Rod, it's quite a synchronicity that I started working on a piece today, which is based on Carl Jung's work and examines the psychological significance of the heart and how it is the centre of individuation.
He writes:
" Mr. Dell: Is the process you describe the beginning of individuation in psychological terms?
Dr. Jung: Yes. It is the withdrawal from the emotions; you are no longer identical with them. If you succeed in remembering yourself, if you succeed in making a difference between yourself and that outburst of passion, then you discover the self; you begin to individuate. So in the heart, individuation begins. But here again you are likely to get an inflation. Individuation is not that you become an ego—you would then become an individualist. You know, an individualist is a man who did not succeed in individuating; he is a philosophically distilled egotist. Individuation is becoming that thing which is not the ego, and that is very strange. Therefore nobody understands what the self is, because the self is just the thing which you are not, which is not the ego. The ego discovers itself as being a mere appendix of the self in a sort of loose connection...
... The self is something exceedingly impersonal, exceedingly objective. If you function in your self you are not yourself—that is what you feel. You have to do it as if you were a stranger: you will buy as if you did not buy; you will sell as if you did not sell. Or, as St. Paul expresses it, “But it is not I that lives, it is Christ that liveth in me,” meaning that his life had become an objective life, not his own life but the life of a greater one. "
I can very much relate to your experience of receiving God's love directly into your heart, not just metaphorically, but quite literally, in terms of location within the body. This is a crucial step in individuation and self-realisation, a very hard one to take and I'm glad you were given this experience through divine Grace.
That's a very important distinction between the ego and the self. Sometimes I like to go with the Vedantic term atman in place of "self", because it isn't obvious in common parlance how or why the self would be different from the ego, which is what is commonly imagined to be one's "self". But people know what ego means and that it isn't good; and the atman would be like the objective image of God, the Christ who lives in St. Paul when he no longer lives in himself. So ego vs. atman—I favor that lingo.
Well, it's interesting, because Atman is an Indo-European word, the same as German "atmen" or Greek "atmos", with the original meaning of "breath", which was also used to describe the life force. So Atman is basically that, which breathes, in the sense, that it absorbs and transforms the universal life force. The implication here, is that it is part of the greater whole (Brahman), but an individuated portion of it, which acts on its own. So, from the Christian perspective, I suppose you could say it is that individuated portion of God (the Christ) which dwells in us, specifically in our hearts.
Well, also recall that "breath" describes not just life force, but spirit: a "pneumatic" is a person of the spirit, the Holy Spirit blows around like the wind (John 3:8), and so on. "Life force" per se could have vitalist and non-spiritual connotations—mere bios rather than zoe.
I disagree with the most forms of Vedanta, though, in their equation of atman with Brahman: for Christian theosis involves absorbing the energies of God and becoming more like Him, but never becoming absorbed or dissolved into Him or otherwise identical to Him. It's not like a wave crashing back into the ocean; the individual atman has its own ontological reality. And moreover, every person has their own atman, which is not identical to the others, even as they all harmoniously resemble each other in each being an image of Brahman (and that's sort of how I understand the communion of saints).
Also, yes, that center is definitely in the heart—and I am fascinated by the fact that the ancient symbol for the heart chakra is identical to the Seal of Solomon (or the Shield of David). You might enjoy a small book by Sri Aurobindo called *The Psychic Being*—a rather unfortunate name he gave, I think, to the thing that's under consideration here. I find his metaphysics excessively convoluted, but that pamphlet is good from what I remember.
Ah, another way to think of it: We are like old fashioned, square televisions, and what we often think of as our selves, or rather, our individual "self" is actually just the screen, what shows, what is obvious to us, but behind it all is the very large machinery/background, that which is sometimes obvious to others but not always, and is often hidden from our own self.
So the screen here would be the "ego", not the Jungian self or atman. And the complex machinery would be the vast psyche with the unconscious and archetypes and all. And defense mechanisms and lack of psychic integration and the rest may block us from understanding what's going on in there, even as it could be rather evident to perceptive others. But then behind it all and at the center of it all is the actual self, which is both the true individual core of spirit and also utterly impersonal from the standpoint of the ego. To the ego, the atman appears as a radical Other, as is clear in St. Paul's declaration that it is no longer the "I" (ego) but the spirit of Christ (atman) that lives in him. It also makes me think of St. John the Forerunner saying that he must decrease so that Christ may increase: the humility of the ego is the necessary condition for the glory of the atman.
"Why did it require the ministry of a pastor to effect deliverance? Why wasn’t the prayer of the afflicted sufficient?"
As a trad-leaning Catholic it makes sense to me that there may be occasions where individual prayer does not clear out bad things or spiritual issues. Christ established His Church through the Apostles for a reason; we are to have recourse to the means He has made available through it. St Paul describes believers being incorporated into a mystical body; we aren't supposed to go it alone. Episodes like Rod points out illustrate that.
