Week 10B: Ending Reflections

This was a lovely class to be a involved in. Thank you to each of you for your beautiful sharing and feedback on my posts. It has been a great exploration together.

This class was a good introduction into the field of Transpersonal Psychology. I felt it covered so many topics that sometimes it was a little hard to keep up. I often felt like as soon as I got excited about a branch of transpersonal psychology we already moved onto another. So it was a good overview of the field and did spark my interest to study further.

I took away a lot of small nuggets of wisdom but wanting to continue to dig deeper to see what is the most applicable to my personal life and career.

I am wishing you all great success moving forward in the program and hope to join you in other classes as well.

It has been deeply meaningful to witness the many ways others on this path have shared their wisdom—through foundations, practices, and lessons that bring philosophy into lived experience. Seeing these successful expressions of service and creativity has inspired me to reconnect with my own spiritual practice, returning to Kundalini and meditation as sources of grounding. I feel called to weave creativity into my routine as a form of healing, allowing inspiration to move through me not only for personal growth but also as part of the collective field of transformation.

Thank you students and Dr. Jenkins 

The Drumming of Existence: By Ghazal Amber

One burst was all it took to formulate the universe, because once something starts it continues through a wave and ripple of endless possibilities. In my first heartbeat, to the many thousands I've had, and many more I shall manifest, I have created countless realms of existence. In yours, you have shown me countless realities that have been my teacher, allowing spaces to fall and rise. Together we create a symphony of cosmic proportions, continuous, limitless, in stages of unihemispheric sleep.Links to an external site.

Before taking this course, I have learned about spiritual knowledge and practices from different masters and teachers from multifaceted and multi-angled perspectives, but they are like stars in the sky, scattered and each blinking in its own way.  This course has provided me with a more coordinated and in-depth theoretical understanding of transpersonal psychology, consciousness and exceptional experiences, allowing me to systematically comprehend, consolidate and explore spirituality,  like connecting the dots.  The course materials and our group sharing give me inspirations for designing my spiritual psychotherapy and growth programs.  Thank you Dr.  Jenkins and all of you.

Something in me has shifted as a result of this course. I'm leaving with a quieter mind, a deeper connection to nature, and more trust in inner wisdom. The spiral model of healing, the cultural perspectives, and the blending of theory with lived experience were the most meaningful to me. I will carry forward the simple practices of presence, grounding, and openness. I still question how spiritual experience might be integrated with respect into psychology and how research can honor the subtle and indescribable dimensions of consciousness. I feel gratitude for this journey with each of you. Thank you for making this course possible.

Of greatest value from this course is a deeper integration between the theories and the practices of transpersonal psychology. Although I suspect that I am now permanently sold on favoring the practice-side of things, I’ve recognized in this course that without the map (i.e. theory) I am more likely to find myself lost in less valuable or applicable terrains (beyond the value of the practices themselves).

Whereas with the map, I can actually target a destination to accomplish some auxiliary end(s) of value. Point being, if energy and resources (many of which are not mine, but rather taken—and not replaced— from the earth) are being spent, I should be thoughtful enough to overlap my personal work’s accomplishments with things that concurrently serve the collective and the earth—a sort of “well, I’m walking past the recycling bin anyway, so I’ll scoop up that can on my way and toss it in.”

I think it was especially the work we read that addressed ecopsychology in some way. Not in the sense of doing the “right thing” or anything like that, but rather in the sense of recognizing via experience the inescapable interconnectedness of all existent phenomena, be they material or psychological, rivers and stars or compassion and appreciation.

So I am grateful to this course for contributing to my development of both sides, allowing me to traverse from the one to the other, and even to engage both concurrently, with greater versatility and with more effective intention.

Week 10B: Ending Reflections

What I'm taking with me from this course into my daily life is the daily practice I have been cultivating of living, prayer/invocation, and energy healing. This has also been the most meaningful, empowering, and life-affirming journey. It has brought light and inspiration to my life during this most difficult time, where I'm still grieving my father's passing and managing and completing all his affairs in England.

This practice has continued to open doors to higher realms, to expand my spiritual abilities, and invite open-heart connected experiences. Often times when facilitating this practice for a friend, I can see glimmers of the beginning of its application in a professional setting.

