Novices Come Home to Non-dual Being: A Transpersonal, Existential, Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

Awakening into non-duality entails a focus on self-transcendence and movement through different levels of consciousness. Coming to abide in non-dual being involves the end of seeking; an embracement and radical acceptance of nondivision, or not-two, in each moment; and the cultivation of the understanding of ourselves as consciousness itself. Accepting the availability of life as what is, no matter how it manifests, brings one into greater cooperation with the flow of life as we embrace our undivided, natural state of being. Letting go and coming to abide in this state is not without its challenges, as one experiences realizations and insights that can feel like the destruction of one's entire world and previous understandings. Awakening must occur on the levels of the mind (mental), heart (emotional), and guts (existential), each with their own host of effects, crises, and stumbling blocks. This article focuses on the themes that manifested during the second part of the journeys of novices as they came home to abide in non-dual being and included: Awakening moments and encounters with the abyss; coming to the end of seeking and realizing that there is nothing to do and nowhere to go; learning to live in and trust this one beautiful, yet ordinary moment; experiencing no mind, no self, and no knowing; experiencing expansion, connection, and love by awakening the heart; re-experiencing and residing in one's own essence, energy, and authenticity; and coming to rest in underlying peace, freedom, and wholeness. These themes are explored in the context of awakening the various levels of consciousness and transcending the final stages of psyche development. The integral role and implications of the non-dual perspective in accelerating and promoting holistic healing in psychotherapy are discussed.

The Altered States of Consciousness in Transpersonal Approach Psychotherapy: Systematic Review and Guidelines for Research and Clinical Practice

“…The latter was created by the researchers to measure the outcome, an important bias in the study which was not discussed in the article. In the same way, Tzu et al (2016), in addition to interviews, used the "Text of life," an instrument created by them to measure outcome.…”

“…As can be seen in Table 2, half (seven) of the articles selected for this study is published in journals that do not have an impact factor (Acciari et al 2015;Woods and Baruss 2004;Hunger and Rittner 2015;Ankrah 2002;Lombard 2017;Berchik et al 2016). As for the other seven articles (Benoff-Nadel 2011; Brewerton et al 2012;Miller and Nielsen 2015;Kaklauskas and Clements 2016;Tzu et al 2016Tzu et al , 2017Rabeyron and Loose 2015), the impact factor of journals ranged from 1179 to 2323.…”

“…One study (Ankrah 2002) does not seem to have developed an intervention, since the participants only answered questionnaires evaluating previous counseling experiences. In addition, Tzu et al (2016) and only cite ASC interventions, but do not describe or refer to them. This makes it difficult to understand the interventions performed, as well as making it hard to find out more about them.…”

“…Among the different interventions presented in the analyzed studies, 13 were identified as inducing alteration of consciousness: symbolic reorganization, interactive dynamics and active imagination, as part of the Transpersonal Brief Psychotherapy (Acciari et al 2015); regression to alleged past lives (Woods and Baruss 2004); guided imagination (Woods and Baruss 2004); hypnosis (Benoff-Nadel 2011; Kaklauskas and Clements 2016); holotropic breathing (Brewerton et al 2012;Miller and Nielsen 2015); ritual of body postures (Hunger and Rittner 2015); psychosynthesis (Lombard 2017); (Tzu et al 2016), dialog of voices (Berchik et al 2016), spiritual resonance , empathic engagement therapy (Kaklauskas and Clements 2016).…”

“…Studies have demonstrated benefits of inductive interventions of ASC, such as: reducing the severity of Crohn's disease; improvement in general health status and patients' quality of life (Acciari et al 2015); remission of dystonia symptoms and elimination of physical pain (Benoff-Nadel 2011); improvement in the treatment of substance use disorder (Brewerton et al 2012); improvement in body and mind awareness and relationships, increased self-care, self-affirmation, tolerance, and acceptance (Hunger and Rittner 2015); increased sensation of relaxation, relief of physical pain, and change in posture and breathing patterns ; development of qualities such as strength, peace, acceptance, and ability to develop deeper relationships (Lombard 2017); positive changes in temperament and character, such as increased self-awareness (Miller and Nielsen 2015); improvement in burnout's symptoms (Tzu et al 2017); increased sense of connection with the whole, feeling of love and compassion, authenticity, peace, calmness, freedom and completeness (Tzu et al 2016).…”