In this recording, Franklin Merrell-Wolff and Rao Garabedian discuss the general question of the relationship between the psyches of man and woman. They start by considering two questions posed by Wolff: (1) Was there a natural disaster in the fifteenth century B.C. that destroyed a matriarchal society in the Aegean? and (2) Did this society influence the development of European (and more generally, Western) culture?  Their discussion touches on the existence of matriarchal societies, women in mathematics, bhakti yoga, and Wolff’s need for an anima connection to produce his work. Wolff concludes with a statement that he views feminine and masculine psyches as of “equal modulus”—that is, as equivalent in a complementary sense.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses three approaches to understanding the “wrongness” in the world. He next presents a brief overview of the story of Western philosophy and the search for metaphysical knowledge. He then describes his “Copernican” shift from the ego to the true Self that was followed by a still more comprehensive Realization—that of “Consciousness-without-an-object-and-without-a-subject.”

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues his discourse challenging the Jungian concept of the unconscious by questioning whether Jung considers his conception of the unconscious to be essentially unconscious in itself or unconscious from the perspective of the relative, subject-object consciousness. He proceeds to distinguish his view that Consciousness is the fundamental constitutive element from which the universe is derived from the predominant view in the West, which regards the universe as essentially independent of consciousness. Wolff goes on to discuss the conception of Absolute Consciousness as it is described in The Secret Doctrine—a Consciousness that is not identical with the subject-object consciousness that stands in contrast to unconsciousness, but is a sort of blend of that dichotomy. He affirms that this other way of Consciousness is not a speculative idea and that it can be known through Introceptual Realization; however, for one in whom the introceptual function of cognition is not active, he suggests that it can be approached in the mathematical spirit by entertaining its possibility in a postulational sense. Wolff then states the first fundamental postulate in his philosophy—Consciousness is original, self-existent, and constitutive of all things—and contrasts its meaning with that of the materialistic prejudice of Western philosophy, psychology, and science. He concludes by raising the question of accepting the nirvanic withdrawal from this suffering sangsaric domain or of working to so transform this domain that it may also be redeemed.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff presents a discourse challenging the Jungian concept of the unconscious. He summarizes his previous critique of Jung’s identification of the intellect with the devil, and proceeds to address a number of questions raised by Jung in The Integration of the Personality concerning the nature of the unconscious. Wolff objects to Jung’s view of Samadhi as equivalent to an unconscious state; he also does not accept Jung’s use of the term ‘unconscious’ as referring to a state that is in itself unconscious, but rather maintains that that which is unconscious from one state of consciousness may be realized while in that state as another way of consciousness. He then expresses his objection to Jung’s characterization of the Realization of a universal consciousness as a “contradiction in terms”—one in in which the unconscious has devoured the ego-consciousness. Wolff comments upon the problem of a possible locked-in trance state, but he insists that in his own imperience, the ordinary ego-consciousness stood on the sidelines recording while another way of consciousness went through the deep state of Realization. He goes on to describe the imperience of the ananda realized in the state of Realization and the need to exercise some restraint in participating in it. Wolff then discusses the otherworldly orientation of Eastern yoga to the pure subjectivity of the Self in contrast to the emphasis given in Western depth psychology to the therapeutic objective of bringing about an integration of the personality within a complex conception of the self that is symbolized by psychical wholeness.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues his critique of Carl Jung’s identification of the intellect with the devil by reviewing the previous recording in which he makes a correlation between the intellect and Lucifer. He raises a question concerning the apparent need for a fall of the Manasaputra in order for a proto-humanity to receive the intellectual principle. Wolff submits that when the proto-humanity becomes more or less intellectual humanity, we have something like a double entityhood: one in which we think of ourselves as proto-humans being irritated and driven by a higher principle, and another in which we identify with the higher principle and have to endure association with the animalism of the proto-human. He proceeds to analyze the intellectual function in terms of two types of concepts; namely, the “pointer concept” and the “container concept.” He discusses the use of pure mathematics as an example of the use of the container concept, and elaborates upon Jung’s admission that he never could understand mathematics as a possible explanation of why Jung identified the intellect with the devil. Wolff continues the critique by suggesting that Jung employs the concept as a pointer concept and that he should be read with that in mind. Wolff calls attention to the relationship between the concept and the percept that has been a matter of interest in the history of Western philosophy for at least 2,500 years. He traces this line of thought through the work of Plato, Heraclitus, Parmenides, the nominalists, and the Platonic scholastics. He discusses the contribution of Rene Descartes and the school of Rationalism that developed through Leibniz, Spinoza, and Christian Wolff. He then contrasts Rationalism to the school of Empiricism developed by John Locke, Bishop Berkeley, and David Hume. Wolff concludes by highlighting the monumental role of Immanuel Kant in helping to clarify and resolve the philosophic impasse between Rationalism and Empiricism.