jamesn.
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Lee; I’m sending you a Private Message; (look to the left border where this function is located); and we will carry this conversation further so I can share a few ideas I have that should make you feel more comfortable without having to share anything publicly until (if and when) you feel comfortable in doing so. I will please ask that for the moment you not take down your post because it is so very special and will give you more time to think about this before deciding anything.
Private messages have been a vital part of the forums ever since they were created in the older version; (which you will also notice located “under” the PM section on the left border). And when you want to message someone go to their ID logo and click on it which will take you to their information box where the private message function is located and click on that as well. You have now established an open-line to get in-touch with them whenever you want to send a message to discuss anything. If you already know all of this then we will pick up our conversation from there.
(Btw; you will need to check this section often as you become more active because people may want to message you; and as far as I know that function does not yet reach a person’s email. So something to keep in mind as you get more involved with the forums. It’s a wonderful feature and you may find you will use it quite often to share personal information you don’t want shared publicly.) Wait for my message before you respond to anything further about this so we can discuss it more at length in private.
Dennis; Yes my name is James; and thank both you and Shaheda so very much for responding to this question of mine concerning Shame. Yes; as you both surmise this is a huge issue I think that needs so much more attention than it’s been getting and I think in large part because most people don’t really know what it is; but even more important how crippling it can be. Not only is it so hard to talk about; social media and society in general shun any attempt at revealing one’s inner weaknesses and pain because it also exposes their own inner wounds for possibly being criticized as well. So masks are created to hide our pain; often for some through persona devices like self-aggrandizement or more importantly through certain social behaviors like “bullying”. To make another feel small or less important by hiding their own vulnerability this behavior also re-enforces other negative social behaviors like lying or deception which are other ways or forms this infection of the soul is allowed to fester. It is a “Hydra or Medusa” of the worst order; that as you both have illustrated can also be the source of tremendous personal transformation if realized; but herein lies the difficulty I think because to understand and access these wounds one must also realize not only what caused them; but how to heal them.
Dennis; your lecture on this issue I think provided a very important insight that was further addressed in Michael Meade’s lecture that same week on one’s “Inner Genius”; when he talked about where our “Inner Genius” lies which is behind our pain and our wounds. But he also approached this critical need by adding another way to think about it which you also addressed by personal writing. Meade said that there is an inner desire to not only “Witness” our inner self; but also it is just as important – “to be Heard”! I think here is one of the greatest gifts humanity has to offer itself; because by entering into a dialogue with our inner personhood and sharing it with both with oneself as well as others we allow others to also become vehicles of healing and wholeness; and the raising of consciousness itself. And whether one’s inner process of dialogue is instigated through journaling, through support groups, or through just sharing one’s pain through that most important of human relationships – (that of Friendship); we become more than just an individual; we become part of our larger community of human family; we become that realization of what Joseph and so many others throughout history have referred to as: “you and the other are one”. And we are not alone; left in the darkness or our own human suffering! For instance if we consider the definitions below:
“Nihilism” is the belief that nothing matters. Existentialism is the attempt to confront and deal with meaninglessness…to not succumb to nihilism or despair: to not give up or avoid responsibility.”
Then we must come to terms with the questions of not only: who we are; why we are here; and what does our life really mean; but more importantly how we can answer them.
I think there is incredible angst going on in the world right now that not only the Covid crisis has opened up; but this sense that because the ecology is in such dire straights looking ahead that we feel alone and abandoned to helplessness and that our ability to make sense of our existence so often hinges on this ability to reach out and express these things by sharing our fears and our deep inner pain. And these aspects and dimensions of our lives as you both point out; can in many ways be both the source as well as the springboard toward a much larger potential of who we can become. But it is within this internal cocoonlike metamorphosis that we must often retreat to evoke the necessary inner alchemy for this transition of transformation to start. And at the bottom of this Dragon’s lair lies “Shame”; waiting to be realized as the child within us all asking to be recognized and given voice to speak.
(I hope this long drawn out explanation makes sense; because I think this particular issue lies at the very root and heart of much that is going on right now. Suicide rates are exploding; and people are crying out for help to express something they don’t understand. As Joseph mentioned in different ways in different situations that if people don’t address these deep inner needs they risk a schizophrenic crackup because they don’t know what it is that’s ticking inside them. We have fears and repression and anger that needs to be unraveled and understood. Not everyone can afford an analyst; “but everyone can make and be a friend”. That’s Joseph’s theme song he often mentioned of: “the joyful participation of suffering with someone in the sorrows of the world”; and by going into your cave and getting to know your minotaur or your dragon and sharing your fears and sorrows; whether on paper, on your hard drive, through your intimate relationships; or even helping a total stranger in need we become that thing we are searching for; that longing to be whole when we fell from the metaphoric Grace of Eden’s Garden of our Shame; and we are to find that Jesus or Buddha that lies within us all.)
Again; thank you both so very much for listening and responding to this issue; I have more to add for I think it is a very critical concern right now ; especially with Covid raging across the planet and it’s new variants starting to emerge that may be even more dangerous than what we have been dealing with at present. And then there is climate change and global warming looming in the distance. Not to sound alarmist; but I think it’s so important that we will need to be able to use every emotional resource we have at our disposal looking forward to what Joseph called: “our freefall into the future”. I think is this more than evident when one looks at the news; and even though Joseph stated:” the world is a mess and you are not going to change that reality. What we can do is change ourselves and the way we understand our interior. And I think understanding Shame is one place real inroads can be made.
Hello Dennis; I have a new topic to introduce within this discussion which you brought up recently at the Jungian Lecture Series a few weeks back that I feel strongly directly relates to this subject of the “Power of the Personal”; which was a central feature of your framework of accessing your Personal Myth. You gave one of the most articulate and moving descriptions of one’s intimate landscapes coming out of your own experience that I hope you will share as it relates I think to something not often talked about but which I think is critically important in exploring and accessing one’s personal story and that is the subject of “Shame”. You shared in very personal and intimate details your journey with painting and how something way back in your youth caused you to feel a tremendous loss of self-esteem which this alchemy you used to address it opened up a whole new illumination towards healing. (For those who have not seen Dennis’s work he has 2 separate Galleries listed on his website; and of particular interest to me was his renderings of Jung’s “Red Book”.) Also not to be missed is his recent blog offering concerning his personal writing teaching techniques with prison inmates using Joseph Campbell’s ideas as a template format.
