Let me get that straight, Dr. Adler (eagle) writes about power, Dr. Freud (pleasure) about sex, Dr. Fromm (pious) about ethics and religion, and Dr. Jung (youth) about rebirth. Mmm, you can’t make that stuff up.
Showing posts with label Jung. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jung. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
The Way of the Symbol
If I had to describe my spiritual path in one pithy expression, it would be, "The Way of the Symbol". I have discovered little nudges along the WAY over the years, pointing me in a direction of my choosing. When I see these signs, I just know that it is meaningful for my spiritual journey. So in a way, I would say that I have my daily conversations with GOD, yet, I would never be so arrogant to claim that what is meaningful to me has to be true for others as well.
When we live our life, reacting to external signs and voices and giving them spiritual meanings, we of course have to ask ourselves, what is truly of GOD and what is our own make-belief. I actually think that I have become pretty good in these situation-specific "yes", "no", "no", "yes" choices for the very reason that I have worked the best TEACHER there is for a while now, the WAY.
Today, I stumbled on a note that I wrote many years ago when I wanted to understand better how exactly one knows when something is "right" or "wrong". And while I still don't have a clear-cut answers that I can pass along, I have mellowed a bit on that subject; I will argue later that this distinction matters much less than you think. Please read the problem statement I faced a while back first, and then allow me to provide some updated thoughts afterwards.
True Self or Super Ego, June 7, 2009
We always talk about the True Self, the higher institution inside us which is permanently connected to the universe. How can we separate this voice from the super ego, i.e. Freud's concept of the deep-seated biases that we receive from our our parents, society and culture?
Let me give you an example: I had some receding hair line, so I got a hair transplant done a while back. It is a minor operation and actually worked out quite well. In any case, one day before the operation, I banged my foot into a door such that I could hardly walk for almost one week. But since I am very well-coordinated, these things just don't happen to me. On top of that, the injury miraculously vanished exactly at the same time when my scalp had healed. I conjectured that my True Self wanted to give me the lesson that "you are not your body" and promptly cancelled my follow-up operation.
Perhaps it was a message from a higher institution, perhaps not. The alternative is that I was just ashamed as our culture still sometimes frowns on plastic surgery. My super ego was quite well articulated by my mother. When she heard about the upcoming operation she said, "My son, these are your genes, you should accept who you are!" You see the alternative view point, I may have run into the door because my subconscience wanted to tell me that I should not go against our cultural norms. How do we know? Any ideas how we can separate the alleged True Self from our subconscious desires and fears?
Let me give you an example: I had some receding hair line, so I got a hair transplant done a while back. It is a minor operation and actually worked out quite well. In any case, one day before the operation, I banged my foot into a door such that I could hardly walk for almost one week. But since I am very well-coordinated, these things just don't happen to me. On top of that, the injury miraculously vanished exactly at the same time when my scalp had healed. I conjectured that my True Self wanted to give me the lesson that "you are not your body" and promptly cancelled my follow-up operation.
Perhaps it was a message from a higher institution, perhaps not. The alternative is that I was just ashamed as our culture still sometimes frowns on plastic surgery. My super ego was quite well articulated by my mother. When she heard about the upcoming operation she said, "My son, these are your genes, you should accept who you are!" You see the alternative view point, I may have run into the door because my subconscience wanted to tell me that I should not go against our cultural norms. How do we know? Any ideas how we can separate the alleged True Self from our subconscious desires and fears?
This was my problem statement from 2009, and as I mentioned, I canceled the follow-up operation and even stopped taking the medicine to prevent further hair loss, not because I believe that God frowns on those things, but simply because of a feeling I had during the operation. In order to transplant hair from one part to the other, the doctor has to penetrate your skin with a scalpel, and I simply disliked the feeling. "No one has the right to cut holes into me", I heard a voice say, and that was the end of this discussion. Super-ego or True Self, I didn't know who talked then, and I also didn't particularly care, all that mattered was the feeling to stop this madness and I never looked back. Frankly, when I look into the mirror these days, I kind of like what I see.
