Transcendent Experience Research Articles

SPIRITUALITY, RELIGIOSITY AND WELL-BEING RELATIONSHIP IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: TESTING DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECT VIA MEANING IN LIFE

The study explored the impact of religiosity and spirituality indicators on the subjective, social and psychological well-being of individuals aged 18 to 45 years both directly and indirectly through meaning in life. A total of 199 Bulgarians took part in the study (Mage = 27.58; SD = 8.71; 82.4% females). The instruments of the study were: Brief Mental Health Continuum Short, Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiosity and Spirituality, Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Analyses showed that spiritual forgiveness predicted all domains of well-being and religious support predicted subjective well-being, all performing positive small effects. Meaning in life acted as full mediator in the relationship between daily spiritual experiences, religious support, forgiveness and all the domains of well-being. Meaning in life partially mediated the relationships between religious support and subjective well-being as well as between forgiveness and social well-being. The findings address that religiosity-based social support, daily transcendent experiences, and forgiving to oneself and the others promote well-being in early adulthood, and the underlying mechanism can be explained by meaning in life. Practical implications of the findings and directions for future research were discussed.

Sacred Games: nietzsche and huizinga in dialogue – an inquiry into the olympic and paralympic games

ABSTRACT This article examines the sacredness of modern sports games by comparing the Olympic and Paralympic Games with the ancient Greek Olympics and analysing the evolution of ethos between ancient and modern games. Drawing on the theories of Johan Huizinga and Friedrich Nietzsche, it identifies an originary structure of sacred play that contributes to the formation of social and cultural identity. Concepts of sacredness, rituality, and agonism in ancient games are explored to understand their influence on modern games. Through a hermeneutic investigation of Huizinga and Nietzsche’s works, the article identifies six fundamental elements of sacred play: inviolable rules, space separated from daily reality, symbolic and cultural meaning, experience of transcendence, reflection of myths and meanings, and self-affirmation, self-overcoming and creativity. These elements are applied to the modern Olympic and Paralympic Games, highlighting their presence in shared rituals and symbols. The discussion focuses on the tension between the traditional Olympic Ethos and the current Efficiency Ethos, highlighting the possible implications on the elements of Olympic sacredness. Finally, it calls for critical reflection on the values and practices of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to preserve their sacredness over time.

The transcendent call from aesthetic experiences

In this article, I discuss theological aesthetics in light of various descriptions of experiences of transcendence that art can provide for human beings. The American author Patti Smith describes, e.g. how works of art “call her” so that she must respond with art productions of her own. This looks similar to what German sociologist Hartmut Rosa calls “resonance”. He describes art as one of the places where an experience of vertical resonance can take place. Smith’s experiences also correspond to the description of the basic experience of transcendence of human beings as they are interpreted by the Danish philosopher Dorthe Jørgensen. However, she reduces these experiences to be immanent in nature because they are objectless. I suggest that systematic theology can contribute with a distinct theological interpretation of aesthetic experiences through a three-fold argument. First, to combine beauty and infinity in the being of God. Second, to reinterpret the notion of the incarnation as God’s continuous presence in the world. And third, by combining natural theology’s point that creation speaks of God with a reinterpretation of the artefacts that humans can create. As such, this paper proposes how systematic theology can contribute to the interpretation of aesthetic experiences of transcendence.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’ Primero sueño als Allegorie der (Nicht-)Erfahrung

Abstract Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s Primero sueño is a text about the search for knowledge that does not come primarily from books, but from her own transcendental experience. The poem does not tell us a (knowledge) story in the true sense of the word, but unfolds a specific model of the thirst for knowledge. The poetry of Primero sueño symbolizes the free and passionate longing for knowledge and ambiguously rejects the act of knowing. The fact that the lyrical ego explicitly recognizes itself as a female in the very last verse can be interpreted in various ways, which are discussed in the article.

