Prometheus, Chiron and the ex-BK as the Wounded Healer

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is honored chiefly for stealing fire from the Great God Zeus and giving it to mortals for their use.

For this transgression, Zeus ordered that Prometheus be chained to a mountain crag above the pit of Tartaros for eternity. On each day that followed, an eagle would come and eat his liver. Since Prometheus was immortal, his liver always regenerated, and so he was left to bear this horrible pain every daily.

Prometheus is commonly depicted in myth as an intelligent and cunning figure who had sympathy for humanity; today, the term "Promethean" is used to describe people who are connected with great creativity, intellect, and boldness.

Prometheus (foresight) together with his Brother, Epimetheus (hindsight) carried out the plan to bring light and warmth to the world defying the control freak Zeus, the archetypal dysfunctional Father. True to his name, Prometheus, anticipated that Zeus would discover their transgression and warned Epimetheus to be careful of anything unusual that may take place.

Zeus did discover their conniving and devised a trap. He created a woman and he sent her with a 'gift'. Her name was Pandora and forgetting the warnings of his Brother, Epimetheus opened the jar and let loose on our world all the things that make it the terrible, ambiguous place it is. Zeus refused to release Prometheus from his chains unless another Immortal could be found to complete his suffering. But in so doing, that Immortal would also relinquish his immortality.

The savour turned out to be Chiron, a Centaur, who descended into Hades to completed Prometheus's suffering. Chiron died but was then resurrected and immortalized in the heavens as the constellation, Centaurus. The Centaurs were wild but wise and famed healers, half-man, half-horse (and if you take Chiron and Prometheus to be one and same person, we can see a clear parable to the later mythology of Jesus Christ, himself a Wounded Healer).

Chiron journeys to both the Underworld (Hades) and Olympus (home of the Gods). His wound is what enables him to travel between the human world, the Underworld, and the Divine world. He walks in everyday visible life and the invisible (the worlds of Spirit and Soul), adept both in the ways of this world, and the next.

In alchemy, and psychotherapy, the symbolic transformation of Prometheus is bound together with the idea of Chiron as 'The Wounded Healer'.

In many ways, I would argue, the ex-BK and their obsession with picking at their wound (or unpicking BKWSU mental conditioning), is very much following the archetypal path of the "Wounded Healer" ... seeking the cure for other from the poisioned arrows that have cause them pain. Stealing the light, or fire, from the gods of the BKWSU (both exposing the Brahma Kumaris and empowering lowly humanity or their following) is part of that healing process that will gain the Promethian ex-BK their final liberation.

It is also nice to be reminded that the Western spiritual tradition has intricate tools of understand that have great value and beauty ... having lived out of the trash cans of Brahma Kumari Hinduism-lite™ for such a long time.

From 'Chiron and Prometheus', one might be guided to explore the concepts of the 'Puer and the Senex'.

Prometheus.jpg (32.05 KiB) Viewed 9545 times

nice to be reminded that the Western spiritual tradition has intricate tools of understanding that have great value and beauty ...

That was exactly my experience as I worked my way out of the BK paradigm. It is the path I have taken, studied and developed, and now teach others when I can in workshops etc. It's what I meant about working just as hard to develop a new paradigm as we did as BKs doing all those years of "churning" and "effort making". No matter what the the consciousness, it is the iceberg that floats on the ocean of the mythos. It is moved by its currents. You have to work long and deep to affect those.

Nice to see you working into this area. The language of myth and the language of dreams are related.

The myth is the dream of the collective. The dream is the myth of the individual.

Neitzche's first volume was called "The Birth of Tragedy" - an exploration of the times and culture that led to the creation of tragedy as a theatrical form. In essence, he noted that in earlier times, the hero was idealised, deified, usually a progeny of one of the gods. In that earlier time, Apollo and Dionysus were not known.

Tragedy when it began, was the exploration of the human frailty of the hero, often the virtue or strength of the hero was that which also led to his downfall, or he had a weakness that undermined everything else (often failing to honour, or even insulting, one of the gods. As each god represents an aspect of existence, if one 'god' is ignored/insulted, this means that one area of life is. It is this imbalance that leads to suffering or death).

The appearance of this concept in the arts coincided with the appearance/increasing prominence of the two Brothers Apollo and Dionysus and their stories. The conclusion is that new "gods", new concepts or beliefs appear as consciousness reaches a new level of sophistication, and stories, arts etc are created as it tries to get a handle on it. The mythos then sends forth its influence and the logos then starts to finally do some work on it, using rationality, civil society and other structures to keep the newly recognised areas in check.

I hope that brief summary makes sense. I could write an essay on this subject - thousands have. That's why the classics are called the classics!

The genius of the early Greeks, and what separates the Western Hellenic tradition from the Eastern, is that belief and superstition were overcome. The gods were blatantly challenged by men. "Man is the measure of all things", said Protagoras. Their myths, legends and actions were to refuse to accept what was "god given" or withheld (as in the story of Prometheus), the Egyptians, Babylonians, Hindus etc never did that.

