HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422
Page 1 of 9
Original Research
Identity, transcendence and the true self: Insights from
psychology and contemplative spirituality
Author:
Carter Haynes1,2
Affiliations:
1
Psychology Department,
William Jessup University,
Rocklin, California, United
States of America
Department of New
Testament Studies, Faculty of
Theology, University of
Pretoria, South Africa
2
Project leader: A.G. van Aarde
Project number: 2334682
Description:
Prof. Dr Carter Haynes is
participating in the research
project, ‘Biblical Theology
and Hermeneutics - Ad Hoc
Project “Holiness”’, directed
by Prof. Dr Andries van
Aarde, professor emeritus
and senior research fellow in
the Faculty of Theology of
the University of Pretoria,
South Africa.
Corresponding author:
Carter Haynes,
haynescarter1@gmail.com;
chaynes@jessup.edu
Dates:
Received: 30 Apr. 2016
Accepted: 11 Aug. 2016
Published: 17 Nov. 2016
How to cite this article:
Haynes, C., 2016, ‘Identity,
transcendence and the true
self: Insights from psychology
and contemplative
spirituality’, HTS Teologiese
Studies/Theological Studies
72(4), a3455. http://dx.doi.
org/10.4102/hts.v72i4.3455
Copyright:
© 2016. The Authors.
Licensee: AOSIS. This work
is licensed under the
Creative Commons
Attribution License.
Read online:
Scan this QR
code with your
smart phone or
mobile device
to read online.
This article investigates the intersection of psychology and spirituality as seen through the
works of Thomas Merton, Carl Jung, Fritz Kunkel and Viktor Frankl. The themes of spirituality
contextualised in human identity, psychological and spiritual transcendence, and the true self
versus false self metaphor are traced through the works of all four thinkers. Epistemological
flexibility and holistic thinking and being are suggested as methods for transforming
interdisciplinary practitioners, such as pastoral counsellors, spiritual directors and spiritually
oriented psychotherapists, in order that they can offer care in a less bifurcated and more
integrated way. Practical applications, including a vignette and specific recommendations for
broadening and deepening personal and professional integrative practice, are offered.
Introduction
Part of the appeal of dividing the self into ‘true’ and ‘false’ parts lies in developing a system of
analysis that crosses the disciplinary line between psychology and spirituality, and that division
attempts to aid therapists, spiritual directors, clergy and lay persons in the pursuit of personality
development and spiritual formation. Because the boundary between psychology and spirituality
is sometimes fiercely defended, the study of a concept spanning both sides of the science or faith
dichotomy may help to facilitate mutual understanding between sometimes competing and often
conflictual sides. Although the psychological construct of ‘self’ dates back to the advent of modern
psychology, spiritual writers have been addressing similar content for millennia. For clinicians,
directors and practitioners approaching this topic with a worldview already open to spiritual
agency, the combination and interaction of psychological and spiritual knowledge is meant to
assist in the creation of new understandings of and approaches to human development and
healing.
As a point of departure, I take the blending of spirituality and psychology advanced by Thomas
Merton, Carl Jung, Fritz Kunkel and Viktor Frankl. Merton takes contemplative spirituality as his
starting point, while the others approach this topic from the perspective of psychology. My
purpose is to energise and crystallise interdisciplinary thought by exploring the liminal space
where the two disciplines have the most in common. Although my own background is mostly in
psychology and human development, I have been engaged in a decades-long personal quest to
make sense of the intersection between the psycho-emotional and spiritual or religious aspects of
human experience. My views and the words I use to describe them have changed over the years,
but my initial goal has not changed: to access the wisdom available through the integration of
psychology and spirituality that is not available when one subject area is studied exclusively.
The choice of Merton as the sole representative from the spirituality side is based on his own
reading and appreciation of Jung, his ability to translate his system into psychological terms, and
that his spirituality is primarily contextualised within human identity. Also, Merton is famous for
his writings on the true self versus false self dichotomy. On a more personal note, Merton has long
been a favourite spiritual writer of mine and I have lived with him and his ideas over the course
of 25 years. As such, his thoughts have penetrated my understanding of human nature, identity
development and spiritual formation.
The psychological representatives (Jung, Kunkel and Frankl) form a historical thread from the
beginnings of modern psychology to the mid-20th century, from analytic to existential theoretical
orientations, and from non-theistic (Jung) to overtly theistic (Kunkel) worldviews. Taken together,
they highlight a number of important trends that have arisen in psychology’s interaction with
religion and spirituality. Clearly, other or additional thinkers could have been chosen, but I
thought it important to limit the number to three, and to choose psychological theorists whose
http://www.hts.org.za
Open Access
Page 2 of 9
writings evidence language ripe for comparison with
Merton’s musings on the concepts of self, identity and
transcendence.
In the following, I dedicate a section each to an explanation
of the basic tenets, main contributions and theoretical
contributions of these four thinkers. These sections are
followed by a final part in which I synthesise and build on
some of the commonalities and synergies uncovered,
introduce epistemological flexibility and a holistic approach,
and suggest practical ways to put this newly contextualised
knowledge into practice in pastoral care, spiritual direction,
counselling and as a way of personally becoming more
integrated human beings.
Merton: The true self and
contemplation
Thomas Merton was a monk, author, spiritual practitioner
and mystical theologian. He lived half his life within a
religious order while maintaining broad intellectual, literary
and religious interests. Merton was involved in interreligious
dialogue and struggled with the tension between solitude
and the call to an active life of engagement in social causes. In
his many published books, letters and journals, the true self,
transcendence of dualistic thinking, and a spirituality based
on human identity all figure prominently. His very engaging
and deeply authentic style of writing, along with his
considerable personal experience as a monastic practitioner
of contemplative prayer, has combined to make him one of
the most sought-after spiritual writers of the 20th century.
