A Jungian Encounter
with the Soul of Buddhist India 2012

The C.G. Jung Foundation of New York is proud to sponsor the seventh educational tour of India in February 2012. This trip is an opportunity to see India through the lens of analytical psychology, tracing the steps of C.G. Jung on his journey in the 1930’s. India is the oldest, continuous, living civilization. It is not a country but a symbol that points way beyond itself. Carl Jung's analytical psychology offers a Rosetta stone to harvest the wisdom of India's ancient culture to guide our individual soul in its personal Odyssey and to contribute to our understanding of the collective.

Carl G. Jung and Fowler McCormick set sail for India on December 4, 1937 through February 1938 upon the invitation of the British Government. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the Calcutta University. In India, Jung would encounter the three great religions of India - Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism. He was awed by Buddhism’s spiritual mystery; Islam’s Eros and was ambivalent and overwhelmed by Hinduism. Jung did not focus on Christianity, which had its first roots in India under the auspices of Saint Thomas since 52 AD.

Each individual and culture has an archetype that guides its destiny and Teleos. India’s guiding myth is a higher coniunctio between its competing religions and traditions. It has seamlessly assimilated Aryan, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Parsis, Islam and Christian traditions into a mysterious and magical mosaic of Indian culture. Each year, our tour focuses on a religion or region. This year’s theme is the exploration of Buddhist India and its interface with the other great religions and traditions of India. Join us in this celebration & exploration of Buddhism in India. The Buddhist teachings are essentially Indian. They are as much the secret of India as “Taj Mahal” is the secret (Eros) of Islam. Buddha though forgotten on the surface, is still the secret breath of life in modern Hinduism (Vol. 10, Para 992).

We are honored to have once again as our faculty Jungian analyst Dr. Ashok Bedi.

Ashok Bedi, M.D., is a psychiatrist and Jungian analyst. Educated and trained in India, Great Britain, and the United States, he is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists of Great Britain; Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association; clinical professor of psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin; and a senior member of the Milwaukee Psychiatric Physicians and a faculty member at the Analyst Training Program at the Carl G. Jung Institute of Chicago. He is presently helping several psychiatric groups in India establish the "India Jung Center" in affiliation with the International Association for Analytical Psychology. Trained in Medicine, Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis in India, Great Britain and the US, Dr. Bedi is interested in the emerging frontiers of Spirituality and Healing and the synapses of the Mind, Body, Soul and Spirit. He is the author of the books, Path to the Soul, Weiser Books, 2000, Awaken the Slumbering Goddess: The Latent Code of the Hindu Goddess Archetypes, Booksurge Publishing, 2007 and the coauthor of Retire Your Family Karma, Nicholas-Hays, Inc. 2003. These and his other upcoming presentations can be previewed at his website www.pathtothesoul.com.

The focus of this educational tour will be to further explore the role of myths and archetypes of India and how they manifest in our life, experience, psychology, mythology, art, films and architecture of India. Throughout the trip there will be group meetings with Dr. Bedi and scheduled times to discuss and assimilate these experiences with an analytical lens.

In the past, participants have started out as tourists and left as pilgrims on their path to Individuation more connected with their depth, their dreams and their soul. Our hope is that this journey will renew, revitalize and rejuvenate your mind, body and soul in the archetypal matrix of India. With the majestic and dream like back drop of North India, the participants will be introduced to the mysteries of India by the trio of Ashok Bedi, his wife, Usha Bedi and the founder of Mindful Journeys, Regine Oesch-Aiyer. Ashok will help unravel the archetypal and analytical dimension of the Indian journey. Usha will be the cultural consultant and help the participants navigate the folklore, customs, festivals and stories of India. She will give a short overview of Indian spices, and discuss the healing properties of these spices from an Ayurvedic perspective. The evenings with Chef Usha Bedi will help demystify the intrigues of basic Indian cuisine. While Ashok will help tune into the soul of India, Usha and Regine will provide a bridge with contemporary India and its people in outer reality. Regine will hold the tension of the opposites and help balance inner and outer, spiritual and sensate, esoteric and pragmatic dimensions of the journey.

Usha Bedi of Milwaukee, Wisconsin honed her unique Indian contemporary cuisine by blending her ancestral Ayurvedic culinary principles with her experience of cooking in England and the United States. For ten years she was the Chef and owner of the highly acclaimed, chic Indian restaurant in the fashionable East side of Milwaukee, the Dancing Ganesha. She is presently on a sabbatical, while she finishes writing her cookbooks. She continues to conduct cooking classes in Milwaukee and leads culinary tours to India. She is a cultural consultant for the annual study groups to, Jungian Encounters with the Soul of India under the auspices of the New York Jung Foundation.

Regine Oesch-Aiyer, the founder of Mindful Journeys was brought up and educated in Switzerland and the United States. She spent twenty years as a senior executive for Consumer Travel at American Express Company. Twelve years ago she set out on her own mindful journey to explore a new direction in the field of art, a long simmering passion. She co-founded and curated New York's Agama Gallery in Manhattan. In 2003 she decided to put all her experiences together to focus on a larger vision combining travel, art and humanitarian interest. This was the founding of Mindful Journeys. Regine has been traveling to India for the past thirty years and now lives part of the year outside Bangalore in South India.

This educational program is intended both for the general public and for professionals. This program is being co-sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis (NAAP) and the C.G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology. The NAAP is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The NAAP maintains responsibility for this program and its content. 15 continuing education credits are offered for the 11 days of instruction. The program is subject to change without notice. For further credit information and related administrative processing fee, please call the C.G. Jung Foundation offices at 212-697-6430.

Please note that the size of the group will be limited. Therefore, it is important that you register early in order to secure space for yourself and your friends. For more information on this exciting journey, and to register, please visit www.mindfuljourneys.com/journeys.html and check the entire itinerary and/or call 212-203-1239 for more information. A complete registration form may be printed from the last three pages of the India Journey's itinerary. We will be pleased to have you join us for this special educational venture.

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