Journey to the Land of Shiva through the Jungian Lens: January 9-22, 2015

Ashok Bedi , M.D.

B.J. Jakala, PH.D.

From January 9-22 2015, a group of soul seekers will travel in India to experience the land of Shiva 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!

Shiva (portrait) by ChristasVengel on DeviantArt

christasvengel.deviantart.com

By B.J.Jakala

The city of Chennai is full of historical and contemporary elements of India. The architecture provides a visual reminder of how other countries have traded and/or dominated this area. The outdoor shops, like the one in the picture, invite the locals and travelers to trade in the same way that has been done for thousands of years. As our tour guide shared his knowledge of the area, I was aware of how my experience was being shaped by the context and content of his presentation.

I am full of pilgrimage questions as my inner journey begins: Who is my inner tour guide? How does that guide shape the experience of myself? What inner architecture has been constructed? What cultural remnants of history remain? Do they still serve me? Are their influences prominent and desired? What contemporary construction is needed to facilitate an engaged life? How do I trade with the outer world?

India gives me a window to witness the deeper parts of myself. I must remember to open that window so I can participate in, not just witness, the meaning of my life.

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

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Reflections by Ashok Bedi

Our Soul is the guide of our outer consciousness. The Soul gets its instructions from the Primal Spirit – the Universal Flow of consciousness or Unus Mundus. This is the triangle of our consciousness. This is the GPS of our orientation in the inner and outer life. The Soul not only informs but instructs us in what is relevant and what is redundant, what to hold and what to fold, what to engage and what to avoid, when to stand and when to run, when to seek peace and when it is time to take a stand and fight for your rights. The soul speaks to us via our dream, our synchronistic events, via our relationship tangles, the symbolic instructions in our medical and psychiatric symptoms the redeeming value of our complexes or hang-ups when we understand them. We may also proactively engage the soul and its guidance via a process of Active Imagination that psychologist Carl Jung used in his own inner work and confrontation with his unconscious in his dark night of the soul, memorialized in his Red Book. Establishing a conscious, living connection between our Ego and our Soul is the central task of Individuation or achieving authentic Selfhood.

Join us often to share in our experiences and images as we engage the Mystery of Shiva in India with our Jungian peers.

NAMASTE

DR. ASHOK BEDI, MD

He is a Jungian psychoanalyst and a board certified psychiatrist who 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 is also Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, serves as president of the Carl G. Jung Institute of Chicago, and is in private practice in Milwaukee (www.tulawellnessllc.com)

In addition, Dr. Bedi is the liaison for the International Association for Analytical Psychology (IAAP) for developing Jungian training programs in India, where he travels annually to teach, train, and consult with the Jungian Developing groups at several centers including those in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Bangalore. 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.

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

Ashok Bedi’s fourth book, Crossing the Healing Zone: From Illness to Wellness, was published earlier this year by Ibis Press, a division of Nicolas-Hays, Inc. His previous books are Awaken the Slumbering Goddess: The Latent Code of the Hindu Goddess Archetypes (BookSurge, 2007), Retire Your Family Karma: Decode Your Family Pattern and Find Your Soul Path (Nicolas-Hays, Inc., 2003), and Path to the Soul (Samuel Weiser, Inc., 2000).

For more information, please see Dr. Bedi’s website, www.pathtothesoul.com

Robert “BJ” Jakala, PhD

Graduated from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2007 with a degree in Depth Psychology. He has been in private practice as a Marriage Family Therapist in Woodland Hills CA since 1987. He has taught courses on stress management and self-replenishment for health care professionals for over ten years at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA. This is his fifth trip to India with Mindful Journeys with Dr. Bedi.

To Support the Charitable Activities of the USA – India Jung Foundation, kindly visit our website – www.uijf.org and click under the DONATE link to make your Tax Deductible Contribution via check or PayPal

Thank you

Ashok Bedi, M.D.