토마스 머튼의 관상적 삶의 태도와 윌프레드 비온의 ‘기억도 욕망도 없는 상태’에 관한 비교연구

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to integrate psychology and spirituality in psychotherapy. Following this trend, modern psychoanalysis emphasizes intersubjectivity and has come to pay attention to the infinity and mystery of the human mind beyond the unconscious. This is because conventional Freud's scientific and rational approach alone cannot fully capture the counselee's existence. Wilfred Bion supplemented the blind spots of psychoanalysis by redefining the existing ‘psychoanalysis as a mystical science’. It was an unconventional attempt to encompass both scientific and mystical attitudes. Through these attempts, modern psychoanalysis has come a step closer to Christian spirituality. Wilfred Bion's theories, which are at the pinnacle of modern psychoanalysis, have many connections to Christian spirituality. In particular, Thomas Merton's contemplative life practice is connected to the clinical attitude of the analyst that Bion emphasizes. In this paper, I will focus on Merton's concepts of ‘solitude’ and ‘silence’ in contemplation, and explore their connection to Wilfred Bion's emphasis on the analyst's ‘state of being without memory or desire’ and ‘rêverie’. As Merton emphasizes, ‘Solitude’ and ‘silence’ are not withdrawal from the world. Rather, it is a aspiration to courageously face one's dark side and become one with God. Just as a prayer can create inner space by completely letting go of his or her desires, an analyst can create space to accept a client by suppressing his or her own ‘memories and desires’ as much as possible. Bion believed that he could only understand his counselees when he had suppressed his own memories and desires as much as possible. Bion explains the concept of ‘rêverie’ as a state in which a mother is passionately preoccupied with her infant in state of being without memory or desire. That is, like infants, clients desperately want to be able to make conscious and transform their unaware emotional experiences within the analyst's the containing environment of rêverie. To participate in this active communication, Analyst must be able to persevere the dark night of uncertainty arising from their counselee through their own ‘rêverie’. The counselee, through this process, ultimately internalizes a new mental function known as the a-function from the analyst. Through this, the counselee can think and dream about himself and others, and they can stand alone in the world. The prayer must be able to shed their false self and endure failure and frustration in order to have a true encounter with God. In clinical practice, analysts must also make the same effort for their counselee. This contemplative life practice can contribute positively to refining the analyst's capability and creating sufficient psychological space.