Kabbalah and Psychoanalysis
Now that Bion’s work is becoming more widely read and appreciated, growing interest has increasingly developed over his later work, which deals with mysticism. This new tack seems to represent a radical departure from his earlier, more conventionally scientific writings. The Hebrew Kabbalah was one of the principal mystical texts that captured Bion’s rapt interest in his attempt to align psychoanalytic concepts with strikingly parallel revelations in mystical writings. Michael Eigen has done an important service in presenting, on the one hand, his highly articulate and readily comprehensible rendition of Bion’s mystical venture into “Transformations in O”, “Faith in O”, and many other of Bion’s associated ideas, and their correlations in the Kabbalah. The result is admirable. Eigen is no stranger to psychoanalysis nor to mysticism, and this beautiful work shows it. I was pleased with his ease of demystifying mysticism in Bion and in the Kabbalah, We learn that each body of work deals with different surges in our daily emotional lives. This is a must-read book."Eigen is possessed by a dybbuk, perhaps he is a (gilgul) reincarnation of Rav Nachman, or perhaps Isaac Luria and Wilfred Bion share space within his soul, multiple-soul states that emerge to transform the seminar room into a Holy Shtiebel. Like a Chassidic Rebbi, Eigen dazzles his students and followers with personal gems of wisdom, mystical tales, and charming stories. He fills them with spirit, compassion and with love meant to heal their brokenness and help them survive the inevitable catastrophic condition of life."Michael Eigen, who in his previous writings opened windows to bold and thrilling connections between psychoanalysis and other methodologies, now lays out a brilliant link between Jewish mystical teachings (Kabbalah and Hassidism) and psychoanalytical theory. In this book as well, Eigen, in his unique way, interweaves a rational, intelligent and lucid analysis, with an empathetic listening to the longing heart. Here we have an extraordinary book that dares to draw parallels and show similar lines of thinking between the foundations of Lurianic Kabbalah, the Hassidic teaching of the Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Nachman from Bratslav and the most complex theories that psychoanalysis offers today: from Freud, Klein, Balint and Winnicott, to the depths of Bion."Michael Eigen’sKabbalah and Psychoanalysisis a passionate journey into the world of the soul, one that lives, breathes and renews the Kabbalistic spirit for our time. Eigen brings the Jewish mystics into dialog with the theory and practice of psychoanalysis in a manner that resonates with and transforms the reader’s own psyche and spirit.