In Merton’s Palace of Nowhere, James Finley, a lifelong student
of Merton’s work, asserts that Merton’s spirituality hinges on
human identity (Finley 1999:17). He delves into Merton’s
juxtaposition of the true and false selves. Merton outlined a
progressive transformation from an identity founded in the
false (i.e. illusory, nonspiritual and worldly) self to a new
identity founded in the true (i.e. spiritual, contemplative and
enlightened) self. The false self is egocentric and concerned
with meeting its own needs. The true self is other-focused
and finds serenity through releasing the vestiges of
egocentrism. The false self is one’s most familiar identity, but
is also superficial. It includes thoughts, emotions, personas,
roles and social awareness. It is possible to reflect upon the
false self, but even this introspection is superficial. Merton
held that, in contemplation, one becomes aware of his or her
true self and learns that the false self is limited. The false self
erects barriers that must be surmounted before the true self
can be explored and experienced (Merton 1972:7). Exploring
one’s own psychological defences is a way of labelling the
false self more accurately.
Reilly and Thompson (2008:22–30) built on Finley’s assertion
that identity is basic to Merton’s spiritual framework. Using
the construct of ‘personhood’, they examined his work and
found that unity, inclusiveness, integration and integrity
comprise the essence of a mature identity. Unity refers to the
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
wholeness or centredness that characterises an openness to
people, religions, experience and knowledge. Inclusiveness
captures the belief that serious practitioners of all religions
share in a common reality. In his early work, Merton’s
integrative impulse was seen in his desire to reconcile
opposing tensions, either in his own personality or externally
in his relations with others. As he matured, integration came
to include erasing distinctions between opposing poles and
resolving presumed dichotomies by transcending his own
dualistic thinking. He eventually came to see many of his
original views as the result of false choices; his mature
epistemology was clearly non-dualistic (Pramuk 2008:67).
Integrity reflects correspondence between who one is and
what one does, says and thinks. For Merton, it was not
enough to believe and pray. He lived out his values through
concrete actions, in his own personal and spiritual
development and in his relationships.
For Merton, the true self is both a perfected version of our
identity and a spiritual experience of ourselves and God. The
process of coming to know our true self is spirituality
expansive, but there is also the stark and unmediated clarity
that contemplative awareness can bring. Contemplation does
not allow the psychological comfort zones of the false self to
survive. The false self is not capable of engaging in
contemplative experience; the apprehension of the true self is
one of the products of contemplation. Self-transcendence is
the doorway from the false self to the true self (Merton
1972:1–13).
Merton’s own words best convey his views. For example, in
his book The Inner Experience, he devotes the first three
chapters to discussing various aspects of the self:
One of the strange laws of the contemplative life is that in it you
do not sit down and solve problems: you bear with them until
they somehow solve themselves. Or until life itself solves them
for you. Usually the solution consists in a discovery that they
only existed insofar as they were inseparably connected with
your own illusory exterior self. The solution of most such
problems comes with the dissolution of this false self. And
consequently another law of the contemplative life is that if you
enter it with the set purpose of seeking contemplation, or worse
still, happiness, you will find neither. For neither can be found
unless it is first in some sense renounced. And again, this means
renouncing the illusory self that seeks to be ‘happy’ and to find
‘fulfilment’ (whatever that may mean) in contemplation. For the
contemplative and spiritual self, the dormant, mysterious and
hidden self that is always effaced by the activity of our exterior
self does not seek fulfilment. It is content to be, and in its being it
is fulfilled, because its being is rooted in God. (Merton 2003:2)
Merton approaches the intersection between spirituality and
psychology through the medium of the self, a concept used
by both spiritual and psychological writers. Indeed, although
it is defined slightly differently by each of the four thinkers
considered in this article, the self in all its manifestations is
more justifiably the domain of psychology. Why then does
Merton spend so many of his words on this seemingly
psychological concept? One answer is that he read and was
Open Access
Page 3 of 9
affected by modern psychology, and a psychological way of
understanding the human condition made its way into his
personal understanding of spirituality. Merton’s entire
message about spiritual development is that maturity is not
about what I believe, or even what I do or say. Mature
spirituality must make its way into the very fabric of my
being; it must be who I am. When who I am is changed by
God, when my very identity – the way I see myself, the way
I show up in relationships without having to think about it
first – is transformed, I have become a new self, my true self.
