Jungian Dream Analysis

 I asked Gemini to comment on a dream that I had last night. I used the following prompt:

Imagine you are my Jungian therapist. I'm going to relate a dream I had last night and I want you to analyse it from a Jungian perspective. I am a 76 year old male who grew up in Australia but am currently living in Indonesia and has been married to his Indonesian wife for 25 years. I mention this because she appears (indirectly) in the dream. Here is the dream:

I'm in a house that is not my own but I appear to be living in it with my wife who is taking a shower while the events I'm about to describe unfold. I'm in the living room when I notice a rhinoceros in the house that is restrained in some way. It has a short but sharp horn and starts swinging its head from side to side. The velocity of this movement quickly gathers pace and it soon breaks free of its restraints and is able to move about freely.

Here was its response (I'm still processing what was said and may comment later):

Hello. I am honored to step into this role for you. Thank you for sharing such a visceral and powerful dream. The fact that this dream crossed the threshold of sleep and caused you to shout in physical reality suggests that the unconscious is demanding to be heard. It has a high "energetic charge."

Given your specific request for a decisive interpretation without ambiguity, I will present to you the single most potent Jungian narrative that fits these symbols, your age, and your life context.

The Core Theme: The Liberation of the Archaic Self

This is not a dream of danger, despite your fear within it. This is a dream of expansion.

At 76, you are in what Jung called the "Second Half of Life," where the goal shifts from social achievement to Individuation—becoming who you truly are, stripped of social masks. The "House that is not your own" represents your current psychic structure or even your aging physical body. It feels unfamiliar because you are entering a new phase of existence where old rules no longer apply.

The dream is telling us that your instinctual life force (Libido) is breaking its chains. You are no longer meant to "restrain" your deepest, heaviest, and most powerful nature.

The Symbolic Breakdown

1. The Restrained Rhinoceros (The Primeval Drive) The rhinoceros represents a prehistoric, earthy, and solitary power. In Jungian analysis, this is the "Shadow"—not as "evil," but as the raw, unrefined energy of life. The horn represents focused, penetrating power (masculine principle). The fact that it was restrained implies that for much of your life, you may have held back your bluntest, most stubborn, or most powerful instincts to fit into social structures (Australia) or perhaps cultural adaptations (Indonesia).

The shaking head: This is the build-up of kinetic energy. The psyche is saying, "I can no longer stay still. I can no longer be polite."

2. The Wife in the Shower (The Unavailable Anima) Your wife here functions as the Anima—your inner soul, your feeling function, and the bridge to the unconscious.

Why is she showering? She is engaging in purification and renewal. She is "naked" (authentic) and turning inward.

Why doesn't she answer? This is crucial. Your conscious Ego (the you in the dream) is panicking and trying to drag the Anima into your panic. Her silence is the psyche’s way of telling you: “There is no emergency here that the feeling function needs to solve. Do not look to the wife/mother figure for safety. You must face this energy alone.”

3. The Elephant (The Great Wisdom) Suddenly, the Elephant appears. In Jungian symbology, the elephant is the remover of obstacles and a symbol of ancient, heavy wisdom and memory. It is larger than the rhino. This tells us that behind your raw drive (Rhino) stands a massive, slow-moving, unstoppable wisdom (Elephant). This validates the Rhino; it says this breakout is supported by a deeper power.

The Interpretation

You are experiencing a Vitality Breakthrough.

The fear you felt was not because the animals were attacking you—they explicitly were not hostile. The fear was regarding their size and unpredictability. This is the classic ego-reaction to the numinous (the awe-inspiring power of the unconscious). You are realizing that there are forces within you that are bigger than your conscious control.

The animals did not destroy the house; they smashed a window. A window is a viewpoint—a way of looking at the world.

Here is the decisive meaning: The psychological structures and restraints you built up over 76 years are too small for the spirit you possess now. The "House" (your current adaptation to life) is too cramping. Your inner nature (the Rhino and Elephant) has decided to break the window—to shatter your old outlook—so it can escape into the open.

