpretation of this phenomenon. In psychoanalysis, it less has her own hysterical pattern. Perhaps she is fright-
is assumed it is possible for the analyst to perceive the ened of emotional chaos and therefore feels compelled to
client from an objective vantage point, that being a com- keep a tight leash on the expression of her feelings. Per-
pletely objective witness is not only desirable, but possi- haps the client reminds her of her mother who was given
ble. To the contrary, I believe it is impossible to perceive to mood swings of depression and elation. Perhaps, as a
another person except through one's perceptual system, child, she took on the task of keeping her mother's emo-
which, except possibly in the higher states of spiritual tions harmonized, of cheering her up when she was low,
enlightenment, is always colored to one extent or another and calming her down when she was nervous or agitated.
by one's state of mind and the profound context of largely Otherwise, the therapist would not have received the nur-
unconscious beliefs that predetermine our way of living. turance and attention she needed. Now, with this client,
Everything that is perceived is always perceived from the she feels compelled to soothe and calm, even suppress his
point of view of someone, and the observer inevitably chaotic emotional processes.
colors what he or she is observing according to his or her Whatever the pattern may be, the client is offering
own unconscious material and deeply embedded context the therapist the possibility of healing her own unresolved
17 • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY 285

hysteria. Through the therapist's own inward searching, ringly aided in breaking through their own charac-
done in her own therapy or in some other growth process, terological patterns. I have often found that when my
she can discover the subpersonality her client is mirroring interventions emerge from my own inwardness, my cli-
back to her and work with that. ents feel truly seen, felt, and heard.
The Native Americans have a saying, "Don't judge The therapist also mirrors the client. As part of their
another person until you've walked a mile in his moc- therapy, clients will have the opportunity to reclaim dis-
casins." In my experience as a therapist, teacher, and owned portions of themselves through the mirroring pro-
supervisor, when therapists try to experience things cess. They see themselves in a mirror the therapist holds
through their clients' eyes, they also become aware of up. That mirror, when expertly handled by the therapist,
how their clients mirror them. Then, when they work on becomes for the client a means of awakening to a greater
what their clients mirror, they become more capable of identity.
empathizing and guiding clients in their inward search. To illustrate, let us begin by remembering that, at no
For this reason, transpersonal supervision may utilize point, are therapists doing therapy with someone who is
techniques involving the same inward searching process entirely different than themselves. I believe this fact is in
that the client uses in therapy. In one such technique, the background of a client's awareness and often comes to
developed at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, ther- the foreground toward the end of the therapeutic journey.
apists can be taught to appreciate the client's phe- In the background of their conscious awareness, clients
nomenological world by entering a meditative state and know their therapists are quite similar to them; therapists
describing as fully as possible the client's body (face, are part of the same human condition and are, therefore,
build, clothes, characteristic movements, gestures, and handling life as best they can, always less than perfectly,
actions), speech (rhythm, intonation, range, often used and dealing with the same life concerns. Clients know
words and expressions), and mind (how the client sees therapists struggle with egoic issues like self-esteem and
him- or herself and the world, feeling states, degree of have yet to integrate many disowned portions of their
self- and other awareness). Van Dusen (1972, pp. 18-43) shadow. They know therapists are human beings subject
offers a similar practice that is applicable to therapeutic to illness and death, that they make the best choices they
supervision. can and act in as informed a way as they know how but are
The purpose of these techniques is for therapists to often off the beam in handling their own existential con-
gain an intense awareness of the client and discover that cerns. And they know that therapists are tremulous in the
the whole nature and quality of a person's life can be face of transcendental mystery, for despite their glimpses
found in the details of his or her face, movements, ges- of a greater Reality, very few therapists are spiritUally
tures, voice quality, and actions, and in speculations enlightened. Whether or not they are consciously aware
about his or her self- and world concept. By guessing of it, clients also know therapists are qualified to be thera-
freely what it might be like to be the client, by shifting pists not because they are different or better, not because
impressions as new ones come, and by doing so spon- they are experts on how to live life, but by virtue of their
taneously and openly while in this meditative state, two training and the many years they've struggled to free
things very often happen. First, therapists enhance their themselves from some of the very same self-concepts and
awareness of the client. But, in doing so, they tend to life patterns that deaden all human beings and keep them
discover those ways in which they are similar to the cli- separate from that supreme synthesis-the Self.
ent. By focusing upon these similarities in themselves, by These are basic facts about therapists, and clients
discovering new and more compassionate ways of ap- know them. When they see their therapists in ways other
proaching them, and by looking for deeper meanings for than these, they are projecting something from their own
these mirrored qualities in themselves, therapists dis- inner world onto the therapist. Mirroring, then, can be
cover a whole new way of being with these similar viewed as any deviation from these basic facts. Clients
qualities in the client. The result is a deepening of empa- may idealize their therapists, see them as ultimate au-
thy and appreciation of the client's inner being. thorities or rescuers, as all-powerful or all-knowing.
