In This Issue Of Ijts,
2022
Attention Strategies Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
In This Issue Of Ijts, Glenn Hartelius
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
N/A
What Is Transpersonal Psychology? A Concise Definition Based On 20 Years Of Research,
2022
Attention Strategies Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
What Is Transpersonal Psychology? A Concise Definition Based On 20 Years Of Research, Glenn Hartelius
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Research on definitions of the field of psychology and themes in the literature of the field over a period of 20 years inform this description: Transpersonal psychology is a transformative psychology of the whole person embedded within a diverse, interconnected, and evolving world that pays particular attention to states of consciousness and developmental models reflecting expansion beyond conventional notions of self. Each element of this definition is examined, as well as the four phases of definitional development within the field from its founding in 1968 up to the present.
Life Before Birth: A Thematic Analysis Of Memories Of Coming Into Life Part 1: Recollections Of Another Realm,
2022
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA
Life Before Birth: A Thematic Analysis Of Memories Of Coming Into Life Part 1: Recollections Of Another Realm, Jenny Wade
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Autobiographic memories prior to birth remain controversial in psychology because such memories are traditionally believed to begin much later when some sense of self is formed. Prenatal sentience, including fetal learning, occurs in species from arthropods to humans, and evidence for autobiographic memories from pre- and neo-natal humans has typically come from clinical case histories of altered-state regression techniques eliciting records from adults or clinical case histories of children in normal states. This thematic analysis examined 68 “earliest memory” narratives submitted to an independent website to explore the question: what do people who claim to remember how they came into …
Quantum Tunneling And Exceptional Human Experiences: Illustrating Different Skepticisms In Physics And Psychology,
2022
Attention Strategies Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
Quantum Tunneling And Exceptional Human Experiences: Illustrating Different Skepticisms In Physics And Psychology, Glenn Hartelius
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Quantum tunneling is a phenomenon where a particle appears on the other side of an energy barrier that it does not have enough energy to pass through, according to classical physics. This notion, first proposed by a German physicist in 1927, runs improbably counter to common sense and to rules thought for hundreds of years to govern physics. Acceptance of this and other quantum phenomena has required the reconceptualization of subatomic particles from solid bits of matter to probability clouds that extend infinitely in every direction. As such, quantum physics has required a skepticism driven by the need for sound …
Emotion And Judgment In Young Women Of A Society In Transition,
2022
Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Emotion And Judgment In Young Women Of A Society In Transition, Maura A. E. Pilotti, Khadija El Alaoui
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
The present study asked whether emotional responses to narratives of moral transgressions are shaped by the reader’s assumed relationship with the injured party (i.e., oneself, familiar other, and unfamiliar other). Its goal was to test a cultural, religious, and individualistic account of such responses in young females of a traditional society in transition towards a sustainable integration into the global economy. To this end, female college students from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were asked to identify their emotional reaction to each of several moral transgressions, report its intensity and then judge the severity of the transgression. In agreement with …
Eliciting Awe In The Spectator: The Case Of A Dhrupad-Based Dance Performance,
2022
Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
Eliciting Awe In The Spectator: The Case Of A Dhrupad-Based Dance Performance, Alfonso Santarpia, Andrée Martin, Armando Menicacci, Pierre De Oliveira, Daniel Lemieux, Laurence Éthier, Caroline Charbonneau, Bruno Pucella, Christophe Flambard, Les Frères Gundecha, Louis-Charles Lusignan, Alice Bourgasser, Élisabeth-Anne Dorléans, Ariane Dubé-Lavigne, Angélique Poulin
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
This paper describes “Kalos, eîdos, skopeîn,” an immersive Dhrupad-based dance installation designed to elicit feelings of awe in the spectators, in a real-life artistic context. This study used a mixed-methods approach in order to explore spectators’ awe experience (N=45), using specific scales and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results suggested that “Kalos, eîdos, skopeîn,” with its combination of nature motifs and the slow dance-walk associated with the Dhrupad music in the choreography, was able to produce awe-related moments in some spectators and inspire a degree of positive emotions. Our qualitative results viewed awe explicitly as a positive emotion and showed that generally …
Positive Psychological Transformation: A Mixed Methods Investigation Into Catalysts And Processes Of Meaningful Change,
2021
Sofia University, Palo Alto, CA
Positive Psychological Transformation: A Mixed Methods Investigation Into Catalysts And Processes Of Meaningful Change, Nick Fortino, Paul Dommert Jr., Nadia Santiago, Jen Smith
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive
This mixed methods study investigated the experience of positive psychological transformation, including its catalysts, dynamics, supportive factors, and outcomes. The first phase of the study was a 13-item survey (N=130) that revealed trends and associations in participants’ experiences of transformation. The most significant correlation was between “expressing myself” and change stabilization (p < .01). Forty-four percent of participants reported trauma or emotional distress as the main catalyst of their transformation. Each of the other three main catalysts (dissonance, adaptation, and inspiration) drew approximately 18% of responses. Connecting with nature (71%), introspection (65%), solitude (63%) and empathy (61%) were commonly reported supportive factors. Common changes related to participants’ way of interacting with others (77%), perception (75%), and emotional patterns (70%). The process of transformation differed substantially depending on multiple factors including the catalyst and demographic categories. Additionally, the survey revealed a trend of moving away from organized religion toward a sense of being spiritual but not religious. The second phase of the study consisted of interviews with a portion of the participants who reported trauma as the main catalyst of their transformation (n = 26) and was focused on the experience of posttraumatic growth. Thematic analysis revealed that transformation is typically initiated by a series of traumatic events and that the process of transformation can involve impaired well-being/functioning before elevated well-being/functioning. The results of thematic analysis were consistent with existing data on posttraumatic growth.
