Transpersonal Psychology Research in Taiwan and Indonesia

I’ve been hyperfocused on my independent study project lately and haven’t had additional bandwidth for blogging, so I thought I’d share some of my work instead. This is directly taken from the writeup I submitted to my advisor yesterday. It assumes familiarity with the field, but I'm happy to address any questions through the comment box. Since this is my work that I need for my project:

Transpersonal Psychology Research in Taiwan and Indonesia © 2025 by Kimberly Israel is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 

Phan et al., 2024: A Trans-Mystical Mindset

 

Recent articles show the influence of transpersonal psychology in the non-Western cultures of Taiwan (Phan et al., 2024) and Indonesia (Harynto & Muslih, 2025). Phan et al. (2024) refer to a “trans-mystical mindset” and situate it in the context of “life and death education,” a Taiwanese approach to development of a meaningful and satisfying life with the awareness of inevitable death (Phan et al., 2021). The term “trans-mysticism” is suggested as combination of “transpersonalism,” and “mysticism.”

 

A “trans-mystical mindset” seems to refer partly to an openness to the potential meaning of spiritual and transpersonal material in meaning-making around life and death and partly to a state of consciousness infused with transpersonal or spiritual meaning. Phan et al. (2024) indicate both that trans-mysticism can help people understand different cultural beliefs around life and death and that a trans-mystical mindset is different from an ordinary mindset. They correlate an ordinary mindset with the physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem needs in Maslow’s hierarchy and a trans-mystical mindset with the self-actualization and self-transcendence needs.

 

The researchers also propose a “holistic state of consciousness-subconsciousness” as one in which “trans-mystical”, “meditative-reflective”, “transcendence”, and “self-actualizing” states are all active, though they do not describe the difference between these states. It is also unclear whether a “state” differs from a “mindset” and to what degree either term implies differences in cognition and perception or simply differences in attitude and orientation.

 

Phan et al. also note that “trans-mystical experiences” may be conscious or subconscious in that a person may understand the trans-mystical nature of their experience as it happens or may become aware of trans-mystical content upon later reflection. This perspective suggests the possibility for temporally-shifted transpersonal experience that contributes to personal meaning-making, such as a memory of having had a vision, even without a clear sense of when the experience may have occurred. The apparent ambiguity among states, mindsets, orientations, experiences, and memories, while perhaps challenging for a Westerner, echoes the complexity of inner life and may hold the potential for fruitful lines of inquiry.

 

Harynto and Muslih, 2025: Transpersonal Practices

 

Harynto and Muslih (2025) approach transpersonal psychology as a way to study spiritual well-being. They conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 people in their home country of Indonesia who had at least six months of experience with mindfulness, mediation, or holotropic therapy (a therapy modality based on Grof’s holotropic breathwork and offered at “holotropic therapy centers”). Theme analysis of the interview transcripts identified themes of “mystical”, “spiritual”, “awareness”, “anxiety” and “depression”, along with the transpersonal practices themselves and several themes directly relating to them. Furthermore, all themes connected to a central theme labeled “interpersonal.”

 

For meditation, the sub-themes were “daily meditation”, “motivation”, and “motivation therapy.” The authors go on to explain that meditation brings about a sense of peace and connection, contributes to self-understanding, and promotes spiritual integration. The mindfulness sub-themes were “practising mindfulness”, “reason [for] mindfulness”, and “after mindfulness.” Benefits of mindfulness included stress reduction and present-moment awareness. Finally, the sub-themes for holotropic therapy were “benefit”, “therapeutic experience”, and “changes after therapy.” Holotropic therapy is described as helpful for emotional processing and resolution of trauma.

 

The authors conclude that spiritual integration is as important as intellectual and emotional integration but is often overlooked in conventional psychology. The results of the study do not seem to differ substantially from Western research, which suggests a degree of cross-cultural validity for some transpersonal practices. Furthermore, the publication of research promoting a transpersonal perspective in a non-Western context bodes well for the future of the transpersonal field.

Image credit: Gunawan Kartapranata

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indonesia_Taiwan_Locator.svg

 

References

 

Harynto, S., & Muslih, M. (2025). The contribution of transpersonal psychology to the emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of individuals. Islamic Guidance and Counseling Journal, 8(1), https://doi.org/10.25217/0020258549000.

Phan, H.P., Ngu, B.H., Chen, S.C., Wu. L., Shih, J.-H., & Shi, S.-Y. (2021). Life, death, and spirituality: a conceptual analysis for education research development. Heliyon, 7, e06971.

Phan, H.P., Ngu, B.H., Hsu, C.-S., Chen, S.-C., & Wu, L. (2024). Expanding the scope of "trans-humanism": situation within the framework of life and death education - the importance of a "trans-mystical mindset." Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1380665.