On Psychology and Epistemology

Jungian Psychology and Personal Correlations: Part 7

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
? November 1977
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff concludes this series by giving an account of two dreams that occurred prior to his Realizations of 1936. He states that he has not found the interpretation of these dreams from a Jungian perspective to be satisfactory and suggests an interpretation based primarily upon the psychology of Sri Aurobindo. He proceeds by making a distinction between the Jungian notion of the “anima” and the Aurobindian notion of the “psychic being” and offers a comparison between the character of Mephisto and that of the “Asura,” as he knows them from his own insight into their inner nature. Wolff provides an analysis of his second dream based on the assumptions that the young woman represents the psychic being, Mephisto represents the mental Asura, and the Sage represents the transcendental component, or what Aurobindo calls the “overhead Divine.” He compares the issue of this dream on the microcosmic level to the story of the fall of Lucifer on the macrocosmic level, and points out that the attempt on the part of the Asura to dominate the psychic being eventuated not in the destruction of the Asura but in its subordination as a vice-regal power under the governance of the transcendental component.

Transcript
Recording Duration
54 min
Sort Order
272.00

Jungian Psychology and Personal Correlations: Part 6

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
? November 1977
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series by offering a critique of the relationship between the mundane psychological order and the supermundane metaphysical order. He gives particular attention to an analysis of whether there is an external reality corresponding to the perceptual experience of our mundane psychical imagos and to the numinous imperience of our royal psychical imagos. Wolff goes on to discuss four positions taken in regard to this metaphysical question: solipsism, medical materialism, the universal illusionism of Shankara, and the universal realism of Aurobindo. He emphasizes that the supreme value is to be found within the transcendental component and encourages us to seek its Realization. Next, Wolff discusses the pejorative point of view taken by the medical materialist and the “nothing-but” psychologist, both of whom consider the value of religious experience to be determined by and nothing-but the physical and psychical states of the individual. He continues by addressing the question of how to judge the content of religious experience and suggests the figure of the caterpillar and the butterfly to represent what happens to an individual when he experiences the mystic or yogic breakthrough. He also suggests the figure of the horseshoe magnet to make a distinction between the psychology of the “earth” and the psychology of the “sky.” He again acknowledges that psychological problems of adjustment may need to be resolved for those making the ascent from the earth consciousness to the sky consciousness, but maintains that these problems can be resolved if not improperly handled by the ordinary psychologist. Wolff calls attention to the vow of Kwan-Yin and the Great Renunciation of the nirvanic Realization in order to help those still bound by earth consciousness, and concludes by stating that for those who have established their foundation in the sky, the image of consciousness rising as islands out of a sea of unconsciousness would no longer be valid; a better image would be that of relative earth consciousness nourished by the descending rain of superconscient Consciousness.

Transcript
Recording Duration
77 min
Sort Order
271.00

Jungian Psychology and Personal Correlations: Part 5

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
? October 1977
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series by considering the Jungian doctrine of wholeness and the subject of fourfoldness. He begins by raising questions about Robert Johnson’s conception that threefoldness is inadequate and incomplete; Wolff asserts that, on the contrary, it is preeminently stable and complete. He proceeds to a discussion of the principle of wholeness as developed by both Jung and Johnson, and notes that he accepts the conception of wholeness if it implies that each member of a pair of opposites has equal factuality, but that he rejects the conception if it entails an equal orientation to and acceptance of each member of a pair of opposites. Wolff goes on to contrast the orientation to wholeness as a therapeutic ideal with the orientation to virtue as a moral ideal, and he recounts his experience as a draftee in World War I as an example of the moral problem presented in trying to attain wholeness. He concedes that although we may all share in the collective guilt of humanity, one must not cultivate this negative side and, indeed, should only accept it if doing so is for the purpose of transformation. Wolff then refers to a psychiatrist who said that if given the chance he would have submitted Sir Isaac Newton to electric shock treatment, and he again addresses the question of wholeness by acknowledging that while psychological difficulties may arise when functioning on the mundane “crow” consciousness of well-rounded mediocrity, that is no reason to devalue the supermundane soaring “eagle” Consciousness. He continues to clarify the distinction between the psychological type characteristic of the intuitive psychologist and the thinking mathematician, and he suggests that a critique of the intuitive function would be helpful.

