On the Psychological Commentary on the Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation

Jung’s deep understanding of the function of the symbol made him especially receptive to the archetypal representations in Tantric Buddhism. Other informal meditation schools like Zen and Dzogchen may help us free ourselves from the grip of the imaginary. Jung’s warnings that Westerners were unfit for Oriental practices should be understood today more as an universal enlightenment cautioning us about distortions of these practices. In light of new translations, the three means of liberation from thinking and imaging, the three verbs Jung uses in the confrontation with the unconscious, and the notes of many psychoanalysts from various schools on types of analytical attention during a session, can be placed in perspective. We do not want to make analysis an initiatory path. But how can we restore a supra-formal dimension to the mind, so that fields of research on the deep nature of mind and reality are still open to exploration?