People ask why doesn't God prevent bad things. Often we've been given the means to resolve (or bear) a lot of them - if only we know where to look. This is true in both the natural and supernatural realms.
Agreed! St. James' instruction comes to mind, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven".
I think part of the importance in this is the humility expressed in that act of confessing your struggle/weakness/illness etc. and asking for help; "I can't do this on my own!"
Remember, Rod, that this is the week of the Tennessee-Alabama game, so "Roll Tide" in our household is hate speech. While I stand firm against the efforts of Democratic Party progressives to try to criminalize what they classify as "hate speech," I am quite willing to make an exception for "Roll Tide." There are some things that just should not be.
Ephesians 6 sums it up. We withstand the demonic by putting on the armor of Truth, righteousness, readiness from the gospel, faith, and salvation. We fight with our sword which is the Word of God with constant prayer.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”
I have a habit of reading too many books at once. When this one arrives, I’m putting down the several I’m working through right now. I’m excited for this book like I am a new album. That’s never happened before.
When you asked "why does God allow this", I would suggest the answer is that of Christ when asked about the man born blind from birth, that the works of God can be seen.
Without our struggles, we wouldn't grow in faith devotion and understanding, at least to the extent we can by turning to Our Lord in times of pain suffering.
And your sharing this story is also about how God's peace does not come instantly, but often over time and in His time and after we change and grow and exercise our faith.
May God grant you continued peace and joy and enlightenment. May He keep you free of evil forces in the world.
I thank you Rod. I relate to this post today and want you to know what an encouragement you’ve been. Thank you very much. I will forward this post to one of my elders. I pray my church can take spiritual warfare more seriously. I also will ponder on spiritual oppression in my own walk.
Safe travels, Rod. Thank you for this to start my day. And I am looking forward to my autographed copy more than I can express.
Rod, thank you for sharing that wonderful story—may that peace be lasting. Can’t wait to read the book—safe travels to you, to and from Birmingham!
No wild or provocative comments from me today Rod; I am glad you wanted to share your experience with us! May God be with you today.
Rod, it's quite a synchronicity that I started working on a piece today, which is based on Carl Jung's work and examines the psychological significance of the heart and how it is the centre of individuation.
He writes:
" Mr. Dell: Is the process you describe the beginning of individuation in psychological terms?
Dr. Jung: Yes. It is the withdrawal from the emotions; you are no longer identical with them. If you succeed in remembering yourself, if you succeed in making a difference between yourself and that outburst of passion, then you discover the self; you begin to individuate. So in the heart, individuation begins. But here again you are likely to get an inflation. Individuation is not that you become an ego—you would then become an individualist. You know, an individualist is a man who did not succeed in individuating; he is a philosophically distilled egotist. Individuation is becoming that thing which is not the ego, and that is very strange. Therefore nobody understands what the self is, because the self is just the thing which you are not, which is not the ego. The ego discovers itself as being a mere appendix of the self in a sort of loose connection...
... The self is something exceedingly impersonal, exceedingly objective. If you function in your self you are not yourself—that is what you feel. You have to do it as if you were a stranger: you will buy as if you did not buy; you will sell as if you did not sell. Or, as St. Paul expresses it, “But it is not I that lives, it is Christ that liveth in me,” meaning that his life had become an objective life, not his own life but the life of a greater one. "
I can very much relate to your experience of receiving God's love directly into your heart, not just metaphorically, but quite literally, in terms of location within the body. This is a crucial step in individuation and self-realisation, a very hard one to take and I'm glad you were given this experience through divine Grace.
That's a very important distinction between the ego and the self. Sometimes I like to go with the Vedantic term atman in place of "self", because it isn't obvious in common parlance how or why the self would be different from the ego, which is what is commonly imagined to be one's "self". But people know what ego means and that it isn't good; and the atman would be like the objective image of God, the Christ who lives in St. Paul when he no longer lives in himself. So ego vs. atman—I favor that lingo.
Well, it's interesting, because Atman is an Indo-European word, the same as German "atmen" or Greek "atmos", with the original meaning of "breath", which was also used to describe the life force. So Atman is basically that, which breathes, in the sense, that it absorbs and transforms the universal life force. The implication here, is that it is part of the greater whole (Brahman), but an individuated portion of it, which acts on its own. So, from the Christian perspective, I suppose you could say it is that individuated portion of God (the Christ) which dwells in us, specifically in our hearts.
Well, also recall that "breath" describes not just life force, but spirit: a "pneumatic" is a person of the spirit, the Holy Spirit blows around like the wind (John 3:8), and so on. "Life force" per se could have vitalist and non-spiritual connotations—mere bios rather than zoe.
