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Visionary Metamorphosis In The Yogavāsiṣṭha: A Transpersonal Approach To The Existential Crisis, Caitlyn Lauren Selve

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents an unconventional approach to the existential crisis according to the transpersonal psychology of the eleventh century text, Yogavāsiṣṭha. An existential crisis is a general term used to signify a subjective experience of emotional distress as it relates to certain objective realities of human existence. This paper builds off key concepts (“givens”) from the field of existential psychotherapy, including death, isolation, freedom, and meaninglessness, provided by psychoanalyst Irvin D. Yalom, illuminating how the crisis is addressed in contemporary psychotherapeutic settings. Brief attention is given to the Western academic roots of existential psychotherapy, including areas of continental philosophy and …