Instructor: Bob Piller

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Jean Gebser, an early twentieth century cultural philosopher, and a contemporary and friend of Carl Jung, presents an amazing approach towards the understanding of consciousness in his magnum opus, The Ever-Present Origin.  Gebser’s work was not translated into English until 1985 and has yet to enjoy the recognition it deserves for its insightful presentation of how consciousness mutates toward its innate integrality.  In a pathway that is parallel, and at times paradoxical, to Jung’s route to individuation, Gebser challenges us to consider how our consciousness has mutated through eons of existence and questions how linear time now poses limitations to achieving a measure of wholeness.

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In this era of mental consciousness, we recognize the inclination to treat our physical bodies apart from our consciousness.  Here we will explore that inclination conceptually and scientifically, and unlock the door that keeps us from appreciating body and consciousness unity.  That exploration will become our underpinning as we consider how morality, the inner voice that informs conduct, relates to Jung’s “Self” and the energy of Gebserian integrality.

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In these sessions we will consider the ways that the physical body meets consciousness, the science of new biology and biocentrism, dualism and its supersession, and how the law of participation challenges causal-thinking.

To fully realize the relationship between body and consciousness, between-session exercises will offer a participatory opportunity to personally experience concepts discussed in the sessions.

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Prerequisites: Prior or concurrent participation in the "Gebser & Jung Seminar"

Before the first session, participants should have read:

Memories, Dreams, Reflections, a partial autobiography by Carl Jung and his associate, Aniela Jaffé, and

Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness, by Jeremy Johnson

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Readings:  Readings during the course will be limited to online articles and a few handouts.

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Supplementary Reading:  The Ever-Present Origin, Jean Gebser, [Part One, 1949. Part Two, 1953. English Translation by Noel Barstad with Algis Mikunas, 1985] Ohio University Press

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Learning Objectives:  On completion of this class, you will be able to:

1. Identify when human consciousness begins, how it relates to the physical body, and how both the body and consciousness are essential to transformation.

2. Grasp the ways that your senses interrelate with your entire physical body and with your experience of consciousness.

3. Summarize how the Jungian power and community archetypes and Gebserian integral consciousness inform the concept of wholeness, our ethics, responsibilities, and morality.

4. Understand how quantum physics and the new biology supersede the belief that mind/soul/consciousness excludes the physical body.

5. Describe biocentrism and assess its claim that the structure of the universe is explainable only through biocentrism.