The capacity for receptivity
Routledge eBooks October 9, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429449093-5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that longing is the basis of receptivity to mystical experience but is insufficient on its own, requiring a coherent ego to absorb the experience. Proposes that developmental factors behind this proclivity remain unconscious and must be studied generally, and that within a Jungian framework a build-up of libido catalyzes the breakthrough of the "Pleromic archetypes," a route for examining trauma's effects. |
Abstract
Longing, in its widest sense, impels the receptivity; it is not a characteristic of either a strong or a weak ego. The longing is insufficient, in itself, to account for receptivity, but it is its basis, contained within a coherent ego that is able to absorb a mystical experience (ME). The search for any development factors that may create a proclivity for receptivity to a ME must be general because they remain unconscious. For Sigmund Freud, MEs have their origins in a solipsistic, neonatal state. It is difficult to determine if childhood trauma increases or decreases the possibility of receptivity to a ME. The Jungian psychoanalytic viewpoint is that the build-up of libido is the catalyst for the breakthrough of the Pleromic archetypes. This is the manner in which the effect of trauma may be examined to see its effect.