XPost: alt.psychology.jung, alt.psychology, alt.psychology.psychoanalysis XPost: alt.philosophy
"Critique of Individuation" (Critique of Jungian Psychology)
Abstract: Individuation as the process of psychological maturation is
connected with the way of the spirit, the same as the 'narrow path'.
Social and worldly adaptation as a central aspect of individuation is overvalued. According to psychology, symbolic transformation of
unconscious images fulfils a therapeutic function. This view is
criticized as a way of upholding the stagnant ego, which should really
undergo authentic transformation. The notion of ego abandonment in
spiritual tradition must be taken seriously. Central to psychology is
the integration of the unconscious. But equally important is the
opposite process of 'complementation'. Consciousness is not only
synthetic, it has also a 'sympathetic' function. Consciousness can give
life back to the unconscious and not only empty it of its goods. To this
end, a creative form of contemplation is recommended, in the manner of
painting or writing. The destruction of the stagnant state of
personality, and the riddance of aspects of personality, are part and
parcel of individuation. Today, adaptation and assimilation are
overvalued whereas negation is undervalued. The Self in Jungian
psychology is a towering ideal, a conglomerate of contradictory aspects
of personality. At a point in time, the spiritual seeker must abandon
the ideal of completeness and begin to negate his profane obsessions,
which are nothing but meaningless games of life.
Keywords: integration, complementation, negation, destruction, spiritual
path, art, individuation, apotheosis, alchemy, Gnosticism, Holy Grail,
C.G. Jung, Emanuel Swedenborg, Poul Bjerre.
Read the article here:
http://mlwi.magix.net/individuation.htm
Mats Winther
http://two-paths.com
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