I can do no better than to quote from Ian Gordon Brown and Barbara Somers, founders of the Centre for Transpersonal Psychology:
” The main perspective of Transpersonal Psychology is that there exists in every individual a central essence – the self – which is the fundamental and co-ordinating energy within the psyche.”
“We see the real dividing line between what is transpersonal and what is not, to be an acceptance of the reality of the self. In the beginning was the self, in potentia. At the end there is the self, realised and actualised.”
“Transpersonal Psychology is an umbrella term covering a number of related approaches, both Eastern and Western. It is interested in the combining of modern knowledge with ancient wisdom. Both the personality and the higher Self, the mechanistic and the depth approach, the masculine and feminine principles, here come together into a synthesis, a living relationship. The inside and the outside are one. It adopts practices for focussing awareness and studies theories of meditation, seeking ways towards wholeness, aiming to make everyday life sacred. It explores the freedom to grow, over against too much ‘should- and-ought’ morality. It notes transcendental phenomena. Its essence lies with ultimate or ‘spiritual’ values – compassion, humour and playfulness among them.”