The Quest: Vision in an age of Crisis. Economic & Financial Crisis. Jungian Psychotherapy

S2 Ep83. Tibetan Buddhism. Light in the Darkness.

The famous painting of the Tibetan wheel of life is in the grip of the Lord of Death. At its centre are two concentric circles: the outer shows the ascending and descending paths with souls in the death and rebirth cycle; the inner shows three animals, a pig, a snake, and a rooster which symbolise forces within human nature that perpetuate this cycle and are responsible for the suffering in life.

 

The pig represents ignorance, avidya, which is a basic misrepresentation of reality. The snake represents aggression which in the human species reaches a malignancy unprecedented in the rest of nature. The third is the rooster symbol – lust, desire and insatiable greed. These three are surely responsible for much of the darkness in the human species.

 

The Tibetan Book of the Dead can be used to guide the dying person through the experiences of consciousness after death, but it is also used during life by those who want to prepare for what will come after death. Liberation from the wheel of rebirth is actually possible in the after-death states or bardos.

S3 Ep33. Jung y El Libro Tibetano de la Gran Liberación. Spanish Language Series

Este episodio continúa una miniserie sobre las observaciones de Jung sobre textos orientales y explora sus comentarios sobre El Libro tibetano de la Gran Liberación, desconocido para Occidente hasta su primera publicación en 1954. El próximo episodio examinará sus comentarios sobre el Libro tibetano de los muertos.

Al igual que otros de sus comentarios, como los del I Ching y El Secreto de la Flor de Oro, aquí Jung pretende construir un puente desde el budismo tibetano a su escuela de Psicología Analítica. Por ejemplo escribe:

“… el inconsciente es la mente matriz con la cualidad de la creatividad adjunta, el lugar de nacimiento de todas las formas de pensamiento y similar a la Mente Universal de Oriente. Estas formas de pensamiento o arquetipos son omnipresentes y atemporales ... Por medio de la función trascendente no solo ganamos acceso a la Mente Universal sino que también llegamos a comprender porqué Oriente cree en la posibilidad de la autoliberación.”

S2 Ep82 Jung and the Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation

This episode continues a miniseries on Jung’s observations on oriental texts exploring his comments on The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation unknown to the West until its first publication in 1954. The next episode will examine his comments on the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Like other of his commentaries, such as those of the I Ching and the Secret of the Golden Flower, Jung is here aiming at a building a bridge from an unfamiliar Eastern religion, in this case Tibetan Buddhism, to a Western psychology, namely his school of Analytical Psychology.

For example he writes:

“… the unconscious, for Analytical Psychology, is the matrix mind with the quality of creativity attached to it, the birthplace of all thought forms and akin to the Universal Mind of the Orient. These thought forms or archetypes are omnipresent and timeless ... By means of the transcendent function we not only gain access to the “One Mind” but also come to understand why the East believes in the possibility of self liberation. If, through introspection and the conscious realisation of unconscious compensations, it is possible to transform one’s mental conditions and thus arrive at a solution of people’s complex, one would seem entitled to speak of self liberation”.

S2 Ep81. The Turning of the Year

No matter what the crises of the collective the individual has the opportunity of realising the inner light that lies in us all. This episode explores the Taoist text The Secret of the Golden Flower which describes in an extraordinary manner how to access this light through the meditation process.

The episode ends with a beautiful song The Turning of the Year by Mark Dunn of The Bringers of Change whose music albums can be found on Spotify etc. and as CDs at www.fallingarecords.com

The free meditation programme following the Secret of the Golden Flower starts Jan 23rd.

The Quest Lecture series (as distinct from these podcasts) starts Jan.28th.

There will be no podcast episode in January. The next one will be Feb.15th 2023.

 

 

 

S2 Ep80. Answer to Job. Part 8. Appraisal.

In this last episode of this miniseries I give Jung’s main argument and its pros and cons.

My feelings about the difficulties of the work are as follows:

Firstly, relevance. How much can it offer the modern world?

Secondly, isolationism -  its removal from the other analytic disciplines.

