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| Self-discovery: Sufism and Psychology Forum Panel Presentation
Review by Amineh Amelia Pryor
The International Association of Sufism Symposium
'99
Cathedral Hill Hotel, San Francisco, California
Self Discovery
The quest for the meaning of the self has been undertaken
by people of many cultures and lands for centuries. This
quest to know the self and its place in the greater
existence has been pursued in fields of inquiry including
religion, philosophy, and psychology. The Search to know the
meaning of the self continues in the present time. In
Western psychology, the self has generally been equated with
the mind. However, transpersonal psychologists are not
satisfied with this answer and continue to look for other
definitions, understanding, and the meaning of the self.
Some of the leading researchers in transpersonal psychology
came together at a panel presentation hosted by the Sufism
and Psychology Forum to raise the question of what is meant
by "self" and how the self develops. Following are some of
the highlights from the presentation.
The Panel
The third annual Sufism and Psychology Forum (SPF) panel
was extremely popular again this year. An eager crowd
attended this opening event of the Sixth Annual Sufism
Symposium, sponsored by the International Association of
Sufism (IAS). The panel presentation was sold out in advance
which is evidence of the growing interest in Sufi psychology
and the bridge between ancient and modern psychologies that
is being researched and brought to the public through the
work of SPF. Arife Ellen Hammerle, Director of the Marin and
San Francisco Healing Centers, moderated the panel. She
began by expressing gratitude on behalf of the SPF to the
International Association of Sufism for hosting this event
and for forming the department of Sufism and Psychology. She
introduced the panel and its goal of bringing together
scholars to open the line of communication across
disciplines of psychological research and self-discovery.
She also introduced the newest educational department of the
International Association of Sufism: the Institute for Sufi
Studies. The theme of the panel presentation and the
symposium was self-discovery. The panelists approached the
subject from different aspects, bringing their own
experience and their research to their presentations. Their
approach was friendly and collegial.
Dr. Charles Tart
Dr. Charles Tart opened by saying that one of the major
problems that hinders self-discovery is the perceived
blockage between science and spirituality. His presentation
addressed the attempts he is making in his own work to
reconcile this problem. He brought a culmination of decades
of research on the subject of the self, including his
research on altered states, transpersonal psychology, and
parapsychology, to his presentation. The title of Dr. Tart's
talk was, "Faith and Doubt, Spirituality and Science: Toward
a TASTE of Reconciliation." Dr. Tart defined both faith and
doubt and stated that they are human attributes that have
healthy and pathological forms. Faith can be either a
stupidity or a reasonable confidence that one uses to get
through life. Doubt can be either corrosive or a kind of
intelligence used to weed out false or partly true ideas. To
use faith and doubt in a helpful way it is necessary to
develop discernment and discrimination through discipline.
Dr. Tart went on to say that the conflict between science
and religion is a conflict between faith and doubt. He
believes that real science and real spirituality can help
each other to move beyond this conflict. With this goal in
mind he has recently launched a new project, The Archives of
Scientists' Transcendent Experiences (TASTE), which is a web
site where scientists can anonymously post their
transcendent experiences. This project is an humanitarian
effort and an opportunity for science to begin to become
open to the spiritual dimensions of reality. The goal for
this project is to reduce or remove the stereotype that
scientists don't have transcendent experiences, and
therefore remove the blockage between science and the
transcendent. He is very excited about this new project
which will "build bridges between real science and real
spirituality."
Dr. Frances Vaughan
In her presentation, Dr. Vaughan opened and outlined an
answer to the question, "What is Spiritual Intelligence?" As
one of the pioneers of transpersonal psychology who has
written extensively on integrating psychology and
spirituality, her presentation was a rich overview of her
own research into the stages of spiritual development. Her
presentation was supported by scholarly work that she quoted
from several sources and by her personal experiences.