All of us are on a path that is meaningful to us; we need to find this path for ourselves and need to stick to it without losing much sleep over whether the super-ego or the True Self is talking. I am reminded of Siri's voice: we use her for digging up stuff; for finding restaurants in our neighborhood, or for reminding us of upcoming calendar events. So she is somehow there to help us. Similarly, we can use our super ego as a convenient tool to help us proceed along our spiritual path. But then, on those few occasions when the signs of the WAY and our super ego, or our id seem to clash, that is the time to dig our heels in and override what seemed obvious and natural all our life.
When Freud developed his insight of ego, super ego and the id, he perceived himself as part of an enlightenment process designed to help us discover our "healthy ego". C.G Jung felt a spiritual component was missing in Freud's theory, so he alerted us to the "Collective Unconscious" and spent his life trying to incorporate his spiritual insights into the rational thinking framework. But even he was only willing to go so far. It was him who stumbled on Synchronicity, a framework that I frequently use along my spiritual journey. But he stopped short of developing it. At one point in his career he admitted that once he stopped looking for Synchronicity, the signs of the WAY also stopped coming. Perhaps even more revealing, when someone later in his career offered to introduce him to one of the enlightened Hindu Mystics - I believe it was Sri Ramana Maharshi - he politely declined as he didn't want to go down that path. We all manufacture our story, our path, and all of us are only willing to lean so much out of the window. Life is an ongoing choice to define our "self", and there is no "right" or "wrong", there is only our way.
I look for signs of the WAY. I look for ONENESS. I look for spiritual insights and I look for love. The signs of the WAY surround me daily, and I consider it so much fun to unwrap the little blessings that GOD sends me. It is a feeling really, an insight that strikes. I may miss a few steps, but more often than not, I recognize the symbols of the WAY and react accordingly. If I felt today for some reason that a hair transplant could help me remove an inner obstacle along the WAY, I would immediately sign up!
It is arrogant to believe that I have something more worthwhile to say than Freud or Dr. Jung. Yet, it may be able to offer better directions for the select few who want to travel "The Way of Symbols" together with me. We can always appeal for GUIDANCE to a FORCE beyond our horizon, and this FORCE will cleverly use the symbols that we embrace. Observing Synchronicity in action does not prove that GOD exists. All it shows it that we are that magnetic and powerful to attract the symbols that are meaningful to us. Neither of us has any right to lecture someone else on what is "right" and what is "wrong" by GOD. "The Symbols of the WAY" are an intensely personal conversation.
God, in Neale Walsch's "Conversations with God", repeated one insight over and over: lose less sleep over the question what is "right" or "wrong", and start asking whether something is useful or a hindrance towards where you personally want to go. That's it really; first you decide what your life story is all about, and then go after it with all you got. If the collective insights of our forefathers and mothers have installed certain normative shortcuts to help us get to our goal, the better. And if we painfully have to overwrite certain biological, psychological or normative programs to advance instead, then so be it. This is our story. Let's make it a good one.
The WAY is always here to help us advance once we ask request the journey HOME. We are not intellectually or spiritually superior to anyone else, but when we travel next to HER, we end up having a lot of fun! Join us along the "The Way of Symbols"!
Friday, December 6, 2013
The Elephant in the Room
Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."
They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.
"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."
"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.
(Hindu Wisdom)
Freud had astute observations about himself and his patients, yet he was one of the blind men that told us about the elephant. Freud discovered the ego and analyzed it for us. He was bold enough to talk about sex in an utterly sexually repressed society, yet he was not bold enough to talk about the Spirit. Erich Fromm once described one of Freud's dreams where Freud experienced love as a dried up - dead - rose. Yes, Freud analyzed life with an razor-sharp intellect; unfortunately sometimes life bleeds to death during this operation.
Freud made the subconscious a household name, but it was Jung who made us realize the elephant in the room. Not only did he help us understand the incredible wisdom and power that is hidden deep inside of us, but he was also willing - buried by lots of intellectual blah - to admit the presence of the Self. We have passed a century since this discussion started and have added plenty of insights from the New Age movement. Today we know of the elephant in the room. Yet everyone will have to see and feel all parts to really know all about it. That is exactly what a spiritual journey will do for you.