For me what I think is important to this discussion is the use of personal art and writing as a means to not only express but to deeply explore one’s inner depths of memory where; as Joseph Campbell describes: “the dark jewels glow”; and use these symbolic images and experiences as tools for personal illumination and healing. Joseph describes this process as a kind of: “symbolic imaging”; or as he later refers to as: “symbolic realization” he mentions in one of his Jungian lectures on individuation. He goes into great detail describing how to utilize this process on pages: 155-158; in: “Reflections on the Art of Living – A Joseph Campbell Companion”; by using this process as a means of breaking past blockages and opening gates of transformation of one’s inner world. The particular symbol he uses as an example I am about to quote is the double triangle which forms the: “Jewish Star of David”; and he utilizes this symbol to show how to breakthrough the repression of the psyche by pointing out what each triangle should represent within this process of assimilation in achieving the passage through your own individual process. Each triangle represents something as he describes on 155:
“In the double triangle, the upward pointing triangle–you might use the word “aspiration” for that–is symbolic of the movement principle. The downward-pointed triangle is inertia, and it represents what the obstacle would be. The downward pointing triangle can be experienced either as an impediment or as the door that is opened. When you recognize it’s psychological significance and effect a mental transformation, then you see the obstacle as an opening.
So you can experience the downward-pointed triangle two ways: one, as an obstacle; and the other, as the means by which you are going to make the ascent. So, everything in your life that seems to be obstructive can be transformed by your recognizing that it is the means for your transition.”
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On page 156 he continues this train of thought by asking:
“What is the obstruction in your life, and how do you transform it into radiance?” Ask yourself, ” What is the main obstruction to my path?” In India, demons are really obstructions to the expansion of consciousness. A demon or devil is a power in you to which you have not given expression, an recognized or suppressed god. Anyone who is unable to understand a god sees it as a devil.”
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He picks this description back up on page 157; where he continues by saying:
“When you find yourself blocked by a concretized symbol from your childhood, meditation is a systematic discipline that will solve your problem. The function of meditation, ideally, would be to transcend the concretized response and deliver the message.
The first thing I’d do would to think, “What are, specifically, the symbols that are still active, still touching me this way?” What are the symbols? There’s a great context of symbols in the world. Not all of them are the ones that afflict you. When you do find the symbol that is blocking you, find some mode of thinking and experience that matches in it’s importance for you what the symbol meant. You cannot get rid of a symbol if you have not found that to which it refers.
If you find in your own heart a center of experience for which the symbol has been substituted, the symbol will dissolve. Think, “Of what is it the metaphor?” When you find that, the symbol will lose it’s blocking force, or it will become the guide.
This is the “knowing” part of “to know, to love, to serve.” If you are in trouble with this part because you do not really know what this thing refers to, then it will push you around. I’m very, very, sure of that.
To dissolve such a concretization as an adult, you need to find what the reference of the symbol is. When that is found, you will have the elucidation. The symbol will move into place, and you can regard it with pleasure: as something that guides you to the realization of what it’s message is, instead of as a roadblock. This is an important point.
That is the downward pointed triangle. It is either an obstruction or the field through which the realization is to come.”
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So Dennis; my question is: “does this description of Joseph’s match up with what you experienced which you shared about Shame” in your lecture? The description you gave rang me like a bell when you bravely offered this “witness” to your childhood; and how you were able to utilize this extremely personal experience as a means for your ascent through your painting. Personal Writing, Painting, or what other means of Art, or Self Expression that one utilizes seems to me to represent this doorway into to the unconscious as well as that of enjoyment, meaning, or purpose that these things are normally used for.
Of particular importance to me was the understanding of the gate-guardians or Dragon of one’s Shame in your personal narrative. This gateway had to be accessed to obtain passage of the threshold to gain the treasure of your emotional wholeness. And what you shared was so poignantly moving that I think it would be of enormous value to this discussion if you would feel comfortable sharing it.
I see shame as one of the major manifestations of personal tragedy; which like the Dragon guards a gateway that holds people hostage. Carl Jung called it: “a soul-eating emotion”; and I think it would be almost impossible to count the number of suicides that have been caused by it’s overpowering effects throughout human history. Who among us have not lost someone from this crippling and devastating condition that it causes.
The below link to the article I am including is a long but very articulate description of what Shame actually is; which I hope everyone will read because I think it has much to offer on this little explored emotional manifestation of the psyche. “Shame” by James M. Shultz
Lee; if I may be permitted I would very much offer encouragement to “leave up” this beautifully written piece about your experience; and even post it elsewhere if you feel comfortable doing so! It is deeply and profoundly moving; and so eloquently written that I think most people who would read it could not fail to be affected by it’s sincerity and heartfelt expression of one’s inner conflicts. I would certainly understand your reluctance in sharing something so personal; but I would also suggest that by the nature of the inner struggle you offered that by sharing this it might be helpful to others.
We so often hold in our feelings by thinking that in some way these things going on inside of us may not be either properly understood or that they might be rejected, minimized, or in some way thought unworthy of being shared. I hope you’ll reconsider if this is the case because others may see within your articulation something they themselves have trouble dealing with. Again of course this is up for you to decide; and I certainly would not want for you to feel pressured into doing something that would make you feel uncomfortable; but this was a beautifully constructed piece which others might truly draw benefit from. Stephen may have more to add about this; but thank you so very much for sharing it.
Well now; perhaps the gods were listening and wanted to add their two cents worth to this discussion. The below clip was just added to the foundation YouTube channel just a few hours ago; Hmmmm!
Shaaheda; other than what I’ve already mentioned I really don’t feel qualified to speak “at length” on Indian Spirituality; and Nandu could probably speak to the issue of Homelessness in India much better than I can because it is on a whole other level than in the west. But both he and Stephen might be able to provide a better context in which this is integrated within Joseph’s themes and ideas.
However; saying that whatever any new mythology that may evolve out of this situation we now find ourselves in he does talk a little bit about here in this particular clip from the Bill Moyer’s series: “The Power of Myth” and uses the God “Indra” as a metaphor for the personal myth people usually associate with his more familiar theme of: “Follow Your Bliss”.
(This unfortunately is not a foundation authorized clip and may need to be removed at some point); but none the less it does in a way deal with this question of marrying Joseph’s approach of the functions a myth is suppose to serve and in some way points toward the future possibility of what a new mythical consciousness might address. But as both Stephen and Nandu mention Joseph was a man of his time and could not have foreseen a lot of the future developments that have taken place since he was alive.
