NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in
The Concept of Self in Psychology, Nova Publishing. Changes resulting from the
publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and
other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may
have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive
version was subsequently published in Travis, F.T. (2006) From I To I: Concepts of Self
on an Object-Referral/ Self-Referral Continuum, In A. P. Prescott, Ed. The Concept of Self
in Psychology, Nova Publishing
FROM I TO I:
CONCEPTS OF SELF ON A
OBJECT-REFERRAL/ SELF-REFERRAL CONTINUUM
Fred Travis
Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition
Maharishi University of Management
1000 North Fourth Street, FM 1001
Fairfield, IA 52557
641 472 7000 x 3309 (phone)
641 472 1123 (fax)
Email: ftravis@mum.edu
Key words: Self, Transcendental Meditation, self-referral, object-referral, levels of mind,
cognition
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
ABSTRACT
Concepts of self in the 100-year history of psychology can be placed along an objectreferral/self-referral continuum. For instance, William James’s self-as-known, or “me,” is
more object-referral and his self-as-knower, or “I,” is more self-referral. Current neural
imaging studies have investigated 3rd person-perspectives of self (object-referral) and 1st
person-perspectives of self (self-referral).
The object-referral/self-referral continuum is based on analysis of individuals practicing
the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique. This meditation technique from the Vedic
tradition of India takes the attention from surface perception and thinking, to more abstract
levels of thought, to a level of pure self-awareness at the source of thought. Our research
has yielded subjective and objective markers of the experience of pure self-awareness or
content-free self-awareness. Subjectively, pure self-awareness is characterized by the
absence of time, space and body sense. Time, space and body-sense are the framework for
waking experiences. During the experience of pure self-awareness, this framework that
gives meaning to waking consciousness is absent. Objectively, pure self-awareness is
characterized by spontaneous periods, 10-40 sec long, of slow inhalation along with
heightened brain wave coherence. These data support the Vedic descriptions of pure selfawareness as “the fourth”—a state of consciousness in addition to waking, dreaming and
sleeping.
Our research has also yielded subjective and objective characteristics of the permanent
integration of pure self-awareness with customary experiences during waking, dreaming,
and sleeping. This state has been traditionally called enlightenment. A content analysis of
inner experiences of these subjects and two comparison groups has yielded descriptions of
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
the ends of this object-referral/self-referral continuum. On the object-referral end,
individuals described themselves in terms of cognitive and behavioral processes. They
exhibited lower values of the consciousness factor, lower frontal EEG coherence during
tasks, lower alpha and higher gamma power during tasks, and less efficient cortical
preparatory. In contrast, individuals reporting the experience of enlightenment described
themselves as an abstract continuum underlying thought, feeling and action— self-referral
descriptions. The experience of self-awareness has been written with a capital “S”—Self—
to differentiate from more active experiences. These subjects exhibited higher values of
the consciousness factor, higher frontal coherence, higher alpha and lower gamma power
during tasks, and heightened cortical response to tasks. This object-referral/self-referral
continuum describes the progressive de-embedding of the Self from the machinery of
perception, thought, and behavior.
In the coming century, psychology should take advantage of meditation technologies—
technologies of consciousness—to explore more expanded experiences of Self to
understand who we are and what it means to be fully human.
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
INTRODUCTION
The concept of self has been a core concept throughout the 100-year history of
psychology. For instance, Wilhelm Wundt, the father of experimental psychology, defined
the self as a unitary concept: “…the feeling of the interconnection of all single psychical
experiences.” ((Wundt, 1897) pg. 221). In contrast, William James, the father of
American Psychology, delineated a range of possible concepts of self. These ranged from
the self as knower, the “I,” to the self as known, the “me” (James, 1962). The self-asknown includes our material processions, social status, thoughts and feelings (James,
1962).
Current neural imaging studies have investigated a similar continuum from 1st person to
3rd person perspectives of sense-of-self. Visualizing ones’ physical traits and bodily
gestures, a 3rd person perspective, activated medial parietal cortices including the precuneus
and angular gyrus (Kjaer et al., 2001; Taylor, 2001). Stories containing 1st person pronouns
activated medial frontal areas including the anterior cingulate (Vogeley et al., 1999).
Similarly, medial frontal activation was reported during 1st person self-referential
judgments of pictures (Gusnard et al., 2001) and of trait adjectives (Kelley et al., 2002).
Neural imaging data suggest that a distributed frontal-parietal system supports our
experience of self-awareness, with 1st person experiences activating predominately frontal
midline structures and 3rd person experiences activating predominately parietal midline
structures.
Our proposed object-referral/self-referral continuum of sense-of-self adds a level of self
that is independent of thinking and acting. This object-referral/self-referral continuum
(Travis et al., 2002) was based on interview data and EEG data of individuals practicing the
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Transcendental Meditation (TM®) technique1. This meditation technique is from the
Vedic tradition of India. It takes one’s attention from surface perception and thinking to a
level of pure consciousness at the source of thought (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1963). Pure
consciousness is the experience of consciousness itself—self-awareness without customary
thoughts, feelings or perceptions (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1969; Travis et al., 2000). Pure
self-awareness is the state in which the self is only aware of itself. This contrasts with
object-referral awareness, in which the self is identified with the processes of knowing—
feelings, decisions, planning, thinking, comparing, perception and action. This state of
pure self-awareness is often written with a capital “S” to distinguish this more universal,
unbounded state of Self from the experience of being absorbed in thinking, planning and
activity.
SECTION 1:
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE EXPERIENCE
OF PURE SELF-AWARENESS?
We’ll begin with the Oxford English Dictionary definition of awareness. The first five
definitions in the dictionary define awareness with specific content: (1) interpersonal
cognitive relations, (2) remembering on a first-hand basis ones past actions or experiences,
(3) awareness of any object; (4) immediate awareness of ones mental processes, and (5) the
totality of mental experiences that constitute our conscious being. These definitions
characterize self-awareness is terms of the content of experience. The last definition is
qualitatively different: “…awareness that is distinct from the content that makes up the
stream of consciousness.”
1Transcendental
Meditation is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, licensed to Maharishi
Vedic Education Development Corporation, and used under sublicense.
