Abstract

This research describes the lived experiences of eight respondents, 40--60 years old, uncommitted to any formal religion or denomination, who claim to experience sustained periods of what Maslow called transcendence. Descriptions of sustained transcendent experiences were derived from four semi-structured in-depth interviews and four published autobiographical descriptions. Of the 8 respondents, 5 were men and 3 were women. The duration of the sustained transcendent experiences reported in this sample ranges from 4 to 30 years. Smith's "interpretive phenomenological analysis" method was used to interpret the 8 descriptions. Attention was drawn more to the relationships within the data rather than the number of people who expressed certain viewpoints. Nevertheless, the respondents unanimously reported three commonalities regarding their STEs: a sense of unification, a loss of identification with their ordinary personality structure, and the understanding that a sustained transcendent experience is an acausal revelation of an inherent condition. While the experience of sustained transcendence is reportedly not related to a particular event, a transcendent event or series of events leading to the sustained experiences was commonly, but not exclusively reported. The term "sustained transcendent experiences" indicates, instead, a continuum of momentary revelations that reflect the "true nature of reality." Descriptions provided indicate a cognitive diversity that can be likened to Katz' theory of divergence across traditions. Although it is not within the purview of this research to determine classifications of sustained transcendence, the respondents describe a wide range of cognitive, emotional, and perceptual experiences that may indicate varying types or levels of sustained transcendent experiences