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The institute is pleased to present the following ten-week online course offering:

 

The Sacred Image: Jungian Depth Psychology, Tibetan Buddhist Tantra,    and the Healing and Transformative Power of Archetypal Imagery

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The course will take place weekly beginning on Saturday, November 6th of this year and conclude on Saturday, January 9th, 2022. 

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This cross-cultural and interdisciplinary study provides an introduction to the origins, cosmological precepts, creative and meditative practices, and various forms of artistic expression found in Jungian psychology and Tibetan Buddhism, with particular emphasis on the manner in which mythic imagery and sacred symbols are employed in both disciplines as dynamic agents of healing and spiritual transformation. Pictorial depictions of Jungian archetypes garnered from numerous cultural and religious traditions, combined with the rich and colorful tradition of Tibetan art and architectural forms, will complement the lectures and readings by providing a visual means through which the above aspects can be further examined and elucidated. Following an introduction to the far-reaching impact of Tibetan Buddhism on Jung's theories and in the

world at large, an overview of each discipline is presented in three consecutive chapters that delineate their respective foundational histories, primary tenets, creative techniques, and transformative methodologies. These chapters are further accentuated by a detailed comparative analysis of their contrasting precepts and underlying theories as well as their sometimes striking similarities. The course also includes a chapter devoted specifically to the mandala (as found in traditional Tibetan art and in Jung’s The Red Book and other works), which denotes the most essential connecting link between these two esoteric systems. As a culmination to the course theme and content, participants will engage in and provide reflections on their own creative visualization practice (in line with the coursework and guidance of the instructor) in order to further illuminate this vital aspect and bring an in-depth experiential component to the class. 

     All reading materials, video presentations, and visual representations (which

include a rich and diverse collection of artistic and archetypal forms found in Jungian depth psychology and Tibetan Buddhist Tantra) are included in the course fee of $225 (please see the Contact page to make inquiries and for course registration and payment; also, you can view an extensive collection of visuals from both traditions in the lower section of the page following the bibliography). The weekly sessions will last approximately ninety minutes and will be recorded, which allows participants to access them at any time in line with the course schedule, which begins on November 6th and continues for ten consecutive Saturdays. Live sessions will take place at the beginning, middle, and end of this ten-week period, and will begin at 9:00 in the morning Pacific Standard Time (USA) and at 6 pm (18:00) Central European Time. These live sessions will be both highly instructive and also provide ample opportunities for animated discussion and feedback. An outline of the course and its primary themes can be found below, and a detailed syllabus and access to the related study materials will be available online at the time of registration. 

Overall Learning Outcomes for the Course:

1) Participants will deepen their understanding of the significance of Tibetan Buddhism in contemporary thought and culture, including its seminal influence on the theories and therapeutic practices found in Jungian depth psychology.

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2) Participants will acquire a solid overview of the Indian origins and guiding principles of tantric practice, as well as the historical circumstances, competing influences, fundamental precepts, and spiritual cosmology pertaining to Buddhist Tantra in Tibet.

 

3) Participants will gain an in-depth understanding the role of sacred art and mythic representations (both in personified form, as with deity worship, and in  abstract form, as with mandalas), and how these various figures and images are employed in creative visualization and meditative practices to elicit healing and spiritual transformation.

 

4) Participants will receive a broad overview of the early life and principle formative influences that shaped the thinking of C. G. Jung, which include an array of highly symbolic dreams and other fascinating psychic phenomena. 

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5) Participants will examine the trajectory and evolution of Jung's psychological theories and practices, which include an intimate exposure to ancient Eastern religious traditions (especially Tibetan Buddhist Tantra) and his in-depth and deeply meaningful explorations of medieval European alchemy.   

 

6) Participants will enhance their knowledge of the influence of Jungian depth psychology in the contemporary world, which includes its contributions to  mainstream psychology, its emergence and ever-growing recognition as a form spiritual practice and deeply transformative psychotherapy, and its far-reaching effects on various aspects of modern culture, including film, art, and literature. 

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7) Participants will engage in a comparative examination of Jungian psychology and Tibetan Tantra, and will be able to clearly distinguish the differences in

their central tenets and cosmologies as well as their over-lapping and deeply compelling correlations.

