PREVIOUS: Transcendence (#2)

SITE: Some thoughts about “Meaning“

HUMAN TRANSCENDENCE
DEF:  An experiential meaning-making process to form extraordinary connections within, & beyond the self with others – in time & space.

♦ In his Spiritual Awakening Blog – Jim Tolles defines Transcendence as the a conscious ability to choose how we respond to any situation – about walking through the fire (of life & Self), not away from it. ‘Achieving’ spiritual transcendence is NOT about:
– running away from oneself, or being free of ego
– that we’ll somehow be better than everyone else
– never feeling pain or facing adversity again. Life still brings hard times.

Transcendence is the OPPOSITE of reactions from the ego state, choosing something we think would get us the best result or would get us away from uncomfortable feelings. These are driven mainly by fear, aggression, or anything that’s heart self-protective, where we react & then later have to clean up the mess it made.

Tolles continues: Transcendence is like going to a new floor in the building (the Earth). Awakening is the elevator, but you still live in it, & have certain rules to abide by (our body, dealing with others…). All these things make an ego a useful tool. BUT it’s erratic & out of control…..

Transcendence doesn’t think the ego-way. It doesn’t exactly think. It’s an intuitive knowing that allows you to see a bigger picture, and from that awareness, you can choose actions that allows you to see where you’re out of alignment with love & kindness, & then consciously re-align yourself.

♦ In “Transcendence & Spiritual JOY” – Cabrini Pak, (U of Chicago), sees transcendence as a process rather than a specific event or continuous state of being, which allows for various possible outcomes:
1) Stabilizing a sense of Self, to better answer: “What am I?”

2) Making extra-ordinary connections within & outside the Self, with space-time moral connections to specific meaningful events, which can then be used for future reference

Anti-transcendence, the reverse, is the end result of someone not being able to make positive meaning from a personally relevant extremely negative event, (see Post above). This inability is accompanied by markers such as profound shame or guilt, or a lack of valued support, which then overshadow future experiences.

Transcendence requires enough personal growth (actualization) to extract positive meaning from difficult & painful situations in life. Here are 3 ways:

A. Understanding / figuring it out – by thinking
B. Discovering it for oneself – by reflection, pondering, letting the unconscious work, meditating….
C. Create it – by taking actions, trying something & observing the outcome

EXAMPLE re. Illness
Dr. Marie Dezelic, Living with Meaning, applies Victor Frankl’s Logotherapy & its techniques to ‘Meaning in Illness’. The idea is that regardless which specific needs may be thwarted, each patient has the capability of “becoming”, even in the face of the unsatisfied ones. (Frankl)

Goethe stated: “If we take people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat them as if they were what they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming”. And from Niklaus Graber (2004): “The resources of inner strengths are to be found in the spiritual dimension”.

Dr. Dezelic: “With cancer, or any terminal illness, many of the basic lower level (D) needs are missing, or are changed altogether”…… Suffering can take over one’s identity, & while higher level needs (B) may be longed for, they’re hard to pursue, so existential value & meaning are ignored.

Logotherapy can help diagnosed patients construct a new way of seeing themselves, focused on “Being” & “Becoming,” rather than on what was lost, changed, or on any limits the person is faced with. So while the needs caused by illness are addressed, ‘Meaning’ can also be worked on

As shown on this pyramid, not all lower areas of meaning have to be met or progressed through in order to reach transcendence. Instead, all meaning-making opportunities can lead toward it to form a new self-understanding.

NOTE: People who have a solid faith in God / Higher Power already have a clearer sense of Meaning / purpose / reason, giving them a strong foundation to rely on in the face of any adversity.

Helpful CHARTS re. : Hope, Processing Grief & Healing

NEXT: Maslow “Modern”