Week 4C: Discussion: Variety of Transpersonal Experiences
***Discussion of Readings: Varieties of Transpersonal Experiences 
Please use the discussion item to post comments on the assigned readings and videos for this week. You need post only a paragraph or so. Comment only on aspects that stood out for you in a particular reading or readings. Mention things that prompted new thoughts or that triggered new and interesting ideas –aspects with which you strongly agreed, resonated, or disagreed. Don't simply summarize readings or parts of readings. Indicate how you engaged with the readings.

Post at least one set of comments in 250 words or less on this week’s readings in this discussion item. You may post more times, if you wish, but do keep your postings concise.  In addition, respond to one or two of the comments made by other class members. Cite using APA Style.

Please click on the link below for examples of proper APA citations:

Example for Concise Response to Reading Writing GuidelinesDownload Example for Concise Response to Reading Writing Guidelines

 

Amber Eich
Oct 25 11:21am

Reply from Amber Eich
I am currently reading Samantha Dowdall’s (1998) work as described in Palmer and Hastings’s chapter Exploring the Nature of Exceptional Human Experiences where she dives into nature-related EHE's. I suddenly remembered an experience that I had over 10 years ago when I lived in Tahoe. It was wonderful and exciting to basically read about myself, or that is how it felt lol. I want to learn more about this so I can connect deeper with this experience that I had. 

I was hiking with my boyfriend at the time who didn't think much of mystical experiences, or meditation etc. Due to this, I choose to not dive deeper into the EHE moment I had, and a part of me regrets that, but I also wanted to be thoughtful and present with my partner. We were sitting down taking a water break, I was looking at all the trees and life around me and thought to myself how incredible the trees are, to create such beautiful spaces for all life forms. I wondered what it would be like to be a tree just existing and then suddenly the atmosphere changed. It felt like time slowed down. Everything felt denser, like the things we take for granted suddenly had texture and dimension to it. The closest thing I can think of is when you are in the water and you see light penetrating it, you also see the density of the water. I could see light filtering through the air like that. And sound, something you don't see and rarely feel, suddenly it had substance and texture as well. It was so strange. Everything was tangible and interwoven. I could see and almost touch the light, the sounds, the wind but not with my 5 senses, it was with another sense... I still don't even know how to describe it honestly. Anyway, my boyfriend started talking to me, and I thought to myself I could either go deeper and ignore him or respond. I choose to respond to be thoughtful, but I really wish I didn't. That is my nature though, right? I care about others and would never do that. This is longer than 250 words. Thank you 

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Scott Sudduth
Oct 25 9:41am
| Last edited Oct 25 2:28pm

Reply from Scott Sudduth
So there’s a lot to absorb in this weeks readings. I’m not sure if I was able to truly digest it all, but I do come away from the readings with a deeper understanding of the scientific approaches the clinical studies, the detailed work that others have done in the past , that brings us to the transpersonal world today.

I will say I was drawn to reluctantly at first the wonder-joy tears readings by Braud. Plato's mentioning of being “possessed also strikes a resonant chord for me. In the midst of wonder-joy tears, I do, indeed, feel possessed—my body and feelings captivated and enraptured in the experience"(Braud, 103).  I have also experienced the disconnection with self and connection with spirit.  Washington Irving encapsulated my feelings when he wrote that "there is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love"(Braud, 99).

I have also had experiences with music drawing out a wonder-joy tears experience within myself. It happens most often with music, sometimes particular songs evoke tears, and some have in the past caused me to break out in spontaneous dance. As Braud recounts, "My attention is focused strongly upon what I am witnessing, what is provoking these feelings. Braud recounts being strongly aware of the feelings themselves and the sensations that are being provoked. Other thingsfade from my attention. The rest of me pauses, shuts down temporarily. If I try,later, to describe the event that initially brought forth the wonder-joy tears, the tears may occur even more strongly than they did initially, and I weep. Sometimes, I am
unable to relate the incident that originally provoked the tears—the feelings and the weeping are too intense..." (Braud, 101). I’m typically exhausted at the end and don’t remember the dance I was performing.  Even though my expression was a physical one, I can not recreate the choreography. It's in these moments that it feels like I’m turned off mentally, and the pure joy of the experience is emoting through my body and my senses, using my unconscious emotions to capture the moment.

