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Synthesis in Psychology I

 Following our three introductory posts on the comparative philosophy pointing towards a synthesis in philosophy, this post shifts study of synthesis in the domain of (academic) psychology examining the essence in the works of Roberto Assagioli. We studied some illumining personal instructions of DK to Assagioli. He contributed towards a thesis of synthesis and integration of personality (the lower self of a human constitution) by what he calls 'I' (the middle/higher or Soul in esoteric philosophies). The principles and techniques of transpersonal integration are collectively termed as "Psychosynthesis".


In his talk with Evarts G. Loomis at Florence in 1973, Assagioli emphasizes synthesis saying:


"... Meaning putting together simply a synthesis, that is combining into a harmonious whole of disparate elements, but it is organic unity that is not uniformity, not fitting into a system it is a organic unity in which each element keeps it own individuality and function. I think that the healthy human body or animal body is a perfect example of biosynthesis. Each cell and each organ, each apparatus concurs to the preservation and development of life in a unanimity for that, but the heart cell remains the heart cell and the liver cell remains the liver cell, they don't mix. Psychosynthesis is essentially an attitude - the attitude of the teacher, healer or therapist to life in general a rapport or an interplay with patient or pupil; and it is as in a general sense the attitude that is a bringing together in  an organic whole diverse and sometimes conflicting elements. That in an organic whole in which, each element preserves it's individuality and function in operation with all the others. And the faithful human body is a perfect example of biosynthesis; that is each cell each organ each apparatus concurs to the general health the vitality of the whole organism; but each completes its own function more or less independently upto a certain point independently but in unison -  by that i mean organic unity."  


In his paper "Psychoanalysis and Psychosynthesis", published in 1934 in The Hibbert Journal, Assagioli states:


'From a still wider and more comprehensive point of view, universal life itself appears to us as a struggle between multiplicity and unity - a labor and an aspiration towards union. We seem to sense that - whether we conceive it as a divine being or as cosmic energy - the Spirit working upon and within all creation is shaping it into order, harmony, and beauty, uniting all beings (some willing but the majority as yet blind and rebellious) with each other through links of love, achieving - slowly and silently, but powerfully and irresistibly - the Supreme Synthesis.'


This supreme synthesis, according to him, is the logical, necessary goal of the whole evolutionary process; which is also the pivotal running theme in the writings of most advanced esoteric and spiritual teachers (such as Blavatsky, Sri Aurobindo, Roberto Assagioli - no doubt he was an initiate in the Ashram of DK) we have been studying.


Back in 1970's Assagioli was the founding editor of a Magazine/Journal called "Synthesis" which was published biannually and it included editorial advisors from across the world including Viktor Frankl (Holocaust survivor who wrote Man's search for meaning), Haridas Chaudhuri (a student of Sri Aurobindo and associated with California Institute of Integral Studies) and M.P. Pandit (Secretary of 'The Mother' of Sri Aurobindo ashram) and many such with an integral/synthetic outlook. See the attached images.






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