(In my humble opinion this would be an interesting take on marrying eastern and western approaches as Joseph illustates; and if nothing else you realize both sensibilities deal with long histories of varying relationships between God and Man and the development of consciousness as opposed to “subservience” to a deity.) The clip.
Alex; welcome to the JCF Forums; aka CoaHO, or “Conversations of a Higher Order”. Stephen thoughtfully suggested this upcoming event awhile back; (although I can’t exactly remember where it was posted); and I accidentally stumbled across this listing for it late last night. Lately for me Jung’s theory of “Synchronicity”; or (meaningful chance) if you prefer; has been on my radar a lot as a subject I’ve been exploring within my own personal story. Sometimes our intuition tells us something about what we come across as a hint we need to be paying attention so I dove into the included information and this morning signed up for this “free event” which includes some of the cutting edge folks working in this field.
After reading your post this event sounds like something you might really like. I’ll let Stephen explain the connection with Dennis Patrick Slaughtery on the Forums MythBlast series; and who some of these other people are. (From what you wrote I think this might be a very cool experience to have while exploring your subject as you go forward.) Namaste
I want to go back to Shaaheda’s request about my earlier story concerning this conversation she, Marianne, and I were having about childhood experiences and “Synchronistic Meaning” and how these things can have such profound importance in the way we interpret our lives and how these things can come back in an entirely different way in later life. My narrative began with talking about the inner child within all of us and how it can later manifest itself.
__________________________________________________________________________Marianne; I want to speak to this tender childlike voice for a moment because I think it represents a kind of voice so often missing when talking about these kinds of topics concerning analyst or therapist and personal connection to inner world relationships. I’ll mention a curious; possibly synchronistic; type of voice or tone if you will; that I began to explore concerning my reading and individuation pursuits after I retired upon one of my nighttime photo excursions shortly after the Parkland School Shooting in 2018.
I was in a favorite park of mine where I have much personal history early one evening where I like to go sometimes and take pictures when I passed a very special shrine to victims of teenage gun violence. It was during Christmas and the shrine was decorated with lights and displays that children might enjoy and was packed with grieving parents and family commemorating their loss. This chance encounter of this scene impacted me profoundly and I was determined to come back and photograph it when no one was around to listen to it what it had to say. As I returned later and quietly explored the different viewpoints to take my shots I began to hear the voices of the parents coming to grieve their loss and as the weeks and months rolled by I began to go back and explore all the different childhood stories and authors and teachers from my own past up to the present and listen to their voices and what they had to tell me. There would be Christopher Robin; and Mr. Rogers and all these: “once upon a time” characters from my youth and their stories and the books about childhood teaching development and childhood violence and the gun lobbyists demeaning the Sandy Hook Massacre because of efforts restricting gun rights swirling around in my head until I began to get a better sense of what was working inside me at the time. Movies, books, and documentaries followed in my pursuits as I began to explore this voice and it became incredible clear that this was a synchronistic influence in the path I had been on exploring what was leading me forward.
So as I’m entering this post and watching all these entries appear I think it’s important that the topic not be restricted to particular facets in an academic sense but to try and make the connection of synchronistic references more personal as well. And I say this because this material concerning Campbell and Jungian themes is not always communicated as deeply from a paper or a thesis or an analytical approach but also impacts lives in an extremely intimate way.
Not I’m not suggesting we throw out all papers and start reading nursery rhymes to people on a Freudian or Jungian Couch as Joseph might have put it; but when we are exploring personal experiences as well as documented themes this inner world is in some ways to me like sanctified childhood playrooms that adults have forgotten about and are part of what is driving this synchronistic bus we are all riding in. And the idea of Story as a framework that unlocks a lot of these doors that hold such much of this inner material we are trying to get at can get hijacked by theory and school of thought. To further this idea of the child voice I offer how this pandemic has brought the Shadow front and center into the room whenever we pick up a newspaper or look at our newsfeed and see what’s playing for our attention.
Please forgive me for going on so long about this but I think it’s important to keep it in mind while we are exploring this topic. In other words it’s not all about myths and legends; it’s also about human beings; and it’s not that no one is not aware of this; but I think this tender little voice that Marianne has illustrated often gets drowned out by the volume of the other.
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Shaaheda’s request to revisit this story has been on my mind alot these last few days and I couldn’t quite understand why until I got a hint this morning from something I was reading about the childhood transition into adulthood and how all these simple childhood memories stay with us and in many ways determine who we become. If we are introduced to good stories and influences that reference good solid value systems such as developing empathy and compassion then the child is more likely to look for these things in others later on. But so often in modern times it seems that children often become marketing devices targeted at purchasing consumer items and services connected to other themes not necessarily related to the older story values that were passed down; or that have in some way been reversioned, revisioned, or repurposed if you will; with other more profit motivated purposes in mind such as Disney, Mattel, or any other of the many corporations that market these kinds of children’s products. But to me what has become the greatest threat is the use of violence in many of these new stories and products. (Fred Rogers was particularly sensitive to this issue as he made his case before Congress for the establishment of children’s television with programs specifically centered around teaching children how to make the transition into adulthood with as little trauma as possible.)
Now the point I’m attempting to establish is not remaking the world to shelter a child from the harsh realities of life; but to give that child a kind of guidance system that will help them navigate the various crisis situations they will inevitably encounter throughout their life course. Joseph understood that a myth if properly introduced would provide just such a tool; and indeed much of his work was centered around this understanding. And indeed when Bill Moyers in the “Power of Myth”; asked him about why myths were important to which Campbell replied: “You bet they are because otherwise the individual may be headed for a schizophrenia crackup. The world is full of people who have stopped listening to themselves and have put themselves on a course that the body is not interested at all.” This inner world that becomes the life guide is directly related to the child that resides within us all; and to ignore or disregard the implications of this relationship to later life outcomes is to take away the meaning from which life values first come.
I was passing by a conversation on Facebook that was discussing the importance of the loss of innocence of childhood and it occurred to me that in many cases if not “properly implemented” this often dramatic transition is exactly what comes back to haunt the adult in later life. Now in my mind no one is saying that the often harsh realities of modern life are ever going to totally disappear; and to completely disregard this reality would be at one’s peril to be sure. But it seems to me that Joseph’s suggestion of finding and living out one’s: “personal myth” would a good way to reinterpret a more modern and doable approach to this age old problem as he describes the 4 functions that myth serves and his most well known theme of: “Follow your bliss” is what immediately grabbed me when I first encountered him on Public Television in 1988 after going through just such a crisis as I described above. And part of my problem as I was later to find out had to do with the conflict surrounding the difference between the: “Right and Left Hand Paths” that Joseph describes below.
