Ego, Morality, Character Development, Enlightenment & Psychosis

     "The notion of connectedness or union is present in some form in most cultures and all of the major religions. It has been given many names, including Brahman in Hinduism, the Buddha-mind, the Tao, and the Kingdom of God. This Spiritual Ground can be regarded as the source of one’s sense of union with self, other people, the environment, and the universe. In yoga philosophy, this Spiritual Ground is regarded as the true nature of reality and self, with all mental activity serving only to obscure this truth by creating a sense of separate existence. 

     This concept implies that the Spiritual Ground becomes more accessible as the cognitive activity that maintains one’s ego-identity diminishes. Whether one experiences contact with the Ground as edifying or destructive relates to the developmental health of one’s ego at the time this contact occurs, as well as the means by which one’s ego boundaries are transcended. Contact with the Ground is conceptualized as occurring through 'porosity' of the ego; this can occur either through spiritual development, which allows larger and larger fields of the Ground to be identified as Self, or through illness, trauma, drugs, or impaired development, which can permit premature contact with the Ground through defective maintenance of needed ego cohesion. This model, then, can account for the superficial similarity between psychotic and mystical states, and also for the significant differences between the sequelae of mystical experiences and psychosis. 

      In both psychosis and 'enlightenment,' individuals appear to have altered ego boundaries and to think and act in irrational ways. But in the case of a psychotic regression, this is a prerational, pre-egoic state, and in the case of healthy mystical experience, it is a transrational state built upon and extended beyond a normal, healthy ego. Wilber names this confusion between the two conditions the 'pre/trans fallacy,' and Freud’s criticisms of religion as a regressive defense may be partly understood in terms of this error. 

     The concept of the pre/trans fallacy underscores the necessity of healthy ego development as a prerequisite for constructive transpersonal experience: without it one is unable to integrate such experiences and is at risk of psychological fracture and regression into lower functioning states. Interestingly, character development is emphasized in many of the non-Western wisdom traditions that use various techniques to induce transpersonal states. Often the aspirant must go through extensive personal development and moral training prior to practicing the methods, as a safeguard to prevent subsequent spiritual difficulties. Also of interest are studies showing a positive correlation between mystical experiences and enhanced psychological functioning, further underscoring the substantial difference, in spite of superficial appearances, between psychotic regression and transpersonal states."

       Kasprow MC, Scotton BW. " A Review of Transpersonal Theory and Its Application to the Practice of Psychotherapy." The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research 1999; 8:12–23.