jungiana. a meeting with jung.pdf

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Jungiana: A Meeting with JungAuthor(s): Arnold R. LewisSource: The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1 (May 2001), pp. 69-72Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.on behalf of The C.G. Jung Institute of San FranciscoStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jung.1.2001.20.1.69.

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ungi nA Meeting with Jung.By Arnold R. Lewis

On April 5, 1956, I picked up the phonc in my Zurich,Switzcrland, hotel r 111 and called the office/honlc of therenowned psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in suburban Kusnacht.This ,vas an exceedingly bold step on n1Y part, and I ll confesshaving had serious doubts about the odds for success in 111Inission. I was in the middle of tour ing Europe, the Holy Landand Egypt, enroute frolll Brazil to the U.S., and thought itInight be worth the ga111blc to see whether Dr. Tung wouldle t Inc interview hinl. In Brazil, I had rccently cOlnpleted fiveyears as an educational missionary, having taught philosophy,English and religion, and been the chaplain at a Methodistcollcge in Pass Fundo, Rio Grande do SuI.

Dr. Tung s secretary answered the phone, and \vhen I toldher ,,,,ho I ,vas and what I wanted, she said, I shall ask him.I waited for what was probably two minutes, though it seelnedlike two years. Upon returning, she announced, Yes, Dr. Jungwill see yOll at his oHlce tOlnorrow morning at ten.

Those words became some of the happiest ones I ve everheard, and you need not wonder about my showing lip at teno clock. But earlier, at the book store downtown y the trainstation, I purchased one of his books, Ps) chologie und Reli lJionin the hope that he would autograph it.

Arriving at the entrance of his house, I noticed the Latinmotto posted there in the form of a plaque for which he wasb111 11S It read: eVocatus atque non pocatus eus aderit Invited or not invited, God will be present. [ his aphorism todaymay be found on the shelves of my Jung library in Iny Cali-

The Sail Francisco lung Illstitute Library jOllmal, Vol. 20, No.1 , 2001 69

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fornia h0l11C. It is alongside a picture of Dr. Jung thc way Ifondly renleillber hilll.

Upon be ing ushered into his oUlce, I t a dignitled, yetsnliling and genial gentlenlan who i111nlediatcly put at easc,which I needed. 50011 began my first question: Dr. Jung, \vhyam I hcre, that is, you are a \vodd tIgure whereas rill a veryordinary person; how conle you lc t mc in? His reply camequickly: Because you are a missionary, and I never before havemet a missionary.

I asked Dr. Jung i f he ,,,,auld autograph his book. He very,villingl)' did so, inscribing it to e with the date. I wantedthis in order to prove forever to any doubters that this 111eetinghad taken place. This book reposes in a bank safe deposit box.My host inquired why I had bought it in Gernlan and notEnglish. I assured him that it was in order to have it exactlyin the fornl he had written it, and not to need to rely uponS0111eone else s t ranslat ion or interpretat ion. This apparentlysatistled him. We conversed in English, the sinlple reason beingthat his comnland of English was far superior to my German.

As \ve continued, I reported that fronl reading l11any ofhis works I knew that he was a man of rel igious faith. So I askedhim to assunle with e that there is another life beyond thisone. I thcn posed this question to him: If you were given achoice initially, to talk. with anyone from all history, with whomwould you prcfer to spend, let s say, thc tIrst thousand years,tinlC not being a factor of any kind?

He paused a l1l0ment before responding, I d probablyselect the old Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato andAristotle. Thcn he added, I would have several questions alsott Immanuel Kant. 'VVe both knew that Kant ,;vas and isacclaimed by l11any thinkers as the outstanding philosopher ofthe past 200 years. At this point, Dr. Jung intcrruptcd hinlsdfby admitting, 1 111 sorry. I should have said that, before looking up any of them, I d first want to see my dear wife againand talk a lot with her

At this precise 1110nlent I telt that my primary objectivehad been accomplished. vVhy? Because that question which Ihad posed is a searching one, and Jung s response told mesome things about hilll that I could not have hoped to learnin any other way. It gave nle an insight as to his own real self,and provided a wealth of infor111ation as to his decpest intcr-

70 Arnold R. Lewis rcc.llls

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not ask for 1,000 years to talk with him again. Rather, I d settlefor 1,000 hours, instead of the one he granted Ine in Zurich.

Being a 111issionary is extremely re\varding in itself but itbecame an unforeseen and precious perk when it allowed meto lneet an eminent person nlainly because he d never beforeencountered anyone else from n Y profession. could haveremained longer with him, and would have enjoyed doing sobut did not wish to take advantage of his wonderful hospitality.He in1pressed deeply as one of the most personable andgracious individuals I ve ever had the honor of meeting any-where . Dr. Jung lived exactly five years and two months afterour intervie\\ of April 6, 1956. He died at the age of nearly86, still convinced that exploration of the psyche is the scienceof the future. (Violet Staub de Laszlo cd. h asic WritingsDIG G ung New York Modern Library 1993, page 453ff)

72 Arnold R. Lewis recalls A Meeting with lung

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jungiana. a meeting with jung.pdf

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