Individual and communal transpersonal experience: Connections and commonalities in transpersonal process

Transpersonal experiences in individuals of varying worldviews are a common occurrence. Such experiences also occur in certain communities. Having experienced the transpersonal serendipitously as an individual and as a member of my online learning community, Cohort 11 of the California Institute of Integral Studies, Transformational Learning and Change program, I developed an interest in the process of transpersonal consciousness and its relation to both individual and communal experience, leading to my question of how this process of individual trans-egoic experience parallels the process observed in an online communal setting.; The members of Cohort 11 constitute the participants of this inquiry, as it was with that group that I shared communal experiences reminiscent of my individual experiences.; In this dissertation, I engaged this individual and communal phenomenon of subtle but demonstrable power through hermeneutical inquiry within Rosemarie Anderson's (2001) "Intuitive Inquiry" methodology. This methodology emphasizes non-cognitive ways of knowing, transpersonal process, identification and clarification of assumptions, and gentle, compassionate hermeneutical inquiry using those clarified assumptions. This research methodology aligned well with the ephemeral nature of an inquiry into the process of transpersonal experience.; Data collection and analysis took place in two stages. The initial stage consisted of eleven open-ended interview questions concerning individual and (shared) communal transpersonal experiences, possible causes or explanations, and an opportunity for the respondents to identify their worldview or stage of consciousness upon first meeting as Cohort 11. The second data collection stage consisted of a Likert Scale questionnaire assessing the degree of participant alignment with a series of findings statements derived from the interpretation of the first stage responses. Additionally, the second round of data collection included a co-created poem intended to engage the respondents in the identified common transpersonal process.; The methodology employed characterizes the findings. Regardless of worldview and whether individual or communal, transpersonal experiences share a common dynamic process that holds paradox without recourse to established assumptions, impels ontological permeability, and values compassionate participative knowing.