Table Of Contents—Masthead,
2021
California Institute of Integral Studies
Effects Of Brief Daily Kundalini Yoga Meditation On Self-Esteem, Mood And Emotional Self-Efficacy: A Randomized Comparison Study,
2021
National University of Distance Education, Madrid, Spain
Effects Of Brief Daily Kundalini Yoga Meditation On Self-Esteem, Mood And Emotional Self-Efficacy: A Randomized Comparison Study, Sonia Romero Martinez, Andrés Dueñas, Xavier Ordoñes
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
This randomized comparison study measured the impact of brief daily use of two types of kundalini yoga meditation from the Yogi Bhajan lineage on self-esteem, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, and positive and negative affect in a non-clinical sample of 46 Spanish-speaking adults residing in Spain. Results of the two meditation types—Kirtan Kriya and Internal Conflict Resolution—are compared. Results showed that both types of meditation had positive impacts on all study variables, though the degree of change and effect size depended on the type of meditation used. Results point to these relevant forms of brief daily meditation as simple and inexpensive tools …
Tripping In The Moment: The Spiritual Journey Of Baba Ram Dass,
2021
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Tripping In The Moment: The Spiritual Journey Of Baba Ram Dass, Charles S. Hamilton
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Ram Dass, the iconic, countercultural, spiritual seeker, brought the wisdom of the East to those of us in the West through his many books and frequent, charismatic dharma talks. This view of his spiritual journey describes the transformation of Richard Alpert, clinical psychologist and product of the Western milieu’s often-shackling conventional expectations, into Ram Dass, the free, embodied soul who, through explication and example, and with witnessing attention, tries to guide us all to the always present abode of loving awareness. Ram Dass’s idea of self in existence was transformed: first, from a psychological object of clinical study, to a …
Book Review: Decoding Jung's Metaphysics: The Archetypal Semantics Of An Experiential Universe,
2021
Alef Trust, Wirral, England, UK
Book Review: Decoding Jung's Metaphysics: The Archetypal Semantics Of An Experiential Universe, Nicholas G. Boeving
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
N/A
Using Legos® In Research Facilitation: An Advanced Scripted Research Method,
2021
Independent Researcher, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Using Legos® In Research Facilitation: An Advanced Scripted Research Method, Samuel W. Root
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Transpersonal research methods can help individuals access useful information and material that typically reside out of conscious awareness. The playful activity of LEGO® block-building can be adapted for research purposes and used to overcome research impasses, for example. This paper presents a novel transpersonal LEGO® building process for facilitation in each of the four major phases of research. Readers are provided with a 6-step script that takes between 30 minutes and 1 hour to complete. Steps include: Prepare to Exercise; Set Intentions; Build While Intending Solution; Appreciate/Take In; Project and Actively Imagine; and Reflect and Ease Out. Future studies could …
The Luminous Night Of The Soul: The Relationship Between Lucid Dreaming And Spirituality,
2021
Alef Trust, Wirral, England, UK
The Luminous Night Of The Soul: The Relationship Between Lucid Dreaming And Spirituality, Tadas Stumbrys
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Lucid dreams, in which the dreamers are aware that they are dreaming, can be a source of spiritual and mystical experiences. This empirical study aimed to explore the relationship between lucid dreaming and spirituality, taking into account the role of mystical lucid dream experience, in an online sample of 471 respondents, 95% of whom had lucid dream experience and 65% were frequent lucid dreamers. The findings support the relationship between lucid dreaming and spirituality: spiritual transcendence was positively associated with both lucid dream frequency and mystical lucid dream experiences. Thus having recurrent lucid dreams and mystical experiences in them may …
Glenn Hartelius: A Leader In Second Wave Transpersonal Psychology,
2021
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Glenn Hartelius: A Leader In Second Wave Transpersonal Psychology, Harris Friedman
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
N/A
Going Berserk, Running Amok, And The Extraordinary Capabilities And Invulnerability Of Battle Trance,
2021
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA
Going Berserk, Running Amok, And The Extraordinary Capabilities And Invulnerability Of Battle Trance, Jenny Wade
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Battle trance, which evolved from instinctive defensive and offensive behaviors for close combat, involves socially transgressive processes like becoming-intense and becoming-animal that produce non-ordinary psychophysical states useful in fighting. Berserkergang (going berserk) is one of the best attested types of battle trance and the latest in a long history of Indo-European ecstatic warrior cults, but the state has been identified cross-culturally in consecrated holy amok warriors and in juramentado. Colonial interpretations for centuries have tended to denigrate such fighting styles, even though they involve discipline, spiritual dedication, and altruistic self-sacrifice, especially by falsely attributing such states to intoxication or insanity. …
A Consideration Of Transpersonal Research Methods For Studying Yoga And Mindfulness In Schools,
2021
University of New York in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
A Consideration Of Transpersonal Research Methods For Studying Yoga And Mindfulness In Schools, Bethany Butzer