Shaaheda; thank you for your sensitive, kind, and tender thoughtfulness on my attempt at describing what I experienced. Putting such things into words as you know can be extremely difficult; but as you, Marianne, and Stephen have often referred to about the writing process a door is opened through which another realm is accessed where transcendent and transformative elements are allowed to alchemize if you will our innermost thoughts and feelings of our experiences where as Joseph mentions in: “The Hero’s Journey”; although I can’t remember what page I copied it from my old notes: “Alchemical Imagery is one way of telling this same story in terms of getting gold out of the base matter.” But these other quotes of his are some of my very favorites of his from the same source that marry to what we are discussing concerning from where these realizations come from out of our own experiences:
“In the journey of the soul itself the way out is the way in. It is a movement beyond the known boundaries of faith and convention, the search for what matters, the path of destiny, the route of individuality, the road out of original experience, a paradigm for the forging of consciousness itself: in short the hero’s journey. (It is a composite like the legendary gryphon, taking shape gradually, piece by piece, an individual assemblage of key ideas: “the will to be oneself is heroism”.)
And added to that from the same source: “The seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero’s journey is a symbol that binds in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas; the spiritual quest of the ancients, with the modern search for identity.”
There are of course many other quotes of Joseph’s that could be added to this list but the point is this internal process out of which we are able to access them. And then a path is forged which leads to more of these things and then all of a sudden you are no longer who you once were and your understanding of these experiences becomes a kind of guide in a way toward this new realization you are struggling toward. Looking at your unknown face often conjures up very unpleasant memories that have to be assimilated as well; but pushing through is often the most important part toward achieving this thing you are reaching for. I had several of these experiences that confronted me in ways I am still processing; one of which happened when after a year in lockdown I went to visit one of these places where I had lived for five and a half years wondering if it still stood and it was completely wiped from existance as though it was never there to begin with. Developers are tearing the city apart; and the history and memories that go with those places are now gone except in books and photos and stories that people tell about them; so it was a real shock to see it erased.
I will leave a link to the above Facebook webpage that contains more information and pictures of the mental hospital so you can get some idea of what I was talking about; and there is information included about the series that ran in the paper on mental health reform I mentioned. Many of homeless population of Viet Nam veterans I mentioned came from places like this because the funding was taken away during the 1980’s and mental health care has taken on a somewhat different approach now with large institutions being replaced with smaller facilities; but homelessness itself is a much larger issue that has evolved over the years because of changing political views and social values that have lost touch with this tragic human need that has now begun to resurface in a much more profound way because of the economic collapse caused by the covid pandemic. (It should also be mentioned that the Veteran’s Administration handles most of these mental healthcare needs of Vets now as far as I know.)
There are others who are more qualified than I am who can provide more current information about the way mental healthcare is handled now; but during my experiences back in the 1960’s it was a horrendous thing to endure; and not something that was socially acceptable to talk about except in whispered conversations that were mostly kept private. Here is the link which also has information about the upcoming book:
Stephen; Shaaheda, Marianne, and Drewie; I promised you a response and my apologies for taking so long but it just could not be helped. I have been working on this entry for days and days; and I hope you know that I did not forget all of you; but this humble piece is the best I could come up with given it is still somewhat a work in progress. So; such as it is here goes. I’ll start with some various Facebook entries.
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Facebook discussion about Synchronicity experience – 4/17/2021
Hey Shaaheda; I’ve been trying to figure out a way to answer some of your questions without making a huge drawn out storyline without bringing in too much excess baggage and keep this narrative from getting bogged down with minor details and still address some of your points; which in my view have extremely valid relevance to synchronistic events and themes in all our lives; so the point of your questions has not been lost on me if I’m understanding them correctly. It’s just getting all this backstory organized and present it in a way that keeps it manageable.
Your questions to me were:
“James, I loved your story but I want to know more from your perspective, as to your own psychic condition before and after the experience. Could you elaborate upon that. Did you dwell upon it for days weeks and months and still do? And the meaning in that encounter…love to hear more about your second story.”So here is what I’m going to say and combine the above first story with the second forthcoming one in a way that should marry both. First of all I think we all carry this what I call: “The what if” narrative from childhood into adulthood because it has to do with life possibilities. You look at something and ask yourself: “What if I did this and what would happen afterward”; and we are constantly evaluating everything as we do as we go along as measured against possible outcomes and how they might affect our lives within the choices we make; or put another way what we might call life potential for fulfillment. Now you could get Jungian about this and Joseph mentions the difference between the power drive and the erotic within the main drives of the ego system and that you are either one or the other and the libido; (or psychic energy if you will); gets caught up in this struggle of back and forth for balance so that it can flow properly when enantiodromia is taking place; but that is way too technical for what we are trying to flesh out; which is why do these moments of extraordinary coincidence strike us at certain moments and what do they have to do with our life track choices; because yes; I think synchronic moments have very much to do with how all these things affect us so profoundly and make us wonder why they happened and what to do about them.
So to answer your first query; I’ve had many of these moments all my life but I just didn’t know what they were and I’ll give you an example. One day I was leaving a job that I had and as I went out the door I was trying to decide which direction I needed to go to take care of some errand or something like that and in mid stride I suddenly decided for whatever reason I should go in the other direction and changed directions. After about 4 or 5 steps I heard screeching tires and a car slammed into a wall that probably would have killed me and I was pretty shaken up after seeing this and accessing what had happened. Now what had happened was an accident caused by a drunk driver; but immediately the question arose of why all these circumstances came together and what made me change direction or I would not be typing this. One might ask is that synchronistic?; well maybe or maybe not. But the experience made a profound impression on me that my life might be determined by some mystery force and I should be aware that this mystery was always close by ready to intervene whether I was paying attention or not; for after all is not the possibility of walking out in front of something and not seeing always a possibility?; well of course just as an earthquake or lightning striking or any other phenomena occurring that; but we go on about our business just the same; yet still aware we are not always in control.