Thirdly, certain inconsistencies which may confuse the reader.

Fourthly, contradiction - whether the archetype of the Self is the totality or a specific archetype.

Fifthly, the inherent difficulty of the text.

Some of its strengths are as follows:

1: Its passion and tremendous personal conviction.

2:  Its roots in childhood experiences (visions, dreams).

3: Answer to Job has extra depth because of the number of esoteric traditions it is linked to.

4: Jung speaks with many voices, as it were out of the depth of many traditions.

5:  The audacity of the text.

6: Jung uses a new voice – that of archetypal psychology combined with mythology  and gnosticism.

7:  Answer to Job reinforces Jung’s impact on the practice of psychotherapy.

8: Answer to Job has a deep theological critique of Christian and Judaic civilizations.

9:  Jung insisted on the dangers of an apocalypse in our times.

10: Jung insists on the overarching metaphysical dimension to human existence.

S3 Ep32. Respuesta a Job Parte 9. Relevancia al mundo moderno. Spanish language series

Este es el episodio final de la miniserie sobre la Respuesta  a Job de Carl Jung. Aqui presento un resumen de su argumento  y doy dos ejemplos de la relevancia para el mundo moderno. En primer lugar, su temor de un apocalipsis moderno. Sin embargo, el vio la posibilidad de un proceso de individuación al traer esto a la conciencia. En segundo lugar, la relación de este texto con la práctica actual del análisis junguiano.

S2 Ep79. Answer to Job. Part 7. Questions and Responses.

The penultimate episode in this miniseries on Jung's Answer to Job asks the following questions of this text:

Q. Why is there no "real" history, sociology, or political science in the Answer to Job and indeed in Jung’s work in general?

Q. Are there other interpretations of the Answer to Job.

Q. How unusual is Jung’s interpretation?

Q. Jung speaks of God in many ways. Explain further.

Q. Does the theory of evolution change all bible studies including the Answer to Job?

Q. How can God be the totality and at the same time be a specific component of the unconscious?

Q. What impact has Answer to Job had on the practice of Jungian psychotherapy?

S3 Ep31. Respuesta a Job. Parte 8. Valoración crítica. Spanish language series

Este es el penúltimo episodio de esta miniserie. Examinamos las dificultades y fortalezas del Respuesta a Job.

Las dificultades incluyen:

Su relevancia; su alejamiento de las demás disciplinas analíticas; ciertas inconsistencias que pueden confundir al lector; una contradicción - si el arquetipo del Self es la totalidad o un arquetipo específico; la dificultad inherente del texto.

Algunas de sus fortalezas incluyen:

Su pasión y tremenda convicción personal; una profundidad adicional debido a la cantidad de tradiciones esotéricas a las que está vinculada; Jung habla con muchas voces, como si saliera de muchas tradiciones; la audacia del texto; Jung usa una nueva voz - la de la psicología arquetípica; impacto en la práctica de la psicoterapia; una profunda crítica teológica de las civilizaciones cristiana y judaica; advertencia de los peligros de un apocalipsis en nuestros tiempos; inclusión de la dimensión metafísica global de la existencia humana.

 

S2 Ep78 Answer to Job. Part 6. God wants to create humanity ... but not quite

A resume is given of the episodes so far. Responses to the following questions are given:

Q. Is God separate from us?

Q. How can God be a personality as he mostly appears to be in the bible?

Q. If the dualism of good and evil is contained in God then what is the point of the individuation process in human beings?

Q. How can God be the archetype of the Self?

Q. Jung speaks of the God in different ways in Answer to Job. Is he inconsistent?

Q. How is it possible that God can be equated with the unconscious?

Q. What does Jung mean by God wants to create man but not quite?

S3 Ep30. Respuesta a Job Parte 7. ¿Hay una explicación en la historia judaica y cristiana para la literatura apocalíptica? Spanish language series.

En este episodio queremos responder a las siguientes preguntas

¿Por qué no hay historia 'real', sociología o ciencia política en el libro?

¿Qué explicación histórica podría ofrecerse para la literatura apocalíptica?