The dream indicates that you are possessing a surge of "late-life libido." This isn't necessarily sexual; it is creative, assertive, and heavy presence. You are being called to stop restraining your "bigness." The dream implies you have been too careful, perhaps too adapted to your environment, and your soul wants to roam free.

Summary

Your unconscious is shouting (literally, through your mouth) that it refuses to be domesticated any longer. The animals escaping represents a successful liberation of your energy. You survived the encounter, and the animals are now free. This is a positive omen of a vigorous spirit that refuses to fade away quietly.

***********************************

See blog post titled The Way Forward from July 2025.

Recent NotebookLM Queries

I've uploaded 21 sources to a notebook in Gemini's NotebookLM and it is proving a valuable resource. Here are some recent queries that I've carried out for various reasons.

Can you find all occurrences of the expression involving the phrase "dust at the feet of the master" or words very similar to those.

The expression involving the phrase "dust at the feet of the master" or similar wording occurs frequently in the sources, often in the context of describing absolute humility, surrender, obedience, and the mechanism by which a Perfect Master assumes the karmic burdens (sanskaras) of disciples.

Here are the key occurrences and related explanations found in the sources:

1. Occurrences of the Phrase "Dust at the Feet of the Master" or its Variants

The sources explicitly advocate for the disciple or seeker to attain a state of humility likened to dust at the feet of the Perfect Master (or Beloved):

• The goal is achieved by becoming effaced, meaning to become dust at the feet of the Perfect Master.
• Spirituality means dying to one's self and becoming absolutely insignificant as dust — dust at the feet of the Perfect Master. To become as dust means to become as nothing; it means to die while continuing to live.
• To realize God can be gained through love for God — by becoming dust at the feet of the Perfect Master.
• If this is not possible, one should, at the least, desire to become like dust at the feet of the Beloved.
• The substance of many songs (ghazals) expresses that to become the dust underneath the feet of the Perfect Master is the only solution to all those seeking union with the Beloved.
• Bhau's son, Mehernath, was said to have had a specific wish, which was that he would like to become as dust at your feet; Edward Luck also said the same.
• The spiritual goal requires one to retain human consciousness and become as stone, and then wear yourself down to dust at the feet of the Perfect Master.
• One must become the very dust under the Master's feet to gain the experience of Oneness.
• A true lover of God has such courage, for he has become like dust at the feet of a Perfect Master.

2. Poetic References (Hafiz and Khak Saheb)

The concept is frequently reinforced through poetry, particularly citing the Persian mystic Hafiz:

• Hafiz advises, "If in your head there is the desire for Union with the Beloved, You must become as the dust before the door of those who discern spiritual things".
• Hafiz also asks, "If you are mad enough, Become the dust under the feet of the Perfect Master!".
• Another couplet translated from Hafiz suggests that a side-glance from the Master is enough to turn "this dust at your feet into gold".
• Hafiz warns the advancing soul, “At the threshold of the Beloved beware, lest, from the height of your achievement, you fall to the lowest state of dust”.
• The poet Khak Saheb wrote a ghazal dedicated to Meher Baba, noting: "This dust of Khak longs to see the Sun. You've turned it into the dust of Your feet and made it wine".
• Another poetic reference advises the lover to lay down their hearts and souls on the khak [dust] trod upon by his doorkeeper.

3. Significance of the Master's Feet and the Dust Analogy

The sources provide detailed explanations regarding the spiritual meaning of the Master's feet and the collection of dust:

• Spiritual Height and Universality: The feet, though physically the lowest part of the body, are spiritually the highest. Spiritually, the feet of a Perfect Master are above everything in the universe, which is like dust to him.
• Sanskaras and the Burden: A Perfect Master collects sanskaras (subtle impressions of thought, emotion, and action) from all over the universe. This collection is likened to an ordinary person, in walking, collecting dust on his feet.
• Laying Down the Burden: When people come to a Perfect Master and touch his feet with their heads, they lay the burden of their sanskaras on him. This is the burden Jesus referred to when he said, "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest".
• The Act of Humility/Obedience: Becoming dust is stated as the best and truest example of complete obedience.
  • Dust has no thought of its own; it has no will of its own. It can be trampled upon, applied to the forehead, or suspended in the air; it is all one and the same to it.
  • Dust never complains even if we walk over it, trample upon it, or use it in any way we like.
  • Meher Baba once ordered Adi to seek another man’s pardon by touching his feet, explaining: "You should become like dust. I scolded you to turn you into dust".
• The Result of Humility: The one who remains under my feet will rise to the zenith because their arrogance, conceit, and pride are turned into dust.

The spiritual path demands absolute submission, exemplified by Hafiz’s insistence that even in the highest state of intoxication, one's head should be on the feet of the Master. True love and obedience, like the passive, non-complaining nature of dust, lead to the highest spiritual freedom. The seemingly mundane action of the Master's feet collecting dust symbolizes the momentous spiritual work of bearing and transmuting the cosmic burden of sanskaras.

Can you find all references to Dane Rudhyar and explain his connection to Meher Baba.

Based on the sources provided, the references to Dane Rudhyar and his connection to Meher Baba are as follows:

Identity and Background Dane Rudhyar is identified in the texts as an "astrologer-author" and a Theosophist,. In late 1931, he was noted as being 36 years old.

Timeline of Connection

• Initial Contact (1931): Rudhyar first learned of Meher Baba in Hancock, New Hampshire. He was part of a group of Theosophists (including Catharine Gardner and Max and Lillian Wardall) to whom Milo Shattuck spoke regarding Meher Baba after Shattuck returned from England.
• First Meeting (Boston, 1931): Rudhyar met Meher Baba in person on the afternoon of 22 November 1931 at the Vendome Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Second Meeting (Hollywood, 1932): The sources confirm that the "Rudhyars had met Baba... again in Hollywood in 1932".

Connection Through His Wife: Rudhyar's connection continued through his wife, Maliya Rudhyar. She was touring India and visited Meher Baba at Nasik on 31 March 1937. During this meeting, Baba advised her on spiritual strength, telling her: "Bravery and strength overcome all difficulties. Be firm, do not despair and keep longing. It is there in you. You are the infinite universe, but you must discover it and find that out. I will help you, always".

What connections can you find to Meher Baba and Theosophy or theosophists?

Based on the sources provided, there are numerous connections between Meher Baba and Theosophy or Theosophists, ranging from early contacts with prominent members of the society to visits to Theosophical lodges in India. Meher Baba also offered specific critiques of Theosophical concepts and leaders.

Early Contacts with Theosophists in the West

During Meher Baba's early visits to the West in the 1930s, several individuals associated with the Theosophical movement came into his contact:

• Dane Rudhyar: An astrologer-author and Theosophist, Rudhyar learned of Meher Baba through Milo Shattuck and met Baba in Boston (1931) and Hollywood (1932) [Conversation History].
• Max Wardall: A Theosophist and regular contributor to the Theosophical Messenger, Wardall met Meher Baba at Harmon, New York. He had previously traveled in India with Annie Besant, J. Krishnamurti, and C.W. Leadbeater,.
• Mildred Kyle: Known as "Mother Kyle," she had been the president of her Theosophy Lodge for nearly 40 years. Upon seeing her photograph in India, Baba called her "a great soul." When she met him in New York in 1952, Baba told her, "I too am old... I am the oldest of the old. I am the Ancient One!",.
• Professor Ernest E. Wood: A noted British Sanskrit scholar working at the Theosophical Society in Madras, Wood met Baba on a ship in 1932. Baba explained the nature of spirituality to him.
• Others: Several other Western followers, including Harold Justin Rudd, Sam Cohen, and Ann Powell, had backgrounds in Theosophy before dedicating themselves to Meher Baba,,.