For many of us the path is a journey through all four quadrants: intellect, ego, subconscious, and Spirit. We tend to know the New Age "ego - True Self" debate pretty well, but unfortunately it is just that, a debate. You have to experience your ego dissolve in the presence of the Self for yourself. This is your spiritual mission. You have to feel it, breathe it, struggle for it, and come to appreciate it. Eventually the "I" transcends into "I Am". This may happen in front of the burning bush, may happen after falling in a deep depression, or might happen on a trip to the local grocery store. Until then, monitor the workings of the "I", see how your state of mind interacts with the environment you are operating in, and do whatever you can to also be in touch with your Spirit. For many this connection happens as they pray or meditate; some discover the Self in others, very much like the Chinese sage Lao-Tzu did when he described "The Way".
The Bhagavad Gita is an intellect driven spiritual journey. Lord Krishna tells Arjun on the battle field that you can cut through the distortions of the ego. The goal of the spiritual warrior is find out the demands of the Way - your personal dharma as the Hindus call it - and just do it, whether you like it or not. The Gita was written for Gods. If you go down that path make sure you listen to the voice in your head as much as you listen to the wisdom of your subconscious. Women and children have a better access to this Voice then men do.
Imagine an iceberg with the ego and the intellect above the water line. Spirit and the subconscious would be the giant mass below it. There are angels and demons hidden there, archetypes as well as fears and monsters. Freud's optimism that we can catapult many of these forces into our conscious mind was justified. Yet he wanted to squeeze these insights through the male intellect while the true reality is so much bigger than that. Woman and man have to merge, child and adult have to walk together, intellect and subconscious have to be in harmony, within and without have to be on the same page, and the ego has to be guided by the a Self. This is a giant task but you have a life-time to work on it and you have so many friends and angels cheering you on.
We invite you to join our journey towards wholeness. Nothing is sacred while everything is sacred; we feel and understand at the same time ; we discover every external occurrence in perfect harmony with our internal state of mind, and we see every sister as a mirror image of ourself. Discover that we are God together with us. It is a Herculean task but it is a lot of fun too. There is a unifying force linking intellect, ego, Spirit and the subconscious: love. You can love the intellect that Lord Krishna gave us, you can be proud of the "I" that has already traveled so far and just needs one more step on the homecoming journey. You can love the Spirit that prevails in everything and you can love the innocence, purity and strength of the child, woman and hero within, just as you can appreciate the incredible energy reservoir of the demon. Discover the wholeness inside. It is as plain as the elephant in the room.
Intellect
Ego Love Spirit
Subconscious
They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.
"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."
"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.
(Hindu Wisdom)
Freud had astute observations about himself and his patients, yet he was one of the blind men that told us about the elephant. Freud discovered the ego and analyzed it for us. He was bold enough to talk about sex in an utterly sexually repressed society, yet he was not bold enough to talk about the Spirit. Erich Fromm once described one of Freud's dreams where Freud experienced love as a dried up - dead - rose. Yes, Freud analyzed life with an razor-sharp intellect; unfortunately sometimes life bleeds to death during this operation.
Freud made the subconscious a household name, but it was Jung who made us realize the elephant in the room. Not only did he help us understand the incredible wisdom and power that is hidden deep inside of us, but he was also willing - buried by lots of intellectual blah - to admit the presence of the Self. We have passed a century since this discussion started and have added plenty of insights from the New Age movement. Today we know of the elephant in the room. Yet everyone will have to see and feel all parts to really know all about it. That is exactly what a spiritual journey will do for you.
For many of us the path is a journey through all four quadrants: intellect, ego, subconscious, and Spirit. We tend to know the New Age "ego - True Self" debate pretty well, but unfortunately it is just that, a debate. You have to experience your ego dissolve in the presence of the Self for yourself. This is your spiritual mission. You have to feel it, breathe it, struggle for it, and come to appreciate it. Eventually the "I" transcends into "I Am". This may happen in front of the burning bush, may happen after falling in a deep depression, or might happen on a trip to the local grocery store. Until then, monitor the workings of the "I", see how your state of mind interacts with the environment you are operating in, and do whatever you can to also be in touch with your Spirit. For many this connection happens as they pray or meditate; some discover the Self in others, very much like the Chinese sage Lao-Tzu did when he described "The Way".
The Bhagavad Gita is an intellect driven spiritual journey. Lord Krishna tells Arjun on the battle field that you can cut through the distortions of the ego. The goal of the spiritual warrior is find out the demands of the Way - your personal dharma as the Hindus call it - and just do it, whether you like it or not. The Gita was written for Gods. If you go down that path make sure you listen to the voice in your head as much as you listen to the wisdom of your subconscious. Women and children have a better access to this Voice then men do.
