Individuation

Why a Conscious Life Has a Positive End: An Interview with Dan Ross

This episode I want to try something new. We see statistics that show how many people listen to this podcast, but that doesn’t show us who our listeners are. I’m curious about who listens to this podcast and I think some of you might be interested in what kind of community of listeners you’re a part of. I want to know where you are on your journey, how you found this podcast, and what you are looking for in life. If you’d like to share a little bit of that with us, click this link, and I’ll read your submission on the podcast! No need to share any identifying information. This information will not be used for any other purpose.

In this episode, Patricia Martins interviews Jungian Analyst Dan Ross, RN, PMHNP, about conscious individuation throughout life stages and why it makes for a better death.

Daniel Ross, RN, PMHNP, MSN, MBA has been a nurse for 40 years. He has worked extensively as Director of Clinical Services in the field of home health care and hospice. As a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, he brings both a medical and psychiatric experience to his work. He currently works part time in the field of Palliative Care and Hospice as a Nurse Practitioner, visiting patients in their home or nursing facility helping them in their transition to hospice. He is also a Jungian Analyst in private practice in downtown Chicago.

Patricia Martin is a noted cultural analyst, author, and consultant. She has published three books on cultural trends. As a consultant, Patricia has helped some of the world’s most respected organizations interpret social signals that have the power to shape the collective. She’s worked with teams at Discovery Communications, Dannon, Microsoft, Unisys, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the New York Philharmonic. Her work has been featured in the New York TimesHarvard Business ReviewUSA Today, and Advertising Age. She holds an M. A. in literature and cultural studies at the University College, Dublin (honors) and a B.A. in English from Michigan State University. In 2018, she completed the Jungian Studies Program at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago, where she is a Professional Affiliate. A scholar in residence at the Chicago Public Library, Patricia has devoted nearly a decade to studying the digital culture and its impact on individuation. She lectures around the world on topics related to the psyche and the digital age, the future of the collective, and the changing nature of individuation, all concepts discussed in her forthcoming book: Will the Future Like You?

Links
Dan Ross’s page on the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago Website
Dan Ross on Jungianthology
Dan Ross’s website
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Join our mailing list


This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Executive Producer: Ben Law
Producer: Patricia Martin
Music: Michael Chapman


Thank you to our 2020 donors who gave at the Contributing Member level and above: Barbara Annan, Usha and Ashok Bedi, Jackie Cabe Bryan, Eric Cooper and Judith Cooper, Kevin Davis, George J. Didier, James Fidelibus, John Korolewski, Marty Manning, Dyane Sherwood, Deborah P. Stutsman, Debra Tobin, Alexander Wayne and Lynne Copp, Gerald Weiner, Karen West and James Taylor, and Ellen Young. If you would like to support this podcast, click here to join our community of supporters.

Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times: An Interview with James Hollis

First, thank you to everyone who participated in our 2020 Holiday Giving Drive. Because of your support, we were able to meet our $25,000 fundraising goal! We could not do this work without you all and appreciate all the support, including those who support the institute in other ways.

In this episode, Patricia Martin interviews James Hollis, PhD, about his recent book Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times.

James Hollis, PhD was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught Humanities 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zurich, Switzerland (1977-82). He is presently a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years, was Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington until 2019, and now serves on the JSW Board of Directors. He is a retired Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco/Houston. He has written a total of sixteen books, which have been translated into 19 languages. He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grand-children.

Patricia Martin is a noted cultural analyst, author, and consultant. She has published three books on cultural trends. As a consultant, Patricia has helped some of the world’s most respected organizations interpret social signals that have the power to shape the collective. She’s worked with teams at Discovery Communications, Dannon, Microsoft, Unisys, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the New York Philharmonic. Her work has been featured in the New York TimesHarvard Business ReviewUSA Today, and Advertising Age. She holds an M. A. in literature and cultural studies at the University College, Dublin (honors) and a B.A. in English from Michigan State University. In 2018, she completed the Jungian Studies Program at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago, where she is a Professional Affiliate. A scholar in residence at the Chicago Public Library, Patricia has devoted nearly a decade to studying the digital culture and its impact on individuation. She lectures around the world on topics related to the psyche and the digital age, the future of the collective, and the changing nature of individuation, all concepts discussed in her forthcoming book: Will the Future Like You?

