John R. Yungblut

Photo: Sarah Huntington

While a student at Harvard, John Yungblut asked his favorite preacher what was universal in religion? Where would he find it? Rufus Jones answered, “For that, my son, you must study the mystics.”

John was a lifelong student of the mystical approach to religious experience and of the ideas of C. G. Jung and Teilhard de Chardin. He aspired to be an advocate for the mystical heritage in Christianity, up-dated by Jung’s myth of the psyche and Teilhard’s myth of cosmogenesis, a universe still being born.
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John served in the Episcopal ministry for 20 years before becoming a member of the Religious Society of Friends.  He then served successively as Program Director of Quaker House, Atlanta; Director of International Student House, Washington, DC; Director of Studies at Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA; and Director of the Guild for Spiritual Guidance, Rye, NY.

In 1978, John founded Touchstone, Inc., as a non-profit with the vision of quickening the aspiration and longings in individuals who pursue the inward journey to the Self, God within. Touchstone seeks to accompany those on a transformative journey of becoming more alive, attuned, and responsive to serving that which lies deepest within. Penelope Yungblut, a Zurich trained Jungian analyst, became the director of Touchstone, Inc. following John’s death in 1995.

John is remembered for the warmth and wisdom he offered, the retreats he led, and the many lives he touched as a spiritual guide, counselor, and beloved mentor. He leaves a lasting legacy in the five books and seven pamphlets he published. In his writings, John integrates the Judeo-Christian tradition with two revolutionary schools of thought, Jungian depth psychology and Teilhard’s concept of ongoing evolution. He was persuaded that the Christian tradition needs to assimilate new information and evolve or it will wither and die.

 "To have read John Yungblut's words is to have been enriched. To have felt the gentleness and kindness of his presence is to have been blessed."
- Charlie Finn in Virginia 

"I remember John as a jewel of a man with much depth and intelligence. I so enjoyed working with him and being with him."
- Father Joe in Westerly, Rhode Island

Books

• Rediscovering Prayer, 1972
• Rediscovering the Christ, 1974
• Discovering God Within, 1979
• The Gentle Art of Spiritual Guidance, 1988
• Shaping a Personal Myth to Live By, 1992

Pamphlets

• Quakerism of the Future: Mystical, Prophetic & Evangelical, Pendle Hill Pamphlet  #194, 1974
• Sex and the Human Psyche: Toward a Contemporary Ethic, Pendle Hill Pamphlet  #203, 1975
• Seeking Light in the Darkness of the Unconscious, Pendle Hill Pamphlet  #211, 1977
• Speaking as One Friend to Another: On the Mystical Way Forward, Pendle Hill Pamphlet  #249, 1983
• On Hallowing One's Diminishments, Pendle Hill Pamphlet  #292, 1990
• Walking Gently on the Earth, Southeastern Yearly Meeting Publications, 1991
• For that Solitary Individual: An Octogenarian's Counsel on Living and Dying, Pendle Hill Pamphlet  #316, 1994

Hallowed Ground
Charlie Finn

Hallowed ground becomes more hallowed
with the spreading of ashes received today
of a father who both mentored my spirit
and called me his friend.
They will dissolve in the fervent Earth
within the touchstone of my stone-circle
where I am joined by all my ancestors  
when we greet the rising sun.