In preparing to teach a class on “Jung, Dreams and the Body” recently, I came across a quote from the Red Book that Jung had written during the exceedingly painful years following 1913 after the bitter break up with Freud. Jung expresses the terrible and desperate anguish he experienced to uncover his true being. Because he encountered pain verging on disgust, he clung to all that obstructed his way. Jung understood that he shared not only a personal but a universal dark struggle that we face in search of our true self. Jung says, “It is unclear how great one’s humility must be to take it upon oneself to live one’s own life. The disgust of whoever wants to enter into his own life can hardly be measured…Therefore I cling to everything that obstructs my way to myself.” The Red Book. p. 310.
I
am at an age where these struggles Jung represents have been an
intimate part of my own history and describes as well the fierce
necessity in which I teach these days and the passion in which I offer
this year’s training. What lies unexpressed in these somber, startling
words is the utter delight and play that erupts among us when we share
this common pursuit.
I so often observe how our defenses hide out in the body and must as well be named in the psyche. This upcoming training brings together techniques and information that have been taught as separate, incompatible disciplines as if body and psyche did not belong together. This training provides a unique encounter with ourselves and the dialogue we sustain to develop our individual skills and capacity to be present.
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