Sri Aurobindo, Jung, and the interviewed mystics
Routledge eBooks October 9, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429449093-8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Established mystics interviewed by the author, alongside biographical comparison of Sri Aurobindo and C. G. Jung |
| Key findings | Argues that interviews with established mystics revealed a recurring pattern of an unavailable father and an entwining mother, with the mother especially connected in early years, and that this pattern matches the early lives of Sri Aurobindo and C. G. Jung. The author concedes that reducing such figures to related psychological complexes may seem to discount their intelligence, creativity, and courage. |
Abstract
Both Sri Aurobindo and C. G. Jung express a process for the fulfilment of a life that requires the development of consciousness and thus offers a reason for giving importance to a mystical experience. Sri Aurobindo Ghose is rare in the array of Eastern mystical figures because he was also an intellectual and a political revolutionary. Reducing Sri Aurobindo and C. G. Jung to a causal connection of related complexes may seem to discount extraordinary intelligence, unique creativity, and profound courage. The interviews with established mystics revealed the same pattern – an unavailable father and an entwining mother. Most importantly, there was a common thread among most of the mystics that the mother had been especially connected in the very early years, as was the case with Sri Aurobindo and Jung, in a way that could be expected by an entwining mother; and, in almost all cases, this was accentuated by an unavailable father.