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306 SPIRIT AND THE MIND
mystic traditions went deeper still and aimed at uniting the centaur and the cosmos to reveal a Supreme Identity, a “cosmic consciousness,” as Bucke’s rather far-out phrase has it.3
Wilber makes an important distinction between ego psychology and the humanistic-existential psychologies in defining what he calls the centaur stage, the union of human-mind and animal-body. But just what is this “body” which, when integrated with the ego, persona and shadow, allows for deeper experience of self? It is not the physical body—nor even the emotional body, as the integration of these elements have always been the aim of traditional medicine and psychology.
It is their appreciation, albeit limited, of the more subtle prana energy and/or the 4th chakra that differentiates the humanistic- existential therapies from the others. They are aware of the importance of the kinds of body work, such as Rolfing, acupuncture and yoga, which bring consciousness in touch with the subtle prana energy; and that prana affects the opening of man’s heart, his deeper human experience—his 4th chakra associated with the higher human qualities of compassion, caring, self-sacrifice, selfless service and the yearning to lead a good and just life.
But even the humanistic-existentialist movement’s understanding is still quite limited as to the dynamics of transcendence of chakra 4. It is precisely here that yoga, with its healing and energizing effects on body, emotions, and mind; and its understanding of the origin, evolution and dynamics of prana energy—as well as the interrelationship among prana, kundalini, the chakras, and consciousness-raising—it is here that yoga can bring a whole new dimension of understanding to Western psychology.
Wilber turns his attention to the understanding of the dynamics of transcendence and adds understanding to the complex problem of the transcendence of chakra 4—which he calls the Apollo complex:
. . . the most significant and widespread complex today is not the Oedipus complex—or difficulty transforming from body to mind—but what we might call the Apollo complex—a difficulty in transforming from mind to soul, or from personal, mental, egoic realms to transpersonal, subtle, and supraegoic realms. The Vishnu


































































































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