by Filippo Falzoni Gallerani | July 20, 2023
The Spiritual Roots of Psychology
Psychology originates from ancient spiritual traditions. However, in order to establish itself as a science, it soon adopted a materialistic approach that excluded the deeper dimensions of Being. For centuries, philosophers and mystics recognized the “Great Chain of Being” or “Great Field of Being,” a reality composed of dimensions and levels that transcend and include one another: from matter, to life, to mind, to soul, and to spirit.
Over the last 3,000 years, the philosophers of the Perennial Philosophy have reached near-unanimous agreement on the main levels of this Great Field, even though the number of subdivisions varies across traditions. Some describe three fundamental levels (body, mind, and spirit; or gross, subtle, and causal), others five (matter, body, mind, soul, and spirit), and others seven, as in the seven chakras of Kundalini Yoga. Thinkers such as Plotinus and Sri Aurobindo identified a dozen levels of consciousness, while other traditions described highly complex systems with up to 108 subdivisions of Being and Consciousness.
The Great Field can be understood as a vast morphogenetic nest, offering a developmental space for human potential.
From Religion to Materialism: A Historical Divide
In the West, religion gradually distanced itself from Spirit and was often transformed into a violent instrument of power, contradicting the very teachings of the God it claimed to represent. The reaction to this degeneration gave rise to the Enlightenment, which marked the triumph of Reason over dogma and superstition.
However, this reaction went too far. In rejecting religious abuse, Western thought also denied the existence of soul and spirit altogether. It was like throwing the baby out with the bathwater: in order to observe facts without the filter of dogma, authentic spirituality itself was dismissed, and matter alone was considered real. From this perspective, faith became comparable to believing in Santa Claus, mystical experiences were seen as forms of hysteria, and invisible worlds were reduced to fantasy.
Even today, what is commonly presented as spirituality often appears, at a mass level, as a pathological escape from reality—a support for the ego rather than a genuine spiritual path. True spiritual awakening has always been the exception. As the saying goes, “Few seek the Truth, and of those few, even fewer find it.” Yet the fact that the transcendence of the ego, the perception of the unity of life, and the sacredness of Being are experienced by few does not invalidate their reality.
Jung, the Soul, and the Return of Meaning
Carl Gustav Jung was accused of mysticism because he acknowledged the importance of the soul and the realization of the Self. Jung understood religious symbols as expressions of the collective unconscious, which—when properly interpreted—represent the inner path through which individuals emancipate themselves, individuate, and achieve self-realization.
Because Jung addressed themes considered taboo by mainstream science, Jungian psychology was long excluded from academic institutions. In contrast, Freud’s materialistic vision, reductive and pessimistic in its view of human nature, profoundly influenced Western culture.
Similarly, many scholars of the Perennial Philosophy, including prominent Orientalists, were relegated for decades to a marginal position that official science did not take seriously.
Quantum Physics and the Opening to Transcendence
A turning point occurred when quantum-relativistic physics revealed an ineffable reality beyond space and time—one that resonated with mystical visions and offered a framework for phenomena previously deemed impossible by rational thought.
During the 1960s, the renewed interest in Eastern philosophy, together with experiences induced by psychedelics that opened access to unexplored dimensions of the psyche, created the conditions for filling a major gap in psychology. This led to the emergence of Humanistic Psychology, followed by Transpersonal Psychology.
What Is Transpersonal Psychology?
Transpersonal Psychology is the field of research that seeks to offer a psychological interpretation of the Great Chain of Being, rearticulated in light of modern scientific knowledge. It is a psychology that recognizes subtle planes of existence and the existential and spiritual dimensions of the human being.
Among its most influential figures are Stanislav Grof, with his work on Holotropic Breathwork, and Ken Wilber, whose extensive integrative synthesis bridges Eastern and Western traditions through interdisciplinary research.
Over recent decades, hundreds of books on Transpersonal Psychology have been published. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, first issued in the late 1960s, remains a rich and authoritative collection of studies supporting a coherent and expansive vision of human consciousness.
Ken Wilber and Integral Psychology
According to Ken Wilber, one of the most common errors in psychology is the confusion between pre-rational and trans-rational states, since both lie beyond conventional rationality. To address this limitation, Wilber developed Integral Psychology, an evolution of Transpersonal Psychology.
Integral Psychology seeks to integrate the best of scientific psychological research with the essence of the world’s great spiritual traditions. It brings together insights from premodern, modern, and postmodern sources, recognizing that each offers essential contributions to understanding human nature.
In the opening chapter of Integral Psychology, Wilber defines the field clearly:
“Psychology is the study of human consciousness and its manifestations in behavior. The functions of consciousness include perception, desire, will, and action. The structures of consciousness include body, mind, soul, and spirit. States of consciousness include normal states (waking, dreaming, sleeping) and altered states (non-ordinary and meditative). Modes of consciousness include aesthetics, morals, and science. Development unfolds from the prepersonal to the personal to the transpersonal…”
Wilber highlights the core problem of psychology: historically, most schools have focused on only one aspect of this extraordinarily rich phenomenon, claiming it to be the only valid or even existing dimension. Behaviorism reduced consciousness to observable behavior; psychoanalysis reduced it to ego structures and their conflict with the id; existentialism focused on personal structures and intentionality; some transpersonal approaches emphasize altered states without a coherent developmental theory; Eastern psychologies excel in describing transpersonal development but often neglect earlier stages; cognitive science risks reducing consciousness to neural mechanisms, treating the mind as a biocomputer and impoverishing the lived world.
Integral Psychology recognizes the value of all these perspectives while offering a more comprehensive framework for understanding the mystery of human nature in its fullness.
Beyond Theory: Toward Direct Experience
Theories are necessary for orientation, but intellectual understanding alone does not produce genuine transformation.
A psychology of Being cannot be taught to those who are not ready, nor can it be authentically practiced by those who grasp concepts without having directly experienced the Self. Reading books or attending lectures is not enough. What is required is deep and sincere self-inquiry, confrontation with one’s shadow, and an authentic awakening of the heart.
Filippo Falzoni Gallerani
