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power did not lead to happiness but rather an increasing sense of meaninglessness anxiety suffering and loneliness he sought to bring our attention back to the search of our soul and to restore our connection with herself our innermost Sanctuary life is a journey
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of discovering ourself which is our true and complete personality consisting of both our conscious and unconscious lives this is what Jung calls the individuation process our journey of psychological maturation it is the indestructible Foundation that supports us when we can no longer
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support ourselves like a rock that the waves keep crashing over standing unmoved despite the Raging of the sea to be in contact with this deeper part of ourselves is to be in a state of Tranquility undisturbed by wild emotional fluctuations the goal in life is not not Perfection but wholeness
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for Jung there are two stages of life that are part of individuation the first half of life is oriented towards the outer world work education relationships Etc we must throw ourselves into the fire of life and expose ourselves to daily life and hard work
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which solidifies our personality natural life is the nourishing soul of the soil which provides a rich source of nutrients that heals us this is why contact with nature is important we mustn’t get lost in abstract thinking to the detriment of practical life it is the body the feeling the
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instinct which connects us with the soil in his old age Jung continued to Value this way of life he wrote I have done without electricity and tend the fireplace and stove myself evenings I light the old lamps there’s no running water and I pump the water from the well I chop the
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wood and cook the food these simple acts make and simple and how difficult it is to be simple this anchoring in reality is a prerequisite for the second half of life where our Focus shifts to our inner World our quest for individuation and this is the phase of Life Jung is mostly concerned
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with the realm of the unconscious the world of the inner life is as infinite as the world of the outer life man lives in Two Worlds many people however have neglected this part of themselves and only remain half alive they are unprepared by the natural transition into the second half of
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life and fall into a mid-life crisis because they have not learned to align Both Worlds when we are confronted with the real and crushing problems of life we desperately search for our soul we realize that the values we have learned from society provides no help to us Conformity is the great
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destroyer of self-hurt the opposite to courage in our society is not cowardice it is Conformity we are often persuaded to take the Apparently easier Road of merging with the crowd and forgetting ourselves it requires courage to stand against the crowd a person can be surrounded by a crowd of
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people and yet feel completely alone because he’s alienated from himself the search for the soul is a solitary task and when we avoid the soul it keeps on stirring it disturbs us makes us restless and gives us no peace however these problems are important they are incentives for us to undertake
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Soul work without the trials and tribulations of life we aren’t likely to summon the determination to overcome the indifference of daily life people will do anything no matter how absurd to avoid facing their own soul the gate that leads to destruction is Broad and many answers
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through it but the gateway to peace is narrow and on me answers safe through Affliction of the Soul it is wise to nourish the soul otherwise you’ll breed dragons and devils in your heart every psychic advance of man arises from the suffering of the Soul embrace your grief for
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there your soul will grow like the Primitive indigenous tribesmen Jung recognized that the loss of Soul leads to a sense of meaninglessness in life when a tribe of people lose their feeling that their way of life is worthwhile they may stop reproducing or in large numbers simply lie
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down and die besides streams full of fish food is not the primary nourishment of man in place of our current banana life Jung would ask us to embark on a great adventure of self-knowledge which comes upon investigating once in a world the unconscious realm and for yum this is the true journey of life
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without the soul the body is dead and without the body the soul is unreal the soul is the home of our Supreme values Dreams Are The Guiding words of the Soul we must carry them in our heart and go back and forth over them in our mind like the words of the person dearest to us the dream
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is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the Soul opening into that Cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego consciousness apart from dreams Jung developed the technique of active imagination where you have a dialogue with
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different parts of yourself that live in the unconscious it is similar to Dreaming except that you are fully awake and conscious during the experience he discovered this technique when he experienced The Dark Knight of the Soul or what he calls his confrontation with the unconscious
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a midlife existential catastrophe in which he was overwhelmed with visions and plunged into unknown depths it was as though he experienced a psychological death and he decided that outer death is better than inner death for that reason he turned away and sought the place of the inner
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life and thus began his search for his soul this led to one of the greatest contributions to mankind the red book Jung wrote my soul my soul where are you do you hear me I speak I call you are you there I have returned I am here again I’ve shaken the dust of all the land from my feet
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and I’ve come to you I am with you after long years of long wandering I’ve come to you again there is only one way to the soul and that is your way there is only one salvation and that is your salvation if the path before you is clear you’re probably on someone else’s each one must
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go his own way hence look into yourself for you must fulfill the way that is in you when we are in contact with our inner self we are more likely to experience synchronicities that is Meaningful patterns in life where the inner world is seen to have a correspondence in external reality
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the first step towards individuation is the integration of the Shadow this is not our enemy but our Ally it contains pure gold waiting to be integrated into our personality it becomes dark only when it is ignored we must learn to watch our emotional impulses and be aware of projecting
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our own problems onto other innocent people it is only after the encounter with a shadow that we can move on to the deepest part of the Soul which Jung calls the Anima the female psychological tendencies in man and the Animus the male psychological tendencies in women these are the
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contrasexual soul images in our psyche while the integration of the Shadow is The Apprentice piece the soul image is the Masterpiece the integration of the anima is done through taking seriously the feelings moods and fantasies of the unconscious and bringing them into reality through creative
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work such as painting writing sculpture or musical composition the anima is the source of life and when it is not integrated we feel lifeless and depressed it enriches our life by making the unconscious contents conscious the animus on the other hand is the source of meaning it gives our
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unconscious content meaning in the outer World it endows a woman with qualities of initiative courage objectivity and spiritual wisdom avoiding cold and destructive Reflections or hidden convictions about how life ought to be as if stuck in a cocoon of dreamy thoughts which cuts a woman
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off from the reality of life the integration of the Soul image is what caused a path to the most fundamental figure the self wholeness can only be achieved through a union of opposites in which our light and dark side are united Jung’s individuation process is analogous to the great
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work of the Alchemists where the Philosopher’s Stone is a symbol of the self which is found within oneself for Jung the task of alchemy is psychological it is the art of expanding consciousness of self-realization when we have lost our way or do not know what to do with our
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life we can only surrender to the higher wisdom of the self our constant inner companion through life Jung did not see himself as a Healer but as someone who could guide you to heal yourself The Cure ought to grow naturally out of the Wounded individual this search for herself allows for
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empathy Mutual understanding and they desire to become an ally in other people’s Journeys towards psychological maturation thus we improve our relationship with ourselves with others and with nature life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be experienced we do not require any
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esoteric knowledge to be in contact with herself anyone can take the time to look within to reflect on life’s meaning to give time and attention to values interests and activities that bring joy and fulfillment to one’s personal life who looks outside dreams who looks inside awakes
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if you are interested in learning more about the works of Jung head over to my channel eternalized where I have explained these Concepts more in depth thank you for watching foreign [Music]