Lectures, Workshops,
and Events
with Dr. Bud Harris

BECOMING WHOLE: LECTURE & WORKSHOP

LECTURE: (Word Version)

Becoming Whole as a Spiritual Necessity
A Jungian Guide for Renewing the Mystic Vision
A lecture presented by
Bud Harris, Ph.D.

          In his last great book, Mysterium Coniunctionis, Jung points out that it is the mystic vision that takes us out of religious decay.  The mystics carry the Soul force of religion.  They bear the mystery that can return creativity to religion and transform it into a spiritual quest that emanates from the ground of our being.  When the Soul force is lost, religious institutions rigidify, become fear-based and leave many of us feeling wounded and alienated.  Jung’s emphasis on the spiritual life as a journey toward wholeness heals these wounds, supports and guides personal spiritual development and offers a new vision for renewal to institutions.
          Renewing the mystic vision is more than an intellectual exercise.  It engages us fully in life and through growing self-knowledge softens and strengthens us while helping us to love life and other people.  This lecture will explain the importance of this Soul force, how we lost it and what happened to our religious institutions as a result of this loss.
          Jung’s process of becoming whole—the individuation process—becomes a spiritual necessity when we recognize its dynamic, creative emphasis on transformation, and that the spiritual quest is to become fully alive.
          Dr. Harris will explain how we are challenged individually to renew the Soul force in our lives, and how Jungian psychology offers us a modern path to renew this vision.  Individuation and the mystic vision emphasize that mind, body, and spirit are connected by the level of consciousness we grow into and growth is the path of love and individuation. 

WORKSHOP:  (Word Version)        

Becoming Whole as a Spiritual Necessity
A Jungian Guide to Renewing the Mystic Vision
A day-long workshop led by
Bud Harris, Ph.D.

          During this workshop we will explore some of the most important and specific exercises in the mystical journey and how in each stage of spiritual development Jungian psychology brings them into a focus that can change our lives.
          Each of us will be invited to respond personally and to discuss in small groups a series of questions or observations that mark the path of individuation and mysticism.  We will seek to amplify and understand the personal and collective forces that have molded our lives and created our scripts, and the ways we can free ourselves from these influences and allow the potentials we have formerly curtailed to flourish with new life and transform us.  The mystics call this process “awakening”, “purification”, and “illumination”.  Jungians call it the journey into individual consciousness.  We must learn that thinking about ourselves in a profound way is not only not selfish, it is the discipline that makes us a vessel for the expression of divine creativity.  To help us in this process, we will look into the lives of the mystics and their stories.
          The highest form of unity impels us to become fierce participants in life, following in the footsteps of people who have shaken the foundation of convention and  progressed far enough in their development of consciousness to realize their ego must be transformed from a position of “I want” to “I serve” the highest values of the Divine within themselves.
          Each participant should bring a pencil and paper in order to write down their reflections upon the discussion topics.  We will conclude by exploring how we can live our lives as authentically as the mystics lived theirs.