ABSTRACT
Wilfred Bion’s concept of O presents the analyst with such a paradoxical dilemma, for while the reality of O is unknowable, Bion makes it clear that this unknowable reality is the essential perspective in clinical work. Bion clearly related O to mystical states of mind, and this is the main source of controversy and confusion about his work. Bion clearly views religion as an illusion, while the mystical view is an experience of higher truth. At-one-ment with O describes the experience of being; whose source is an experience of primitive mental states. But again, the infant’s at-one-ment with his experience lacks a capacity mentally to dream about and give meaning to the experience. The criticism of O as religious is debunked by Bion’s statement that the tendency to view religious feeling as supernatural may simply reflect “a lack of experience of the ‘natural’ to which it relates”.
