Jim Manganiello is a depth psychologist, author and teacher. He has worked in the depth psychology and Dzogchen psychology traditions for more than thirty years. His pioneering work has won acclaim because of its power to help people heal, grow, thrive and live what really matters in life.
INDIVIDUATION PSYCHOLOGY
Gradual Path, discover who you truly are, in time—depth psychology. Immediate Path, discover who you truly are, beyond time—Dzogchen psychology.
Individuation Psychology, BOTH.
DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY
Depth psychology and depth therapy are unique because they focus on the higher development of our personality—i.e., individuation. "Individuation," is a process of inner development, a process that frees us from conditioning so we can connect to and live from who we truly are.
Much of what we think, feel and do is driven by unconscious forces, forces conditioned by family, culture and circumstance. Our conditioned mind conceals and separates us from our innermost core. It leads us into identification with a surface identity that leaves us cut off from our deeper mind and soul And so often unhappy and unfulfilled.
While in our surface identity, our persona, we are locked into a false self-image we mistakenly think of as "I or "me." As we individuate, we become more aware and more conscious. Then we can open this lock and break free. And the conditioned patterns and programs that drive most of our problems and confusion weaken and drop off naturally.
DZOGCHEN PSYCHOLOGY
Our problems can become doors into our mind's deepest nature.. My work uses dreams, images, active imagination, contemplative practices and experiential methods, some drawn from Dzogchen psychology, Dzogchen is a word that refers to our primordial nature, to the very essence of who we are. We don't need to create or develop our primordial nature, it's wired in.to our mind's innermost core. But we do need to know how to find, recognize and realize it. Dzogchen psychology is about learning how to find and then regularly refresh the direct experience of our true nature. So our connection to it becomes clear, strong and stable. Then we can stop living life as a waking dream.
THE PRIVILEGE OF A LIFETIME
The celebrated depth psychologist C.G. Jung said that the "privilege of a lifetime" is becoming who we truly are. But most people don't understand what he meant. To claim and enjoy this privilege, we must go through a "second awakening". When we get up in the morning we're "awake", but not truly "conscious". We imagine we are conscious, but when we observe carefully, we find that we spend a lot of time moving in and out of Waking Dreams. We all have unique patterns and programs of thought that recur in our mindstream that feed and define our waking dreams..
When we follow this river of thought, we become swept up in their narrative and story,. As if they are real But they're not. These waking dreams then define our reality. This is no different from a nighttime dream that feels so very real, until we become aware and realize we're dreaming. Most of us spend a great deal of time distracted by waking dreams, without being aware of it. As we do the inner work needed to individuate, we start "waking up," on a higher level. Only then can we realize that in our core, we are part of a sacred Mystery.
INDIVIDUATION: AWARENESS AND CONSCIOUSNESS
When we wake up from a night dream, we become aware we were dreaming. And we quickly break free from the dream's storyline. We move into a higher level of consciousness. No need to look under the bed for the dream monster who was just chasing us. The same thing can happen a second time, again and again, in our daily life. Becoming conscious and "waking up" is a joyful process. Waking dreams keep us unconsciously distracted from what's really going on, and from our true nature.
We can learn to become more aware, conscious and present, and at ease—in our unconditioned nature. That changes everything. Because we can finally shed our false identity like a lobster who breaks out of a shell too small for who she really is..