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
A number of authors have defined states that could fall into this last definition of
awareness. O’Shaughnessy suggested that awareness itself can be "...distinct from
particular consciousnesses or awarenesses” ((O'Shaughnessy, 1986), p. 49). He proposed
that pure self-awareness is like an “empty canvas” that can not be viewed
representationally, but makes possible and is physically necessary to view a painted
picture. Woodruff-Smith discussed “the inner awareness that makes an experience
conscious...a constituent and constitutive feature of the experience itself” ((WoodruffSmith, 1986) p. 150). Baar’s theater metaphor includes an attention director or deep self
that provides a context (framework) to connect one conscious event with another (Baars,
1997).
The prevailing Western view is that an individual cannot be aware or conscious without
being conscious of something (Natsoulas, 1997); that no subjective state can be its own
object of experience ((James, 1962) pg. 190). However, the subjective traditions of the
East—the Vedic tradition of India (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1969), and the Buddhist
traditions of China (Chung-Yuan, 1969) and Japan (Reps, 1955)—include systematic
meditation techniques predicted to lead to the state of "pure self-awareness" without
customary content of awareness. For instance, the Maitri Upanishad 6:19 (Upanishads,
1953) states:
When a wise man has withdrawn his mind from all things without, and when his
spirit of life has peacefully left inner sensations, let him rest in peace, free from the
movements of will and desire…Let the spirit of life surrender itself into what is
called turya, the fourth condition of consciousness. For it has been said: There is
something beyond our mind, which abides in silence within our mind. It is the
supreme mystery beyond thought. Let one’s mind . . . rest upon that and not rest on
anything else.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1969), responsible for bringing the
TM technique to the West from the Vedic tradition of India, explains:
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
When consciousness is flowing out into the field of thoughts and activity it
identifies itself with many things, and this is how experience takes place.
Consciousness coming back onto itself gains an integrated state….This is pure
consciousness. (pg. 25)
Pure consciousness is “pure” in the sense that it is free from the customary processes and
contents of knowing. It is a state of awareness in that the knower does not black out. There
is no gap in time. Being or pure self-awareness is maintained. The content of this
experience is self-awareness. The Self serves both as the experiencer and the object of
experience. In contrast, during customary waking experience, the experiencer and the
object of experience are different. During customary waking experience, there is an inner
reality who is experiencing outer objects or inner thoughts and feelings.
The Buddhist tradition does not speak of an expanded state of Self-awareness. They
characterize deep experiences during their meditation practice to be “Nothingness” or
“Emptiness” (Shear et al., 1999). In contrast, the Vedic tradition characterizes pure
consciousness as the expansion of the individual self to its most universal status (Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi, 1963; Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1969). Thus, to investigate the nature of an
expanded sense of Self, we studied individuals who practiced the TM technique, which is
based in the Vedic tradition. TM subjects are also well suited to this study because
individuals quickly master transcending during TM practice—after a few months practice
(Travis et al., 1999; Travis et al., 2002; Travis et al., in review) in comparison to years of
practice required with other meditation techniques before becoming expert (Compton et al.,
1983; Lutz et al., 2004). Thus, most TM subjects would be having similar experiences
reducing variability in the data. Focusing research subjects practicing a single meditation
technique, controls for different meditation experiences, and allows well-defined research
into the nature of self-awareness.
This paper first summarizes previously published research on subjective and objective
markers of the experience of pure self-awareness in TM subjects. It then reviews
subjective and objective markers of the permanent integration of pure self-awareness with
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
waking, dreaming and sleeping. Following this review of the literature, the proposed
object-referral/self-referral continuum of self-awareness is discussed in detail.
SECTION II:
PURE SELF-AWARENESS
DURING MEDITATION PRACTICE
Physiological Correlates
Changes in EEG, breath rate, skin conductance, and heart rate characterize the state of
pure self-awareness during TM practice. Refined breathing was the first published marker
of this experience. Farrow and Hebert (Farrow et al., 1982) and later Badawi and
colleagues (Badawi et al., 1984) observed suspension of normal respiration from 10 to 40
seconds during pure self-awareness experiences. This type of breathing, while initially
termed “respiratory suspension,” is actually an example of slow, prolonged inspiration
(Kesterson et al., 1989). This type of breathing is supported by different respiratory drive
centers in the brain stem then those that drive breathing during waking {Travis, 1997 #27;
Plum, 1980 #115}.
A second reliable marker of this state are skin conductance responses at the onset of
breath changes (Travis et al., 1997). This autonomic response is similar to that seen during
orienting—attention switching to environmental stimuli that are novel (Sokolov, 1963;
O'Gorman, 1979) or significant (Maltzman, 1977; Spinks et al., 1985). These autonomic
responses could mark the transition of awareness from active thinking processes to pure
self-awareness devoid of customary content.
A third marker, which is less obvious but has been reported in most studies, is a trend
for increasing frequency of the peak power in the EEG. Compared to the period prior to the
experience of pure self-awareness, the frequency of peak power of the EEG increases from
0.5 to 1.5 Hz. Fluctuations in frequency of peak power follow fluctuations in alertness.
For instance, during sleep 1 Hz EEG is seen, while during very focused tasks 40 Hz EEG
8
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
activity is reported. The observed increase in frequency of peak power during respiration
suspensions could be associated with increased alertness during this experience.
These changes in EEG power occur on the background of high global EEG coherence.
Coherence represents level of connectedness between different brain areas (Florian et al.,
1998; Pfurtscheller, 2001). Higher EEG coherence is associated with higher emotional
stability, higher moral reasoning, more inner motivation, and lower anxiety (Travis et al.,
2004). Alpha EEG coherence rises to a high level in the first minute of TM practice and
continues at that high level through the rest of the session (Travis et al., 1999). Recent
research also reports higher frontal/parietal phase synchrony during TM practice (Hebert et
al., in press). This unique constellation of physiological patterns is unlike any seen in
normal waking, sleeping, or dreaming.
Phenomenological Analysis
Fifty-two University students, twenty-six males and twenty-six females, were asked:
"Please describe the fine details of your deepest experiences during practice of the
Transcendental Meditation technique. Please describe them in your own words, just as if
you were describing the experience of eating a strawberry — its sweetness, juiciness, etc."
