The transpersonal is a term used by different schools of philosophy and psychology in order to describe experiences and worldviews that extend beyond the personal level of the psyche, and beyond mundane worldly events.
Definition and context
The transpersonal has been defined as experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos. On the other hand, transpersonal practices are those structured activities that focus on inducing transpersonal experiences. defined the term as "development beyond conventional, personal or individual levels." It is associated with a developmental model of psychology that includes three successive stages: the prepersonal (before ego-formation), the personal (the functioning ego), and the transpersonal (ego remains available but is superseded by higher development).
The term is related to the terminology of peak experience, altered states of consciousness, and spiritual experiences. The term is also associated with psychedelic work, and psychotechnologies, that includes research with psychedelic plants and chemicals such as LSD, ibogaine, ketamine, peyote, ayahuasca and the vast variety of substances available to all human cultures throughout history.
Etymology
The term has an early precedent in the writing of philosopher William James, who used the term "Trans-personal" in one of his lectures from 1905. However, this early terminology, introduced by James, had a different meaning than the current one
However, the etymology, as it is currently used in academic writing, is mostly associated with the human potential movement of the 1960s and the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology; Anthony Sutich, Abraham Maslow and Stanislav Grof. locates the start of the so-called transpersonal psychology movement to the American West Coast in the late 1960s. In addition to Maslow, Vich and Grof the movement was associated with the names of Ken Wilber, Frances Vaughan, Roger Walsh and Seymour Boorstein.
According to Powers the term "transpersonal" starts to show up in academic journals from 1970 and onwards. The use of the term in academic literature is documented in Psychological Abstracts and Dissertations Abstracts. The use of the term grew during the 1970s and 1980s and stabilized in the 1990s.
Movement
The collective of people and organizations with an interest in the transpersonal is called the transpersonal movement. Walsh and Vaughan
The formative years of the transpersonal movement can be characterized by the founding of a few key organizations and institutions, such as: Transpersonal Institute in 1969, the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973, The International Transpersonal Psychology Association in 1973, Naropa Institute in 1974, and the California Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in 1975. Contemporary institutions include: the Association for Transpersonal Psychology (ATP), the European Transpersonal Psychology Association (EPTA), the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), the Ibero-American Transpersonal Association (ATI) and the European Transpersonal Association (Eurotas). Leading publications within the movement include: the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, and the Journal of Transpersonal Research.
Transpersonal studies
Several commentators note how the transpersonal field, and its vision, moved beyond the perspective of psychology and into other transpersonal domains during the 1980s and 1990s. This expansion of the transpersonal concept resulted in an interdisciplinary situation, and a dialogue with such fields as social work, ecology, art, literature, acting, law, business, entrepreneurship, ecopsychology, feminism and education.
In this respect, commentators have suggested that there is a difference between the founding field of transpersonal psychology and a broader field of transpersonal inquiry, transpersonal studies. This differentiation of the transpersonal field has to do with the scope of the subjects under study, and the interest of researchers and theorists.
In their review of transpersonal definitions, published in 1993, Walsh and Vaughan and California Institute of Integral Studies. In 2012 Sofia University announced that they were expanding their graduate program in order to include transpersonal studies. The new program was named the Graduate School of Transpersonal Studies.