Links: James Hollis’s website | James Hollis’s lectures in our online store | James’s Hollis’s online courses through the Jung Society of Washington


This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Executive Producer: Ben Law
Producer: Patricia Martin
Music: Michael Chapman


Thank you to our 2020 donors who gave at the Supporting Member level and above: Barbara Annan, Usha and Ashok Bedi, Jackie Cabe Bryan, Eric Cooper and Judith Cooper, Kevin Davis, George J. Didier, James Fidelibus, John Korolewski, Marty Manning, Dyane Sherwood, Deborah P. Stutsman, Debra Tobin, Alexander Wayne and Lynne Copp, Gerald Weiner, Karen West and James Taylor, and Ellen Young. If you would like to support this podcast, click here to join our community of supporters.

Stepping Onto the Path: Interview with Director of Training Boris Matthews

I want to personally introduce our new producer, Patricia Martin. She is a cultural analyst, author, consultant, Professional Affiliate (graduate of our Jungian Studies Program), and member of our Program Committee. This is the first interview she’s doing for us and we are developing plans to do more. I’m grateful that she’s willing to give her own time to help us bring interesting discussions to this podcast. -Ben Law

In this episode, Patricia Martin interviews Boris Matthews, current Director of the Analyst Training Program at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago, about his own life journey, his perspective on analysis, education, and individuation, and the program itself.

Note: There was some mysterious background hum that we did our best to remove, but the audio quality is affected somewhat. We will continue to work on improving the audio quality for these interviews.

Boris Matthews, PhD, LCSW, NCPsyA graduated from the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago, is a member of the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts, and maintains a practice of analytical psychology in the Milwaukee and Madison, WI, areas. He is particularly interested in working with persons who recognize need to develop a balanced adaptation to the “outside” and to the “inside” worlds, work that involves awareness of the individual’s psychological typology. Dreams, active imagination, and spiritual concerns are integral elements in the analytic work, the ultimate goal of which is to develop a functioning dialog with the non-ego center, the Self. He serves as the Director of Training of the Analyst Training Program, regularly teaches classes for analytic candidates, and conducts study groups.

Patricia Martin is a noted cultural analyst, author, and consultant. She has published three books on cultural trends. As a consultant, Patricia has helped some of the world’s most respected organizations interpret social signals that have the power to shape the collective. She’s worked with teams at Discovery Communications, Dannon, Microsoft, Unisys, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the New York Philharmonic. Her work has been featured in the New York TimesHarvard Business ReviewUSA Today, and Advertising Age. She holds an M. A. in literature and cultural studies at the University College, Dublin (honors) and a B.A. in English from Michigan State University. In 2018, she completed the Jungian Studies Program at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago, where she is a Professional Affiliate. A scholar in residence at the Chicago Public Library, Patricia has devoted nearly a decade to studying the digital culture and its impact on individuation. She lectures around the world on topics related to the psyche and the digital age, the future of the collective, and the changing nature of individuation, all concepts discussed in her forthcoming book: Will the Future Like You?

Links: The Analyst Training Program | Lectures by Boris Matthews in our Online Store | Boris Matthews on the Jungianthology Podcast & Blog


This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Music by Michael Chapman
Edited and produced by Benjamin Law


Thank you to our 2019 Supporter level donors: Bill Alexy, Usha and Ashok Bedi, Circle Center Yoga, Arlo and Rena Compaan, Eric Cooper and Judith Cooper, Lorna Crowl, D. Scott Dayton, George J. Didier, Ramaa Krishnan/Full Bloomed Lotus, Suzanne G. Rosenthal, Deborah Stutsman, Debra Tobin, Alexander Wayne and Lynne Copp, Gerald Weiner. If you would like to support this podcast, click here to donate.

Dennis Merritt | Use of the I Ching in the Analytic Setting

The First International Conference on Jungian Psychology and Chinese Culture was held in Guangzhou, China in December, 1998. My paper was among the conference papers translated into Chinese and later published in English in Quadrant XXXI (2) Summer 2001. An abridged and slightly revised version is presented here.

Hexagram 42, Increase

For many Westerners an introduction to Chinese culture comes through the use of the I Ching. This profound book, a compendium of wisdom extending back to the roots of one of the planet’s most ancient cultures, has become an important companion for many in the West, including myself. Use of the I Ching challenges the reigning scientific paradigms in Western culture and brings a dimension to the Jungian psychoanalytic process that is sympathetic to the deepest and truest spirit of Jungian psychology.