 

8) Participants will learn and apply the practice of creative visualization on an experiential basis, and will be provided with the practical means of translating their respective experiences within the framework of the course content. 

LECTURE TITLES AND DESCRIPTIONS:

Week One: THE WESTERN EMBRACE OF THE TIBETAN DIASPORA  

The first lecture explores the initial contact, dissemination, and ongoing embrace of Tibetan Buddhist Tantra by the West, and provides an overview of

the prominent influence of this tradition in various fields, including Jungian depth psychology. 

Objectives for Week One:

1) To gain familiarity with the early European explorers who

had direct contact with Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the

various forms of its subsequent dissemination in the West. 

2) To understand the influence of Tibetan Buddhist Tantra

on contemporary Western thought, especially as it relates

to the depth psychology of Carl Jung.

3) To receive a general introduction to the course content

and the main topics presented in each chapter.    

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week one.

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Week Two: INDIAN ORIGINS & THE COMING OF THE DHARMA TO TIBET   Week two explores tantra’s Indian origins, and outlines the initial arrival of Buddhism in Tibet and its contact with the indigenous Bon tradition, the competing social and historical forces that shaped the inherited tradition, the second diffusion of the dharma, and the four primary sects and their lineages. 

Objectives for Week Two: 

1) To acquire an understanding of the origins of tantric                       

precepts and practices in India.                              

2) To understand the varying social and historical forces

that shaped Buddhism's orientation in Tibet.

3) To comprehend the basic differences and similarities

between the four competing sects of Mahayana Buddhism

in Tibet, with their shared emphasis on the non-dual union

of emptiness and bliss in the Clear Light of Dharmakaya.

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week two.

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Week Three: THE DIAMOND VEHICLE OF VAJRAYANA                                      The third lecture provides a more detailed description of the tradition’s fundamental practices and precepts (e.g., its principle deities, symbols, and sacred rituals), and includes commentaries on the Tibetan Buddhist notion of experiential domains, the dying process, post-mortem existence in the bardo, reincarnation, and the distinction between relative and ultimate truth.

Objectives for Week Three:                                                                                

Objectives for Week Three:                                                                                        

1) To acquire a basic overview of the tradition's cosmology,

including the cosmic entities of the Tibetan pantheon and

the ontological dimensions in which they dwell.

2) To gain an understanding of Tibetan Buddhism's view of

earthly existence, the dying process, post-mortem pheno-

mena, and the transmigration of the disembodied entity.

3) To ascertain a clearer sense of the rich symbolism and

and mythic representations found in the tradition's art,

architecture, and its ceremonial monuments and rituals.

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week three.

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Week Four: SACRED ART AND CREATIVE MEDITATION                                     Week four provides an exposure to Tibetan Buddhism's most prominent forms of artistic practice and creative visualization, including the contemplative focus on deities and mythic symbols as well as engagement in sacred rituals.  

Objectives for Week Four:

1) To acquire an understanding of the various forms of meditation and creative visualization, especially as they relate to deity worship, spiritual transformation, and the foundational principles of the related techniques and methodologies.

2) To gain an exposure to the chakra system and its

relationship to the body, its attendant levels and

heightened states of consciousness, and the ultimate

nature of being as represented by the non-dual state

of diamond luminosity. 

3) To ascertain the meaning and purpose of such

ritualistic activities as mantra recitation, the creation

of sand mandalas, and masked dances.

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week four.

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Week Five: THE LIFE AND WORK OF C. G. JUNG                                                   Week five examines Jung’s early life and his subsequent involvement in the field of psychology, including his contact with Sigmund Freud. Emphasis is given to the most prominent formative influences in his upbringing and early career as well as the powerful dreams and numinous experiences that shaped his thinking.

Objectives for Week Five:      

1) To acquire an overview of Jung’s early development 

and his most consequential experiences and influences.             

2) To understand the relationship between Jung’s most

significant dreams and mystical experiences and their

subsequent impact upon his theories and postulations.

3) To comprehend the evolution of his thought and the

seminal influences (e.g., Kant, Nietzsche, and Freud) he

encountered and that would eventually be integrated

into his doctrine over the course of his long and productive career.  