Jung: Individuation and spirituality
Although Jung began his career under the tutelage of Freud
and was even groomed as Freud’s successor, significant
theoretical differences between the two eventually led to a
parting of company and a subsequent silencing of what had
once been a fruitful dialogue. Jung later coined the term
analytic psychology to differentiate his position from Freud’s
psychoanalytic school. For Jung, the concept of self was more
central and salient than it was in the psychosexual model
proposed by Freud. Also, rather than focusing on the
identification and resolution of neuroses, Jung concentrated
on explaining and enhancing selfhood. He defined self not in
the modern sense of personal identity, but as a totality of
personal experience and a balancing of competing conflicts
and opposing spiritual and psychological forces (Maddi
1989:79–96). An accurate understanding of Jung’s view of self
must include the idea of individuation, by which he meant
‘becoming a single, homogeneous being, and, in so far as
“individuality” embraces our innermost, last, and
incomparable uniqueness, it also implies becoming one’s
own self’ (Jung 1959:143). Individuation is not about
individualism, but about actualising the unique self that
exists inside me. It is about reviewing and rejecting the
possible versions of myself that are not in true keeping with
my essence. Although Jung’s road to individuation differs
from Merton’s path to the true self, the destination they both
describe, and some of the steps along the way, sounds quite
similar. For example, consider this excerpt from Merton’s
chapter on ‘Things in Their Identity’ from New Seeds of
Contemplation:
For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of
sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I
am and of discovering my true self. Trees and animals have no
problem. God makes them what they are without consulting
them, and they are perfectly satisfied. With us it is different. God
leaves us free to be whatever we like. We can be ourselves or not,
as we please. We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may
be true or false, the choice is ours. We may wear now one mask
and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our
own true face. (Merton 1972:31–32)
Merton’s reference to wearing masks is almost certainly a
nod towards Jung’s persona archetype, which represents
Jung’s attempt to describe the social roles and facades people
tend to take on (Jung 1959:137, 145). In popular culture,
‘persona’ has come to mean ‘the person I choose to be or
project in a particular situation’. Jung would add that our
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
tendency to develop and use personas emanates from the
collective unconscious and has been present since the dawn
of human history.
The collective unconscious refers to Jung’s view that, in
addition to personal consciousness, we have a separate
consciousness inherited from a universal store of all human
experience throughout history. This and similar spiritualsounding terms have led many Jung enthusiasts to ascribe a
mystical sensibility to his work. This attribution has been, in
my view, quite inaccurate. Although Jung had had an
apparent affinity for spirituality and religion, he also
advocated making faith more palatable to the intellect: ‘The
concept of faith must therefore be purified, which is to say
that faith must be relieved of its main difficulties, the mythical
components which are particularly offensive to reason’ (Jung
1971:44). He held that, even outside a religious context,
people are religious by nature, and that devoting oneself to a
higher cause or Being is an archetypal instinct fuelled by the
collective unconscious (Jung 1971:45). Prior to the birth of
scientific rationalism, belief in myth, religious or otherwise,
was easier than in later times because it did not require any
sacrifice of intellectual integrity. What was known about
science and nature was not specific or authoritative enough
to cast any doubt on Scriptural accounts such as the birth,
life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ or Moses’ parting
of the Red Sea. Rational life has increasingly created pressure
to question unsubstantiated myths and opt instead for
alternative ‘religious’ objects, such as reason and technology.
For Jung, this shift was not so much about the unattractiveness
of religious faith as it was evidence of the underlying need all
humans have to believe in something. We are predisposed,
by virtue of thousands of years of collective evolution, to
seek relationships with higher entities or ideas. The
Enlightenment simply revised the list of entities worthy of
our ‘worship’.
Jung often used the word ‘numinous’ to characterise spiritual
or mythical phenomena, and one of his ‘numinous’ elements
was ‘the Sacred’. Although contained within the intra-psychic
experience of the individual, the Sacred in Jung’s typology
parallels the same term in the field of theology. Jung tended
to borrow terms from religious contexts and redefine them.
For example, he believed that the religious function was an
essential component of the psyche. He referred to religious
material (as manifested through symbols, dreams and
visions) as ‘God images’, and held that the central task of
adult education was to communicate the archetypes and
emanations of this God image (Stephens 2001:457).
Jung engaged in intellectual dialogue with a number of
prominent theologians regarding the theological or
psychological terms and concepts they had in common.
These interchanges eventually proved frustrating to both
parties: to Jung because the theologians were not willing to
abandon extra-human agency, and to the theologians as they
came to realise that Jung was not willing to venture outside
the confines of the human psyche in search of truth.
Open Access
Page 4 of 9
The series of disputations between Jung and Martin Buber is
particularly instructive.
In 1952, Buber published the article ‘Religion and Modern
Thinking’ (Buber 1988). In it, he criticised Jung on the grounds
that his views represented a subjectivism so radical that it
blocked apprehension of the transcendent and led to spiritual
short-sightedness. Buber saw Jung’s talk as pseudo-religious
because it did not relate to a Deity. Buber charged that Jung
had overstepped the intellectual boundaries of psychology
without taking responsibility for the religious statements he
made (Stephens 2001:464). This lack of ownership allowed
Jung to occupy the space between the disciplines of psychology
and theology without having to be completely accountable to
the formal rules of either one.1
One of Buber’s main theological premises was that an
‘I-Thou’ relationship exists between individuals and the
Divine. In response to Jung’s insistence that God exists only
intra-psychically, Buber retorted that religion cannot be at the
same time contained within consciousness (collective or
otherwise) and also a relation of an ‘I’ to a ‘Thou’, as this
would imply that the I and the Thou are one and the same
entity (Stephens 2001:464).
In brief, although Jung evidenced signs of openness to
mystical and religious experience and extra-human spiritual
agency, he was unable to break through the bounds of his
empirical worldview. Jung was not willing to concede a
spiritual reality that exists outside of and separate from the
workings of the human mind and its collective connections
with historical human consciousness. Although he had
opened a door to discussion and debate on the psychology
of spiritual experience (that many others have walked
through), he personally never moved beyond a rationalist
understanding of human spirituality.
Original Research
formative relationship between child and parent, and the
security of a healthy parent–child bond is indicative and
symbolic of the ideal relation between people and their God.
Egocentricity disrupts both child–caregiver and human–
divine relationships. As people encounter ‘maturing We’
experiences (i.e. life crises), their relationships can become
more objective and whole. Kunkel saw ‘We-ness’ as the main
force of healing and reconciliation for humanity (Steere
1985:150):
Very often, the We-experience includes actions and reactions
which remain unconscious for a certain time or even forever.