Between Transcendental and National: Wooden Churches of Slovakia

ABSTRACT The Eastern Carpathian Mountain region is home to Slavic peoples, who celebrate the bringing of Christianity by Saints Cyril and Methodius in the ninth century. The mountainous region retains small village churches, some dating from the eighteenth century, each established within agrarian communities by Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox denominations. Despite village subjugation under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Nazi occupation, Russian “liberation” and Socialist-era suppression of non-Orthodox denominations, these exquisite vernacular structures have remained and illustrate the continuing transcendental experience for worshipers but also now shared with those who celebrate them as symbols of national resistance, as well as tourists who come to experience them as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Sharing a common church object, traditional typological and formal aesthetic approaches that have been established by researchers for these structures are contrasted against a phenomenologically rooted set of embodied modes for meaning across examples from extant structures within Slovakia. Embodied approaches provide, via modes of lived experience, a deep offering into what each church shares with their ecological landscape, village, and history; a holistic visceral tapestry key to their appreciation complimenting the typological and differently affirming their continuing value.

Prone to wellness? Dispositional awe, religion/spirituality, and well-being among academic scientists

Recent scholarship has identified a growing mental health crisis among scientists and those in academia more generally. This study draws from nationally representative survey data collected from physicists and biologists working in four countries—the United Kingdom, the United States, India, and Italy (N = 3442)—and examines how religion/spirituality relates to their physical and mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential mediating role of dispositional awe, which involves transcendent experience. In the current age, science and religion are generally perceived to be in conflict, but recent evidence suggests they might be more complementary than was previously thought, especially in that they both evoke aesthetic experiences. Results from our regression and mediation analyses suggest that academic scientists who rated religion/spirituality as “very important” in their lives had higher overall flourishing scores, lower psychological distress, and were less likely to report that their mental and physical health had worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings present a strong and consistent case for the explanatory role of a sense of awe in these associations. Taken together, our research invites academic and scientific institutions to recognize and value the personal and spiritual dimensions that scientists may bring to their work.

Angels and Animals: Posthumanism and ‘cosmic consciousness’ in psychedelic ‘expanded’ cinema

Focusing on two ‘expanded’ films - Bruce Conner’s Looking for Mushrooms (1959-65) and Stan Brakhage’s Eye Myth (1967) - this paper stages an encounter between psychedelic ‘expanded’ cinema, the writings of Alan Watts, and the field of posthuman philosophy. Drawing special attention to the materiality of film and its relation to the experience of altered states of consciousness, this paper will critically connect the art and ideas of the Californian counter-culture in the 1960s to a wider network of transnational anti- and posthumanism. Beginning with Watts’ dualism between the ‘angel and animal’ elements of human subjectivity, this paper then considers the inherent tension between the transcendentalism of the psychedelic ‘cosmic consciousness’ and materialist posthumanism centred on ‘embodied and embedded’ experience. Whilst these areas are not usually considered alongside one another, exploring their potential resonances can help to situate Watts’ philosophy within awider genealogy of posthumanist thought, and shed light on the ways in which ‘expanded’ cinema engaged with complicated questions concerning altered experiences. Finally, by highlighting the tensions between materiality and transcendental experience at play in Conner and Brakhage’s films, this paper will demonstrate how film stages a complex intervention into debates around human and posthuman subjectivity. In doing so, this paper offers a radical and alternative perspective on both psychedelic ‘expanded’ cinema, and the intellectual history of transnational anti-humanist philosophy. 

On the immanentization of the religious ideal in the culture (according to "Diaries" of Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann)

