Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos.
Abraham Maslow
Hmm! Do you see the evolutionary expansion of consciousness in that quote above? Can you see how the focus expands from relating to the needs of a "little me", to others...than to humans at large, from there to all beings, to nature, and finally to the universe as one? That's yoga. Who would have thought Maslow was a yogi?
Most of us wouldn't consider this "transcendence" as part of the pyramid we might have studied or found ourselves scurrying up. Abraham Maslow, a brilliant humanistic psychologist and anthropologist, devised a hierarchy of needs in his early work. Others have taken those ideas and comprised them in a 5 tiered pyramid. The pyramid, from bottom to top, looks like this: 1. Basic physiological needs( the needs of the body: food, water, rest, etc.); 2. Safety and security needs (shelter, freedom from violence and physical harm); 3. Love and belonging needs (nurturing, fitting in, being a part of the pack, a sense of being loved and cared for); 4. Esteem needs( respect from others based on status, recognition, prestige, fame and attention, leading to confidence ) and 5. Self-actualization needs (the achievement of 'success' in socially ascribed roles: Getting a partner, having kids, development of certain talents and abilities that set us apart from others, career; and finally, the pursuit and acheivement of socially approved goals).
Hmm! It is obviously based on the building and protection of the human body and personality. For that reason, I often had a very challenging time with that pyramid, especially after I began to wake up from that way of being I was once overly attached to. I had a particularly hard time with the fourth tier: Esteem. I can relate my idea of the "redeemer ego" to this tier. Isn't that what we do with self-esteem building? Build Redeemer egos that others will respect and approve of? Isn't it this approval that allows us to move onto the earlier definition of self-actualization? (Notice that self has a lower case 's').
This esteem building and therefore 'self' building is very comparative, depending on where we rank with others on society's scale of judgement. Yet, this is what most of us ascribe to- seeking this 'esteem' so we can move on to self-actualization by being as "good as" or "better than" others. The top of this pyramid, we tell ourselves, must be the pinnacle of mental and social health and we pursue it.
This model, obviously feeds and builds an ego...the psyche, the personality and not the soul. The actualization is of the little 'self', the ego
Few people know, however, that Maslow revisited and revised this model in his later years when he himself began to wake up a bit. He self criticized his earlier perspectives and began to see a little deeper beyond the self to the Self, beyond self-esteem to Self-worth. He saw how we could transcend into a non-comparative relationship with all!
Many of us would fail miserably on Maslow's earlier criteria. We would have a hard time pulling ourselves up to the proverbial self-actualization peak. In comparison to others, we would fall short. I know I would! I certainly didn't get the esteem and respect from others I sought out to get. I certainly didn't meet the social expectations I set myself against! Despite all my effort to gain "outer world" esteem so I could redeem this "little me", even despite the things I did achieve...I found myself, like some cartoon figure, sliding down the side of the pyramid with nails screeching all the way to the bottom....again and again and again.
When I look beyond self esteem to true Self-worth, my new polestar at the top of another pyramid, I slide down a little less. Thanks to Eckhart Tolle, I am reminded of how my so-called failures to maintain Esteem and self-actualization according to the old model are helping me to gain success according to the new model.
Awaken to your essence identity...the only true success (all those failures you suddenly realize brought you to the point of awakening...It was all good...It all makes sense...obviously you needed it to awaken...that is success...not what the world tells you. ET
There is always so much challenge in this sense of not measuring up to some social standard, isn't there? We fail to realize, however, that challenge can be the stepping stone needed to take us to the only success that truly matters.
True self worth is not comparative at all. It comes directly from the being that you are...the sacredness of Life itself.
Eckhart Tolle
All is well
Eckhart Tolle (June, 2025) Being the Space of Awareness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttj9sKOROeE
Wikepedia (n.d. ) Maslow's heirarchy of needs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs
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