I disagree with the most forms of Vedanta, though, in their equation of atman with Brahman: for Christian theosis involves absorbing the energies of God and becoming more like Him, but never becoming absorbed or dissolved into Him or otherwise identical to Him. It's not like a wave crashing back into the ocean; the individual atman has its own ontological reality. And moreover, every person has their own atman, which is not identical to the others, even as they all harmoniously resemble each other in each being an image of Brahman (and that's sort of how I understand the communion of saints).
Also, yes, that center is definitely in the heart—and I am fascinated by the fact that the ancient symbol for the heart chakra is identical to the Seal of Solomon (or the Shield of David). You might enjoy a small book by Sri Aurobindo called *The Psychic Being*—a rather unfortunate name he gave, I think, to the thing that's under consideration here. I find his metaphysics excessively convoluted, but that pamphlet is good from what I remember.
Ah, another way to think of it: We are like old fashioned, square televisions, and what we often think of as our selves, or rather, our individual "self" is actually just the screen, what shows, what is obvious to us, but behind it all is the very large machinery/background, that which is sometimes obvious to others but not always, and is often hidden from our own self.
So the screen here would be the "ego", not the Jungian self or atman. And the complex machinery would be the vast psyche with the unconscious and archetypes and all. And defense mechanisms and lack of psychic integration and the rest may block us from understanding what's going on in there, even as it could be rather evident to perceptive others. But then behind it all and at the center of it all is the actual self, which is both the true individual core of spirit and also utterly impersonal from the standpoint of the ego. To the ego, the atman appears as a radical Other, as is clear in St. Paul's declaration that it is no longer the "I" (ego) but the spirit of Christ (atman) that lives in him. It also makes me think of St. John the Forerunner saying that he must decrease so that Christ may increase: the humility of the ego is the necessary condition for the glory of the atman.
'Atta boy.
"Why did it require the ministry of a pastor to effect deliverance? Why wasn’t the prayer of the afflicted sufficient?"
As a trad-leaning Catholic it makes sense to me that there may be occasions where individual prayer does not clear out bad things or spiritual issues. Christ established His Church through the Apostles for a reason; we are to have recourse to the means He has made available through it. St Paul describes believers being incorporated into a mystical body; we aren't supposed to go it alone. Episodes like Rod points out illustrate that.
People ask why doesn't God prevent bad things. Often we've been given the means to resolve (or bear) a lot of them - if only we know where to look. This is true in both the natural and supernatural realms.
Agreed! St. James' instruction comes to mind, "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven".
I think part of the importance in this is the humility expressed in that act of confessing your struggle/weakness/illness etc. and asking for help; "I can't do this on my own!"
Yes, humility is important. I suspect pride cuts short some blessings.
The verse you quote is the primary Scriptural warrant for the Catholic Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.
"People ask why doesn't God prevent bad things."
Some wise priest once said to me, "God wills, men do not."
God wills many good things, but men frequently work to defy God's will.
That was one helluva story. And also, I just ordered my copy!
I am rejoicing at your news, Rod!
Remember, Rod, that this is the week of the Tennessee-Alabama game, so "Roll Tide" in our household is hate speech. While I stand firm against the efforts of Democratic Party progressives to try to criminalize what they classify as "hate speech," I am quite willing to make an exception for "Roll Tide." There are some things that just should not be.
There's a joke here in Texas about how Alabama has the honor of having the only sports team in the country that's named after an, um, bodily function.
You are a wealth of knowledge. Thank heavens, I’m not a football fan.
Still mad about the hippos.
That's heartwarming to hear.
Be charitable. You're going to win.
Ephesians 6 sums it up. We withstand the demonic by putting on the armor of Truth, righteousness, readiness from the gospel, faith, and salvation. We fight with our sword which is the Word of God with constant prayer.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”
Amen!
Beautiful. Yes only the Lord can satisfy our needs. No one must take His place.
So thankful to hear how you’ve had healing.
Rod, John and I will be in Budapest November 30-Dec 3.
BTW .. so enjoying your book.
Laura Fairfield
I have a habit of reading too many books at once. When this one arrives, I’m putting down the several I’m working through right now. I’m excited for this book like I am a new album. That’s never happened before.
Safe travels. May you never forget that you are loved, and may that grace continue to protect you from evil.
This.
When you asked "why does God allow this", I would suggest the answer is that of Christ when asked about the man born blind from birth, that the works of God can be seen.
Without our struggles, we wouldn't grow in faith devotion and understanding, at least to the extent we can by turning to Our Lord in times of pain suffering.
And your sharing this story is also about how God's peace does not come instantly, but often over time and in His time and after we change and grow and exercise our faith.
May God grant you continued peace and joy and enlightenment. May He keep you free of evil forces in the world.
Praise God for what he did for you!
I thank you Rod. I relate to this post today and want you to know what an encouragement you’ve been. Thank you very much. I will forward this post to one of my elders. I pray my church can take spiritual warfare more seriously. I also will ponder on spiritual oppression in my own walk.