Tag Archives: Jung

Mandalas & Minds

Posted on by

Archetype of Wholeness: Jung and the Mandala

by Elle

Peter Patrick Barreda
Waking Times

In his writings on mandala symbolism, Carl Jung refers to the mandala as “the psychological expression of the totality of the self.” Within everyone’s psyche, to one degree or another, can be found a seed-center of the self surrounded by a chaotic maelstrom of issues, fears, passions and countless other psychological elements. It is the very disordered state of these elements that creates the discord and emotional imbalances from which too many of us suffer on a regular basis. The mandala is a template for the mind, a state of peace and order, a resolution of the chaos within. In Jung’s words,

“The severe pattern imposed by a circular image of this kind compensates the disorder and confusion of the psychic state—namely, through the construction of a central point to which everything is related.”

This central point is the absolute seat of the self, the anchor for all the extraneous elements of your environment and your psyche. In actuality these two are not separate entities, rather they are intimately combined, inextricably linked. The effects of the world within and the world without are often indistinguishable as far as your self is concerned. Internal elements (ideas, emotions, compulsions) interact freely with external elements (news, relationships, taxes) in the interface that is your mind. Understanding this exchange helps us see more clearly how certain patterns and symbolic elements from our most ancient origins have been internalized and carried through the ages, only to be unconsciously externalized in the beauty of the mandala.

Ritualistic mandalas from specific cultures display a style and variety of elements with special significance to that culture. There are nearly as many types of mandalas as there have been societies in the history of Humankind. But the essence of the pattern of the mandala, the “squaring of the circle,” is a basic motif in the architecture of so many dreams and fantasies whose unifying similarities stretch across the ages. The quaternary pattern imposed upon the circle symbolizes the application of an orderly architecture upon the infinity of the cosmos. It gives the psyche a safe place on which to stand, a solid foundation upon which it can gather itself to achieve completeness and harmony. Furthermore, the central point, or bindu, is the reference point for the self to identify with. Jung refers to this pattern as the “archetype of wholeness.”

This ordering effect on the human psyche is not, Jung stresses, the result of conscious reflection or cultural effort. It is a pre-existing condition of consciousness that such patterns help bring it into focus or return to an earlier, more peaceful state. This is why Jung found the mandala to be present in so many cultures and mythologies spanning the globe and the history of Humanity itself. It is an integral part of the collective unconscious that is shared by every person that has ever lived. The mandala is an unconscious state in which all opposites come together and are united, where the polar aspects of the cosmos and the individual can become one. This union of opposites is the very process by which we achieve wholeness, and through which we find peace.

A great deal of Jung’s psychotherapy dealt with the interpretation of individual mandalas created by his patients. In addition to the soothing, focusing effect he noted as a result in his patients’ psychological states, there was also a great deal of commonality between the images they created. Patients who had no prior knowledge of mandalas or any other conscious symbolistic expression repeatedly put to paper strikingly similar images in the course of their progress. Jung writes of the significance of these similarities:

“In view of the fact that all the mandalas shown here were new and uninfluenced products, we are driven to the conclusion that there must be a transconscious disposition in every individual which is able to produce the same or very similar symbols at all times and in all places. Since this disposition is usually not a conscious possession of the individual I have called it the collective unconscious, and, as the basis of its symbolical products, I postulate the existence of primordial images, the archetypes.”

It is these archetypes, ageless connections between every conscious being, in conjunction with the elemental pattern of the quaternary and the cardinal points, that create the powerful effect the mandala exhibits on the human psyche. It is as if there were a common reference point at which all our seemingly individual consciousnesses are connected, and it is from this realm that the form and effect of the mandala are drawn. The mandala can be considered a blueprint for the essential structure of our existence, and something about this structure is instantly recognized by the unconscious within us. We perceive the shapes, the patterns, the elements within the mandala, we see their relationships to each other, and within that sacred matrix we recognize our self and our place in the cosmos. It is an ancient and fundamental relationship from which we have strayed. The mandala is the key that can help us return to it.

Jung also equates the mandala with the eye in form as well as spirit, stating that “the eye is the prototype for the mandala.” The eye symbolizes seeing and light, and therefore consciousness itself. The eye is the part of us that beholds the universe and sees our place in it. It is knowledge, awareness and wisdom. The eye takes in light, the pure energy of the universe, and presents it to the inner spirit. It is the gateway, indeed the very union, between the self and the cosmos. As is the mandala. In addition to the structural similarities between the eye and the mandala, the image of the eye is a common element in individual mandalas. Often one can find a repeating pattern of eyes in a mandala. Jung refers to this as polyopthalmia (many-eyed), and considers this a representation of the unconscious as multiple consciousnesses.

It is evident that the mandala is the link, albeit a mysterious one, between our modern consciousness and our most ancient origins. Jung concluded that “their basic motif is the premonition of a center of personality, a kind of central point within the psyche, to which everything is related, by which everything is arranged, and which is itself a source of energy.” Somewhere in the vast, forgotten reaches of time lies the answer to this wondrous mystery, but also does it lay, quiet and dormant, deep within each one of us. It is for us to rediscover, and to cherish. It is for us to hold this inexhaustible source of energy close to our hearts. Within it we will discover ourselves, we will find each other, and we will reconnect with the essential center of existence.