So back to how we become aware of how this mystery dimension affects our lives; and steps in at the most unexpected moment to get our attention. Throughout a good part of my life many of my choices have been influenced by this awareness that following my intuition was what I was suppose to be doing; and I think for many of us it’s a guiding force that is directed from inside our consciousness be we are not always aware of it’s presence; and Joseph talks about this mystery dimension over and over again; but in different ways; and one of these ways is what we might call a Life Track; aka “following your bliss”; that is if it’s something that’s pushing you for your own inside or what you might call your sense of existence which he talks about in his conferences he would have with his students at Sarah Lawrence.
And to answer your question Shaaheda so many of my sychronistic experiences have been related to this dynamic but I was completely unaware that these experiences were connected to this idea.
It would take way too long reconstruct completely how all these pieces of a puzzle were interconnected to where I am now; (but they most certainly were); but I can tell you a short example. Many years ago when I first started playing I ran into someone one night I had briefly met a year or two earlier that was a recording artist and he had moved away but was in town to play a concert the next night and was looking to jam with somebody for some fun. I had already finished my evenings performance and had packed up but I knew the band across the street and told to wait and I would try and set things up. Well; it was a fortuitous moment and everything fell into place and I pulled out my equipment and joined in and everyone had a great time. So when we were all about to leave he asked if I would be interested in coming to play a few songs at his performance the next night and I did. Well; just as I was about to leave he asked if I would be interested in finishing his album tour and I said of course. Here is where it starts to get interesting; he said to wait by the phone and he would call because he had to clear it with his manager. So all the next I waited and that night I decided to go out for a bit but I asked my roommate to watch the phone and take the message and number to call him back. when I returned there was no message on my door and his lights were out so I went to bed. The next morning my roommate rushed in with the call back number at his hotel and of course they had just left with no forwarding number to reach him by. Well that’s the end of that I thought and forgot all about it because there was nothing I could do anyway. Well one fine day months later around Happy Hour I decided to stop in this same place we had jammed in for a beer and someone bumped into me from behind and low and behold it was this same fellow. We both had a good laugh when I explained what had happened and he again made me the touring offer which I accepted and I toured with him for 3 different albums over the course of three years before we went our separate ways. This work was very important in that moment of my musical career for it raised my status as a sideman to a whole other level. and during this time I met another by-chance encounter that led to even more touring work. So I’m going to end the story here because it’s relevance is concerned with synchronistic possibility about which you asked.
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(I’m going to add a footnote concerning the above story that underlines the significance of “meaningful chance” to this encounter that I meant to mention but I accidentally left out. The fellow that I ran into was only in town for “one day” to pickup his belongings from the place he had formally been living just outside of town. And the odds that he and I would bump into each other at that particular moment were literally as the saying goes: “a million to one”. I’ve thought about this often over the years and Joseph’s saying that: “if you follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been waiting for you all along; and people will open doors to you and the life you are living is the life you ought to be living and you can see that.” I would also add an important caveat that “bliss does not necessarily mean: “happy, happy, joy, joy all the time” but can also include great suffering for it represents as Joseph also said: “the push out of your own existance”; and this understanding represents if followed the metamorphasis out of which your life path comes to realization. Only now am I coming to realize the depth of this understanding which I will attempt to explain below.)
____________________________________________________________________________(The bottom two excerpts were taken from a couple of exchanges I had at the: “Friends of Central State Hospital Cemetary” Facebook website out of which a forthcoming book is being published in the coming weeks ahead.) This website was put together in efforts to raise some kind of effort at restoring the 1700 grave stones that have been removed; so that all one sees is an open field as though these people never even existed. And what prompted these exchanges was what I would definitely call: “syncronistic experiences of connection” because of their relation to my past as you will see.)
Decenber 30th, 2019
About a week or so ago I was watching the evening news covering a gathering commemorating the passing of the homeless who had died on the street. No one knew who they were; no family or friends to mourn them. And one woman being interviewed; with tears in her eyes defiantly said:
“Everyone deserves to be remembered. And although I didn’t know them; I am here on their behalf to remember them.”
This city has a long history with cemeteries located all over town where family members are laid to rest that bear reverence to those who died. Military as well as civilians have special designated cemeteries that honor the memories of those who were either killed in battle or have passed on. We even hold special memorial services with parades commemorating public military events where their lives are celebrated. Yet the most vulnerable among us whose only crime was they were sick from a mental disorder are ignored and forgotten as though they never even existed. Every life has value; every life has meaning; and the way we treat those that are helpless as individuals is a reflection of who we are as a society.
Our stories are our legacy that we leave behind that says: “We were here; this is who we were”; their stories are important too and worthy of the same respect.First off; I want to say I how much I admire what you are doing; words like: empathy and compassion immediately come to mind; but I have a personal connection to this place that bears a special meaning for me; one that is not easy to talk about; one that holds a story very difficult to tell. I’ve been reluctant about sharing it since it involves a connection to a piece I think is very important to the history of this place; but may cause distress to some who have memories of it.
My mother was a patient off and on here for many years throughout my entire early life. And the treatment she got was sometimes very inadequate; over medication; lack of proper diagnostic care; even shock treatments. Over the years as she was admitted in and out for treatment. At one point she lost all hope; and quietly one morning slipped out the gate; took the bus downtown and went to the tallest office window she could find and ended her life. She is not buried in the hospital cemetery; but in her family’s plot.
But what I’m about to share takes this situation much deeper and involves one of the most important mental health scandals in the city’s history; and telling it may cause pain to those whose loved ones are buried there. If you find it unsuitable for what you are doing with this site; I will certainly understand a request to remove it.
About 2 years after she died the Tennessean newspaper decided to do an undercover expose’ on the unacceptable conditions that existed there. They had a young reporter named: “Frank Sutherland”; (who years later became the paper’s editor); trained to be a patient suffering from deep depression with suicidal tendencies; and under an assumed name was admitted where he stayed for a month while in touch with the paper. When he released himself; (again walking out that same front gate); he wrote about 18 articles documenting his experiences.
Those articles exploded across the front page causing the most profound uproar the city had ever experienced concerning mental health treatment. State and local legislative measures were immediately proposed and he covered the results of those efforts as they evolved. From January through February on into March the stories ran and public concern and outrage changed the public’s perception of what mental health treatment had been and what it should be.
About 1980 President Ronald Reagan signed the new Omnibus budget: (the beginning of what came later to be referred to as: “Reaganomics”; and the Federal Funding for large institutions like Central State were drastically cut back causing many of the places similar to this across the country to close down. Thousands of patients were left to survive on their own; many of them: “Vietnam Veterans”. A new word began to enter our vocabulary: “Homelessness”. I remember seeing some of these people for years sleeping on park benches and begging for food.