The problem of the immanentization of the religious ideal is explicated in the context of cultural history as a synchronous "movement" from idea to ideal and from ideal to idea. In the process of realizing the idea of the transcendent within the framework of the Christian tradition, its immanentization takes place – reduction to ultimate forms that can be considered based on the intuition of potential infinity (ancient tradition) and based on the intuition of actual infinity (Christian philosophy). The intuition of actual infinity is actualized in the eschatological relation to the Other, and the intuition of potential infinity in the principle of hierarchy, universal for the Christian tradition. The synthesis of these intuitions, with the predominance of one of them, is a tragedy for the Christian tradition, which determines the peculiarities of the spiritual searches of thinkers. The reflection of this tragedy in the works of Alexander Schmemann suggests a return to the "attitude" characteristic of early Christianity for the future, correlating with the preserved tradition based on hierarchy. At the same time, the philosopher's spiritual quest reflects the process of devaluation of the hierarchical principle in Christian culture, stimulating the inversion of the hierarchy, when transcendence can be realized through low-ranking humor and foolishness. The work uses the method of historical and philosophical reconstruction, which allows to identify the features of the interaction of the transcendent and immanent in certain philosophical and religious concepts. The synchronic method explicates the mutual correlations between philosophical and religious concepts belonging to the same historical period. The diachronic method makes it possible to actualize the features of the immanentization of the religious ideal in the work of thinkers belonging to different historical periods. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the combination of reflection on the relationship between the transcendent and the immanent, carried out on a rational basis by European philosophy and the study of the experience of transcendence described by specific Christian writers and thinkers (in particular St. Augustine). Thanks to this combination, the study realized the possibility of considering the relationship of the transcendent and immanent in the history of European philosophy using the logic of the symbol by A.F. Losev, when the structure of the interaction of the symbolized and the symbolizing is extrapolated to the correlation of the transcendent and immanent, and the scope of the concept of "transcendent-immanent" becomes equivalent to its content. The process of immanentization of the transcendent is considered simultaneously from the outside (from the point of view of the dialectic of concepts) and from the inside from the point of view of changing the paradigm of religious life in culture, which allows us to take into account its features.

Alcances teológicos de la filología

A series of texts written by poets and critics is analyzed, from Matthew Arnold to Antonio Colinas, who have seen in poetry the possibility of finding a means of spiritual comfort or even a transcendent sense. The purpose is understanding how a discourse linking poetic words and the experience of transcendence has developed over time to open up the bases for a dialog between philology and theology. The text focuses, more than on theories and strictly theological terms, on showing, by means of the authors' literary reflections, those aspects of their discourse pointing out the existence of a trascendental phenomenon in poetry. In this way, the approach to a literary phenomenon so heterogeneous and determined for creating the poetical discourse of some of the most remarkable poets of the 20th and 21st centuries could be developed on the basis of greater theological and literary assurance.

Transcendence, faith and poetry: towards an ontology of the Spirit

Our current understanding of the evolution of the cosmos and the place in it of Homo sapiens requires a reassessment of transcendence and in particular of the Christian faith and the importance of the Spirit of God, leading to a revised view of theology as being primarily a form of poetry about human experience of transcendence, open to ambiguity, contradiction and imagination, rather than credal certainty.

Relationship Between Square Dancing and Meaning in Life Among Older Adults: Examining an Age-Based Moderation Model.

Square dancing may help older adults experience meaning in life (MIL). However, it remains unclear how square dancing facilitates MIL. To address this question, we examined whether participation frequency, transcendent experiences, and social support correlated positively with MIL, and whether age moderated the correlation between transcendent experiences and MIL. We studied 268 older adults using in-person surveys to collect data on age, participation frequency, transcendent experiences, social support, and MIL. We analyzed data using hierarchical regression. High frequency of participation and high levels of transcendent experiences and social support simultaneously predicted high levels of MIL, and age decreased the positive relationship between transcendent experiences and MIL. Based on the hierarchical regression results, we recommend strategies to increase older adults' MIL by providing square dancing opportunities; working with them to improve square dancing skills that facilitate transcendent experiences; and guiding them in seeking sources of social support. [Research in Gerontological Nursing, 17(3), 141-147.].

