C. G. Jung Society of the Triangle
 Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Programs: RACHAEL WOOTEN, Jungian Analyst

LECTURE: Friday, January 27, 2012 7:30 PM
WORKSHOP: Saturday, January 28, 2011, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
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updated 01/22/2012
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LECTURE & WORKSHOP: Green Tara: The Feminine Face of Enlightened Consciousness

Jung taught that the best way to help our children was to work with our own unconscious. Given Buddhist teachings on interdependence, what if the work we do on ourselves is also the legacy we leave the world?

Centuries before Freud coined the term “repletion compulsion,” and Jung developed his complex theory, Tibetan Buddhists noticed that humans have a tendency to be possessed by patterns that repeat lifetime after lifetime. They developed meditation techniques to dissolve entrenched “imprints” that might be harmful to ourselves or others. Archetypal images are at the center of the practices.

One such image is Green Tara, the beloved female buddha of Tibet. Tara has many emanations, which allow us to connect with widely varying aspects of enlightened feminine consciousness. Tara is often referred to as the “Mother of all the Buddhas.”

On Friday night, we’ll explore some similarities of Buddhist teachings and Jung’s teachings. Tara will be introduced through image, story and practice. On Saturday, we’ll expand on both the stories and teachings and experience a deeper level of practice.

 Click image to see larger view.

This image and the rights to reproduce it are the property of Rachael Wooten and the artist, Giovanna Silvani, and are protected by copyright law.
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2011-2012
WORKSHOP: Green Tara: The Feminine Face of Enlightenment Consciousness

The motif of the Great Mother begins with the first evidence of human expression, found in symbols on cave walls and sculpted into images. Tara and earlier female images in Tibetan Buddhism brought this motif into intricate teachings and meditation practices around 800-1200 CE. Together we’ll explore the experience of bringing the energy of the enlightened feminine directly into our mind/body/spirit continuum through visualization and the sound of mantra. What does it mean to us as women and men to contemplate Tara as our enlightened mother? How might this help all of us to relate differently to our complexes, release self-defeating patterns, or touch the wounds from our personal mother and society’s views of women? Our time together will be enriched by poetry, study, practice and of course, discussion! Both Jung and the Buddha taught the primacy of one’s own experience. And yet, our discussions allow us to deepen our experience through sharing with others.

RACHAEL WOOTEN,, Ph.D., is a North Carolina Jungian analyst and psychologist who has practiced psychotherapy for almost 35 years. She graduated from the Jung Institute in Zurich in 1999. For more than a decade, she has been teaching Tibetan Buddhist meditation, having received many Tara initiations over several years from her teacher, Lodro Tulku Rinpoche. Rachael assisted Lodro Rinpoche in translating the practices of the Twenty-one Taras from Tibetan into English. She is currently writing a book synthesizing the wisdom from these ancient practices with other wisdom traditions as well as current psychological practice.
A life-long feminist, Rachael has worked tirelessly on behalf of women through community organizing, her therapy practice, spiritual life and teaching, writing and political action.


Fees, Location & Maps, CEU’s (click here)