“Where Are We Really Going? Always Home”: Thomas Merton and Hermann Hesse

AbstractIn 1968 Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, made a journey to the Far East to study Eastern monastic religions. Merton’s contemplative prayer life was enhanced by his literary imagination, which was fueled by the reading of a broad spectrum of novelists and poets. During his trip eastward, Thomas Merton read three Hermann Hesse novels and recorded notes in his journal regarding two of them:Journey to the EastandSteppenwolf. This essay examines Thomas Merton’s enigmatic quotations and observations about the two aforementioned novels within the context of each of the respective volumes. Further clarification of Merton’s notes is rendered through a presentation in parallel fashion of other journal entries and recorded conferences made by the monk primarily during his eastward journey. The discussion ofJourney to the Eastreflects Thomas Merton’s own spiritual quest as he traveled to Asia revealing his attraction to the “feminine mystique” as well as his sharing of both Hesse’s disdain for the herd instinct of illusory communities and his alternative portrayal of enlightened communes seeking aesthetic excellence. As Merton readSteppenwolf, he identified with Harry Haller’s propensity for self-contradiction and a tendency to vacillate between the polarities of holding the bourgeoisie at arm’s length and his eventual compromise with the conventions of the bourgeois society.

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Active imagination, extraversion, cross-culture: Guan Yin and Chinese divination

Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in China ◽

10.33212/ppc.v3n2.2020.278 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 278-288

Author(s):

Marta Tibaldi

Keyword(s):

Chinese Women ◽

Far East ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Active Imagination ◽

Cross Culture ◽

Cultural Phenomenon ◽

The Far East ◽

Real Presence ◽

The Feminine ◽

The One

In the Far East, Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, is the one who "listens to the cries of the world". Depicted by gigantic white statues, she is the feminine personification of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and represents an archetypal figure dear to Chinese women and men. In Hong Kong and in Taipei, Taiwan, she is consulted by throwing two moon blocks or ritual sticks according to the rules of Chinese divination. The goddess is a real presence who acts in a real way: when questioned, she answers, defying a synchronistic and extraverted field of knowledge and meaning. The author highlights the importance of approaching in a cross-cultural, sensitive way, such a slippery cultural phenomenon as the use of divination in that part of China, investigating a possible parallelism between this form of dialogue with the goddess Guan Yin and the Jungian method of active imagination. Developing a cross-cultural sensibility towards Chinese divinatory practices as Chinese clients do in their country, without either prejudicially declaring them superstition or considering them as a form of magic, can have transformative effects both on Eastern and Western imagery. In the case of Chinese people, this sensibility develops the ability to examine, psychologically, a phenomenon whose deeper meaning often remains unconscious. In the case of Westerners, this sensibility creates an experience of active imagination in extraverted form. In both cases, when approached from a Jungian perspective, the Chinese divinatory practice leads to experiencing the transformative reality of the extraverted and synchronistic imaginal action.

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Military Service and Adventures in the Far East

10.1017/cbo9781139178747 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Henry Mackinnon

Keyword(s):

Military Service ◽

Far East ◽

The Far East

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Is there a regional culture in Russia? Opportunities of using a sociocultural approach in economics

Voprosy Ekonomiki ◽

10.32609/0042-8736-2020-7-108-126 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 108-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

V. A. Bryzgalin ◽

Е. N. Nikishina

Keyword(s):

Far East ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Regional Culture ◽

Russian Regions ◽

Geographical Patterns ◽

Cross Cultural Differences ◽

The Far East ◽

Sociocultural Approach ◽

Critical Issues ◽

Russian Universities

The paper investigates cross-cultural differences across Russian regions using the methodology of G. Hofstede. First, it discusses the most common approaches in measuring culture and the application of the Hofstede methodology in subnational studies. It identifies the critical issues in measuring culture at the regional level and suggests several strategies to address them. Secondly, the paper introduces subregional data on individualism and uncertainty avoidance using a survey of students across 27 Russian universities. The data allow to establish geographical patterns of individualism in Russia. It is demonstrated that collectivism is most prevalent in the Volga region, while individualism characteristic becomes stronger towards the Far East. The findings are robust to the inclusion of various controls and different specifications of the regression model. Finally, the paper provides a discussion about the potential of applying the sociocultural approach in economics.

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