On the path from “self-actualization to self-transcendence,” there is a very specific danger—in Maslow’s humanistic psychology, it is called “the higher detour.” Here is its description by Howard Sasportas in the book The Dynamics of the Unconscious:
“Some people associate feelings like joy, bliss, or universal love with the Higher Self. But the perception of the Higher Self is not necessarily filled with ecstasy or intense emotion. Communion with the Higher Self is experienced more as a state of deep silence or stillness… You are conscious, but there is nothing to realize except consciousness itself… You do not think of love, nor do you feel joy. You simply are.
But as you approach this Self, you pass through something known as the superconscious dimensions of the psyche—a place emanating feelings such as joy, universal love, and bliss… As complete or perfect as this state may seem, strictly speaking, it is not an experience of your Higher Self, but a superconscious experience. As I have already said, the Higher Self is an experience of pure existence and is felt simply as calm and serenity. Conversely, the experience of superconsciousness is more rapturous than the perception of the Self… So, compared to the Pure Self, superconsciousness is more vivid and active…
Some people, on the journey toward the Higher Self, deviate and begin to identify with superconscious qualities, mistakenly believing they are the Self… While it sounds good, people who have become too attached to these qualities (no matter how positive such things may seem) do not actually experience the true, unlimited, and infinite nature of the Higher Self. Maslow calls this ‘the higher detour.’ You see it relatively often—people on a spiritual path get too bogged down in superconsciousness and become overly engaged with many things of a psychic nature, or they hear angels and voices speaking to them, or they see things everywhere.
They identify their Self with the content of the superconsciousness instead of the Higher Self and live thinking they are Love embodied or Wisdom reborn. But if you think you are the very embodiment of love or wisdom, you are not experiencing the Higher Self, because it is contentless. In such cases, the Self derives its identity from some superconscious content.”
— Howard Sasportas, “The Dynamics of the Unconscious”
This distinction has greatly helped me in my work as a psychotherapist. Initially, I did not know how to view the experiences of ecstasy and universal love shared by some of the people I worked with. I thought they had reached the “final stop” and I had nothing left to give them. Over time, however, I realized this was not the case, as these “peak experiences” are essentially transpersonal. Regardless of how long they last, sooner or later they end, and their opposites take their place. When the “pendulum” swings in the opposite direction, the “peak” turns into a “fall,” heaven into hell, and manic elation into suicidal depression.
The role of psychotherapeutic work in this case is to support the de-identification with transpersonal contents (in Jungian analytical psychology, this identification is called “ego inflation“). If a differentiation is not made between the personal and the transpersonal, the danger Sasportas speaks of—”the higher detour”—arises. When it is at the pole of love, it is relatively harmless—the person feels they are in heaven and thinks they are Love embodied. However, when the archetype reveals its other part—”the dark night of the soul,” endogenous depression—then comes the danger of suicide and madness.
Regardless of whether we call the identification with transpersonal experiences “the higher detour” or “ego inflation,” it is vital to know that any identification with them not only carries danger but also diverts us from our true spiritual goal: the realization of the higher Self on Earth (Maslow), and the union of opposites (Jung).
There are many traps along the spiritual path, but of them all, this one is the most dangerous.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
Note: The quotations are translated from Bulgarian and are not presented as verbatim citations.
