Transpersonal Philosophy: The Participatory Turn

From Philosophy to Phenomenology: The Argument for a “Soft” Perennialism

“…The aim of this is to show that there are general themes and trends across different traditions that are much stronger than suggested by Ferrer and other nonperennialists (Katz, 1983;Ferrer, 2002;Hartelius & Ferrer, 2013). These themes overlap to some degree with the three themes or principles identified by Ferrer (summarized above), but also go beyond them.…”

“…Ferrer's participatory philosophy has been (with validity, in my view) viewed as a healthy alternative to the perennial perspective that was dominant within transpersonal psychology until the end of the 20th century (Ferrer, 2011b;Hartelius & Ferrer, 2013;Hartelius, 2015a). Participatory philosophy sees the world as a dynamic open ended system in which there is no duality between subject and object, and in which the human mind and the natural world are of the same nature.…”

“…Another is that they should decrease or transcend disassociation, developing the whole person, the body as well as the mind, leading to a balanced and integrated sense of being-which inevitably recalls Wilber's (2000) integral theory. Finally, Ferrer has suggested that spiritual systems should enable a movement beyond ecosocial injustice, leading to a more empathic and responsible attitude to the natural world, and a compassionate and altruistic attitude to social and global problems (Hartelius & Ferrer, 2013). Ferrer (2011a) also proposed that it is legitimate to speak of "shared spiritual power" in the sense of the "generative power of life, the cosmos and/or the spirit" (p. 127), while at the same time remaining free of ontological objectivity and without assuming the existence of any pregiven ultimate reality (Ferrer & Sherman, 2008a).…”

“…Consciousness is not just a human phenomenon; the whole world is in some way sentient, even the most basic particles of matter. From the perspective of participatory philosophy, individuals do not have private spiritual experiences-these are participatory events cocreated by the individual and the world, according to the principle of participatory enaction (Ferrer, 2002, 2008b: Hartelius & Ferrer, 2013.…”

“…Concepts such as a personal God, an impersonal brahman, sunyata (emptiness), the Void, the Dao, the Godhead, pure consciousness, and so forth, are simply different signs or concepts to describe the same transcendent absolute. Hartelius and Ferrer (2013) have summarized what Ferrer (2002) has identified as…”