Alchemical flames: individuation through the sacred and sexual in tummo meditation and Jung's late thought
Rohan J Naidoo
Open Access at Essex October 7, 2026 DOI: 10.5526/err-00043956 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that the relationship between the sacred and sexual shifts according to the granularity of consciousness, as mediated by the mind-body problem. Proposes that consciousness is a trainable, mutable capacity, and that dialogue between Jung's alchemical thought and Vajrayana tummo meditation yields psychotherapeutic, socio-cultural, and theoretical applications, including a re-reading of Jung's 'erotic phenomenology' distinct from most pre-existing Jungian schools. |
Abstract
This research addresses the central complex of how the relationship between the sacred and sexual is problematised and plays out over the course of individuation. Jung articulated it as core to his relationship with Freud breaking down, describing a split between the secular (which becomes sexualised) and the spiritual (which becomes desexualised). Such a division can be understood, via a Jungian sense of myth, to express a broader issue within Western culture per se. The method of addressing this problem is to bring Jung’s late alchemical thought, especially found in Mysterium Coniunctionis, into dialogue with the Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana tradition, especially tummo meditation, which makes clear, rigorous connections between the sacred and sexual in its approach to individuation. Results hinge upon consciousness itself as a trainable, mutable, refinable capacity (rather than a fixed state). Dimensions of this hinge-point include its presence (or not) as a feature of mind, body and nature, and its (potential) extension across waking, sleeping, and living/dying processes. These dimensions unpack into applications: psychotherapeutically, a sequence that tracks the sacro-sexual across therapeutic phases; socio-culturally, synthesising Jungian alchemical aesthetic and Vajrayana “technological” precision offers a fruitful mode of reception in cultural discourse; theoretically, a re-reading of Jung’s “erotic phenomenology” evolves, distinct from most pre-existing Jungian schools. These all stem from the basic thesis that the sacro-sexual relationship alters as a function of the granularity of consciousness, as mediated via the mind-body problem.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |