Page 184 - Microsoft Word - SPIRIT AND THE MIND.doc

164 SPIRIT AND THE MIND
chiatrists. Respected as one of the most talented psychoanalysts in Detroit, his exciting case conferences had opened my awareness to the importance of unconscious forces at work in the personality. Dressed always in a formal suit and handling himself with a certain regal elegance, he looked so proper and so in control at these case presentations. Once he had brought a leather attache case to a teaching conference, one corner of which had been badly mauled and chewed by his new puppy. I was glad to see this sign of humanness in someone who seemed a bit remote.
Dr. S. remembered me and we met with a smile. He had been treating two Indian patients in psychoanalysis. They reported experiences in meditation that he couldn’t quite understand. “There was something more there than meets the eye,” he said—”either something cultural or a subtle intrapsychic phenomenon that I don’t quite grasp. I hope to learn something on this trip.”
“You have a great chance to do just that,” I replied, “and observe something about man’s inner dimensions seldom recorded in all of history—and something very profound and deep about Indian spirituality as well. This is the most fascinating area of investigation you could find. It has much relevance to psychoanalysis and our understanding of psychodynamics.”
I tried to explain the meaning of an Avatar—and the conversation seemed to deteriorate until I looked like a babbling religious fanatic. I remembered being interviewed by Dr. S. when I was applying for psychiatric training at Sinai Hospital in Detroit. Thank God I passed those interviews then, because based on this brief exchange, I’m sure he would have flunked me now. At any rate, I left saying, “You’ve got to come. You can’t imagine what you’d see about man’s inner life—and our vast capabilities. I promise, you won’t be sorry.” But he didn’t come.
Only four people out of about 70 wanted to see Sai Baba. Although small in number, they were big in spirit—and very talented people indeed. Realizing that even if a fraction of what I was saying was true, they knew that seeing Sai Baba was more important than going the next day on a trip to the Taj Mahal.
Dr. J. and his wife B.J. were active in the bioenergetic movement in the United States. This approach had also interested me prior to my meeting Baba, and had led me towards yoga. Dr. J. was beginning to