The Transpersonal State

The most critical and serious challenge for the Newtonian-Cartesian mechanistic model of the universe comes from the last category of psychedelic phenomena, an entire spectrum of experiences for which I have coined the term transpersonal. The common denominator of this rich and ramified group of unusual experiences is the individual’s feeling that his or her consciousness has expanded beyond the ego boundaries and has transcended the limitations of time and space. (Grof, 1985, p. 41)

            Transpersonal states of consciousness are shown in Figure 36. As shown in Figure 14, the ego in this quadrant has “normal” consciousness (it is positive in the sense that it is focused outside the psyche) but without a “normal” personal unconscious (our personal unconscious is negative in the sense that, like the ego, it is transcended here). In this quadrant, the ego is focused on that part of the collective unconscious that has forms or images which we called U_C1 in our phase space.  

            Recall that the energy available to the ego when self-conscious is

            In the transpersonal state, E_INSTINCTS÷0 as shown in Figure 30 so that E_FUNCTIONS÷E_WILL  to give

            Recall that experience is given by

A very high mystical experience X_m can be defined where 2÷90 and tan2÷4, and sin2X_e÷1, to give

which says that  X_m ÷ 4  implying that mystical experiences have almost unlimited psychic energy. We can assume that some mystical experiences correspond to the ego’s energy at the time, as it does in the dream state, so that Cs = X to give

which suggests that

                                                                 E_WILL÷4

            This result implies that as the angle of consciousness in the transpersonal state increases toward 90E, willpower approaches infinity. This is in keeping with Assagioli (1974), a pioneer of transpersonal psychology, who wrote “Just as there is a personal will...so there is a Transpersonal Will, which is an expression of the Transpersonal Self and operates from the superconscious levels of the psyche” (p. 113). In the mystical angles of consciousness, this “transpersonal will” is available to the ego and is expressed mathematically as infinite willpower.

            Another possibility is that N ÷ 4 because the ego’s sense of identity transfers to the archetypal Self. It is also quite possible that both the will and the self-image become unlimited in some transpersonal states.

            If we assume that synchronicity applies throughout the higher angles of the transpersonal state, then with an angle of consciousness of 45E the psychic mass cancels out and the basic equation reduces to

            If we further assume that in this state X_e is close to sin2 or .707, we find

                                                              N'E_WILL = 1

or                                                         E_WILL = 1/N'             

            This suggests that the will is inversely related to psychic integrity when in some normal-to-high transpersonal states. In mystical experiences, the ego and Self are united. In transpersonal experiences just below the mystical angles of consciousness the ego and Self are separate. These latter experiences are often associated with low willpower and high psychic integrity, because here the ego’s will is subservient to that of the Self; a condition suggested by Jesus when he said “not my will, but Thine be done.”  Furthermore, according to Washburn (1994), the first stage of transcendence is characterized by a lack or weakness of will.