INDIVIDUATION and SUBTLE BODY a Commentary on Jung’S Kundalini Seminar
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INDIVIDUATION AND SUBTLE BODY A Commentary on Jung’s Kundalini Seminar A dissertation submitted by GARY W. SEEMAN to PACIFICA GRADUATE INSTITUTE in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY This dissertation has been accepted for the faculty of Pacifica Graduate Institute by: To contact the author, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call me at (415) 271-2350. You may obtain additional electronic copies of this dissertation from the publications page of my website: http://drgaryseeman.com. SEPTEMBER 8, 2001 Copyright by GARY W. SEEMAN 2001 ii ABSTRACT INDIVIDUATION AND SUBTLE BODY A Commentary on Jung’s Kundalini Seminar by Gary W. Seeman In 1932, C. G. Jung and J. W. Hauer presented a seminar series on the psychology of Kundalini yoga. Throughout these lectures, Jung used Kundalini yoga symbolism to extend the symbolic range of his analytical psychology. He and Hauer also discussed many concepts from Indian philosophy. Some of their comments have been criticized for misinterpreting Kundalini yoga. Others have raised controversy, especially Jung’s many warnings about dangers to Westerners who attempt yoga practices. Using a dialogic, hermeneutic method, this study compares Jung’s commentaries about Kundalini yoga with a Kundalini yoga practitioner’s perspective. To help bridge these disciplines, it addresses the following research questions: 1. How does personal transformation guided by analytical psychology resemble or differ from personal transformation in Kundalini yoga? 2. What controversies have been raised by Jung’s commentaries and interpretations of Kundalini yoga texts? 3. How did these controversies arise from personal, cultural, and practice perspectives? 4. Can some of these controversies be settled? 5. What insights or wisdom does each of these disciplines contribute to the other? iii To answer these questions, the hermeneutic discipline guides the researcher in exploring the cultural and historical perspectives of analytical psychology and Kundalini yoga. It identifies issues raised by Jung’s critics and presents the evolution of his psychology and its core concepts throughout his mature career. A depth of context is created by addressing (a) Jung’s relationship with Indian spirituality, (b) his individuation construct, (c) a cross-cultural review of subtle body symbolism and its evolution, and (d) Kundalini yoga as described by practitioners. This study concludes by presenting findings in response to the research questions and suggesting topics for other studies, including a survey of current methods for measuring human bio-fields, and creation of a subtle energy model of psychological transformation. iv Dedicated with gratitude to His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa XVI Reverend Patrick Young, PhD I knocked, and they opened doors. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My wife, Janet Birgenheier, recently said to me that she feels she is earning this degree along with me. Her assessment is true. I begin these acknowledgements by thanking her for the love and support she has given me during the 5 years it has taken to earn this degree, including almost 2 years of writing this study—a time when she watched me work through most weekends and many evenings without complaint. Janet, I thank you for a precious love that encourages me to fulfill my calling. Many others have offered invaluable and selfless assistance for completing this project. I wish to thank my dissertation advisor, J. Marvin Spiegelman, for encouraging me to pursue this topic during my first year at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Let me also express appreciation for his responsiveness and his wise counsel that would not be possible without may decades of practicing analytical psychology and his very informative publications on related subjects. These publications respond to his calling to create a dialog between Jung’s psychology, some of the world’s foremost spiritual practices, and science. I am grateful to my reader, Joan Shivarpita Harrigan, a psychologist and yogin who seeks heart and soul to embody the teachings of a 