Spirituality Quotes from Psychologist Carl Jung
By In5D on October 3, 2019
Many people are aware of Carl Jung’s contributions to the world of psychology, but did you know about his contributions to the world of spirituality?
Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875, Kesswil, – June 6, 1961, Küsnacht) was a Swiss psychiatrist, influential thinker, and founder of analytical psychology.
Carl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/ YUUNG; German: [kaʁl ˈjʊŋ]; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, psychologist and pioneering evolutionary theorist who founded the school of analytical psychology. He was a prolific author, illustrator, and correspondent, and a complex and controversial character, perhaps best known through his "autobiography" Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology, religious studies and evolutionary theory. He worked as a research scientist at the Burghölzli psychiatric hospital, in Zurich, under Eugen Bleuler. Jung established himself as an influential mind, developing a friendship with Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis, conducting a lengthy correspondence paramount to their joint vision of human psychology. Jung is widely regarded as one of the most influential psychologists in history. Freud saw the younger Jung not only as the heir he had been seeking to take forward his "new science" of psychoanalysis, but as a means to legitimize his own work: Freud and other contemporary psychoanalysts were Jews facing rising antisemitism in Europe, and Jung was Christian. Freud secured Jung's appointment as president of Freud's newly founded International Psychoanalytical Association. Jung's research and personal vision, however, made it difficult to follow his older colleague's doctrine and they parted ways. This division was painful for Jung and resulted in the establishment of Jung's analytical psychology, as a comprehensive system separate from psychoanalysis. Scholar Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi believed Jung's later antisemitic remarks may be a clue to the schism. Among the central concepts of analytical psychology is individuation—the lifelong psychological process of differentiation of the self out of each individual's conscious and unconscious elements. Jung considered it to be the main task of human development. He created some of the best-known psychological concepts, including synchronicity, archetypal phenomena, the collective unconscious, the psychological complex, and extraversion and introversion. His belief that some alcoholics may recover if they have a 'spiritual or religious experience' indirectly influenced the later founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. Jung was an artist, craftsman, builder, and prolific writer. Many of his works were not published until after his death and some remain unpublished.
Jung’s unique and broadly influential approach to psychology has emphasized understanding the psyche through exploring the worlds of:
- dreams
- art
- mythology
- world religion
and philosophy.
Although he was a theoretical psychologist and practicing clinician for most of his life, much of his life’s work was spent exploring other realms including:
- Eastern and Western philosophy
- alchemy
- astrology
- sociology
as well as literature and the arts.
His most notable contributions include his concept of the psychological archetype, the collective unconscious, and his theory of synchronicity.
Jung emphasized the importance of balance and harmony.
He cautioned that modern humans rely too heavily on science and logic and would benefit from integrating spirituality and appreciation of the unconscious realm.
Carl Jung - The Man Who Coined The Word 'Synchronicity' - In5D
Jung emphasized the importance of balance and harmony.
He cautioned that modern humans rely too heavily on science and logic and would benefit from integrating spirituality and appreciation of the unconscious realm.
Carl Jung - The Man Who Coined The Word 'Synchronicity' - In5D
Jungian ideas are not typically included in curriculum of most major universities’ psychology departments but are occasionally explored in humanities departments.
Jung’s work on himself and his patients convinced him that life has a spiritual purpose beyond material goals.
Our main task, he believed, is to discover and fulfill our deep innate potential.
Our main task, he believed, is to discover and fulfill our deep innate potential.
Based on his study of:
- Christianity
- Hinduism
- Buddhism
- Gnosticism
- Taoism
and other traditions, Jung believed that this journey of transformation, which he called individuation, is at the mystical heart of all religions.
It is a journey to meet the self and at the same time to meet the Divine.
Unlike Sigmund Freud, Jung thought spiritual experience was essential to our well-being.
Carl Jung On Intuition - In5D
The work and writings of Jung from the 1940s onwards focused on alchemy.
In 1944 Jung published Psychology and Alchemy, where he analyzed the alchemical symbols and showed a direct relationship to the psychoanalytical process.
He argued that the alchemical process was the transformation of the impure soul (lead) to perfected soul (gold), and a metaphor for the individuation process.
Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.
Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens.
It is on the whole probably that we continually dream, but that consciousness makes such a noise that we do not hear it.
We meet ourselves time and time again in a thousand disguises on the path of life.