Self-transcendence

High An altered state of consciousness, marked by euphoria, feelings of lightness, self-transcendence, and energy. High states are not necessarily drug-related. They may occur spontaneously or in response to various activities that affect mood, perception, and concentration. Also used as an adjective... 

For Boyd, Anonymity and depersonalization are dragons quite justifiably feared in a society whose process of socialization has been based upon other-directedness and heteronomy instead of mutual respect, cooperation, and self-transcendent autonomy (ibid 70-71). 

Koltko-Rivera, M. E. (2006). Rediscovering the later version of Maslow s hierarchy of needs Self-transcendence and opportunities for theory, research, and unification. Review of General Psychology, 10(4), 302-317. 

Scharmer, C.O. (2001). Self-transcending knowledge Sensing and organizing around emerging opportunities. Journal of Knowledge Management, 5(2), pp. 137-151. 

It seems intuitive that various self-needs require satisfaction before self-transcendent or actively caring behavior is likely to occur. Actually, there is little research support for ranking needs in a hierarchy. In fact, it is possible to think of a number of examples where individuals have actively cared for others before satisfying all of their own needs. Mahatma Gandhi is a prime example of a leader who put the concerns of others before his... 

I am sure you can think of individuals in your life, including perhaps yourself, who reached tire level of self-transcendence before satisfying needs in tire lower stages. I shall demonstrate in Chapter 15, however, that while satisfying lower level needs might not be... 

Consequences (rewards) that recognize our efforts build om self-esteem and eventually enable us to be self-actualized. At tiie highest stages of Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs— self-actualization and self-transcendence—we are presimiably rewarded by the realization that we have helped another person. At these levels, we truly believe it is better to give than to receive. How can we help people get to this motivation level Let us see how psychologists have attempted to answer this important question. 

The common-sense appeal of the actively caring model is also supported by comparing it with Maslow s popular and intuitive motivation theory. Maslow s hierarchy of needs was discussed in Chapter 14 (see Figure 14.7), with particular reference to Maslow s (1971) later addition of "self-transcendency" to the top of his hierarchy. I bet you see the similarity between self-transcendency and actively caring. 

Parikh describes how, by repeatedly witnessing yourself, you can go beyond - transcend - your ego. You are thus able to operate from a higher level of consciousness or self. 

From the beginning, the problem is to discover what the sickness is the sick one is suffering from and prognosticate the remedy. Medicine woman, she eats the mushrooms to see into the spirit of the sick, to disclose the hidden, to intuit how to resolve the unsolved for an experience of revelations. The transformation of her everyday self is transcendental and gives her the power to move in the two relevant spheres of transcendence in order to achieve understanding that of the other consciousness where the symptoms of illness can be discerned and that of the divine, the source of the events in the world. Together with visionary empathy, her principal means of realization is articulation, discourse, as if by saying she will say the answer and announce the truth. 

Man s history has been characterized by a seemingly insoluble ambivalence toward altered states and intense experience. Freud said that in schizophrenia things become conscious that should remain unconscious. As Kierkegaard pointed out, however, "One cannot transcend one s self objectively. The existential realization of a unity of finite and infinite which transcends existence comes only in the moment of passion." Tolstoy had a similar view "It is possible to live only as long as life intoxicates us as soon as we sober again we see that it is all a delusion, and a stupid one " Despite their emphasis on intensity, both men conceded that "It is perfectly true that only terror to the point of despair develops a man to his utmost—though of course many succumb during... 

For this reason, the Bardo Thodol, the Tibetan book vouchsafing liberation from the intermediate state between life and re-birth,- which state men call death,- has been couched in symbolical language. It is a book which is sealed with the seven seals of silence,- not because its knowledge would be misunderstood, and, therefore, would tend to mislead and harm those who are unfitted to receive it. But the time has come to break the seals of silence for the human race has come to the juncture where it must decide whether to be content with the subjugation of the material world, or to strive after the conquest of the spiritual world, by subjugating selfish desires and transcending self-imposed limitations. 

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