(Travis et al., 2004). We emphasized that we were interested in what they experienced; in
how it felt to them, and that we were not interested in other people’s descriptions of these
experience. We did not ask for descriptions of pure self-awareness. That would have
elicited biased responses reflecting more what they knew about pure consciousness, rather
than their direct experience of this state. They were allowed to write as much and for as
long as they wished. These subjects were an average age of 22.5 yrs (SD 6.9). They had
been practicing the TM technique for an average of 5.4 yrs (SD 5.0).
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Data analyses
The descriptions were analyzed using the guidelines for systematizing
phenomenological analysis proposed by Hycner (Hycner, 1985). This procedure begins
with reading the passage (all 52 descriptions) many times to get "a sense of the whole."
Next, Hycner recommends reading through and bracketing out "units of meaning"—words
or phrases which express a unique and coherent idea. Once the units of meaning had been
identified, then, as Hycner recommends, units that were clearly redundant were eliminated.
Next, the units were clustered by "shared meanings." This was done by explicit and
implicit meaning. From these clusters of shared meaning, general themes were identified.
The final step was to re-read the descriptions and tally the occurrence of the themes. This
yielded the number of subjects who included that theme in their descriptions, expressed as
a percentage of total subjects.
Results
Three major themes emerged from this analysis. Sixty-eight percent of the subjects
explicitly characterized deep experiences during practice of the Transcendental Meditation
technique by the absence of space, time, or body-sense. The other two themes—peaceful
(32%) and unboundedness (20%)—implicitly include the lack of boundaries of space, time
and body-sense, but further describe the experience when these boundaries were absent.
For instance, one subject described the experience of pure self-awareness as:
...a couple of times per week I experience deep, unbounded silence, during which I
am completely aware and awake, but no thoughts are present. There is no
awareness of where I am, or the passage of time. I feel completely whole and at
peace.
The content analysis of deep experiences during practice of the TM technique suggest
that pure self-awareness, consciousness itself, is qualitatively different than other waking
experiences. Time, space, and body sense are the framework for understanding waking
experience. Experiences either occur inside or outside of the body. Experiences contain
10
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
changing perceptual content that change over time and occur in different points of space.
During the experience of pure self-awareness, both the fundamental framework—time,
space and body sense—and the content of waking experience were absent. This suggests
that pure self-awareness is not an "altered" state of waking. It is not a distorted waking
experience. Rather, pure self-awareness is marked by the absence of the customary
qualities and characteristics of waking experience. Pure self-awareness is Self-awareness,
the Self, isolated from the processes and objects of experience.
Pure self-awareness is subjectively and objectively distinct from experiences during
customary waking, sleeping, and dreaming. In the Vedic tradition, pure self-awareness is
called “the fourth” (Upanishads the Principle Upanishads, 1953). It is described as a state
of consciousness that underlies waking, dreaming and sleeping.
An Integrated Model of States of Consciousness: The Junction Point Model
A junction point model has been proposed, an “ocean metaphor,” which conceptualizes
pure self-awareness as a fundamental state (an ocean), which sometimes appears as (a wave
of) waking consciousness, sometimes as dreaming consciousness, and sometimes as deep
sleep consciousness (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1972; Travis, 1994). In this model, pure
self-awareness underlies the activity of waking, dreaming and sleeping, and can be
objectively identified and subjectively experienced at the junction point between each state,
i.e., where waking has ceased and sleep has not yet begun. According to this model, the
activities of waking, sleeping, and dreaming are like currents that hide the silent nature of
pure self-awareness—the surface waves covering up the silent depths of the ocean of
consciousness. EEG research supports this model. Similar EEG patterns—theta/alpha
activity (6-10 Hz)—are seen during Transcendental Meditation practice, and during the
waking/sleeping junction, the sleeping/dreaming junction, and the dreaming/waking
junction (Travis, 1994).
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
One prediction of this model is that pure self-awareness is not only is an underlying
continuum, but that it can be integrated with waking, dreaming and sleeping. The next
section tests this prediction. It presents subjective and objective characteristics of the
integration of pure self-awareness with waking, dreaming and sleeping.
SECTION III:
INTEGRATION OF
PURE SELF-AWARENESS WITH
WAKING, DREAMING, AND SLEEPING
Repeated experience of the state of pure self-awareness alternated with customary
waking activity gives rise to a new integrated brain state in which pure self-awareness coexists with waking, dreaming and sleeping (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1969; Travis et al.,
2002). In this new integrated state, pure awareness is experienced as a foundational state
that gives rise to ongoing experience (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1969). It is analogous to the
vastness of the ocean that is not lost with each rising wave of daily life. Research has
identified physiological and phenomenological markers of this integrated state during sleep
and during problem solving.
Physiological Markers
Brainwave (EEG) and muscle tone (EMG) patterns during deep sleep
Mason and colleagues compared brain wave (EEG)S patterns and muscle tone (EMG)
during deep sleep—stage 3 and 4 sleep—in three groups of 11 subjects: non-meditating
subjects, meditating subjects not reporting this integrated experience, and meditating
subjects who reported the permanent integration of pure self-awareness with waking and
sleeping (Mason et al., 1997). Self-awareness during sleep is the critical test of the
integration of pure self-awareness with waking, dreaming, and sleeping, because it spans
12
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
the widest possible continuum of consciousness—from wide-awake, inner awareness to the
inertia of deep sleep.
The data were visually scored for sleep stages. Physiological patterns were analyzed
during Stages 3 and 4 of sleep, because these are the deepest stages of sleep, and so
represent a more stringent test of the experience of inner wakefulness during sleep.
The amount of delta activity in these three groups, which indexes depth of sleep
(Feinberg, 1999), was similar. All subjects appeared to have similar requirements for the
restorative value of sleep, which recent research suggests is for cellular repair following
normal day-to-day wear and tear on the brain (Huber et al., 2004).
These groups did, however, differ in the level of theta/alpha activity—6-10 Hz—
during sleep. During deep sleep, theta/alpha activity, characteristic of the experience of
pure self-awareness during Transcendental Meditation practice, increased with years TM
practice. Theta/alpha activity was lowest in the non-meditating subjects, medium in the
short-term meditating subjects, and highest in the subjects reporting pure self-awareness
during sleep. It is noteworthy that the subjective experience of the co-existence of pure
self-awareness and sleep was associated with the coexistence of the EEG patterns seen
during the experience of pure self-awareness and during sleep.
Muscle tone (EMG) levels decreased during slow wave sleep with years of TM
practice. They were highest in the non-TM group and lowest in the long-term TM group.
