Oscar Ichazo
reliable, independent, third-party sources. (June 2021) ) |
Oscar Ichazo | |
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Arica School | |
Notable students | John C. Lilly Claudio Naranjo |
Oscar Ichazo (July 24, 1931 – March 26, 2020
The Arica School's origins began in 1956 when groups of people formed in major cities in South America to study the theory and method that Ichazo was proposing. For fourteen years these different groups studied his teachings. In 1968, Ichazo presented lectures on his theories of Protoanalysis and the ego-fixations at the Institute of Applied Psychology in
Ichazo's theories are based upon traditional metaphysical questions such as: "What is humankind?"; "What is the supreme good of humanity?"; and "What is the truth that gives meaning and value to human life?"[3]
Teachings
Protoanalysis
Ichazo developed the philosophical and psychological tools used in the Arica School studies, which are based on his "Protoanalytical Theory, System and Method", more commonly called "Protoanalysis".[citation needed] Before 1980,[clarification needed] the term "Protoanalysis" was misunderstood to be narrower in scope, used specifically as the name for Ichazo's theory of ego-fixations from which the Enneagram of Personality was developed.
In Protoanalysis, Ichazo described nine ways in which a person's
Ichazo's teachings are designed to help people transcend their identification with — and the suffering caused by — their own mechanistic thought and behavior patterns. His theories about the fixations are founded on the premise that all life seeks to continue and perpetuate itself and that the human psyche must follow universal laws of reality. The study of the fixations does not produce a typology. Rather, it analyzes the characteristics of the human ego based on the three instincts known as conservation, relation, and adaptation, and the two poles of our psychic life: our sexuality or sense of life continuation, and our spirituality, or sense of internal unity.[7]
Ichazo understood the fixations as instinctual points that have been hurt. The primary difference between modern psychology and his theories is that he proposed a model of the psyche where the instincts, when affected, injured or handicapped, can be liberated to accomplish Unity,[8] whereas modern psychology has preferred to focus on observed behavior.
According to Ichazo, a person's fixation derives from childhood subjective experience (self-perception) of psychological trauma when expectations are not met in each of the instincts. Young children are self-centered and thus experience disappointment in their expectations because of one of three fundamental attitudes: attracted, unattracted, disinterested. From such experiences, mechanistic thought and behavior patterns arise as an attempted defense against the recurrence of the trauma. By understanding the fixations — and practicing self-observation — it is believed that a person can reduce or even transcend suffering and the fixations' hold on the mind.[9]
Integral philosophy
According to Ichazo, integral philosophy is an ancient philosophical tradition that represents all things in the universe as interconnected. Ichazo's version presents an analysis of the human condition from the lowest levels of the human process to the highest states of enlightenment (
In a 1954 interview, Ichazo said that he had achieved insight into mechanistic and repetitive thought and behavior patterns. These processes can be understood in connection with the enneagram figure,
Basic theory
The entire theory is referred to as based on the idea of the innate structure of the mind. That is, the questions come from the instincts and the instincts are a result of a pre-existing structure that is the foundation of mind itself. It is a concept considered logical because there must be a pre-existing order if all minds share essential similarities.[16]
Ichazo refined the ancient concept that a human soul has components by approaching the issue through three instinctual questions that he considered basic to human existence: "How am I?", "Who am I with?", "What am I doing?"
