Transcending Self-Actualizers: Difference between revisions
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<blockquote class="definition"> | <blockquote class="definition">Transcending-self-actualizers (Maslow) are a subset of self-actualizing people who don’t just realize their talents and potentials, but who regularly move beyond the ego into self-transcendence—identifying with, serving, or devoting themselves to things larger than the individual self and the individualized, atomistic life (e.g.,, truth, justice, beauty, humanity, nature, “the cosmos,” a calling, a cause). | ||
<ref>Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'' 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47. p. 31-2.</ref> <ref>Maslow, A. H. “Various Meanings of Transcendence.” <i>Journal of Transpersonal Psychology</i> 1, no. 1 (1969): 56–66. p.65. </ref> A transcending-self-actualizer is a self-actualizer whose growth naturally expresses itself as identification-with and dedication-to the larger whole, so fulfillment and meaning come as much from going beyond the self as from perfecting the self. | |||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
== | == Concept Map == | ||
{{#ask:[[Is a term:: | === Key Terms=== | ||
[[Eupsychia]] > {{#ask:[[Is a key term::Eupsychia]] | |||
|format=ul}} | |||
[[Eupsychian Theory]] > {{#ask:[[Is a key term::Eupsychian Theory]]|format=ul}} | |||
==Related LP Terms== | ===Related LP Terms=== | ||
[[Transcending Self-Actualizers]] > {{#ask:[[Is a related LP term::Transcending Self-Actualizers]]}} | [[Transcending Self-Actualizers]] > {{#ask:[[Is a related LP term::Transcending Self-Actualizers]]}} | ||
==Non-LP Related Terms== | ===Non-LP Related Terms=== | ||
[[Transcending Self-Actualizers]] > {{#ask:[[Is a related term::Transcending Self-Actualizers]]}} | [[Transcending Self-Actualizers]] > {{#ask:[[Is a related term::Transcending Self-Actualizers]]}} | ||
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==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
< | In his article "Various Meanings of Transcendence," Maslow treats transcendence as a family of meanings—different ways of rising above or surpassing ordinary ego-bound, culture-bound, or deficiency-bound functioning,<ref>(what on the [[LP]] we'd call [[Normal Consciousness]] to distinguish it from [[Connected Consciousness]]</ref> often linked to Being-cognition, B-values, and peak/mystical states. | ||
Maslow’s main meanings of transcendence (as he lists them)<ref>Maslow, A. H. “Various Meanings of Transcendence.” <i>Journal of Transpersonal Psychology</i> 1, no. 1 (1969): 56–66. </ref> | |||
* Loss of self-consciousness through absorption (including meditation/concentration): a kind of self-forgetfulness that reduces self-observing/ego-focus. | |||
* Going “beyond the skin” via identification with B-values: transcendence as internalizing B-values so they become intrinsic to the Self. | |||
* Transcendence of ego/selfishness in duty/cause/responsibility: when responding to “eternal tasks” and duties to others/reality, involving a transcendence of ego and lower needs. | |||
* Mystical experience / fusion: classic mystical “fusion” with another person, the cosmos, or something in between. | |||
* Wider identification (“more inclusive Self”): identification with one’s child/beloved, widening toward identification with humanity as a whole. | |||
* Transcendence of culture (relative independence from enculturation): being rooted in a culture but able to rise above it and examine it in a more detached, objective, self-observing way. | |||
* His condensed summary: transcendence = the “highest and most inclusive or holistic levels” of consciousness/relating, as ends (not means), extending to self, others, humanity, other species, nature, and the cosmos. | |||
* Why “going beyond” fits Maslow’s usage | |||
* “Going beyond” is a clean paraphrase of what Maslow keeps pointing at when he talks about the transcendence of ego, culture, and lower needs, and when he glosses “transcend” as meaning to surpass (and even “to go beyond the merely human,” while stressing this need not imply anything supernatural). | |||
In Maslow’s usage,<ref>Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'' 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47.</ref> compared to “ordinary” self-actualizers, transcending-self-actualizers tend to show more of the following: | |||