Central State became: “Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute”; and closed in 1995; and there were other similar institutions across the city that suffered from these cutbacks as well.
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Over the years it was always difficult for me to revisit thoughts of this place; and since each person’s story is different; mine was hard to process because of the personal trauma involved. I came by the front gate and took a couple of pictures of it in 1992 when it was still in existence as the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute; but when I came back recently to take a few more current shots I was staggered by what I saw; nothing left; nothing of what was once there; it was though it never existed. I was stunned; I drove into the Dell complex and could not believe what I was looking at. The Central State complex had been like a small city that was almost completely self-contained; a little world unto itself.
When I would go to see my mother we would walk around the grounds and she would describe some of the things that were there. When she would come home for a visit there was always the sad moment when we had to take her back. She had periods where she was well enough to go back to work and raise her family; but always the deep debilitating Depression would return and she would have to go back for treatment; (which was not very successful); read the expose’ included earlier for insights into why this was the case for so many people who were treated there).
Seeing the entry gate house again all nicely manicured instead of the natural foliage that previously enclosed it; only underlined the starkness of the total transformation that had taken place. And except for the new historical placard recently put next to it; you had no way of knowing when looking at it; what had previously existed there before.
She was usually housed in the newer Hauk building instead of the much older ones in the surrounding campus; but when visiting you could not help but notice the large number of people who were in residence crisscrossing each other with their families on visiting days. It was a huge place in constant movement; but one you were glad to leave when returning home; (hopefully with your loved one).
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Over the years experiences that I had were directly linked to another place where I myself had lived for 5 and a half years that also had a huge connection to my mothers placement in the above institution and her later tragic death which put me on this road that I will try and explain which is why it has taken me so long to assemble a response to the above topic of “synchronistic meaningful chance”; for it was these experiences that told me I was following my own “Bliss Journey” but that I did not know what was pushing me from inside at the time. And it is only recently when I visited this former place and saw it completely demolished that I came to understand the realtionship of what I experienced there along with my mother’s death that I was able to assemble all the various pieces of this life puzzle into a comprehensible and explainable whole. (It’s still ragged but it will have to do for now.)
Mother’s Day has always been a particularly difficult time for me to celebrate because her suicide had been on May Day and of course Mother’s Day follows in close succession. And when my mother passed because we were so close I usually tried to block all this past history out.
Well; after getting more familiar with Joseph’s and Jung’s themes over time I began to realize these things you repress will begin to resurface and demand attention and all of your powerful earlier experiences will need to be assimilated in a different way and in some way re-introducted and “integrated” from their earlier repressed state or they will continue to manifest into a more darker aspect of the shadow.
One of the things that keeps coming back to me is where Joseph mentions along this line in my own words is this realization of: (that which you embrace will inform you and enrich you; but that which you deny will destroy you. And this embrace of the shadow; or your dragon if you will; takes on a difference tone of which instead of threatening you will show you in some kind of way how your difficulties may actually be your saviors in a different way.) And over time I have been able to come to terms with many of these experiences and understand that without them I would not been able to become the person I am now. We are not talking about perfection and enlightenment in the way of a sage; but that if we are able to recognize and assililate our shadow’s dark experiences a change begins to take place within the psyche that brings the “senex/crone” archetype into play; and the path you are on is not one of accomplishment; but of “meaning” which is the “marga path”; or that of the animal path that is followed back to it’s den which represents the human heart.
So in essence it is only now that I’m coming to realize that all of those earlier experiences were part of a larger mosiaic that brought me to where I am now.
(I will stop here for now since this entry could become much larger and is already becoming quite unwieldly. Hopefully it makes some kind of sense in relation to the above discussion we are having about: “Synchronicity and Meaning”. Sorry this took so long; it’s the best I can do for now.)
Drewie; so glad to see you joining this discussion with your own vision of this very unwieldy topic of “synchronicity” that always seems to stirs up healthy debate whenever and wherever it comes up concerning Jung’s ideas. Joseph has probably done more to add some credibility to these ideas I would suspect than anyone. And indeed his phrase: “Follow your Bliss” has a direct connection to this subject; at least for some of us who have been so deeply influenced by his work. So let’s stop for a moment and add a quote from: “Darryl Sharp’s Lexicon”; one of the most trusted sources that Jungians refer to for concise definition:
________________________________________________________________________________Synchronicity. A phenomenon where an event in the outside world coincides meaningfully with a psychological state of mind.
Synchronicity . . . consists of two factors: a) An unconscious image comes into consciousness either directly (i.e., literally) or indirectly (symbolized or suggested) in the form of a dream, idea, or premonition. b) An objective situation coincides with this content. The one is as puzzling as the other.[“Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle,” ibid., par. 858.]
Jung associated synchronistic experiences with the relativity of space and time and a degree of unconsciousness.
The very diverse and confusing aspects of these phenomena are, so far as I can see at present, completely explicable on the assumption of a psychically relative space-time continuum. As soon as a psychic content crosses the threshold of consciousness, the synchronistic marginal phenomena disappear, time and space resume their accustomed sway, and consciousness is once more isolated in its subjectivity. . . . Conversely, synchronistic phenomena can be evoked by putting the subject into an unconscious state.[On the Nature of the Psyche,” CW 8, par. 440.]Synchronicity was defined by Jung as an “acausal connecting principle,” an essentially mysterious connection between the personal psyche and the material world, based on the fact that at bottom they are only different forms of energy.
It is not only possible but fairly probable, even, that psyche and matter are two different aspects of one and the same thing. The synchronicity phenomena point, it seems to me, in this direction, for they show that the nonpsychic can behave like the psychic, and vice versa, without there being any causal connection between them.[Ibid., par. 418.]_________________________________________________________________________________
I think one of the most difficult ideas to contend with in most discussions about this idea is: “what directs this phenomena?” Then there comes the second part of this idea of: “why did this occur to me?” Now we get to interpretation of “what it means” which is extremely subjective and personal so we look at symbolism as a reference point. For most people; at least in the west I think is this notion that “Fate” has this mysterious connection to the “other” world; which world this belongs to can start a whole other heated debate inhabited by clerics and scholars alike because each has their own version. And what controls how this influence makes it’s appearance in one’s life is always at the center even up to today with science becoming a big part of the debate. So you have this notion of “God” as the controller of everything and all these versions of what God is, and what costume he or she wears, and whether this deity is real or not; and then there is this idea that things may happen because of this Deity’s desire to communicate it’s wishes in some kind of mysterious way that may have to do with one’s Fate or Destiny. And as you made reference to in your reply here is a quick definition combining the two terms I pulled off Google from Merriam Webster’s Dictionary that may help keep us on track:
“Fate and destiny are both words dealing with a predetermined or destined future. … However, while fate is concrete and determined by the cosmos, destiny depends on your choices in life.”
