AshokBedi

August 1, 2020

The conscious mind often knows little or nothing about its own transformation and does not want to know anything. The more autocratic it is and the more convinced of the eternal validity of its truths, the more it identifies with them.(Jung, 1970, pp. 358, para 503)

The eucalyptus routinely sheds its bark. It lets go of all the external layers until its smooth surface is fully exposed. I love the textures, colors, and shapes of the bark as it loses its weather shield. It The way it looks to the outside world always changes, and the core remains essentially the same. I value this example of dynamic living. It demonstrates internal and external cooperation for living fully into its nature

Our lives are more uncertain as we adjust to the current conditions and look to the future. The pandemic, social protests, and loss of employment for millions of people created a difficult climate to live in. It requires more protection (masks/social distancing) and engagement with our values regarding racism. The news gives us daily counts of Covid-19 cases and deaths. The choice to shield our core or have empathy for others feel at odds with each other. How many layers (like bark) do we place between our core and the outside world? When will it be safe to remove a layer we no longer need? Life now feels more organic, and less routine. Each moment requires assessment and awareness of it, so we choose a response congruent to our nature.

In every individual and society, a certain viewpoint is the dominant frame of reference. It guides the politics, commerce, education, wealth distribution, power gradient and leadership. However, over time, this view point becomes outdated and […]

July 18, 2020

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 […]

 
July 4, 2020
 
In addition, dreams can rely on subliminal memory traces that are no longer able to influence consciousness effectively. With regard to prognosis, therefore, dreams are often in a much more favorable position than consciousness. (Jung, 1960b, p. 256)
 

This wishing well was placed during the 1800’s. It sits off to the side of the property which allows privacy as I consider the wish I want to make. The scenery is tranquil. The air is fresh, My ears rest in silence. This opportunity feels like anything is possible. It feels like a dream. I am in the world of no restrictions, no movement, and yet in the world of potential.
The photo was taken in February 2020, when the world was so different. Sometimes it is hard to remember back then. It is like chasing a dream to journal before waking up too much. It feels elusive and remote. I am grateful to have the image to remind me of the gesture of the wishing well—the tossing of a coin into it. It is different than prayer that is tossed to the heavens. The coin is something of value I am willing to let go of to give me hope that my wish will come true. I have made an investment in my future.
In this resurge of the pandemic in the United States, the social unrest, etc., it would be valuable to find cherished moments of life to hold onto, and to still dream/wish for healing to happen and make needed changes in our democracy for social justice. The energy from those moments can be used to create action. The wishing well should say, “Make a wish. Now do the work to have it come […]

June 23, 2020

THIS IS OUR 100TH BLOG

WAY FORWARD, WE WILL HAVE A WEEKLY BLOG

VISIT OUR 100 BLOGS OFTEN

Luckily for us, symbols mean very much more than can be known at first glance.(Jung, 1967, p. 302)

There are so many forces at work to create what is seen in the photo. It is true whether the surface is calm or full of surfing waves. The ocean temperature, air temperature, barometric pressure, cycle of the moon, weather, ocean bottom landscape, etc., all play a part of what it looks like the moment the photograph is taken. Then there are all the selections made for the camera to create a desired effect. Yet, I can call it a photograph of the ocean. It can also be a symbol and be assigned various meaning by the viewer.

In these times of the pandemic and social justice protests we are subjected to verbal and visual snapshots, as well as video clips of today’s news. The images create conscious and unconscious responses. It is our responsibility to keep what we hear or see in perspective and use our power of discernment to assign value to them based on who we are individually as well as collectively. The challenge during these times is to know when to generalize and when to stay specific. The photo is a moment and not how the ocean looks all over the world.

This is OUR MOMENT in history. What we choose to see, how we perceive what we see, how we interpret what we see, feel, think, intuit are extremely subjective phenomenon. However, the moment is REAL; only the perception is Subjective. The reality is not objective but a function of our Subjectivity. However, the most significant criteria […]

June 21st, 2020

If we realize that the child gradually develops out of the unconscious state into a conscious one, we can understand why practically all environmental influences, or at any rate the most elementary and most lasting of the are unconscious. The first impressions of life are the strongest and most profound, even though they are unconscious—perhaps indeed for that very reason, for so long as they are unconscious, they are not subject to change. We can only correct what is in our consciousness; what is unconscious remains unchanged. Consequently, if we wish to produce a change, we must first raise these unconscious contents to consciousness, so as to submit them to correction. (Jung, Read, Fordham, & Adler, 1953, p. 153)

Stories from long ago live in our unconscious much like living in the dark cave the tortoise is coming out of. It is with the light of consciousness that change happens according to Jung in the quote. So perhaps it is seeing news of a virus and the video tape evidence of racial bias police tactics that changes the old story that facilitates our unconscious to conscious. Minimizing or denial no longer work when visual evidence shows us the contemporary world. Those latent and subtle messages of early life may be carried with us like a protective shell, but once we poke our head out into the moments of reality, things change.

So how are early experiences stored in our unconscious and what can we do to transform these early impressions that form the unconscious foundation of our present worldview and actions in response to crisis like the Pandemic and the Racial Injustice? Let us explore some of these unconscious predispositions and their transformation through […]