Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, And Nonduality

7/30/2019 Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, And Nonduality

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International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 137Ecopsychology, Transpersonal, and Nonduality

Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, and Nonduality

Nonduality is at the core o both transpersonal psychology and ecopsychology and provides a means o nding common ground between these approaches. However, misunderstandingsand the lack o an adequate conceptual language or nonduality have limited the valueo this concept or ecopsychology. Nonduality is presented as a range o experiences andstages o development in which particulars are perceived and understood as part o an all-encompassing totality. Speci cally, nonduality is understood in terms o a sel -identity in which separating boundaries no longer isolate one rom other expressions o Being. A description o nondual dimensions o Being based on the Diamond Approach o A. H.

Almaas provides ways o articulating the transpersonal dimensions o ecopsychology.

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies , 30 (1-2), 2011, pp. 137-147

M any have recognized transpersonal experiencesin natural settings and ound qualities o peace, joy, love, guidance, and inspirationthat are exemplars o the spiritual quest. Similarly, somepeople in both the psychological and the environmentalaction communities sense that ecopsychology can bea path to the spiritual as well as a power ul element inpromoting sustainable li estyles, e ective environmental

work, and optimal mental health. Spirituality has beenpart o the ecopsychology literature, though not withoutambivalence or disagreement. For the most part, however,the transpersonal elements o ecopsychology have notbeen clearly articulated. In this article, I explore theconnection between ecopsychology and transpersonalpsychology. Since the central issue or this connection isthe notion o nonduality, I o er a discussion o nonduality and its relation to ecopsychology. I do not intend this to bea thorough review o either transpersonal psychology orecopsychology but rather a contribution to a continuing

dialogue on psyche, nature, and spirit.Research on Nature-Based Transpersonal Experiences

A substantial and rapidly-growing body o psychological research points to the mental healthbene ts o nature experiences. Research settings includea broad range o encounters with nature including extended wilderness trips, nearby nature (such as city parks and gardens), built environments, and immersion

into nature images. Most o the research has ocused onrelaxation, a sense o restoration, and cognitive bene ts(Hartig, Mang, & Evans, 1991; Ulrich et al., 1991;Kaplan, 1995; Chalquist, 2009). More recently, researchon nature experiences has demonstrated increases inprosocial behavior (Weinstein, Przybylski, & Ryan,2009) and a sense o vitality (Ryan et al., 2010).

An important subset o this research identi estranspersonal aspects o nature experiences. Wuthnow (1978) used three de nitions o peak experiences in a large representative survey: eeling that you were inclose contact with something holy or sacred, eeling that you were in harmony with the universe, andexperiencing the beauty o nature in a deeply moving

way. Eighty-two percent o his sample reported being deeply moved by the beauty o nature, the most commono the three de nitions, and orty-nine percent elt thisexperience had a lasting in uence. Greeley (1974) andKeutzer (1978) asked large samples whether they had

had what they called an ecstatic experience or an intensespiritual experience. Tirty- ve percent o the U.S.population and sixty- ve percent o a college population(respectively) responded afrmatively. In these studies,the beauties o nature such as the sunset was ranked asthe most common trigger by the students and the thirdmost common trigger by the general population. In a cross-cultural con rmation o these ndings, Ho man(2007) ound that a sample o Japanese college students

John V. Davis Naropa University Boulder, CO, USA

Keywords: ecopsychology, transpersonal psychology, nonduality, spirituality and nature, Almaas, Diamond Approach


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International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 138 Davis

reported nature experiences as the rst or second mostcommon trigger or their peak experiences.

Several empirical studies have examined spiritualexperiences in the context o wilderness adventureactivities. Overall, it seems that both the adventureelement and the wilderness setting play a role in evoking transpersonal experiences and that one o the primary reasons people engage in wilderness experiences is to seek transpersonal experiences (Brown, 1989). For instance,Stringer and McAvoy (1992), using naturalistic inquiry methods, ound that spiritual experiences are common in

wilderness adventure activities. Beck (1988) studied riverra ters and showed that intensive recreational encounters

with wild rivers o ten led to transpersonal experiencesexpressed in terms o humility and spirituality ....[and]a sense o oneness (p. 133-135; emphasis in original).Kaplan and albot (1983) and albot and Kaplan (1986)reported extensive research on wilderness experiences.Teir Outdoor Challenge Program took inner city children, teachers, and others on week-long wildernesstrips and analyzed the contents o participants journals.

