Project for a Judaism-Inspired Transpersonal
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PROJECT FOR A JUDAISM-INSPIRED TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY YAACOV LEFCOE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN PSYCHOLOGY YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO OCTOBER, 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88699-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88699-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada Abstract This dissertation provides a psychological account of serial changes occurring in the course of Jewish (or panentheistic more generally) meditative practice by bringing some sophisticated meditative manuals of early 19th century Chassidic mysticism into dialogue with contemporary psychology. Object relations theorists of religious development have enriched our understanding of how the internalized representation of God lives and evolves within the psyche, and within psychotherapy, yet have not produced theoretical accounts of deeper or more advanced meditative-mystical states. Transpersonal psychologists, on the other hand, have modelled psycho-developmental processes occurring in serious and sustained meditative praxes, yet generally rely on Buddhist or Hindu-inspired conceptions that do not sufficiently account for the psychological implications of a personal God relationship. Scholars of comparative religion and mysticism have provided additional insights into meditative-mystical experience, yet often with a more literary, or philosophical, rather than with a clinically- relevant, psychological emphasis. In this dissertation all of these literatures (the Chassidic, the object relational, comparative mysticism, and transpersonal psychology) are brought together in an integration that promises an alternative psychological approach to human development on a meditative-mystical path, an approach that synthesizes theistic and unitive, intentional and non-intentional, relational and nondual, God-object relational and what I am calling n-Object (for 'panen-Object', or 'not-an-Object') relational elements into a unified conceptual structure. iv Acknowledgements Thank God for granting me the ability to reason and to understand; to receive knowledge from teachers, colleagues, clients and friends; and for enabling me to reach the occasion of the completion of this work. I would like to express my life-long gratitude to my extraordinary wife Batsheva Schur-Lefcoe, who has undoubtedly sacrificed more than anyone else for this work to be completed. I am also deeply indebted to my long time teacher and mentor, Dr. David L. Rennie, whose masterful supervision, with a steady hand of guidance and encouragement, as well as extensive critical and editorial work on this essay, have made the dissertation possible (as well as the two theses that have preceded it). To my parents Dr. Michael and Barbara Lefcoe, for their generous and unwavering moral and material support in this, and every other project of my life. To Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh for introducing me to the key Chassidic texts of this dissertation, and for providing a living example of what they teach. To the late Dr. David Bakan a "h, for introducing me to rational mysticism, and the connections between Freud and Maimonides, and for providing—together with his life partner Dr. Mildred Bakan a"h—a formidable figure of old European-style scholarship. To my Supervisory Committee, Drs. Thomas Teo and Frederic Weizmann, and Dr. Martin Lockshin of the Examining Committee, whose detailed critical feedback stimulated and compelled me to make this essay into something more significant than anything I had envisaged when I started the project. To Dr. Yitzchak Block at the University of Western Ontario for his instruction, inspiration and encouragement. To the moderator Dr. Eliezer Shore, and members of the bneiheichala ("Children of the Palace") listerv (for instructors of Chassidut and Kabbalah), who have provided needed intellectual community. To my brother-in-law Dr. Israel Schur for his generous grant towards completing the project. To v my brother-in-law Rabbi Yoni Schur, for providing me with the use of his apartment with an expansive view of the Old City of Jerusalem for a writing retreat at a critical juncture in the preparation of this manuscript. To my friends Baruch Shapiro and Shaul Ellenbogan for your encouragement. To liana Attia of Be'Or HaTorah journal, for her continuing interest in my work. To my former bandmates Lazer Lloyd and Moshe Yankovsky in the YOOD power rock trio for encouraging me to go back and finish the Ph.D. To the Lady Davis Fellowships of Hebrew University, and the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University for supporting the creation of the first draft of this dissertation. Thank you all. vi Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vii Chapter One: Introduction 1 Meta-theory 5 Mysticism and epistemology 7 Method 9 Personal reflection 11 Chassidism and Jewish mysticism 12 The psychology of mysticism 19 The psychology of meditation and transpersonal approaches 24 God as a relational object 31 References to Chabad meditation 42 Chapter Two: The Chabad School 45 The Chabad approach to Chassidism 45 Chabad as psychology 47 The sefirotic faculty psychology 50 Situating Chabad theoretically as a psychology 55 Chapter Three: Hitbonenut 61 The maamar: Unit of contemplation 64 Immanence, transcendence, essence 66 Bittul 67 Self abnegation and mental health 71 Three general stages of meditation 72 Chapter Four: Discerning Motives 77 The stratification of motive 79 Yeshut-narcissism 83 The "black bile" 89 The "scientist" metaphor 93 Ohn-hispaalus: Beyond ecstasy 95 Chapter Five: Insight and Personality Change 99 Acknowledgment: Hoda-a 100 From God Object to "n-Object" 104 From intentionality to non-intentionality 107 Higher religio-developmental stages through hitbonenut 108 The "good thought" 108 Ecstasy in the heart 110 Intention in the heart 112 Simple will 114 Processes of internalization 115 vii Chapter Six: Discussion: Outline of a Jewish Transpersonal Psychology 123 Shiura: The malleable measure of God 124 The integrative model 126 Two-eyed discernment: The model applied 131 Relational meditation: Extending the transpersonal paradigm 134 Ascribing meaning to meditative experiences 138 Transcendence of the therapeutic 141 Implications of the current study 142 Object relations of the God relationship 142 Transpersonal psychology 143 Comparative mysticism 143 Limitations of the study 146 Conclusion 149 References 151 Glossary 172 List of Tables Table 1: Stages of Ecstasy (.Hitpaalut) 115 Table 2: God-object, n-Object integrative model 130 viii ...the roots of the need for religion are in the parental complex... grand sublimations of father and mother... Freud (1910, p.12) ...lest you act corruptly and make yourselves a graven image, the likeness of any shape; a form, male or female... Deuteronomy, 4:1 Chapter One: Introduction This dissertation is intended to contribute to psychology's ability to comprehend what the modern psychology of religion, following William James, has considered the quintessential religious experience: ecstatic mysticism. The task set here is to provide a clinically-oriented introduction to the unique 'psychology of meditation' of Jewish mysticism, as developed by the Chabad Chassidic school with its hitbonenut meditation, and to relate the unique insights of this school to the psychology of religion, transpersonal psychology and object relations literatures. Hitbonenut, a reflexive gerund derived from the three-letter Hebrew root word by"n, connoting "to understand," is usually translated as contemplation, or contemplative meditation (e.g. Elior, 1993; Loewenthal, 1990). It is a form of mystical-meditative practice