THE DIVINE MIND

THE DIVINE MIND
PART I: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HISTORY OF GOD'S INNER JOURNEY

FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2019 7:30 - 9:30PM

PART II: THE BIBLICAL GOD'S PTSD AND OTHER AFFLICTIONS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2019

10AM - 1PM

FACULTY: MICHAEL GELLERT

5 Possible Continuing Education Credits Approved for MD, PHD, MFT, LCSW, LPCC, LEP & RN

TUITION: $150/$175 (INCLUDES CEUS)

PART I: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HISTORY OF GOD'S INNER JOURNEY

An exploration of the Abrahamic God’s evolution as depicted in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too. – St. Teresa of Avila
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. – Martin Buber

The epic story of the Abrahamic God’s inner journey begins in the Hebrew Bible, the common source of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He emerges here as a living, textured personality as tormented as a Shakespearean character and as divided against humanity as the devil who personifies his dark side. Yet in heroic fashion, he embarks on a journey to greater consciousness, stretching into himself in the Talmud, New Testament, Qur’an, and Gnostic writings. Then finally, with and through the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic mystics, he discovers his true self as the absolute Godhead. He takes up residence in their psyches as their own Divine Mind or true self. What God learned from his journey might be something that we in turn could learn from and that could help us at the dawn of the twenty-first century. In this way, God’s inner journey becomes a metaphor for our own.

PART II: THE BIBLICAL GOD'S PTSD AND OTHER AFFLICTIONS

An exploration of the origins, features, and healing of Yahweh’s deep-seated wound and their implications for us.

The degree of character flexibility, the ability to open oneself to the outside world or to close oneself to it, depending on the situation, constitutes the difference between a reality-oriented and a neurotic character structure. – Wilhelm Reich

This presentation will focus on the profound disappointments and suffering that the biblical God encountered on his inner journey toward greater consciousness. We will explore how these contributed toward his trauma and other existential and clinical afflictions as illustrated in the Hebrew Bible. We will also discuss what it means historically and for us today that the God of Western and Islamic civilization suffered from these conditions. Special attention will be given to what Jung, among others, has called the “Yahweh complex.” Our approach to God will be as a figure of the religious imagination rather than as a representation of an objective Godhead.

MICHAEL GELLERT is a Jungian analyst practicing in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California and former Director of Training of the C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles. He is the author of Modern Mysticism, The Fate of America, The Way of the Small, and The Divine Mind: Exploring the Psychological History of God’s Inner Journey. His website is www.michaelgellert.com.

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