Although this program did not have an explicitpsychological orientation, they ound spiritual andtranspersonal qualities to be the strongest theme.

For many participants [during the backpacking trips]there is eventually a surprising sense o revelation, asboth the environment and the sel are newly perceivedand seem newly wondrous. Te wilderness inspires

eelings o awe and wonder, and ones intimatecontact with this environment leads to thoughtsabout spiritual meanings and eternal processes.Individuals eel better acquainted with their ownthoughts and eelings, and they eel di erent insome waycalmer, at peace with themselves, morebeauti ul on the inside and unsti ed. . . .

[A ter the trips] there is a growing sense o wonderand a complex awareness o spiritual meanings asindividuals eel at one with nature, yet they are awareo the transience o individual concerns when seenagainst the background o enduring natural rhythms.(Kaplan & albot, 1983, p. 178-180)

Transpersonal Psychology and Ecopsychology

In transpersonal psychology, as well as many otherpsychological approaches, the sense o separate sel is seenas a product o ones personal history and is characterizedby a sense o autonomy, independent agency, and separation

rom surroundings. Te transpersonal approach di ers

rom other approaches, however, by valuing and describing states in which the sel transcends a narrow identi cation(e.g., Wilber, 2000). Sel -transcendence re ers to stateso consciousness and stages o development in which thesense o sel is expanded beyond the ordinary boundaries,identi cations, and sel -images o the individual personality and re ects a undamental connection, harmony, orunity with others and the world (Caplan, Hartelius, &Rardin, 2003; Davis, 2003; Friedman, 1983; Walsh &Vaughan, 1993). Bynum (1997), consistent with many others describing transpersonal psychology, places unitiveconscious experiences at the center o the eld (p. 301).Based on a longer list o 202 de nitions, Lajoie and Shapiro(1992) o ered this integration:

ranspersonal psychology is concerned with thestudy o humanitys highest potential, and withthe recognition, understanding, and realization

o unitive, spiritual, and transcendent states o consciousness. (p. 91)

Ecopsychology argues that the deep andenduring psychological questionswho we are as humanbeings, how we grow, why we su er, how we healareintimately connected to our relationships with the natural

world, and similarly, that the overriding environmentalquestions o our timethe sources o , consequenceso , and solutions to environmental destructionaredeeply rooted in the psyche, our images o sel andnature, and our behaviors. Among ecopsychologyspotential contributions are bringing more sophisticatedpsychological principles and practices to environmentaleducation and action; bringing the contributions o ecological thinking, the values o the natural world, andresponses to environmental destruction to psychotherapy and personal growth; and ostering li estyles that are bothecologically and psychologically healthy (Doherty, 2009;Esbjrn-Hargens & Zimmerman, 2009; Roszak, 1992;Roszak, Gomes, & Kanner, 1995; Winter, 1996).

Ecopsychologists view the relationship between

humans and nature as a deeply bonded and reciprocalcommunion or union between humans and nature. Tedenial o this bond is a source o su ering both or thephysical environment and or the human psyche, and therealization o the connection between humans and natureis healing or both. Tis reconnection includes the healing potential o contact with nature, work on grie and despairabout environmental destruction, psychoemotionalbonding with nature as a source o environmental action,


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and the cultivation o environmentally-responsibleli estyles. A number o methods have been used by ecopsychologists to awaken and develop this connection,including sensory-based educational and counseling techniques (Cohen, 1993), wilderness passage rites (Foster& Little, 1988, 1997; Davis, 2005) and other wilderness-based work (Greenway, 1995; Harper, 1995), shamanism(Gray, 1995), and psychotherapeutic practices (Cahalan,1995; Swanson, 1995; Buzzell & Chalquist, 2009).

For the most part, ecopsychology presents twoimages or the relationship between humans and nature:(a) nature as home and its inhabitants as amily (e.g.,siblings or Mother Earth) and (b) nature as sel , in whichsel -identi cations are broadened and deepened to includethe non-human world. Tese views stand in contrast toviews that nature is dangerous and needs to be controlledand dominated or that nature is (merely) a use ul resource

which needs to be protected, conserved, and stewardedor ourselves and uture generations. Fox (1995) provided

a use ul outline o various positions on human-naturerelationships. A transpersonal view o human-naturerelationships can include these two images, and it willtranscend them. Conceiving o nature as an expanded andmore-inclusive sel may be a necessary step in developing a more transpersonal view o the human-nature relationship.However, this broader sel is not a nal understanding.

