Skip to main content

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.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Yoga of Synthesis Diary Leaves 4

 Album The Yoga of Synthesis  Dated 22 January 2025 The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali give us four stages of meditation and when applied on symbols we find: 1. First, as the form is pondered upon, the realisation begins to dawn that it is but a symbol of an inner reality. 2. Second, there is a recognition of the quality or nature of the form—its subjective energy, the quality of the force that seems to flow through it, the emotion that the symbol arouses. 3. Third, as we concentrate on considering the quality, we arrive next at the purpose, the motive, and the idea that the symbol has held concealed. 4. Fourth, in the final stage of identification, one becomes at one with the symbol; one shares its quality; one participates in its purpose, and through these stages one arrives at a unity with the creator of the form. When applied to the four symbols (of Helena Blavatsky, Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Alice Bailey, and the category-theoretic model of Cause-Meaning/Quality-Effect), we...
Post a Comment
Read more

A synthesis of Savitri and Theosophy - Painting No 15

 Today we continue to contemplate on the remaining lines from Page 5 of the Symbol Dawn of Savitri.  "Here too the vision and prophetic gleam Lit into miracles common meaningless shapes; Then the divine afflatus, spent, withdrew, Unwanted, fading from the mortal’s range. A sacred yearning lingered in its trace, The worship of a Presence and a Power Too perfect to be held by death-bound hearts, The prescience of a marvellous birth to come." 'Here' stands for our ordinary human world where the vision and prophetic brief light of Goddess lit the ordinary shapes miraculously into divine meaning for few moments. But then the divine creative impulse or inspiration was spent and feeling unwanted withdrew and faded from the range of mortal men. Once gone it left behind a sacred yearning in the hearts of those later realized what had happened. The presence and Power of Divine Goddess was too perfect to be worshipped to be held steady by death-bound hearts of ordinary mortals. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Lam-Rim Retreat - Part III

Dated May/June 2025. 1. A Darshan As we meditated and learned some key concepts of Mahayana Buddhism, the air within the monastery was mildly perfumed with the delicate scent of Tibetan essence. Outside, the bees hummed among the native flowers, intoxicated by their fragrance. On the nearby trees, the monkeys leaped and swung, and the outside air was filled with the chirp of small birds and insects.       Deceived by material prosperity and addicted to comforts (I am not against either of these, but against the ever-increasing production of goods or the culture of consumerism to gratify men's insatiable desires; or to hide the unpleasant facts of life), the majority of "modernistic" men have deprived themselves of the opportunity and privileges of leading a truly satisfying life of spiritual freedom as their ancestors once did. As I took a Tibetan Buddhist retreat on the Himalayan heights, I could readily experience that it was immensely easier for the materially “ba...
Post a Comment
Read more