Abstract
Within the field of psychology of religion, depth psychology has been commonly adopted to interpret and often reduce mystical experience to psychodynamics. This paper takes a different approach by exploring how two contemporary American mystical teachers—Judith Blackstone’s Realization Process and Hameed Ali’s Diamond Approach—have respectively draw on the insights of depth psychology to aid in what they present as the embodiment of nondual realization. It focuses on two themes in particular: (i) the reframing of karmic obstructions such as vasanas, samskaras, and skandhas into the language of psychodynamic theory such as self-representations and object relations and (ii) the insertion of psychoanalytic narratives of individuation and relationality into nondual ontologies.
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Notes
- 1.
Interview with Judith Blackstone September 14, 2014.
- 2.
Ibid.
- 3.
Personal Correspondence with Dana Harrison, Director of Ridhwan School.
- 4.
A. H. Almaas. 2017. The Alchemy of Freedom: The Philosopher’s Stone and Secrets of Existence. Boston and London: Shambhala.
- 5.
Personal Correspondence with Dana Harrison, September 2, 2017.
- 6.
Undivided: An Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychotherapy. http://undividedjournal.com/about-the-journal/, accessed February 6, 2017.
- 7.
Personal Correspondence with Mauricio Benazzo, September 7, 2017.
- 8.
Terry Patten, “Beyond Awakening: The Future of Spiritual Practice,” Beyond Awakening. https://www.beyondawakeningseries.com, accessed February 6, 2017.
- 9.
Adyashanti and Francis Bennett, “A Conversation About Spiritual Integration and Embodiment,” March 26, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/events/787380351310029/?active_tab=discussion, accessed February 6, 2016.
- 10.
Personal correspondence with Judith Blackstone, September 2, 2017.
- 11.
“The Diamond Approach: Monthly News & Information”, February 2017 email.
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Gleig, A. (2018). Embodying Nonduality: Depth Psychology in American Mysticism. In: Cattoi, T., Odorisio, D. (eds) Depth Psychology and Mysticism. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Mysticism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-79096-1_7
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