Transpersonal psychology: A reply to Rollo May.

Abstract

Upon reading Transpersonal or Transcendental? by Rollo May (1986) in the last issue of The Humanistic Psychologist, I could not help but notice how very different his image and description of psychology is from my own. In the spirit of mutual understanding, I offer the following as another way to look at the nature of approaches to psychology. In this rapidly growing Fourth Force in psychology, there exists a number of scholarly attempts to outline, define, and describe the nature of theory and practice (e.g., Boorstein, 1980; Tart, 1975; Walsh & Vaughan, 1980; Wilber, 1980). Regardless of the specific theoretical foundation, however, there remains, for me, an identifiable essence or structure which characterizes any particular approach as transpersonal (see Valle & Harari, 1985). It is this core essence which must be examined if one is to understand psychology. The prefix trans literally means both and as well as across. With this in mind, I feel that May (1986) misses the central point when, in reference to psychology, he concludes that . .it is a contradiction in terms to think one can make a psychology by or 'leaping across'. . .the person (p. 87). Rather than discarding or throwing out our humanness, psychology calls each of us to acknowledge that there is more to being human than just the behaviors, thoughts and emotions which one expresses through his or her personal awareness and individual ego-identity. Self-identity and the process of individuation are truly essential aspects in understanding the human individual, personal aspects which are central to the psychologist's practice, inquiry, and investigation. In addition, however, there is an extensive literature, both ancient and modern, which affirms the existence of human experience which is beyond the level of personal self-awareness, experience in which identity is not confined to the individual mind or more limited sense of self. These aspects or potentials, which express themselves through the medium of our personal emotions and thinking mind, are also a key part of the psychologist's interests.