Escolar Documentos
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Journal Editors
Dr Simon du Plock
Dr Greg Madison
B o o k Revierr~s:Martin Adams
D i s r r i b u r i o n & M o r k e r i r i g : Martin
( .
..
J o r ~ r n aProdrtcriorl:
l
Adam
Ian G. Jones-Healey
Editorial Board
Dr Btla Buda
Dr Alfried Langle
Semmchvcis Urri~er-silj,
(Hrrrrgon)
lrrrer-rro~iorrnl
Socir!,.,/or. L o ~ o r h n ~(r~rri
rl~~.
E.ri.rrcrrfin1A~rnlv.si.~,
l'ic~rrrrr (/Irr.irr~irr)
Dr James Bugental
I
I
Srryhrook Irrs~itrtfe(USA)
Dr Dmitry Leontiev
Dr Daniel Burston
Mosco~~.Slafe
U~ri~:ersil)..
(Rrtssrrt)
Duqrresrre U~riversitj(USA)
Dr Simon du Plock
A.lirkl1e.se.r Urrr~vrsi/>..
Lorrrlort (UK)
Dr Victor Rodrigues
Dr Alphons Grieder
Mr Andrea Sabbadini
Ar-borws Avsociofrorr. Lorabrr (UK)
Dr John M. Heaton
School oJPsycho~her.ap~
orrrl Cortrrrcllitrg. R[,grvrrc:
College. Lorrdorr (UK)
T11ePlrikr~/el~/ri~r
Associ~rfh~rr.
Lorr[brr (UKJ
Univer.sirv oJCoperrbage??(Der~~~tor-k)
Dr M. Guy Thompson
Pryclroannly~icIrrzrirrrfe[!/Nor-rheur Crrl!/i)rrri<r
(USA)
Paul McGinley
Glairp Organizer.:
Teresa Corso
Forurn Orgariiser:
Dr Bo Jacobsen
Discussion
Existential
Analysis
Christine Martin
Flora Croft
Membership Secrerary:
Lucia Moja-Strasser
and Catriona May
Secr,e!ary: Anne de Montalot
Tr.easzrrer.: Apsara Narat
UKCP Regis!r.o!iorl: Mike Harding
Newsle!!er. Edi!or.s:
The Journal provides a forum for the analysis of existence from pl~ilosopllical and
psychological perspectives. It is published biannually. Contributions are invited in areas of
philosophical and psychological theory, case studies, discussion papers. books reviews and
letters. The opinions expressed by authors of the papers and reviews published are those
of the authors themselves, and not necessarily those of the editors, the editorial board, or
members of the Society for Existential Analysis.
Edited by:
Simon du Plock
Greg Madison
July 2007
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
This, [lie second part of tlie eighteenth edition of k~~'.risfrrl/iolAlrtr(i:~i~.
features papcrs which engage with a wide range o f subjects of releva~iceto
the analysis of existence froin philosopliical and psycliological
perspectives. Among the inany interesting and inlormative papers, we lllily
note Greg Madison's response to Helen Hayes' '(Be)coniing Honie, An
Existential Perspective on Migration, Settle~nent and tlie Meaning of
I-lome' wliich appeared in the previous number of tliis Jour~ial. Olga
Loucliakova concludes tlie paper on the Prayer of tile Heart begun in IS. I .
Martin Milton and Frances Gillies, by contrast, embark on the itnportatil
but often iiriregarded tlieine with h e i r paper on evolutionary tliinkitlg.
Xo.vcnn~r?.
Loii,ye
Unscllling Tl~o~~gllt
Altern;~livelo Sedentary ~ o n c e ~and
l s a Ocknce or Frodo
Gr.vg ~1li1iIi,s1111
,411
1)eveloplilent
Bei~rgAggressive
An Existcnlicil-Pheno~~\enoIogic~I
Critique ol'the I'syellological Lilcralurc on Hullian Aggression
Roll. Flm~lrr~r
~irirlhlorrirt Millon
297
Astute readers will note that Dr Greg Madison joins Dr Simon dii Plock as
co-editor of tlie Journal. Simon would like to take tliis opportunity to thank
Dr John M. Heaton for his assistance in this role from July 2000 to January
2007, and is glad that he is able to maintain his connection with E.risferrfi~11
Ana11:~is as an Editorial Board member. The editors wo~lldalso like to
welcotiie P~.ofessorLes Todres as a new lnernber of tlie Editorial Board.