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week five. 

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Week Six: THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF JUNG’S PSYCHOLOGY   The sixth lecture examines the principle characteristics of Jungian depth psychology, with emphasis on its foundational theories and psychotherapeutic applications as well as its influence on contemporary culture.

Objectives for Week Six:               

1) To understand the meaning and significance of such

primary concepts as unus mundus (translated as "one

unitary world"), the personal and collective unconscious,

the ego-Self dyad, individuation, archetypal forms and

themes, numinous experience, and dream phenomena.

2) To comprehend the application and influence of Jung's  

theories and therapeutic practices in both mainstream

and depth psychotherapy.

3) To examine the impact of Jung’s work on various fields

in the modern world, including psychology, philosophy, religious and mytho-logical studies, and creative expression, most notably in art, literature, and film.

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week six.

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Week Seven: INDIVIDUATION THROUGH ART AND ARCHETYPAL THERAPY Week seven explores the various creative techniques and methodologies employed in Jungian psychotherapy and their attendant theoretical foundations.

Objectives for Week Seven:

1) To acquire a solid comprehension of the various methods

and techniques employed in dream analysis, amplification,

active imagination, and art therapy, especially in relation to

painting and sand tray.

2) To ascertain the underlying theoretical foundations that

exist as the basis of the above practices, especially as they

relate to Jung’s doctrine of individuation and its archetypal

and developmental processes.

3) To gain direct exposure to case studies that provide an

experiential foundation for these related theories and therapeutic techniques.

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week seven.

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Week Eight: JUNGIAN DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY & TIBETAN BUDDHIST TANTRA: A COMPARATIVE VIEW                                                                                 Week eight provides a brief review of the essential precepts and practices of

both traditions, and presents a comparative analysis of both their divergent characteristics and their attendant similarities, with particular emphasis on the manner in which both systems employ mythic imagery and creative visualization as a powerful means of effecting psycho-spiritual transformation.

Objectives for Week Eight:

1) To clearly distinguish the most notable differences and 

similarities in the doctrines of these two disciplines, as well as

Jung’s deep appreciation for certain Tibetan Buddhist principles.

2) To review and compare the primary theoretical tenets and

creative practices of both traditions, including the manner in

which archetypal figures and forms are implemented into their

respective transformative methodologies.

3) To gain a more in-depth exposure to the phenomena of 

reincarnation and post-mortem existence as found in Tibetan

Buddhism and Jung’s late work.

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week eight.

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Week Nine: THE MANDALA: ULTIMATE SYMBOL OF PSYCHIC WHOLENESS

The ninth lecture explores the origins, symbolic meaning, structural make-up, and creative and meditative applications of traditional Tibetan mandalas, and concurrently provides examples of the contemporary mandalas found in Jung’s The Red Book, along with perspectives from both disciplines on their meaning and significance in psycho-spiritual development.   

Objectives for Week Nine:                

1) To understand the historical origins and religious frame-

work of the mandala as it was absorbed and/or created by

the Tibetan tradition and later embraced in Jung's experience.

2) To acquire a deepened comprehension of the cosmological,

structural, and symbolic make-up of Tibetan mandalas within 

the context of their various manifestations.

3) To comprehend the significance of mandalas in creative 

visualization, artistic expression, and dreams in both Tibetan

tantric practices and Jungian psychotherapy.  

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week nine.

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Week Ten: ENGAGING THE SACRED IMAGE                                                             

In this final lecture participants will carefully review the use of archetypal and artistic forms in the creative visualization practices of both traditions, and will be asked to choose an image (e.g., sacred deity, mythic symbol, or dream figure) to apply within one of the experiential practices presented in the course.

Objectives for Week Ten:

1) To be able to describe the specific goals and guiding

principles of creative visualization as they relate to both

Tibetan Tantra and Jungian psychology.

2) To deepen one's understanding of how these symbolic

forms and motifs apply to one's own unique existence

and spiritual development, coupled with the selection

of a specific deity or mythic image in preparation for the

practice of creative visualization.   

