Transpersonal experiences have many strange characteristics that shatter the most fundamental assumptions of materialistic science and the mechanistic world view. Although these experiences occur in the process of deep individual self-exploration, it is not possible to interpret them simply as intrapsychic phenomena in the conventional sense. On the one hand, they form an experiential continuum with biographical and perinatal experiences. On the other hand, they frequently appear to be tapping directly, without the mediation of the sensory organs, sources of information that are clearly outside of the conventionally defined range of the individual. They can involve conscious experience of other humans and members of other species, plant life, elements of inorganic nature, microscopic and astronomic realms not accessible to the unaided senses, history and prehistory, the future, remote locations, or other dimensions of existence.
The recollective-analytical level draws on the individual history and is clearly biographical in nature. Perinatal experiences seem to represent an intersection or frontier between the personal and transpersonal—a fact reflected in their connection with birth and death, the beginning and end of individual existence. Transpersonal phenomena reveal connections between the individual and the cosmos that seem at present to be beyond comprehension. All we can say in this respect is that, somewhere in the process of perinatal unfolding, a strange qualitative Möbiuslike leap seems to occur in which deep exploration of the individual unconscious turns into a process of experiential adventures in the universe-at-large, involving what can best be described as the superconscious mind.
Fig. 26. A shattering encounter with the Terrible Mother in the form of the Indian Goddess Kali experienced in a psychedelic session at the moment of the ego death. Archetypal surrender to the female principle, expressed in ritual kissing of the bleeding genitals of the goddess, coincides with reliving the memory of oral contact with the maternal vagina at the moment of birth.
The common denominator of this otherwise rich and ramified group of phenomena is the subject’s feeling that his or her consciousness has expanded beyond the usual ego boundaries and has transcended the limitations of time and space. In the “normal” or usual state of consciousness, we experience ourselves as existing within the boundaries of the physical body (the body image) and our perception of the environment is restricted by the physically determined range of exteroceptors. Both our internal perception (interoception) and the perception of the external world (exteroception) are confined by the usual spatial and temporal boundaries. Under ordinary circumstances, we vividly experience only our present situation and our immediate environment; we recall past events and anticipate the future or fantasize about it.
In transpersonal experiences, one or several of the above limitations appear to be transcended. Many experiences belonging to this category are interpreted by the subjects as regression in historical time and exploration of their biological or spiritual past. It is rather common in various forms of deep experiential work to experience quite concrete and realistic episodes identified as fetal and embryonic memories. Many subjects report vivid sequences on the level of cellular consciousness that seem to reflect their existence in the form of a sperm or ovum at the moment of conception. Sometimes the regression appears to go even further and the individual has a convinced feeling of reliving memories from the lives of his or her ancestors, or even drawing on the racial and collective unconscious. On occasion, LSD subjects report experiences in which they identify with various animal ancestors in the evolutionary pedigree or have a distinct feeling of reliving episodes from their existence in a previous incarnation.
Some other transpersonal phenomena involve transcendence of spatial rather than temporal barriers. Here belong the experiences of merging with another person in a state of dual unity* or completely identifying with him or her, tuning into the consciousness of an entire group of persons, or expanding one’s consciousness to the extent that it seems to encompass all of humanity. In a similar way, one can transcend the limits of the specifically human experience and tune in to what appears to be the consciousness of animals, plants, or even inanimate objects and processes. In the extreme, it is possible to experience the consciousness of all creation, of our planet, on the entire material universe. Another phenomenon related to the transcendence of normal spatial limitations is consciousness of certain parts of the body—various organs, tissues, or individual cells. An important category of transpersonal experiences involving transcendence of time and/or space are the various ESP phenomena, such as out-of-body experiences, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, and clairaudience, and space and time travel.
Fig. 27. Two pictures from a transpersonal LSD session in which the patient experienced elements of the collective unconscious. She became the member of an ancient culture that she could not identify by name, historical period, or geographical location; however, she was able to draw and paint in its artistic style.
In a large group of transpersonal experiences, the extension of consciousness seems to go beyond both the phenomenal world and the time-space continuum as we perceive it in our everyday life. Common examples are the experiences of encounters with spirits of deceased human beings or suprahuman spiritual entities. LSD subjects also report numerous visions of archetypal forms, individual deities and demons, and complex mythological sequences. Intuitive understanding of universal symbols, experience of the flow of chi energy as it is described in Chinese medicine and philosophy, or the arousal of Kundalini and activation of various chakras are additional examples of this category. In the extreme form, individual consciousness seems to encompass the totality of existence and identify with the Universal Mind or with the Absolute. The ultimate of all experiences appears to be that of the Supracosmic and Metacosmic Void, the mysterious primordial emptiness and nothingness that is conscious of itself and contains all existence in germinal form.
This expanded cartography of the unconscious is of critical importance for any serious approach to such phenomena as psychedelic states, shamanism, religion, mysticism, rites of passage, mythology, parapsychology, and schizophrenia. This is not simply a matter of academic interest; as will be discussed later, it has deep and revolutionary implications for the understanding of psycho-pathology and offers new therapeutic possibilities undreamed of by traditional psychiatry.