            In Jungian terms, one could say the I Ching is a book that emerged out of the archetypal depths of the human psyche and the psychoid dimensions of the Self. The origins of dreams and the genesis of hexagrams in response to questions addressed to the I Ching are grounded in the same source. The Chinese ideogram for the sage, “the ear listening to the Inner King,” describes the process and goal of Jungian psychology.

            Scientists are giving ecological perspectives more credibility, where patterns of relationships are central. Psychoneuroimmunology research and the statistical verifications of the power of prayer and belief blur the distinctions between mind and matter. Our outlook on life, the way we perceive the world, and our ability to reflect and see meaning in experiences have been shown to affect our health and physical well-being. Dreams, particular psychological approaches, certain spiritual practices, and the I Ching address these issues at deep and subtle psychogenic levels where mind and matter meet (1).

            Analysts are in a good position to notice synchronistic events because we work with dreams at an archetypal level. Synchronistic events are usually related to archetypal events like birth, death, strong love relationships, and jealousy. Circumstantial evidence that synchronicities occur prompted me to develop an experiment to statistically test the possibility. This was part of my thesis (1983) at the Jung Institute in Zurich entitled “Synchronicity Experiments with the I Ching and Their Relevance to the Theory of Evolution.”

            Synchronicity convinced Jung there was an element of the psyche outside time and space: space and time are relative to the psyche (3). Incorporating the concept of synchronicity into his theoretical system late in his life led Jung to substantially reformulate his concepts of archetypes and the collective unconscious, putting them on a transcendent basis. Jung thought of archetypes as forms of existence without time and space, with the archetype per se being a “just so” ordering principle, an imperceptible structural element giving order to ideas and completely integrated with physical reality (4). Archetypes have a psychoid nature, meaning they have both a psychic and a physical dimension: psychic and physical are two sides of the same coin (5). An analogy in physics would be light, which behaves as a particle and a wave; matter (particles) and field somehow being two sides of the same phenomena…

(more…)

Dan Ross on Death and Immortality

In this video seminar, Daniel Ross shares some of his work from our podcast episode “Death Panels: Our Cultural Complex Around Death”. This event was hosted by the USA India Jung Foundation – a 501c(3) foundation that does charitable work in India and USA – and was presented at the Ahmedabad Jung Center, India an IAAP Developing group (uijf.org) and moderated by Ashok Bedi – the IAAP liaison person for the Ahmedabad Jung Center. Thank you to the USA India Jung Foundation for sharing this recording of a seminar we only have on audio.

Daniel Ross, RN, PMHNP, MSN, MBA has been a nurse for 40 years. He has worked extensively as Director of Clinical Services in the field of home health care and hospice. As a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, he brings both a medical and psychiatric experience to his work. He currently works part time in the field of Palliative Care and Hospice as a Nurse Practitioner, visiting patients in their home or nursing facility helping them in their transition to hospice. He is also a Jungian Analyst in private practice in downtown Chicago.

Links: Dan Ross’s Page on the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago Website | Dan Ross’s Website | The USA India Jung Foundation Website

Murray Stein | On the Importance of Numinous Experience in the Alchemy of Individuation

In a letter to P.W. Martin (20 August 1945), the founder of the International Study Center of Applied Psychology in Oxted, England, C.G. Jung confirmed the centrality of numinous experience in his life and work: “It always seemed to me as if the real milestones were certain symbolic events characterized by a strong emotional tone. You are quite right, the main interest of my work is not concerned with the treatment of neuroses but rather with the approach to the numinous. But the fact is that the approach to the numinous is the real therapy and inasmuch as you attain to the numinous experiences you are released from the curse of pathology. Even the very disease takes on a numinous character” (Jung 1973, 1: 377). If one holds the classical Jungian view that the only genuine cure for neurosis is to grow out of it through pursuing individuation, then treatment based on this model would seem necessarily to include “the approach to the numinous,” as Jung states so firmly in this letter. The individuation process, as proposed by Jung and his followers, typically includes experiences of a numinous nature.

The question is: How are such momentous experiences related to and used within the context of analysis and the individuation journey, and how do they contribute to the overall process of individuation? On the answer to this complex question rests the difference between psychological individuation and the development of spirituality. While the psychological hero(ine) of the individuation journey is by no means identical to the spiritual hero(ine) of the journey to God (however this term may be defined), it is not always easy to tell where their paths diverge, precisely because Jung placed such central importance on numinous experience for individuation. And yet they do diverge, and decisively.