What is needed is an articulation o a transpersonalview that goes beyond the nature-as-sel view withoutinvalidating it. Such a transpersonal view recognizesthat both human and nature are expressions o the sameground o Being. An understanding o unitive, nondualstates, and practices or developing this understanding isthe oundation or an e ective integration o transpersonalpsychology and ecopsychology.

Integrations of Ecopsychology and Transpersonal Psychology

R e erences to spirituality, sacredness, and thetranspersonal (though generally without using thatterm) can be ound in much o ecopsychology. Teodore

Roszaks (1992) Te Voice of the Earth, the seminalbook in ecopsychology, includes positive re erences tonature mysticism, Feminist Spirituality, and in hisconclusion, the interplay between planetary and personal

well-being, [phrasing which] is deliberately chosen orits traditional theological connotation (p. 321). Snell,Simmonds, and Webster (2011) reviewed Roszaks work on ecopsychology and concluded that spiritual experience(though he tends to avoid that term) is an important

theme in his presentation o ecopsychology. Whether ornot ecopsychology continues along the lines proposed by Roszak, they argued it would be prudent to account orRoszaks contribution and the signi cance o spiritualexperience in his representation o ecopsychology(p. 112). Warwick Foxs (1995) ranspersonal Ecology bears directly on the intersection o transpersonalpsychology and ecopsychology. Although the original1990 publication o this book predates Roszaks (1992)major presentation o ecopsychology, Fox mentionedRoszaks earlier work at several points. Importantly orthis discussion, Fox included Roszak in a list o writers

who see the cultivation o ecological consciousness inspiritual or quasi-religious terms (Fox, 1995, p. 52).

Andy Fishers Radical Ecopsychology (2002) isanother ormative work or the eld o ecopsychology,and he also included multiple positive re erences tospirituality in ecopsychology. He considered spirituality in some instances to be virtually synonymous with thereunion o humans and the rest o nature (p. 97) anda necessary oundation or encountering the depths o environmental su ering in order to engage in e ectiveenvironmental action (pp. 190-191). Deborah WintersEcological Psychology (1996) included a major sectionon transpersonal psychology with a discussion o deepecology, transpersonal ecology, and ecopsychology. Sheconcluded that with so much common conceptualground, it is not surprising that theories are beginning tosynthesize transpersonal psychology and deep ecology(p. 249). She cited Roszaks ecopsychology and Foxstranspersonal ecology as examples o this synthesis. Tesubtitle o her book,Healing the Split between Planet and Self , clearly expresses her view o a unity that transcendsthe illusion o a human-nature split. Winter summarizeda discussion o these elds this way:

Te basic principle to be drawn rom both gestalt andtranspersonal psychology (and their recent orms o ecopsychology and transpersonal ecology) is thatour ordinary experience of ourselves as separate autonomobeings is incomplete and inaccurate . [Recognizing this] will require . . . a shi t in consciousness (thetranspersonal emphasis) rom the smaller, autonomous,ego-oriented sel to the wider and deeper ecological sel .

ranspersonal psychologists, ecopsychologists, andtranspersonal ecologists argue that such a shi t is morethan a cognitive eventit is also a directly perceptualand/or spiritual event . (p. 264, emphasis supplied)


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Doherty (2009) suggested that as ecopsychology moves into a second generation o research, theory,and application, it is becoming less de ned by itscountercultural, holistic, and romantic stance and moresel -re ective, pluralistic, and pragmatic. Doherty called

or an expansion rom those early tenets o ecopsychology but not a rejection o them. For others, this movement

within ecopsychology may re ect concerns about theexplicit spiritual and mystical avor o early presentationso ecopsychology by Roszak and others. For example,Reser (1995) ound cause or concern with the quasi-religiousand o ten explicitly religiouscharactero the discourse (p. 241). Te rhetoric is o spiritualconnecting and trans ormation, there is a clear quest orthe sacred and use o ritual, requent re erence to earthmagic and animism/transcendentalism, [and so orth](p. 242). While Reser and others are skeptical about thevalue o an ongoing in uence o transpersonalism inecopsychology, I eel its intersection with transpersonalpsychology is one important aspect o ecopsychologyspluralism. While ecopsychology nds use ul commonground with environmental psychology, conservationpsychology, and other environmentally- ocused psych-ologies, it will also be ruit ul to develop its commonground with transpersonal psychology.

