A beam of intense darkness

reflections after Bion and James Grotstein or The dark night of the soul: reflections inspired by San Juan de la Cruz

Abstract

The text seeks to explain the nature of the analyst’s experience in the practice of analysis as being aimed at reaching through intuition and conditioned daydreaming the emotional experience shared by him and his patient during the sessions. Assuming that the unconscious dimensions of experiences are unknowable – and not just unconscious – and that it involves an infinity not apprehended by theories and representations, the attitude necessary for the analyst is that advocated by Bion, “without memmory, desire and prior understanding”. These bionian ideas about what he calls the scientific atitude bring us closer to the contemplative sciences such as Buddhism and Zen and their emphasis on intuition.