¿Por qué la interpretación de Jung es atípica?

Como la teoría de la evolución cambia todos los estudios bíblicos, incluido la Respuesta a Job.

¿Cómo puede Dios ser la totalidad y al mismo tiempo ser un componente específico del inconsciente?

Además, en el episodio de hoy contamos un sueño notable que Jung tuvo en 1920 en su visita al norte de África. Su interpretación del sueño es fascinante e ilustra material importante en la Respuesta a Job.

S2 Ep77. Jung’s Answer to Job. Part 5. The Contemporary Apocalypse.

In this episode we arrive at the last part of the Answer to Job, chapters 15-20. Three of Jung’s arguments stand out.

1. The actual dangers of an apocalypse in our own time.

2. The importance of a uniting symbol such as that of a child-hero or the Virgin Mary that is an attempt to heal the opposites and their terrible danger to humanity.

3. Reflections on the nature of God.

S2 Ep76. Answer to Job. Part 4. The Dark Side of the Creator

This episode covers chapters 11-14 of Answer to Job. Jung argues that the emergence of Christianity was an attempt to create a totally good god subsequent to the injury done to Job (i.e. mankind) by Yahweh. He focuses on the weakest part of the Christian argument, that which most reveals the dark side of god which cannot be repressed despite the best efforts of Christianity. This is the subject of the Book of Revelation otherwise known as the Apocalypse of John.

S3 Ep29. Jung y la Respuesta a Job. Parte 6. ¿Un Verdadero Apocalipsis? Spanish language series

Jung presenta el último libro de la biblia donde los cristianos presentan a su Dios con todas sus contradicciones. Detalla los eventos del Apocalipsis enfatizando el lado oscuro de Dios. Pero lo que perseguía a Jung era la posibilidad de un apocalipsis real. Jung pasó del Libro de Job al Apocalipsis y ahora avanza rápidamente a su propia época. Insinúa que la humanidad está pasando por un proceso de individuación colectiva.

“Respuestas” a los siguientes puntos siguen.

¿Está Dios separado de nosotros?

¿Cómo puede Dios ser una personalidad como parece serlo en la Biblia?

Si el dualismo del bien y el mal está contenido en Dios, entonces ¿cuál es el sentido del proceso de individuación en los seres humanos?

¿Cómo puede Dios ser el arquetipo del Self?

Jung habla de Dios de diferentes maneras en el Libro de Job. ¿Es inconsistente?

¿Cómo es posible que se pueda equiparar a Dios con el inconsciente?

Qué quiere decir Jung cuando dice “Dios quiere crear al hombre pero no del todo”?

S2 Ep75. Jung’s Answer to Job. Part 3. The Drama between Mankind and God.

Answer to Job has 20 chapters that formed a complex unity in Jung’s mind. This episode will summarize the first 10 of these. Themes include:

Jung is indignant at the injustice done to Job. The unconscious creator needs conscious humanity so as to develop but, at the same time it opposes this. The incarnation of God into man through Christ is a world-shaking transformation or objectification of God. God needs to become a man. The incarnation is not to make reparation for mankind’s sins but to make up for Yahweh’s damage to Job (i.e. humanity). Yahweh lacks a feminine side – the lost Sophia. Christ embodies the hero myth. The incarnation of Christ is insufficient to deal with the problem of evil. The belief that God is all good is simply not credible. The God image is a mixture of opposites.

S3 Ep28. Jung y la Respuesta a Job. Parte 5. Dios quiere entrar la humanidad. Spanish language series.

Jung había vivido las guerras del siglo XX y fue testigo del inmenso impacto de Hitler en las civilizaciónes alemana y europea. Se dio cuenta muy claramente, que con la realidad de la bomba nuclear, la humanidad ahora tenía los medios para la autodestrucción. Para él este era un escenario apocalíptico,  el lado oscuro de Dios expresado a través de la psique humana. En última instancia, Dios no es un ser separado, sino que es la realidad misma y, por lo tanto, también es la humanidad.

