It was “experimental” in that it was open-minded enough to test untried techniques in the interest of promoting personal and spiritual growth in the individual and in society at large.
It was “esoteric” in that it drew upon Eastern and Western spiritual traditions in understanding the underlying process of psycho-spiritual growth and development.
The Americanization of Eastern and Asian
Systems of Thought
The importation of Eastern psychologies to the West. The Americanization of Eastern and Asian religious, philosophic, and psychological systems of thought began at the end of the nineteenth century, through the writings of the Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda, and Japanese monk Soyen Shaku (whose work was translated by Daisetz Taitaro Suzuki). This Americanization of Eastern and Asian systems of thought continued through the early twentieth century as American popular culture was exposed to the meditative practices of the Hindu yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, the Russian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff, and theosophist Jiddu Krishnamurti (Taylor, 1999, Chapter 9).
Integration of Asian ideas with Western concepts. Transpersonal psychology’s interest in both meditation and Asian philosophy and in developing theories that integrate Asian ideas with Western concepts and research can be traced directly to this initial period of popular American culture when, “for the first time, the various religious ideas of Asia were presented to American audiences by Asians themselves” (Taylor, 1999, p. 189). Eventually Americans began reading books on Asian philosophy and religion written by Americans who sought an ecumenical reconciliation of Western Christianity and Eastern Zen in the Gospel of Zen (Sohl & Carr, 1970).
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American promoters of Eastern psychologies (1950s-1970s) From the 1950s through the 1970s, a large number of pioneers in the humanistic and transpersonal psychology movement were to spread the wealth of information on exceptional psychological health contained in the non-Western psychologies of Asia, India, and Japan and the methods for cultivating them. These included
Alan Watts (1951, 1958a, 1958b, 1961, 1963, 1968) whose interpretation of Taoist, Buddhist, and Hindu thinking had a major impact on the counterculture of the 1960’s
Aldous Huxley (1970) whose 1944 book The Perennial Philosophy argued for the existence of a unifying philosophy underlying all religions influences transpersonal theories to this day.
P. D. Ouspensky (1957, 1971) popularized the teachings of Russian mystic Georgei Ivanovich Gurdjieff (1866-1949).
D. T. Suzuki (1970) popularized Zen philosophy in the West, especially through his book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind and the establishment of the Zen Center in San Francisco.
Tenzin Gyatso (14th Dalai Lama) who spread the philosophy and psychology of the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual tradition and made America aware of the plight of the Tibetan people after the Chinese Communist takeover in 1959.
The Hindu influence of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Forem, 1973), spiritual guru to the Beatles and popularizer of Transcendental Meditation.
The Buddhist influence of Chogyam Trungpa (1973), author of the popular book Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism that warned of the dangers of ego-centered versions of spirituality, who established the Buddhist college Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, that has served as a center for meditative and academic studies in Tibetan Buddhism to numerous American students.
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