The Transpersonal View of the Self

Western thought has a clear concept of the definition of "self." In our society "self" is the truest form of our inner being; it is the "real" us that no one can know aside from us and is, essentially, the personal definition of our physical existence, including what we are named, our race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, birthplace, ancestry, and past experiences, in addition to our likes and dislikes. Often, we begin our search for our "self" as we approach our twenties, expecting exploration and experience to pull it out, already full and developed, but usually we come out of it still confused. This is because we are searching for our "self" in relation to the outer world, omitting an internal relationship as well as the prospect of evolution.

Transpersonal theory suggests that this approach to conceptualizing the self is fragmented and, essentially, an incomplete view of the true essence of our full existence. According to Engler (1993), "Both Buddhist psychology and psychoanalytic object relations theory define the essence of the ego in a similar way: as a process of synthesis and adaptation between the inner life and outer reality, which produces a sense of personal continuity and sameness in the felt experience of being a 'self'" (p. 118). In other words, we develop an interpretation of our "self" through a lifetime of internal and external relations that are constantly evolving, versus the notion of having an already predetermined self, ready to be discovered.

Most in Western culture are unable to comprehend this more lucid sense of "self" because our cultural education constricts our focus on self-development, asking that we gain our identity through the material world, and leave spirituality off of our agenda. According to Walsh (1993), we are the products of a spiritually developmental retardation brought on by our environment: "Cultures seem to function not only to educate, but also as collective conspiracies to constrict consciousness" (p. 110). As a result, "our transpersonal potentials do not remain undeveloped merely by accident; rather we actively defend against them" (Walsh, 1993, p. 110).

There are competing theories that address how we may be able to come to a stronger conceptualization of "self" and gain greater functionality in society. Transpersonal theorist John Engler states both psychoanalytic object relations theory and the Buddhist perspective address this idea. According to Engler (1993), the psychoanalytic object relations theory explains that the greatest way to alleviate our troubling lack of a sense of self is to learn to "integrate a stable, consistent, and enduring self-representation" (p. 119). Buddhist perspective, on the other hand, viewing "the presence of self and feeling of selfhood" (Engler, 1993, p. 118) as a problem, subscribes to perceiving self as an "illusion or construct," and something we "see through" with the help of insight meditation (Engler, 1993, p. 119).

While acknowledging both viewpoints as valid, Engler proposes that it is necessary to adopt not just one, but both ideas in the development of self, first creating a sense of self through psychoanalysis, then evolving onward to the Buddhist concept of the illusionary self. He feels this would be most useful to those growing up in Western Culture who relate primarily to the world they see in front of them and are unable to identify with something as abstract as "seeing through" the self. He further explains that trying to force the Buddhist perspective on Western people prematurely could result in "further fragmenting their already fragile and vulnerable sense of self" (Engler, 1993, p. 119). As a remedy, he proposes "you have to be somebody before you can be nobody," meaning students must undergo repairs to the personality, identify and build up a strong sense of who they are in relation to others and the world, then explore transcending "self" by elevating their levels of consciousness through such vehicles as meditation (Engler, 1993, p. 119).

I agree with Engler's position and have found that, because our society uses money, sex, status, and other outside influences to define us, it is difficult to comprehend any concept of spirituality or consciousness aside from ideas we may have acquired in church. Hence, it is important to solidify the concepts of "self" we were born and raised to misunderstand. Once we gather a solid sense of self and accept that there are levels of consciousness that will help us to gain a greater understanding of self in relation to the universe, we can ascend to the Buddhist perspective of transcendence.

Another theorist, Mark Epstein, agrees with these theories, but proposes that in the wrong hands they could be misinterpreted and unintentionally abused. He argues that some discover the Buddhist perspective and decide it is a "kind of primal scream in which the person is finally freed from limiting constraints" (Epstein, 1993, p. 121). He feels that many mistakenly use the concept of moving through self to "romanticize regression, psychosis, and uninhibited expression of emotion" still maintaining an undeveloped "self" (Epstein, 1993, p. 121). I understand his position and see how the Buddhist perspective could be misunderstood and abused, however, I believe that all of the aforementioned theories are developed with the intention of administering responsible therapy under the supervision of careful instructors with a strong background in what they're teaching, so I remain hopeful that in the right hands, these therapeutic approaches would be successful.

With still developing theories amidst a society that seems to be regressing spiritually as quickly as it is progressing technologically, the sense is that we still have a ways to go before we are able to gather the strong sense of self that involves a connection with the inner world. However, the concept Engler proposes gives a beginning to the Buddhist perspective and an ending to the psychoanalytic object relations theory, conceptually combining the two, and hopefully giving society a chance to take steps toward positive self-identification, and eventually, transcendence to a greater, fuller "Self."

References

Engler, J. H. (1993). Becoming somebody and nobody: Psychoanalysis and buddhism. In R. Walsh & F. Vaughan

(Eds.), Paths beyond ego (pp. 118 - 121). New York: Tarcher/Putnam.

Epstein, M. (1993). The varieties of egolessness. In R. Walsh & F. Vaughan (Eds.), Paths beyond ego (pp. 121 -

123). New York: Tarcher/Putnam.

Walsh, R. & Vaughan, F. (1993). Transpersonal dimensions of development. In R. Walsh & F. Vaughan (Eds.), Paths

beyond ego (pp. 109 - 115). New York: Tarcher/Putnam.