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Now if anyone wants to start an argument with a cleric about whether God actually exists or who is in control of the individual’s fate or destiny then this is a perfect place to start. But Jung looked at this differently; and 2 of his closest friends just happen to be Heinrich Zimmer and Richard Wilhelm who were two of the world’s most highly respected authorities on Eastern religions. Joseph has stated that he considered Zimmer one of his most important influences in his thinking and along with Jung’s influence all this played very heavily into Joseph’s interpretation of myths and symbols so that all these different themes about God and religion and symbols and the individual sense of their own life and brought him to the idea that it is within the individual psyche out which many of these manifestations occur; but may or may not be aware it. But like the idea of this debate between science and God these are not really something explainable in the same sense that the mystic or the cleric or the scientist might be able to provide. So to add to the discussion about this phenomena of “meaningful chance” I’m going to add a short clip from Joseph’s lecture series where he makes the distinctions between where some of these misconceptions may reside. This does not address synchronicity per say; but it will help to add some extra clarity to the role symbols and religion concerning fate and the individual may lie which returns back to your original reference.
Okay I have a small disclaimer to add to this post before going any further. This will be a “collaborative effort” between me and Marianne and should be considered: “a work in progress” so to speak because some editing on my part may be required before it’s completed. Marianne and I have been in collusion about setting up her part II and my role I feel is to “compliment” her thoughts on this; and our separate experiences concerning synchronicity may be quite different; so here goes.
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In discussion earlier she asked me to post part of a conversation we were having which starts here:
“Also the Paranormal aspects surrounding Jung are something that definitely need to be brought out in more detail I think because this dimension is a major connection in many ways between Eastern and Western understandings regarding their ancient philosophies; especially in relationship to nature. Anyone who has been exposed to things like Tai Chi, medicine, acupuncture, to name but a few can immediately see this connection in a way far different than the west; and the idea of harmony is a major factor in how these things operate throughout these mindsets and how they interconnect with Chi and nature’s way. The Tarot and astrology provide similar mystical functions in regards to one’s interaction and their “Karma” as one work’s through various life situations to come to their fully balanced potential in another way concerning relationships and life course and what they may encounter. Divination is a huge overriding factor in one determining these how these outcomes will play out; both in the decisions they make and their interconnection with others. To me this is one of the dimensions Joseph is talking about when he mentions putting yourself on a kind of “Track” that takes you where your heart and mind want to go. (Can this be seen as part psychological; you betcha); but this is not my area of expertise except some of these things definitely played a role in certain parts of my own life when trying to chart my course through it; so to speak.”
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Now Marianne may see this quite differently and that is to be expected; but if I understand her thoughts concerning Joseph on this then the part about an individual’s life trajectory would play into my quote here:
“To me this is one of the dimensions Joseph is talking about when he mentions putting yourself on a kind of “Track” that takes you where your heart and mind want to go. (Can this be seen as part psychological; you betcha); but this is not my area of expertise except some of these things definitely played a role in certain parts of my own life when trying to chart my course through it; so to speak.”
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Now I’m going to let her speak for herself in the next part since this was what she requested that I add and it’s her voice I’m listening for; not mine.
So what does a myth have to do with me? It is this thing that comes up out of nowhere and grabs you from deep inside and points to something in your life that has meaning; something that tells you: “Thou Art That” and that you must respond. As Joseph often shared there are no set rules and no one can tell you what it’s going to be; you must learn to recognize it by; (as he put it): “Following your own Bliss”; and your bliss comes from the push out of your own existence. So what is this thing? Below are a few of Joseph’s quotes that have been shared elsewhere that may help to provide some clues.
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“So then, what are we really questing for? And here is the answer: It is the fulfillment of what is potential in ourselves, our true selves. It is not an ego trip. You are not your ego. You experience your ego. You are not your thoughts. You experience your thoughts. You are not your feelings. You experience your feelings. And you are not your body. You behold your body. This recognition awakens a heritage within us that exists before all these mythologies, religions and belief systems came into being and into our traditions. It’s an awakening of our own pre-ego, pre-Hindu, pre-Jewish, pre-Buddhist, pre-Muslim, pre-Christian hearts.
Joseph Campbell
The Eastern Way: Oriental Mythology (Joseph Campbell Audio Collection I.3.1)
___________________“A mythological order is a system of images that gives consciousness a sense of meaning in existence, which, my dear friend, has no meaning––it simply is. But the mind goes asking for meanings; it can’t play unless it knows (or makes up) the rules.
“Mythologies present games to play: how to make believe you’re doing thus and so. Ultimately, through the game, you experience that positive thing which is the experience of being-in-being, of living meaningfully. That’s the first function of a mythology, to evoke in the individual a sense of grateful affirmative awe before the monstrous mystery that is existence.”Joseph Campbell, (Pathways to Bliss, p. 6)
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This may be of interest since I just spotted a new clip posted yesterday from the Foundation’s YouTube library that addresses Shaaheda”s question of: “What a future myth be looking ahead into the future.
While Marianne is preparing the second part of her excellent set up to this extremely wide ranging topic on the relationship of synchronicity with meaning has with existence I going to take a bit of a detour and add: story, intuition, and mystical to the mix by recounting an experience I had a few years back that pulled me into the meaning of timelessness of existence. (Mouthful huh?)
By this I’m asking the reader to imagine looking back over their life to the people, things, and relationships they have had and within the context of a reunion of old friends considering what the impact of such a moment might have on them within the context of how they might view their own life. (Another mouthful; hmmm; what is he asking?)
So let’s for a moment consider “why” this idea of meaningful coincidence; this mystical: “by-chance-occurrence” that you encounter unexpectedly out of nowhere; that’s known at least in some instances as: “synchronicity” should happen to “you”. So now I’m going to share a story that rocked my world in a way I could never have imagined and still astonishes me.
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(From: “The Story” thread in the old retired CoaHO back in 2014.)