Suppose you try to comfort a person who has lost his father by
death. You will be aware of your compassion in general. You will
be touched or even deeply moved, and all your words and
gestures will be, as it were, imbibed by your We-feeling. You will
be conscious of the fact that you are motivated not by private
emotion, but by a common reaction to a common loss. Yet the
We-experience may reach much deeper. You may not until much
later understand that the person you comforted has become your
brother, and that you are connected with him to a new unit, since
you have looked together into the depths of human life. That is
We-experience. (Kunkel 1984:68)
For Kunkel, all relational phenomena have their genesis in
the original Ground of Relatedness. The ability to desire,
pursue, engage in and appreciate relatedness involves both
the juxtaposition of one ego to another, and the understanding
that the ‘small we’ is part of the ‘big We’. Spirituality
without the aid and expertise of psychology is ill prepared to
solve the deeper mental and emotional problems people face.
Conversely:
Psychology cannot rescue us without the help of religion. It is
doomed to deteriorate into mere psychologism, just as theology
without psychology deteriorates into theologism. The depth is
lost and only platitudes remain. (Kunkel 1943:26)
Kunkel called his approach ‘We-Psychology’ to emphasise
the importance of relatedness with both other people and
the Divine (Barrow 1988:paras. 1–3). The ‘original We’ is the
Kunkel believed that people are most actualised when they
are aware of their own creativity and are moving towards
We-ness, but that they are also free to ignore the human
condition, the existence of God and their own creative power.
The consequences of this avoidance are suffering and pain;
therefore, people must be creative, even at the risk of failure.
Faith is needed to bridge the gap between our freedom to act
creatively and the inevitability of making mistakes. Kunkel
espoused the Jungian view that opposing forces – life and
death, masculine and feminine, tension and relaxation –
create polarities in the human experience, and he held out
religious self-education as the path that brings balance.
Rather than rejecting or demonising the ‘negative’ side of a
dichotomy, individuals must be open to finding the most
helpful blending of two extremes (Kunkel 1943:11–35).
Dealing with dichotomies by transcending binary thinking is
also a theme in Merton’s writing, and has been covered in
detail more recently by Richard Rohr (2014).
1.Occupying the space ‘between’ psychology and theology (i.e., engaging both
without attempting to follow the rules of either) is not what I am advocating when I
encourage interdisciplinary and active engagement with integration. In geometric
terms, what I am suggesting could be called ‘intersection’, while what Buber accuses
Jung of could be called the ‘disjointed’ approach (from ‘disjoint’, where the
intersection of two sets is the null set).
Religious self-education, at first blush, may connote
attending religious classes or enrolling in seminary, but the
intent here is much broader. Kunkel is referring to a holistic
process of self-development which simultaneously touches
Kunkel: Human and spiritual
relatedness
Fritz Kunkel was a physician and psychoanalyst who, as a
result of conversations and correspondence with Jung,
adopted the latter’s view of individuation. From Freud, who
was also his psychoanalyst, Kunkel gleaned an appreciation
of the relationship between childhood experience and adult
personality formation, but Kunkel’s unique synthesis focused
on the nature and origins of egocentricity. He is also notable
for the way he seamlessly combined clinical, scientific and
religious worldviews in his thinking and writing (Sanford
1984:paras. 6–8).
http://www.hts.org.za
Open Access
Page 5 of 9
on psychological, spiritual and emotional components of
experience. One technique that can serve as an example of
religious self-education is ‘confessional meditation’. This
practice involves the movement of psychic material from the
unconscious to conscious awareness, which is best facilitated
in an atmosphere of openness and prayer. Confessional
meditation can be partially understood by contrasting it with
conventional confession, that between a penitent and a
confessor. In that context, the act can be made overly formal
(at least in the mind of the parishioner) merely by the
presence of the confessor. Although a traditional confession
is likely to stir up unconscious material, it is not designed to
examine the nature of unconscious urges and conflicts, even
when the confessor has the training to interpret such things.
There is also a disinclination for the supplicant to assume
personal responsibility for the unconscious material spurring
the problematic actions, particularly when assigned penance
can be interpreted as negating any personal characteristics
that led to the indiscretion (Kunkel 1943:251).
Confessional meditation makes use of one’s personal
meditative practice. In unitive experience, the normal
boundary between unconscious and conscious material
becomes diffuse. The practitioner is thereby enabled to collect
previously unconscious motivations and carry them forward
into conscious awareness. The physical and mental relaxation
associated with the meditative state allows for psychological
integration of previously unconscious elements (Camacho
1991:189–187; Kunkel 1943:262–288). Clearly, this solitary
ritual will not work for everyone. It requires both an
established contemplative practice and a certain amount of
psychological sophistication; but for those who possess both,
speaking also from personal experience, confessional
meditation can be a potent way to make substantial progress
on a number of fronts (e.g. spiritual, psychological and
relational) in a relatively short period of time.
Kunkel developed ‘We-psychology’ as an antidote to the
stifling emotional and intellectual entropy that often
attends prolonged egocentricity. In so doing, he suggested
that relatedness is preferable to aloneness. In Merton’s
terms, the egocentricity that was the focus of Kunkel’s
model is associated with the false self. Kunkel saw the
discovery of the true self as the goal of attempts to transform
egocentricity. People have the tendency to present facades,
based on particular social situations, so as to increase the
likelihood that they will be accepted or validated by others.