S2 Ep74. Jung’s Answer to Job. Part 2. Jung’s Different Voices.

Jung felt that God called on him personally to realise and experience God’s own dark side. And this was the only way that he could experience relief and grace – God’s blessing.

The inspiration for writing the book was as if  he was composing the work of a Bach or Handel.

There are a number of different voices that Jung adopts. He switches between them in a spontaneous intuitive manner in the flow of the text. These include:

# The emotional Jung. # The therapist’s voice. # The theological perspective. # The mystical voice. # The esoteric voice. # The Jungian psychology perspective.  # The voice of archetypal philosophy. # The historical voice.

Jung moves between such different voices with little warning. He is using multiple views and perspectives with great speed and the reader can be left confused Perhaps when one knows the different voices then matters are a little more comprehensible.

S2 Ep73. Exploration of Jung’s Answer to Job. Part 1. The Background.

This is the start of miniseries within the Spiritual Crisis of our Time in which I examine Jung’s Answer to Job, one of his most enigmatic and fascinating books, written in 1952 and which was clearly of enormous personal importance to him.

This episode:

# explores Jung’s own psychology, especially in his childhood, as a background to this work.

# presents Jung’s account of his religious and theological struggles in his adolescence.

# gives a brief account of the story of Job as presented in the bible.

# presents the question that Jung felt he had to answer.

This series concerns a metaphysical exploration of nature of evil, the contradictions in the godhead, and the dangers to humanity in our own times.

S3 Ep27. Jung y la Respuesta a Job. Parte 4. El lado oscuro de Dios. Spanish language series.

Dios quiere entrar en la humanidad pero este es un proceso contradictorio porque trae consigo su lado oscuro a pesar de todos los esfuerzos de la humanidad por limpiar su imagen y convertirlo en el dios de la justicia y el amor.

Jung da más evidencia de un dios iracundo y destructivo de las visiones apocalípticas de Ezequiel, Daniel y Enoc del Antiguo Testamento, y el Libro de Revelaciones, el ultimo del Nuevo Testamento.

Las contradicciones de Yahweh son responsables no solo de la creación del mundo sino del destino de la humanidad que debe vivir estas contradicciones de la deidad.

S2 Ep72. Banishment from Eden and Emergence of Consciousness. The Spiritual Crisis of our Time. Part 15

This episode explores the Book of Genesis, in particular the story of Adam and Eve: their existence in the Garden, the temptation to eat the apple from the Tree of Knowledge, and their banishment. It is interpreted as the movement into consciousness which inevitably is also into an awareness of death. A Gnostic and Jungian interpretation of this foundational myth of Western civilization is given. Human consciousness has indeed taken the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. However, if it is to reach the Tree of Life (the second tree in Eden that is forbidden), the human race in the 21^st century will have to pass through the gates of death – either symbolically or literally.

S3 Ep26. Jung y la Respuesta a Job. Parte 3. El drama entre Dios y la humanidad. Spanish language series

En el ultimo episodio presentamos la experiencia de Jung en su juventud con el inconsciente, que más tarde lo predispuso a identificarse tan profundamente con Job. Experimentó el “otro lado de la psique”, el lado oscuro de Dios. Esto fue como un trauma infligido por Dios pero también fue la fuente de su gracia.

En este episodio cubrimos los primeros 10 capítulos de Respuesta a Job que incluye:

Primero: La naturaleza contradictoria de la personalidad de Yahvé.

Segundo: El tema de que Dios necesita el hombre.

Tercero: Lo que le falta a Yahweh es un lado femenino.

Cuarto: Jung busca la encarnación de Dios a través de Cristo, el dios-hombre. Esto resultó del daño hecho a Job por Yahweh. Cristo seriá perfecto. Satanás tendriá que dejar el cielo y ser arrojado a la tierra. Dios tendriá que entrar en la humanidad.

Quinto: El mal todavía prevalece en la tierra.

Sexto: La creencia de que Dios es todo bueno simplemente no es creíble.

Septimo: La imagen de Dios es una mezcla de opuestos.