n.1. in certain Eastern traditions, with variation (see Buddhism; Hinduism; Taoism), a state in which the individual attains supreme knowledge, freedom from pain, and perfect spiritual insight. Practices such as meditation and yoga (among others) may be directed toward the achievement of this state. 2. in the tradition of humanistic psychology, a higher state of awareness that is associated with creative inspiration, spiritual insight, and the attainment of peak experiences. See being cognition. 3. in the writings of Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli (1888–1974), a synonym for transpersonal awareness. See transpersonal psychology. 4. in the analytic psychology of Carl Jung, another name for the collective unconscious.