According to Dr. Vaughan, spiritual development is related
to the many kinds of intelligence within each human being,
but doesn't depend on any single faculty. Stating that the
foundation of spiritual development is self-awareness, she
made a distinction between ego development and soul
development, yet stressed the importance of the interface
between these types of development and the importance of
personal responsibility. "Personal responsibility is often
overlooked when we turn our attention primarily to spiritual
development without also recognizing that we need to have a
solid foundation in personal development.... We forget the
major role of our intention and our capacity to chose where
we direct attention.... We should pay attention to our
behavior and the contents of our thinking." Dr. Vaughan
reminded us that wholeness in transpersonal psychology
refers to the integration of the physical, emotional,
mental, and spiritual aspects of well-being and development.
However, there are the additional stages that include
community or collective development, through which we can
"expand our circle of empathetic identification to include
all beings." She has found that ultimately spiritual
intelligence is about "connecting the inner life of the mind
and spirit to the outer life of action and service in the
world.... When this happens the soul is at peace, then
everything is perceived as grace." She stressed the
importance of not only opening to transcendent experiences,
but to integrating them into our daily life so that through
spiritual intelligence our lives can become transformed.
Dr. Sean Kelly
Dr. Kelly explored some of the core metaphors of
transpersonal world views and paradigms and addressed the
question of how we can understand something beyond
metaphoric and conceptual knowledge. Dr. Kelly is the
Director of the Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness
Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and
was therefore able to bring an intelligent perspective of
philosophy to the panel. In his presentation on "The
Metaphors of Transpersonalism," Dr. Kelly began with the
definition of "metaphor," which is, "to carry across." He
pointed out that this definition is in itself a beautiful
metaphor and that all of our concepts are metaphors. "We
think we understand when we have a concept for something.
Generally we've lapsed into unconsciousness - meaning we're
not aware of the metaphorical ground of the concept we're
using." The constructs of archetypes and the unconscious are
two examples of how we "understand the concept but do not
know in any exhaustive or absolute way" about something. Dr.
Kelly has found that "deeper knowing comes from resting in
not-knowing." This practice can allow us to journey across
the river of meaning from the shore of the known to the
shore of the unknown. Dr. Kelly brought in the work of
several philosophers and psychologists both to support his
topic and to carry us through the history of how we have
arrived at this way of thinking. He then looked at some of
the theories of transpersonal psychology using the
foundation of the human's intuitive orientation in time
and/or space, which he elaborated on by using specific
examples from the work of Frederic Myers, William James,
Carl Jung, Stanislav Grof, and Ken Wilbur. He ended by
saying that we will all be better off if we can get out of
the bad habit of taking our concepts literally.
Dr. Roger Walsh
The topic of Dr. Walsh's presentation was Self Discovery.
He discussed how we can awaken and advance in our spiritual
development. Dr. Walsh spoke from the foundation of his own
contemplative practices over the past twenty years, as well
as his research and writing on transpersonal psychology. Dr.
Walsh has found that when we look at spiritual growth there
is a school of metaphors that seems to emerge across
traditions and time. Some of these metaphors are awakening,
de-hypnosis, lucidity, enlightenment, uncovering, unveiling,
metamorphosis, journeying, unfolding, returning to
wholeness, and the process of death and rebirth. Dr. Walsh
is discovering that what has been referred to by metaphor
from ancient times to the present is starting to fit with
contemporary research. He stated that it is now generally
accepted in contemporary human psychology that human
development proceeds through three major stages of
pre-personal, personal, and transpersonal. "Diverse views
from East and West, from psychology, philosophy, and
religion, and from ancient and contemporary times are
converging on a conclusion of extraordinary significance.
The conclusion is that we're only half awake and only half
grown." Most of us have arrested development after moving
from the pre-personal to the personal stages of development.
The good news, according to Dr. Walsh's findings, is that
further growth into the transpersonal stage is possible.
However, it includes overcoming the resistance of society
and our own inner resistances through the classic triad of
community, a guide, and an effective, authentic spiritual
discipline (one that has transpersonal development as its
aim and is effective in reaching that aim). This triad can
speed our development so that "we cease to spend time in
unfufilling and immature ways." We can then find that the
"ineffable we seek to savor is ourselves."
The individual presentations were followed by a rousing
and thought-provoking question and answer session with the
audience. It was a pleasure to see the collaboration among
the panelists as they answered questions and conversed with
the audience. The theme of self-discovery was carried
throughout the three days of the symposium.
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