Friday, August 17, 2012

Pairs of Opposite

Carl Gustav Jung (26 July 1875 - 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology (also known as Jungian psychology). Jung's approach to psychology has been influential in the field of depth psychology and in countercultural movements across the globe. Jung is considered as the first modern psychologist to state that the human psyche is "by nature religious" and to explore it in depth. C.G. Jung says that in the world we live in, there are certain qualities that are absolute truths. These qualities come in pairs of opposites and you can't have one without the other. Such as - Fullness and Emptiness, Living and Dead, Light and Darkness, Hot and Cold, Time and Space, Love and Fear, Good and Evil, Beauty and Ugliness, to mention a few. These qualities exist outside of ourselves and inside of us. Therefore, when one is not in tune with their true nature - the true self [not the false self which is the EGO] one is constantly striving to define and attach oneself with these qualities in order to feel like we exist. The danger with that is that when one strives towards the attainment of the good and the beautiful - for example - and is not in tune with ones true nature, we then fall pray to the effects of the opposite qualities - evil and ugly, since these are one with the good and the beautiful. When, however, we remain true to our own nature, we distinguish ourselves from the good and the beautiful, therefore, at the same time, from the evil and ugly. According to Jung, he emphasized the importance of balance and harmony in ones life. He cautioned that modern people rely too heavily on natural science and logical positivism and that we would benefit greatly from integrating spirituality and appreciation of unconscious realms. He considered this process of individuation necessary for a person to become whole. In summary, Jung asks us to strive not after any of these external qualities which ultimately will always leave you empty, but after YOUR OWN BEING. Bottom line, there is only one striving, the striving after your own being. Once this is clear to you, you would not need anything else, thus you would come to your right goal by virtue of your own being.

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