Nonduality

Iam using the term nonduality to capture theunderstanding o unitive states, an expanded and deepersense o sel , and sel -transcendence. In transcending a sense o separate sel , one realizes a nondual relationship

with Being. It is not awareness or consciousness which istranscended, only the sense o a sel which is groundedin separation, narcissism, and de enses (the so-calledegoin many spiritual traditions). Nonduality does notmean a loss o consciousness but rather a heightenedconsciousness in which particulars (objects, persons, andrelationships) can be perceived with greater clarity as theconditioning and cognitive limitations o the ego-basedseparate sel are dissolved, integrated, and transcended.

Tis view o nonduality is at the core o the relationshipbetween transpersonal psychology and ecopsychology.Ecopsychology is based on the recognition o a

undamental nonduality between humans and natureand on the insight that the ailure to experience, value,and act rom this nonduality creates su ering or bothhumans and the environment. Nonduality and unitivestates o consciousness are also at the oundation o trans-personal psychology. Demonstrating this close connection

between nature, nonduality, and transpersonal states, Wilber (1996) illustrated the rst o the transpersonalstages o development as nature-mysticism, de ned by an awareness that is no longer con ned exclusively tothe individual ego (p. 202). I would argue that this isone description o nonduality. At this level, there is noseparation between subject and object, between you andthe entire natural world out there. Inside and outsidethey dont have any meaning anymore. You can still tellper ectly well where you body stops and the environmentbeginsthis isnot psychotic adualism. ... It is your ownhigher sel (Wilber, 1996, p. 202, emphasis in original).From an ecopsychological perspective, Greenway (1995) pointed to dualism as perhaps the source o ourpervasive sense o being disconnected rom the natural

world (p. 131). He suggested that such dualism is also atthe root o our cultures domination, exploitation, anddestruction o our habitat, the very basis o our survivalas a species (p. 131). He suggested that an importantstep in redressing these problems is a better language

or ecopsychology and or understanding nonduality. Iagree.

Nonduality re ers to the locus, structure, andnature o sel -identity, encompassing those states o Being and consciousness in which the sense o separateindividuality and autonomy has been metabolized ordissolved into the ow o experience. Sel -identity becomesintegrated into a qualitatively higher (or deeper) perspectivein which individual identity and the contents o experienceare di erentiated but not split or separated. Te worlddoes not melt away, perception gains greater clarity andrichness, and actions ow more harmoniously. At thesame time, the sel is no longer experienced as separate orultimately autonomous. Instead, an expanded, more open,and more inclusive view o the world becomes oreground.

As Zimmerman wrote, In the moment o releasement,enlightenment, or authenticity, things do not dissolveinto an undi erentiated mass. Instead, they stand out orreveal themselves in their own unique mode o Being

(as quoted in Fox, 1995, p. 239). Similarly, Fox wrote,Te realization that we and all other entities are aspectso a single un olding realitythat li e is undamentallyonedoes not mean that all multiplicity and diversity is reduced to homogeneous mush (p. 232). Indeed, allspiritual traditions that have described nonduality havepointed out that the world becomes more real, beauti ul,alive, and whole when one steps outside the con nemento duality. When the separate identity, with its lters and


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expectations based on personal needs, history, cognitiveschemata, and the like, is not rei ed or identi ed with, the

world appears to us asmore vivid and vital. A central difculty in understanding the role o

nonduality in ecopsychology is the misconception thatnonduality is undi erentiated (the descriptions by Foxand Zimmerman notwithstanding). In that view, thenondual state, a merged union without any di erences ordiscriminations, would preclude perception and action.For example, Naess (1989) spoke o two ways to go wrong:Here is a difcult ridge to walk: to the le t we have theocean o organic and mystic views, to the right the abysso atomic individualism (p. 165). Yet, these are notopposite sides o the same ridge. Te issue o nonduality issomewhat complicated by the act that there are nondualstates in which perception does disappear into a completeand absolute cessation. However, this is not the only statein which the sel is in a union with the world. Te more-inclusive de nition I am using here is more consistent

with reports o nonduality in relation to nature. I suggestthat the ocean o organic and mystic views is precisely the way out o the abyss o atomic individualism.Finding ourselves to be this ocean, nothing more thanidenti cation with a separate sel is lost. Duality is a product o identi cation, not di erentiation.