'Laing' in ;I Lexicon
G r e g Madison
348
7ierr Dirl*i.~
Book
Filnl
Reviews
Review
371
399
Existential :\nal!sis
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Olga Louchakova
Olga Louchakova
separateness, (i.e., the ego, the processes by which it is transcended, and its
developmental effect in the whole psyche), acquire more importance for
clinical work.
264
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O l g a Louchakova
bracketed, the latter now is the only One that Is, and its uniqueness as an
continuity of
Absolute is wliat ~iiakesit the Self versus an i~nperso~ial
Being(ness). In this sliift, awareness drops the tendency to appropriate tlie
qualifier o r tlie individual I, i.e., to identify with forms of the experience of
objects, and is recognized instead as belonging to this previously unknown
Other, as the Self. "1 am" either drops the qualifier of being an individual
and becomes a Self-subsistence, or disappears completely. The major
paradoxical topological shift of nlcani~ig" I am not, lie is. hut in tliat
sonlehow I am" constitutes the essential core of Union experience,
accompanied by the other paradox, - a subsistence of uniqueness of
sclfliood in thc absence of the individual cgo. In thc overall psyclie as a
syste~ii,this "flip-flop" of identity, together with the posterior ontopoiesis
(see below), is what inititiates the future cliaracterological change. How
exactly this topological shin o r meaning reorganizes the rest of the
cognitive apparatus, is yet to be examined.
Thus ends the egological (Louchakova, 2007a) expcricncc, as in "I am
not, but He is, and in that so~nehowI am" (Sri Ranjit Maharaj, personal
communication, Encinitas, Califoniia, 1997). Even though the semantics of
the word, Union, suggest the u~iificationof the two, such a qualituln sliift
o f identity from the individual ego to the larger Self does not 1iapl)en by
unification. It is the rcduction of the egological self within the dcvotional IThou polarity that facilitates such a shift. Further, this shin does not occur
within tlie domain of the individual will. I t happens, as was stated before,
in response to greetings, that is, "by invitation only." Witlio~~ttliis
"invitation," the experience remains locked within the individual I, which
acquires a feeling of inertness, and is prompted to bounce back down the
steps of hyletic reduction (see Louchakova 2007b), to tlie otherness of
name, form, and corporeality.
The accounts of informants in this research displayed at least two
variants of Union which differ with regard to the transfonnation of the
mode of' identificatio~i.One mode opens up a direct intuition of tlie
fecundity of the Self, i.e. an ontopoietic expression of the presumably
unknown Other disclosing itself, "sprouting" with phenomena. The other
mode opens in a rather indescribable (as of yet) sense of thc static
transcendentality of tlie Self as it encolnpasses all present, past and future
pbenome~ia.The frequent insight that emerges as a result of the latter mode
consists in recognizing that one's existence and awareness do not depend
on the existence of the body, which explains its effectiveness in redlrcing
the rear o r death. The Prayer of tlie Heart, as described by Theoplianis tlie
Monk (in Louchakova, 2007a). points more to this static variant of Union.
The former mode seems to be more effective in sponsoring further changes
of the character and overall individuation. In our research with
contcmporary practitioners of the PH, the first ontopoietic mode prevails.
