ABSTRACT
In this essay, we use the term ‘transpersonalism’ to convey what is common across a range of approaches that are designated as ‘transpersonal’. Examples would be transpersonal psychology (Friedman and Hartelius 2013), transpersonal anthropology (Laughlin, McManus and Shearer 1983), and transpersonal ecology (Fox 1990). With this in mind, an immediate distinction between spirituality and transpersonalism becomes clear: whilst the former refers to an individual’s personal search for meaning, the latter is more concerned with ways of knowing, especially when this involves scholarly approaches with their rigorous criteria.