Dimensions of Nonduality

Most spiritual wisdom traditions have describedthis terrain and developed speci c methodsor experiencing, understanding, and integrating

nonduality. A. H. Almaas, in what he calls the Diamond Approach, articulates a richly detailed and systematicapproach to clari ying personality, experiencing essence,and realizing spiritual maturity (Davis, 1999). Hisdescriptions o nondual states (which he has also calledboundless or ormless) states are particularly relevanthere. Almaas has described ve boundless or nondualdimensions, each with distinctive characteristics, and hehas related each dimension to descriptions o these states

rom traditional spiritual systems, including Su sm,

Buddhism, Christianity, Kabbalah, and Shaivism (e.g.,1986, p. 419-484; 2000b, p. 397-441). Each dimensionhas a sense o reedom, clarity, and authenticity whichtranscends ordinary identity without denying orrejecting a sense o individual consciousness. A preciseunderstanding o the psychological issues that arise ineach o these advanced stages o spiritual work provides

oundations or sel -realization through the method o inquiry and other practices. He has urther described

the integration o these nondual dimensions into thepersonal li e and unctioning o individuals (Almaas,2000a, 2000b). I will give brie descriptions o each tohelp clari y this discussion o nonduality in the contexto ecopsychology.

In one o these dimensions the world isexperienced as a owing, dynamic un oldment in eachmoment. Tis dimension leads to an awareness that the

world is born anew each moment. Tis dynamism revealsthe worlds aliveness, its multiplicity, and its constantun olding.

Te act that presence includes the variousmani estations o the sel in a nondual way indicatesthat presence is not a static reality. Seeing that itis always trans orming its appearance, we becomeaware that presence is dynamic. It is not only thereness, but also a ow. (Almaas, 2000b, p. 33)

From this dimension, nature is seen in its eternal andtimeless un olding expression and change. Tis expressionis not haphazard but sel -organizing. Inner experience,the physical world, conceptualizations, and actions allarise, discriminable but not divided. One might use a metaphor o waves on an ocean which can be identi edas unique but never separate rom the ocean. Sel andnature are mani estations o this ow; neither is moreor less central or undamental. Tis dimension revealsthat discrimination, change, and un olding can happen

without a separate sel . Without equating Almaass description to others,

this dimension compares to Foxs (1995) cosmologically based identi cation and the ocus by Roszak and otherson the world as a single un olding processas a unity in process, to employ Teodore Roszaks splendidphrase (p. 252). Tis concept o dynamic, nondual ow is also similar to Roszaks (1992) use o the conceptso anima mundi , World Soul, and Gaia. He describedthese related concepts as the view that the whole o thecosmos is a single great organism (p. 139) re erring to its

vitality, aliveness, and un olding. Almaas gave a similardescription o this dimension:

Te world is perceived, in some sense, as alive andliving, as one in nite and boundless organismo consciousness. It is not merely the presence o Being or consciousness; this dimension o Being is experienced as a living organism, boundless andin nite. (Almaas, 2000a, p. 475)


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Almaas has also re erred to this dimension as theUniversal Soul or the soul o the universe, similarto Roszaks use o the term World Soul (personalcommunication, July 28, 1997). Both Roszak and

Almaas usesoul in the sense o its original meaning asindividual consciousness or the medium o experience.

All o these ideas, taken together, point to existenceas a single un olding reality, in constant renewal andoriginality, owing, and undivided.

A second boundless dimension ocuses on therichness and beauty o existence and the origin o thelimitless aesthetic qualities o the world. It is re erredto o ten in nature writing and descriptions o nature-oriented mystical experiences. With this dimensioncomes an unconditional love or the world. Te ow o thephenomena (both as inner experience and outer world)may be seen as a sur ace quality whose depth is this beauty,or the ow may be co-emergent with this beauty, and

what is owing is beauty and love. Experiencing this ow deeply reveals that its nature is beauty and love. Almaasdescribed it as being held in the arms o a boundless loving light. Without the veils o dualistic identity, the worldemerges in ever more exquisite ways, revealing its intrinsicglory and richness. Everythingincluding ego, spirit,su ering, attachment, environmental destruction, toxicdumps, the outrageous beauty o a sunrise, and the graceo a bird rising rom a pondis seen as an expression andmani estation o unconditional love. Tis is not a logicalconclusion or solely an intellectual insight but rather a direct, transrational knowing o the nature o reality.Penetrating or transcending the boundless, nonegoic,nondual sense o ow does not halt or disappear nature;it reveals a deeper characteristic o nature, its loveliness,in a way that ego-based experience does not.

