Audio: The Unconscious in Buddhism and Jung

Two days ago I posted a PDF file of a presentation I gave last week in Shedra class, comparing the theories of the Buddhist alaya-vijnana and the Jungian unconscious.

I'm now sharing the audio file of an abridged (15 mins) and streamlined version of this talk that I gave today to a larger audience at the Abbey.

To listen in streaming audio, use the embedded player applet below. To download the talk as an MP3 file, click on the DivShare logo.

Enjoy!

The Unconscious in Buddhism and Jung

For the past four weeks, I've been immersed in a Shedra course at the Abbey on Yogacara ("Mind-Only") philosophy. In the 5th Century CE, Yogacara Buddhist philosophers asserted the existence of an unconscious dimension of mind called the "alaya-vijñāna," or the "storehouse" consciousness. This famous "eighth consciousness" has many features in common with the modern, Western psychological view of the unconscious as first developed by Sigmund Freud and clarified by Carl Jung.

My final presentation for the class looks at the similarities and differences between these two systems (ancient and modern) and their respective views of the unconscious mind -- particularly where Jung's psychology overlaps with the 1,500-year-old schematics of the Yogacara philosophers. For source material and analysis, I'm deeply indebted to William Waldron's scholarly paper on this topic.

Those Buddhist geeks who are interested in viewing a PDF of the presentation can download it here. Enjoy!