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W. R. Bion remains one of the most enigmatic thinkers in the history of psychoanalysis. His works are difficult to read and the system he developed, with its grid, and its alpha- and beta- elements, may seem too abstruse to clinicians at first blush. Yet, his writings on the function of dreaming, his group-focused basic assumptions and the admonition to engage “without desire, memory or understanding” are widely recognized examples of his singular brilliance. In addition, from an analytical psychology perspective his oeuvre shows remarkable resonance with some of Jung's core ideas.
Vineet Gairola, in his article, “On Wilfred R. Bion's Way of Being: Linking Truth, Thought, and Nostalgia,” reviews the core concepts of W. R. Bion in a way that emphasizes their biographical context and parallels in the thinking of C. G. Jung and other analytic thinkers.
Bion, who spent his early years in india, left there but india “never left him” avers Gairola. In particular Bion's “O”, derived from the sacred and sonic Om, reflects his early exposure to chanting in Hindu temples. In Bion's discussions of preconceptions, protomental, reverie, alpha-function, and constant conjunction, Gairola sees parallels to Jung's archetype, psychoid, amplification, soul, and synchronicity. In light of these observations he calls for a comparative psychoanalytic approach to replace a “religion of Freud, a clique of Klein, a coterie of Jung and the cult of Bion.”
For readers familiar with only some of Bion's ideas this article will serve as an invitation of sorts. Gairola enthusiastically reviews his life and major contributions, regularly circling back to draw connecting lines to the India of Bion's childhood. However, he eventually covers an enormous amount of territory, and the article can be unwieldy to read: Truth is already present everywhere, and thinking will not produce it; rather, one must stop thinking; A reverse mathematics in the Bionian way tells us that rather than making the unconscious