Te un olding o nondual consciousness doesnot stop with this beauty and love, despite our tendency to want to hold on to it and reside in it. When thisdimension o beauty and love is experienced deeply enough, its nature is revealed as a deeper dimension

o nonduality, a ullness o presence. Beauty is now seen as a sur ace quality, and within the loveliness andlovableness o the world lies the act o its presence. I ,as Emerson wrote, beauty is Gods handwriting, thisdimension corresponds to God, the source o that beauty (though nontheistic traditions have also recognized thisdimension o pure presence without invoking a singulardeity). Patterns in the world are revealed as expressionso noetic orms. Te world (inner and outer) has a

quality o presence, purity, signi cance, pro undity, andrealness that was masked, as it were, by its beauty. All isexperienced as pure presence without any di erentiatedcharacteristics beyond the experience o its existence.

At this level o realization, we come also to perceivethe unity o all mani estation. Since Being is an

indivisible medium (not composed o parts), itollows that everything makes up a unity, a oneness.

Tere is one existence, as opposed to two or many. Itis merely an in nite presence that possesses a pattern.Tis pattern is everything we perceive, including allpersons and objects. So everything is connected toeverything; there exist no separate and autonomousobjects or persons. (Almaas, 2000b, p. 406)

Tere is discriminating awareness, but this awareness isnot separate rom the knowledge o it. Tis dimensionreveals in a deeper way that consciousness and the worldare nondual. Nature is revealed in its pro ound, palpableand precious existence.

Tis nondual presence resembles what Fox(1995) called ontologically based identi cation.

Te basic idea that I am attempting to communicateby re erring to ontologically based identi cation isthat the actthe utterly astonishing actthatthings are impresses itsel upon some people in sucha pro ound way that all that exists seems to stand outas oreground rom a background o nonexistence,

voidness or emptinessa background rom whichthis oreground arises moment by moment. . . . Teenvironment or the world at large is experiencednot as a mere backdrop against which our privilegedegos and those entities with which they are mostconcerned play themselves out, but rather as justas much an expression o the mani esting o Being (i.e., o existence per se) as we ourselves are. (p. 251,emphasis in original)

Fox related this awareness to the insights o the Zen

Buddhists, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein and suggestedthat people experiencing the world in this way on a regular or semi-regular basis (typically as a result o arduous spiritual discipline) nd themselves tending toexperience a deep but impartial sense o identi cation

with all existents (p. 251, emphasis in original). I wouldextend this to say that all existents are experiencedas a unity, and the unity o Being is the source o thisidenti cation.


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Te ground and inner nature o the awarenesso pure presence is the realm o nonconceptualawareness and pure perception. It is what Fox called thebackground o nonexistence, voidness, or emptiness

rom which arises existence and presence. Penetrating the pure presence and unity o the world, one discoversits ground to be awareness without content or concepts.It has a quality o emptiness that is more undamentalthan orm. Upon realizing the pure presence and ullnesso Being, one

begins to experience the totality o the world which orms a onenessas external to himsel [sic1],as i his identity now is deeper than this unity o experience. . . . He realizes that he still adheres tothe concepts o world, oneness, existence, and soon, or more precisely, that these things are actually concepts. He penetrates his rei cation o Being,

unity, and oneness. Tis precipitates the movemento the students identity into a subtler mani estationo Being, a totally nonconceptual realization o truenature. He experiences himsel now as nonconceptualreality, beyond all mind and concepts, beyond allspeci cations and recognitions. . . . He is both sel and not sel . Tis is a very paradoxical mani estationo Being, beyond any conceptualization. . . . Tere isa stunning sense o awakeness, intensely resh andnew. When there are no concepts in our recognitiono ourselves, nothing is old; everything is the pure

reshness o suchness, the intensity o eternity thathas no concept o time. (Almaas, 2000b, pp. 411-412)

Note that while there is no conceptual contentin this state, there is awareness and that awareness hasnoticeable qualities: reshness, intensity, timelessness,and transparency. Indeed, nature is revealed in a ully transparent way. One sees the world, but it is as i eachperception is empty o di erentiated content beyondpure awareness, brand new, and undistorted by past

memories, expectations, and labels. Te dynamic ow described above is co-emergent with this dimension.However, rather than the ow o beauty and love orthe ow o noetic orms, here it is experienced as pure

ow without content. Zen Buddhism, among othercontemplative and mystical traditions, has dealt withthis dimension. Perhaps this is what Gary Snyderpointed to when he titled his collection o his poetry No Nature .

