Chapter 2

Jung on Self-realisation and Eastern Thought

In this chapter, I first focus on Jung‟s vision of the psyche, the main aspects involved in the process of Self-realisation - consciousness, unconscious with its shadow, the ego and the Self. ... The rest of the chapter introduces Jung‟s view on Eastern practices (e.g. Tibetan Buddhist psychology) which influenced him and his research in respect of Self-realisation.

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What is Self-realisation?

Self-realisation symbolized for Jung an ongoing process, a development of a divided Self towards becoming an undivided, whole Self. In other words, it is a never-ending process aiming towards wholeness of the Self; or coming from Self-division and going towards Self-unification through a transformation of the Self.

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Consciousness-Unconscious Dialogue

Jung views consciousness and unconscious as a whole, the latter being the womb for the former.

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The ego and the Self

Ego as the centre of consciousness - Jung says that ego is the centre of consciousness and mirrors the unconscious.

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However, these two phases described earlier point to the intricacies of the dialogues between the ego and the Self. In other words, it raises two questions. Through what channels these two communicate with one another and what happens to each of the two structures during these dialogues? It is only when we have answers to these questions that we will gain understanding of the ego-Self dialogue. What I illustrate below is my understanding of the internal dynamics of the psyche and specifically between two of its structures, ego and Self.

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Jung on the Eastern thought

West/East and East/West dialogues – The purpose of this section is to introduce the reader to the efforts that have been made on both sides of wisdom, from the West to the East; from the East to the West.

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The connections between the East and the West, Enlightenment and Self-realisation are reflected in Jung‟s psychology and Tibetan Buddhist psychology and the commonality between the two frameworks' paths and aims. However, most relevant to Self-realisation is Jung's psychological commentary165 in the Chinese Book of Life.

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Chapter 2 explored the process of Self-realisation. In this chapter, I introduced to you the main structures and processes of one‟s psyche with its internal psychodynamics that take place during the development of the psyche, therefore one‟s personality. ... Metaphorically, I have attempted to tread on the paths leading to the galleries of one‟s mind just as a miner commits him/herself at the beginning of a day‟s work to open the galleries of the mine and find the black jewel created by the earth in millions of years of transformation. The jewels that I presented to you are the same as the ones Jung has found, according to his findings, experience as a doctor of the soul and visionary, through the opening of the galleries of his mind, structures and processes more than a half a century ago. 

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