On Healing and Numinous Experience

We can begin by investigating how attaining to numinous experiences releases a person from the curse of pathology, as Jung claims in his letter to P.W. Martin. Generally speaking, an “approach to the numinous” is considered a religious undertaking, a pilgrimage. The “attainment to the numinous experiences” that Jung speaks of refers to religious experiences of a quasi-mystical nature. By itself, this attainment might well persuade a person that life is meaningful. Numinous experience creates a convincing link to the transcendent, and this may well lead to the feeling that character flaws like addictions or behavioral disorders are trivial by comparison with the grand visions imparted in the mystical state. The pathological symptom can be interpreted as an incitement to go on the spiritual quest, or even as a paradoxical doorway into transcendence, and this can donate meaning to the malady itself. Perhaps some degree of pathology is needed, in fact, in order for a person to feel strongly enough motivated to set out on a spiritual quest to begin with. In this case, attainment to numinous experiences would bring about a change in the feeling that pathology is a curse, even if it did not result in curing the pathology itself, although it might lead to this as well.

(more…)

Death Panels: Our Cultural Complex Around Death

with Dan Ross, RN, PMHNP

In recognition of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis affecting our healthcare system, we are sharing a recent seminar by Dan Ross, “Death Panels: Our Cultural Complex around Death”, in its entirety. This seminar was part of our public program series this year, and was recorded on February 28th, 2020.

The Spirit of the Times shapes our heroic attitude toward disease and death. Instead of the initiatory experience that fear of death can provide, we are paralyzed in our fear and cling to images of immortality found in modern medical institutions. The Affordable Care Act’s provision of reimbursing medical practitioners for having end-of-life discussions with patients with life-limiting illnesses constellated a collective panic. The cultural complex distorted these simple end-of-life discussions (brilliantly discussed in the best-selling book by Atul Gawande, Being Mortal) into what were called “Death Panels.” The fear was that a group of professionals would sit around and decide whether we should live or die. What was behind this cultural complex?

When we are forced to engage with the healthcare industry through illness, we are carried along a hero’s journey to treat death as the ultimate evil, and, in the process, we miss the transformative opportunities an encounter with death can provide. How did modern medicine come to carry for us the image of immortality? In this program, we will use myth, literature, and film to explore the Spirit of the Depths to better understand the archetypal underpinnings of modern medicine’s relationship to death and immortality.

PowerPoint slides used in the talk are available HERE

Dan Ross, RN, PMHNP, MSN, MBA has been a nurse for 40 years. He has worked extensively as Director of Clinical Services in the field of home health care and hospice. As a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, he brings both a medical and psychiatric experience to his work. He currently works part time in the field of Palliative Care and Hospice as a Nurse Practitioner, visiting patients in their home or nursing facility helping them in their transition to hospice. He is also a Jungian Analyst in private practice in downtown Chicago.

Support Us: Visit Our StoreMake a Donation

Thank you to our 2019 Supporter level donors: Bill Alexy, Usha and Ashok Bedi, Circle Center Yoga, Arlo and Rena Compaan, Eric Cooper and Judith Cooper, Lorna Crowl, D. Scott Dayton, George J. Didier, the Kuhl Family Foundation, Ramaa Krishnan & Full Bloomed Lotus, Suzanne G. Rosenthal, Deborah Stutsman, Debra Tobin, Alexander Wayne and Lynne Copp, Gerald Weiner.


© 2020 Dan Ross. This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Music by Michael Chapman
Edited and produced by Benjamin Law

Gather Up Your Brokenness: Love, Imperfection, & Human Ideals (Part 2)

In celebration of our Holiday Giving Drive, we are unlocking a full seminar by Polly Young-Eisendrath, “Gather Up Your Brokenness: Love, Imperfection, & Human Ideals”. You can be a part of this campaign by visiting our website and making a donation. Donors at the Supporter level and above will be acknowledged in the credits of this podcast. There are other benefits to donating so please consider visiting our website and making a contribution.

This episode is the second half of “Gather Up Your Brokenness: Love, Imperfection, & Human Ideals”. The first half was published on November 22nd.

In the poetic tradition of Zen monk and bard, Leonard Cohen, this presentation celebrates our brokenness. Often, we hear about grieving our mistakes, failures, losses and imperfections, but rarely do we learn how to mine them for their richness. Because human beings are naturally broken – with personalities that are largely unconscious, reactive and hard to manage – we have countless opportunities in our relationships and work to see our selves in the cracks of the mirror. This presentation will draw on Carl Jung’s psychology of individuation and on the Buddha’s teachings on awakening to offer a new vision of imperfection with its inherent openings to compassion and love. 

