What Is Self-Transcendence and How to Reach It?

“She is happy

Because every day she tries

And actually does

A little more than she thinks she can”

Self-transcendence, in short, is self-actualization or self-awareness.

This word always created an enigma in my mind that how can I be self-aware.  All great leaders like Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, could visualize and see the world beyond their individual self. Many pieces of research revealed that attaining transcendence is like an expansion of your perspective or rising above of individual self. You have to know and believe that you are a small part of the greater things of the universe.

In psychological terms, self-transcendence is a personality trait. A person who is aiming to be the best version of themselves whilst improving his surroundings to make the world a better place achieves the highest level of holistic consciousness. Humans find reasons that encourage them to transcend and by these experiences, they reach to peak new experiences and feels in which they transcend strong positive emotions like joy, peace and a well-developed sense of awareness of their surroundings and themselves(Messerly, 2017).

Some people try to find this higher goal through religion or in the form of god.

Religion is just a roadmap to reach self-transcendence. We have to take note here that all the religions are directing us in the same direction.

Have you ever heard someone elderly quote “ God resides within us” which in fact is a true statement? All religions encourage us to reach that higher level of consciousness. Our perception, values and rituals are relative to our surroundings and culture.

In the end, focus and understand the main essence of being a human.

How can we achieve self-awareness? 

Have you ever got involved in any activity that you lost track of time or you lost your appetite? Your mind was numbingly involved and occupied in the act that surroundings were not important and moreover our basic instincts like food or sleep were also disregarded by our state of mind. The power of transcendence is so bewildered in the human development sphere that most of us overlook and actually do not reach that level of the hierarchy of human needs( by Abraham Maslow). Refer to the below image for the hierarchy of needs for better understanding and how a human being accomplish each of it one by one:-

If any time in life you stumble upon questions like:-

“ What is your biggest accomplishments or challenges in life which add values or take away the quality of your desire to be?”

 

“How far the human mind potential can reach?”

“Can we solve or acknowledge the grand global problems which mankind is facing?”

 

Puzzled. Darn, I wanted you to.

If you want to reach the highest levels of mental development and want to experience the ecstasy of its potential and reach towards transcendence.

Follow below some ways to find your direction; to develop self-awareness; to add beauty to your being:-

1. Practice Meditation:-  Doing mindful meditation can lead you to be in a state of self-actualization. Multiple pieces of research on mediation prove to be healthy with self-identity.
2. Discover Dreams:- Observe yourself, which activities you like the most which make your inner soul being happy you will remember all your ideas and dreams. Pen it, if possible.
3. Be Creative:- Remember when we were kids we did things which we liked without weighing the activity with its pros or benefits, it simply made us happy. This activity is important because creativeness is like achieving satisfaction, which will enhance inspiration and self-actualization. For me, it is writing, reading, dance. Find yours.
4. Write Journal:- Keeping a journal of your dreams, ideas or thoughts which puzzles you constantly in your lifetime, so that you could overcome the puzzling questions and get the concrete answer from your soul. It is one of the most effective ways of transcendence.  Pen your thoughts and feelings on paper, get them out of your head where you can see them which may discover a pattern towards your inner guidance and open yourself to what comes.
5. Connect with Nature:- If you truly love and respect nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”. Paying deep attention to rivers, valleys, rocks, mountains breathing deep into the tiniest plot of grass and feel transported into the transcendence of nature’s wisdom and presence.
6. Work on inner excellence:- Focus more on inner excellence. Put your soul while doing any work no matter what the current position is. We have to expand the influence of our excellence in our daily life.

How can we practice it to achieve our purpose in life?

To stay physically fit, we as a person spend hours and hours of training in Gym, sports, dance, similarly, to be mentally fit and reach transcendence or self-actualization, we need to practice it.

To learn any new technology/skills/language we take classes/ programs/training. To boost our esteem needs, which in the materialistic world is Money/ Job security or anything which defines your relative perception. Every day you need to work. 

According to Claude Robert Cloninger, an American psychiatrist described transcendent individuals as un-demanding, fulfilled, enduring creative and spiritual. People with transcendent characteristics are also very adaptive in nature and learn new life patterns easily.

Ways to enhancing transformation through self-transcendence

• See yourself outside yourself through Imagination/Visualization. It is one of the strongest tools to attain a transcendence state of mind. Imagine how you want to be seen as a person and make efforts to be that person. 

• Habit need to be changed, we are a mixture of our habits and to attain our best version we got to modify our habits and build good habits.

• Practice on your own views:- have your own unique perspective and align it with your attitude.

• Set realistic goals and achieve them.

• Look yourself in the mirror: You are your only competition. Find your flaws and your beautiful angles and love both exceptionally hard.

• Surround yourself with true people:- who you surround yourself with is who you become. Mean it.

Now read the quote written at the start of the article.

Find your happiness and meaning in life and aim higher every day.

We as a human are here to achieve a higher goal and add beauty to the world.

Wish you a deep learning and happy transcendence :)