What is Self Transcendence?

Inherent in the nature of humans is the desire to improve and better ourselves. This process of going  beyond our current limitations is often referred to as “self transcendence.”  Self Transcendence can apply to any aspect of our being; the physical self transcendence of running faster; the mental self transcendence of going beyond our purely egoistic thinking.

However at the heart of self transcendence is a spiritual concept that we are growing into a more illumining nature and gaining a wider perspective of our true self.

Self transcendence is not competing with others. Self transcendence is a personal journey of self discovery. To practise self transcendence we need personal effort, willingness to change. However self transcendence needs to involve an awareness that our success doesn’t just involve our “little I”, but also the universal self (or bigger  “I”).

Spiritual seekers have experienced self transcendence as the grace that allows them to be aware of the infinite consciousness of inner delight. In this spiritual self transcendence the different religions and spiritual practises converge on the common teaching of going beyond the limitations of the ego and being aware of our higher Source. This Higher Self is called by many different names, but ultimately is beyond any metaphysical concept.

The practise of Self transcendence is not limited to those who are overtly religious. Any human being who strives for greater perfection and a higher perspective is practising a form of self transcendence, and it is this self transcendence that gives us joy.

Comments on Self Transcendence.

Keith Ward

Keith Ward makes the observation that self-transcendence is a path seeking to come in between the asceticism of self denial and the potential hedonism of self fulfilment. Keith Ward says of  self transcendence a:

“ non –egoist delight in being.” (1)

Self transcendence involves a giving up of oneself (ego) in order to attain true satisfaction. All the great religious traditions of the world to some extent share this belief of transcending the ego. To quote Jesus Christ:

“He who loses himself will find himself”.

Karen Armstrong.

Karen Armstrong suggests

“For human beings transcendence is part of our experience of the world.”  (2)

Here transcendence means stepping outside of our personal egoistic perspective and seeing the world from a universal perspective. Karen Armstong also makes an observation that the concept of self transcendence is bound up with the golden rule of religion/ spirituality - “treating others as you yourself would like to be treated”

If we can transcend our limited self then this rule has the effect of becoming an inherent part of our own nature. If we view other people as extended part of our own reality then how can we wish to act in a way that injures them.

Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy says that self transcendence is the transformation of our nature. Rejecting our limiting self and growing into the higher reality. Sri Chinmoy also suggests this process is not achieved through thinking but through self giving and the spiritual practises of yoga.

 “This process of transcendence is beyond the thinking of the mental man. It finds its existence in the self-giving of the psychic man. The psychic man becomes part and parcel of reality by identifying with reality itself. The thinking man, the doubting man, finds it extremely difficult or impossible to identify himself with that reality”. (3)

Leland R. Kaiser

"Self-transcendence is growing into your unfulfilled potential. Self-transcendence is moving beyond the orbit of your ego into your soul. Self-transcendence is gaining a new concept of self that is much expanded and includes more of the universe. Your little self disappears and is replaced by a vast self as old lines of separation disappear and former distinctions no longer bind you. You are part of much more than you know or imagine. The universe is interconnected. You are part of All That Is. The universe is non-local. You are everywhere. Only in the third dimension do you occupy such a small place in the scheme of things." (4)

Sources:

(1) Online interview Robert Wright with Keith Ward is a regius professor of divinity at Oxford University

(2) Online Interview Robert Wright with Karen Armstong.  Karen Armstrong, a former nun, and teaches Christianity at Leo Baeck College for the Study of Judaism.

(3) Self Transcendence - A talk by Sri Chinmoy

(4) Lectures on Self Transcendence by Leland R. Kaiser