Braud, W. (2001). Experiencing tears of wonder-joy: Seeing with the heart’s eye. The
Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 101-104.
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Michael Bell
Oct 25 7:21am
| Last reply Oct 25 11:38am

Reply from Michael Bell
I had a near death experience...I was very young sitting on dock on a lake.  Somebody pushed me in the water and I could not swim.  I remember trying to reach the dock to no avail...Suddenly all went bright bright white and I saw a tombstone. Next I remember my father bringing me back..This was ove seventy years ago.  Our reading on "Near Death Experience" is something I can truly relate to

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Thomas Travers
Oct 24 9pm

Reply from Thomas Travers
This i s the most difficult thing for me-to bring transpersonal experiences into my present life. Every time I get close to finding the way to do this I seem to lose focus. I am fascinated by EHE's.  William Braud {2001} It is mind boggling to understand how the EHE's can be studied scientifically. This is only because it must have taken hundreds of hours to study patients who had these experiences. The EHE is what I believe happened to me. As I went back in time as usually what happens with deep meditation I begin to reflect on what is really important and what is not. My sense of reality of what was is really not that at all. It has transformed my ideas to completely reversing their importance. Once what was important is really not now, Once what had meaning has no meaning now, in fact really never had meaning. I hope this makes sense because it has transformed my thinking 360 degrees.

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Kaeli Hansen
Oct 24 2:49pm
| Last reply Oct 24 9:08pm

Reply from Kaeli Hansen
I resonated deeply with the article titled “Exceptional Human Experiences” by Palmer & Braud (2002a, pp. 29-61). I have been drawn to books by people who have had exceptional human experiences (EHEs). I remember saving my allowance to buy a book about a near-death experience when I was a child. My interest was sparked by my own experiences starting when I was very young. It should not surprise me that I would choose to write my final paper about EHEs.

Last summer, I took a course last summer called Spiritual Development Across the Lifespan, where I had the chance to reflect on my own spiritual experiences and growth through writing. I realized, like many of the study participants in the Palmer & Braud study, that I had experienced more EHEs than I initially thought (Palmer & Braud, 2002b, p.48). It was only through writing my reflection that I could see this clearly. Reflecting on and writing about these experiences helped me grow and appreciate them, just as some of the study participants reported. Some of the later childhood EHEs caused me distress because I realized they were considered outside the realm of “normal” experiences, as the authors mention as a possible outcome of undisclosed EHEs (Palmer & Braud, 2002c, p.30). I found that recognizing and sharing my own EHEs led to greater self-acceptance (Palmer & Braud, 2002d, p. 32). Additionally, reading others' EHEs during our class discussions helped me feel like I had found others I could relate to more deeply.

References

Palmer, G. & Braud, W. (2002). Exceptional human experiences, disclosure, and a more inclusive view of physical, psychological,  and spiritual well-being. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2002, Vol. 34, No. 1.

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Craig Deininger
Oct 24 12:14pm
| Last reply Oct 24 3:04pm

Reply from Craig Deininger
I was most compelled by Fracasso, Greyson, and Friedman’s chapter on near-death experiences (NDEs) because I had my (thus far) one-and-only out-of-body experience (OBE) when I was 21 (nearly 40 years ago) and it was very wild, very profound. OBEs are classified as one of many types of NDEs and I’m intrigued not only because of my personal experience, but also because the whole event was precipitated exclusively by psychological/emotional trauma and nothing physical (except for just a couple days of fasting). .

This aspect of going, literally, beyond the body intrigues me because it indicates an overlapping area that, if examined closely enough, may reveal patterns of transpersonal dynamics that can be applied in practice. 

Also, the authors note NDEs are more likely to occur in individuals who have personality characteristics prone to dissociation, absorption, or fantasy-proneness” and later add “daydreaming” (373-374). And so, it becomes more personally applicable since these traits are heavy in me, creating all kinds of problems along with (far-less-commonly) extraordinary epiphanies.

They also mention a psychological defense of trauma that screens out the external world, making me think of “intuition” as a key component because I recall one psychologist talking about how the intuitive-type dims their perception of the so-called real world to pick up those immaterial hunches spontaneously from the atmosphere.  

