Claudio Naranjo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Claudio Naranjo
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Naranjo in 2007
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Claudio Benjamín Naranjo Cohen
24 November 1932 Valparaíso, Chile
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| Died | 12 July 2019 (aged 86) Berkeley, California
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| Nationality | Chilean |
| Citizenship | Chile |
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| Employer | University of Chile |
| Spouse(s) | Lillian Elena Baettig Rodríguez, Marilyn _____, Suzana Stroke |
| Children | Mateo |
Claudio Benjamín Naranjo Cohen (born November 24, 1932 – died July 12, 2019) was a famous psychiatrist from Chile. He is known for bringing together ideas from psychotherapy (which helps people with their minds) and spiritual traditions (like meditation).
He was chosen by Fritz Perls, who created Gestalt Therapy, to continue his work. Claudio Naranjo also helped develop the Enneagram of Personality, a system for understanding different personality types. He founded the Seekers After Truth Institute. He was a key figure in the "human potential movement," which focused on helping people reach their full abilities. Naranjo wrote many important books.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Claudio Naranjo was born in Valparaíso, Chile. He grew up in a family that loved music. He started playing the piano early and later studied how to write music.
When he began medical school, he became more interested in philosophy. So, he stopped composing music. Important thinkers who influenced him were Tótila Albert Schneider, David Rosenmann-Taub, and Bogumił Jasinowski.
His Work and Studies
After becoming a medical doctor in 1959, Naranjo worked at the University of Chile Medical School. He joined a special center that studied medical anthropology. This field looks at how culture and society affect health. At the same time, he trained to become a psychiatrist.
Naranjo traveled to the United States to study how people learn to see and understand things. This was for a project from the University of Chile. There, he learned about the work of Samuel Renshaw and Hoyt Sherman.
In 1962, Naranjo went to Harvard University as a special visitor. He studied social psychology and learned from Paul Tillich, a famous theologian. In 1963, he worked with Raymond Cattell, who studied personality. After returning to Chile for a short time, he was invited to Berkeley, California. He spent a year and a half at the Institute of Personality Assessment and Research (IPAR).
Later, Naranjo returned to Berkeley and IPAR. During this time, he became a student of Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt Therapy. He started leading workshops at the Esalen Institute. He became one of Perls' three main students, along with Jack Downing and Robert Hall.
Naranjo also trained with Jim Simkin and attended workshops with Charlotte Selver. He became good friends with Carlos Castaneda, a well-known author.
In 1969, he became a consultant for the Education Policy Research Center. He wrote a report about how psychological and spiritual methods could be used in education. This report later became his first book, The One Quest. He also wrote a book about meditation with Robert Ornstein.
A Turning Point
In 1970, a very sad event happened: his only son passed away. This changed Naranjo's life deeply. He went on a six-month journey with Oscar Ichazo, who created the Arica school. Ichazo used a system called Enneagrams in his teachings.
Naranjo felt this spiritual journey in the Atacama desert in Chile was the real start of his spiritual path. It led him to a life of deep thought and inner guidance.
After this experience, Naranjo began teaching a group that included his mother and friends. This group grew into a program and then a non-profit organization called the SAT Institute. Many different teachers joined the SAT Institute in its early years. These included Zalman Schachter, Ajahn Dhiravamsa, Tai Chi Master Ch'u Fang Chu, Sri Harish Johari, and Robert "Bob" Hoffman.
Teaching and Writing
In 1976, Naranjo was a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also taught at the California Institute of Asian Studies. He started offering workshops in Europe, improving the SAT program's methods.
In 1987, he restarted the SAT Institute in Spain. This program helps people with personal and professional growth. It includes Gestalt therapy, using the Enneagram of Personality, meditation, and music. Since then, the SAT program has spread to Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, France, and Germany.
From the late 1980s, Naranjo spent his time between his work abroad and writing at his home in Berkeley. He updated his early book on Gestalt therapy and published new ones. He wrote three books about the Enneagram of Personality. He also published The End of Patriarchy. In this book, he explained that many social problems come from not valuing caring and human instincts enough. He believed solving these problems means developing our "three brains" in a balanced way.
He also wrote The Way of Silence and the Talking Cure about meditation. His book Songs of Enlightenment looked at great Western books as journeys of self-discovery.
Changing Education
From the 1990s, Naranjo attended many education conferences. He wanted to help change how education worked in different countries. He believed that helping people become wiser, more caring, and freer was the best way to improve society.
His book Changing Education to Change the World (published in Spanish in 2004) aimed to inspire teachers. He wanted them to start a "SAT-in-Education" project. This project offers a "supplementary curriculum" for teachers and students. It focuses on self-knowledge, improving relationships, and spiritual growth.
In 2006, the Foundation Claudio Naranjo was created. Its goal was to put his ideas into action. He believed that traditional education needed to focus more on human development for society to improve.
His book Healing Civilization: Bringing Personal Transformation into the Societal Realm through Education and the Integration of the Intra-Psychic Family (2010) continued his life's work. In this book, Naranjo explored what he saw as the main cause of problems in human civilization, like war and violence. He called this patriarchy. He believed this way of thinking had become part of our minds over many years.
Naranjo offered a solution based on the ideas of Tótila Albert. He talked about our "triune" nature: the "Inner Father" (our thinking side), the "Inner Mother" (our caring side), and the "Inner Child" (our instincts). Naranjo believed that as people learn to bring these three "brains" together, they can create a healthy inner family. He thought this, along with changing education, could help heal civilization. In 2012, he was named one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.
Writings
- On the Psychology of Meditation (1971) ISBN: 0-14-004420-5
- The One Quest (1972) ISBN: 0-89556-161-1
- The Healing Journey: New Approaches to Consciousness (1973) ISBN: 0-394-48826-1
- Enneatypes and Psychotherapy ISBN: 0-934252-47-5
- Enneatype Structures ISBN: 0-89556-063-1
- Character and Neurosis ISBN: 0-89556-066-6
- The End of Patriarchy ISBN: 1-56937-065-6
- The Enneagram of Society ISBN: 0-89556-159-X
- The Divine Child and the Hero ISBN: 0-89556-109-3
- The Way of Silence and the Talking Cure ISBN: 1-57733-140-0
- Techniques of Gestalt Therapy ISBN: 0-939266-00-8
- Gestalt Therapy ISBN: 1-899836-54-3
- Consciousness and Creativity ISBN: 0-89496-009-1
- Transformation Through Insight ISBN: 0-934252-76-9
- How To Be: Meditation in Spirit and Practice (1989) ISBN: 0-87477-548-5
- Changing Education to Change the World
- Between Meditation and Psychotherapy
- Healing Civilization: Bringing Personal Transformation into the Societal Realm through Education and the Integration of the Intra-Psychic Family (2011) ISBN: 978-0-89556-163-3
- also published in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
See also
In Spanish: Claudio Naranjo para niños