About the Author

Peter Patrick Barreda is a mandala artist, occasional writer, chronic over-thinker, and webmaster of mandalaZone.com. He is fascinated by origins and causes, and the deeply-hidden reasons behind everything. He believes that mandalas are the underlying pattern for everything in the universe—physical, mental and spiritual, though at their core these three are essentially one. Please visit his fascinating website, where this article was originally featured.

from:    http://www.zengardner.com/archetype-wholeness-jung-mandala/

Judith Orloff on Synchronicities

Posted on by

The Magic of Synchronicities

Adapted from Second Sight: An Intuitive Psychiatrist Tells Her Story and Show You How to Tap Your Own Inner Wisdom (Three Rivers Press, 2010) by Judith Orloff MD

Have you ever experienced perfect timing, a moment when everything just seems to fall into place? For a moment, we step out of the random chaos and find that all forces are aligned with nothing pre-planned and yet, all is in order. Events come together with such exactitude, it feels as if we have been launched onto a pre-ordained course. We can’t stop thinking about someone and we run into them on the street; a person we have just met offers us the perfect job; we miss our plane and on the next flight we sit next to someone with whom we fall in love. This is synchronicity, a state of grace.

While once attending a general meeting of the Cedars Sinai Medical Staff, I met a plastic surgeon named Richard. Immaculately dressed in a three-piece suit, tanned and  handsome, he asked me out to lunch. In the Hamburger Hamlet at the edge of the Sunset Strip, we engaged in small talk for a while. He appeared quite straight-laced, speaking about his prestigious country club, playing golf on the week-ends, and his Wednesday night poker game. He was a nice enough guy, but not my type. Except for being physicians, we didn’t seem to have much in common.

Usually, when a date isn’t going well, I try to ease out of it as quickly as possible.  But here I found myself talking about my spiritual beliefs and then suddenly, the conversation turned to death.  Richard had never spoken in detail about death to anyone before, but now, he couldn’t hear enough about my description of an afterlife, how the spirit is eternal, how death is not an end but simply a transition into other dimensions as real as our own lives.

I kept thinking to myself, “This is one of the weirdest dates I’ve ever had.” It wasn’t that I was uncomfortable with the subject matter. There was just something unsettling about the way it was happening. The immediacy in Richard’s eyes, his hunger to absorb it all even though he claimed no spiritual leanings of his own, were cues to me that something was up.

Why did such a profound topic arise with someone I hardly know? One month later, a friend called to tell me that Richard had been killed in a freak motorcycle accident.. I was stunned. It seemed impossible. He was talented, attractive and successful. People like Richard get married, have families, live charmed lives. They don’t die young. At least, that was my fantasy.

Suddenly the context of our date made perfect sense, the seemingly off-beat direction of our dialogue. There was obviously some unconscious part of Richard that had intuited his impending death and he had yearned to know everything he could about it. I had been the messenger.

Intuition often intercedes in the most subtle ways. The secret is to go with the mystery. Sometimes the significance of synchronicities is instantly obvious and other times, as in the case of Richard, it takes time. We must trust the divine ordering of our lives.

Some synchronous meetings are serendipitous and can signal a fortuitous future. When we take advantage of these golden moments, our lives can positively change. Such opportunities do not only crop up during important business meetings, extravagant parties or special events. If we stay on the lookout wherever we go, you’ll see how they happen in the everyday–often when we least expect them.

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, defines synchronicity as “a meaningful coincidence of outer and inner events that are not causally related.” Jung speaks of a collective unconscious, a universal pool of knowledge, independent of culture and belonging to us all. It is the basis of what the ancients call the “sympathy for all things.” I believe that synchronicity stems from this commonality. We are all swimming in the same waters and can feel the reverberation of each other’s movements, riding the same waves.

Recently, a close friend was on vacation in Boulder, Colorado, browsing in a used book store. An avid science fiction fan, he reached for a book that appealed to him. When he opened it to the title page, there was my name written in my own hand writing and dated November, 1961. As a child, I used to sign my name in all of my books in case they got lost. When I left my parents’ house, I donated stacks of my old books to Goodwill. Somehow, one of them had ended up in Boulder and my friend had come upon it twenty years later.

Although some synchronicities may impact us more than others, they all have value. Whether or not I fully grasp its meaning at the time, I see each synchronous moment as one of rare and perfect harmony like the accuracy of a bull’s eye, the precision of a hole in one, or the impeccable sequence of a royal flush. Synchronicity is a sign that we are intuitively attuned, not only to our immediate friends and family, but also to the greater collective.

from:    http://www.drjudithorloff.com/Free-Articles/The-Magic-of-Synchronicities

Alan Watts: This is It

Posted on by

The Road to HERE ~ Alan Watts

Worldview

Alan Watts was profoundly influenced by the East Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Buddhism, and by Taoist thought, which is reflected in Zen poetry and the arts of China and Japan.  After leaving the Church he never became a member of  another organized religion, although he wrote and spoke extensively about Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoisim. Some American Buddhists criticized him for not sitting regularly in zazen, even though he recorded several guided meditations teaching a variety of mediation techniques. Alan Watts responded simply by saying: “A cat sits until it is done sitting, and then gets up, stretches, and walks away.”
from:    http://alanwatts.com/life-and-works/
Check out this video:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeyss0Ng4T8&feature=player_embedded#!