Catching the Thread ii Introduction Catching= the Thread iii Catching the Thread iv Introduction Catching the Thread Sufism, Dreamwork, & Jungian Psychology = LLEWELLYN VAUGHAN-LEE THE GOLDEN SUFI CENTER v Catching the Thread First published in the United States in 1998 by The Golden Sufi Center P.O. Box 428, Inverness, California 94937. Second Printing 2003. ©1998 The Golden Sufi Center. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Cover illustration by Tennessee Dixon. Printed and bound by McNaughton & Gunn, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Vaughan-Lee, Llewellyn. [Call and the echo] Catching the thread : Sufism, dreamwork & Jungian psychology / by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Originally published: Putney, Vt. : Threshold Books, 1992. ISBN 1-890350-00-1 (pbk.) 1. Spiritual life. 2. Dreams—Religious aspects. 3. Sufism. I. Title. BL624.V38 1998 297.4' 01' 9—dc21 97-38191 CIP ISBN 1-890350-00-1 vi Introduction CONTENTS IX FOREWORD XI INTRODUCTION 1 THE FOOLS OF GOD 31 THE FEMININE SIDE OF LOVE 50 THE ALCHEMICAL OPUS I: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SHADOW 77 THE PAIN OF THE COLLECTIVE SHADOW 105 THE ALCHEMICAL OPUS II: THE INNER PARTNER 121 THE INNER FEMININE AND HER DUAL NATURE 146 THE UNATTAINABLE BRIDE 180 THE ALCHEMICAL OPUS III: SYMBOLS OF THE SELF 204 THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TEACHER 239 THE POVERTY OF THE HEART 261 NOTES 273 BIBLIOGRAPHY 278 INDEX 285 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii Catching the Thread viii Introduction FOREWORD Mysticism cannot be explained or comprehended by the mind. It belongs to another dimension, the dimen- sion of the soul. Yet in Catching the Thread Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee has been able to describe many of the psychological and spiritual processes experienced by the seeker, the vicissitudes, the ups and downs, the slow progress on the path to the Real. He shows deep comprehension of the relationship with the teacher. In particular he has described one important event that is hardly mentioned in the great spiritual literature of the world: the union of the soul of the trainee with the soul of the teacher when the former has reached the required level of spiritual evolution. This event is a great mystery; perhaps the analogy of salt when it is dissolved in a glass of water comes nearest to describ- ing it. Using dreams to illustrate the inner happenings of the soul, Catching the Thread describes the myster- ies of the path in clear, contemporary language that must be specially helpful to the modern seeker. Irina Tweedie ix Catching the Thread x Introduction INTRODUCTION Dreamwork is the modern equivalent of the ancient Sufi teaching stories. Irina Tweedie1 Spiritual life is a response to a call. Of our own accord we would never turn away from the world and begin the long and painful journey home. But Someone calls to us, calls to us from within the depths of our heart, awakening our own deepest longing. This call is like a golden thread that we follow, guiding us deeper and deeper within, always pointing to the beyond. It is both intimate and elusive, for it does not belong to the mind but to the deepest core of our being. We hear it most easily when the conscious mind is still, which can be in meditation or when we are surrounded by the beauty of nature. But it is often in dreams that this call can be heard most clearly. In our sleep, when the outer world vanishes, our innermost secret can speak to us and guide us on this most difficult journey. Dreams are like mirrors in which we can see ourselves. They reflect back our hidden self, revealing the true face of our own nature. In our sleep we are shown the mysteries, the beauty, and the horror of our inner world. Through dreams we can get to know this strange and yet familiar land. And when we wake, our dreams can be a doorway through which we can walk back into this inner world, can step into the landscape of the soul. xi Catching the Thread It is through this inner landscape that the spiritual traveler must find his or her way. The spiritual quest takes us deep into the hidden places of the soul, across the rivers, mountains, and great oceans of the psyche. We in the West have for so long looked only at the outer world that we have forgotten that the greatest journey is within. It is inside us that the real beauty and mystery are to be found. In the words of St. Augustine: People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long compass of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering. The path we must follow is within us and here, within the psyche, are the guides that can help us on this journey. These are the inner figures of wisdom, like the wise old man and woman, and the innocent, eternal child. These figures have long been waiting for us to turn to them and ask their help. They know the most direct path that will take us home, and in our dreams they come to meet us. Most often they speak to us in the ancient language of symbols and images. In order to make best use of their wisdom we need to learn this symbolic language of the soul. It is for this reason that Sufis have long valued the wisdom of dreams and sought to understand the meaning of their images. Spiritual life is a process of inner transformation, in which the whole psychic structure of the seeker is altered. These changes begin deep within the uncon- scious, in the very roots of our being; often the conscious mind is the last to be affected. Like seeds xii Introduction planted deep within the earth, the spiritual processes slowly germinate and may take years to flower into consciousness. But through dreams we are told of these changes, of the wondrous alchemy of the psyche through which our inner darkness is turned into gold. If we listen to such dreams we will see our inner path unfold. From this listening we can gain encouragement and also learn to live in harmony with these inner processes. If our conscious mind knows something of what is happening in the depths, we are then able to cooperate as fully as we can and not interfere with this mysterious but highly dynamic unfolding. Modern psychology is invaluable, for it provides a language in which we can discuss and understand the processes of inner transformation. In particular, the work of Carl Jung and the school of Jungian psy- chology offers the most detailed exploration of the psychological dynamics experienced on the spiritual path. Before the advent of Jungian psychology, it was the alchemists who, within our Western culture, most fully described these processes. What the alchemists were working with in their retorts and crucibles were the projected contents of their own unconscious, and the symbolic and often paradoxical nature of alchemi- cal texts reflects the irrational world of the psyche. Jung rediscovered the inner nature of the alchemical opus and translated the ancient wisdom of the alche- mists into the language of psychology. Through his integration of the alchemical tradition with his own personal experiences of the unconscious, he charted a map of the unconscious that provides the contempo- rary seeker with a firm foundation for understanding what is happening within the psyche. xiii Catching the Thread Sufism has always stressed the importance of the psychological aspects of the inner journey. Psycho- logical work is a necessary preliminary stage on the path, in particular the work on the shadow, the purification of our lower nature and inner darkness. The processes of psychological integration and purifi- cation create an uncontaminated inner space within which the wayfarer can come to know the secrets of the soul, the deep mysteries of the heart. However, the language and terminology of most Sufi psychological treatises belong to a different culture from that of the Western seeker, and these works are not easily acces- sible. Integrating Jungian psychology within the frame- work of the Sufi path gives the wayfarer a valuable tool to work with in order to understand the psychological transformations on the path: how the darkness of the shadow is confronted and transformed, how our inner partner comes to meet us and helps us on the journey, how the Self arises from the unconscious and through its symbols reveals our primordial wholeness, the power and beauty of our innermost nature. Yet, at the same time, many aspects of the path cannot be understood from a solely psychological perspective. The wayfarer seeks to journey far beyond the ego, even beyond the boundaries of the psyche. On this path leading to the Infinite, a psychological ap- proach needs to be integrated with a spiritual perspec- tive, and this is particularly important in dreamwork. While some dreams can be understood from a purely psychological standpoint, seekers often have dreams that require a spiritual context, an understanding of the nature of the journey that leads to love’s infinite ocean. Some dreams not only have a personal meaning to the xiv Introduction dreamer but, like myths or fairy tales, tell us about the archetypal nature of this quest. As with the Sufi stories of old, discussing these dreams can help us to become familiar with the mysterious ways of the heart and help us to find and follow the almost invisible thread that leads us home.