About this image – BJ Jakala

I try to imagine having caves as my occasional home and being at the mercy of a successful hunt for some food; a radically different life. I am grateful for the artists who made the images. I wonder if their work was admired during their lifetime.

The images transport me out of my ordinary life and into my imagination. The familiar, distant, and foreign feelings collide and leave me without words. I begin to imagine myself as the images waiting to be witnessed for thousands of years, holding the moment out of time. It must have been a relief to be discovered after such a long wait. I cherish the value of being noticed.

 CONTEXT: The rock shelters of Bhimbetka transport me to a time before written language. These ancient paintings, as much as 15,000 years ago, display activities of everyday life. They were discovered by accident in 1957-58.

About this image – Ashok Bedi

Ancient art from this prehistoric cave in the heart of India reminds us of a time before language evolved in human civilization. The image precedes the word. Images are more powerful than the word. Language is a recent acquisition of human beings compared to the images. An image touches on something deeper in our psyche. It recruits limbic, archetypal brain to bear on the experience of the image. While the word may divide cultures, the image unites us with universalities of themes depicted in an image. This image depicts the collaborative enterprise of human groups for survival and security of their clans.

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