500-year- old Kundalini yoga lineage. I thank her for her unique insights and her loving kindness. I also want to express my gratitude to Bonnie Greenwell, a psychologist and a Kundalini expert in her own right, for encouraging my writing and introducing me to Joan Harrigan. To begin to grasp the import of two vast disciplines, I have reached out to subject experts who were generous in their support. Let me especially thank Sonu Shamdasani, the distinguished historian and editor of the recent book that presents the Kundalini seminars (Jung, 1996). His erudite commentary in the opening pages of the book helped vi put me on the right path. I thank him for his personal advice that included providing me with an electronic version of the book to assist my research, answering many e-mail questions, and suggesting valuable source materials. I want to express my gratitude to Nathan Schwartz-Salant for his suggestion that I read the work of Jean Gebser, and to Beverly Rubik for her ground-breaking work in frontier science and her guidance in physics. I also want to thank John Carmody for his friendship and his many insights about analytical psychology at its greatest depths. I am also grateful to the Pacifica Graduate Institute faculty members Christine Lewis and Lionel Corbett, who encouraged me to pursue this project, as well as Glen Slater and Joseph Coppin, for their help in honing my research and writing. Finally, I want to express my gratitude and friendship to all of the students in my cohort and many classmates in other years who are soulmates on this path of depth psychology and were eager to discuss subtle body ideas. I especially want to thank my classmates, Bettina von Moltke, Aura Glaser, Sonja Seltzer, and Sam Shaffer, who offered valuable suggestions and comments for the dissertation. I am also grateful for the many hours spent in lively discussion about subtle body with Henry Drummond and Connie Rodriguez. May this document help others open doors to individuation and self-realization. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Individuation, Subtle Body, and Kundalini Rising . 1 Statement of the Problem . .1 Research Questions . .5 Literature Review and Chapter Outline . 6 Chapter 2: Method . .6 Chapter 3: The Kundalini Seminar . 8 Chapter 4: Jung and Indian Spirituality . 14 Chapter 5: Individuation . 15 Chapter 6: Subtle Body . 19 Chapter 7: Kundalini Yoga . 21 Chapter 8: Findings . .23 Chapter 2: Method . 26 Selecting a Method . 27 Hermeneutics as Method and Philosophy . .30 Transcending the Limitations of Perspective . 31 Writing as a Creative Learning Process . 35 Deciphering Specialized Language . .38 Conclusion . 39 Chapter 3: The Kundalini Seminar . 40 Chapter Overview . 40 Seminar History and Goals . 41 Seminar Contents . 47 Individuation Viewed Through the Chakras . 50 Muladhara . 50 Svadhisthana . 55 Manipura . 58 Anahata . 61 Visuddha . 63 Ajna . .67 Sahasrara . 70 Yoga Concepts and Individuation . .73 Gross, Subtle, Supreme . .74 Jung’s Alleged “Rope Trick” . 77 “The Sublimation of Man” . 83 Chapter Summary . 93 Chapter 4: Jung and Indian Spirituality . 95 Introduction . 95 A Path Not Taken . 95 Critics and Context . 102 Jung’s Ambivalence Toward Eastern Spirituality . 103 Differences Between East and West . 106 Eastern Introversion, Western Extraversion . 107 Western Lack of Discipline . 109 Belief that India Lacks Critical Thinking . 110 viii Omniscience Not Possible . 110 Western Alienation . 112 Is Yoga Incompatible with the Western Psyche? . 115 Was Jung Hampered by a European Bias? . 118 Defending Against Accusations of Mysticism . 124 Using His Own Terminology to Analyze Yoga . 124 Danger of Psychosis . 125 Does Jung Understand Yoga? . 127 Many Critics Misunderstand Jung . 132 Summary of Chapter Findings . 139 Chapter 5: Individuation . 142 Individuation and Eastern Thought . 147 Jung’s Visionary Journey . 152 Meister Eckhart—A Psychological Mystic . 164 Individuation and Alchemy . .173 Alchemy in Historical Context . 174 Jung’s Rediscovery of Alchemy . 175 A Bridge Between East and West . 176 Processes of Western Alchemy. 178 Synchronicity and the Psychoid Unconscious . 186 Concluding and Summary Remarks . 188 Chapter 6: Subtle Body . 190 Subtle Body and Shamanism . ..