Critique of Theosophy and its Leaders

Meher Baba frequently commented on the Theosophical Society's promotion of J. Krishnamurti as the "World Teacher" and the society's occult claims:

• J. Krishnamurti: Baba stated that the Theosophists' claim that Krishnamurti was the "New World Teacher" was "humbug," though he noted it helped clear the path for his own manifestation,. When asked about him by Max Wardall, Baba said Krishnamurti was not as advanced as some thought but would eventually come to him. Baba criticized the comfortable lifestyle of Krishnamurti (playing tennis and golf) compared to the God-realized master Ramakrishna, stating Krishnamurti did not have "the slightest idea... of the Real Truth".
• Annie Besant: The head of the Theosophical Society. After she passed away in 1933, her daughter, Mabel Besant-Scott, met Baba in London. Baba told Mabel that her mother would be reborn as a man in India.
• "Wire-Pullers": Baba refuted the Theosophical concept that the "World Teacher" was directed by "wire-pullers" (Masters) in the Himalayas. He stated, "You will find nothing there but dust and stones," and asserted that no real Spiritual Master requires another's body to work,.
• Intellectual vs. Real: In later years, Baba described Theosophy and philosophy as "like good bones rotted" which serve as "food for vultures," contrasting them with the writings of living Perfect Masters which are "like brain and are as food for men". He stated that Theosophists' greatness lay in editorship and high-sounding words about planes and colors, but represented only a superficial knowledge of the shadow of Truth.

Visits to Theosophical Institutions in India

Despite his critiques, Meher Baba visited several Theosophical institutions in India, where he was received with respect:

• Nagpur: On November 14, 1944, Baba gave darshan at the Theosophical Society in Nagpur, where the secretary read Baba's message, "The Dynamics of Love".
• Madras (Adyar): In 1947, during a visit to Madras, Baba's disciples Minoo Kharas and Adi Dubash slept at the Theosophical Society.
• Thapeshwaram: In 1954, Baba visited the Satchitananda Theosophical Lodge in this village, where his message was read.
• Eluru: Baba visited the K. P. Theosophical High School in 1954, where he stated he would prefer to play with the children rather than receive garlands and puja.
• Poona: Members of the Poona Theosophical Society visited Baba in 1947 to hear lectures about him.

Other Connections

• Dr. Kazuteru Hitaka: A Japanese professor who met Baba in 1954, had first heard of Baba through a Dr. Muir, the head of a Theosophical group in Japan.
• Dismissal at Harmon: During his 1931 visit to Harmon, Baba dismissed a "Theosophical friend" from the house because the man harbored distrust, which Baba said impaired his work.

What references are there to angels in the sources?

Based on the provided sources, references to angels cover their evolutionary status, their function in the universe, their relationship to the Avatar and Perfect Masters, and specific historical or metaphorical anecdotes.

Nature and Evolution of Angels

The sources define an angel as a "spark which has become separated from the flame (God)" which must eventually go through the process of reincarnation. Unlike other souls that evolve through stone, vegetable, and animal forms, an angel does not begin as an atom but "reincarnates directly as man".

Comparison with Humans:

• Purity vs. Potential: Angels are described as "unembodied souls" and "mere automatons for the will of God" who do nothing not prompted by Him. Because they are not contaminated by physical embodiment, they are superior to man in purity; however, man is paradoxically superior in potential. By experiencing imperfections and weaknesses, man is "potentially ripe to realize his real Strength and Purity which are far above those of, and beyond the reach of, even the Archangels".
• Necessity of Human Form: Even the evolution of angels and archangels is not an "exclusive stream." To realize God, they cannot do so by independent effort; they must incarnate as human beings to link up with the human stream of life. Despite enjoying millions of years of bliss in heaven, they must take a human form to gain the full consciousness required for liberation.
• First Human Birth: When an angel is born as a human, it does not have to pass through the rounds of human reincarnation; it becomes God-realized in that "very first human birth".