* Frequent peak experiences (or plateau-like forms of sustained awe/meaning), with stronger “unity” or “fusion” moments. | |||
* More consistent Being-cognition: seeing the world less through fear/need and more through clarity, appreciation, and reverence. | |||
* Stronger orientation to B-values (truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness, justice, etc.) as lived commitments, not just ideals. | |||
* Less ego-defensiveness and less preoccupation with status, approval, and control. | |||
* A sense that service, vocation, and responsibility are intrinsically meaningful (not merely instrumental). | |||
* Greater ability to experience the sacred in the ordinary (everyday life can feel meaningful, luminous, “holy” without requiring supernatural beliefs). | |||
On the [[LP]], transcenders are individuals who are having regular [[Connection Experiences]], have placed [[Alignment]] and [[Connection]] as central developmental goals, and are thus moving (with more or less clarity) towards attaining a more persistent, consistent (i.e., [[Perfection|perfected]]) state of [[Connection]]. | |||
==Quotes== | |||
"Transcendence refers to· the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness,' behaving and relating, as ends rather than as means, to oneself; to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos. (Holism in the sense of hierarchical integration is assumed; so also is cognitive and value isomorphism.)<ref>Maslow, A. H. “Various Meanings of Transcendence.” <i>Journal of Transpersonal Psychology</i> 1, no. 1 (1969): 56–66. p.65. </ref> | |||
"The other type (transcenders?) may be said to be much more often aware of the realm of Being (B-realm and B-cognition), to be living at the level of Being; i.e., of ends, of intrinsic values (Maslow, 1964; Maslow, 1967a); to be more obviously metamotivated (Maslow, 1967a); to have unitive consciousness and .. plateau experience" (Asrani) more or less often; and to have or to have had peak experiences (mystic, sacral, ecstatic) with illuminations or insights or cognitions which changed their view of the world and of themselves, perhaps occasionally, perhaps as a usual thing."<ref>Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'' 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47. p. 31-2. p. 32.</ref></blockquote> | "The other type (transcenders?) may be said to be much more often aware of the realm of Being (B-realm and B-cognition), to be living at the level of Being; i.e., of ends, of intrinsic values (Maslow, 1964; Maslow, 1967a); to be more obviously metamotivated (Maslow, 1967a); to have unitive consciousness and .. plateau experience" (Asrani) more or less often; and to have or to have had peak experiences (mystic, sacral, ecstatic) with illuminations or insights or cognitions which changed their view of the world and of themselves, perhaps occasionally, perhaps as a usual thing."<ref>Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'' 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47. p. 31-2. p. 32.</ref></blockquote> | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote>Because it be so difficult for so many to believe, must state explicitly that I have found approximately as many transcenders among businessman, industrialists, managers, educators, political people as I have among the professionally "religious," the poets, intellectuals, musicians and others who are supposed to be transcenders and are officially labeled so. I must say that each of these "professions" has different folkways, different jar gon, different personae and different uniforms. Any minister will talk transcendence even if he hasn't got the slightest inkli ng of what it feels like. And most industrialists will carefully conceal their idealism, their metaotivations and their transcendent experiences under a mask of "toughness," "realism," "selfishness," and all sorts of other words which would have to be marked off by quotes to indicate that they are only superficial and defensive. Their more real metamotivations are often not repressed but only suppressed, and I have sometimes found it quite easy to break through the protective.<ref>Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'' 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47. p. 31-2. p. 4.</ref></blockquote> | ||
Because it be so difficult for so many to believe, must state explicitly that I have found | |||
