Hey everybody - yes we are late in creating this discussion group for Lecture 13. Sorry about that, I have been slammed with school work. And yes Linda, Janet's last post in Lecture 12 did address it. As I'm sure you all noticed it was a short lecture, due to technical difficulties while it was recorded. Half of it was a great recap of #12. This section is so dense it doesn't hurt to stay in the "madness" to allow it to revel itself for our own lives. We will post more before #14, but did want to get a new discussion group up.
But please don't hold back from posting, post now about #16 if it moves you!!
Chris
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Like time zones, the beginning and end of one of the Red Book Lectures depends on where you’re standing. So from here on, if Chris or I don’t get to post announcing the “new” lecture under discussion just jump in. If you’re like me, much of what you listen to is being processed inwardly and you may or may not have something to say.
Here’s my late response to the lotus. As a teacher of Chi Gong I often speak about being anchored in the earth and open to the heavens. This isn’t a rise above it philosophy or embodiment unembodiment), rather, a recognition of the human being as existing between heaven and earth. Curious that Jung is considered an optimist. Yet he’s called to emphasize the despicable and lowest in us over and over.
At the end of this technologically abbreviated lecture, I find the monotheism/polytheism contrast of interest. Robbie mentions Joseph Campbell’s reference to THE myth of our time. Robbie finds this a huge problem and says there are many, many, many myths of our time. He says we live in an increasingly multi ethnic world now—one single grand narrative becomes preposterous. But Jung is an earth 20th c. man looking for the single narrative, continuing the project of Nietzsche.
For me over personalizing the myths/gods/god whether one or many becomes the problem—I can have my imaginal preferences and comforts and then I must find a principle that underlies this personalizing. This is called World Mind in some philosophical traditions and I’m good with that.
A reminder: with each new lecture # you need to click on Follow: if you want to receive an email when there is a new post to the Red Book Forum.
Best to you all,
Janet
Good morning Ric - Wow! Breeches in the surface - exposure/eruptions from the deep! This is an interesting symbol/metaphor concerning the words of insanity - the pressure, the movement/flow and inevitable eruption of burning hot, on-fire words!
As I simply express this idea, I am curious about my own historic volcanic conversational moments. Regards Linda
Good morning All - thank you Ric for sharing a keen childhood observation/recall of the difference you noticed while playing in the sandbox, and listening to adult conversations - times when words sounded 'normal;' times when words (of madmen) sounded 'crazy.'
In my early adolescence (age 13), my Dad shared this pearl of wisdom with me: "if you remember nothing else from me, remember this - if your word doesn't mean anything, then, nothing else matters." Regards Linda
Hi All!
Ric, you have an amazing archive of pertinent symbols: ) this is soooo cool!
I just returned from Denmark, and serendipitously discovered a fellow Dane, Martinus Thomsen who lived and worked not far from me when I was a child. He became 'enlightened' at age 30, ( in 1920 ) and 'channeled' what he described as eternal world picture. I quote from the Marinus Institute:
"Martinus (1890-1981) has described in his works - collectively known as "The Third Testament" - a logical, cohesive world picture that shows that all living beings form part of a living universe and evolve continuously towards higher forms of life. The great upheavals and crises of our time are expressive of the downfall of a world culture and the birth of new, humane world society".
If anyone is interested, there appears to be some parallels with the material in the Red Book and the Martinus Cosmology. He drew and painted a series of images describing the universe.Particularly look at image 19 which seems to coincide with Jung's 3 pictures we looked at in lecture 12. You will have to go to the institute to look at the pictures.
www.martinus.dk
Wikipedia has information about Martinus, though he is describe there as a mystic, a term he objected to. He is apparently not well known in this country, and I would like to know if anyone in the alliance has any knowledge of, and, or comments about his work. Like Jung, he was a prolific writer and illustrator.
Britt