25 Jan Transpersonal Psychology’s Ascending Line in Popular Culture
In his early work, Wilber contrasted various paths of personal and spiritual development as of which he termed the ascending line. He created graphs comparing the work of Piaget, Aurobindo, Grof, Buddhism, Kohlberg, Maslow, Vedanta, the chakra system, and others (note: all lines developed by White and Asian men) as lines of hierarchal development. He ranked the systems in the order he felt they were effective methods, and he assigned individuals to levels of development as he saw fit.
Wilber theorized that the ascending line was post-axial, i.e. began during the Axial Age, 500-300 BCE. This was the era of the birth of the major religious and spiritual traditions of Europe, as well as the beginnings of cognitive thought. The history of the ascending line is the rise of organized religions with their hierarchical structure. Daniels (2005) lists other characteristics of the ascending line as: vertical, a ladder, power over, yang, transcendence, evolution, progress, spirit (vs. the body), ascetic mysticism, the head (vs. the heart), consciousness, wisdom, reason, the ego, solitariness, agency, independence, male (vs. female), patriarchal, God (vs. goddess), the sky father, and wings (vs. roots).
Psychological theories that champion the ascending line would be Assagioli’s Psychosynthesis, Maslow’s Hierarchy, Cognitive-Behavioral therapies, and Positive Psychology.
It seems helpful to understand developmental psychology in hierarchical terms, as it is easy to see that adolescent are more mature than children, and that hopefully adults are even more mature. A handy guide for conventional development may seem useful, but after that, what the definition is of optimal development varies. It does not always coincide with the views of the dominant, white, male culture.
While the tenets of the ascending line have brought material progress, it has concurrently created a host of problems: the privileging of white men, the denigration of women, the destruction of the earth and its resources, the dearth of BIPOC knowledge, and what might be termed the loss of enchantment.
Unfortunately, Wilber did not see the ascending line as being balanced by the descending line, but rather that it was superior and more advanced.
Wilber, K. (1977). The Spectrum of Consciousness. Quest Books
Wilber, K. (1979). No Boundary. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
© 2023 Catherine Auman
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