These outwardly expressed and changing presentations
(Jung’s personas) are manifestations of the false self. The
path towards emotional and spiritual maturity involves
the progressive rejection of the shallow self-projections
presented for the consumption of others, and the
identification and development of the central, integrated
identity, the true self. This self, for Kunkel, is not a
psychological self, but a holistic self that includes all
aspects of identity and spirituality. More will be discussed
about the importance and role of holism as a theoretical
position in the final section below.
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
While Jung rejected non-human spiritual agency in the
development of the human psyche, Kunkel integrated
psychodynamic psychology with a theistic spirituality and
techniques aimed at achieving his stated goal of transforming
lives. The presence of contemplative, mystical forms of
meditative practice as the bridge between conscious and
unconscious processes places spirituality at the core of
psychological maturity. Although Kunkel is not as well
known as Jung or Frankl, his ideas seem particularly well
suited to the current task of exploring the intersection
between psychology and spirituality, especially as that
liminality concerns itself with Merton’s concepts of identity,
transcending binary thinking and establishing the true self as
the archetypal best version of the individual.
Frankl: Existence, transcendence
and meaning
Viktor Frankl knew Freud and was influenced by him during
the early part of his career, but he was more closely allied
with existential psychology (e.g. see Binswanger 1963; Boss
1963; May 1958). Frankl’s work is known as the third Viennese
school in that it followed after Freud’s and Adler’s works. He
was trained as both a psychiatrist and a neurologist, and was
one of only two members of his family to survive the Nazi
death camps. Frankl’s most famous book, Man’s Search for
Meaning, portrays the ‘courageous confrontation and the
transformation of suffering that is a hallmark of existential
psychology’ (Greening 1998:10–11). It was written in only
nine days shortly after he resumed work following his
liberation from the Nazis (Langle & Sykes 2006:41). The book
has been rated as one of the ten most influential books read
by respondents in a survey conducted by the United States
Library of Congress. The following excerpt hints at the deep
experiential context of Frankl’s writing and life. It recounts
his memory of arriving at the first Nazi camp by train:
With the progressive dawn, the outlines of an immense camp
became visible: long stretches of several rows of barbed wire
fences: watch towers; searchlights; and long columns of ragged
human figures, grey in the greyness of dawn, trekking along the
straight desolate roads, to what destination we did not know.
There were isolated shouts and whistles of command. We did
not know their meaning. My imagination led me to see gallows
with people dangling on them. I was horrified, but this was just
as well, because step by step we had to become accustomed to a
terrible and immense horror. Eventually we moved into the
station. The initial silence was interrupted by shouted commands.
We were to hear those rough, shrill tones from then on, over and
over again in all the camps. Their sound was almost like the last
cry of a victim, and yet there was a difference. It had a rasping
hoarseness, as if it came from the throat of a man who had to
keep shouting like that, a man who was being murdered again
and again. (Frankl 2006:9–10)
In all, Frankl published 32 books and his writings have
been translated into 25 languages (Greening 1998:10–11).
Logotherapy was the practical application of his psychological
theory; he meant logos to imply ‘the spiritual’ or ‘the meaning’
(Frankl 1955:17). Before true change or healing can come
Open Access
Page 6 of 9
about, people must confront the loss of meaning that is
synonymous with modern human existence. He refers to this
meaninglessness as an ‘existential vacuum’, and the remedy
has to do with ‘showing the creative potentiality of a free and
responsible human spirit to achieve meaning in the face of
tragedy and despair’ (Johnson 1970:92). Frankl contrasted
logotherapy with what he saw as the manipulative and
relationally empty techniques of Freudian and Adlerian
psychotherapy; he believed that every theory of personality
or psychotherapy is based on an explicit or implicit ontology:
Logotherapy, in comparison with psychoanalysis, is a method
less retrospective and less introspective. Logotherapy focuses
rather on the future, that is to say, on the meanings to be fulfilled
by the patient in his future. (Logo-therapy, indeed, is a meaningcentered psychotherapy.) At the same time, logotherapy
defocuses all the vicious-circle formations and feedback
mechanisms which play such a great role in the development of
neuroses. Thus, the typical self-centeredness of the neurotic is
broken up instead of being continually fostered and reinforced.
(Frankl 2006:98)
Frankl approached logotherapeutic interactions as personal
and existential encounters. By contrast, he characterised the
reductionism of psychoanalysis and the objectification of
radical behaviourism as espousing what he called the
‘nothing but’ view of humanity. To say or imply that humans
are ‘nothing but’ collections of libidinal urges or that people
are motivated only by the pursuit of pleasure and the
avoidance of pain is to deny their freedom of choice. We are
just as free to overcome environmental and existential
barriers as we are to be controlled by them (Lowen 2000:55).
Frankl’s theory also evidences a sociological sensibility in
the tradition of Durkheim (1976), Weber (1963, 2005) and
Marx (Marx & Engels 1964). ‘Expressions of meaninglessness
and despair were not only individual experiences recounted
in therapy and counselling sessions, they also reflected the
consequences of greater social, economic, technological,
and political events’ (Langle & Sykes 2006:44). Addressing
the existential vacuum in the lives of his patients was
intimately related to confronting the larger sociopolitical
conditions of life. This paradigm is in contrast to Jung’s
intensely intra-personal approach to self-development.
Kunkel, although his approach is more holistic than Jung’s
approach, was still focused squarely on the mind, spirit
and emotions of the individual. By taking a more collective
view of human suffering and healing, Frankl moves away
from an exclusively psychological stance towards a more
inclusive and flexible epistemology. As will be seen in the
final section, epistemological flexibility is a prerequisite
for engaging in truly integrative and interdisciplinary
work, both in one’s personal development and in offering
help to others through pastoral care, spiritual direction or
counselling.
