I received this from Dr. James Hollis this evening, 11/11/11. It is for the members of this group and those contemplating membership.
Dear Colleagues: I am delighted that you are choosing to deepen your journeys by the study of analytic psychology. The insights of Jung and his associates bring so much which is helpful to us in the face of the distractions, the din, and the trivialities of modern pop culture. Most modern psychology has lost its nerve and fails to take on the larger questions of soul, which is to say, the questions of meaning. It has been my privilege to learn from Jung and others, and I keep on learning. This journey we call our lives grows more and more interesting, the connections and friendships more precious, and the conversation which arises out of this nexus more and more a summons to depth. I salute you in your motive, your discipline, and your desire for greater worth and purpose in life. You will, in time, be able to bring a more evolved person back to your family, to your partner, to your society. Please be assured of my very best wishes. James Hollis Houston, Texas
This group will be exploring the work of James Hollis, a Jungian analyst and author. The group is a study group. It's purpose is to read and discuss the books and concepts of James Hollis initially and perhaps others as we move forward. We are not a counseling group. We are here to facilitate a discussion and a dialogue so that each member may further his or her own individuation process and exploration toward a deeper understanding and better relationship with the Self. The only prerequisite is that you read or are reading one of the 13 Hollis books to be assigned. We will discuss one or two chapters at a time in order to allow enough time for discussion and personal reflection. I think you will find this work to be engaging and eye opening. I certainly have!
Hollis:
"What we do not know about ourselves nearly always proves a terrible burden on others."
"The inescapable truth of any relationship is that it can achieve no higher level of development than the level of maturity that both parties bring to it."
"If we are free of suffering, we are less likely to engage with those questions that ultimately define who we are."
"If we cannot bear being with ourselves, how is it that we ask another to do that for us? In fact, the capacity to be with ourselves, as we are, finite, imperfect and deeply flawed, will prove not only to be the "cure" for loneliness but our secret gift to others as well."
"Whoever does not feel a particpant in a deeper symbolic drama will manifest as a walking collection of symptoms sooner or later."
On Homer, The Odyssey- and the heroic journey we all must take.
Odysseus- and his unwavering determination to return home -- "I will stay with it and endure through suffering hardship/and once the heaving sea has shaken my raft to pieces, i will swim."
"The ongoing curriculum of life does not demand that we avoid suffering; it asks instead that we live more meaningfully in the face of it."
Carl Jung-
"The spirit of evil is negation of the life force by fear. Only boldness can deliver us from fear. And if the risk is not taken, the meaning of life is violated."
"Whoever carries over into the afternoon the law of the morning, must pay for it with damage to the soul."
"The greatest burden a child should bear is the unlived life of the parent."