As a result of cultivating this daily spiritual practice—including inviting others to partake—it has been the most profound and meaningful endeavor, with accumulative expansive effect.

I am very inspired and curious, moving forward, to discover how this practice can complement other transpersonal teachings for therapeutic healing effects for individuals and communities.

P.S. It has been a real joy sharing this journey with all of you.

Gratitude and blessings,
Dafna 

Please see attached moving Digital Art: Fractal Tapestry of Living Prayers

From the beginning of my experience here at Sophia, I noticed how well TP fit into my personal belief system and my past and current practices. It has also shown me reasons for past and present difficulties, and given me more ways to address them. I started my classes here out of order; this should have been one of my first classes, not the last of my first year. I feel I would have gotten more out of my other classes had I taken this first.  Thank you Olivia.

Dear cohort,

Thank you for teaching me so much through your sharing and scholarship! It is a great privilege to be among a group of people who are highly evolved, deeply caring, and infinitely expanding in awareness. You all have been a great support to me, and I especially want to thank my Team member, Amanda King, for putting sincere efforts into reading and sharing feedback on my first draft of the final paper. Thanks to Alan for bringing us together as a team!

I learned more about the underpinnings of transpersonal psychology and gained a better understanding of its transdisciplinary breadth and depth. I enjoyed reading Ken Wilber's thoughts on consciousness and seeing how his own insights deepened and became more inclusive over time. He is a good example of continued learning and openness to new ways of being and knowing as one evolves.

I enjoyed the week 7 & 8 readings because I got to narrow in on more specialized perspectives, such as ecopsychology and indigenous perspectives on sharing spirituality and cultural knowledge. These are my two areas of interest because they are closely associated, as ecopsychology is largely informed from two angles, the science of ecology and the wisdom of indigenous traditions. There are other elements of course that I enjoyed, but these two stand out to me the most.

Thanks to our dear professor Dr. Jenkins, aka Olivia, for your unmitigated support and helpful feedback. This journey has been a pleasant one with you as our guide. 

All blessings and light to you all!

This course has opened my eyes to a great deal of information about transpersonal psychology, including the genesis of ITP as described from James Fadiman. I have been working on my personal development and spirituality for some time, but did not realize that I was practising some of the modalities related to transpersonal psychology. Upon learning about exceptional human experiences, I felt a great deal of validation, and relief that others have these experiences as well. I often contemplate the root cause of things, whether it be an illness or behaviour that is not serving me, and have found this helpful in my growth. For me, the root cause, is the soul being out of alignment. When I practise self compassion and tell myself the truth about a circumstance, I can live with integrity and trust that my soul will guide me. This way of living in the world has felt isolating, until finding Sofia, where I have met like minded people. Having the opportunity to explore these areas more deeply through this course has helped me to integrate parts of myself that have been lost. I will continue my spiritual practice of restorative hot yoga and of being mindful of how my environment mirrors my inner world. Perhaps my greatest takeaway from this course is how it has opened my heart to others and deepened my connection to the earth. I will continue to foster this and am grateful for the scholarship in tandem with the experiential exercises. Thank you to my classmates for sharing yourselves and to Dr. Jenkins for guiding us.

One is never too old to learn.  This course has taught me so much not only my conscious but more importantly mu subconscious.  I have learned about ways we can use our subconscious to improve ourselves.  I hope upon graduation to be able to use all this to help recovering addicts in managing their financial affairs.  One personal note....I know that I am definitely not one of your better students but I really tried.  Being79 years old ,like most this age, I am not computer savvy and this made only a few assignments difficult for me.  Thank you 

This course has taught me so much. First the meditation cycle I have learned from Dr. Yifa. This has broadened my  understanding of what meditation can do to expand my inner self and look deeper into my soul for a true spiritual meaning of how to move forward. This has opened my eyes to a completely different meaningful world. Looking deeper into myself and the reflections I see help me understand myself so that I may understand others better. Helping ourselves first as Sean Corn says we will be able to change the world. Nothing is impossible if we set ourselves free first. I am so thankful to have this influence my way of thinking so I may help others. This also directly affects my athletes as I am able to lead them in more efficient ways of training for competition than in previous years. It is a beginning of a new cycle for me.