Reduced EMG during slow wave sleep has not been reported before. Future research is
needed to probe the significance of this observed physiological marker during sleep in
these subjects
EEG patterns during computer tasks
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Travis and colleagues (Travis et al., 2002) investigated EEG and ERP patterns in three
groups of individuals distinguished by their self-reported experience of the integration of
pure self-awareness with waking and sleeping. The three groups included: a Non-TM
group (N=17, age = 39.7±11.5 yrs),2 who did not practice a meditation technique and
rarely if ever reported the experience of pure self-referral consciousness; a Short-term TM
group (N= 17; age = 42.5±11.5 yrs), who had practiced TM for about eight years (7.8±3.0
yrs), and reported pure self-awareness during TM but only occasionally during daily life;
and a Long-term TM group (N=17; age = 46.5±7.0 yrs), who had practiced TM for about
25 years (24.5 ±1.2 yrs) and reported the continuous experience of pure self-awareness
throughout daily life. (Four of the subjects in the last group also participated in the earlier
sleep research.) The age differences between groups were not statistically significant,
F(2,48) = 1.90, p = .160) Each group comprised eight females and nine males. The
subjects were part of the larger Fairfield, Iowa community.
Subjects were in good health with no history of serious accidents, hospitalization, or
psychiatric diseases that would affect their EEG. They were free of prescription or nonprescription drugs. All subjects were right-handed by self-report. Informed consent was
obtained before the testing, and the University Institutional Review Board approved the
experimental protocol.
Table 1 represents these subjects’ demographics. As seen in this table, subjects in each
group spanned levels of education (high school to graduate training) and vocation. The
“Professions” category included architects, engineers, lawyers, researchers, computer
professionals, pharmacists, and university administrators and faculty. These were
2
Data are reported as mean ± standard deviation.
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
combined into the “Professionals” category to simplify this table. These people were part
of the community. They had not been sequestered in an ashram.
Table 1. Education Levels and Vocation of the Subjects
Group
Non-TM
Education
2 High School
9 Some College
6 Graduate/Professional
Short-term TM
9 Some College
8 Graduate/Professional
Long-term TM
4 Some College
13 Graduate/Professional
Vocation
2 Artisans
2 Military
4 Business & Management
7 Professionals
2 Student
7 Business & Management
9 Professionals
1 Student
2 Artisans
4 Business & Management
11 Professionals
EEG patterns were recorded from all subjects during two paired-stimulus reaction time
tasks. Both tasks contained a pair of stimuli 1.5 seconds apart. We measured the rise in the
EEG baseline before the second stimuli. This is called the contingent negative variation
(CNV) (Walter, 1964). CNV amplitude 200 msec before the expected stimulus, called the
late CNV, reflects proactive preparatory processes, including mobilization of motor
(Brunia, 1993; van Boxtel et al., 1994) perceptual, cognitive, and attention resources
(Tecce et al., 1993).
The first task was a simple CNV task—asterisk/ tone/ button-press to stop the tone. The
second task was a choice CNV task—two numbers were sequentially presented 1.5 seconds
apart. Subjects responded with a left/right button press to indicate which number was
larger. Three brainwave measures calculated during the choice CNV trials distinguished
individuals who reported the integration of pure self-awareness with waking and sleeping.
These measures were (1) higher broadband frontal EEG coherence, (2) higher alpha and
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
lower gamma power, and (3) a better match of the timing and magnitude of CNV with task
demands.
Broadband (8-45 Hz) frontal coherence during tasks. Broadband frontal task EEG
coherence was highest in the Long-term group (Travis et al., 2002). The Non-TM group
had lowest task coherence, and the Short-Term group exhibited intermediate values of
coherence. The frontal cortices, which are reciprocally connected with nearly all other
cortical, subcortical, and brainstem structures (Fuster, 1993; Fuster, 2000), are important
circuits for emotion regulation (Davidson, 2002), moral reasoning (Moll et al., 2001; Moll
et al., 2002), decision making and planning (Fuster, 1993; Fuster, 2000), and self-concept
(Vogeley et al., 1999; Ben Shalom, 2000). Broadband coherence, in contrast to narrow
band coherence such as theta or alpha, may reflect large-scale cortical integration thought
necessary for the unity of subjective experience (Varela et al., 2001). Broadband frontal
coherence observed in subjects reporting this integrate state may characterize the largescale neural integration necessary to support the coexistence of pure self-awareness with
ongoing problem solving.
Increased alpha and decreased gamma power. The pattern of EEG power spectra during
tasks was also different between groups (Travis et al., 2002). The Long-term T group
exhibited higher alpha (8-10 Hz) EEG, which is associated with long-range, top-down
processes, and lower gamma (25-55 Hz) EEG, which is associated with local, bottom-up,
sensory processing (von Stein et al., 2000). Higher alpha and lower gamma EEG in Longterm TM subjects suggests that they process information differently: Inner, self-awareness
may play a greater role in cognitive processing.
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Different CNV patterns. The CNV patterns in the three groups support the proposition
that the Long-term subjects processed tasks differently. CNV in the Long-term group better
suited the task demands.
In the Long-term group, late CNV was higher during simple trials and lower during
choice trials. Thus, in the simple trials, Long-term TM subjects activated cortical response
circuits after the first stimulus because they what the correct response would be—a button
press. On the other hand, in the choice trials, Long-term TM subjects remained balanced
and did not activate cortical response circuits after the first stimulus because they did not
have enough information to determine a correct response. In contrast, the Non-TM
subjects exhibited the opposite response. They responded less during the easier simple
tasks, and more during the complex choice tasks. These responses, however, were not
appropriate. For instance, they activated response circuits before seeing the second number
in the choice task. They did not have enough information to make a correct response. This
is a more object-referral mode, reflecting overall task characteristics.
Frontal and central cortical areas participate in generating the CNV waveform (Tecce et
al., 1993). Appropriate timing of CNV activation suggests more appropriate timing of
frontal executive processes in the Long-term TM subjects. This CNV finding complements
the finding of higher levels of frontal EEG coherence during tasks in these subjects. Thus,
frontal areas, whose functioning are critical for generating levels of self-awareness
(Vogeley et al., 1999; Hobson et al., 2002) appear to function differently in these three
groups.
