Ashok Bedi , M.D.

B.J. Jakala, PH.D.

From February 7th through 18th, a group of soul seekers will travel in India to experience the land of Mahatma Gandhi through Jungian lens of Analytical Psychology. This experience is sponsored by the New York Jung Foundation. For the next several days, the faculty member of the group, Jungian Analyst Ashok Bedi and a Depth Psychotherapist Dr. Robert J. Jakala will compose a daily blog of their reflections about the experience. Other group participants have been invited to contribute to the blog and may join us from time to time. We are glad to share our experiences and reflections. Enjoy!

 

By B.J.Jakala

India provides an opportunity as she unlocks the door between inner and outer mystery. Her Hindu mythological platform gives a solid foundation to understanding various aspects of the psyche.

 

 

 I believe the most important aspect of her mythology is how relational it is. Much like Jung’s concepts of conscious and unconscious, Hindu mythology favors the dynamics. The encounter in India facilitates a blatant relationship between known and unknown, familiar and foreign.

 We visited a Jain temple and the Gandhi ashram. It was a perfect pairing of nonviolent ideas. It afforded me to consider how an ancient tradition intersects with modern life of living more fully and purposefully. As Gandhi said, “My message is my life.”

 

 BJ Jakala, PhD is a participant in this year’s Journey to the Land of Gandhi through the Jungians Lens led by Dr. Bedi.

Reflections by Ashok Bedi:

In every civilization, there comes a time to make a fundamental and profound change. When an individual or a culture is in midst of such a transformative experience, it needs a guide, a guru and alchemist to preside over this process. India had a series of such alchemists during her long history. These included Emperor Ashoka, the great Mogul Akbar and now Mahatma Gandhi. When we study the lives of these alchemists, it is extremely instructive to explore the magic ingredients in their life and process. We can then deploy these processes to guide our own personal transformation and the lives or others we are privileged to encounter and impact. Seekers of the Soul must stay observant of lives of such old souls and cultures.

Join us often to share in our experiences and images as we engage the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi’s India with our Jungian peers.

NAMASTE


 

Ashok Bedi is a Diplomat 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, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

He has been a Psychiatrist in Milwaukee since 1976 and now practices Adult Psychotherapy and Jungian Psychoanalysis (www.tulawellnessllc.com).  He is a Honorary Psychiatrist at the Aurora Psychiatric Hospital and the Aurora Health Care Network. He has been a psychiatric consultant to several agencies in Metro Milwaukee. Presently he is the consultant for the Sexual Assault treatment center at the Aurora Sinai Samaritan Hospital, Dewey Center at the Aurora Psychiatric Hospital for treatment of Addictions and the Pastoral Counseling Services of Greater Milwaukee.

Trained in India, Great Britain and the US, he is interested in the emerging frontiers of Spirituality and Healing and the synapses of the Mind, Body, Soul and Spirit. He is author of several books including- Crossing the Healing Zone: From Illness to Wellness, Nicholas Hayes Inc. 2013, Path to the Soul, Weiser Books, 2000, Awaken the Slumbering Goddess: The Latent Code of the Hindu Goddess Archetypes, Booksurge Publishers, 2007, and the coauthor of Retire Your Family Karma, Nicholas-Hays, Inc. 2003, These and his other upcoming presentations can be previewed at his website www.pathtothesoul.com

 

He is the liaison person for the International Association of the Analytical Psychologists for developing Jungian training programs in India (www.iaap.org). He travels annually to India to teach, train the consult with the Jungian Centers that he led in establishing at several cities in India including Ahmedabad, Mumbai & Bangalore. He leads the annual “A Jungian Encounter with the Soul of India” study group to India under the auspices of the New York Jung Foundation.

He is the Co-Founder of the USA India Jung Foundation (www.uijf.org). The USA India Jung Foundation promotes educational and clinical activities in India and USA based on the principals of Carl Jung’s analytical psychology and Eastern spiritual and healing wisdom and traditions. It fosters clinical, medical, and educational exchange between professionals of the United States and India. These activities include educational activities directed both to professional and lay organizations in both countries to promote mental health education and prevention activities based on principals of analytical psychology and Eastern Spirituality. To support this  A 501(c)(3) Foundation and its charitable activities, kindly make your tax deductible contribution via the website: www.uijf.org