Kajian Filsafiah dan Ilmiah Bimbingan Spiritual untuk Mengembangkan Welas Asih Mahasiswa Broken Home

This article contains a study of spiritual guidance to develop compassion in Broken Home students. Having an incomplete family makes some children become victims so they have bad experiences and cause problems both physically and psychologically, such as blaming themselves, trauma, blaming their parents, etc. The highest cognitive experience that has a major impact on individual psychology is meaning. Through meaning (spirituality), individuals find and believe in their life purpose, which has an impact on the way they live their lives, including the way they solve problems. Spiritual experiences can help individuals understand problems and make the best decisions to solve them, related to transcendent experiences and related to awareness of sacred and eternal things, thereby increasing feelings of compassion, love and affection towards oneself and others. The methodological procedure used is understanding literature from various sources. It is hoped that the results of this paper will contribute to research and development of spiritual guidance models to develop students' compassion.

Exploring client's experiences of a new energy healing modality: Magdalena energy session(s)

Anecdotal experience of Magdalena energy session(s) offers some indication of its health benefits, yet the literature on this new energy healing modality is scarce. To explore the personal experience of recipients of the Magdalena energy session(s). In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 generally healthy volunteer adults from around the world who had received at least one Magdalena energy healing session with a certified Magdalena practitioner. Thematic analysis was used to discern patterns in the experience. Participants had different motives for attending the Magdalena energy session(s). Clients reported experiencing movement and release of energy, changes in sensation and feeling, and transcendental experience during the Magdalena energy session(s). After the session(s), there were reports of a sustained feeling of lightness, increased positive emotions, increased self-awareness, and deeper spiritual connection. Participants noted the uniqueness of the Magdalena energy session(s) compared to other energy healing practices. The findings from this qualitative study suggest that Magdalena energy session(s) can elicit a relaxation response, alter emotions, and increase spiritual connections to facilitate a subjective healing experience. Therefore, the present study recommends further investigations to elucidate variables for a larger-scale intervention study of the effects of Magdalena energy session(s) on health outcomes and the underlying mechanisms of action.

The relationship between the strength of religious faith and spirituality in relation to post-traumatic growth among nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in eastern Poland: a cross-sectional study.

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced intensive care unit (ICU) nurses to adapt to extreme conditions in a short period of time. This resulted in them experiencing extremely stressful situations. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between post-traumatic growth (PTG) and religiosity and spirituality (R/S) among nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in intensive care during the pandemic. 120 nurses working in Lublin, eastern Poland, participated in the cross-sectional study. The questionnaire was made up of three standardised tools: The Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory, The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire, The Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List. In terms of spirituality, the study group of nurses achieved the highest score in the Connectedness with Nature subscale (4.37 ± 1.07), while the strength of religious beliefs had a positive correlation with post-traumatic growth only in the Spiritual changes subscale (r = 0.422, p < 0.001). The following dimensions of spirituality were significantly correlated with post-traumatic growth in the multi-factor model that included religiosity and spirituality: Transcendent experiences, Spiritual activities, Meaningfulness, Acceptance, and Trust. We saw that increase in the assessment of the Transcendent experiences, Meaningfulness and Trust subscales significantly mirrors increase in post-traumatic growth, while increase in the assessment of the Spiritual activities and Acceptance subscales significantly mirrors decrease in post-traumatic growth. The above variables explained up to 44% of the dependent variable. Both religiosity and spirituality were significantly associated with post-traumatic growth in the group of ICU nurses, but spirituality appears to have played a larger role. Our findings support the value and significance of the development of spiritual and religious identity as a means of enhancing positive psychological changes in the face of traumatic events.

Profound music experience: Flow, transgression and transcendence in music therapy in psycho-oncology

This paper investigates profound music experience considered in the context of broadly understood spirituality. It focuses on the application of music therapy to people who access psycho-oncological care. The paper is based on a phenomenological study which aimed to explore the patients’ experiences, focused on the intrapersonal process in which the impact of music therapy is intended to strengthen the resources and internal forces of persons who are in the process of healing after their oncological treatment. As a result of the horizontal qualitative analysis of patients’ autobiographical narratives, three thematic groups of experiences have been identified: i) experiences of a certain unreality and a sense of deep wellbeing – a kind of flow; ii) experiences of a transformational change and transgressive experiences, exceeding the limitations; iii) transcendent experiences. Vertical analysis allowed the creation of a therapeutic profile of every patient which indicted the common path of experiencing therapeutic changes that took place as a result of their participation in music therapy sessions. Horizontal-vertical analysis revealed the relationships between particular groups of experiences and the paths of experiencing therapeutic changes shared by all the patients.