Frankl speaks of a ‘will-to-meaning’: ‘that which most deeply
inspires and pervades man; … the innate, albeit often
unconscious and sometimes even repressed, desire to give as
much meaning as possible to one’s life, to realise as many
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
values as possible’ (Frankl 1955:17). This construct addresses
the volitional and ontological substrate of human nature; the
currency of this meaning is spirituality. Logotherapy is
directed at the spirit and at the spiritual work of regeneration
(Frankl 1956:20). Frankl was Jewish, but did not attach any
particular religious understanding to his public views on
spirituality. He saw meaning as a spiritual need, and left the
door open for practitioners and clients to apply their own
religious overlay to the existential raw material he uncovered.
As most of Frankl’s medical colleagues did not share his
penchant for integrating philosophy and spirituality into
clinical practice, he frequently included arguments in his
books and articles that were aimed at justifying his holistic
view of human nature and healing cures. The following is an
example:
It is philosophical dilettantism to rule out … the existence of a
divine being on the ground that the idea of God arose out of
primitive man’s fear of powerful natural forces. It is equally false
to judge the worth of a work of art by the fact that the artist
created it in, say, a psychotic phase of his life … It is throwing out
the baby with the bathwater to repudiate the inner validity and
the unique value of an artistic creation or religious experience
simply because these may be used by an individual for his own
neurotic purposes, or by a culture for its own decadent ends.
(Frankl 1956:59–60)
Without meaning, humanity is ontologically bankrupt and
suffering is pointless. Spirituality implies transcendence and
people can only become their true selves by transcending
their humanity. ‘Transcendence is the essence of existence’
(Frankl 1962:100). Whether applied to borrowed and wornout personas (Jung), blocks in psychological awareness
(Kunkel), or being caught in a cycle of meaningless existence
(Frankl), transcendence is a thread that can be followed
through all four of the thinkers considered here. As we have
seen, Merton uses the idea of transcendence as his method of
choice for eschewing the many spiritual and theological
problems that come about as a result of binary thinking.
For Frankl, freedom comes when we partake of some
context, some way of knowing, that is separate from our
self-same, insular identity. The true self, by the extension of
Frankl’s views into the language that metaphor, can be
defined as the portion of personal psychological structure
that remains when sufficient confrontation with the
existential vacuum has cleared away the chaff of the false
self. Existential psychology tends to take a harsh and realitybased approach to human development. Frankl’s system is
no exception. His route towards the true self travels through
pain, suffering and angst. By definition, false personas
cannot withstand the demands of truth. The heroic task of
advancing through life with one’s eyes open and without
discarding the freedom to choose produces a meaning-rich
and sanctified life imbued by the true self.
Epistemological flexibility, holism
and practical applications
If identity, transcendence and the true self are themes
that run through the foregoing, what can be learnt from
Open Access
Page 7 of 9
considering them? What new trail can be cleared through the
very old forest of thinking about integration? I would like to
suggest that it is the combination of psychological and spiritual
considerations that is particularly compelling. Each of us
approaches the imaginary line between the two disciplines
with our own set of presuppositions and prejudices.
Although this cannot be avoided, an awareness of personal,
epistemological blind spots is indispensable. In a similar way
to how individuals grow based on new psychospiritual
insight and awareness, scholars, psychologists, theologians
and clergy are able to metabolise more inclusive integrative
thinking as they expose themselves to alternatives not
previously considered. The relationship between researchers,
their chosen methodology, their subjects and the new
knowledge they create has been investigated in this context
(Haynes 2010:36). In particular, when there is a pre-existing
epistemological divide between researchers and subjects
(as when Western scholars conduct research on non-Western
participants), flexibility in both thought and method allows
for learning to take place amongst the teachers. This learning,
and the adjustments and allowances that result from it,
makes both the design and the results of the study more
responsive to the participants as they actually exist in the
world, rather than to the researcher’s predetermined, culturebound and possibly fear-based presuppositions about the
‘problem’ under consideration.
The same critique can be applied to the study of the
intersection of psychology and spirituality. Interdisciplinarity
requires openness, awareness and flexibility not only because
of turf disputes between academic fields but also because of
personal values and beliefs about our own and ‘the other’
disciplines. Many psychologists believe that spirituality
exists only in the mind or brain. Many religious individuals
question the philosophical foundations of psychological
theories. I have found that inclusive and synergistic thinking
across the psychology or spirituality line is particularly
fraught with hidden snares not evident elsewhere (as with
interdisciplinary studies within the social sciences). The gap
here is wider and harder to traverse. This being the case,
those who wish to explore this rich area are well advised to
engage in a moment of self-reflection before proceeding.
One of the definitions of ‘holism’ is that the whole is somehow
greater than the sum of its parts. Holistic thought, the
opposite of the reductionism characteristic of the scientific
method, is applied in many areas, including human
development. ‘Applying this theorem epistemologically, we
could say that a holistic view is greater than the sum of the
specialised views that contribute to it’ (Haynes 2009:53).
There is something about looking at both psychological and
spiritual ways of interpreting and understanding human
experience that enriches the process beyond what could have
been gleaned from either perspective used exclusively.
Practical application: A vignette
As an illustration of this point, consider Karen (name altered),
a 33–year-old woman, mother of two young children,
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
housewife, and churchgoer. Over the course of approximately
one year, she begins to feel very disillusioned with her life.