For self-observation of habitual patterns, Ichazo employed the enneagram, among other tools. Transformative practices sometimes involved linking a specific
Enneagram of Personality
Ichazo is considered by many to be the father of the Enneagram of Personality
Ichazo applied the enneagram figure in connection with his theory of mechanical ego mechanisms which grow out of psychological traumas suffered at an early age in specific aspects of the human psyche.[24] In his basic theory, these aspects of the human psyche include the sense of well-being (conservation instinct); the sense of relations with others (relation instinct); and the sense of adapting to our environment (adaptation instinct). Ichazo's goal with regard to the study of the enneagram was to facilitate the recognition of repetitive, mechanistic thinking and behavior in a person's psychological process and to eliminate the suffering rooted in the attachment to, and identification with, these mechanisms (which, Ichazo taught, attempt to protect people from suffering but actually tend to perpetuate it).[25]
The popular use of the Enneagram of Personality (as contrasted with the use of enneagrams within the Arica School) began principally with Claudio Naranjo who had studied with Ichazo in Chile.[26] Naranjo had added defense mechanisms to the model developed by Ichazo: "His contribution to the Enneagram successfully joined the insight and methods of a mystical path of transformation with the intellectual power of a Western psychological model."[27] Nevertheless, Ichazo considered Naranjo's understanding of the Enneagram to be limited and incomplete.[citation needed]
In 1992, intellectual copyright for the Enneagram of Personality was denied to Ichazo on the basis that he had published statements that his theories were factual, and facts cannot be copyrighted.[28] The litigation, however, confirmed Ichazo as the source of the Enneagram of Personality and fixations, its application, meaning, and related material.[29]
Essence and ego
Like some other systems of self-actualization, Arica works with the (ultimately illusory) separation of essence and ego.
Originality of Ichazo's teachings
Although some modern Enneagram of Personality writers have suggested that Ichazo's teachings are derived, in part, from those of
Although the symbolism of the number 9 is ancient,[36] there does not appear to be any evidence for the particular enneagram used by Ichazo, in Sufism or elsewhere,[37] before its first known use by Gurdjieff in the 20th century.[38]
Arica School
The Arica School, or simply Arica, is a
The Arica School can be considered, as Ramparts magazine put it in 1973, "A body of techniques for cosmic consciousness-raising and an ideology to relate to the world in an awakened way."[2]
Bibliography
- Ichazo, Oscar (1976). The Human Process for Enlightenment and Freedom: A Series of Five Lectures. Arica Institute, Inc. ISBN 0-671-22432-8.
- Ichazo, Oscar (1980). The Cutting of the Adamantine Pyramid. Arica Institute, Inc.
- Ichazo, Oscar (1982a). Between Metaphysics and Protoanalysis: A Theory for Analyzing the Human Psyche. Arica Institute Press. ISBN 0-916554-04-X.
- Ichazo, Oscar (1982b). Bleibtreu, John (ed.). Interviews with Oscar Ichazo. Arica Press. ISBN 0-916554-02-3.
- Ichazo, Oscar (1986). Master Level Exercise: Psychocalisthenics. Arica Institute Press. ISBN 0-916554-25-2.
- Ichazo, Oscar (1988). Letters to the School (1st ed.). The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. ISBN 0-916554-17-1.
- Ichazo, Oscar (Autumn 1991). "Letter to the Transpersonal Community". The Arican: International Journal of Arica Institute (5): 106.
- Ichazo, Oscar (2015). Oscar Ichazo: Insights Into the Teacher, the Philosophy, the School. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. ISBN 978-0-916554-00-2.
- Ichazo, Oscar (2016). The Religious Consciousness. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. ISBN 978-0-916554-14-9.
- Ichazo, Oscar (2018). The Nine Constituents: The Science of the Human Condition from Ego to Enlightenment. Arica Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-916554-16-3.
- Ichazo, Oscar (2020a). The Four Killers of Humanity: The Ethical Solution to our Existential Crisis. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. ISBN 978-0-916554-19-4.
- Ichazo, Oscar (2020b). The History of the Integral Teachings. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. ISBN 978-0-916554-20-0.
- Ichazo, Oscar (2021). We Are One: Facing our Global Crisis with Unity. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. ISBN 978-0-916554-28-6.
See also
- Chua K'a, a three-part bodywork approach developed by Ichazo
- The Holy Mountain, a 1973 film which Ichazo helped with by training the staff in various spiritual exercises
- John C. Lilly – American physician, scientist, psychonaut, and philosopher
References
Citations
- ^ Staff writer (2020).
- ^ a b Kopkind (1973), p. 30.
- ^ Ichazo (2021), p. 11.
- ^ Ichazo (2020b), p. 368.
