The Divine Guest
Prescriptions from the Source
In the Eye of the Storm
An individual response to the Global Crisis
ISSN 1939-3407
April 25, 2020
Ashok Bedi, M.D., Jungian Psychoanalyst
Robert BJ Jakala PH.D., Jungian Psychotherapist
In a storm, the safest place is in the eye of the storm. My colleague BJ and I will share our daily reflections on this centering process from an Analytical perspective, sharing from the repertoire of our personal and professional experience. BJ is a psychologist and a photographer and will pick an image of the day that catches him in this collective crisis. I will amplify it from a Jungian Analytical perspective. We hope that this may offer you a baby step on the path to your own unique response to this chaos.
The whale, a denizen of the deep, is a well-known symbol of the devouring unconscious…(Jung & Bollingen Foundation Collection (Library of Congress), 1971, p. 271).
The photo captures the breech of a whale. I am happy to have taken it because when whale watching is done, moments like this fade from my visual memory move into experiential/feeling memory. Sometimes experiences like this are like a dream in the night that I chase after to capture/recall when I wake up. There are dreams that let me keep the image, sometimes I am only left with a feeling, and other times it dissolves.
I remember how excited I was to witness this giant life burst out of the ocean. In the photo I can see much more than my memory holds. The water cascading out and around its body. I see its reflection on the surface of the water and of course the background shoreline and forest. I wonder how it feels as it falls back after reaching its peak.
Each night I can treat my sleep as a whale watching journey. I do not know what will be revealed or remembered. During the day, my symptoms, synchronicities, slips of the tongue, etc., are all messages from below the surface. It is up to me to pay attention to direct and subtle messages. They inform me of more of who I am or want to be.
Today, I had a numinous dream.
His Holiness – The Dalai Lama was visiting us at our home in Milwaukee. I was doing some chore for him on the computer. Later, he requested that he needs to rest in our guest room. I led him to the guest room. Then I tried to find a sticky note in my office to put a note on the door of the guest room, “Do Not Disturb”. However, all the sticky notes had some scribbles on them and I could not put a notice. Later, my grandson Loki and my daughter Ami came for a visit; loud and exuberant in their greeting. I was excited to see them but tried to “Shush” them so as not to disturb our honored guest.
The dream is an instruction from the collective. It has numerous prescriptions from the womb of the Collective Consciousness. Each one of you must make your own interpretation. I feel that this dream is for me but also for the community; so, I offer it as gift to my community.
- For me, there are several personal recommendations for me to pursue.
- Firstly: even the Spiritual dimension has gone Online!
- The Archetypal Mentor, Guru, Guide, Rishi, Anchorite, H.H. The Dalai Lama is visiting each one of us like the whale from the Deep Spirit to guide us. Each one of us will meet their Rishi, their soul guide in some form and guise. Stay open to the Divine Visitor from your Depths.
- Then, once the outer chores are completed, the Spirit Guide calls for Sleep, Dream, Contemplation and Reflection: on the meaning of the pandemic, and our Collective response.
- The individual, familial, community, national and global response to this crisis is a sample of paradigm shifts which need to be sustained beyond the pandemic to invoke lasting reset in our values and priorities.
- The engagement with the Personal must be balanced with attention to the Sacred and the Transcendent.
- My grandson Loki represents my connection with the hopeful, playful, and confident emergent Self. In midst of the crisis, we should not be oblivious of new possibilities for a robust, resilient, compassionate and just society.
- My daughter Ami represents my emergent Anima: wise beyond her youth, activist, advocate for the underdog and optimistic about the future.
- It is an invitation to me from my Soul Guide: H.H. The Dalai Lama to integrate these prescriptions into my life.
- This dream will be living dream. I will continue to ponder on it for a very long time.
Some Points to Ponder:
- What has the eruption of the pandemic revealed to you?
- What subtle message(s) have you noticed?
- What are you searching for? What will tell you it has revealed itself?
- What effect do your dreams have?
- If His Holiness the Dalai Lama or HH Pope Francis was a guest in your home, how would you conduct yourself?
- What would you ask your Honored Guest?
- What instructions do you imagine you will get from your Soul Guide?
- How would you implement the guidance you may get from the Soul Guide?
Photo taken in Alaska.
Jung, C. G., & Bollingen Foundation Collection (Library of Congress). (1971). Psychological types. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
© Ashok Bedi, M.D. and Robert BJ Jakala, PH.D.