Chapter 2 Eastern Archetype

One of the outstanding psychiatrists in America was Dr. Carl Rogers.  He spoke of developing our personalities by moving beyond the responses we have developed from our past life-experiences.  For him, deep down in each of us is the innermost self.  This core of personality is basically healthy and positive, basically society-oriented.  By plunging down into your innermost self in silence you make contact with God as healer. 

George A Maloney, S.J. “Alone With The Alone”

During my extensive retreat in Tucson Arizona in 2005, I practiced the discipline of Christian Meditation, and through this intense practice over forty-two days, entered into times of deep and penetrating surrender to Christ.  In the Christian tradition, much literature is available in the writings of the mystics to explain, not only the discipline, but some of the warnings, expectations and outcomes of such a practice.  Fr. Thomas Merton, St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius were a few that I consulted during my retreat experience along with some more current contemporary writers on mysticism.

However, because of the intensity of my practice, many things began to happen that I could not understand and explain through the use of the Christian Mystic writers and their experience.  As a result, on my return home, I had to consult and study the eastern experience in order to begin to understand and to determine a direction to take in light of what had happened.  In order to make sense and explain my experience, particularly occurring during the latter part of this retreat, for the next few chapters I have used the Archetypal images from the Eastern Faith tradition.

In Eastern philosophies, an archetypal image exists (a prototype that is present in the collective unconscious) for what is referred to as the “subtle” body. The subtle body is everything that is not represented by our solid physical bodies.  The physical body is referred to as the “container” and all our intangible non-physical nature that interacts with the “container”  would be “subtle”.  In Eastern medicine, the structure and the dynamics of the “subtle” body are studied in the same manner as the physical anatomy in order to understand its functioning, purpose and methods of treatment.  Western medicine does not recognize many aspects of the subtle body because it is not visible; however, it is slowly being recognized in our western approach to medicine through procedures such as acupuncture.   

According to these Eastern philosophies, the subtle body is made up veils or sheaths.  In the Christian tradition, this would probably be represented by the layers of the aura which invisibly surround our physical bodies.  Even in our Christian tradition, we believe that this aura is visible to people in certain instances, and is often depicted in art as a sign of holiness. The Eastern tradition teaches that there are three diaphanous veils or sheaths that make up the subtle body: the energy sheath, the mental sheath, and the discernment sheath.  A brief description of each will follow:

The energy sheath is a vital process that animates the human system that allows it to sense and function.  It is partially made up of nadis or energy channels that intersect with six major chakras or energy centres.  The six principal chakras are associated with the physical body’s nerve plexuses and gland systems that manifest from their energy.  Chakras, called spinning wheels, function properly when there is a balanced flow of energy through the nadis which cause a cyclical sensation in the chakra area.  The chakras 
and locations are as follows:

Muladhara or Root Chakra at base of spine and perineum area, 
Svadhisthana or Sacral Chakra in genital area, 
Manipura or Solar plexus Chakra in the navel area, 
Anahata or Heart Chakra in heart area between the breasts, 
Vishuddha or Throat Chakra in throat area and back of neck, 
Ajna or Third eye Chakra between the brows.
The Sahasrara padma or crown located at the top of the head is another critical point of the energy sheath.

The mental sheath consists of the conscious and unconscious mind and is broken down into three aspects or functions:  

The first is called “Chitta”, or the unconscious storehouse of past impressions or imprints.  This function of the mind might be described as a vast reservoir of memories, parental injunctions, unresolved issues, cultural conditioning, contradictions, tendencies, repressed habits and drives and impressions from past life experiences.  

The second is called “Manas”, or the sensory motor mind.  This function is objective, reflexive, the carrier out of orders.  It can be trained but also responds to habits, instinct or impulse.  Data from the senses is registered here, and actions coordinated.  Acting automatically, doubts arise here as well as perceptions by selection inattention. 

The third is called “Ahankara” or the ego.  This function is one of self-definition and self-concepts.  The boundaries of the personality, our attachments, aversions, and habits are defined here creating its sense of "I-ness".  The ego denies what it cannot identify, and owns what it does identify. 

The discernment sheath called “Buddhi” is reflective consciousness.  This is the higher mind carrying out discriminative functioning.  It is often referred to as the “inner voice” where reason, will, values, ethics come into play.  It is the place where we make decisions and choose a course of action based on one’s true nature and purpose.  It is the place of contemplation in relation to philosophical concepts, human qualities, culture or art.  It is the gatekeeper of the unconscious from which there is both an inflow and outflow.

At the time of my forty-two day retreat, I was not familiar with this Eastern Philosophy.  As mentioned before, it was something I explored after returning home.  The retreat experience that I engaged in brought forth many unexpected and certainly unintentional results that would take many months for me to resolve and many years to understand. In order to share the experiences at the time of this retreat based on my detailed journal and memory of the events, I will be using the above summary as a backdrop to provide some understanding to what I experienced.