Presentation given at the International Congress on Logotherapy & Existential Analysis, Moscow, Aug. 28 – Sept. 1, 2018

1. HOW TO HELP OTHERS DISCOVER,
DEVELOP, AND DEPLOY THEIR
FUNDAMENTAL SPIRITUAL SKILLS
Timo Purjo, PhD
Diplomate in Logotherapy
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON
LOGOTHERAPY & EXISTENTIAL ANALYSIS
MOSCOW, AUG. 28 – SEPT. 1, 2018

2. WHO?
• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Tampere, Finland; dissertation on
implementation of Viktor Frankl’s Logotheory in youth violence and
youth suicide prevention
• Diplomate in Logotherapy, Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy,
Abilene, Texas, USA
• President of Viktor Frankl Institute Finland and Finland’s Association
for Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy, Accredited members of the
International Association of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis
• Logotherapist, Accredited member of the International
Association of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis
• Founder, Vice-Chairman and Director (R&D) of Non Fighting
Generation (NGO), Finland (1996-2015); The organization is
specialized in youth violence and youth suicide prevention
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3. WHY?
• I have been researching and teaching Logotheory and
practicing Logotherapy for two decades now. It took me
quite a long time to realize how to talk to my students
and clients about fundamental spiritual qualities such as
self-distancing and self-transcendence. Both concepts
are too abstract or general for practical use and
therefore they need to be operationalized. Only then is it
possible to guide the students and clients in searching,
activating and developing these potential capacities
into personal capabilities that can lead to a meaningful
and purposeful life.
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4. JUSTIFICATION / AUTHORIZATION
• Encouragement from
– Elisabeth Lukas: “Frankl was not so good with pedagogical work. A
teacher sometimes needs to detail explanations in a step-by-step
manner and he did not always have the patience needed. But after all,
no one can be good at everything. And then his students could handle
the details. But they could not have created the grand scheme.”
In Alexander Vesely’s film “Viktor and I”, Noetic Films
– Viktor Frankl: “my being the founder of Logotherapy, means no more
than having laid its foundation and a foundation, in turn, means no less
than an invitation extended to others to continue constructing the
building on the basis of the foundation” “the future of Logotherapy is
dependent on you, and in determining it, you should be independent”
In his opening address to the 1st World Congress of Logotherapy (1980):
Logotherapy on its way to degurufication. In: Analecta Frankliana: The Proceedings of…
30.8.2018© Timo Purjo 4

5. WHAT IS THE HUMAN SPIRIT OR
PERSONAL SPIRITUALITY
© Timo Purjo 30.8.2018 5
To be found on
Slideshare.net

6. PERSONAL, SUBJECTIVE SPIRITUALITY
• Nicolai Hartmann (1882-1950)
 The personal, subjective spirit exists and functions in the
awareness of human person. It realizes itself in constantly
continuing occurrence of awareness – in decisions and choices
– as a result of which the spirit, in a way, grows into the
surrounding reality. It has to be free as it exists only in the
decisions and choices it takes by itself.
 The spiritual is capable of self-consciousness during the human
person’s phases of time. It can take a directional standpoint
towards the person’s course of life. The personal spirit is living and
also subject to death. It can not be transmitted to another
person and it is not inherited. Everyone has to develop it as a
part of his person.
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7. PERSONAL, SUBJECTIVE SPIRITUALITY
• The common talk on spiritual growth and education and
their goals is obscured by the lack of precision of the
concept of spirituality. Viktor Frankl’s contribution to
philosophy of spirit is that he named and defined the
fundamental spiritual potentials in a person in a supreme
way.
• Frankl founded his own philosophical concept of the
person on Max Scheler’s philosophical anthropology and
Nicolai Hartmann’s ontology. Other crucial sources were
the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and the
existential phenomenology of Martin Heidegger.
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8. PERSONAL, SUBJECTIVE SPIRITUALITY
• In order to track Frankl’s train of thought or the path of
his reasoning into a connected series of spiritual events is
only possible through a phenomenological analysis of
the awareness and the different acts of experiencing
within it.
• Consequently, becoming a good Logotherapist
necessitates general knowledge of phenomenological
philosophy, especially of existential-phenomenological
philosophy, and good basic knowledge of the
phenomenology of awareness. Naturally, high-quality
Logotherapy training programs include such substance.
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9. Fundamental-
anthropologische
Charakteristika
menschlicher Existenz
Selbst-
Transzendenz
Selbst-
Distanzierung
FOCUS OF THIS PRESENTATION
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10. SIMPLE THEORY MODEL
Psychic
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11. ADVANCED THEORY MODEL
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Crucial act of starting the process