transcenders among businessman, industrialists, managers, educators, political people as I have among the professionally "religious," the poets, intellectuals, musicians and others who are supposed to be transcenders and are officially labeled so. I must say that each of these "professions" has different folkways, different jar gon, different personae and different uniforms. Any minister will talk transcendence even if he hasn't got the slightest inkli ng of what it feels like. And most industrialists will carefully conceal their idealism, their | ==Abraham Maslow Index== | ||
metaotivations and their transcendent experiences under a mask of "toughness," "realism," "selfishness," and all sorts of other words which would have to be marked off by quotes to indicate that they are only superficial and defensive. Their more real metamotivations are often not repressed but only suppressed, and I have sometimes found it quite easy to break through the protective.<ref>Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” ''Journal of Transpersonal Psychology'' 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47. p. 31-2. p. 4.</ref></blockquote> | |||
{{#ask:[[Is a term::Abraham Maslow]]}} | |||
{{endstuff}} | {{endstuff}} | ||
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[[Is a related term::D-Realm| ]] | [[Is a related term::D-Realm| ]] | ||
[[Is a related term::D-Cognition| ]] | [[Is a related term::D-Cognition| ]] | ||
[[Is a related term::Perfect| ]] | |||
[[Is a related term::Non-Transcending Self-Actualizers| ]] | [[Is a related term::Non-Transcending Self-Actualizers| ]] | ||
[[Is a related term::Transcending Self-Actualizers| ]] | [[Is a related term::Transcending Self-Actualizers| ]] | ||
Latest revision as of 14:00, 21 December 2025
Transcending Self-Actualizers
Transcending-self-actualizers (Maslow) are a subset of self-actualizing people who don’t just realize their talents and potentials, but who regularly move beyond the ego into self-transcendence—identifying with, serving, or devoting themselves to things larger than the individual self and the individualized, atomistic life (e.g.,, truth, justice, beauty, humanity, nature, “the cosmos,” a calling, a cause).
[1] [2] A transcending-self-actualizer is a self-actualizer whose growth naturally expresses itself as identification-with and dedication-to the larger whole, so fulfillment and meaning come as much from going beyond the self as from perfecting the self.
Concept Map
Key Terms
Related LP Terms
Transcending Self-Actualizers > Connection Experience, Perfection
Non-LP Related Terms
Transcending Self-Actualizers > B-Cognition, B-Realm, D-Cognition, D-Realm, Deficiency Diseases, Transcending Self-Actualizers
Notes
In his article "Various Meanings of Transcendence," Maslow treats transcendence as a family of meanings—different ways of rising above or surpassing ordinary ego-bound, culture-bound, or deficiency-bound functioning,[3] often linked to Being-cognition, B-values, and peak/mystical states.
Maslow’s main meanings of transcendence (as he lists them)[4]
- Loss of self-consciousness through absorption (including meditation/concentration): a kind of self-forgetfulness that reduces self-observing/ego-focus.
- Going “beyond the skin” via identification with B-values: transcendence as internalizing B-values so they become intrinsic to the Self.
- Transcendence of ego/selfishness in duty/cause/responsibility: when responding to “eternal tasks” and duties to others/reality, involving a transcendence of ego and lower needs.
- Mystical experience / fusion: classic mystical “fusion” with another person, the cosmos, or something in between.
- Wider identification (“more inclusive Self”): identification with one’s child/beloved, widening toward identification with humanity as a whole.
- Transcendence of culture (relative independence from enculturation): being rooted in a culture but able to rise above it and examine it in a more detached, objective, self-observing way.
- His condensed summary: transcendence = the “highest and most inclusive or holistic levels” of consciousness/relating, as ends (not means), extending to self, others, humanity, other species, nature, and the cosmos.
- Why “going beyond” fits Maslow’s usage
- “Going beyond” is a clean paraphrase of what Maslow keeps pointing at when he talks about the transcendence of ego, culture, and lower needs, and when he glosses “transcend” as meaning to surpass (and even “to go beyond the merely human,” while stressing this need not imply anything supernatural).