Imagine an iceberg with the ego and the intellect above the water line. Spirit and the subconscious would be the giant mass below it. There are angels and demons hidden there, archetypes as well as fears and monsters. Freud's optimism that we can catapult many of these forces into our conscious mind was justified. Yet he wanted to squeeze these insights through the male intellect while the true reality is so much bigger than that. Woman and man have to merge, child and adult have to walk together, intellect and subconscious have to be in harmony, within and without have to be on the same page, and the ego has to be guided by the a Self. This is a giant task but you have a life-time to work on it and you have so many friends and angels cheering you on.
We invite you to join our journey towards wholeness. Nothing is sacred while everything is sacred; we feel and understand at the same time ; we discover every external occurrence in perfect harmony with our internal state of mind, and we see every sister as a mirror image of ourself. Discover that we are God together with us. It is a Herculean task but it is a lot of fun too. There is a unifying force linking intellect, ego, Spirit and the subconscious: love. You can love the intellect that Lord Krishna gave us, you can be proud of the "I" that has already traveled so far and just needs one more step on the homecoming journey. You can love the Spirit that prevails in everything and you can love the innocence, purity and strength of the child, woman and hero within, just as you can appreciate the incredible energy reservoir of the demon. Discover the wholeness inside. It is as plain as the elephant in the room.
Intellect
Ego Love Spirit
Subconscious
Monday, August 5, 2013
Freud, Jung and the Tao
Freud's big achievement was to remind us that the ego is very much empowered to dig stuff out of the unconscious and grow as a person that way. Jung's big accomplishment was to recognize that you don't need to look down on the unconscious the way Freud did when he called this force the "it". To the contrary, the Unconscious could be something to look up to - it's the Force that contains our wisdom, mission statement and God connection.
Jung touched on the Tao when he stumbled on synchronicity, but he didn't explore these mystical events much further and said that when he stopped looking for them they also stopped coming. Well, that is how you can dig a little further. I claim that if you completely open up to life, a Force will come to the fore that teaches you everything you need to know about your Unconscious. More than that, your "ego" - that is the way you perceive and react to the world - is perfectly tailored to the life experiences that are coming your way. When you open up completely to this divine Force, your ego will be synchronized with the Beyond. You will find that don't have to give up anything that is dear to you. Think of yourself as a diamond in the rough getting a beautiful shine day by day. I claim even more than that, by meeting life with this new-found perspective you realize that you are Her.
Jung touched on the Tao when he stumbled on synchronicity, but he didn't explore these mystical events much further and said that when he stopped looking for them they also stopped coming. Well, that is how you can dig a little further. I claim that if you completely open up to life, a Force will come to the fore that teaches you everything you need to know about your Unconscious. More than that, your "ego" - that is the way you perceive and react to the world - is perfectly tailored to the life experiences that are coming your way. When you open up completely to this divine Force, your ego will be synchronized with the Beyond. You will find that don't have to give up anything that is dear to you. Think of yourself as a diamond in the rough getting a beautiful shine day by day. I claim even more than that, by meeting life with this new-found perspective you realize that you are Her.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Going in Circles
I remember vividly an evening about a year ago when I became so frustrated with my spiritual advances, or lack thereof, that I sat down with a pen in my hand and in a "Conversations with God" type fashion wrote on it, OK Lord Krishna, just tell me once and for all what is wrong with me. "You are cycling my friend" was the response. I was dumbfounded, what, I asked myself, God is telling me that I am going in circles. So back I went, facing my challenges with twice the energy and three times the commitment, if God is telling me that I am wasting time, you better go and hurry.
Well, a year later I discovered that will-power and commitment is not the problem, the center of gravity is. If we cannot overcome a problem with brute strength, we need to step aside and change our perspective. Jung's shadow theory comes to mind. If two forces battle inside yourself, let it be, give both their required space and transcend to the next level. Stop doing and start being.
Well, a year later I discovered that will-power and commitment is not the problem, the center of gravity is. If we cannot overcome a problem with brute strength, we need to step aside and change our perspective. Jung's shadow theory comes to mind. If two forces battle inside yourself, let it be, give both their required space and transcend to the next level. Stop doing and start being.
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