This online course was recorded on June 30, 2015. From the video description:
This course is made possible by Ashok Bedi, MD, by the generous grant from the USA India Jung Foundation: a not for profit 501c(3) charitable Wisconsin Foundation(support the foundation here: uijf.org/donate.php) and the CG Jung Institute of Chicago. Thank you to the presenters for giving permission to publish the material. This video is for public and professional education purposes only, not for reuse for profit purposes.
Dr. Lance Longo is medical director of addiction psychiatry at Aurora Behavioral Health Services.
In the spring of 2020, America and the world were overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the global racial justice protests. This inspired the co-authors Ashok Bedi, a psychiatrist and a Jungian psychoanalyst, and Robert BJ Jakala, a psychologist, a Jungian therapist, and an avid photographer, to compose a daily blog for 100 days to chronicle their soul response to staying centered in the eye of this storm.
When dealing with a personal or a collective crisis or trauma, the rational mind fails to be a guide. When overwhelmed, a deeper level of archetypal consciousness is activated from the depths of the psyche to help navigate the storm. This is over 2 million years of ancestral wisdom encoded in the limbic system that crystalizes as images with a symbolic instruction as a GPS to help navigate the storm.
The authors’ method captures the archetypal response of the personal and collective psyche. BJ would choose a photograph daily with his initial response to the collective crisis. Ashok would amplify the symbolic meaning of this image from an archetypal lens. Together, they strung a talismanic necklace to guide us into the center of the storm. Join them in celebrating the power of the unconscious to help us survive and master the storm.
Robert “BJ” Jakala, PhD is a Depth Psychologist, Educator, Writer, and Photographer. He is a graduate of Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, CA. He is also a Registered Nurse who worked at Linda and Stewart Neuropsychiatric Hospital for thirty-three years. He was a Nursing Supervisor for seventeen years and lead Group Psychotherapy on the Adult Service for ten years. He has taught the First Year Nurse Residents Self-Care and Stress Management at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center for over twelve years. He is the former Assistant Director of the Men’s Center of Los Angeles for 5 years. He retired from thirty years of Private Practice in Woodland Hills, CA in November. 2017.
Dr. Jakala promotes the idea of transformation and change as a function of image and language in patients, as well as clinicians. He teaches the rewards of deep listening to the images created by language and the value of an image’s experience before words emerge. He aligns with Carl Jung’s ideas regarding a universal consciousness that is often hidden beneath the surface of our ego consciousness. He encourages clinicians to appreciate the collective in order to assist clients become more of themselves.
Ashok Bedi, M.D. is a Jungian psychoanalyst and a board-certified psychiatrist. He is a member of the Royal College of psychiatrists of Great Britain, a diplomat in Psychological Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of England, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is a Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and a training analyst at the Carl G. Jung Institute of Chicago. His books include The Spiritual Paradox of Addiction, Crossing the Healing Zone , Awaken the Slumbering Goddess: The Latent Code of the Hindu Goddess Archetypes, Retire Your Family Karma: Decode Your Family Pattern and Find Your Soul Path and Path to the Soul. He is the liaison for the IAAP for developing Jungian training programs in India and travels annually to India to teach, train the consult with the Jungian Developing groups at several centers in India including Ahmedabad and Mumbai. He leads the annual “A Jungian Encounter with the Soul of India” study group to several centers in India under the auspices of the New York Jung Foundation. His publications and upcoming programs may be previewed at pathtotheosul.com
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.
Ashok Bedi, M.D. is a Jungian psychoanalyst and a board-certified psychiatrist. He is a member of the Royal College of psychiatrists of Great Britain, a diplomat in Psychological Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of England, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is a Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and a training analyst at the Carl G. Jung Institute of Chicago. His books include The Spiritual Paradox of Addiction, Crossing the Healing Zone , Awaken the Slumbering Goddess: The Latent Code of the Hindu Goddess Archetypes, Retire Your Family Karma: Decode Your Family Pattern and Find Your Soul Path and Path to the Soul. He is the liaison for the IAAP for developing Jungian training programs in India and travels annually to India to teach, train the consult with the Jungian Developing groups at several centers in India including Ahmedabad and Mumbai. He leads the annual “A Jungian Encounter with the Soul of India” study group to several centers in India under the auspices of the New York Jung Foundation. His publications and upcoming programs may be previewed at pathtotheosul.com
The following post is part of a series of reflections by Jungian Psychoanalyst Ashok Bedi, MD & Jungian Psychotherapist Robert BJ Jakala, PhD. Dr. BJ Jakala is a photographer and Dr. Bedi and Dr. Jakala jointly amplify the image. The ongoing series is available on pathtothesoul.com.