- ^ Naranjo (2009), p. 131.
- ^ Palmer (1995), pp. 24–26.
- ^ Ichazo (2020b), pp. 17–18.
- ^ Ichazo (2015), p. 152.
- ^ Almaas (2000), p. 7.
- ^ Ichazo (2020a).
- ^ Ichazo (2020b).
- ^ Ichazo (1976).
- ^ Ichazo (1982a).
- ^ Ichazo (1982b).
- ^ Ichazo (2015), p. 19.
- ^ a b Ichazo (1976), p. 79.
- ^ Ichazo (1982a), pp. 47, 50, 51, 58.
- ^ Ichazo (1976), pp. 64–66.
- ^ Ichazo (1980), p. [page needed].
- ^ "The Traditional Enneagram", Enneagram Institute website.
- ^ Arica v. Palmer, 970 F 2d 106
- ^ Ichazo (1988), p. 43.
- ^ Ichazo (1988), p. 46.
- ^ Ichazo (1982b), p. 14.
- ^ Ichazo (1982b), p. 11.
- ^ Anon (2011).
- ^ Palmer (1991), p. 51.
- ^ Arica v. Palmer, court case, provided by Information Law Web
- ^ Effros (2003).
- ^ Keen (1973), pp. 9ff.
- ^ Ichazo (1988), p. 73.
- ^ Ichazo (1988), p. 72.
- ^ Palmer (1995), pp. 20–29.
- ^ Ichazo (1991).
- ^ Arica Institute, Inc. v. Dimension Books, Inc. No. 88 Civ, 2004 (S.D.N.Y.)
- ^ Shah (1983), p. 191.
- ^ Goldberg (1993).
- ^ Ouspensky (1949), p. 287.
Works cited
- Almaas, A. H. (2000). Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas. Diamond Books. ISBN 0936713143.
- Anon (2011). "Dr Claudio Naranjo". The Naranjo Institute. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
- Effros, Walter A. (2003). "Owning Enlightenment: Proprietary Spirituality in the 'New Age' Marketplace". Buffalo Law Review. 51 (3).
- Goldberg, Michael (October 15, 1993). "Inside the Enneagram Wars". LA Weekly.
- Keen, Sam (July 1973). "A Conversation about Ego Destruction with Oscar Ichazo". Psychology Today. Reprinted in Interviews with Oscar Ichazo. New York: Arica Institute Press. 1982. pp. 7–8.
- Kopkind, Andrew (July 1973). "Mystic Politics: Refugees from the New Left". Ramparts. pp. 28ff. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
- Naranjo, Claudio (2009). Healing Civilization. Rose Press. ISBN 9780895561633.
- Ouspensky, P. D. (1949). In Search of the Miraculous. Harvest Books (paperback edition 2001). ISBN 0156007460.
- Palmer, Helen (1991). The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and the Others in your Life. San Francisco: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062506832.
- Palmer, Helen (1995). The Enneagram in Love and Work. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 9780062506795.
- Shah, Idries (1983). The Sufis. Octagon Press. ISBN 9780863040207.
The eight is the way to the nine
- Staff writer (April 3, 2020). "Oscar Ichazo Obituary". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
Further reading
- Labanauskas, Jack; Isaacs, Andrea (November 1996). "Setting the Record Straight". Enneagram Monthly. No. 21. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
- Lilly, John C. (1972). "Chapter 10. My first trip to Chile: Óscar Ichazo". Center of the Cyclone: An Autobiography of Inner Space. New York: The Julian Press. pp. 139–144. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
- Lilly, John C.; Hart, Joseph E. (1975). "The Arica Training". Transpersonal Psychologies. Harper and Row: 329–51.
- Lilly, John C. (January 6, 2013). "Levels of Consciousness". Awaken. Retrieved 2021-06-28. - John C. Lilly discusses the teaching methods of Óscar Ichazo and relates his personal reactions to them.
- Medina, Brandon (2019). "The Enneagram - A History (part 3)". Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- Tart, Charles (1975). Transpersonal Psychologies. Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0-06-067823-4.