ABSTRACT
During a sudden I-am-I experience, a child looks at itself in surprise. But I have also received memories in which a child or young person felt the I gets absorbed into something ‘higher’, something which actually far transcends the self. It was still a sudden event, but not exactly like the experiences I was looking for. It is not that I consider those experiences less important than those I have described in the previous chapters. But I cannot categorize them as insights with general applicability. As a psychologist, those patterns in childhood development are what I am looking for. Everyone develops self-awareness, and I am looking at how this suddenly breaks through in some children. Transcendent experiences are in fact too personal to be able to be categorized. Many people do not experience them, and there is great variety among the people who do. Everyone experiences ‘the transcendent sensation’ differently. I do want to give a few examples, however, because they are beautiful.
