Henry Corbin – Anthology
It is because we are here in the presence of a man alone that I would like to invite all those who feel isolated to reflect upon this book, to listen to this message, if they are truly alone … This theology is not learned in books or by historical critique of writings, but in the night and in the suffering of the soul, in the sublime inner battle fought without compromise, or cowardice, or abdication. ~Henry Corbin, Cited CW 10, Para. 106)
Thus Mircea Eliade, who met Jung repeatedly in Ascona and in Mascia, confided to his diary what he had heard from Henry Corbin’s wife:
“Jung is a gourmet, and really knows his way around the kitchen. Since he knows that the dining at Mrs. Frobe-Kapteyn’s is not too good, he buys himself little snacks in secret and eats them alone in his room at night. But eventually word of this got out, and one of his admiring young ladies from Ascona, also in secret, sent him a roast chicken.”
From the same journal, the entry from 23 August 1950, obviously about a dinner together in an Ascona restaurant: “I eat with Jung, on his left, and we converse from twelve-thirty until three o’clock. He is a captivating old gentleman, utterly without conceit, who is as happy to talk as he is to listen. What could I write down here first of this long conversation? Perhaps his bitter reproaches of ‘official science’? In university circles he is not taken seriously.
‘Scholars have no curiosity,’ he says with Anatole France. Professors are satisfied with recapitulating what they learned in their youth and what does not cause any trouble; above all, their spiritual world is in balance. For all that, I sense that at the bottom of his heart Jung is a little troubled by this indifference. That is why he is so interested in a scholar, in any line of research, who takes him seriously, or quotes or comments on him.” ~Mircea Eliade, Jung: A Biography by Gerhard Wehr, Pages 273-274
Yet I must tell you how delighted I was by your [Henry Corbin] work. It was an extraordinary joy to me, and not only the rarest of experiences but even a unique experience, to be fully understood. ~Carl Jung, Letters Vol. II, Page 115.
Carl Jung Depth Psychology Blog