Christ is one mythic hero with direct antecedents to Prometheus. Joseph Campbell's landmark work, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" was influenced by, and further influenced, Carl Jung's work on the collective unconscious. It is a study that shows the same stories emerge in different cultures and places as they reach certain levels of sophistication and development. It focuses on the Hero stories of each culture, showing there is a pattern or template, like a psychological genetic code, that gives rise to the same stories. Most movies, novels, also follow this pattern or a part of it.

The page below summarises it. The diagram and journey also parallels the individual's story. Above the line is our waking ego consciousness, below the line is the unconscious, where the real battles take place. You can think of characters and place their stories here, or think of episodes in your life. The most dangerous place is the border crossing, It's one thing getting "down" there, another to get back. Many have fallen.

The point is - we each have to take the journey, no one else's journey will lead us to individuation. Nor should the journey be "owned" by one person who then imposes it on others who are yet to travel (like one who seeks followers/adherents). Such do not really understand.

BTW if you identify with Prometheus, who will be your Chiron?

I suspect the right answer is that my and every ex-BK's wise healer Chiron is part of themselves, not the Murlis or a disincarnate spirit, and these archetype offer us a way forward. Chiron ran with the Centaurs, half-human/half-horse mythological beasts. On one level, they are said to symbolise the balancing of the human part of us and the animal or instinctual; but, on another more simple level, they were wild and caurousing. I would suggest to many ex-BK that this is exactly what they need to do to get over the pain of picking at their wound ... and they have been wounded ... go a little wild, get into nature, get in touch with their instincts again, run free but really study this time ... even party. Those are all centaurian activities.

I think most of us would agree that "the path" is your own path, not Lekhraj Kirpalani's or Dadi Gulzar's, and a lot of the problem in Gyan start from having Hindu Bhakti beaten into us in order to have it beaten out again ... For those of us that have evolved through the Western tradition, we really ought to study and value the insights offered by the Western classics not just as 'psychological archetypes' but as near literal road maps of the soul and plans of actions.

A basic understanding of the psychological archetypes, and the relationships between them presented, within the Greek classics, astrology and the tarot, Western mythology like the legends of Arthur are good starters ... Christian symbolism such as The Stations of the Cross or The Pilgrim's Progress are equally valid ... so are the branches of the Sephiroth. It is no big deal ... just as simple as knowing the highway code for the road you drive on. One of the reasons we were roadkill in the BKWSU is that we did NOT know the roadmaps to 1930s Karachi.

When one is hurt or wounded, there is the tendency to think, "this is it, I am is suffering and it will go on forever". That is Prometheus's fate for challenging the Gods of Mount Abu ... But understanding the archetype of Chiron, "the wounded healer", one is given hope and can see there is a divine purpose to this. In overcoming the wound, one become the healer and help others ... and as I mentioned Arthurian legendry, I will throw out again the archetype of "The Fisher King" for folks to Google too.

I suspect the right answer is that my and every ex-BK's wise healer Chiron is part of themselves,

Although I asked it in jest, just after posting the question and logging off for the night, I realised that of course is the answer!

They are said to symbolise the balancing of the human part of us and the animal or instinctual; but, on another more simple level, they were wild and caurousing

The wild and carousing, as I understand it, is that they cannot drink wine without going mad. The centaur is the symbol for Sagittarius as in "the sage". Artificial intoxication is the enemy of sagacity (toxic). They were already 'high' in their being - like any animal. They do not have the duality of modern humans who need artificial drugs or methods etc to "re-connect" with that other level.

They were said to know the ways of herbs etc. One idea is they were a horse riding people that left, and their legend remained (the early Greeks used chariots, not horseback). I have an intuition that they may have been the last remnants of the Neanderthal tribes (hairier bodies, wilder feature, possibly swifter, different knowledge).

The evidence to hand suggest Neanderthals lasted till around 25,000 BC. The legends of centaurs go back to before written history, which began about 5000 BC. Either way, they were not town dwellers, they were a link to an older earthier wisdom. The image of a combined animal/man arises just when man is evolving duality of consciousness, i.e. mind/body, now/then, life/death which distinguishes him from animal. So the two concepts exist, and the sense of duality, and so the need to reconcile emerges from the unconscious/mythos.

we really ought to study and value the insights offered by the Western classics not just as 'psychological archetypes' but as near literal road maps of the soul and plans of actions

I agree, but they are not competing alternatives -to my way of thinking,change "not just" to "as both. "... We really ought to study and value the insights offered by the Western classics as both 'psychological archetypes' and as near literal road maps ...". It was the parallels that changed modern psychology, anthropology, fiction writing theory and so on ... even Hollywood hardly puts out a major film without running it past someone with a background in Jung or Campbell etc. Hindu (and all) mythology offers the same - if viewed through that glass. It carries the same messages.

But the gods turn to lifeless stone when they are externalised, and will need to be replaced. As people look outside themselves (market demand means) gurus and teachers appear with their own explanations, associating themselves with the power of the symbols they usurp, and create their own mythology - part of which connects to the collective (stirring one god or other out of its slumber), and part of which distinguishes theirs as a unique "truth".