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Olga Louchakova
Awareness liberated from the constraint of the individual ego reveals tlie
li~nitlcssness witliiri the larger transcendental identity. Tlic cgo is
discovered to be "ernply," a Inere sliadow of tlic prior egological idcntity
that is annihilated in tlie transcendental Selr Tlie indivitlrral self is retluced
to being nothing more tlian a locator, i.e. the locus of Self-Encounter. i i i
which the Transcendental Self dircctly intuits its own n i c a ~ ~ i ~arid
i g tlic
meanings within. This is the experience of so-called "oneness." Contrary to
the expected serniotics of "olleness," tlie field of tllis ericoLtnter is neither
blank, nor is it cliaracterized by any sort of prevailing lionioge~ieity.Such
Iiolnogeiieity only emerges insofar as the I-Thou is seized by the
transcendental Other as a Self. In that the phetio~nena arc present.
perception continues to function, and direct intuition, now applied to tlie
source of phenomenal conscio~isness,continues its fertilizing effect on the
o~ilopoleticexpression. As such, the intentional positing of phenomena
continues, and tlie practitioner beconies awarc of the inncrniost mystcry of
the ontopoietic process. This is the dawning of ontopoietic intuition. the
birtli of conscious awareness of the interior developiiiental unrolding o r tlie
selF.
Oetopoietic Intuition
Ontopoietic intuition penetrates into the domain of tlie individual sclf. as
well as into the trans-spatial and trans-temporal doniain of pure tileaning
emerging from tlie "field" of an unqualified and indescribable potentiality
of pure ~ o g o s . 'These primary, pre-reflective, deployed - from - witliin
meanings become woven into an inner tapestry of cognitive schemas and
logical sequences of discursive thinking. They also get "ciphered"
(Tymieniecka, 1975), i.e., interpreted, symbolized, and transformed in
Inany ways in self-organizing activities in tlie various domains of the
~)sychc.Thus, two processes, identified by Tylnieniccka (2002) as tlic
"lioriz'ontal" and "vertical" lines of unfolding of tlie intentio~ial
constructive system in its positing of objectivity, co~nplenienteach otller in
llie co~islruclio~i
of Ihe self.
In tlie experience of Union, the prayed-to, inferred. previously unkno\vn
possibility is actualized as the ontopoietic fi~llncssof tlie Traliscelidcntal
E ~ o . ' The interior meanings of things and esselitial relations become
available and dynamically unfold. Tliings are seen "as they are" wliile tlie
practitioner witnesses the "lights" or presences of tliings. both before
intel-pretation and before the emergence of secotidary ineanings
(ciphering). as they emerge afresh fro111 the "darkness" of tllc sacrcdly
indescribable field o r One Presence.
The specifics of ontopoietic intuition, then, consist in positioning tlie
awareness so that it may simultaneously cognize a) the ~rridiffereri~iatcd
"wonib" of consciousness, b) the great divide between the nlaliifest and
Olga Louchakova
lntrapsychic Ontopoiesis
Union weds tlie self to its own trans-temporal origin, wliere tlie Unity-ofall-there-is-alive (Tylnieniecka, 1998) is grasped in a direct, naked
boldness. Prayer of the Heart breaks tlie prison of time. In the ontopoietic
ficld of Logos, the sequcncing fuliction of the psyclie is suspctidcd and
causality is attributed directly to Logos itself. The time-bound networks of
(lie ego are pushed to the outer layers of the psyche, creating, renovating,
and reorganizing themselves out of the dee el intentionalities, which are
S
deployed in the ego-transcendent experience .
The changes in the affective sphere are a minor part of tlie overall
transformation. Major changes involve a restructuring of intra-subjectivity,
such as Me-Other, Me-World, Me-God. Tlie restructuring of intrasubjectivity, where one's identity starts incorporating that of others, the
Other, and the world, and is associated with the experience of spiritual egotranscendence, may be the common psycl~ological nieclianism"'. These
changes in intra-subjectivity are accompanied by changes in the notiolis of
the real and the unreal, as well as the related attribution of causality, tlie
categorization of truth, and the allied categories of knowlcdgc, belicf, and
faith. Major cognitive shifls take place in coming to the understanding of
living and dying.