Where is the life we have lost in living (beyond means)? An exploratory inquiry into the deceptive world of corruption and consumerism

Purpose The primary purpose of this exploratory paper is to propose a novel analytical framework for examining corruption from a behavioral perspective by highlighting multiple issues associated with consumerism. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the relationship between excessive consumption activities and corrupt acts, drawing upon existing literature on corruption, consumerism and consumption, as well as multiple reports and cases of corruption and money laundering in Indonesia. With regard to corruption networks, this paper analyses the associated behavioral patterns and social dynamics by using the Fraud Triangle and the Fraud Elements Triangle frameworks to examine the phenomenon of living beyond one’s means. This paper also addresses the notion of sacredness in the context of consumer activities and how such sacredness plays a role in causing otherwise honest individuals to engage in corrupt acts. Findings The author established that corruption represents a complex societal issue that extends across several dimensions of society, encompassing both horizontal and vertical aspects. Consequently, addressing this problem poses significant challenges. Excessive consumption has been identified as one of the various behavioral concerns that are implicated in the widespread occurrence of corruption in many nations. Individuals who partake in excessive consumption play a role in shaping ethical norms that serve to legitimize and rationalize immoral behavior, therefore fostering a society marked by corruption. The act of engaging in excessive consumption is also associated with cases of money laundering offenses that are connected to corruption and several other illicit activities. The lifestyle of corrupt individuals is one of the primary behavioral concerns associated with corruption, as “living beyond means” is the most common behavioral red flag among occupational fraud offenders worldwide. The phenomenon of consumerism may also shape the minds of individuals as if it were an “implicit religion” due to the fact that it may generate human experiences that elicit highly positive emotions and satisfy certain sacredness-associated characteristics. The pursuit of transcendental experiences through the acquisition and consumption of sacred consumption objects may heighten the incentive to commit fraudulent acts such as corruption. Research limitations/implications This self-funded exploratory study uses document analysis to examine the corruption phenomenon in Indonesia. Future studies will benefit from in-depth interviews with former offenders and investigators of corruption. Practical implications This exploratory study contributes to advancing corruption prevention strategies. It does this by introducing a novel analytical framework that allows for the examination of several behavioral issues associated with consumerism, which have the potential to foster the proliferation of corruption. Originality/value This exploratory study highlights the importance of comprehending the intricacies of consumerism, namely, its adverse effects on the proliferation of corruption.

Mindfulness training encourages self-transcendent states via decentering.

Self-transcendence is theorized to be a core, mechanism of mindfulness. Yet, no known empirical study has investigated the process by which self-transcendent experiences emerge in novice practitioners. To address this gap, this study explored whether changes in decentering in response to mindfulness training translated into increases in self-transcendence over the course of five mindfulness training sessions. Participants (N=26) were randomly allocated to either a mindfulness training condition or an active listening condition. Results indicated that mindfulness training increased both decentering (p=.023) and self-transcendence (p=.001) relative to the active listening condition. Furthermore, greater decentering at the mid-point of training predicted greater self-transcendence at the training’s end, suggesting that those participants that become better able to non-reactively observe their thoughts, feelings and physical sensations while meditating were also more likely to experience self-transcendence. This study provides the first empirical evidence that mindfulness training can cultivate self- transcendent experiences through the process of decentering from internal phenomena.