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Over the past decade, interest in yoga and mindfulness in schools has grown tremendously, with preliminary research suggesting that these interventions may have a variety of positive effects on youth. However, some quantitative studies of school-based yoga and mindfulness have reported null and/or counterintuitive effects, such as increases in perceived stress, negative affect and psychological symptoms. In addition, some mixed-methods studies that combined quantitative and qualitative approaches have found inconsistent results, with the quantitative outcomes failing to show statistical significance, while students report benefits of yoga and mindfulness in qualitative interviews/focus groups. These inconsistent findings suggest that the field of …
The Origin (And Future) Of Transpersonal Psychology In An Open Scientific Naturalism,
2021
Attention Strategies, Berkeley, CA, USA
The Origin (And Future) Of Transpersonal Psychology In An Open Scientific Naturalism, Glenn Hartelius
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
A number of scholars well known within transpersonal psychology appear to be converging on open scientific naturalism as a philosophically and methodologically fruitful framework for transpersonal and related fields. This builds on the nascent open naturalism evidenced in the early years of transpersonal psychology, before it entered its metaphysical phase (ca. 1975 to 2000). Since it is necessary for science to assume some kind of world within which it is possible to do science, and not every aspect of that assumed world can be subjected to processes of empirical investigation, some of these necessary background assumptions are unavoidably metaphysical. However, …
Exceptional Human Experiences Among Pilgrims On The Camino De Santiago: A Study Of Self-Reported Experiences And Transformative Aftereffects,
2021
University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
Exceptional Human Experiences Among Pilgrims On The Camino De Santiago: A Study Of Self-Reported Experiences And Transformative Aftereffects, Miran Lavrič, Snežana Brumec, Andrej Naterer
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage is an extraordinary endeavour that tends to trigger exceptional human experiences. Following our previous investigation of this topic, we conducted an online survey of 501 pilgrims in order to assess the frequency of different exceptional experiences (EEs) on the pilgrimage and their transformative aftereffects (TAs) in everyday life afterwards. More than 70% of the respondents reported improvement in terms of self-confidence, personal relationships and letting go of emotional “baggage”. The results show strong correlations between the observed EEs and the (consequent) TAs. We contend that walking the Camino de Santiago often produces exceptional experiences that …
Parapsychology And Transpersonal Psychology In Dialogue: Could These Two Movements Be Brought Into Better Alignment?,
2021
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Parapsychology And Transpersonal Psychology In Dialogue: Could These Two Movements Be Brought Into Better Alignment?, Harris L. Friedman, Dean Radin, Stanley Krippner
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Parapsychology and transpersonal psychology were founded independently and have evolved separately as two distinct movements, although there is considerable overlap in both their content and in the interests of a number of scholars who are active in both areas. Harris Friedman, Co-President of the Association of Transpersonal Psychology, and Dean Radin, President of the Parapsychological Association, engaged in an informal discussion on the salient commonalities and differences between the two movements, focusing on exploring ways that the two could be brought into better alignment, such as including more transpersonal approaches within parapsychological studies and vice versa. Stanley Krippner, whose seminal …
Positive Psychological Transformation: A Mixed Methods Investigation Into Catalysts And Processes Of Meaningful Change,
2021
Sofia University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Positive Psychological Transformation: A Mixed Methods Investigation Into Catalysts And Processes Of Meaningful Change, Nick Fortino, Paul Dommert Jr., Nadia Santiago, Jen Smith
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
This mixed methods study investigated the experience of positive psychological transformation, including its catalysts, dynamics, supportive factors, and outcomes. The first phase of the study was a 13-item survey (N=130) that revealed trends and associations in participants’ experiences of transformation. The most significant correlation was between “expressing myself” and change stabilization (p < .01). Forty-four percent of participants reported trauma or emotional distress as the main catalyst of their transformation. Each of the other three main catalysts (dissonance, adaptation, and inspiration) drew approximately 18% of responses. Connecting with nature (71%), introspection (65%), solitude (63%) and empathy (61%) were commonly reported supportive factors. Common changes related to participants’ way of interacting with others (77%), perception (75%), and emotional patterns (70%). The process of transformation differed substantially depending on multiple factors including the catalyst and demographic categories. Additionally, the survey revealed a trend of moving away from organized religion toward a sense of being spiritual but not religious. The second phase of the study consisted of interviews with a portion of the participants who reported trauma as the main catalyst of their transformation (n = 26) and was focused on the experience of posttraumatic growth. Thematic analysis revealed that transformation is typically initiated by a series of traumatic events and that the process of transformation can involve impaired well-being/functioning before elevated well-being/functioning. The results of thematic analysis were consistent with existing data on posttraumatic growth.