She loves her family, and she enjoys her friends at church, but
she just feels like something is missing. She does not know
what it is, but she feels compelled to find it; therefore, she
decides to make an appointment with her pastor to talk about
her despondency, foreshortened sense of the future and
general unhappiness. She also feels embarrassed that she
feels this way. Her pastor, a well-meaning man with Bible
training but without any formal education or training in
counselling, suggests that she should increase her personal
prayer, spend more time reading the scriptures and be more
involved in church activities. She tries this for about six
months, and feels closer to God as a result. Her social
connections also improve as she becomes more involved
with other ladies at her church, but her gnawing feeling that
something is missing from her life is only intensified by her
re-dedication to religious and spiritual practice.
She learns about a spiritual director at another local church
and decides to try spiritual direction. Her director encourages
her to investigate how God might be showing up in her life in
unexpected ways, or how God might be calling her to some
new realisation or practice. The director introduces her to a
few spiritual techniques Karen had not previously been
aware of, and suggests a book about contemplative
meditation. She finds this extremely helpful, and integrates
some contemplative practices into her personal devotions.
She prays to know what God might be leading her towards in
this journey of dryness and disillusionment, and comes to
realise that she is travelling through a ‘dark night’. This helps
her to see her current plight of spiritual aridity as something
God is allowing her to go through for the purpose of making
her stronger, and she takes joy in the knowledge that,
eventually, she will again experience God’s consolation.
Several months later, still in the dark night, she begins
experiencing intrusive and obsessive thoughts about
drowning her youngest child. It comes up especially when
she bathes the child, but at other times as well. She is very
embarrassed about this and thinks she might be ‘going
crazy’. In no way can she interpret these thoughts as having
anything to do with spiritual purgation, and she is afraid
even to tell her director about them. Her anxiety about
these thoughts affects her sleep, and her insomnia makes
the thoughts and her general mood worse. On the advice of
her best friend and her husband, she seeks professional
counselling. The counsellor, after about 30 minutes of
questioning, diagnoses her with acute anxiety and
recommends a medication evaluation. This evaluation
results in a prescription for an anti-anxiety agent, which
she takes and which causes substantial relief, both of the
intrusive thoughts about her youngest child and of her
negative outlook on the future. Subsequent counselling
sessions reveal a tendency towards perfectionism in Karen,
and resulting anxiety and low self-esteem when she fails to
meet unattainable standards. This state of affairs was the
result of growing up with an alcoholic father who was
Open Access
Page 8 of 9
unpredictable and sometimes violent. The only way Karen
knew to avoid her father’s displeasure was to be ‘perfect’
and that became her coping strategy. Her inability to be
perfect produced anxiety which, unacknowledged and
untreated for many years, eventually escaped her control in
the form of unacceptable and intrusive thoughts.
This extended vignette is offered as an attempt to show the
complicated web that can be created between one person’s
life experience and the various practitioners she seeks out.
None of these practitioners did anything ‘wrong’ based on
their own professional standards, but the care Karen received
was quite different in each setting. Her pastor offered a
religious cure, her director a spiritual one, her counsellor a
psychological one, and her physician a biological one. Which
was the best? Which did she really need? All of them.
Now envision a practitioner who had successfully crossed
the line between spiritual or religious and psycho-emotional
explanations, conceptualisations and applications. Because
she (the practitioner) has previously confronted her own
epistemological and ontological issues, interdisciplinary
thinking has become a natural part of her approach to others,
that is, a part of her identity, of her true self. Because of her
holistic view of human and spiritual needs and development,
she is able to contextualise the spiritual, religious,
psychological and physical facets of Karen’s presentation.
She can support and encourage Karen’s church involvement
and religious identity; she can emphasise the acceptability of
questioning and challenging the spiritual status quo in search
of deeper meaning and more accurate self-assessment; she
can assess Karen’s tendency towards dealing with both
internal and external stress by developing symptoms of
anxiety; and she can embolden Karen to care for her physical
body, including taking required medication.
Clearly, the transcendence of dualistic thinking, a redefinition
of identity and an exploration of the true self are evident in
this vignette, both in the practitioner and in Karen. Without
having previously transcended the dichotomy between
spirituality and psychology, the practitioner cannot approach
Karen with a healing perspective that is integrated. Without
her own personal practice aimed at uncovering her true self
and distinguishing it from the false, she cannot model this
process to Karen. Whether she focuses on Karen’s budding
contemplative spiritual practice (Merton), her lack of
individuation (Jung), her impaired relatedness and
egocentricity (Kunkel) or her existential struggle with the big
questions of life (Frankl), she cannot impart a solution that
she has not personally experienced herself.
Implications
Original Research
framework, regardless of their underlying theoretical
orientation. Client homework assignments could include
reading and reflection on spiritual texts dealing with the true
and false selves. This sort of bibliotherapy has the advantage
of translating complex psychological processes into nontechnical, accessible and inspiring language. Spiritual
directors and pastoral counsellors can add psychological
writings focused on the self, identity development and
transcendence to their own preparation as a way of deepening
their ability to facilitate spiritual transformation. Although
directors and clergy trained in counselling receive some
exposure to psychological theories and techniques as part of
their study, becoming immersed in Kunkel or Frankl for a
time would likely refresh and enliven their epistemological
flexibility and holistic worldview.
One reason individuals tend not to grow emotionally or
spiritually after adolescence is that the necessities of life
crowd out attempts at self-improvement. Contextualising
spirituality within human identity and using metaphors
like transcendence and the true self can make continued
development more accessible to busy and under-resourced
people. Because these themes are based on a wealth of
spiritual and psychological thought and practice, they have
the substance to sustain and rejuvenate depth and meaning.
