ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relationship between Jungian psychology and meditation. It summarizes the different forms of research in these areas to date, and offer avenues for collaborative research on meditation as both a personal and therapeutic practice using Analytical Psychology tools. Meditation, however conceived, has been a part of almost all recorded contemplative and mystic traditions. From the famous bas-relief of the yogis of the Indus Valley to Taoist texts and Mayan figures, to the Greek and pre-Greek traditions, there is evidence of an applied reflective process arising in different parts of the world for at least 2,500 years. The Jungian hermeneutic is an emergent-field theory of interaction with a particular goal of its own. There are many ways to describe this goal, but in general Jungian methods allow the analyst/analysand dyad to investigate autonomous images for the purpose of reducing neurotic suffering and potentially to allow the transformation of the whole personality.