12. ADVANCED THEORY MODEL
Defiant power of
the human spirit
may be needed
Defiant power of
the human spirit
may be needed
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13. SPIRITUALITY AND ETHICALITY
• Distancing-to-
Spiritual-Dim.
• Self-Observation
• Self-Examination
Preparatory
spiritual skills
• Will to Meaning
• Conscience
• Self-
Transcendence
Actual ethical
skills • Being
responsible /
Responsibleness
• Happiness
Consequence/
Side effect
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14. SPIRITUALITY AND ETHICALITY
• The person’s
view and under-
standing of their
individual Self
and its powers
Relating to
oneself
• Understanding of
ethical values
and the will
power to put
these into action
Relating to
others, the world • A sense of
meaning and
purpose in life
and hope for the
future
Consequence/
Side effect
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15. SELF-DISTANCING
Distancing-to-
Spiritual-Dim.
Self-
Observation
Self-
Examination
S
S
S
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16. SELF-TRANSCENDENCE
Will to Meaning
Conscience
Self-
Transcendence
S
S
S
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17. DISTANCING-TO-SPIRITUAL-DIMENSION (SELF)
Corporeality
Psychic
awareness
Situationality
Spiritual
awareness
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18. • From overfocusing on one’s own feelings and thoughts or the
ongoing situation, and becoming overwhelmed by them
to
• one’s inner free space, their lived freedom, freedom to
observe oneself and take stand on everything that is
happening in- and outside him/her at the moment
• one’s ability to view themselves and their relations from a
rational and clear perspective
• one’s personal, subjective spiritual awareness, i.e. the higher,
more developed level/dimension of one’s awareness –
his/her actual, free and responsible self
• (why essential?) one’s ability to remain level-headed in even
extremely fraught situations
© Timo Purjo 30.8.2018 18
DISTANCING-TO-SPIRITUAL-DIMENSION (SELF)

19. MOST OF THE TIME
Constant interaction between spiritual and psychic
awareness
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20. Distancingfrombeing
assailedby…
Physical pain
Psychic affects (emotional
spin cycle/storm)
Awkward situations
DISTANCING IN CHALLENGING CONDITIONS
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21. Can be activated by means of e.g.
1. humour (laugh ironically at yourself, laugh off your physical pain,
laugh off your fears, laugh off the awkward situation, etc.)
2. learned phrases (“stop, keep cool”)
3. interrupting your emotions or thoughts by starting to do sth (breathe
deeply and slowly, count, move yourself, time travel mentally etc.)
4. inner speech (“you”/your name vs. “I”: like advising your best friend,
e.g. consider different alternatives, recall negative consequences
of intended behavior and rewards for suitable behavior, state that
you can't do anything about it (at the moment) etc.)
Everybody has to find (good practices from past) or try and develop
his/her own ways
© Timo Purjo 30.8.2018 21
DISTANCING IN CHALLENGING CONDITIONS

22. EXISTENTIAL CRISIS OR VACUUM
Corporeality Psychic
awareness
Situationality
Defiant power of
the human spirit
“Defibrillation” of the
spiritual
dimension
/ inner
freedom
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23. SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OR SELF-OBSERVATION
Corporeality Psychic
awareness
Situationality
Spiritual
awareness
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24. • Conscious presence in self, in that dimension, where a person is free
and able to use this inner freedom for influencing the course of
his/her own life
• Self-consciousness is the first phase in a series of spiritual events – no
stand is yet been taken on anything
• A state of spiritual awareness where a person just observes what is
happening at the moment in themselves (their spiritual dimension),
their psychophysical level and their relations to the world – i.e. what
he/she is experiencing
• Encountering of everything that is happening, and assertion of pure
facts from an outsiders – independent, impartial and objective
observers – perspective
• Self-mirroring, focusing on what’s essential for personal development
(strengthen or be freed)
• “Logotherapeutic mindfulness”
© Timo Purjo 30.8.2018 24
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OR SELF-OBSERVATION