Function and Hierarchy

Angels and fairies have a specific function in the universe: to keep the elemental forces of nature—light, heat, sound, and water—in equilibrium. Without them, the human mind's exploitation of natural forces would cause "frequent colossal disturbances" in the universe.

The sources also note that angels are subject to the "laws of cycles" and everything that happens to them is subject to the control of the Perfect Masters.

Relationship to the Avatar and Masters

The sources frequently depict angels as worshiping the Avatar and envying the unique opportunity human beings have to be in his physical presence.

• Worship: Meher Baba stated, "From ages eternal, gods and angels have been doing my worship". He also remarked that he is "worshiped by the angels, walis, and pirs".
• Envy of Humans: The sources describe angels weeping in envy because they cannot participate in the "river of love" or the "caravan" of the Avatar in the way humans can. When Baba was with children, it was noted that "the atmosphere... was such that even the angels envied these small children".
• Divine Love: Baba noted that "Even angels do not have this love for God," which is why they must become human to realize Him.

Specific Archangels and Stories

Gabriel (Jibra'il):

• With Prophets: The sources mention that the Prophet Muhammad played the role of being taught by Gabriel to set an example of humility and to "awaken the teacher in Gabriel".
• With Hafiz: The sources recount the story of the poet Hafiz performing a forty-day penance (chilla-nashini). On the fortieth day, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him. Hafiz found Gabriel's beauty so astounding that he forgot the beauty of the human woman he desired and realized that if God's messenger was this beautiful, God must be infinitely more so. When Gabriel asked what he desired, Hafiz replied, "I want God!".
• Metaphorical usage: Baba once emphasized his restriction on visitors by saying that no outsiders were to come to the villa for meals, "not even the archangel Gabriel!".

Metaphorical and Visionary References

• Disciples as Angels: Baba referred to his close disciples Will and Mary Backett as his "archangels". Upon Mary's death, he cabled Will: "My Archangel Mary has come to me after fulfilling her appointed task".
• Visions: Jean Adriel described a vision in 1931 where she saw her room filled with light and "a host of angelic beings, singing celestial music".
• Churning of the Ocean: A reference from the Mahabharata mentions the "Suras and Asuras (good angels and bad angels)" churning the ocean to discover the water of immortality.

Can you list and detail any references to Jim Reeves in the sources?

Based on the sources provided, the references to the American singer Jim Reeves are found in Lord Meher.

The text details the following connections between Meher Baba and Jim Reeves:

• Baba's Fondness for His Music: Meher Baba was described as being "very fond" of Jim Reeves' songs.
• Specific Songs: Two specific songs are listed as favorites: "Welcome to My World" and "There’s A Heartache Following Me".
• Listening Context: Baba would listen to these songs, among others, on phonograph records while he was relaxing with his mandali.
• Future Reference regarding Francis Brabazon: On one occasion, Meher Baba mentioned that one day, someone with a voice similar to Jim Reeves would sing the ghazals written by the poet and disciple Francis Brabazon.

Can you find and detail any references to Carl Jung in the sources.

Based on the sources provided, there are several significant references to the psychiatrist Dr. Carl Jung. These range from his contact with Meher Baba's disciples to Baba's own statement regarding his desire to meet Jung.

Meher Baba’s Desire to Contact Jung According to the sources, Meher Baba once indicated a specific spiritual interest in Carl Jung. When asked by his disciple Kitty Davy if there was anyone in the West whom he had wished to contact but had been unable to, Baba replied, "Carl Jung".

Connections through Disciples Although a personal meeting between Meher Baba and Jung never occurred, several of Baba's close Western disciples had direct contact with the psychiatrist:

• Norina Matchabelli and Quentin Tod: During their travels in Europe in late October 1932 to interest people in Baba, one of their "most notable" contacts was meeting Dr. Carl Jung in Switzerland.
• Walter Mertens: A Swiss disciple of Baba, Walter Mertens not only knew Carl Jung but had undergone psychoanalysis with him.
• Dr. Arvind: In 1956, during Baba’s visit to Zurich, a Dr. Arvind was present who is identified as "an Indian student of the psychiatrist Dr. Carl Jung".

