Contemporary, academic psychology is mainly occupied with the lower psyche, which is known as 'the personality' and consists of instinct, emotion and concrete thought. The new age, contemplative psychology, or the psychosophy, will be more occupied with the higher psyche, which is known as 'the soul' and consists of abstract mind, intuition and will.1
Now it is so that the lower develops itself upwards under the influence of the higher. This is beautifully symbolized by the growth of a flower. A flower roots in the earth, but under influence of the sun it grows upwards to come at its highest point of growth to bloom. Likewise man can be seen as rooted in his gross physical body whereby he under influence of his eternal life spark grows upwards through his lower psychic layers of instinct, emotion and concrete thought to eventually come to bloom in his higher psychic layers of abstract thought, intuition and will.2
And the above also goes for psychology. The academic psychology of the present is rooted in lower forms of investigation but shall develop itself through higher layers to come to bloom in a contemplative psychology of the new age.3 In the transitional period from the old to the new age wherein we at the moment find ourselves4 we find the first green offshoots from the academic root psychology sprout into what we shall here call 'neo-psychology'. Neo-psychology encompasses new forms of psychology which not yet reach contemplative psychology but do already transcend academic psychology.
As examples of themes that are treated in neo-psychology here high giftedness and high sensitivity can be mentioned. In academic psychology certain social-psychic characteristics of high giftedness and high sensitivity are sometimes recognized, but these then are usually taken as characteristics of certain psychic afflictions, like for instance autism syndromes or schizo disorders.
In neo-psychology high giftedness and high sensitivity are thematized as independent psychic phenomena. With high giftedness for instance among other theories the three-ring theory of Joseph Renzulli is followed. In that theory high giftedness is thematized in its three characteristics of "above average ability", "creativity" and "task commitment".5 We shall see that this putting central of this threefold in this important example of neo-psychology can be considered as a reaching out towards contemplative psychology.
Contemplative psychology is mainly equal to what Alice Bailey calls 'esoteric psychology' and 'the science of the soul'.6, 7, 8 This soul contains powers which by man have initially not yet developed but which come at his disposal when he integrates the soul, the higher psyche, in the personality, the lower psyche. This is a development process which takes many incarnations, like the eventually coming to bloom of a flower takes many days.9, 10, 11
Now the three best known powers of the soul are abstract thought as a reflection of active intelligence, intuition as a reflection of love-wisdom and will as a reflection of power.12 These are elements which we see in principle mentioned in the neo-psychology of Renzulli. There the above average ability corresponds with the active intelligence and the task commitment with the will. The by Renzulli mentioned creativity may then optionally be related to the intuition, however Bailey mentions creativity also separately as a soul power.13
Now above not only high giftedness was mentioned but also high sensitivity, and also sensitivity (not to be mistaken with emotionality) is considered to be a power of the soul, a power which of course corresponds to love.14, 15 Thus both high giftedness and high sensitivity may from the vision of contemplative psychology be considered as results of soul integration.
Now in diverse earlier publications people were arranged in categories that indicate their evolution point. Thus for instance in 'Classificaties van de mensheid' in the 'Tijdloze wijsheid' series [in English 'Classifications of Humanity' in the 'Ageless Wisdom' series] it was considered that human evolution goes through the stages of animal people, low grade people, average people, developed people, spiritual people, aspirants, disciples and initiates, whereby high giftedness and high sensitivity will especially occur in the latter three categories because in the previous stages no steady soul integration is yet developed.16
Another arrangement was given in 'De uitzonderingsklasse' in the 'Contemplaties' series [in English 'The Exemption Class' in the 'Contemplations' series] where humans were placed in an outer class, a lower class, a middle class, an upper class and an exemption class, whereby high giftedness and high sensitivity will especially occur in those latter class or latter two classes.17
In 'Exoterische klassen en esoterische divisies van de mensheid' in the 'Contemplaties' series [in English 'Exoteric Classes and Esoteric Divisions of Humanity' in the 'Contemplations' series] then a still simpler discernment was made, namely that between priests, rulers, craftsmen and workers, whereby high giftedness and high sensitivity shall mainly be found in the first class.18
Regarding the latter two arrangements it must be emphasized that they depict correlations and reflections of evolution points, and although therewith it may be that indications are given we must abstain from laying down strict causal relations. High giftedness and high sensitivity are depended upon soul contact, and people with soul contact are, although perhaps not proportionally, eventually found in all classes.
This may also explain why in all classes presupposed high giftedness and high sensitivity are found. However like academic psychologists misdiagnose soul contact and high giftedness and high sensitivity19 (because of which those whose condition can be attributed to the development of soul integration cannot put themselves under their treatment20) people also regularly misdiagnose themselves. A well read and intellectual person shall like to consider himself as highly gifted and an oversensitive and emotional person shall quickly feel himself to be highly sensitive. These faulty self-diagnoses can be considered as the green leaves of the growing flower from our example. Where academic psychology is rooted in materialism and neo-psychology under influence of the sunny spiritualism of contemplative psychology sprouts and grows a stem, there the latter produces (never blooming) leafs in what can be called 'folk-psychology'.
It is however not needed to try to get rid of folk-psychology. Like the green leaf catches solar rays and thus helps the stem to grow, contributing to the eventual blooming of the flower, so folk-psychology as side product of neo-psychology contributes to it that psychology from its contemporary academic roots eventually can come to bloom contemplatively in the light of the new age. Highly gifted ones and highly sensitive ones, and that means 'initiates, disciples and aspirants', shall carve the way.21
| "Ray V | Higher expression | The science of the soul Esoteric psychology |
| Lower expression | Modern educational systems." |