25. What to focus?
• Easiest is to notice our ways of acting, that appear in our bodily
reactions, behavior and deeds – although we have to practice to
recognize and acknowledge them
• We have also to get a sense about our attitudes and thoughts in the
situation, and our feelings and emotions that cause them (in order to
generate a clear picture of the trigger of the chain of events –
source of our stimulus-response pattern)
Later on it’s useful to write down all observations, a narrative of the
chain of events expressing all thoughts, feelings etc. that appeared
Talking aloud to oneself or somebody else (friend, therapist etc.), and
reading books are also good practices to improve self-awareness and
self-discovery
© Timo Purjo 30.8.2018 25
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OR SELF-OBSERVATION

26. SELF-EXAMINATION OR SELF-EVALUATION
Corporeality Situationality
Spiritual
awareness
Psychic
awareness
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27. • (Figuratively) Rising above oneself and turning
toward oneself, taking a step back from oneself,
“fly-on-the-wall”
• Clarifying what is essential in our experiencing and acting,
and revealing its actual essence
• Most crucial phase in the process of understanding oneself
• Opportunity for understanding fundamental issues in a new,
different and deeper way
• Most central phase as our spiritual awareness is above all the
evaluating side of us
© Timo Purjo 30.8.2018 27
SELF-EXAMINATION OR SELF-EVALUATION

28. • Reflecting and wondering about oneself, dealing with oneself
and taking stand to everything that was observed previously:
one’s inner experiencing and being in the world, how and
where one’s thoughts and emotion are guiding them
• Interpreting and evaluating one’s current personality, subjective
world view, and their spiritual and ethical level and skills
• Who am I currently as a human person, and why?
– Phenomenological analysis of my own awareness: it’s horizons and their
effect to my experiencing
– Inventing my strengths and weaknesses
– Inventing my personal valuation system and its quality (re: Max Scheler)
• What could and should I be? What is my will, what kind of
human person do I want to become?
© Timo Purjo 30.8.2018 28
SELF-EXAMINATION OR SELF-EVALUATION

29. WILL TO MEANING
• Inherent will to find meaning in life
• Primary force in life
• Prerequisite of meaningful and purposeful life and happiness,
eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία), holistic sense of good life
– When someone cannot realize his/her will to meaning, they will experience an
abysmal sensation of meaninglessness and emptiness, “existential vacuum”
• Foundation for educational influencing, logotherapeutic support and
all kinds of support for someone in his/her spiritual and ethical growth
towards responsible humanity
• Has to be awakened (preferably in childhood), and can be
strengthened by making efforts to search for meaningful
opportunities and by committing to make as meaningful choices as
one is at the time able
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30. CONSCIENCE
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31. CONSCIENCE AND ETHICAL INTUITION
• Permanently unconscious conscience, which is infallible, and
personal ethical intuition, a spiritual quality, have to be
clearly separated
• The emotional, ethical intuition becomes more advanced
the more an individual commits themselves for finding and
realizing values and purposes
• Accordingly he/she is able to hear the voice of their
conscience more and more clearer
• Everyone*) has a conscience, but their ethical intuition may
be at its worst completely undeveloped
*) even an utterly evil person
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32. SELF-TRANSCENDENCE
Corporeality
Psychic
awareness
Situationality
Spiritual
awareness
We can experience
meaning in life
only in our
personal
life situation
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33. ETHICALITY
Self-
Transcendence
Conscience
Will to Meaning
• Conscious decision
• Directedness to ethical
values
• Ethical intuition can and
has to be developed
• Permanently unconscious
• To be awakened and
strengthened
• In dormant state
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34. CONTACT
• Email: timo.purjo@pp.inet.fi
• You will find this presentation on slideshare.net after the
congress
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