Transpersonal Psychology
Integral theory
Integral theory is a meta-theory that claims that human knowledge and experience is derived from four quadrants namely; individual consciousness, behavior, culture and shared worldviews, and perspectives of systems (Marquis, 2007). In other words, all human knowledge should reconcile so that individuals can recognize the different aspects of reality. Note that each quadrant has a unique reality and it is important to focus on the quadrants' important contributions, recognize the difference, the reality as well as misconceptions. Marquis (2007) states that there are several benefits in recognizing others states of awareness in that individuals will understand the real world practices and the different perspectives used in achieving reality by different domains such as biology, psychology, religion, culturally worldviews, social systems, and other domains Marquis, A. (2007). Note that the aim of recognizing the different perspective in making a reality is not to ignore the significant difference but the aim of incorporating knowledge from different domains is to acknowledge the vital differences, recognize the unity and finally create reconciliation between the contradictions in disciplines. All this process allow the individuals to apply real-world evidence and use a holistic approach in real-world practices. Thus, it is important to recognize not only the difference between other domains but also the similarities and misconceptions in order to yield a complete understanding. Each domain contains an essential value and valid perspective and these values and perspectives provide one with multiple-truth claims. Another important benefit that emerges from recognizing other states of awareness is that one develops different developmental lines and as a result, one gains self-identity, morality, spiritual growth, interpersonal skills, creativity and more (Marquis, 2007). Also, it is important to understand that these development lines in one's life are not ladder-like but it is a flow of many streams to a larger river of life.
The integral theory aligns with the Christian worldview in that this is an all-inclusive framework that is used to solve all problems people face in the 21st century. The theory applies to the faith and practices of Christians since people also need to understand the spiritual reality by analyzing different perspectives (Wilber, 2007). Christians need to connect the Jesus-centered theology with traditional, modern and postmodern elements to gain spiritual experience and spiritual intelligence. To support the biblical views of spirituality, Christians will not only refer to other spiritual texts but they will also apply other domains such as systems theory, historical facts, evolutionary ideas and more to gain spiritual wisdom and spiritual enlightenment (Wilber, 2007).
Transpersonal psychology
Transpersonal scholars have argued that transpersonal psychology should be scientific or in other words it should be viewed as a scientific discipline. They claim that for many decades, transpersonal psychology has been attached to the metaphysical world which has been hostile to the spiritual knowledge and this reason has brought significant attention to this issue (Ferrer, 2014). Scholars' claim that they need to employ empirical methods in studying physical and psychological phenomena. For many years, they have concentrated on metaphysical domains and non -empirical approaches (Ferrer, 2014). A transformation in the transpersonal discipline is needed in order to secure the metaphysical neutrality of the discipline and as a result, promote social and academic legitimacy.
I believe that this is a good idea and I support that transpersonal psychology should be the 4th force. It is important to treat the transpersonal psychology as a scientific discipline and give the scholars the opportunity to conduct quantitative and qualitative research and come up with empirical findings in trying to find the ultimate reality (Ferrer, 2014). Since transpersonal psychology focuses on growth and development with relation to mind and body, it is important to allow the scholars employ a scientific approach rather than relying on metaphysical which only focus on the real nature, its meaning and structure (Ferrer, 2014).. The authors argue that in using metaphysical worldviews, they tend to derive information from religious tradition, supernatural claims and other sources which cannot be empirically tested.
The notion of transpersonal psychology is compatible with my personal worldviews because, personally, I have found that transpersonal are things that our sense of self cannot understand unless deeper research is done in order to gain a greater understanding. Thus, to gain a deeper understanding of spirituality, we should not only rely on the traditional religions but we should also investigate the spirituality, consciousness, and personal development in a scientific and scholarly way (Hunt, 2010). My personal research has also found that it is also important to integrate other domains or rather employ multiple perspectives in order to understand the transpersonal in a deeper way. For example, domains such as physics, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, history and more will provide an integrative realization (Hunt, 2010).
This compatibility will influence my dissertation research in that I have the opportunity to study the transpersonal topics using social and cultural elements and come up with a collective meaning. In the research, I will not only focus on the traditional religion in trying to understand the transpersonal but I will focus on researching the new spirituality by using an integrative approach (Hunt, 2010). I would prefer to interconnect the discipline with other domains or interconnect the scientific knowledge to find evidence and gather a wealth of knowledge. Rather than using unscientific folk traditions which provides false assumptions, it is important to focus on transpersonal considerations through scientific approaches.
Reference
Wilber, K. (2007). Integral spirituality: A startling new role for religion in the modern and
postmodern world. Boston, Mass: Integral Books.
Marquis, A. (2007). What is integral theory?. Counseling and Values, 51(3), 164-179.
Ferrer, J. N. (2014). Transpersonal psychology, science, and the supernatural. Journal of
Transpersonal Psychology, 46(2).
Hunt, H. T. (2010). Consciousness and society: Societal aspects and implications of
transpersonal psychology. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 29(1), 6.