Transcript
Recording Duration
77 min
Sort Order
270.00

Jungian Psychology and Personal Correlations: Part 4

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
? October 1977
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series by introducing the third postulate of Jungian psychology concerning the notion of “archetypes.” He comments upon the nature of the “shadow,” the “anima” and “animus,” “Mephisto,” and the “Sage,” pointing out that archetypes were often projected as gods in classical civilization. Wolff offers a self-analysis of his experience with the psychological aspects symbolized by the Grail myth and emphasizes his orientation to thought and the way of the hermit as opposed to the interest in the girl and the competitive spirit. He goes on to give an account of his brief interest in Napoleon Bonaparte as his hero; but, he points out that this was replaced by an orientation to Sir Isaac Newton as carrying the image of the Sage. He states that in the field of competition the hero gains status by defeating his opponent, while in the field of thought, the accomplishments of the Sage do not imply the defeat of the other fellow. Wolff goes on to present more autobiographical material and to introduce another system of typology based upon three cues to understanding: the visual type, the auditory type, and the motor-verbal type. He discusses pure mathematics and the religious orientation, and the basic hostility between pure mathematics and the experimental psychology of the day. He continues his analysis of the psychological orientation with a critique of Jung’s intuitive formulation and his inability to comprehend and appreciate the importance of mathematics and the mathematically-oriented psychological type. Wolff asserts that the true meeting of East and West is a marriage of the Eastern orientation to the aesthetic component and the Western orientation to the theoretical component, and suggests that instead of Christ being the primary figure with respect to Western man, it really is Pythagoras. Wolff concludes this part of the series by referring to the work of Kant and by introducing his notion of introceptual cognition as a way of knowing metaphysical truth precluded by Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason.

Transcript
Recording Duration
74 min
Sort Order
269.00

Jungian Psychology and Personal Correlations: Part 3

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
? September 1977
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series by outlining the second postulate of Jungian psychology, which is Jung’s conception of psychological typology. Wolff describes the attitudes of extraversion and introversion, and defines the four primary functions of thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. He turns to the complexities of type psychology when other factors are taken into consideration, and then examines a few of the consequences entailed by psychological typology for politics, therapy, and diet. He goes on to summarize the typology developed by Dr. Sheldon, who developed temperamental types based upon physiological type; namely, the endomorphic, mesomorphic, and ectomorphic. Next, Wolff gives an account of Celtic and Germanic history and discusses the influence this historical development had on the formulation of the Grail myth and the masculine psychology of Western civilization in Europe and North America. He discusses the superposition of Christianity upon the barbaric peoples of Europe at that time and points out that this barbarism could only be transformed or redeemed by applying the principle of determination by force. He goes on to question the validity of the Grail myth for all psychological types, for those who are not of Celtic-Germanic descent, and for those not conditioned by the principle of determination by force. He then cites Aurobindo’s essay on Heraclitus in which it is pointed out that humanity is evolving beyond determination by the principle of force, through determination by the principle of reason, and toward determination by the principle of ananda.

Transcript
Recording Duration
60 min
Sort Order
268.00

Jungian Psychology and Personal Correlations: Part 2

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
? September 1977
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues this series by contrasting the seven states of consciousness referred to in Theosophical literature with the states of consciousness dealt with in depth psychology. He reaffirms his position that while psychology primarily deals with experience derived from dream states, yoga is concerned with imperience realized through some degree of trance state. He analyzes the nature of Brahman as “Consciousness without content,” or “consciousness of Consciousness,” and proceeds to describe the process whereby cognitive content is produced within this Pure Consciousness. Wolff then raises a question as to whether Jung uses the term ‘unconscious’ as a concept restricted to the domain of life or as a blanket term including all possibilities of consciousness. He asserts that those who are going the ascetic way aim to overcome the demands of life so that its various manifestations can become the instruments of the Divine. Wolff then raises a question regarding the adequacy of the conception of the “collective unconscious.” He gives an account of the Copernican shift in astronomy and the contribution of Kant in philosophy to suggest that in the field of psychology a corresponding shift is possible that changes our orientation from an experience of alternating consciousness and unconsciousness to a base of reference that abandons the conception of unconsciousness completely. He points out that from the perspective of the empirical man moving from plane to plane, the plane of consciousness just left seems unconscious; on the other hand, from the perspective of the “transcendental component,” all is Consciousness. He concludes this discussion by observing that from a transcendental perspective, all myths fail and mathematics takes their place.

