About Todd Peyton | Chiang Mai Psychotherapist & Guide

Autobiography

Todd B. Peyton, LPC, KYI

Integrative Depth Counseling

Jungian Dream Analysis

Kundalini Mind/Body Integration

General Counseling

Autobiography

My first Jungian analysis was with the author and lecturer, Robert A. Johnson. He had written an autobiography called, "Balancing Heaven and Earth", while admitting privately that the title was embarrassingly presumptuous, it is still the case that any biography worth its weight in gold is a story of balancing the finitude of life with the backdrop of eternity. We see the world of appearances around us, we know this world arises and disappears, but what is behind this world of matter is not just a mystery, but the truth of our identity. presumed a wisdom quite difficult to attain. Yet any biography worth its while is a story of balancing the finitude of life with the backdrop of eternity.

While working as a civilian therapist for the US military at bases overseas, between assignments, I would return to Kyiatisaung monastery in Thaton, Burma and ordain as a Buddhist monk. Transitioning from the trauma laden, dense world of bureaucracy and rules into the spiritual openness and freedom of the inner world of the monk was indeed a balancing act. Yet, on another level, the monk and the warrior are enjoined in a shared ethos of determination and discipline, of enduring privation of the senses, to achieve a goal that transcends the individual ego.

Kyiatisaung is not an ordinary monastery, its spiritual roots reach back more than 2,600 years to when this region on the Northeastern shore of the Andaman Sea was ruled by one of Burma's oldest kingdoms. The monastery itself is not a single complex, but a series of restored ancient sites encircling a region the size of an American county; it is like an old growth forest preserve in a protected valley, maintaining and honoring the natural shamanic path of the Inner World (the Supramundane as the Burmese refer it) within the landscape of orthodox Theravada Buddhism.

The inner revelations of golden celestial beings, immortal Weizzas, bejeweled royal Nagas, and shining Devas that happened to me during meditation are not due to the intransigencies of the 'mind', but objectively real encounters with ontologically subsistent beings occupying a vast realm of a much larger spiritual ecosystem. Within this masterfully maintained spiritual preserve, I began perceiving and interacting with realities beyond imagination.

I would not have been able to make sense of these experiences at Kyaitisaung if I had not completed years of Jungian analysis and depth psychological study. Robert Johnson, in addition to being considered by many a Christian mystic, spent the last twenty years of his professional life, six months of every year, living in India. Known for translating the Arthurian legends, Greek and Native American mythology into Jungian practice, Robert carried the quiet grace of an unassuming Indian Guru well versed in telling choice, well-timed stories from Hindu mythology. Robert's other gift was his ability to see and affirm, in a highly differentiated manner, the divine presence within another person. As his last analysand, Robert, was gracious enough to pass his Dhamma, his spiritual inheritance, onto me with the understanding that I develop and integrate these teachings as my own.

While at Kyiatisaung, I remember walking bare foot around the main pagoda, with red ochre robes and shaven head, intensely contemplating the 'Christian within' and its compatability with Buddhism. This was not an exercise in theological exegesis regarding Truth, but an effort to reconcile the Truth of my identity.

While working on the Navajo Nation over the previous few years, I completed another analysis with Father Gregory Santos, of Flagstaff AZ, a Zurich trained analysand, Trappist monk and scholar in Aquinas theology. Two main theological principles prevail ... 1) the world is good because it comes from God, and 2) everything is in process towards unification with God. Therefore, humans are not in a position to judge in absolute terms how the Spirit chooses to manifest within the interior lives of people. However, it requires a high degree of psychological and spiritual maturity to open and commune with the spiritual traditions of others as a way of refining one's own relationship to God.

it is like an old forest preserve, maintaining a natural shamanic path within the landscape of orthodox Theravada Buddhism - its spiritual roots reaching back 2,600 years to when this region was ruled by one of Burma's oldest kingdoms.

The inner revelations of celestial beings and devas are not manifestations of 'Mind', but encounters with ontologically subsistent beings. Within this masterfully maintained spiritual preserve, I began perceiving and interacting with realities beyond imagination.

I would not have been able to make sense of my experiences at Kyiatisaung if I had not completed years of Jungian analysis and depth psychological study. Robert Johnson, in addition to being considered by many as a Christian mystic also spent the last twenty years of his professional life living in India. Known for translating the Arthurian legends, Greek and Native American mythology into Jungian practice, Robert became an unassuming Indian Guru well versed in choice Hindu philosophy. As his last analysand, his last student, Robert passed his Dhamma, his spiritual inheritance to me with the caveat I develop his teachings in my own way within my own personality.

While at Kyiatisaung, I remember many times walking around the main pagoda in red ochre robes, bare feet and shaven head intensely contemplating the ‘Christian within’ and its compatibility with Buddhism. Earlier while undergoing another Jungian analysis with Father Gregory Santos, of Flagstaff AZ, a Zurich trained analysand and scholar in Aquinas theology. Father Santos's expertise was in applying Aquinas to dream analysis. Two main theological principles stood out … 1) the world is good because it comes from God, and 2) everything is in process towards unification with God. Therefore, humans are not in a position to judge in absolute terms how the Spirit chooses to manifest itself within the interior lives of other people allowing ourselves the opportunity to commune meaningfully with people of other religious and cultural backgrounds. Following in the footsteps of Thomas Merton, I transitioned to Thailand to immerse myself within the Buddhist world and discovered a vast storehouse of inner wealth that served to balance my Western, materialistic upbringing.

The problem with not just Jung, but the collective condition of Jung’s time, continuing into our own, is the conspicuous absence of the body. Meditation is a form of embodiment, but I soon discovered it was not enough to heal trauma and enshrine the soul. Although I had been practicing Tai Qi and Qi-Gong it was not until working for the military I began my official journey into yoga and Vedic philosophy.

While traveling recently through Greece, I was introduced to a group of therapists who are actively restoring the holistic healing protocols from the time of the ancient Temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus. While walking the streets of Delphi one early evening gazing down at the ancient path through the steep valley to the harbor by the sea where pilgrims to the Oracle at Delphi once journeyed, a very pronounced thought lit up my imagination like a lightning bolt in the night sky … the Asclepian method of healing is an archetypal key for bridging the shamanic worlds of the pre-Christian era with the ‘new-ness’ of the contemporary age. The loss of connection to our spiritual roots is is the same wound that all indigenous cultures worldwide are seeking to heal. If it were not for the profundity of experiences from Kyiatisaung where the Sangha has successfully awakened the spiritual intensity from their own mythic roots, I would not have the depth of perspective to fully comprehend what this means.

Given the volatility and uncertainty our current culture is facing, it is now a matter of necessity we restore unapologetically our connection to the spiritual roots of the deep past. In collaboration with Master herbalist Elleftherios Tholos, his teacher Master Sentaris, and other therapists from multiple modalities, our goal is to establish a healing and teaching center in Greece dedicated to the preservation and functionality of ancient spiritual consciousness within the modern world.