3) To perform an experiential exercise in one of the forms

of creative or contemplative visualization presented in the

course (to be chosen by each participant in correlation

with a figure or image that deeply resonates on a personal

level), and to subsequently translate (as outlined in the Final Project below) the experience as it relates to inner states of consciousness, bodily sensations, and the spontaneous arising of various psychic phenomena, both on a uniquely individual basis and within the broader context of the course content.

Assigned Reading: Check the course syllabus for week ten.

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FINAL PROJECT (optional): Select a Tibetan or Western mandala, or an arche-typal image from the course material or one's own experience (e.g., a potent dream figure), and engage this primary image in the practice of creative visualization, active imagination, or art therapy. Then, in a brief essay (six to eight pages, double-spaced, APA format) describe its essential features and

how the particular mythic form(s) resonated within the context of both the psychic and somatic sensations that were experienced. In addition, include a brief overview of the related Tibetan and/or Jungian practices and principles covered in the course material that pertain to one's experience in this process. 

Selected Bibliography

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Bishop, P. (1992). Jung, Eastern Religion, and the Language of the Imagination.             In D. J. Meckel & R. L. Moore (Eds.), Self and Liberation: The Jung/Buddhism

       Dialogue (pp. 166-180). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

Campbell, J. (2003). Myths of Light: Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal. Novato, CA: 

       New World Library.

Campbell, J. (1974). The Mythic Image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Clarke, J. J. (1994). Jung and Eastern Thought: A Dialogue with the Orient. New                 York: Routledge.

Conze, E. (1959). Buddhism: Its Essence and Development. New York: Harper &

       Row. (Original work published 1951).

Coward, H, (1992). Jung’s Commentary on The Tibetan Book of the Dead. In D.               J. Meckel & R. L. Moore (Eds.), Self and Liberation: The Jung/Buddhism                     Dialogue (pp. 261-274). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

David-Neel, A. (1971) Magic and Mystery In Tibet. New York: Dover. (Original work

       published 1932)

Davis, J. (2011). Jung at the Foot of Mt. Kailash: A Transpersonal Synthesis of                   Depth Psychology, Tibetan Tantra, and the Sacred Mythic Imagery of East               and West. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 30(1-2), 148-164.

Davis, J. (2013). C. G. Jung, Tibetan Tantra, and the Great Goddess: An                             Exploration of Sacred Entities and Archetypes. In W. Rowlandson and

       A. Voss (Eds.), Daimonic Imagination: Uncanny Intelligence (pp. 292-309).                 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars.  

Davis, J. (2015). The Sacred Image: C. G. Jung and the Western Embrace of                           Tibetan Buddhism. Hamburg, Germany: Anchor.

Davis, J. (2016). The Primordial Mandalas of East and West: Jungian and Tibetan             Buddhist Approaches to Healing and Transformation. NeuroQuantology,

       14(2), 242-254.

Davis, J. (2019). Active Imagination in Psychotherapy. In D. Leeming (Ed.),                       Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Berlin & Heidelberg, Germany:                   Springer.

Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (2000). The Tibetan Book of the Dead. London: Oxford                       University Press. (Original work published 1960)

Gyatso, T., The 14th Dalai Lama. (1995). The World of Tibetan Buddhism: 

       An Overview of its Philosophy and Practice (G. T. Jinpa, Ed. & Trans.). 

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Govinda, L. A. (1960). Introductory Foreword to The Tibetan Book of the Dead

       (W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Ed.) (Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup, Trans.). London: Oxford

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Govinda, L. A. (1966). The Way of the White Clouds. New York: Overlook Press.

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Hannah, B. (1981). Encounters with the Soul: Active Imagination as Developed by               C. G. Jung. Cambridge, MA: Sigo Press.

Jung, C. G. (1958) The Psychology of Eastern Meditation (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.).

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Jung, C. G. (1960). The Transcendent Function. In H. Read (Ed.), The Collected               Works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 8, pp. 67-91). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University

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Jung, C. G. (1963). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. (A. Jaffe, Ed.) (R. Winston & C.             Winston, Trans.). New York: Vintage Books.

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Jung, C. G. (1981). The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious (R. F. C. Hull,

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       Jung/Buddhism Dialogue (pp. 48-80). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

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