The Zurich Lecture Series · October 2026
The Alchemical Mind: Carl Jung, Tibetan Buddhism, and Francisco Varela
Jung believed the West was too tethered to dualism to grasp Eastern nondual thought — yet insisted the unconscious speaks a universal language. Jungian analyst Leslie de Galbert brings scientist-philosopher Francisco Varela into this paradox, tracing a bridge between analytical psychology, Tibetan Buddhism, and embodied cognition.
In The Alchemical Mind: Carl Jung, Tibetan Buddhism, and Francisco Varela, Jungian analyst Leslie de Galbert brings a new perspective to the relationship between Jung and Buddhism by introducing the work of Chilean scientist and philosopher Francisco Varela (1946–2001). Jung stressed the importance of remaining faithful to one’s own cultural origins and found that Westerners were too rooted in Cartesian mind-body dualism to be able to experience the nondualism of Eastern contemplative practices. Yet he also posited that the archetypes of the collective unconscious are universal. Can this paradox be resolved?
When His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Francisco Varela co-founded the Mind and Life Institute in 1987, they did so in the belief that interdisciplinary dialogues between Western scientists and Eastern contemplatives might offer new insights into the mind and consciousness. Varela brought not just neurobiology but also his concept of embodied enactive cognition into dialogue with the Buddhist epistemologies of Tibetan monastics.
Galbert shows how analytical psychology resonates deeply with this idea of openness and dialogue as a means to building a bridge between different viewpoints and different cultures. The Alchemical Mind lays down a path where an encounter between analytical psychology, Tibetan Buddhism, and the ideas of Francisco Varela enriches and deepens our understanding of mind.
Package Overview
ZLS 2026 (7–10 October), including:
• Apéro, Gala Dinner and Lecture 1
• Lectures 2–5
• Postlude Lecture Series
• Excursion (limited number of places, sold out as of 30 May 2026)
Single Attendee: CHF 380
DUO-ticket for two people: CHF 600
Registration closes on 30 September 2026.
ISAP Participants and Students, please contact the Front Office to register: office@isapzurich.com
2026 ZLS Speaker
Leslie de Galbert, BA, D.E.S.S.
Leslie de Galbert, BA in Philosophy, Hollins University, D.E.S.S. in Clinical Psychology, University of Paris 7. Leslie is a member of the International Association of Analytical Psychology and of the Association of Graduate Analytical Psychologists, Zürich. She was born and raised in the United States, and has lived in Paris, France since 1972. As a clinical psychologist, Leslie worked in the public hospital system in Paris, in geriatrics and palliative care. As a psychoanalyst in private practice in Paris, she was a member of the Société Française de Psychologie Analytique. For the IAAP, she supervised the training of psychoanalysts in Tbilisi, Georgia for a number of years.
Leslie has published articles in the Cahiers jungiens de psychanalyse and the Revue de Psychologie Analytique, and enjoys translating articles on philosophy and psychoanalysis from French into English. She has followed Mind and Life Institute dialogues since their beginnings in the 1980s, and has been an Association member of Mind & Life Europe since 2018 and a Board member since 2022.
Zurich Lecture Series
Details for 2026
Lecture Titles
1: Jung, Mind and Life Setting the Stage – Building a Bridge
2: The Mind is Not in the Brain: Autopoiesis and Enaction Depth Psychology and the Cognitive Sciences
3. Analytical Psychology, Enaction, and Buddhist Epistemology Triangulation
4. Buddhism and Psychology, Buddhism and Science Dialoguing in Dharamsala
5. What Bridge for Analytical Psychology and Enactive Cognition? Imaginary, Ephemeral or Perennial?
Event Schedule
Wednesday, 7 October ZLS @ Zunfthaus zur Schmiden
17:30–18:15 Reception & Apéro
18:15–19:15 Lecture 1: Jung, Mind and Life: Setting the Stage - Building a Bridge
19:15–21:30 Dinner
Thursday, 8 October ZLS @ ISAPZURICH
10:00–12:00
Lecture 2: The Mind is Not in the Brain: Autopoiesis and Enaction
Depth Psychology and the Cognitive Sciences
Lecture 3: Analytical Psychology, Enaction, and Buddhist Epistemology
Triangulation
13:30–15:30
Lecture 4: Buddhism and Psychology, Buddhism and Science
Dialoguing in Dharamsala
Lecture 5: What Bridge for Analytical Psychology and Enactive Cognition?
Imaginary, Ephemeral or Perennial?
Friday, 9 October POSTLUDE @ ISAPZURICH (details in section below)
Three lectures starting with a panel moderated by Murray Stein, PhD.
These are part of the ZLS package and can also be purchased individually for viewing live on-site or live on Zoom.
Saturday, 10 October EXCURSION: Guided Tour of the (Tibetan) Buddhist Art Collection at the Rietberg Museum (details in section below)
The Venues
Zunfthaus zur Schmiden, Marktgasse 20, 8001 Zurich (Map link)
By public transport - take a tram to Rathaus (150m), Neumarkt (250m) or Central (500m)
ISAPZURICH, Stampfenbachstrasse 115, 8006 Zurich
By public transport - take a tram to Beckenhof (20m)
Postlude
The three postlude lectures are available both on-site and live on Zoom. (More information by scolling down this page).
Buy the Zooms by selecting the
On-site attendance does not require registration. Pay on the day via the Front Office. Buy all 3 lectures as a package (CHF 120) or per lecture CHF 50. Confirmations of attendance cost an additional CHF 10 per lecture.
About the Zurich Lecture Series
The ZLS was established in 2009 for the purpose of presenting annually a significant new work by a selected Jungian psychoanalyst or scholar who has previously offered innovative contributions to the field of Analytical Psychology by either: bringing analytical a psychology into meaningful dialogue with other scientific, artistic, and academic disciplines; showing how analytical psychology can lead to a better understanding of contemporary global concerns relating to the environment, politics, religion; or expanding the concepts of analytical psychology as they are applied clinically. For the Series the selected lecturer delivers lectures over a two-day period in Zürich based on a previously unpublished book-length work, which is then published by Chiron Publications.
Excursion
Guided Tour of the (Tibetan) Buddhist Art Collection at the Rietberg Museum
This guided tour at the Rietberg Museum brings Leslie de Galbert’s lectures to life through a curated selection of exceptional Buddhist—especially Tibetan—objects. Discover how these works open a vivid window onto non-Western artistic traditions, cultural exchange, and lived Buddhist wisdom.
Arrival time: 10:00, deposit coats and bags in the cloak room.
Guided Tour: 10:15–11:15
Tour is in English.
Excursion Coordinator: Kathrin Schaeppi, MFA, MS, MLA
NB: All tour places are now allocated.
Image: Collection of the Museum Rietberg, Himalaya © Photo: Museum Rietberg
ZLS Postlude lectures
ZLS Postlude
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09OctDetailsPublic 10:00–11:45
"Ways to Liberation" – A Panel
Open Seminar · ISAP Zürich / Zoom
Lecturer: Murray Stein · Course no. 01 30
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09OctDetailsPublic 13:00–14:45
Ways of Knowing: Mysteries of the Mind
Lecture · ISAP Zürich / Zoom
Lecturer: Ursula Wirtz · Course no. 06 31
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09OctDetailsPublic 15:00–16:45
Shiva/Shakti in Eastern Yoga: Balancing the Inner Masculine and Feminine Principles
Lecture · ISAP Zürich / Zoom
Lecturer: Dariane Pictet · Course no. 06 32