But we do not easily know nature, or even know ourselves. Whatever it actually is, it will not ul llour conceptions or assumptions. It will dodge ourexpectations and theoretical models. Tere is nosingle or set nature either as the natural world orthe nature o things. Te greatest respect we can

pay to nature is not to trap it, but to acknowledgethat it eludes us and that our own nature is also

uid, open, and conditional.Hakuin Zenji put it sel -nature that is no

nature/ . . . ar beyond mere doctrine. An open spaceto move in, with the whole body, the whole mind.(Snyder, 1992, p. v., emphasis in original)

Almaas also described a nondual dimensionundamental to each o these. He called this the Absolute,

a dimension beyond presence and emptiness. Te Absolute is the unknowable origin and ultimate natureo Being. At this level, all paradoxes dissolve, including the paradox that existence is both ull and empty, presentand absent. Tis absolute mystery is beyond all qualitieso Being. It is a cessation and an absence: no perception,no awareness that there is no perception, no movement.He compared it to the state o consciousness in deepsleep or to the state o universe be ore the Big Bang. Te

Absolute is revealed only in its absence. Te state o the Absolute shows all that is seennature, sel , culture,sacred, pro aneis a thin bubble over this completemystery. Tis is the source o the experience o completeliberation and complete nonduality. Although it is itsnature to be indescribable and unknowable, variousspiritual traditions have acknowledged this mystery and recognized it as the ultimate source o reedom andliberation.

A Nonhierarchical View he dimensions o nondual Being are usually presentedas a linear un olding or development according

to a journey o ascent. Tis progression describes thedevelopment o consciousness rom the perspective o the

individual. Consciousness, as it develops and becomesmore re ned, reveals increasingly deeper and more subtlelevels o Being. On the other hand, Being can be describedas un olding and mani esting in an orderly way romthe Absolute mystery into the multitude o orms andqualities o the phenomenal world. As it un olds, it owsthrough these various dimensions in a progression romthe Absolute mystery to those more di erentiated as thephenomenal world, a journey o descent. Te mystery


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un olds and mani ests rst as non-conceptual awareness which di erentiates into presence itsel and then into

orms, patterns, and qualities, giving rise to experiences o ourselves as humans, and the world. Te journey o ascent isa process o understanding the inner nature o phenomena,including the physical and the experiential realms, as a progression to more and more subtle orms o nonduality.Te journey o descent is a process o nonduality expressing itsel in more and more di erentiated mani estations

without losing its inherent unity.Both o these journeys and each o these

dimensions can also be viewed as co-existent and co-emergent. Tese dimensions are complementary andequally valid. Immanence, ullness, and the myriad

orms o the world are one side o a coin (the result o the journey o descent); transcendence, emptiness, andthe mystery o union are the other (the ruition o the

journey o ascent). Tus, the richness and beauty o the world are no more or less privileged than its emptiness.Tis view contrasts with those spiritual systems whichhold that one o these dimensions is real and the othersare illusory. Tis is a particularly important point orecopsychologists. Tis understanding o nonduality doesnot devalueor reject the natural world or human culture.From this view, spiritual realization does not need toisolate nature rom humans. o the extent that one does

want to distinguish these (and there are times this is a use ul distinction), they can still be seen as mani estationso the same absolutely mysterious ground o Being.None o the dimensions o nonduality meansleaving the world. Te physical world as less than the spiritual isrejected, as is as the natural world as the source o Being.Regardless o whether the physical world (including thenatural world) or spirit is privileged, both o these viewscontinue a pernicious duality. With the understanding o nonduality presented here, one can embrace both natureand human as mani estations o Being.

Nonduality and Functioning he consciousness o nonduality is closely related

to the action that emerges in nondual states. Just as nonduality is not undi erentiated mass orhomogeneous mush, non-doing is not merely quietudeor passivity (although it may be when appropriate). Invirtually all the descriptions o nonduality throughoutthe worlds spiritual wisdom traditions, nonduality hasbeen seen not as an end to action, but as the beginning o a new source o action that does not place sel -interestat the center.