Constituting sources is a matter of correlational claims

This essay delves into the essentialities of object-giving sources within the formulation of epistemic objectivity. It explores the relationship between objectivity and intentional states, particularly in the context of immediate and transcendent experiences. A key focus of this paradigm is the examination of inferences and how they are held in X’s intentional processes. These claims about inferences contribute to the perception of objectivity by highlighting the epistemological transitions of things that occur in the constitutive ideation. Additionally, the activity within X’s episteme leads to significant articulations that reflect a structural realism of experiences. The essay also introduces a convention of the experiential-intentional process so that the causality manipulations could be avoided by the precents of sources of ideation. In this instance, the central niche is occupied by transcendental reflections of intentionality, which are fundamentally founded on experiences and objectivity, and they possess a distinct rhetorical quality. They manifest as acts, propositional forms, and constituents, all of which contribute to the understanding and justification of objectivity. To establish such a framework that upholds objectivity, certain prerequisites must be met. Firstly, the framework must possess justificational resources that prevent causality manipulations. Secondly, pre-reflective sources should not inter-define causality in epistemic circumstances, although this does not exclude the emergence of causal relations, and thus this approach offers a correlational explanation. Lastly, transcendental reflections should remain compatible with the experiential-intentional process, allowing for the accommodation of subjectivity in the justification of objectivity.

A sense of connectedness, transcendent experiences, and insights for compassionate action emerge through an international collective labyrinth walk with a shared intention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labyrinth walking is an integrative contemplative practice that aims to engage the body, heart, mind, and spirit. In this article, qualitative findings from the first year of a mixed methods study on collective labyrinth walking with a shared intention are described. This form of labyrinth walking is distinct in that it is a social contemplative practice. It expands upon most of the labyrinth walking research to date which has been focused upon the individual. More specifically, practitioners walk labyrinths together in solidarity with the same intention in mind during collective labyrinth walking. This practice can be used locally (i.e. practitioners walk the same labyrinth together for the same reason) or non-locally (i.e. practitioners walk different labyrinths for the same reason together in different locations). The study is unique in that it took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic which was a time in recent history that evoked fear, uncertainty, grief, isolation, and disconnectedness for many persons around the world. This sample in this study was comprised of 461 participants from 19 countries who collectively walked labyrinths together with a shared intention on World Labyrinth Day 2021. Most participants were women in middle to later life from the United States. Data was collected through an anonymous online survey and analyzed using the qualitative methodology of interpretive phenomenological analysis. Three predominant themes emerged from practitioners' narrative accounts of their lived experiences: (1) multiple forms of connectedness (i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal, transpersonal, labyrinth connection) were cultivated through collective labyrinth walking with a shared intention; (2) practitioners reported qualities associated with "transcendent" experiences during this experience (i.e., boundlessness, ultimacy, transcendence, connectedness, positive emotions); and (3) practitioners had insights for compassionate action. Findings suggest that collective labyrinth walking with a shared intention can contribute to individual and group flourishing during times of distress. Quasi-experimental and experimental research designs are needed to build on this exploratory developmental research and are described in this article.

Development and Validation of the Transcendent Beliefs Scale (TBS): A 12-Item Assessment of Self-Transcendent States

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Transcendent Beliefs Scale (TBS). We defined transcendent experiences as an experience of unity with others and the whole of existence, which is associated with behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and transcendental factors. Our aim was to develop a very brief instrument that accurately reflected the phenomenology of transcendent states. Keywords: trauma, chronic pain, dissociation, EFT, EMDR, mindful breathing, bilateral stimulation, BLS, WHEE, HeartMath, blended, combined, interventions Method: The factor structure, validity, and reliability of the TBS were assessed across a sample of university students and energy therapy practitioners (N = 305). Results: With respect to convergent validity, we found that transcendent experiences were positively correlated with daily spiritual experiences, trait hope, and meaning in life. Discriminant validity was demonstrated through a negative weak relationship to narcissistic personality traits. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the scale to 12 items and a two-factor model was found to fit the data. Conclusion: The results indicate that the TBS is a valid and reliable scale to measure transcendent beliefs in the general population. It is suitable for research projects in which a brief measure of transcendence is required. Keywords: transcendent beliefs, transcendent experiences, universal oneness, scale validation, unity consciousness, existence, transcendental phenomenology.