thoughts on art and healing from satish kumar
From the Indian point of view, soul is inside you, and you are inside the soul of the world. It is not one or the other; it is not either-or.
When you are healing yourself, you are also healing anima mundi, because the anima mundi and the soul inside you are not two separate entities. You are part of the anima mundi and anima mundi is part of you.
I totally agree with Hillman’s proposition that psychotherapy has been too much engaged, almost obsessed, with the inner psyche, rather than seeing that you cannot heal the individual psyche unless you have a healing world outside you. So you can go on not only for a hundred years of psychotherapy, but you can have the next five hundred years of psychotherapy, and people will still be sick and ill, because the individual psyche cannot be separated from the communal, social, and universal psyche. That’s why art in India is also a healing of society … when we contribute something, it is not for our own ego-satisfaction, not for our ego-boost, but it is so that this great flow of art and architecture and poetry and music and paintings continues. Our contribution is in the flow of art started by many, many great artists …
Mr. Kumar was interviewed by Suzi Gablik. The interview was published in her collection, Conversations Before the End of Time : Thames & Hudson, 1995. Excerpted from pages 142 and 143.
i believe that there is only one psyche – or as i see it, one mind. however, if it is accepted that the nature of the mind is dualistic, then the mind cannot be healed. that’s assuming that “healed” = lack of conflict or peace.
real healing comes from the acceptance of the mind as it is. and then we all become observers instead of participants.
the question then becomes, “who am i?”