Tlie arising ofdirect intuition as it leads to ontopoietic intuition, wliicli is
a specific outcotne of the practice of tlie PH, was identified as a leading
factor underlying all of these developlnental shifts. Tlie direct intuition of
the inner structures of the psyche provides an internal analogue of Ilie
phenomena of external mirroring. This internal self-mirroring, first witliin
the egological self, then withiti a more and more distinctly positecl self'
Olga Louchakova
A detailed p~leno~lle~ologicaI
analysis of ego-trallscelldence shows that
ego-transcendence is quite different from its ~niscotlceptionsill tllerapy,
such as Freud's original take on religious experience as a version of
infantile
bliss, a fantasy of merger soothing separation anxiety in
Winnicott, or a delusional avoidance tactic of the fragile self dreading its
illevitable demise. On the contrary, ego-transcendence is a highly
differentiated psychological activity where tile self-collstituling
mechanisms bccolnc available to cognition and articulation. The emotional
of the
dynalnics of tile ego-transcendence experience differ from
aforelnentioned conditions, which carries great rdevance for clinical work.
Since the cgological experience is always affective, reductions ill tllc bodycentered self towards a transcendental Ego involve illtelltionalities
Analysis of the intentional constnlct of elnotion
constitllting
he
275
Olga Louchakova
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Developn~entalCharacterological Transformation
Here, I will demonstrate the evidence of how this particular kind of egotranscendence is involved in tlie actual n~eclianismof the develop~netital
shifts. To connect with the beginning point in this study, tlie necessary
prerequisite for this kind of ego-transcendence is tlie loss of identification
witli tlie separate forni, which leads to the posterior experience of Union
and thc acti~alizationof ontopoiesis. However, tliis "formlcssncss" is a
crucial, but not an exclusive prerequisite.
For example, Miller (2006, 2007) showed the transcendence of locality
(i.e. identification with tlie form in this study) in both patients witli
dissociative identity disorder, and in meditators claiming spiritual egotranscendence. Indeed, if tlie loss of locality were to happen in isolatio~i
from the meaning-contents of the psyche, the spiritual experience and llie
experience of dissociation would have been the same. The core differences
between these conditions lies in tlie topological transforn~ations of
~neaning. and the emotional differences of the "spiritual" vs. "rlo~lspiritual" conditions. While the loss of locality niay accompaliy both
spiritual experience and pathological experience, it is tlie only spiritually
~neaningftllego-trariscentlence that flows illto the experience of U~iio~i
n.itIi
tlie consequent develop~nentalclianges.
Tlic otl~cr co~nponc~itof ego-tra~iscentlence, providing for tlic
develop~ne~ital
shifts described below, is affective: without devotional
internal i~iterrelated~iess,tlie practitioner re~ilai~istrapped witliin tlie
do~nainof tlie ego (Loucliakova, 2006, 2007b).
In tliis study, 10 co-researchers, practicing PI{ and si~iiilar111et11odsof
devotioual self-introspection, gave me a chance to witncss tlieir
for a period of Inore tlia~i10 years. The depth and
developmental cl~a~iges
stability of cl~a~igesin perception, behavior, identity-co~istruction,
e~llotio~ial
sphere, and so on, qualify tliese co-researcliers as sul?jects of
cliaraclerological transformation akin to the "liard 14.ork" niiraclc dcscribcd
in Psyclioanalytic literature (Johnson, 1987). Wliile psycliology disputcs
the possibility of characterological transformation, spiritual psycliologies
acknowledge it as a nor~iialpart of liu~nanpsychospiritual develop~ne~it
(Bader, 1992; Belir-Sigel, 1992; Murata, 1992). Tlie rise of direct
awareness, tlie repetitive experiences of Union, thc reverse flow of
awareness as described in tliis researcli, and the subsequent tleploynient of
material from tlie unconscious, stand out as key factors in these clia~iges.
For exaniple, some co-researchers described pivotal dreams, 01. meditation
experiences that presented the observable deploy~nentof tlie arclietype. An
other process was tlie surfacing atid restrucluring of the major "cliilnks" of
the self-construct. These include tlie larger, te~iiporarilyspread processes
that are still tlifficult to describe. All suc11 internal ~lienonienaprecipitated
. .
not o11lya change in the self-perceived self, but also "external" clianges in
relationship, major clianges in career orientation, someti~nesgeograpliic
moves. openings of creativity and the like. As such, the internal
transforniation freque~itly correspo~ids will1 ta~igible clla~lges in life
circunlstances, thereby forrning a full circle wliicli integrates tlie
on~opoieticand tlie life world networks, as if in support of tlie ancient
alclieniical dicturn, "as above, so below."
