Descending into the Indeterminate State between the Determinate

Abstract

When Jung received the manuscript of the Taoist-alchemical treatise entitled The Secret of the Golden Flower from Richard Wilhelm he realized what his drawings of mandalas meant and received confirmation of his theories about the Self. At the same time, Jung realized that he had encountered ‘the East’ within, as he was digging into the depths of his own psyche. Today, thanks to the publication of The Red Book (RB) and Memories, Dreams, Reflections (MDR), we can understand that through that process, Jung held dialogues with the dead. This is considered to mean that he had contact with the world of death to reach another culture—the East. Yama argues that the indeterminate state between the determinate culture and another is chaotic and uncertain, a space which may possibly lead to the world of death. Nowadays, amongst rapid globalization, many people from diverse backgrounds have opportunities to encounter different cultures for various reasons, sometimes out of interest and sometimes out of necessity. In some cases, but not all, individuals simply step across into the other culture without the experience of ‘descending into the depth,’ as Jung had. Yama explores Jung’s inner journey and his childhood memories from the view of what was taking place while he was moving symbolically from the West to the East. For further exploration of the life of someone who is destined to live between different cultures, Yama introduces a Japanese old folk tale and presents clinical material, as well as her personal experience as one who spent her adolescence outside of her native culture.