Jung’s Awareness of Meher Baba Years after Baba had expressed his wish to contact him, the disciple Irene Conybeare sent Jung a copy of William Donkin’s book, The Wayfarers (which details Baba's work with the God-intoxicated). Jung replied to her, stating that "he had heard quite a bit about Meher Baba many years before".

Application of Jungian Concepts to Baba’s Work In her biography Avatar, Jean Adriel frequently utilizes Jungian terminology to interpret Meher Baba’s work, particularly regarding the "God-intoxicated" (masts) and the "Unconscious."

• Masts and Archetypes: Adriel notes that Baba sought those unbalanced by intense longing for God, a state she describes in "Jungian terminology" as "those overwhelmed by archetypal experience".
• The Collective Unconscious: She equates Baba's spiritual work with the "God-mad" to the "service which the Master renders all those earth children who are wandering about dazed and bewildered in the dangerous jungles of the Unconscious". She further suggests that Baba's work involves stirring the forces in the "collective Unconscious",.
• Symbolism: Adriel also references her study of "Jungian dream analysis" when interpreting the symbolism of the "churning of the ocean," equating the butter produced to the "individualized consciousness of God which the churning of the waters of the Unconscious precipitates",.

The Ageing Ego

The ego is a marvelous construct and in my case it arrived fully formed as I rolled down the front steps of my grandmother's house when I must have about two going on three. By this I mean, I was lying length-ways along the top step and then I rolled to the lower steps until I reached the bottom. There was nobody with me and there were only about half a dozen steps but I had the realisation when I reached the bottom that "I am". Prior to that I'd enjoyed the freedom and spontaneity of animal consciousness.

With that "I am" experience, I slowly became painfully shy whereas before I'd been the quintessential Aries: footloose and fearless. It took me decades to grow out of my shyness and it certainly handicapped me in the first half of my life. However, like most egos, it did the job and got me through life and at age 73 is still getting me through. As I age though it becomes more and more apparent that my ego is just a construct, artificial and temporary, that has no solidity or permanence. 

I shall be glad to shed it and, while consciousness is retained after death, it's of a very different quality to the ego-bound variety that most of us experience on Earth. First and foremost, as the fraud Freud said, the ego is a body ego and once the body is dropped, consciousness experiences a profound shock and fundamental change. It's experienced as a liberation compared to the tyranny of the ego with its sly, self-serving interests and petty vanities that limit us and make us far smaller than the infinity that we really are. As Barry Long called it: the stinking self. Like electricity, the ego is a useful servant but a terrible tyrant. 

With the body gone, the barriers that the ego set up to preserve its identity drop away and we can review the life just lived objectively. We can experience the effect that our actions had on others whereas as in life we weren't fully aware of them or didn't care. It's a self assessment. No one is judging us. It's our own review and we draw our own conclusions. The lessons learned shape our future life: its circumstances, the time and place, karmic debts to be repayed etc.

Toward the end of life, my life at least, the ego feels like a straight-jacket formed by the habits of a lifetime. I realise that I'm part of something much larger of which this current life is just a facet. My consciousness is focused on that facet currently but soon the light will shift and illuminate another facet. This multi-faceted reality is what Jung termed the Self. All the facets exist simultaneously but the focus of consciousness produces the illusion of time. The goal is to experience the light that is illuminating each facet and with that experience comes liberation. The facets were a means to end, a way of drawing our attention to the light.

For most of our life we are absorbed at a granular level in the details of one facet of this multi-faceted reality, with our backs firmly to the light. We are absorbed in the shadow play on the wall of Plato's cave.

The Barefoot Dreamer

On the night prior to March 29th 2021, I dreamt that I was barefoot. I had just stepped out of a house (unidentified) and realised that I was barefoot. I immediately returned to the house to retrieve my shoes but I had been on my way to the airport to catch a flight to somewhere. 