“When I left this discussion the other day I went to hangout with a group of old friends who have been getting together once a month to reminisce about our youth and kind of reconnect. It’s a small handful really; that meet at the same place where we all use to gather. And during that period 4 decades ago it came to kind of represent a symbol of the times for the city back-in-the-day; where once dozens of young people; then later sometimes even hundreds collected at the ” in place ” or ” hot-spot ” to be immersed within a festive atmosphere that provided the chance to seek adventure and life-possibilities. Many cities had a place like this; and yes there were drugs and the usual hair styles and clothing one associates with that era; but it served as more of a refuge and not the sort of wild ” bacchanal ” that was the impression given by the media for hippie groups of the time; And we were a rather free-spirited and rebellious bunch that were exploring the social boundaries of a conservative straight-laced community that wanted things kept as they were. Social change was in the air; and ” the times they were a-changing ” as the saying from one of Bob Dylan’s songs went. And what’s interesting about this gathering now that we are starting to evolve into the ” Autumn of our lives ” is that it provides a kind of long-range retrospect for us that gives one a sense of how the life-choices that you made worked out; not only for you but your friends as well. The first one of these events that started this regular get together had a very ( mystical ) moment as you will see for at it’s conclusion it was almost as if there was an otherworldly presence involved.
Our gathering took place at a replica of the Greek Parthenon on the steps where we use to rendezvous and it was during a ” cultural arts festival ” this happened. And we were there surrounded by thousands of other folks in the park; ( complete with bands and booths that had absolutely nothing to do with us ); while trying to navigate to our little spot to meet and recognize each other; now sporting greying hair and all the attributes that age bestows with meds and walkers and bags of assorted foods and beverages to share. As the faces and stories began to connect and wipe away the mental cobwebs of confusion; the laughter and flow of conversation mixed old times with our new life realities and some of the former bonds began to restore themselves and the old sense of familiarity returned. The minutes became hours and the glow of the afternoon was all to soon about to pass when one of the group asked for a special moment to gather around at the other end of the steps which was our special spot. ( Then he told us his tale and what he wanted us to do ).
A lot had happened over the last 40 years and one of our friends had died. The story went that when he had passed his ashes had been given to this fellow since he wanted no burial and no real instructions for where his ashes were to be spread. They had been kept all these years in a drawer for safe keeping until the right time, place, and moment presented itself and he would know what to do. Of course none of us but our friend were aware of any of this and he said for some strange reason remembered ” The Urn ” as he was about to leave his house. So as we were gathering a small group of much younger folks; ( about the same age as we were back then had been watching and were intrigued by the incense and our makeshift ceremony we were in the midst of performing and very respectfully asked to join in. As we pause for a moment of silence and the poured ashes drifted into the wind you suddenly were overcome with this feeling that this was exactly what was suppose to happen and the way it would have been planned for it was one of his favorite places and we were all there to see him off. And as we talked about this we looked at our new young companions and explained who he was; for a short instant it felt as though perhaps he was there with us and had been honored and that a torch had been passed of youth’s promise of adventure.
I thought about the poignancy of that moment for days after that and the odds against it’s mystery ever happening. I don’t recall how we were told this fellow had died and we were not necessarily extra close friends; but everything seemed so right the way it had all unfolded being the ” Free Spirit ” that he was. And although the times were so very different back then and so much has happened over the years I like to think that each of us in our own way have lived much of the promise of our moments there and found our way through our lives; though who can really say otherwise since our stories are not yet finished.
So to close my story there is one last thing I am reminded of when looking over my life that Joseph Campbell’s work has helped me try and come to know. Joseph mentions that the authorship that composes one’s life comes out of their own intent; and Carl Jung tells us that through the various life stages we tend to look at things from an ever-evolving point-of-view. And as Clemsy suggests: ” We are who we are at the moment we engage “. But as Cindy’s work with Jung has helped me to see; it is the self’s journey toward ( wholeness ) that we are seeking; along with Joseph’s reminder: ” that it is the privilege of a lifetime to become and realize who you truly are “. We are all on that journey in one form or another I think; and to be surrounded by others of like mind is truly one of the best things that one could wish for.”
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Now I could go on and on about what this is suppose to mean concerning the nature of existence; but my point has to with “synchronicity” so I’ll just mention what blew me away was I was left with this question of: “why did this happen and why was I there to witness it?” All I can say is Joseph mentions that every now and then you may stumble upon this sense of “profound mystery” that myths are the vehicle of. I barely knew this fellow and had no prior knowledge this event was going to take place. But what it did impress upon me was the sense of asking myself: “What questions does this experience raise to me about the meaning of my own life in the grand scheme of things?; “What does this tell me about all these big questions that people ponder?” And when I think about things that happen out of nowhere; things that seem to tell me or ask me or pull me in a certain direction for some unknown or coincidental circumstance that seem to point in a certain direction this is what I come away with.
Now I’m still trying to locate another even better example of meaningful chance that had a huge impact on my life in a much more explainable way; and if I can find it I’ll post it later after someone else has had a chance to jump in on this topic. I think Shaaheda has something she is working on to contribute; and I know Marianne still has more to add on this as well.
Marianne; your setup was a great startup for this topic. Well done and looking forward to more!
Stephen; I’ve been wondering about something that has come up recently in another thread discussion and has crossed my radar several times concerning a Jungian concept called “synchronicity” which seems to me has relevance to one’s idea of their “Bliss Path” because it has to do with as Joseph put it: “the push out of your own existence”. And since dreams are so closely connected to the psyche’s expression of itself then I would think that anything that has to with this synchronistic idea of: “meaningful coincidence” there might be some sort of inner connection of dream interplay that also serves this inner dynamic. In other words the choices and engagements one makes in their life are not only symbolically represented in our dreams so it is that synchronistic symbols and images are also expressed within this dream inner-world we experience every night where this path we are following presents to us; or put another way our dream ego; that which we are constantly working through while seeking what’s meaningful in our lives that our psyche is attempting to either attain or resolve.
(I hope this is making sense) because if synchronicity represents meaningful chance or coincidences then I would think this includes; as Bill Moyers put it; being helped by “hidden hands” as we follow this internal bliss instinct that’s driving us. So in fine since we are always “a work in progress”; so to speak; whether awake or asleep; we are constantly having these moments or flashes of insights we are on this path we are following and our dreams are letting us know through this internal dialogue what the psyche’s response to this is. (Like I said I hope what I’m asking is coherent enough to make sense in what you have found within your own experience; or something close to it.)
