Signals of transcendence in large groups as systems

Abstract

Large groups are social systems of approximately 30 plus persons. Such groups offer unrivalled opportunities to study the dynamics of large institutions, particularly if the meaning of participation is expanded to include the capacity for reverie and to hearken to come to know the group in an hermeneutic-spiritual way. It is this “mental disposition” that allows for new dimensions of large group life to be brought into being. There are, however, larger preoccupations available for exploration. There is the imago of the cosmos that is held in the minds of participants; the potential experiences of transcendence and immanence. There is also the nature of the relatedness and separatedness between Self and Other. This paper focuses on the evidence for the experience of transcendence (signals or fragments of transcendence), which is possible if the individual is neither lost in the Self or the Other.