Enlightenment and individuation: syncretism, synchronicity and beyond

Abstract

This paper opens with a personal introduction to the topic of syncretism within the context of a comparison of enlightenment associated with Eastern religious traditions and individuation as experienced through Jungian analysis. A brief exploration of the recent scholarly revival of interest in syncretism follows. Some close parallels with Jungian theory are highlighted, especially in the work of Timothy Light. Applications to the syncretic trends in Tang culture along the Silk Road(s) suggest deeper patterns of interconnectedness lie at the heart of these trends. A complex systems view highlights similarities between syncretic connections and non-local aspects of synchronistic field events. The final section attempts to extend this approach to innovation in general terms through the recently articulated concept of the 'adjacent possible' from the writing of Stuart Kauffman. From this, the notion of a collective pre-conscious dimension to the psyche is extrapolated. The unifying thread of acausal emergent forms provides a potential synthetic network for these phenomena.

Stein, L. A.Working with Mystical Experiences in Psychoanalysis: Opening to the Numinous. London & New York: Routledge. 2019. Pp. xxi + 219. Hbk. £105.00. Pbk. £29.99.

“…This topic has much contemporary relevance given the incorporation of mindfulness‐meditation practices derived from Eastern traditions into Western psychology. And it augments the growing East/West dialogue around the similarities between individuation and enlightenment (Cambray ; Shen ). Whilst Stein argues that meditation cannot guarantee or cause mystical experiences, it can provide ‘the space that activates complexes and archetypes’, and it is the irruption into consciousness of such unconscious forces that he sees as underpinning mystical experiences (p. 46).…”