I felt the tectonic plates shifting from Rosie’s [retirement] announcement and fell through the crack into a pitch black mindset. I very quickly realized that I have options. I started with the question “What is my practice?”
I made this note
Path
Primary: Bodhisattva Path
Secondary: Individuation (Jungian)
Background: Gebser’s Integral
Background: The great way of no path after the local path
I picked up the book I’m reading for the second time, by a British Tibetan Buddhist who is also a Jumgian therapist, Rob Preece, The Wisdom of Imperfection. This is where my bookmark was:
“Traditionally, the qualities of the bodhisattva develop through the practice of what are known as the six perfections—of generosity, patience, morality, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom.
To understand the bodhisattva’s path as a psychological journey of individuation, one may see it as having much in common with aspects of the heroic quest. The bodhisattva may be seen as the awakening warrior but, within the psychological journey, can equally embody aspects of the wanderer, the servant, and the magician or alchemist—figures that symbolize stages one may pass through on the heroic quest.”
I left the pitch black mindset behind. Continued “forging the uncreated conscience of my race” (Joyce).
Added 10/27/21 – More from Preece’s book.
Individuation as a process of self-actualization is at the heart of the path of the bodhisattva, one who dedicates his or her life to attaining buddhahood for the welfare of all sentient beings. Although not couched in terms of individuation, Buddhist understanding offers a path of practice that profoundly supports this process.
Placing the bodhisattva’s path alongside the Western psychological understanding of individuation enables us to make valuable connections that inform both approaches.
Working toward a shared planetary consciousness that heals the Earth