Skip to content
Unitive Knowledge Society
Search

Accents are optional; quotes find an exact phrase.

Transcendence

The divine as surpassing the world, beyond all that is finite, conditioned and knowable.

Philosophy and the study of mysticism

To transcend is to “climb beyond”. In theology transcendence means that God is not part of the world or limited by it; in the contemplative life it also names the self’s passing beyond its own limits. Most mystical traditions hold transcendence and immanence together: the One beyond all is also nearer than the self.