April 23, 2021
Physical hunger needs a real meal and spiritual hunger needs a numinous content. (Jung, 1964, p. 341 para 652)
What a surprise moment! Both ducks are feeding on the bottom of the pond at the same time. I think about their natural way of knowing how to satisfy their hunger. There are times they find food on land and other times they get their food in the pond.
The situation made me think of how many kinds of hunger I have and that each requires me to take a different position. My hunger for knowledge, connection, isolation, reflection, spiritual fulfillment, and food involves different actions. I need to know the proper action to satisfy the kind of hunger I have.
Just like the image, there are times I need to go deeper to discover what will satisfy my hunger and if I make a good selection, it will even nourish me. There are times I will need to take an unusual position or make more effort to acquire satisfaction for the hunger.
Each one of us lives in the dual reality; we live in the here and now and we are also a participant in the eternal mystery. We live in the present and simultaneously, we are the citizens of the atemporal matrix beyond time and physical space. We have a terrestrial self and a celestial soul. We need to nourish both realities. As Christ aptly counsels,
Luke 20:25
“And he said unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.”
King James Version (KJV)
We must pay our dues to our mundane reality for survival and security, but we must not lose sight of higher things – the sacred dimension of life. While most of us get focused on the mundane, we must make room for the spiritual dimension of life. We learn from parents, family, society, schools and life, the life-skills for survival and success, there is often a paucity of spiritual guidance except through organized religion. While that is helpful for creating space for engaging the transcendent, it gives the cloth, but we still need to cut the cloth to make the clothes that are relevant to us personally. This process calls for cultivating a personal spirituality beyond the helpful, broad template of religion.
So, how do we cultivate this personal, spiritual paradigm? Each one of us must find our own path to construct a system for a vital, active, ongoing, meaningful engagement of the mystery. It may begin by creating sacred space where we sit still, in silence and solitude, with a contemplative frame, an attitude of surrender to the flow, be a witness – not only to the world around us but the flow and images that arise in us. They will be our guiding light as we navigate the deep waters of our unconscious, or rather super consciousness embedded in our psyche.
Points to Ponder:
- What is my spiritual hunger?
- What kind of effort do I need to make to obtain it?
- How do I know I am getting the nourishment I want/need?
- What are your survival skills for safety, security and success in the outer world?
- What is your paradigm to engage your inner world?
- When you are in the sacred space of inner exploration, how do you personally experience the mystery?
- What is the deeper sense of meaning this mystery imparts to your life?
- How do you implement this inner guidance in your daily life?
- How does this inner meaning transform your outer, conscious life goals?
- Has the current crisis in your personal life reconfigured your sense of the meaning and purpose of your life?
- Has the current collective crisis, e.g., the pandemic, the wars, the racial justice movement, the climate crisis, the global political turmoil impacted your sense of the deeper meaning of your personal life?
Jung, C. G. (1964). Civilization in transition (Vol. 10). New York: Pantheon Books.
Ashok Bedi, M.D., Jungian Psychoanalyst, www.pathtothesoul.com , www.tulawellnessllc.com
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.
© Ashok Bedi, M.D. and Robert BJ Jakala, PH. D
