by frankiespeakin 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I have been reading about Carl Jung and the archtypes from the collective unconscious.
I think it very benificial to fantasize or imagine your own personal guru,, to guide you through life,,to have genuine coversations with this mythological figure of your imagination. I feel such a figure can grow to be quite an asset in dealing with your lifes problems
They say there are 12 basic types or archtypes,,have any here tried this approach?
You don't need a guru to find strength in yourself!!!
Does no one just believe they can do things alone?!
Nat,,
I was talking about a guru from your own imagination.
I've tried to do the whole archetypal guide thing, I read the book by Caroline Myss and a couple others, but none of that new age stuff ever works for me. Homeopathy, crystals, reiki, shaitsu, cranial-sacral, crystal bowl gonging, spells, meditation, you name it. I usually enjoy it (not meditation though), it just never seems to have any effect. I seem to be immune. I wake up the next day and I'm still neurotic, addictive, paranoid, and tense. Maybe I'm too right brain (or is it left brain, I can never remember).
Aunty,
I think the mythological guru or wise one,,if worked on can help you tap into your subconscious,,and release some of that wisdom to the conscious,,at least that's what I'm thinking Jung did,,I may be mistaken.
Thanks for your imput.
I think it could work too, it just never has for me. Jung had Paracelsus, who was a great alchemist, and this informed a lot of Jung's work. But Jung was already well tapped in when he was just a little boy, as far as I can tell from his stories. I have tried visualising dialogues with some of my favorite dead artists to help me dredge up a little talent for my art, but it hasn't worked so far, I'm probably going at it the wrong way. I like to ask for help from the ancestors, that always seems to help my state of mind, if not any specific problem. Also asking for solutions to come in dreams, that's worked for me.
Auntfanny,
Do you mean you don't get any lasting results from those things? I find the fact that you don't enjoy meditation to be relevant, although its also interesting that you mentioned a couple of bodywork modalities. (I am a bodyworker)
The thing is a lot of people may be very intelligent - you have to be fairly well informed just to know about this stuff so as to try it in the first place - but frankly that's just head knowledge, it doesn't even matter which hemisphere is dominant. Generally, if you have some unconscious holding patterns then nothing will have any lasting affects. This is where meditation comes in because one thing that happens is a deep relaxation, which is not the effect of some sitting practice, but when you actually know what it is you realize it involves an awareness of the body.
In this regard I've found that a lot of intellectual knowledge about it doesn't necessarily help - in fact it is probably more counter productive because people tend to be conditioned to live inside their heads. Thinking about the body is still a process going on in your head, you just become lost in thought and don't actually know anything. When it comes to the body I think it's a great way to start tuning in, not only because it's most immediate but also because it's actually real then - reading about bodywork is certainly not going to do anything to help you relax. However, I don't mean that you would want to disregard all mental approaches, but I would say instead of focusing on accumulating knowledge, start focusing on being aware of your mind. If you think about it it makes a lot more sense to be aware of what you already have, and then extend that to anything you take in - otherwise you just end up with more and more that is not within that scope of awareness.
I have not read Carl Jung's works. But it's interesting that 'guru's' come in many forms. They can be a trusted friend, or aquaintance. The purpose of a 'guru' is to find yourself. And sometimes we don't realize that we are being directed by someone. When you're eyes are opened to a certain concept, it's a self discovery. The word 'guru' has been known to mean; G-(Gee) U-( you) R-(are) U-(you). What that means, is that you are discovering something you hadn't realized before. Even a child can be a 'guru'.
Puternut
markfromcali
I never was focussing on accumulating knowledge, I'm quite content to remain dirt ignorant, all the new age theory is too esoteric for me anyway. With a lot of that stuff all I wanted was to relax. It's frustrating because I find meditation just makes me tenser and tenser till I have to bolt. I got very interested in the Reichian stuff on muscular armoring, but there's another case where head knowledge won't help, you have to do it. So I did and ended up in bed for a week with a screaming back ache. I think the sad truth is that I have a lot of resistance to getting out of my head. My husband does this thing called aquabalancing, where someone holds you in the water and raises you gently up and down in time to your breathing. He said it's fabulous, but the very thought makes me tense. You're right about everything you said, but I'm a tough customer, that's all.
Aunty,
I didn't mean intentionally accumulating knowledge for it's own sake, I'm guessing you are just kind of naturally curious which I would say is a good thing. The basic idea is that before you rest into your mind as spacious awareness, there is always the tendancy to hang on to some thought form - even if you do go from one to the other fairly quickly. As far as the body is concerned, what is actually happening is it is just neglected - that's kind of where the idea of inward focus becomes relevant, as opposed to ideas, input you get from without. Anyway for you at this point you might just want to work with someone for hands on work, although you might also try something like the Alexander Technique or maybe better yet Feldenkrais, but I haven't done that one yet. Perhaps above all, don't be in any rush to make any technique work. I would say none of it amounts to anything until there is awareness of the body/mind anyway.