Because of their epistemological flexibility and holistic focus,
these concepts can be applied in non-Western contexts.
Future work in this area might focus the themes of this
study on a particular cultural, social, psychological or
religious issue.
Acknowledgements
Competing interests
The author declares that he has no financial or personal
relationships which may have inappropriately influenced
him in writing this article.
References
Barrow, H., 1988, ‘Book review: Creation continues’, Monastic Interreligious Dialogue
32 (May).
Binswanger, L., 1963, Being-in-the-world: Selected papers of Ludwig Binswanger,
Basic Books, New York.
Boss, M., 1963, Psychoanalysis and daseinanalysis, Basic Books, New York.
Buber, M., 1988, ‘Religion and modern thinking’, in M. Buber (ed.), Eclipse of God:
Studies in the relation between religion and philosophy, Ch. 5, pp. 53–81,
Humanities Press International, Atlantic Highlands, NJ.
Camacho, H.S., 1991, ‘A synthesis of Moltmann’s archetypal Christology with Jung’s
God-image archetype: A theological psychology for pastoral counseling and
psychotherapy’, PhD thesis, School of Theology at Claremont, Claremont, CA,
viewed 11 June 2015, from http://search.proquest.com/docview/303969723
Durkheim, E., 1976, The elementary forms of the religious life, The Free Press,
New York.
Finley, J., 1999, Merton’s palace of nowhere, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN.
Depending on one’s particular field and training, the
practical steps to be taken in implementing the
recommendations above will look quite different. Spiritually
oriented psychotherapists, especially when working with
clients open to contemplative practice, can use the true
self metaphor as a readily understandable and explainable
http://www.hts.org.za
Frankl, V., 1955, ‘Concept of man in psychotherapy’, Pastoral Psychology 6 (Nov),
16–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01791329
Frankl, V., 1956, ‘From psychotherapy to logotherapy’, Pastoral Psychology 7, 56–60.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01564772
Frankl, V., 1962, ‘Psychiatry and man’s quest for meaning’, Journal of Religion and
Health 1, 93–103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01532076
Frankl, V., 2006, Man’s search for meaning, Beacon Press, Boston, MA.
Greening, T., 1998, ‘Viktor Frankl, 1905–1997’, Journal of Humanistic Psychology
38(1), 10–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00221678980381002
Open Access
Page 9 of 9
Haynes, C., 2009, ‘Holistic human development’, Journal of Adult Development 16(1),
53–60, viewed 11 June 2015, from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/
s10804-009-9052-4
Haynes, C., 2010, ‘A case for flexible epistemology and metamethodology in
religious fundamentalism research’, Integral Review 6(3), 36–56, viewed 11 June
2015, from http://integral-review.org/documents/Haynes,%20Religious%20
Fundamentalism%20Research,%20Vol.%206,%20No.%203.pdf
Johnson, P.E., 1970, ‘The will to meaning: Foundations and applications of
logotherapy’, Journal of Religion and Health 9, 91–93.
Jung, C., 1959, ‘The relations between the ego and the unconscious’, in V. Staub De
Laszlo (ed.), The basic writings of C. G. Jung, pp. 105–182, Random House,
New York.
Jung, C., 1971, ‘Religionless Christianity’, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
39(1), 43–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/XXXIX.1.43
Kunkel, F., 1943, In search of maturity, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York.
Kunkel, F., 1984, ‘The “we experience”’, in J. Sanford (ed.), Fritz Kunkel: Selected
writings, pp. 66–73, Paulist Press, New York.
Langle, A. & Sykes, B.M., 2006, ‘Viktor Frankl – Advocate for humanity: On his 100th
birthday’, Journal of Humanistic Psychology 46(1), 36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/
0022167805281150
Lowen, J., 2000, ‘Viktor Frankl, the champion of humanness’, Free Inquiry 21(1), 55.
Maddi, S., 1989, Personality theories: A comparative approach, 5th edn., Dorsey,
Homewood, IL.
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
Marx, K. & Engels, F., 1964, On religion, Schocken Books, New York.
May, R., 1958, ‘Contributions of existential psychotherapy’, in R. May & E. Angel (eds.),
Existence: A new dimension in psychiatry and psychology, Basic Books, New York.
Merton, T., 1972, New seeds of contemplation, New Directions, New York.
Merton, T., 2003, The inner experience: Notes on contemplation, HarperSanFrancisco,
San Francisco, CA.
Pramuk, C., 2008, ‘“Something breaks through a little”: The marriage of Zen and
Sophia in the life of Thomas Merton’, Buddhist – Christian Studies 28, 67, viewed
11 June 2015, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30152928?seq=1#page_scan_
tab_contents
Reilly, R. & Thompson, P.M., 2008, ‘Thomas Merton on the contemplative life and
personhood’, Cithara 48(1), 22–30.
Rohr, R., 2014, ‘Dualistic Thinking’ in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, viewed 26 April
2016, from http://conta.cc/1e50I6U
Sanford, J., 1984, ‘Fritz Kunkel: Alive today’, Inward Light XLVI(100), Views and
Reviews, 1-3.
Steere, D., 1985, ‘Fritz Kunkel: Selected writings’, Theology Today 42(1), 150.
Stephens, B.D., 2001, ‘The Martin Buber-Carl Jung disputations: Protecting the sacred
in the battle for the boundaries of analytical psychology’, Journal of Analytical
Psychology 46, 455–491. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1465-5922.00257
Weber, M., 1963, The sociology of religion, Beacon Press, Boston, MA.
Weber, M., 2005, The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, Routledge, London.
Open Access