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues his critique of Carl Jung's identification of the intellect with the devil by reviewing the previous recording in which he makes a correlation between the intellect and Lucifer. He raises a question concerning the apparent need for a fall of the Manasaputra in order for a proto-humanity to receive the intellectual principle. Wolff submits that when the proto-humanity becomes more or less intellectual humanity, we have something like a double entityhood: one in which we think of ourselves as proto-humans being irritated and driven by a higher principle, and another in which we identify with the higher principle which has to endure association with the animalism of the proto-human. He proceeds to analyze the intellectual function in terms of two types of concepts, namely, the "pointer-concept" and the "container-concept." He discusses the use of pure mathematics as an example of the use of the container concept, and elaborates upon Jung's admission that he never could understand mathematics as a possible explanation of why Jung identified the intellect with the devil. He continues his critique of Jung's work by suggesting that he employs the concept as a pointer concept and that Jung should be read with that in mind. Wolff calls attention to the relationship between the concept and the percept that has been a matter of interest in the history of Western philosophy for at least 2,500 years. He traces this line of thought through the work of Plato, Heraclitus, Parmenides, the nominalists, and the Platonic scholastics, and discusses the contribution of Rene Descartes and the school of Rationalism that developed through Leibniz, Spinoza, and Christian Wolff; he contrasts Rationalism to the school of Empiricism developed by John Locke, Bishop Berkeley, and David Hume. Wolff concludes by highlighting the monumental role of Immanuel Kant in helping to clarify and resolve the philosophic impasse between Rationalism and Empiricism.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues his critique of Carl Jung’s identification of the intellect with the devil by calling attention to the meaning of ‘Lucifer’ as given in The Secret Doctrine. He begins by giving a brief sketch of the process of involution and evolution as presented in The Secret Doctrine, and summarizes the conception of man as consisting of seven principles. Wolff then proceeds to give a detailed description of the Theosophical conceptions of “Globes,” “Rounds,” and “Races.” He gives an account of the evolution of man to the point where the intellectual mind is added to the desire mind of the proto-human by the descent of more evolved ex-men or Manasaputra. Wolff suggests that a distinction may be made among four classes of human beings in the world today who are on various levels of intellectual development. Wolff then makes a case for correlating the myth of the fall of Lucifer with the descent of the Manasaputra, suggesting that Lucifer should not be interpreted as a principle of evil, but as a bringer of the light of intelligence to the evolving proto-human being. He emphasizes that the principle of the intellect brings a power for both good and evil, but that in itself it offers the greatest potential for the continuing evolution of man to become a coworker with the gods. He offers personal testimony as to the numinous value realized by the study of mathematics. He concludes this elaboration of the significance of Lucifer by calling attention to the myth of Prometheus, the bringer of the fire of the intellect, comparing both to the descent of the Manasaputra, which was a benign development for the proto-human humanity of this Earth, though a punishment for those who had to descend.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff begins a critique of Carl Jung’s identification of the intellect with the devil in The Integration of the Personality. He offers a quotation from this volume in which Jung describes the intellect as the “son of chaos.” Wolff considers Jung’s statement to be demonstrably false if meant as a reference to the devil as a principle of darkness and evil; but, he suggests that an analysis of the term ‘Lucifer’, the bringer of light, may help to clarify the meaning. He relates the myth of the fall Lucifer, the brightest star of the morning, who because of inflation, fell and became the satanic principle. He acknowledges that from the point of view of the animal nature in man, Lucifer might be regarded as devilish, but he denies that that is the proper basis of evaluation if one is to accept the discipline imposed by the intellect that leads to the transcendental Realization. Wolff discusses two principles of orientation to this world, and that which lies beyond; namely, the principle of life and the principle of thought. He suggests that the male adolescent is either drawn to an orientation to the principle of life, symbolized in the Grail myth by the knight and the maiden, or to an orientation to the principle of thought, symbolized by the hermit. He submits that the thought of Immanuel Kant and Sri Shankaracharya are certainly more than the work of the devil and points out that while the knowledge attained by following Shankara’s yoga of knowledge is not intellectual knowledge, the primary means employed for the attainment is intellectual. He acknowledges that while other forms of yoga may be effective, there is a question as to whether they result in the same state of consciousness as the yoga of knowledge, and he concludes by affirming that by practicing the yoga of knowledge supreme values may be realized through the employment of intellectual capacities. He therefore challenges Jung’s characterization of the intellect as the devil and considers this position as essentially false.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff comments upon the radical difference between the Eastern and Western approach to psychology as reflected in William James’ The Variety of Religious Experience and in The Foundations of Eastern and Western Psychology, edited by Swami Ajaya. In regard to the psychology of religious experience, Wolff characterizes the Eastern approach as metaphysical, wand he contrasts this approach to the empirical, scientific interest in observable psychical facts prevalent in the West. He submits that the Western approach to psychology is, in general, analytic, materialistic, and reductive, while the Eastern approach tends to be synthetic or integral, idealistic, and goal-oriented.