In Maslow’s usage,[5] compared to “ordinary” self-actualizers, transcending-self-actualizers tend to show more of the following:
- Frequent peak experiences (or plateau-like forms of sustained awe/meaning), with stronger “unity” or “fusion” moments.
- More consistent Being-cognition: seeing the world less through fear/need and more through clarity, appreciation, and reverence.
- Stronger orientation to B-values (truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness, justice, etc.) as lived commitments, not just ideals.
- Less ego-defensiveness and less preoccupation with status, approval, and control.
- A sense that service, vocation, and responsibility are intrinsically meaningful (not merely instrumental).
- Greater ability to experience the sacred in the ordinary (everyday life can feel meaningful, luminous, “holy” without requiring supernatural beliefs).
On the LP, transcenders are individuals who are having regular Connection Experiences, have placed Alignment and Connection as central developmental goals, and are thus moving (with more or less clarity) towards attaining a more persistent, consistent (i.e., perfected) state of Connection.
Quotes
"Transcendence refers to· the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness,' behaving and relating, as ends rather than as means, to oneself; to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos. (Holism in the sense of hierarchical integration is assumed; so also is cognitive and value isomorphism.)[6]
"The other type (transcenders?) may be said to be much more often aware of the realm of Being (B-realm and B-cognition), to be living at the level of Being; i.e., of ends, of intrinsic values (Maslow, 1964; Maslow, 1967a); to be more obviously metamotivated (Maslow, 1967a); to have unitive consciousness and .. plateau experience" (Asrani) more or less often; and to have or to have had peak experiences (mystic, sacral, ecstatic) with illuminations or insights or cognitions which changed their view of the world and of themselves, perhaps occasionally, perhaps as a usual thing."[7]
Because it be so difficult for so many to believe, must state explicitly that I have found approximately as many transcenders among businessman, industrialists, managers, educators, political people as I have among the professionally "religious," the poets, intellectuals, musicians and others who are supposed to be transcenders and are officially labeled so. I must say that each of these "professions" has different folkways, different jar gon, different personae and different uniforms. Any minister will talk transcendence even if he hasn't got the slightest inkli ng of what it feels like. And most industrialists will carefully conceal their idealism, their metaotivations and their transcendent experiences under a mask of "toughness," "realism," "selfishness," and all sorts of other words which would have to be marked off by quotes to indicate that they are only superficial and defensive. Their more real metamotivations are often not repressed but only suppressed, and I have sometimes found it quite easy to break through the protective.[8]
Abraham Maslow Index
B-Cognition, B-Realm, B-Values, Being-Guilt, Big Problem, D-Cognition, D-Realm, Deficiency Diseases, Eupsychia, Eupsychian Education, Eupsychian Psychology, Eupsychian Theory, Eupsychian Therapy, Good Person, Good Science, Good Society, Good Specimen, Growing-Tip Statistics, Hierarchy of Basic Needs, Hierarchy of Cognitive Needs, Human Diminution, Humanistic Psychology, Inner Signals, Intrinsic Conscience, Jonah Complex, Normalcy, Normative Biology, Peak Experience, Plateau Experience, Real Self, Self-Actualization, Transcending Self-Actualizers, Transhumanistic
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Footnotes
- ↑ Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47. p. 31-2.
- ↑ Maslow, A. H. “Various Meanings of Transcendence.” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 1, no. 1 (1969): 56–66. p.65.
- ↑ (what on the LP we'd call Normal Consciousness to distinguish it from Connected Consciousness
- ↑ Maslow, A. H. “Various Meanings of Transcendence.” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 1, no. 1 (1969): 56–66.
- ↑ Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47.
- ↑ Maslow, A. H. “Various Meanings of Transcendence.” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 1, no. 1 (1969): 56–66. p.65.
- ↑ Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47. p. 31-2. p. 32.
- ↑ Maslow, Abraham. “Theory Z.” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 1, no. 2 (1969): 31–47. p. 31-2. p. 4.