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
The inner experience of these subjects also markedly differed. The last section reports
results from an open-ended interview and paper-and-pencil tests of these three groups of
subjects.
Phenomenological Analysis of Interview Data
The three groups of subjects tested during the computer tasks were given an open ended
interview (Travis et al., 2004). Subjects were asked three questions. (1) “Please describe
experiences during the reaction time tasks;” (2) “Please describe experiences during sleep;”
and (3) “Please describe yourself.” Questions were always in that order. The first question
allowed the interview to gain rapport with the subjects. The second and third questions
were analyzed. During the interview, the interviewer asked the person to explain any
comment that did not seem obvious. For instance, when one person said: “I think I'm not
as happy as I used to be.” The interviewer asked: “You used to be ... does that mean two
years ago or 10 years ago?” Or the interviewer asked: “You talk about connectedness,
could you expand on that concept?” The interview ended when the person had no further
comments to make. These taped interviews were transcribed for later analysis.
Response to the Query: Please Describe Your Experiences during Sleep
During sleep, the non-TM group described typical sleep. For instance, one subject said:
Most times sleep is just that. I go to bed around 9:30 or 10:00 and put my head on
the pillow. It doesn't take me very long to fall asleep. I'm not aware of anything till
5 or 6 o'clock in the morning when it's time to get up.
Notice there is a gap in time between eyes-closed at night, and waking up in the morning.
This is a good night’s sleep.
The Long-Term TM subjects described an entirely different experience during sleep.
They described a continuum of self-awareness that was independent of time, space and
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Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
body sense, which was the ground for all experiences. One person described their
experience of falling sleep in terms of layers settling down:
When I go to bed at night, first layers of the body settle down. I notice when the
body is asleep. Lots of dreams come and go or just fatigue leaves the body, and then
5-6 hours later the body wakes up again in gradual layers and being aware of the
other side…hearing sounds and feeling the covers. First there’s no impulse to
attend to it, then I wake up.
Another person used the analogy of soda fizzing up and settling down to describe his
experience during sleep:
…there’s a continuum there. It's not like I go away and come back. It's a subtle
thing. It's not like I'm awake waiting for the body to wake-up or whatever… It's me
there. I don't feel like I'm lost in the experience. That's what I mean by a
continuum… you know its like the fizzing on top of a soda when you've poured it.
It's there and becomes active so there's something to identify with. When I'm
sleeping, it's like the fizzing goes down.
Response to the Query: Describe Your Self
These responses were analyzed using Atlas-ti software (Muhr, 2004). Atlas-ti is an
interactive software program designed for content analysis of interview data. In this
software, a section of transcribed text is opened in an Atlas-ti window. The experimenter
manually highlights phrases or sentences that contain a single idea. For instance, “I believe
anything is possible.” With a mouse click, the highlighted section is added to Atlas-ti’s
lists of “quotations” for that group. After going through the entire text, the experimenter
begins with the first quotation and generates a single word or phrase that encapsulates the
unit of meaning in that quotation. In Atlas-ti, these are called “codes.” The codes are
connected to the quotations in Atlas-ti so that double-clicking any code brings up all
quotations connected with it. These codes were not generated before hand, but were
generated from the data itself. This “grounded theory” approach (Sommer, 1991) was used
to discover inner experience of the integration of pure self-awareness with waking, sleeping
19
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
and dreaming, rather than test apriori hypotheses. Next the codes are structured into
hierarchical networks within subjects to create a picture of their inner world of meaning.
For instance, in the Non-TM group the networks centered on the descriptions (codes) of the
self as a (1) belief system, (2) cognitive style, (3) feelings, and (4) social roles. These
networks were then assigned a supercode. In the example of the Non-TM group, the
supercode was: “Self is identified with thoughts, feelings and actions.”
The responses to the question: “Describe yourself.” are summarized in Table 2. This
table reports average total words in each interview, average number of quotations selected
from each interview, total codes for each group and the resulting supercode. The total
codes are reported because the same code often summarized quotations from different
subjects in each group.
Table 2: Means and standard deviations of average number of words, quotations, total
codes and the supercode for each group from the content analysis.
Group
Average
Word
Count
Average
Quotations
Total
Codes
Non-TM
554±459
9.5 ± 5.0
57
Short-Term
850±760
9.3 ± 3.2
56
Long-term
1156 ±1180
10.1 ± 6.2
59
Supercodes
Self is identified with
thoughts, feelings, and
actions
Self is the director of
thoughts, feelings and
actions
Self is underlying and
independent of
thoughts, feelings and
actions
The interviews varied in number of words. However, this difference was not
statistically significant (F(2,48) = 2.07, p = .108) due to high variability within groups.
The average number of quotations and total codes were very similar between groups.
20
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
The super codes for the three groups are presented in Table 3, along with sample
quotations. This gives the reader a sense of the responses of subjects in each group that
generated the final super-codes.
Table 3. Results of Content Analysis: Super Codes and sample responses from the three
groups.
Group and
Sample Responses/Quotations
Super Code
N1: I guess I'm open to new experiences, and I tend to appreciate those things
Non-TM
Group:
that are different
Self is
N2: I kind of like to forge my own way
identified with N3: I am open to change and new ideas…I’m an adventuress. I like to go
thoughts,
out...and experiment with new ideas.
feelings, and
N4: I tend to appreciate those things that are different, even in my style of
actions
dress. I like something usually because its odd or strange or something that
other people absolutely wouldn't wear.
N5: I’m happy, caring, helpful, I like people who like to help other people; I
hate seeing anyone in trouble.
S1: I’m my own awareness. My ability to perceive and be aware. I’m my own
Short-Term
Group:
potential, my own power,
Self is the
S2: I’m my own capabilities; my ability to learn; my ability to do things…in
director of
it’s essential nature — my ability to act.
thoughts,
S3: There are many different levels to who I am. I'm a sister, a daughter, a
feelings, and
friend, an athlete, a nature lover, a seeker of the truth. I'm a very spiritual
actions
person. I believe that I can do and accomplish anything that I set my mind to.
S4: I am a little bit more silent, more reserved, and thoughtful than most, with
a deep desire to just succeed in all activities and at the same time to develop
spiritually very quickly.
S5: Who I am is who I am inside. How I think. What I believe. How I feel.
How I react.
L1: We ordinarily think my self as this age; this color of hair; these hobbies …
Long-term
Group:
my experience is that my Self is a lot larger than that. It’s immeasurably vast...