We seek the effective images, the thought-forms that satisfy the restlessness of heart and mind, and we find the treasures of the East.
Jung, 1934/1954/1968, p. 13
I was walking through a small village when I encountered this woman sitting on the wall. When I gestured to her to gain permission to take her photo. She nodded. As I raised my camera, she raised her hands to the namaste position. I pressed the shutter and lowered my camera but continued to look at her looking at me. I felt blessed. Her grounded soulfulness welcomed the moment of encounter with another. I felt her hospitality; without a camera she captured me. There was need for a polite smile by either of us. The gratitude of being recognized at a deeper level eliminated the idea of surface pleasantries.
Life in the United States has very few moments of stillness unless we make them. The pandemic, social justice, political upheaval, concerns about schooling in the fall leave little space for a full acknowledgement. Yet, we all need to be seen, heard, understood, and loved. I would benefit from creating and partaking in more moments with the woman sitting on a wall.
Most of us engage a lifestyle of horizontal engagement with the mundane, survival dimension of our daily, routine and busy existence. This calls for a balance with attention to a vertical axis of interiority, spirituality and the sacred dimension of our lives. When the horizontal, survival axis of our daily life intersects with the vertical, archetypal axis of our inner life, it forms a symbol of the Cross – a symbol of Wholeness. This calls for a sacrifice in the material/horizontal life to make room for the contemplative space to engage the sacred.
The following post is the first in a series of daily reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic by Jungian Psychoanalyst Ashok Bedi, MD & Jungian Psychotherapist Robert BJ Jakala, PhD. Dr. BJ Jakala is a photographer and Dr. Bedi and Dr. Jakala jointly amplify the image. The ongoing series is available on pathtothesoul.com.
Minding Our Nest – Our Vulnerable Humanity on a Fragile Planet
Often this work is wearisome and difficult, because it cannot be accomplished by intellectual shortcuts or moral recipes, but only by careful observation of the inner and outer conditions.
I woke up uncertain of what condition the world would be in and how I would face it. Before finding out what the outside would want, I sat quietly to check in with my internal world. I notice I am scared and need some courage. I remember a teacher long ago who said, “Fear is the embryo of courage. Courage is not born unless fear is present.”
I decide I need to act on tasks, familiar tasks, so I will feel a sense of influence and accomplishment rather than fear. I do some work out in the yard and notice how spring is here. None of the plants, butterflies, fruits, grasses or birds know about the Covid-19 virus. I begin to align with the natural feeling of spring. The work to care for my small piece of the planet helps me be more self-assured.
When my work is done, I go for a long walk and find a few people doing the same. Today when we made eye contact and said hello, there seems to be a deeper connection; a connection of “we are all in this together.” It occurred to me how the threat of climate crises has brought some nations together to save the planet. It is during this time that nations might work together to save humanity. Perhaps the threat of a common enemy will help all of us see we are in this together.
When I came home from my walk, the memory of this photo came to mind. It demonstrates action to make things better. What do I bring home? How do I contribute to my nest? It reminds me that I can collect memories and bring them to the moment, memories that are useful to my internal and external home. I carry the smiles and acknowledgement while on my walk with me now. They are here in my house with me.
It is via Community that we will save our humanity. In the Buddhist tradition, there are three legs of the spiritual tradition: Buddha (Image of Self), Sangha (Community) and Dharma (Spiritual Purposefulness). When these three are aligned, we come into our Soul. When all of us honor our Spiritual purposefulness and support the Community effort, we become One World, UNUS Mundus. Then the effort of each one of us will collectively support ALL of us. In the Alchemic tradition, one plus one = 11. That is the Way.
The views and opinions expressed in the podcasts and blog posts are those of the respected speakers or authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago.
