The Guide

About this image – BJ Jakala

Our guide through the old quarters of Ahmedabad was a valuable source of historical knowledge. As we came to places of importance he explained the blatant and subtle characteristics; past, present, and yet to come.

This two-hour tour impressed the value of having an inner guide, a trustworthy and knowledgeable part to escort me through life: a source to encourage living fully in the moment yet holding the value of my past, and the direction of my future; a multi-dimensional compass for life.

The craftsmanship of the artisans created so much lasting beauty in this temple. Their devotion to the image is beyond words, leaving the me speechless except for an occasional “wow”.

CONTEXT: Inner city tour of Ahmedabad through the House of MG. Mr. Saiyed Badoudin, our incredibly valuable and knowledgeable guide, is writing a book about the tour sites. He is a proud, yet humble man who opened our eyes to the treasures of this part of the city. His email: easywaySaiyed@gmail.com

About this image – Ashok Bedi

While we live in the present zone of consciousness, our soul is the inner guide that archives the history of our ancestral wisdom and the seeds of our emergent potentials to fulfill our program or destiny in this lifetime. Each one of us has at least 2 million years’ worth of archetypal history stored in our limbic brain that we can Google and access via our dreams and creative products (Art, painting, writing etc.) our complexes, our medical and psychiatric problems, our relationship tangles, our accidents and synchronistic events. We can access this archetypal guidance via our inner work and deploy this to claim our teleos or destiny- our Dharma or spiritual purpose in this lifetime. When we honor this “Inner Guide”, we are well rewarded by a Spiritually engaged and purposeful life. Such life is full of vitality and promise. Then, we achieve our personal best potentials and must put these potentials in service of our family, our community and higher good.

JUNGIAN ENCOUNTER WITH THE SOUL OF INDIAʼS HEARTLAND

Sponsored by the C.G. Jung Foundation of New York; Guest Faculty – Ashok Bedi M.D., Jungian Psychoanalyst

January 31 to February 11, 2016

Ashok Bedi, M.D. & B.J. Jakala, PH.D.

This is the 11th study tour of India to explore the archetypal soul of India from a Jungian, Analytical lens. 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. B.J. is the blog photographer and will display a photograph of the day and share personal reflections. Ashok Bedi will amplify the image with an archetypal lens. Share your brief reflections on our blog comment section.

Ashok Bedi, M.D. is a Jungian psychoanalyst and a board certified psychiatrist. He 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, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is a Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and a training analyst at the Carl G. Jung Institute of Chicago. He is in private practice in Milwaukee and is the author of several books which may be previewed at his website www.pathtothesoul.com. He is the liaison for the IAAP for developing Jungian training programs in India and travels annually to India to teach, train the consult with the Jungian Developing groups at several centers in India including Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

Robert “BJ” Jakala, PhD is a depth psychotherapist in private practice for twenty-eight years. He is a graduate of Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpentaria, CA. He is also licensed as a Registered Nurse and has worked at UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital for thirty-three years. He has taught Stress Management to the Nurse Residents at the UCLA Ronald Regan Medical Center for the last ten years. He may be reached at his website www.secretologist.com