 

References

Fracasso, C., Greyson, B., & Friedman, H. (2013). Near-death experiences and transpersonal psychology: Focus on helping near-death experiencers. In Friedman, H. & Hartelius, G. (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of transpersonal psychology. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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Amanda King
Oct 23 10:23am
| Last reply Oct 25 1:25am

Reply from Amanda King
This week, I was intrigued to learn about exceptional human experiences (EHEs), such as near-death experiences (NDEs). I did not know the prevalence of NDEs, with a significant number of people reporting this experience following a clinical crisis (Fracasso et al., 2013). Many of these accounts have similar reports, such as seeing bright lights, travelling through tunnels, seeing deceased loved ones, and having a life review.

I have witnessed something similar during my father’s final hours. As he was dying, he began speaking aloud what seemed like a life review. He was recalling specific years, places he had lived, and details from his past. It was as if his soul was preparing to leave his body while simultaneously remaining aware of the present and those around him. Watching him move in and out of the past and present in those moments felt like a miracle to witness.

I have experienced several EHEs throughout my life, though I only learned this term recently (Palmer et al., 2013). Like others have mentioned, I was not comfortable sharing these experiences out of worry that I would be viewed by others as crazy. Interestingly, while I never felt afraid during these experiences, I often felt fear weeks or months later. I have tried to close myself off to these events and suppress them, but that felt like I was denying a part of who I am. During the last year, when I was in the middle of a health crisis, I vowed to live more authentically and explore this part of myself once I made it through. I am grateful to have found Sofia and a community that helps me to feel accepted.

Paradoxically, the EHEs I have experienced have had a positive impact on my life, giving me a sense of connection to something greater than myself. I feel a deeper connection to the world and nature, and I have experienced what Braud (2001) describes as tears of wonder-joy.

References

Braud, W. (2001). Experiencing tears of wonder-joy: Seeing with the heart’s eye. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 33(2), 99-111.

Fracasso, C., Greyson, B., & Friedman, H. (2013). Near-death experiences and transpersonal psychology: Focus on helping near-death experiencers. In Friedman, H. & Hartelius, G. (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of transpersonal psychology. (pp.367 - 381). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Palmer, G. & Hastings, A. (2013). Exploring the nature of exceptional human experiences: Recognizing, understanding, and appreciating EHEs. In Friedman, H. & Hartelius, G. (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of transpersonal psychology. (pp. 333 - 351). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Lai Man Kan
Oct 23 4:18am
| Last reply Oct 25 11:32am

Reply from Lai Man Kan
Reference:

Braud, W. (2001). Experiencing tears of wonder-joy: Seeing with the heart’s eye. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 33(2), 99-111.
Summary:
In this article Braud addresses the topic of "wonder-joy tears", his own and others' felt experiences, the circumstances under which they occur and the underlying meanings and implications.  In his words, the tears are our bodily responses or indications of something authentic, awesome and true to the heart. 
Long Quote:
The tears and chills are, to me, my body's way of indicating that the eye of my heart is open and functioning and encountering something of vast importance and meaning.  I have come to recognize these wonder-joy tears as direct responses to the true, the good, the beautiful.  Such tears are not tears of pain or sadness or sorrow.  Rather, for me, they are accompanied by positive effect - feelings of wonder, joy, gratitude, yearning, poignancy, awe, intensity, love, and compassion.  With them comes a feeling that my heart is going out to what I am witnessing.  The tears, chills, and special feelings come upon me, unexpectedly and spontaneously, as experiences of grace - as bodily signals, signs, or indicators of encounters with the numinous; as my body's way of letting me know I am having an unplanned, unavoidable encounter with the Real. (Braud, 2001, p.100)
Reflection:
I agree that the tears, chills and special feelings are bodily indicators of encounters with the Real.  More than that, my personal experience of the wonder tears also indicates that they can also be "tears of soul recognition and homecoming".  When I went through past life regression and saw the image of that past life of mine, my rational mind might have still been analyzing, but my soul had already directly recognized a significant part of its own experience.  The emotional tsunami this recognition triggers cannot be explained by logic.  The tears are my soul speaking to me "All of this is real!  You remember!  This is of vital importance to you!".   The tears are also immense energy buried deep within the soul's core finally found an outlet for release. 
Long Quote:
The experience of wonder-joy tears is an innate, automatic "empathy indicator" or "compassion indicator" or "gratitude indicator".  For me, the experience is also a bodily indicator of profound insight into my own nature and the nature of others and the world.  (Braud, 2001, p. 106)
Reflection:
My "tears of soul recognition and homecoming" are also indicator of the emotions buried deep and the lessons learnt in past life.  They are a release from past life wounds and a feeling of understanding of the insights gained from past life experiences.