As therapists discover new ways of approaching the They may cast therapists as mother, dad, teacher, or some
qualities in themselves that are mirrored by their clients, archetypal figure, perhaps even as the higher Self. It may
they also discover a greater range of possibilities for in- be useful, even essential, for them to cast their therapists
teracting with those aspects of the client in the therapeutic in these roles for a while during the course of the therapy,
context. The interventions they make with their clients and therapists may need to accept the transferences, allow
can duplicate the interventions they make with them- them to happen, and work within them, as Kohut (1971)
selves. When therapists repeat to clients what they say to advised. However, they are not perceiving the therapist's
heal their own unhealed selves, clients are often uner- inner Being. They are clients' transferences and eventu-
286 VI • TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY

ally they must reclaim their projections in order to be Bailey, A. A. (1925). A treatise on cosmic fire. New York:
whole. As in other forms of therapy, a milestone in trans- Lucis.
personal therapy occurs when the client begins to recog- Bailey, A. A. (1932). From intellect to intuition. New York:
Lucis.
nize the therapist flrst as a mirror reflecting back his or her Bailey, A. A. (1934). A treatise on white magic. New York:
object representations (mother, dad, authority) and then Lucis.
as a living, breathing human being with his or her own Bailey, A. A. (1950). Education in the new age. New York:
very human strengths and frailties-egoic, existential, Lucis.
Blanck, G., & Blanck, R. (1974). Ego psychology: Theory and
and transpersonal.
practice. New York: Columbia University Press.
Blanck, G., & Blanck, R. (1979). Ego psychology l/: Psycho-
analytic developmental psychology. New York: Columbia
Closing Remarks University Press.
Brunton, P. (1943). The wisdom of the overself. New York:
I believe transpersonal therapists have yet to clarify Samuel Weiser.
the pou sto of their orientation. It is essential for transper- Bugental, J. F. T. (1978). Psychotherapy and process. New
sonal therapists to be explicit about the principles and York: Random House.
Bugental, J. F. T. (1981). The search for authenticity (Enlarged
assumptions to which they subscribe and out of which edition). New York: Irvington.
they interact with their clients, for it is well known that the Byrom, T. (1976). The Dhammapaoo: The sayings of the Bud-
beliefs of the therapist affect the process and outcome of dha. New York: Random House.
psychotherapy. Just as our unconscious, unquestioned Case, P. (1947). The Tarot: A key to the wisdom of the ages.
Richmond, VA: Macoy.
conceptions of ourselves and our world restrict us from Chaudhuri, H. (1965). Integral yoga: The concept of harmo-
living the lives we want and knowing our true identity, so nious and creative living. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Pub-
our beliefs and assumptions about clients and the process lishing House.
of psychotherapy stamp irrevocably how we interact with Chaudhuri, H. (1974). Being, evolution, and immortality: An
them, what we expect them to do in therapy, and the outline of integral philosophy. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical
Publishing House.
outcome of the therapeutic journey. Deikman, A. J. (1982). The observing self: Mysticism andpsy-
It seems crucial to me that readers do not see these chotherapy. Boston: Beacon.
postulates in isolation but as a contextualization for other de Mello, A. (1978). Sadhana: A way to God. St. Louis: Institute
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Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (Ed.). (1958). Tibetan yoga and secret
choanalysts are practicing transpersonally oriented analy- doctrines. London: Oxford University Press.
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Similarly, I see the postulates for existential-humanistic Gerard, R. (1964). Psychosynthesis: A psychotherapy for the
psychotherapy formulated by Bugental (1981) as fltting whole man. New York: Psychosynthesis Research Founda-
well into the context I describe in these pages. tion.
As transpersonal therapists, we must be explicit in Goldsmith, J. (1959). The art of spiritual healing. New York:
Harper & Row.
our assumptions if we are to contribute to a comprehen- Goldstein, J. (1976). The experience of insight: A simple and
sive approach that addresses the whole human being- direct guide to Buddhist meditation. Boston: Shambhala.
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postulates offered are deflnitions of a preliminary model, York: Weiser.
Green, E., & Green, A. (1971). On the meaning of transper-
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Grimm, 1., & Grimm, W. (1944). The complete Grimm'sfairy
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Grof, S. (1985). Beyond the brain. New York: State University
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