Self is
on a physical level. It is not just restricted to this physical environment.
independent of L2: It's the “I am-ness.” It's my Being. There's just a channel underneath that's
and underlying just underlying everything. It's my essence there and it just doesn't stop where I
thoughts,
stop…by “I,” I mean this 5 ft. 2 person that moves around here and there.
feelings, and
L3: I look out and see this beautiful divine Intelligence ...you could say in the
actions
sky, in the tree, but really being expressed through these things… and these are
my Self.
L3: I experience myself as being without edges or content…beyond the
universe…all-pervading, and being absolutely thrilled, absolutely delighted with
every motion that my body makes. With everything that my eyes see, my ears
hear, my nose smells. There's a delight in the sense that I am able to penetrate
that. My consciousness, my intelligence pervades everything I see, feel and
21
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
think.
L5: When I say "I" that's the Self. There's a quality that is so pervasive about
the Self that I'm quite sure that the “I” is the same “I” as everyone else's “I.”
Not in terms of what follows right after. I am tall, I am short, I am fat, I am this,
I am that. But the “I” part. The “I am” part is the same “I am” for you and me.
The super-codes derived from the content analysis delineated three quite different
descriptions of self-awareness in healthy adults. As seen in Table 3, the Non-TM group,
who rarely if ever reported the experience of pure self-awareness, described themselves
predominantly in terms of their thoughts, feelings and behavior: “I guess I’m open to new
experiences…” or “I tend to appreciate those things that are different…” or “I kind of like
to forge my own way.” This group described their sense-of-self as predominately
identified with their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Individuals in the Short-term group,
with infrequent experiences of pure self-awareness during daily life, described themselves
predominately as that which directed thoughts, feelings and actions. While their sense-ofself was less object-referral, it was still in terms of active processing. “I’m my awareness.
My ability to perceive and be aware.” or “I’m my own capabilities; my ability to learn.”
Individuals in the Long-term group, who reported the continuous experience of pure
self-awareness co-existing with waking and sleeping activity, described themselves as
underlying and independent of thoughts, feelings and actions. This group recognized
space-time boundaries. For instance, “And in certain contexts that has some value, like
when I tell my wife, I'm going to bed now.” However, they predominately described
themselves as existing outside of space-time causation—“my Self is immeasurably
vast…on a physical level;” “all-pervading;” “beyond speech;” or “My Self doesn’t stop
where I stop.”
22
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
The subjects described three very different inner states. Subjects in the Non-TM Group
described themselves in terms of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. In contrast, subjects
in the Long-term Group described themselves in terms of an independent, underlying
reality—a continuum that was outside time and space. To further explore the nature of the
inner experience of these subjects, they were administered standardized paper-and-pencil
instruments of personality and psychological measures.
Standardized Psychological Tests
After the above research, the subjects were re-contacted and were mailed four pencil-andpaper instruments measuring personality, inner/outer orientation, moral reasoning, and
anxiety. The mailing was followed up by phone calls to confirm receipt and participation.
Individuals returned their tests by mail in an enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope.
Personality. The International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) was used to measure
personality. The IPIP is the result of an international effort to develop and continually
refine a set of personality inventories, whose items are in the public domain, and whose
scales can be used for both scientific and commercial purposes. The IPIP items are freely
available on the Internet (http://ipip.ori.org/ipip/). This website also provides sub-scales
and their correlations with proprietary instruments such as the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory or the California Personality Inventory.
We used 100 items in the IPIP that index the five personality constructs in the “Big
Five” model of personality: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional
stability, and openness to experience (Goldberg 1992). Extraversion represents the
tendency to be social, assertive and active, including the two dimensions of dominance and
sociability; Agreeableness is the tendency to be trusting, caring and gentle;
23
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Conscientiousness includes achievement and dependability; Emotional Stability includes
good emotional adjustment, high self-esteem, low anxiety, and high security and easiness
with others; and Openness to experience is the disposition to be imaginative,
nonconforming and unconventional (Judge et al., 2002; Judge et al., 2002). Consensus is
emerging that this five-factor model of personality may describe the most salient aspects of
personality (Goldberg, 1990).
Inner/Outer Orientation. Baruss developed this scale to quantify a subject’s worldview
along an outer/inner, material/transcendental dimension (Baruss et al., 1992). Subjects are
given 38 statements like: “My spiritual beliefs determine my approach to life.” Subjects
respond on a 7-point Likert Scale. This instrument has high item-total correlations (r = .56.62) and high Cronbach alpha coefficients (r = .82-.95) (Baruss et al., 1992). Scores on this
scale correlate highly with positive inner growth and meaningfulness of life (Baruss et al.,
1992). This scale yields a single number, which ranges from –114 (materialistic:
conceptualizing consciousness in terms of information processing) to +114 (transcendental:
emphasize subjective features of consciousness and declare it’s ontological primacy).
Moral Reasoning. Gibbs Socio-Moral Reflection Measure- Short Form (SMR-SF)
presents moral statements and asks subjects to describe why a moral act may be important
to them. For instance: “Keeping promises is important because...”; or “Helping one’s
friend is important because....” Gibbs has written an extensive reference manual to aid in
categorizing responses into moral maturity levels (Gibbs et al., 1992).
The SMR-SF can be group administered as a pencil-and-paper test, takes 15-20 minutes
to complete, and can be scored in 25 minutes. In addition, a scorer can gain competency in
25-30 hours of self-study. Gibbs’s SMR-SF has high test-retest reliability (r = .88), and
24
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
high Cronbach alpha coefficients (r = .92). Scores on the SMR-SF are highly correlated
with scores on Kohlberg’s Moral Judgment Interview (r = .70) (Gibbs et al., 1992), which
is much more intensive to administer and to score.
Levels of moral reasoning range from surface considerations to an inner autonomous
basis for decision-making. More abstract levels of moral reasoning emerge
developmentally and parallel growth in cognitive development and ego development
(Gibbs et al., 1992).
Anxiety levels. Spielberger’s State/Trait Anxiety (STAI) assesses both transitory
feelings of anxiety (state anxiety) and chronic feelings of anxiety (trait anxiety). In
epidemiological studies, 17% of adolescents (Wittchen et al., 1998) and 25% of adults
(Jacobi et al., 2004; Wittchen et al., 2005) report the occurrence of high anxiety in the past
12 months.