PowerPoint slides used in the talk are available HERE

Polly Young-Eisendrath, PhD is Clinical Associate Professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont Medical College. She is a psychologist and Jungian analyst practicing in the mountains of central Vermont, where she lives and writes. She has published thirteen books, many chapters and articles that have been translated into fourteen languages. Her books include The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-ImportanceThe Resilient Spirit: Transforming Suffering Into Insight And RenewalThe Gifts Of Suffering: A Guide To Resilience And RenewalWomen and Desire: Beyond Wanting to Be Wantedand You’re Not What I Expected: Learning to Love the Opposite Sex.

More Seminars by Polly Young-Eisendrath

Support Us: Visit Our StoreMake a Donation


© 2016 Polly Young-Eisendrath. This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Music by Michael Chapman
Edited and produced by Benjamin Law

Gather Up Your Brokenness: Love, Imperfection, & Human Ideals (Part 1)

In celebration of our Holiday Giving Drive, we are unlocking a full seminar by Polly Young-Eisendrath, “Gather Up Your Brokenness: Love, Imperfection, & Human Ideals”. You can be a part of this campaign by visiting our website and making a donation. Donors at the Supporter level and above will be acknowledged in the credits of this podcast. There are other benefits to donating so please consider visiting our website and making a contribution.

This episode is the first half of “Gather Up Your Brokenness: Love, Imperfection, & Human Ideals”. The second half will be published later this month. NOW LIVE HERE

In the poetic tradition of Zen monk and bard, Leonard Cohen, this presentation celebrates our brokenness. Often, we hear about grieving our mistakes, failures, losses and imperfections, but rarely do we learn how to mine them for their richness. Because human beings are naturally broken – with personalities that are largely unconscious, reactive and hard to manage – we have countless opportunities in our relationships and work to see our selves in the cracks of the mirror. This presentation will draw on Carl Jung’s psychology of individuation and on the Buddha’s teachings on awakening to offer a new vision of imperfection with its inherent openings to compassion and love. 

PowerPoint slides used in the talk are available HERE

A note about sound: There were microphone issues that were resolved after a few minutes.

Polly Young-Eisendrath, PhD is Clinical Associate Professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont Medical College. She is a psychologist and Jungian analyst practicing in the mountains of central Vermont, where she lives and writes. She has published thirteen books, many chapters and articles that have been translated into fourteen languages. Her books include The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-ImportanceThe Resilient Spirit: Transforming Suffering Into Insight And RenewalThe Gifts Of Suffering: A Guide To Resilience And RenewalWomen and Desire: Beyond Wanting to Be Wantedand You’re Not What I Expected: Learning to Love the Opposite Sex.

More Seminars by Polly Young-Eisendrath

Support Us: Visit Our StoreMake a Donation


© 2016 Polly Young-Eisendrath. This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Music by Michael Chapman
Edited and produced by Benjamin Law

Thomas Moore on Aging and the Soul

Thomas Moore will be visiting us in October to lead a two-day seminar (registration is open now). As an introduction to Moore’s perspective and voice, we are sharing the first hour of his previous workshop with us, Cultivating Soul, which included two parts:

Part 1: Ageless Soul
Thomas Moore will speak about the themes of his book, Ageless Soul, and engage in conversation with attendees and analysts. Ageless soul offers positive and inspiring guidance for becoming a full person as time goes by. Since we are all aging, it is for anyone who has ever thought about getting older. It’s especially valuable for people 50 and over. It seems more difficult than ever these days to deal creatively with aging. This book provides a deep and comprehensive plan that sees aging not as losing capacity but as becoming who you are destined to be, a real human being. It covers key matters, such as:

 – the shock of discovering that you’re getting older
  – how to keep your youth in a deep way
  – how to manage your sexuality as you age
  – how spirituality can mature and become more important over time
  – how to value your life by leaving a conscious legacy for your family and your society
  – responding well to loneliness and depression
  – nurturing friendships and community as you get older

Part 2: Care of the Soul in Troubled Times
For all of our problems, our times are in many ways better than the past. Throughout history, much has been achieved creatively in very troubled times. This is a time to resist the culture (contemptus mundi) and live your own life of excellence and beauty. It’s a time to assume leadership for change and returning to eternal values. Study the best of lives in our past and be inspired toward creativity and excellence (aréte).

This seminar was recorded on October 28, 2017.

