Can We Distinguish and Measure Self-Transcendent States?

Try to recall a time when you felt truly at peace, content. Perhaps you also had a strong sense of connection with others, with nature, and even the world. These can be the most meaningful, impactful, and transformative experiences in our lives, but they have for a long time been hard to define and research by science.

Such experiences are often described as self-transcendent— states of diminished self-other boundaries and unity beyond self and immediate circles of relationships. The deepest of these states are often referred to as non-dual because the sense of subject-object duality, the constant me-other dynamic, is thought to dissolve in these states.

A new era of research on self-transcendent states

In the past self-transcendent states have often been considered somewhat "esoteric" and "elusive." However, the interest from researchers and clinicians in these states has been growing over the last two decades. One reason for this shift is the discovery that such states can have therapeutic effects on addictions, depression, and anxiety.

For example, one study examined the role of self-transcendent states in recovery from addictions. Long-term opioid users took part in a Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) program. Their self-transcendent experiences increased during meditation sessions and were linked to increased brain oscillations in the theta range in frontal midline brain regions. Opioid use reduced after the program, mediated by these brain changes.

Different kinds of self-transcendent states

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However, self-transcendent states can also be a bit of a "mixed bag." In some of these states, one can have a stronger experience of self-dissolution than in others. In yet another group of states, a sense of compassionate connection with others can be predominant. And in some cases, the self-transcendent experiences can actually be anxiety-inducing.

Therefore, in my lab, we tried to make and examine more nuanced distinctions across these states. To start with, we specified what the different types of self-transcendent states share. They all seem to shift our sense of self, who we are, and how we perceive the world around us. In this way, they change the perception we have of our existence. Hence, we use the term "modes of existential awareness," or MEAs, for these states.

To distinguish different types of MEAs, we have built both on Western research and on traditional Buddhist psychology. The writings in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of Dzogchen were particularly helpful in distinguishing deeper MEAs. In the end, we proposed a taxonomy of 15 MEAs grouped into three categories: positive, negative, and incomplete MEAs.

Initial positive MEAs are states such as decentering in which one is able to view one’s thoughts and emotions as transient experiences rather than solid facts. Widening of perspective on self is another positive MEA; it can be described as having a diminished sense of self and greater connection with others, beyond personal relationships. Cognitive deconstruction of self is a positive MEA that arises when one develops an insight into their sense of self being built up by experiences, memories, narratives, thoughts, and emotions. The deepest positive MEAs describe experiences of emptiness of self and non-duality.

In contrast, negative MEAs are states such as the "sticky mind," when we closely identify with our thoughts and emotions as facts reflecting who we are. Cognitive self-construing is another negative MEA—it is characterised by a fixed sense of self based on our narratives, memories, thoughts, experiences, and lack of insight into its constructed nature. Incomplete MEAs share some characteristics with the positive MEAs but not all of them. They are mostly spontaneous experiences of emptiness of self or non-duality that are not recognised as such and are unstable.

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Measuring MEAs

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After specifying the differences across the 15 MEAs, the next step was to develop a measure to enable further research on this new range of self-transcendent states. These states are usually measured via standard questionnaires that ask about the states' "features"—such as feelings of unity, oneness, egolessness, or bliss. However, the traditional Buddhist literature often describes these states, particularly the deepest MEAs of emptiness of self or non-duality, as "holistic states" one is either experiencing or not, so they can’t be divided into separate features.

To capture this "holistic" nature of MEAs, I developed brief scenarios describing each of the 15 states. Based on feedback from meditation practitioners and researchers, these scenarios were further adjusted and shortened. In the end, this set of 15 scenarios became a new measure of self-transcendent states— The Inventory of Modes of Existential Awareness (IMEA).

In this measure, participants are asked if they ever experienced each of the 15 MEAs described in the scenarios. If they did, they answer three further questions asking how often they experienced an MEA over the last week within and outside of meditation and whether they are able to enter each MEA at will. (For negative and incomplete MEAs, they are asked only the first two questions.)

MEAs, mental health, and well-being

Our initial study assessed the IMEA measure with 97 meditation practitioners. We found that meditators were able to distinguish the different MEAs and positive MEAs were experienced significantly more often than negative and incomplete MEAs. In addition, positive MEAs, except for widening of perspective on self, were most often experienced within meditation, whereas negative MEAs were experienced outside of meditation.

In the same sample, we have also tested the relationship between MEAs and established measures of decentering, psychological well-being, mindfulness, meditation depth, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. We found that most positive MEAs were linked to higher scores on all these measures other than neuroticism (lower neuroticism was linked to a higher frequency of positive MEA experiences). Negative MEAs showed the opposite pattern, and there were no significant effects for incomplete MEAs.

Future avenues for research on self-transcendence

Altogether, these findings show that we can now indeed distinguish and measure a range of self-transcendent states. This may enable us to examine brain changes associated with these states with more nuance. We may now also be able to explore whether practitioners progressively enter deeper MEAs with long-term practice. In addition, we can also start investigating whether some of these states arise earlier than others during child and adolescent development.

All this research can also be linked back to the mental health and well-being effects of these states and interventions that can foster them. As a result, self-transcendent and non-dual states of awareness may become much less elusive and their potential more fully harnessed. It is also possible that in the current age of AI and polarisation, these states may need to play a wider role, in fostering our sense of connectedness and humanity.