On the night prior to April 2nd 2021, I dreamed that I was approaching the bus stop just down from the corner of Milton Road and Hale Street, near my maternal grandparents' home. I had obviously walked up from there. As I approached the bus stop, I noticed my first ever girlfriend sitting there but suddenly realised I was barefoot. I thought about asking her for the money for the bus trip but realised I was still without footwear. Together we rummaged through a pile of discarded thongs but couldn't find a matching pair. All of the thongs were green and ugly. Again I was intending to travel somewhere.

What's common in both dreams is that I'm surprised to suddenly discover that I'm barefoot and make an immediate effort to find footwear. It's not that I've made a conscious decision to step out in public barefoot. I've done it inadvertently. About a year ago, I was strongly into "earthing" after reading the book "Earthing" by Clinton Ober and others. I even bought an earthing blanket so that I could be earthed as I slept. I stopped using it after a couple of months and haven't bothered it since but I've always felt that the idea of earthing made a lot of sense. In the light of my dreams, I've resurrected the blanket and have put it under my feet while I'm typing at my desk. It can't hurt.

The dream is probably psychological in meaning but in terms of my daily life over the past year or so, it's only earthing that comes to mind. However, I have been lately thinking about harnessing my psychic energy for healing purposes and the idea of earthing sort of ties in with this. Some of the techniques I've been working with, shaping psi-balls or energy-balls, might be enhanced by means of simultaneous earthing.

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Psi-Ball

Meanwhile my 72nd solar return occurs at 2:39pm Jakarta time today so that might be a good time to experiment. Chiron is strongly involved in this solar return and the mythological figure of Chiron was associated by Jung with 'the wounded healer':

In Greek mythology, the centaur Chiron was a "Wounded Healer", after being poisoned with an incurable wound by one of Hercules's arrows. Jung mentioned the Chiron myth "wounding by one's own arrow means, first of all, the state of introversion". For Jung, "a good half of every treatment that probes at all deeply consists in the doctor's examining himself... it is his own hurt that gives a measure of his power to heal. This, and nothing else, is the meaning of the Greek myth of the wounded physician." Jung felt that depth psychology can be potentially dangerous, because the analyst is vulnerable to being infected by his analysand's wounds by having his own wounds reopened. To avoid this, the analyst must have an ongoing relationship with the unconscious, otherwise he or she could identify with the "healer archetype", and create an inflated ego. Withdrawal of both projections may however ultimately activate the powers of the inner healer in the patients themselves. Jung’s closest colleague, Marie Louise Von Franz, said “the wounded healer IS the archetype of the Self [our wholeness, the God within] and is at the bottom of all genuine healing procedures.” Jungians warn of the dangers of inflation and splitting in the helping professions, involving projection of the 'wounded' pole of the archetype onto the patient alone, with the analyst safely separated off as 'healer.

 It was interesting to read what Von Franz said:

“the wounded healer IS the archetype of the Self [our wholeness, the God within] and is at the bottom of all genuine healing procedures.”

Lucid Dreaming

Hypnos and Thanatos, Sleep and His Half-Brother Death
by John William Waterhouse

I've been on holidays for one week now and that's about how long it takes to really start to slow down and relax. I've managed a daily meditation or two and have begun to re-read Osho's "The Book of Wisdom". In doing so, I was reminded of a reference he made to dreaming. He says:

