Ingmar Bergman on demons

Ingmar always appeared well sorted,friendly and rational infront of cameras.But through his works,books and interviews,you can tell he had an extremely sensitive and tortured even chaotic soul.He tried really hard really careful by his well organized bourgeoisie lifestyle to keep his mental health and balance.When he really need to let it out,he created the most unsettling yet powerful films we've ever seen

'I have a list'

My days are harder when I am upset at others and easier when I love everybody.

While it might strike some as "weak", it is deeply brave to "own" one's demons in this way.

It's comforting to know that human beings of his talent and vision are as tormented as an old, divorced, sad and lost high school special education teacher. I can't believe I'm hearing a man who I admire so much, discuss the same demons that I struggle with. Thank you for this post and reminding me that I am not alone. Deeply appreciative. Sincerely, C in Portland

"Lanterna Magica", his autobio, is stunningly honest and give so much insight to this tortured, brilliant man.

Ingmar's mentioning about the Demon of fear reminded me of my psychedelic trip years ago. During the experiment there was this hallucination of a elf kind of entity that was for a short while, judging every little action I made physically. It had it's hands up and shaking them toward me as if it was saying to me : " No!No! Don't do that! " Calling me names and so on. I never really made much of it, neither I do any of the hallucinations experienced during psychedelics. Reflecting back to it, taking into consideration of what Ingmar is saying, I see that this Demon of fear is still prevalent in the consciousness, not as a entity but rather as a subconscious force of the mind. Looking at it superficially, it is all about the "comfort zone" we have and becoming accustomed to our habits. Habits seemingly bring security for the mind, they ensure survival. But habit can make us live very mechanically, and lead into life without understanding. Our comfort zone is caused by thinking. Thoughts are responsible for man's misery, that's where the separation begins, one sees the fear as something separate from another and becomes a victim .. To have an insight to this is to see the truth of it, and no longer needing to identify with the fear. And obviously there are different kinds of fear, the naturals and the irrational ones. Ones that make us thrive for aliveness, and ones that make us paralyzed. To see the danger of something so clearly that you never touch it again, is possible cognitively related to psychology as it is in your practical world, growing up and learning that putting your hand on the hot stove hurts so you never do it again. In the same way, the observation of the appearing thoughts & feelings can bring about some freedom in one's life.

Life holds many gifts for those who are highly intelligent, extremely sensitive, artistic people, especially when they can feel also every emotion in words, when words and ideas have the capacity to make them intoxicated. The difficulty is, their radar for the sublime at one end of the spectrum doesn’t negate feelings and perceptions at the other end....the gifts must be taken with the curses, and we’ve heard the list of Inmarsat Bergman’s list of his own demons. The only way to get though the darkness which ALWAYS accompanies the brightest light, is to find a therapist who understands. And the other huge gift is a naturally happy or upbeat personality....at least, that’s what I have found. So, I feel for Mr. Bergman, who apparently didn’t look for the therapist and only pretended to be happy. He seemed to be self destructive in his relationships with women, as evidenced by all of his marriages and infidelities (why then, get married at all??), and he couldn’t seem to find any perspective on ways to help himself. Like most overly sensitive people, he just appeared to move at a frenetic pace to keep his particular demons quiet, but this only makes them stronger and more aggravating—they thrive in the dark corners of our minds. Something as inane as being annoyed at a bird finding a way in the house became an enormous fear, an obsessive terror. The deal is, you can run from your anxieties, but you can’t hide! I find it very sad that he didn’t find any peace, and that he didn’t figure this out: When you force a huge anxiety into the light and scream, exposing it to the light of day and putting it back into proportion, it initially feels like you’re going to free fall from the height of a very tall cliff, only to find you’ve just stepped off of a low kerb. Very embarrassing. Of course, the biggest consolation for these people is that, though most are not famous, they will never be mediocre.

wow. so that's why i have an extreme attachment with Bergman films.. me n him r literally the same. thank you, Ingmar Bergman.

I could relate to almost all of his demons, but only in a vague and far fetched way. When he mentioned the demon of nothingness, though, I got chills. When I am alone I am myself, but when I am with people I recognise very little of what's happening inside me. It is almost like I do not think rationally and can't form a comprehensive thought and put it into words.

The BBC are very "kind" in their translation of this. He swears a lot, a whole fucking lot.

TheSoulSColours: Thanks so much for uploading this video of my number "one" person... Ingmar Bergmar, a great film maker. I miss him a great deal. Cheers to all Ingmar's fans. From New Orleans the city of jazz and the "Cajun" food mmmmmmmmmm....!!!!

His voice gives me asmr tingles.

Master! Thx for sharing

I feel a relief come over me when I see such similar demons to my own articulated, but it is short lived. The nausea returns at the thought of our shared cruel bindings - tethered to one another like Bergman's characters' silhouetted dance with Death over twilight's hill.

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful content with us 💖💖

The Demon King brought me here...

yay, my guide thank you, Ingamr

Genius.

I watched this a couple of times and after awhile i realised he was actually joking. He has an incredible dry sense of humour, he has these demons and is not lying, but that he is aware of them makes this and wrote them down is great humour.