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. Today is our last day on this journey as a group – so this will be last blog in this series.

Enjoy!

Shiva (portrait) by ChristasVengel on DeviantArt

christasvengel.deviantart.com

By B.J.Jakala

Each morning the fisherman stands in reflection and casts his net into the lake.  The harvest brings him food to sustain his life.

Sometimes, when I wake I the morning, I cast my net back into the world of my dreams. There are times when it is empty:  The dreams elude my net.  Like the fisherman, it is important to know those that got away are still in the source.  Perhaps someday they will come into the net of my conscious life.  

Then there are times when I retrieve nurturing images to give me a more informed life.  I must always remember the source is vast and I only catch what I can digest and what truly feeds my soul.

It is time to leave the flower of India. 
I am the butterfly who I does not carry the flower, but only the nectar of life.
Thank you India for what you have given me. 
I hope I have added to your life as you have mine.

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

Reflections by Ashok Bedi, M.D.

The butterfly may receive the nectar but never possess the flower. So it goes in relationships and all encounters in life. We may be enriched by the nectar to the encounter with the other: a person, a country or a culture but we cannot own the other; we cannot possess the other. Once we have harvested the essence of the relationship, we must permit the other to let go, to be free. What remains is the memory of the encounter, the introjected paradigm a way of doing and being as modeled by the interaction. The dyad may continue the relationship, but as Khalil Gibran says in the Prophet – an Oak tree and a Maple tree may stand side by side but cannot blossom in each other’s shadow.

The same dynamic prevails in our relationship with our own unconscious. It gifts us wisdom, guidance and images to heal and grow, but we cannot be greedy. It will speak when we need, not when we want!

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.