Transpersonal Development: The Dimension Beyond Psychosynthesis

by Roberto Assagioli

This is a revised translation (2008) of the classic book by Assagioli.
Roberto Assagioli was born in Venice in 1888. As a young medical student he introduced the discoveries of Sigmund Freud to his professors. However, he saw that psychoanalysis neglected the exploration of what Maslow, some sixty years later, would call 'the farther reaches of human nature'.

Assagioli was ahead of his time and was not recognized until the late sixties when Psychosynthesis, his famous contribution to human understanding, was taken up by thousands of people around the world.

Psychosynthesis, a practical therapy designed to help people achieve their full potential, evolved out of fifty years of Roberto Assagioli's psychospiritual reflections. The gems of this rich collection are presented here in Transpersonal Development.

Part One describes the reality of the superconscious. Part Two delves into the problems and difficulties experienced on the spiritual path. Part three deals with the everyday application of those insights gained in the process of spiritual awakening.

The inspiring message of this book is that transpersonal development is not just for the exceptional few. It is possible for everybody. Assagioli gives practical guidelines to help people achieve the goal. He presents a vision of the integration of cultural, scientific, and human aspects which can give birth to a new humanity.

Genres: Psychology, Spirituality, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Roberto Assagioli (born Roberto Marco Grego; 1888-1974) was an Italian psychiatrist and pioneer in the fields of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Assagioli founded the psychological movement known as Psychosynthesis, which is still being developed today by therapists and psychologists, who practice the psychological methods and techniques he developed. His work, expounded in two books and many monographs published as pamphlets, emphasized the possibility of progressive integration, or synthesis, of the personality.

Assagioli did not like to discuss his personal life, as he preferred to be remembered for his scientific work. Very few biographical accounts on the life of Assagioli are available, and most are not written in English.

Assagioli came from a middle-class Jewish background. He was born under the name Roberto Marco Grego, however, his biological father died when Assagioli was two years old and his mother remarried to Alessandro Emanuele Assagioli soon afterward. Assagioli was exposed to many creative outlets at a young age, such as art and music, which were believed to have inspired his work in Psychosynthesis. By the age of 18, he had learned eight different languages, namely Italian (his native tongue), English, French, Russian, Greek, Latin, German, and Sanskrit. It was at this age he also began to travel, mainly to Russia, where he learned about social systems and politics.

In 1922 he married a young woman named Nella Ciapetti, and they had one son together, Ilario Assagioli.

In 1940, Assagioli was arrested and imprisoned by Benito Mussolini’s Fascist government, having been accused of "praying for peace and inviting others to join him along with other international crimes." [2] He was placed in a solitary cell in Regina Coeli prison for 27 nights until he was released and returned to his family. During World War II, his family’s farm in Florence, Italy was destroyed, and both he and his family went into hiding in the Catenaia Alps (in the province of Arezzo) and in the Upper Tiber Valley. His son died at the age of 28 from lung disease, which was accredited to severe stress from the harsh living conditions during the war. Once the war ended, he returned to his work and began his legacy, known as Psychosynthesis.

The years after the war were relatively calm, and it was during this time that he founded various foundations dedicated to Psychosynthesis in Europe and North America. Assagioli lived a long and prosperous life and had a happy forty year marriage until he died at age 86 on 23 August 1974. The cause of his death was unknown.

Reviews

[anarcho · Rating 1 out of 5]

This appears to be a very outdated book (mostly written in the 1930s). It is a collection of essays, texts, and talks by Assagioli.

The entire book was very difficult for me to parse and near impossible to read fluidly. It gets slightly easier after about a hundred pages, though not by much. The undeveloped chapters in the appendix, in my opinion, could be omitted. Having finished the book, I still don't have a good understanding of what psychosynthesis is, or indeed, what Assagioli’s central philosophy is.

The Divine Comedy is quoted repeatedly and excessively. A number of other quotations are strange and discombobulating. Staunch atheists will struggle with this book - themes of Christianity run throughout, and there is an entire chapter dedicated to a gospel. The writing comes across dogmatic at times; a regurgitation of Vedic and Buddhist philosophy and Christianity. Disappointingly, after struggling through this faith-related material, the point being made often remains unclear or simply weak.

Instead of reading this book, I would recommend the following, as they capture the concepts Assagioli wanted to express (per my understanding) in a much more practical and modern manner:

- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety by Alan Watts
- The Bhagavad Gita (which is quoted)
- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda

I have been recommended Psychosynthesis: The Elements and Beyond by Will Parfitt as a clearer alternative to grasping psychosynthesis.

[Bardon Kaldian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assagioli's 3rd book, "Transpersonal Development" is the masterwork/compendium of the Western spiritual tradition. In this, Neoplatonic tradition, as exemplified by Dante, St.John of the Cross or St. Theresa, the psyche/soul as a whole journeys towards Spiritual Self which is the manifestation of God, similar to a wave in the ocean. I would say that it is more representative of Assagioli's personal spiritual journey, than being a guide to self-actualization & realization - unlike "Psychosynthesis" and "The Act of Will". Moreover: I'd say that it remains questionable whether it can be judged as a complement to the previous books or is an "aberration" in a sense that it presents methodology in some ways contrary to that exposed in previous books.

Bucke's old "Cosmic Consciousness", Gerda Walther's "Phenomenology of Mysticism" or Underhill's "Mysticism" are, in my opinion, stronger works on the same topic.

[Luca Pittioni]

Il libro è una guida utile per le persone che sentono il bisogno di andare oltre uno stile di vita ordinario e comune alla maggioranza dei cittadini attraverso la salita interiore nel mondo transpersonale e spirituale. Nel saggio Assagioli descrive gli ostacoli posti dagli istinti e attaccamenti delle persone allo sviluppo spirituale ed indica alcuni simboli e metodi della psicosintesi che invece facilitano l'evoluzione sana degli esseri umani. Il libro è utile anche alle persone che hanno una formazione in counseling o psicosintesi.

[Psychosynthesisfan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definetly must read this book.... In the meantime i read a website about psychosynthesis