The ego is a by-product, a by-product of the illusion that whatsoever you are seeing is true. If you think that objects are true, then the ego can exist; it is a by-product. If you think that objects are dreams, the ego disappears. And if you think continuously that all is a dream, then one day, in a dream in the night, you will be surprised: suddenly in the dream you will remember that this is a dream too! And immediately, as the remembrance happens, the dream will disappear. And for the first time you will experience yourself deep asleep, yet awake -- a very paradoxical experience, but of great benefit. Once you have seen your dream disappearing because you have become aware of the dream, your quality of consciousness will have a new flavor to it. The next morning you will wake up with a totally different quality you had never known before. You will wake up for the first time. Now you will know that all those other mornings were false; you were not really awake. The dreams continued -- the only difference was that in the night you were dreaming with eyes closed, in the day you were dreaming with eyes open. But if the dream has disappeared because awareness happened, suddenly you became aware in the dream.... And remember, awareness and dreaming cannot exist together. Here, awareness arises, and there, the dream disappears. When you become awake in your sleep, the next morning is going to be something so important that it is incomparable. Nothing like it has ever happened. Your eyes will be so clear, so transparent, and everything will look so psychedelic, so colorful, so alive. Even rocks will be felt to be breathing, pulsating; even rocks will have a heartbeat. When you are awake, the whole existence changes its quality. We are living in a dream. We are asleep, even when we think we are awake.

Osho is referring here to lucid dreaming about which much has been written and I was prompted to review the literature on the subject on the Internet. One technique recommended for the inducement of lucid dreaming is to carefully count the digits of your hand before going to sleep followed by a reminder to look at your hands in the dream and try counting the digits again. Apparently, this proves very difficult in a dream or you miscount the number. In either case, you are then alerted to the fact that you are dreaming. There are other techniques to maintain the state of lucid dreaming. I have an e-book titled "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" by Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D. & Howard Rheingold that I think I'll make an effort to read. I notice the final chapter of the book is called "Life is a Dream: Intimations of a Wider World".

I'd like to attempt some lucid dreaming during these holidays and Osho's words have given me the stimulus. The dreaming also connects with Jung, whose writings I've recently reconnected with, and so it should be an interesting experiment. I'll need to start with the digit counting on a regular basis during the day so that it becomes so habitual that the practice will spontaneously occur to me in my dreams as well, maybe. Let's give it a try.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections

I've just finished reading Jung's "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" and it was as absorbing on a second reading as it was thirty or so years ago. In this book, he writes that "it is really the individual's task to differentiate himself from all the others and stand on his own feet. All collective identities, such as membership in organizations, support of 'isms' and so on, interfere with the fulfillment of this task. Such collective identities are crutches for the lame, shields for the timid, beds for the lazy, nurseries for the irresponsible ...". His words are not to be thought of as trumpeting the ego because it is fundamental to Jung's view of the psyche that the ego is only a small part of a much larger and far more ancient whole. This wholeness can only be grasped however, after the individual has disidentified with organization and 'isms'.

Reading the book reminded me of Jung's lifetime study of the psyche and how modern education largely lacks any psychological content. Most students undertake subjects like Mathematics, Science, Business Studies, Economics, Geography etc. and even though Psychology can be studied in some syllabi I would imagine that there is little emphasis placed on introspection. The courses studied offer students no opportunity for self-reflection, no encouragement to examine their inner life. If a school provides instruction in the religion that parents have foisted on the student, there are usually no incentives given to examine or question the belief system that underlies the religion. Any self-examination needs to take place outside of the education system.

The entire education process leads the student away from their inner life and toward involvement in the outer world. There's nothing wrong with that except that the process is overwhelmingly orientated toward the outer world at the almost complete neglect of the inner. Any attempt to redress this imbalance is likely to perceived by parents who follow a particular religion as embracing the devil or undermining the faith of the students. Heaven forbid that, in the classroom, a discussion might take place about dreams or that students be encouraged to keep a dream diary.

After leaving school, students' absorption in the outer world is so one-sided that the psyche compensates. The inner world asserts itself, often suddenly and powerfully, and the adolescent is drawn to cults, religious extremism, drugs or suffers a mental breakdown. My closest friend at school began to display symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia in his last year of high school and suffered a complete mental collapse in his early twenties. He came from a quite religious family but the empty rituals that characterized this religion did nothing to satisfy the demands of his inner life for meaning and a sense of wholeness. He became a passionate reader of Nietzche, recognizing in the philosopher a kindred spirit but, like him, eventually succumbed to ego-inflation and insanity. My friend firmly believed that he had started World War III.