An extract of a chapter of my book "Clinical Psychology" - for those particularly searching after Spiritual Intelligence- SQ
Maslow's peak experience points to an Altered State of Consciousness of a higher order (ASC's)
In my writings, I have indicated some of the ways in which ASCs can manifest positive psychological significance. Already, we have seen hints that ASCs may also bear ontological significance, in that they may suggest the presence of another order (or orders) of being. Our task here is to explore that possibility and to examine some of the ways in which ASCs may act as indicators, which point toward other dimensions of being.
We may begin our examination by noting that persons who have experienced altered states of consciousness or states of non-ordinary reality often suggest or say outright that they have in some way transcended the ordinary world, that they have stepped outside of it, or see it from above, or discovered depths in the world that they have not ordinarily seen. This report is often taken, by unsympathetic ears, to indicate nothing more than the simplest sort of Freudian wish fulfillment; i.e., an instance of a wish being fulfilled by a type of hallucination. This view of the skeptic is not so much a result of what the actual data suggest as it is a result of his world view, which a priori simply has no room for such a report being true. The currently fashionable world view does not allow for authentic ontological transcendence of the "this-worldly" sphere of reality, since in the current world view, the "this-worldly" sphere of reality is the only sphere of reality. Thus, any claim to have transcended it would be delusory, would, in fact, be (in the current jargon) an "escape" from reality. If ordinary reality is the only reality, then the phrase "states of non-ordinary reality" is self-contradictory, and the struggle to transcend ordinary reality is destined to futility. The point here is that the skeptic's inability to allow for authentic transcendence is not a result of the data so much as it is a result of his attenuated world view, which declares a priori that ontological transcendence is a metaphysical impossibility.
Here we offer some reflections on the notion of ontological transcendence, which may allow for its acceptance as at least a valid possibility. We shall see that this may require some willingness to see the universe as having dimensions or aspects that are not normally accessible to human consciousness and not composed solely of what is evident to normal waking consciousness. It will require a willingness to sacrifice one's dogmatic certitude that the reality of normal perception is the only reality, outside of which there exists only dream and illusion.
Philip Wheelwright argues that man's existence seems to point toward some kind of beyond, and he thus proposes a "liminal ontology", a "metaphysics of the threshold", whose basic proposition would be "we are never quite there, we are always and deviously on the verge of being there." As he suggests, in an essay titled "Man's Threshold Existence",
Nietzsche's Zarathustra, furthermore, announces a theme common to other philosophers, that man is a bridge, not an end.
All of these are hinting at a "something more" in the universe, as an aspect or dimension of things that somehow transcends the ordinary world and is in some sense "more real" than the facts and events of the ordinary world. Relying on Huston Smith now, I wish to suggest this as a working definition of the term transcendence. "I propose to use 'Transcendence' to name the there with respect to value which we sense as encircling our present existence; the Value More that exceeds our current possession."
Transcendence is the name for that More that human beings have often sensed or have often felt a need for, which is broader or larger or fuller than the ordinary world and in some sense lies "beyond" the threshold that normally bounds our existence.
What are some of the results of transcendence experiences of the sort instanced above? In the first place, it is likely that these are experiences of a very high order, of the sort Maslow terms "peak experiences", in which the individual is most alive, most healthy, and at the peak of his capabilities. Maslow allows for gradations in peak experiences and would fit this sort of experience high on the scale, perhaps as the intense most type of peak experience. Thus, the sorts of positive results that accrue as a result of peak experiences would also accrue as a result of transcendence experiences since they are of the same order. These include therapeutic benefits of the following sort: positive changes in the self-image, positive changes in interpersonal relationships, remission of neurotic symptoms (at least for a time), increased creativity, increased spontaneity and self-expression, and so on, in the realm of psychological improvement.
But what exactly is at work here? Maslow speaks of the matter from the perspective of a psychologist, but what is the larger context here, and how does it happen that these psychological benefits accrue? Smith suggests, in a larger perspective, that the effect of transcendence experiences is to "counter predicaments that are ingrained in the human situation; predicaments which, being not fully remediable, are constitutional.
...now there is also a second category of transcendence experiences, which do in some way call into question the usual assumptions about the limits of being, and this sort of transcendence Smith terms ontological transcendence.
Ontological transcendence is of the sort which cannot accept as final the standard view of reality, the standard view which most people find suitable and within which most people are quite content to live. The mass of men are quite content to seek their transcendence in the this-worldly spheres of love, hope, and commitment to causes; so they do not find it necessary, do not find it somehow demanded of them, to seek beyond the limits of what most men accept as real. Those who do feel such a demand upon them, who do feel required to look beyond the this-worldly, begin to find themselves involved in the quest for ontological transcendence.