I<ougl~ly,tlie process of characterological transforniation in clients
practicing tlie Prayer of tlie Heart or other forms of devotio~ialself-enquily
liappcned in three consecutive stages: a) the brackcting/dcconstruction
period, b) the acquisition of a healthy character structure, and c) the
niovelnent of this new, healthy character structure toward an increase in
positive trails. At tlie final stage, tlie fluctuatio~is in tlie states of
separateness, intimacy, proximity and Union acti~alizetlie dcploy~nentof
positive charaeterological traits, which rnay be seen as analogous to
traditional virtues. In fact. the practitioners of tlie Prayer of tlie I Ieart found
tlie~nselves on tlie fast develop~nental track, rapidly confronting tlie
279
Olga Louchakova
as \veil ill regard to a depth analysis of the clynaniics of tile psyclle that
happen in relatiol~shipto the Divine Names, or the use of this
\~ithindifferelit cultural contexts, ctc. Instead, the scope of [[]is article \vas
defined solely by an e~npliasisupon ego-lranscendence and its clinical
iillplications.
Olga L~uchako\~a,
M.D.. Ph.D., is an associate pl.ofessor of transpersonal
~s~c1lology.
core facility and a Director of Transpersonal Ed1lcation and
Research Specialization at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Palo
Alto, California. She holds a private practice in Sari F~.ancisco,Bay Area,
Prior to co~ning to United Sates, Dr. Louchakova worked as a
neuroscientist in tlie Pavlov lnslitute of Physiology in Leningrad. Russia.
~-esearcllillgthe autoilnmune diseases of the nenrous sysleln. Slle becalne
connected with the Russian spiritual underground, \vllich caused llcr to
shift career to psychotherapy and spiritual teacliing. The, shc was illvitctl
as a visiting professor to the California Institute of Integral Studies in San
Francisco, and spent 10 years teacliing spirih~ality internationally to
various groups and centers sucli as Esale~i.Slie contlucted researcll in
Russia, India, Europe, Middle East, and Americas, authored numerous
Papers in n e i l r ~ ~ ~ i e l psychology
l~e,
and spirituality, and co-founded
several successful non-profit organizations promoting advancement of
~on~ciousness.
In the prior work (Louchakova, 2006, 2007a,), only a part of this i~lner
activity - the PH per se - was described.
Developsd much later Centering Prayer. the closest analog of tile PI I alld
developed much later, doesn't have the component of the rcpetition oftlie
Divine names and doesn't illvolve focusing in the Spir.ihlaJHeart.
Practiccs of silent dliikr (Sufisni), atma-vicliara (Shakta-Vcrlallta). solllc
types of Salnadhi practices in Kash~niri Shaivism ernploy a
internal process (Cutsinger, 2002; Louc1iakova, 2005a,b, c; 2007a;
Vijnanabhairava, 1979).
Sobriety serves as a prerequisite to PH. Similar to Buddhist rnindfulrless,
it is based on the witnessing the contents of the mind, but. in co~itrastto
the former, it actively focuses atterltiorl on t l ~ edepll~of the r ~ i i ~ ~the
d.
origins of things. Later, tlie same quality of inward intention can be fourld
in the Centering Prayer, the 15'" century Christian contelnplative practice.
This deliberation on the source is a "staple" of Christian ~ o n t e r n p l a t i ~ ~ ~ .
" Ityletic intentionality, i.e. the sense of corporeality, is described i n
Loucl~akova,2007~1,b.
This is a ~0nt~oversial
issue with cultural overtones. In Rlexico, the
mixed llcritagc of Catholicism and indigenous spirituality nlakes religious
'
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Olga Louchakova
References
Allen, Richard, "David Hartley", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosopliy
(Spring 2005 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed). URL =
<http://plato.sta1iford.edu/archives/spr2005/entries/liartley/>.
Olga Loucllakova
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Olga Louchakova
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