Some ecopsychologists and deep ecologists havepointed to this as a source o environmental action. Fox(1995), summarizing a vast amount o writing in thisarea, concluded, For transpersonal ecologists, given a deep enough understanding o the way things are, theresponse o being inclined to care or the un olding o the world in all its aspects ollows naturally (p.247). Wilber (1996) claimed that in nature mysticism,a spontaneous environmental ethics surges rom yourheart (p. 204). Such engaged spirituality can be seenin the activism o Gandhi, Tich Nhat Hanh, and theDalai Lama, or example. One who understands and hasintegrated the teachings o nonduality has no resistanceto acting on behal o all o existence and its parts.Con icts between ones own interests and the interestso the whole are transcended. Te wisdom o the wholeguides ones actions in a way that is optimal or the

whole. Nonduality prompts compassionate and skill ulaction in the service o the environment. o the extentthat these propositions need empirical testing, thisunderstanding o nonduality could help operationalizesuch research.

Conclusionshis understanding o nonduality has radicalconsequences or views o nature and psyche. When

nature is seen as a amily or larger sel , it is a projectiono our human selves, and an eventual split is inevitable.

When we conceive o the world, we impregnate it withour concepts, so to speak, and birth it through our ownimages. We do not encounter nature on its own, butthrough our lters. With the concept o the world asa larger sel comes the possibility judgments, grasping,rejection, and constrictionall the characteristics o a smaller, egoic, and dualistic sel . Tis is the origin o the splits that lead to alienation and su ering. A nondualview o ecopsychology goes beyond anthropocentrismand ecocentrism. One could say that Being or thetotality o existence is the centerand equally, that thereis no center, just ow, beauty, presence, emptiness, and

mystery. A transpersonal understanding that is sensitiveto the Earth recognizes that direct contact with nature,

wherever it is encounteredin the backyard, garden, wilderness, or ones bodyexpands and developsones maturity beyond the personal and supports sel -transcendence. It also recognizes spirit in all orms,including the natural, the built, the wounded, thesublime, and the toxic. Environmental problems become


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an arena or sel ess service, and the phenomenal worldbecomes an arena or transpersonal insights and nondualawareness.

Ecopsychologists and transpersonal psychologistshave made connections with each other, though not

without some ambivalence. Here and elsewhere, I haveproposed that an integration o ecopsychology andtranspersonal psychology is needed and potentially ruit uland that its success depends on a clearer understanding o nondual states o consciousness (Davis, 1998). Tisclarity can remove some o the reluctance to accept a transpersonal view within ecopsychology (though orsome, it will no doubt add uel to this reluctance). It canalso contribute to a nature-oriented transpersonal path.Tis integration must be inclusive and not discount thevalue o what has already been promoted in ecopsychology,including ecotherapy, ecological li estyles, and e ective,sustainable environmental action. It must also requirea contemplative wisdom regarding nonduality thatgoes beyond intellectual understanding and emotionalappreciation. Tis wisdom entails both the discovery o deeper dimensions o Being and the development o the capacity to integrate these dimensions into everyday experience and action. Tis is not easy, but there is ampleevidence rom many spiritual traditions that it is possible,that it is worthwhile, and that there are methods ordoing it.

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Note

1. Almaas uses both the masculine and the eminine inhis examples. In this passage, he uses the masculine,but the eminine is implied as well.

About the Author

John Davis, PhD, is Adjunct Pro essor in the GraduateSchool o Psychology, Naropa University, Boulder,CO. A ormer department chair at Naropa University,


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he also directed the low-residency Ecopsychology andranspersonal Psychology MA programs there. As a

sta member with the School o Lost Borders, he leads wilderness retreats and trains wilderness rites o passageguides, and he is an ordained teacher o the Diamond

Approach. Parts o this article are based on Davis (1998).Correspondence concerning this article may be directedto [email protected] or John Davis, Graduate School o Psychology, Naropa University, 2130 Arapahoe Avenue,Boulder, CO 80302 USA.

About the Journal

Te International Journal of ranspersonal Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal in print since 1981. It ispublished by Floraglades Foundation, and serves as theofcial publication o the International ranspersonal

Association. Te journal is available online at www.

transpersonalstudies.org, and in print through www.lulu.com (search or IJ S).

Documents

Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, And Nonduality