Thomas Moore, PhD is the author of nearly two dozen books on deepening spirituality and cultivating soul in every aspect of life. His book, Care of the Soul, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Well-known within the Jungian community, he has been a monk, a musician, a university professor, and a psychotherapist. He lectures frequently in Ireland and has a special love of Irish culture. He has a PhD in religion from Syracuse University and has won several awards for his work, including an honorary doctorate from Lesley University and the Humanitarian Award from Einstein Medical School of Yeshiva University. Three of his books have won the prestigious Books for a Better Life awards. He writes fiction and music and often works with his wife, artist and yoga instructor, Hari Kirin. Much of his recent work has focused on the world of medicine, speaking to nurses and doctors about the soul and spirit of medical practice. thomasmooresoul.com

For the full seminar, CLICK HERE.
To register for Moore’s upcoming workshop, CLICK HERE.

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© 2017 Thomas Moore. This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Music by Michael Chapman
Edited and produced by Benjamin Law

The Way of the Sly One: Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, & Jung

with Ken James, PhD

This episode is the first part of the series The Way of the Sly One: The Psychology of Our Possible Evolution in the Writings of Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, & Jung.

Most depth psychological theories look backward into the personal history of the individual in order to find the causes for neurotic symptoms, gain insight into their persistence in the present, and diminish their effects in the future. A key feature of Jungian psychology is the addition of a forward focus, a constructive, teleological emphasis on the meaning of symptoms, and the need to discover what the symptom is calling the sufferer to notice and change. This places Jung in a category of psychological practitioners who seek to promote the possible evolution of the person from present status to future transcendence.

Russian spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff sought to bring his students to a place of consciousness that went far beyond what was generally thought of as “being awake”. The core of his teaching, that humankind was unfinished and did not possess a soul but was capable of creating one through intense inner work, created discomfort in his followers and stimulated them to find ways to break through to new levels of awareness – a method he called “the way of the sly one”. P.D. Ouspensky, Gurdjieff’s foremost disciple, also taught about the possible evolution of human consciousness and provided a more systematized interpretation of Gurdjieff’s teachings.

Ken James, PhD maintains a private practice in Chicago, Illinois.  His areas of expertise include dream work and psychoanalysis, archetypal dimensions of analytic practice, divination and synchronicity, and ways to sustain the vital relationship between body, mind and spirit.  He has done post-doctoral work in music therapy, the Kabbalah, spirituality and theology, and uses these disciplines to inform his work as a Jungian analyst. For more information visit soulworkcenter.org

For the complete series, click here
For all seminars by Ken James, click here


© 1997 Ken James. This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Music by Michael Chapman
Edited and produced by Benjamin Law

Women’s Mysteries: Sources of Creativity, Religion & Spirituality, & Solace

with Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD

This episode is the first part of the series Women’s Mysteries: Sources of Creativity, Religion & Spirituality, & Solace.

Jungian analyst and author Jean Shinoda Bolen leads a workshop for women “who seek to nurture their own creative and spiritual yearnings and find ways of expressing, articulating, and valuing what grows out of their inner life and the life they have lived so far. In the company of other women who know that suffering and joy and life are linked, personas drop away and soul comes forth.” Bolen weaves stories of psyche and goddess that have the power to touch themes and sacred places in the soul, and she leads listeners through a guided meditation, allowing the opportunity for personal symbols and myths to emerge. This tape set is also intended to serve as a model for women interested in forming their own spiritual groups. It was recorded in 1994.

bolen-jean-shinodaJean Shinoda Bolen, MD is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst and an internationally known author and speaker. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a former clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco, a past board member of the Ms. Foundation for Women and of the International Transpersonal Association. She was a recipient of the Institute for Health and Healing’s “Pioneers in Art, Science, and the Soul of Healing Award” and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is the author of The Tao of Psychology, Goddesses in Everywoman, Gods in Everyman, Ring of Power, Crossing to Avalon, Close to the Bone, The Millionth Circle, Goddesses in Older Women, Crones Don’t Whine, Urgent Message from Mother, and Like a Tree with over eighty foreign translations.


Links
The Complete Series

All Lectures by Jean Shinoda Bolen 


© 1994 Jean Shinoda Bolen. This podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may share it, but please do not change it, sell it, or transcribe it.
Music by Michael Chapman
Edited and produced by Benjamin Law

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    The Jungianthology Podcast offers free lectures from our archives and interviews with Jungian analysts and presenters at Institute programs.

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