The example quoted at the beginning of this article is clearly not within the sphere of the this-worldly, and thus they are instances of ontological transcendence. Ontological transcendence, springing from a divine this-worldly discontent, opens into reservoirs of being and value which are not normally perceived in the universe. Ontological transcendence bears on realms or dimensions which clearly do not fit within the normally accepted bounds of reality. Ontological transcendence is of the sort which existentially calls these boundaries into question and takes up a stand in the belief that there is a More in the cosmos which normal perception is quite blind to. For example, immortality in heaven after death would be an instance of ontological transcendence. An encounter with the absolute, or dissolution of the individual ego in the Nirvanic Void, would also instantiate ontological transcendence.
But these models for understanding ontological transcendence, the models of heaven, of a personal God, of Nirvana, and so on, are traditional models which have been worked and reworked for centuries. Rather than explore those models further, it will be more beneficial to ask whether there are any other ways of conceiving the possibility of ontological transcendence.
...now Bucke's world view, though rather less well-developed than Teilhard's, is certainly consistent with it, and both represent important temporal models of authentic transcendence. Both allow room for a cosmos in which experiences of transcendence can be valid, and thus both can admit the authenticity of the data in a way which a more restricted world view cannot.
In fact now, we have three conceptual forms for understanding the possibility of valid transcendence, a spatial and two temporal forms, all three with a certain amount of evidence to back them up which disqualifies them from the pejorative category of "armchair fancies". This-worldly transcendence, of course, does not require an enlarged world view for it accepts the standard view of reality and works within those limits; things generally are accepted to be the way they seem to be. Ontological transcendence, on the other hand, is not satisfied with the world as it seems but claims that there must be larger dimensions of being, other regions of value that elude normal consciousness: things are not as they seem. Smith claims that both types of transcendence are equal in difficulty and in worth. "With respect to ontological Transcendence", he says,
In neither case, Smith is saying, is the standard view of reality right: neither with respect to the physical complexity of things nor with respect to the ultimate limits of value in the cosmos. Or rather, instead of saying that the man in the street is wrong, let us say that his suppositions are right, but right only so far as they apply, namely to the this-worldly. Likewise, we do not say that Euclid's geometry is wrong, only that it is limited to the macroworld of normal perception. In so far as Euclid, or Newtonian physics, or the man in the street, claims to have discovered the limits of reality and claims that his suppositions apply to the whole of reality, just that far is he mistaken. For the world is vaster by far than they have imagined.
Now we have some conceptual forms that would allow the possibility of valid transcendence experiences. But is that enough? Have we any hard evidence proving the existence of actual valid transcendence experiences? In other words, suppose we admit a world in which valid transcendence is a possibility, does it ever actually occur? Granted the possibility, is it ever an actuality?
In the attempt to answer this question, we must first
Maslow's peak experience points to an Altered State of Consciousness of a higher order (ASC's)
In my writings, I have indicated some of the ways in which ASCs can manifest positive psychological significance. Already, we have seen hints that ASCs may also bear ontological significance, in that they may suggest the presence of another order (or orders) of being. Our task here is to explore that possibility and to examine some of the ways in which ASCs may act as indicators, which point toward other dimensions of being.
We may begin our examination by noting that persons who have experienced altered states of consciousness or states of non-ordinary reality often suggest or say outright that they have in some way transcended the ordinary world, that they have stepped outside of it, or see it from above, or discovered depths in the world that they have not ordinarily seen. This report is often taken, by unsympathetic ears, to indicate nothing more than the simplest sort of Freudian wish fulfillment; i.e., an instance of a wish being fulfilled by a type of hallucination. This view of the skeptic is not so much a result of what the actual data suggest as it is a result of his world view, which a priori simply has no room for such a report being true. The currently fashionable world view does not allow for authentic ontological transcendence of the "this-worldly" sphere of reality, since in the current world view, the "this-worldly" sphere of reality is the only sphere of reality. Thus, any claim to have transcended it would be delusory, would, in fact, be (in the current jargon) an "escape" from reality. If ordinary reality is the only reality, then the phrase "states of non-ordinary reality" is self-contradictory, and the struggle to transcend ordinary reality is destined to futility. The point here is that the skeptic's inability to allow for authentic transcendence is not a result of the data so much as it is a result of his attenuated world view, which declares a priori that ontological transcendence is a metaphysical impossibility.
Here we offer some reflections on the notion of ontological transcendence, which may allow for its acceptance as at least a valid possibility. We shall see that this may require some willingness to see the universe as having dimensions or aspects that are not normally accessible to human consciousness and not composed solely of what is evident to normal waking consciousness. It will require a willingness to sacrifice one's dogmatic certitude that the reality of normal perception is the only reality, outside of which there exists only dream and illusion.
Philip Wheelwright argues that man's existence seems to point toward some kind of beyond, and he thus proposes a "liminal ontology", a "metaphysics of the threshold", whose basic proposition would be "we are never quite there, we are always and deviously on the verge of being there." As he suggests, in an essay titled "Man's Threshold Existence",
Nietzsche's Zarathustra, furthermore, announces a theme common to other philosophers, that man is a bridge, not an end.