The tests of inner/outer orientation, state/trait anxiety, and personality were scored
using standard methods. Gibbs’s moral reasoning protocols were sent to trained scorers.
The scorers met the requirements for reliability in scoring, set forth in Appendix B and C in
Gibbs’s manual (Gibbs et al., 1992). Means, standard deviation, F statistics from
MANOVA and p-values of group differences are presented in table 4. P-values smaller
than .002 are bolded. As seen in this table, there were highly significant difference
between groups in inner/outer orientation, moral reasoning, anxiety, and emotional
stability.
Table 4. Means (standard deviations), F statistics and p-values for the psychological tests
25
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Test
Non-TM Short-Term Long-term
F stat
(2,26)
p value
9.03
.001
Inner/Outer Orientation
60.2(23.8)
70.0(12.4)
84.4(13.9)
Moral Reasoning
3.1(0.4)
3.4(0.4)
3.7(0.2)
5.69
.009
State Anxiety
35.9(15.2)
27.1(9.1)
22.3(2.4)
7.66
.002
Trait Anxiety
40.2(15.5)
30.6(7.6)
24.6(4.0)
7.90
.002
IPIP: Extraversion
3.1(0.6)
3.4(0.5)
4.1(0.8)
4.48
.021
IPIP: Agreeableness
4.0(0.5)
4.2(0.4)
4.6(0.4)
3.98
.031
IPIP: Conscientiousness
3.6(0.7)
3.9(0.8)
4.2(0.4)
2.28
ns
IPIP: Emotional Stability
3.3(1.0)
3.8(0.8)
4.4(0.4)
10.64
.0004
IPIP: Openness to Experience
4.0(0.4)
4.5(0.4)
4.7(0.4)
3.64
.040
A Pearson Correlation analysis showed that the psychological measures were highly
intercorrelated (all r > .5) A principle component analysis (PCA) was conducted to model
the variance in the test scores,. The first unrotated component of the PCA has long been
used in intelligence research as a measure of general intelligence or “g”—a construct
theorized to underlie performance across a range of reasoning and problem solving tests
(Spearman, 1904; Jensen, 1980). In the current study, the first principal component of the
unrotated PCA of psychological and personality tests may represent a general measure of
sense-of-self, a basic quality of self-consciousness or life-orientation, that is reflected in
these tests. Table 5 contains the factor loadings for the first and second unrotated
components, which accounted for 69% of the variance in test scores. The other
components had eigenvalues less than 1.
26
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Table 5: Variable Loadings of the 1st and 2nd Unrotated Components of the PCA
Inner/Outer Orientation
Moral Reasoning
State Anxiety
Trait Anxiety
Emotional Stability
1st Unrotated
Component
.71
.64
-.86
-.87
.88
2nd Unrotated
Component
-.48
-.30
.19
.12
-.11
Variance Accounted for
58%
12%
Variable
All variables from the psychological tests were converted to z-scores, weighted by
their factor loadings on the 1st unrotated component, and summed. This sum was called a
Consciousness Factor, because it was theorized to reflect a basic quality of consciousness
or life-orientation common to measures of personality and psychological health. An
ANOVA was used to test for main effects for group on the Consciousness Factor scores.
This analysis yielded significant main effects for group, F(2,26) = 13.2, p < .0001: NonTM: -4.78 ± 1.2; Short-Term: 0.40 ± 1.2; Long-term: 3.59 ± 1.1. Individual comparisons
revealed that Consciousness Factor scores for the Short-Term subjects were significantly
higher (two-tailed) than those of the Non-TM subjects (t(28) = 3.03, p = .006), and there
was a trend for Long-term subjects to be higher than those for the Short-Term subjects
(t(28) = 1.96, p = .062).
The Consciousness Factor, which represents a common dimension across several
tests of personality and psychological health, accounted for over half the variance among
groups. As “g” represents a common dimension among all intelligence tests (Spearman,
1904), so the Consciousness Factor may represent a common dimension among measures
of personality and psychological health. In light of the phenomenological data above,
27
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
higher scores on the Consciousness Factor may represent greater ‘de-embedding’ of senseof-self from mental processes and behavior.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
The research reported here presents distinct subjective and objective characteristics of (1)
the experience of pure self-awareness during meditation practice and (2) the permanent
integration of pure self-awareness with waking, dreaming, and sleeping, a state called
enlightenment. This research includes investigation of meditation experience and objective
correlates of meditation effects on brain functioning after the practice. As advances in
instrumentation have enabled science to probe deeper into matter, so applying the
techniques developed by Eastern cultures—meditation practices—may enable science to
probe deeper into the individual psyche.
The first section discussed the possibility of a state of self-awareness free from customary
content of inner thoughts, feelings and outer perceptions. The second section reports
subjective descriptions and objective correlates of the experience of pure self-awareness
during TM practice. These findings suggest that underlying our turbulent, ever-changing
thoughts is a state that is not confined to our head, our heart or to the interior defined by
our body. Rather, pure self-awareness is described as being outside of time, space, and
body sense. It is a continuum of awareness that underlies all change. It is the deepest
aspect of our selves—called the Self. This section ended with a junction point model that
places pure self-awareness in relation to waking, sleeping and dreaming.
The Object-referral/self-referral continuum: From I to I
The range of concepts of self presented in the phenomenological analysis depict the
progressive de-embedding or detachment of self-awareness from its machinery to know the
28
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
world—the mind, senses and the body. This process of de-embedding from a more
expressed level to a more abstract level of self-awareness is the normal path of
development from childhood to adulthood. For instance, Piaget’s stages of cognitive
development can be understood as the progressive de-embedding of the center of one’s
sense-of-self from sensory, motor, and cognitive processes (Alexander et al., 1990). Thus,
one could have a behavioral-centered self in which the person identifies with sensorimotor
behavior: “I like to forge my own way;” or “I like to go out and experiment with new
ideas.” As one de-embeds from behavior, one could have a more cognitive-centered self in
which the person identifies with mental objects and ongoing thoughts and feelings: “I’m
open to new experiences.” In turn, one could become more affect-centered, in which one
identifies more with feelings and interrelations with others and the environment: “I care
deeply for other people;” or “I’m happy, caring, helpful. I like to help other people. This
progressive de-embedding of self-awareness from mental contents and processes is a
natural process that is shaped by ongoing experience (Alexander et al., 1990; Travis et al.,
2001).