The funny thing is that I was into all this before "Gyan" - I used it to rationalise my way into it, otherwise it did not make sense. I had only a little real life experience before, and BKism is an experience alright! I had to go full circle, and pick up where I left off.

"Mythology is what you call the other person's religion" - Joseph Campbell

I feel that many of the voices I read on this forum are in fact wounded healers. As I understand this concept, one’s ability to reach out and heal others comes from one’s own wounding and the work one has done to heal one’s own wounds. This, of course, is true very broadly in human experience, with any and all kinds of woundings.

I have learned a lot from reading the many people and voices brave enough to speak on this forum, to untangle their own wounds, feelings and confusion; to ask deep spiritual and societal questions that are incredibly personal and incredibly universal all at the same time. This forum helped me immensely in untangling my feelings about my friend and the BK, long before I ever registered and posted here.

I do not have the in-depth knowledge of mythology that you, Terry and ex-l have, but it seems to me that the wounded healer as an archetype appears in many places – those who decorate their wounds, those who ride their wounds into battle, those who forge their wounds into weapons. I believe it was James Hillman who spoke of the soul engineering its own wound to fulfill its purpose in this life on earth.

I do not necessarily believe this from a literal point of view – because I feel we travel a mix of what our own will (or ego) determines, combined with the circumstances of the world we are born into and travel through, along with perhaps a dose of pre-destiny. However, there is a powerful truth metaphorically (if not literally) to the idea of our soul engineering its wound to fulfill its purpose in this life.

I feel that the example this forum has created (of people who have been through the intense experience of BK, found the courage to walk through the difficulties of leaving, discussing and sharing for their own healing and clarity, and the clarity and healing of others) may be an example for others walking through their own wounds and healing, perhaps way more broadly than only those who have been part of Brahma Kumaris.

I believe it was James Hillman who spoke of the soul engineering its own wound to fulfill its purpose in this life on earth.

In Hinduism there is the archetypal story of an incarnation of Lord Shiva who became blue throated by swallow a deadly poison. The poison Halahala (most vicious and venomous poison) was so deadly that even a drop in HIS stomach would have annihilated the entire world. I underline it within our ex-BK context as having consumed poison he saved the world from destruction. "Destruction" is the Brahma Kumari's term for the "End of the World".

Yes, I have heard that idea and I accept there is true to it. The idea is that on a "soul level" we chose to take upon ourself some sort of suffering or illusion in order to defeat or find a cure for it and then help others cure it. One enters the "enemy's camp" in order to defeat them. The idea is concurrent with the theories (and practise) of the alchemist and healing schools where they would literally do that on a physical level ... get sick to get better.

To outsiders, such as sociologists and academics, Brahma Kumarism might seem perfectly benign if a little nutty and over demanding. It is not the most obvious wrong or evil in the world. A little bit of light fraud here and there is not the worst sin on the planet, even putting to waste the adult lives of 100,000s of followers is not that bad in comparison to the Pogroms, Witchhunts or the march of Nazidom or so-called communism.

But ... I will not say it is not the "worst" in the world because we have not seen it run its course yet. If "its course" included inspiring politicians and scientists to let off nuclear weapons in the future as the chanelled entity claims ... then it may well become just that. Even if they were only to start a war between India and Pakistan it would be bad enough.

Satanism ... ritual child abuse ... even human sacrifice is one thing. Nuclear holocausts are on quite another scale.

Personally, I feel now as if I can on a philosophical level, and relatively safely, "boot up" a Brahma Kumari state of mind in a "virtual" state (virtualization to use a computer term or metaphor); look at it, explore it, weigh it against other materials, come out with Brahma-Kumarisms ... and then shut it down afterwards. I cannot nor would not want to do so of "the experience". This is what makes me cautious of other so-called "ex-BKs" that leave the path and yet still dabble with, or even sell "the experience". I would advise others to be so likewise.

I am not doubting universal spiritual states of consciousness or experiences at all. I wish I knew more of them, what they specifically are and how to switched them on and off. I just think that looked closely enough at Brahma-Kumarism, or "BK consciousness", has become something slightly different and nuanced ... poisoned in other words. In the myth, the poison was created when the demons and demi-gods churned the Ocean of Milk.

The poison are the psychic influences that adherents open themselves to, or are encouraged to open themselves to unknowingly, that actually have quite different agendas from what it says on the label. To taste that ... one has to drink deeply with a clear palate and compare it against other "wines".

In the story of Shiva, it was his wife Parvati that grabbed his throat to stop him swallowing the poison. I will leave it to the psychoanalysts to offer a suggest of what Shiva and Parvati symbolized (anima, animus perhaps ... the male and female present in the lingum and yoni etc) but the other great "wounded healer" story is the "Fisher King" from the Arthurian legends. More of which later.

BTW, none of this stuff is really considered seriously or given much weight in the BKWSU ... all you get is Murli and "Dadi's classes" and "don't think, don't ask too many questions", examples of which are in the Library section. The rest is just designed to suck people in and shut them up so the mediumship stuff can go on.

Shiva (called Shankar in the BKWSU) and Parvati

shivalinga.jpg (23.31 KiB) Viewed 9177 times