All of these are hinting at a "something more" in the universe, as an aspect or dimension of things that somehow transcends the ordinary world and is in some sense "more real" than the facts and events of the ordinary world. Relying on Huston Smith now, I wish to suggest this as a working definition of the term transcendence. "I propose to use 'Transcendence' to name the there with respect to value which we sense as encircling our present existence; the Value More that exceeds our current possession."
Transcendence is the name for that More that human beings have often sensed or have often felt a need for, which is broader or larger or fuller than the ordinary world and in some sense lies "beyond" the threshold that normally bounds our existence.
What are some of the results of transcendence experiences of the sort instanced above? In the first place, it is likely that these are experiences of a very high order, of the sort Maslow terms "peak experiences", in which the individual is most alive, most healthy, and at the peak of his capabilities. Maslow allows for gradations in peak experiences and would fit this sort of experience high on the scale, perhaps as the intense most type of peak experience. Thus, the sorts of positive results that accrue as a result of peak experiences would also accrue as a result of transcendence experiences since they are of the same order. These include therapeutic benefits of the following sort: positive changes in the self-image, positive changes in interpersonal relationships, remission of neurotic symptoms (at least for a time), increased creativity, increased spontaneity and self-expression, and so on, in the realm of psychological improvement.
But what exactly is at work here? Maslow speaks of the matter from the perspective of a psychologist, but what is the larger context here, and how does it happen that these psychological benefits accrue? Smith suggests, in a larger perspective, that the effect of transcendence experiences is to "counter predicaments that are ingrained in the human situation; predicaments which, being not fully remediable, are constitutional.
...now there is also a second category of transcendence experiences, which do in some way call into question the usual assumptions about the limits of being, and this sort of transcendence Smith terms ontological transcendence.
Ontological transcendence is of the sort which cannot accept as final the standard view of reality, the standard view which most people find suitable and within which most people are quite content to live. The mass of men are quite content to seek their transcendence in the this-worldly spheres of love, hope, and commitment to causes; so they do not find it necessary, do not find it somehow demanded of them, to seek beyond the limits of what most men accept as real. Those who do feel such a demand upon them, who do feel required to look beyond the this-worldly, begin to find themselves involved in the quest for ontological transcendence.
The example quoted at the beginning of this article is clearly not within the sphere of the this-worldly, and thus they are instances of ontological transcendence. Ontological transcendence, springing from a divine this-worldly discontent, opens into reservoirs of being and value which are not normally perceived in the universe. Ontological transcendence bears on realms or dimensions which clearly do not fit within the normally accepted bounds of reality. Ontological transcendence is of the sort which existentially calls these boundaries into question and takes up a stand in the belief that there is a More in the cosmos which normal perception is quite blind to. For example, immortality in heaven after death would be an instance of ontological transcendence. An encounter with the absolute, or dissolution of the individual ego in the Nirvanic Void, would also instantiate ontological transcendence.
But these models for understanding ontological transcendence, the models of heaven, of a personal God, of Nirvana, and so on, are traditional models which have been worked and reworked for centuries. Rather than explore those models further, it will be more beneficial to ask whether there are any other ways of conceiving the possibility of ontological transcendence.
...now Bucke's world view, though rather less well-developed than Teilhard's, is certainly consistent with it, and both represent important temporal models of authentic transcendence. Both allow room for a cosmos in which experiences of transcendence can be valid, and thus both can admit the authenticity of the data in a way which a more restricted world view cannot.
In fact now, we have three conceptual forms for understanding the possibility of valid transcendence, a spatial and two temporal forms, all three with a certain amount of evidence to back them up which disqualifies them from the pejorative category of "armchair fancies". This-worldly transcendence, of course, does not require an enlarged world view for it accepts the standard view of reality and works within those limits; things generally are accepted to be the way they seem to be. Ontological transcendence, on the other hand, is not satisfied with the world as it seems but claims that there must be larger dimensions of being, other regions of value that elude normal consciousness: things are not as they seem. Smith claims that both types of transcendence are equal in difficulty and in worth. "With respect to ontological Transcendence", he says,
In neither case, Smith is saying, is the standard view of reality right: neither with respect to the physical complexity of things nor with respect to the ultimate limits of value in the cosmos. Or rather, instead of saying that the man in the street is wrong, let us say that his suppositions are right, but right only so far as they apply, namely to the this-worldly. Likewise, we do not say that Euclid's geometry is wrong, only that it is limited to the macroworld of normal perception. In so far as Euclid, or Newtonian physics, or the man in the street, claims to have discovered the limits of reality and claims that his suppositions apply to the whole of reality, just that far is he mistaken. For the world is vaster by far than they have imagined.
Now we have some conceptual forms that would allow the possibility of valid transcendence experiences. But is that enough? Have we any hard evidence proving the existence of actual valid transcendence experiences? In other words, suppose we admit a world in which valid transcendence is a possibility, does it ever actually occur? Granted the possibility, is it ever an actuality?
In the attempt to answer this question, we must first
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