I found this week’s excerpt from Hastings about culture Diverse Perspectives especially meaningful because it highlighted how deeply culture shapes our experience of self and reality. He brought up how different worldviews—such as the Wintu’s sense of interconnectedness or the Afro-American mode of transcendence through community embody natural transpersonal perspectives. It really resonated with me.

I have lived abroad for many years, mostly in East and Southeast Asia, and I have witnessed firsthand how culture shapes people’s understanding of relationship, identity, and healing. In China, for example, the Confucian and Daoist traditions emphasize harmony and interdependence over individualism. Humility and humbleness is seen as an endearing quality. It can be seen as rude to talk about yourself or seek approval for your work, as opposed to here in the US where people are often taught to talk openly about themselves and their achievements. It took me years to realize that I am probably sounding rude to be steering the conversation towards myself. Over time, I have found that the sense of harmony amongst people does seem more attuned when everyone is being supportive of each other rather than drawing the attention towards themselves. 

For sure the most radically different culture I have experienced living in from a transpersonal perspective was living in Bali. Balinese culture has an incredible animistic view of reality. They believe everything from their home, the trees and even their motorbikes- has a spirit that must be respected and honored. They make offerings and prayers to everything on their island -visible or invisible. It is really extraordinary.

While l was living there I was involved in a retreat center business. The staff had a local priest come to do offerings every week and communicate with the spirits on the property. If ever something went wrong in the business, they would call the priest to come out and do a ceremony. The priest would then tell them messages from the spirits on the property. For example, they would be told that a spirit was unhappy with one of the guests actions during the week and would require some particular offering in return to make amends. Or the spirits would be unhappy if a new plant was planted in a certain place and ask the staff to move it to another location. The level of detail the priest would communicate without knowing what was going on in the day to day operations on the property really made me a believer. It was absolutely profound for me coming from a western culture background to wrap my head around this level of spirituality and mysticism so deeply engrained in their daily life.

These experiences confirmed for me that transpersonal perspectives are not just abstract theories but living realities in many cultures. I have so many stories

The article of Walsh, R. (2002) resonates deeply with a classical buddhism teaching: "The environment is created by oneself; appearances arise from the mind.  Circumstances change with the heart; what lies within will inevitably manifest externally."

Our actions reflect our thinking and our value system.  When we unintentionally blurt out something (slip of the tongue), we do mean it (it's not we didn't mean it!).  Likewise, the state of the world reflects the state of our minds, and our usual state of mind is said to be dominated by the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion (Walsh, R., 2002).  Our attachments lead to (1) greed: we always want to be better off and therefore the tendency to gain more for oneself by depriving and exploiting the interests of others; (2) hatred: because of the intense desire to possess, jealousy and resentment arise, leading to the use of various means to sabotage and harm; (3) delusion: many false beliefs are deep rooted in our cultures and causing conflicts between different people and different nations. 

In this sense, to solve the world's problems we need to address the roots of the problems: the poisons in our mind.  We need to be able to see the world, the nature and the cosmos as one, a more global worldview, from "my country" to "our planet", from "my" to "ours", from "win-lose" to "win-win".  

Reference

Walsh, R. (2002). Terrorism and other global terrors: An integral analysis. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 34(2), 13-21.

There are several comments Ferrer makes which integrate Buddhism and Transpersonal
Psychology. Ferrer (2007) takes a look at spirituality and intimate relationships in Eastern and
Western traditions. He also explores the social-political and spiritual issues relating to the
customs of monogamy and polyamory. Then he associates with them as they pertain to jealousy.
When I was researching Buddhism and how it pertains to relationships I could not help but
notice how Buddhism deals with jealousy. Buddhism reveals jealousy is by all accounts a sense
that a person is not happy and or at peace with themselves. Also, they believe everyone is equal
in stature and wishing well on others is important. Each person should feel love and equality and
see each other as the same. No more, no less. Peace within ourselves first.

Participation and the Mystery: Transpersonal Essays in Psychology, Education, and Religion
JORGE N. FERRER
Copyright Date: 2017

Week 8A - Discussion of Readings

Service and Compassion (Including Justice and Celebration) 

"We can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion. This, then, is my true religion, my simple faith… Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple. The doctrine is compassion" (Dalai Lama, as cited in Fox, 2004, p. 377).

Fox explores how the world's spiritual traditions call us to live through service, compassion, and justice—not as abstract ideals but as embodied practice. Jack Kornfield writes that "the human heart has the extraordinary capacity to hold and transform the sorrows of life into a great stream of compassion… Let yourself feel how the beauty of every being brings your joy and how the suffering of any being makes you weep" (as cited in Fox, 2004, p. 382).

I experienced this firsthand during an injury to my elbow, lying awake at night with excruciating pain. At the height of the pain, I transitioned into full awareness, connecting to the grid of pain of all humanity. My heart swelled with compassion as I felt every suffering human as myself. All I wanted was to soothe those aching hearts. I knew then I could never truly rest until all human suffering was eradicated.

The multidimensional heart is a vortex, a portal, and a gateway to higher dimensions—a direct connection to the Divine when fully open. During an energy practice session, I felt Divine descend upon me, melting my heart to the ground of being—soft ether clouds of divine love emanating outwardly, eradicating any discordant energies or resistance. In this surrendered space, compassion is the language of an open heart.

A closed heart is a stingy heart—an open heart is a generous heart, an endless river of boundless compassion.

Reference

Fox, M. (2004). One river, many wells: Wisdom springing from global faiths. Tarcher/Penguin.

I liked the fact that Dr Lukoff combined Buddhism with Transpersonal Psychology. He stated different concepts that coincided with each other and could be used to influence each form of consciousness. His perspective was most interesting. Ferrer {2007} also brings the Eastern philosophies and the Western philosophies together. 

Philosophical Foundations

Ferrer talks about the experimental knowledge which is crucial for further belief in each society. He also talks about Buddhism and Western Transpersonal psychology.

Spiritual Practices

Ferrer also explains how mindful meditation can help Western traditions.

Educational Implications

Ferrer suggests that educational systems can benefit . .He encourages curricula that foster critical thinking 

Cultural Exchange

• Ferrer emphasizes the enhanced dialog from Eastern to Western culture. He stresses a working together relationship to understanding the global outlook. 

In summary Ferrer wants to have a working relationship between the East and the West to enhance a greater understanding of human experience, drawing from the strengths of both traditions. He is open minded and sees the relationship of both cultures can enhance each other immensely. Ferrer {2007}

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap9uo8J_4SY