The process of “de-embedding” is clearly seen in the interview results from these
subjects. Subjects in the Non-TM group described themselves predominantly in terms of
how they interacted with the world. That is, the self was “embedded” in or identified with
the processes by which they experienced the world. This could be characterized as an
object-referral style. One is what one does. Subjects in the Short-term group described
themselves as directing thinking and behavior—the first stages of the self “de-embedding”
or separating from the processes of thinking and behavior. “I’m my own capabilities; my
ability to learn.” And another: “I am my ability to perceive and be aware.” Yet, these
29
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
subjects still described themselves primarily in terms of what they did. In contrast, subjects
in the Long-term group described themselves as separate from what they were thinking or
doing—their identities, their selves were completely “de-embedded” from the processes of
thinking and behavior. “My Self is immeasurably vast... on a physical level. Not just
restricted to this physical environment.” And another: “It's my Being. There's just a
channel underneath that's just underlying everything. It's my essence there and it just
doesn't stop where I stop.” This style of functioning is a Self-referral style. In this state, the
Self has it’s own status. It is defined in terms of its own structure, independent of objects
and processes of knowing.
Self-awareness ranges from “I” to “I.” It ranges from the Self embedded and identified
with the processes of knowing to the Self aware of itself—from self to Self. While its
expression changes, it is the same fundamental value—pure self-awareness—expressing
itself differently depending on different styles of brain functioning. As experience
changes, so brain functioning changes. We begin to naturally appreciate who we are, and
appreciate our relation with the world around us.
Figure 6 presents the proposed object-referral/self-referral continuum. The boxes at the
top and bottom of Fig. 6 present the ends of the proposed continuum. The three boxes on
the left side contain the supercodes that defined the three groups. The two boxes on the
right operationally define the ends of the continuum as defined by their Consciousness
Factor scores and the brain-based measures. As one de-embeds from cognitive and
behavioral process or moves towards the Self-referral end of this continuum, an integrated
set of mind/body measures appear: scores on the Consciousness factor increase, frontal
EEG 6-40 Hz coherence increases during tasks, alpha power increases and gamma power
30
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
decreases during tasks, and there is a better match between task demands and brain
preparatory responses as measured by contingent negative variation (CNV).
___________________
Insert Fig 6 about here
These subjective and objective findings may characterize the process of self “deembedding” from thinking, feeling and behavior. We suggest that this pattern of selfreport, performance on psychological tests and brain functioning represent the normal
range of human development, which is open to everyone born on earth, provided they gain
the necessary experiences to rise to the next level.
Movie Metaphor
This process of de-embedding can be understood in terms of a movie-metaphor.
Watching a movie, most individuals are “lost” in the movie. The movie is real. Emotions
and thoughts are dictated by the ever-changing sequence of the frames of the film. This is
an object-referral mode, where the objects of experience are salient and determine one’s
thoughts, feelings and sense-of-self. The meditative experience of transcending—the
repeated experience of pure self-awareness—alters this common movie-going experience.
Subjectively, the individual begins to “wake up” to his/her own inner status. Although
continuing to enjoy the movie, he/she gradually becomes aware that they exist independent
from the movie. They experience a value of ‘witnessing’ the activity around them. To
these individuals, the ever-changing movie frames are a secondary part of experience
because these frames are always changing. The most salient part of their every experience
is pure, self-awareness. What is ‘real’ shifts with time from the movie to self-awareness,
from the thoughts, feelings and actions to the Self, from object-referral to self-referral
awareness.
The reported experience of stable states of self-awareness de-embedded from, but coexisting with, the processes of waking, sleeping or dreaming has been called “Cosmic
31
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Consciousness” or “enlightenment” (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1969; Shear et al., 1999).
This state has been described in many traditions (Bucke, 1991). Though many
scientifically minded people may consider enlightenment to be either imaginary,
impractical, or simply outside the boundaries of scientific investigation, the implications of
these data are that enlightenment may be operationalized by interviews, psychological tests,
and brain patterns during tasks and so brought into the arena of systematic scientific
investigation. As advances in technologies in modern science have expanded our
understanding of the outer environment, so applying subjective technologies from Eastern
traditions could expand our understanding of our inner world and help further our growth
along the proposed Object-referral/Self-referral continuum of Self.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, these phenomenological and physiological data suggest a range of
fundamentally different values of one’s identity or sense-of-self. On one end is the selfreferral experience in which the Self experiences itself through itself. This experience of
pure self-awareness is gained during practice the TM technique.
At the other end, the Self
is embedded in or identified with ongoing perception, thinking, and behavior. Future
longitudinal research can investigate the effect of different meditation and spiritual
traditions on moving individuals along this continuum. This line of research could
dramatically impact our understanding of the possible range of human development, and
could help promote a more unified understanding of spiritual development in terms of
development of brain integration.
32
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
Object-Referral Mode
PREDOMINANCE OF COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL
PROCESSES
“I like to forge my own way.”
Self identified with
thoughts and actions
Lower Consciousness Factor Scores
 Lower moral reasoning
 Lower happiness
 Lower emotional stability
 An Outer Orientation
 Higher anxiety
Lower Integration Scale Scores
 Higher frontal EEG coherence
 Higher alpha/gamma power ratio
 More efficient cortical
preparatory responses
Self as director of
thoughts and actions
Self is independent of
thoughts and actions
Higher Consciousness Factor
Scores
 Higher moral reasoning
 Higher happiness
 Greater emotional stability
 An Inner Orientation
 Lower anxiety
Higher Integration Scale Scores
 Higher frontal EEG coherence
 Higher alpha/gamma power ratio
 More efficient cortical
preparatory responses
Self-Referral Mode
Predominance of Self
“My self is immeasurably vast on a physical level.”
Figure 1: Schematic Representation of Sense-of-Self along an Object Referral/Self
Referral Continuum. The range of descriptions of sense-of-self extended from
Object-referral to Self-referral predominant modes. The three boxes on the left
present the supercode from the phenomenological, first person reports, and the two
right-most boxes present the psychological (Consciousness Factor scores) and
physiological (brain-based Integration Scale scores) correlates of the ends of the
proposed continuum.
33
Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum
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