Transcript
Recording Duration
46 min
Sort Order
267.00

Jungian Psychology and Personal Correlations: Part 1

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
5 September 1977
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff begins this series by commenting on Robert Johnson’s analysis of the Grail myth found in his book titled He. He continues by listing three fundamental postulates of Jungian psychology; namely, Jung’s conceptions of the personal and the collective unconscious, of psychological types, and of the archetypes of the collective unconscious. Wolff explores the meaning of the blanket term ‘unconscious’ as it is presented by Jung and gives an outline of the more highly differentiated states of consciousness described by Aurobindo. He then provides an explanation of the possible origins of dream experience and calls attention to an important distinction between “dream” and “actual” experience during sleep. He offers further clarification by stressing the value of trance in realizing the superconscient Light and the value of the dream for understanding the subconscient problems of life. He points out that the great teacher on the yogic path is not the dream, but rather, the discipline connected with trance that in some degree opens the door to superconscient states of Consciousness. Wolff then issues a warning against the use of drugs that seem to duplicate authentic yogic experience, and refers to Aurobindo’s conception of the “intermediate zone” to emphasize the dangers associated with the use of drugs that mimic or counterfeit authentic mystical experience.

Transcript
Recording Duration
47 min
Sort Order
266.00

On Certain Knowledge

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
12 July 1977
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff raises the possibility of certain knowledge in the dualistic world. In particular, he directs this question toward three forms of cognition: sensuous cognition, conceptual cognition, and introceptual cognition. He provides a critique of the scientific method, and points out that empirical science gives pragmatic truth, but not certainty. Wolff then relates several amusing anecdotes to demonstrate that the senses do not give certainty. He goes on to analyze the conceptual power of cognition and notes that even in mathematics our thinking is based on postulates or axioms that are not self-evident. He also notes that the foundation of mathematics includes a number of paradoxes. Wolff submits that the only certain knowledge is that knowledge which is awakened by introceptual cognition; however, he points out that there is an unavoidable error in transcribing this knowledge into sensuous or conceptual terms. Accordingly, he concludes that one must concede the possibility of error or failure in our knowledge, but nonetheless encourages us to dare to accept the challenge of the Great Adventure.

Transcript
Recording Duration
29 min
Sort Order
263.00

On Jung’s “Seven Sermons to the Dead”

Recording Location
Lone Pine, Calif.
Recording Date
2 December 1976
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff offers an evaluation of Jung’s “Seven Sermons to the Dead.” He considers these Sermons to be an account of the movement from dualistic consciousness to non-dualistic consciousness and suggests a philosophic interpretation of them based upon the Advaita Vedanta of Sri Shankaracharya, logic and mathematics, and his own Realizations. He formulates a criticism of the logical dichotomy and examines the moral implications of regarding the pairs of opposites as of “one sameness” in the non-dualistic state of consciousness. He affirms that although nothing can be said of the non-dualistic consciousness in dualistic terms, it nonetheless remains in the background of dualistic consciousness and may modify the course of thought and action in the dualistic world. Wolff proposes a clarification of Jung’s statement that sexuality is the opposite of spirituality and concludes this commentary by giving a possible symbolic meaning to the numbers one, two, and, three.

Transcript
Recording Duration
54 min
Sort Order
249.00

Cognition as Unconditioned by Perspective: Extemporaneous Comments

Recording Location
Phoenix, Ariz.
Recording Date
16 February 1976
Recording Information

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses the epistemological problem of trying to imagine or derive by analysis a Consciousness that is without a center. He asserts that we must distinguish between two orders of cognition; namely, that of the immediacy and factuality of sense perception and that of the syntactical element of conceptuality that is the basis of all relations including logic and the conception of law. He points out that one reason why there are those who cannot imagine a Consciousness without a center is that you cannot imagine that for which you have no immediate basis or referent. Wolff affirms that there is another order of immediacy, and he gives an account of the philosophic inquiry that led to his Realization of this order. He emphasizes the importance of a base of reference or perspective for truth determination in our subject-object field of consciousness, and suggests the possibility of realizing Consciousness-without-an-object-and-without-a-subject by means of cognition unconditioned by perspective.

Transcript
Recording Duration
57 min
Sort Order
227.00