I stated recently on Facebook that my blog post ' A Tribute To My Parents' and now one to my 'Six Brothers' were likely my last for I felt I had said all I needed to fulfill the stated purpose of the blog. I've added a few more but always shift this one to the latest for it does sort of 'wrap up' the blog. http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2011/06/introduction-to-this-blog.html .* But I've since realized I want to add some closing personal thoughts to this project. I do not plan to ever post this on Facebook. I consider it too personal. It will be read in a more natural way by ones desiring to purposely read my blog or going there while searching the internet.
I have received very few comments or responses to the blog posts. I have no way of knowing who reads the blog. The blog software does allow me to see how many times each blog post is opened and I have been rather pleased with the number of people who have read the blog over its lifetime. The total number of reads for all posts is presently 34, 252. The ten most read posts have been in this order: (updated 3.20/16)
1. Anne and Rufus Hibbetthttp://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/12/rufus-and-anne-hibbett-tribute-and.html
2.Introduction To This Bloghttp://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2011/06/introduction-to-this-blog.html
3.Holy Week: Jesus And Violence....http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/03/holy-week-jesus-and-violence-october-26.html
4. A UFO Experience http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/07/ufo-experiencejune-25-2012-riverton-il.html 5. 5.Remembering My Brothers.... http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2013/07/remembering-my-brothers.html
6. Sermon: Repent or Perish ... http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2013/03/sermon-repent-or-perishluke-131-5march.html
7. Easter Sermon- He Is Not Here ... http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2013/03/sermon-he-is-not-here-march-30-2013.html
8. Sermon: Count Me In....http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/10/count-me-in-mark-1035-45-35-james-and.html
9.Sermon: Hannah, From Despair To Jubilation..... http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/11/hannah-from-despair-to.html
10. Dream:Glorious Mandalahttp://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2011/09/dream-glorious-mandala-symbol-of.html
This blog runs a high risk of making me appear presumptuous, as having a superior attitude regarding my strong and sometimes unexpected points of view. I would never have believed thirty seven years ago that I would have some of the beliefs and perceptions I now have. Even less would I have believed I would put them on public display.
The range of my changes in thought and perception , I think, have been more than typical over a life time. Yet I am thankful that a core aspect of myself which most anyone who knew me then, say more than three decades ago, would find very much in tact. I could probably have a full conversation without such a person detecting any significant changes at all. I always prefer to report some of these changes to most persons for I am not ashamed of them.
Some might ask, 'Jim, do you consider yourself some kind of prophet who brings a message of something that no one else knows except the mind of the Sacred?' My strong response is an absolute,'NO.' I'm confident that there are many good minds and hearts who share my basic beliefs, even ones that my peers and acquaintances might find extremely hard to consider as valid. I also recognize, in light of the prophet question, that an authentic prophet likely does not know that is true of him/her self. Contrary to Christian dogma I doubt that Jesus knew for sure he was a prophet in his own time. I know the gospels at places show him having such self awareness. But I am secure in the belief that like all human beings his larger place in the world scheme only came to him gradually, if ever in any complete way, as he came into fuller contact with what most call God. (Or today what we can call The Collective Unconscious or Self , applying Jungian terms.) If this is not how Jesus experienced his life then he can hardly be called human. And if he wasn't fully human in this essential way then our chances of identifying with him or being 'like him' are negligible, actually I think impossible.
http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2011/12/jesus-life-and-oursjuly-6-2010-note-to.html Perhaps we are all prophetic in some sense. We all potentially bring something new and unique to consciousness.
I assume I am no different than others in that way of being a prophet. Such things are relative according to the experience and gifts of each person. I'm aware that I am barely read or heard in my appeals. This state of mind confirms for me that I am moved by a genuine and rich religious impulse for I truly and naturally continue to believe that a 'voice crying in the wilderness' may be heard, if not by outer ears then by the inner Collective Unconscious process itself. Our Sacred texts are replete with stories of those ordinary humans seeking the ear of God for the good of all and for increased consciousness.
It is important to me to communicate something of how I experience myself. I have attempted this explanation in some of the other blog posts and will do so again here. Following the unusual experiences centering around 'vision like' phenomena beginning in mid- August of 1985 my mind set shifted to another place than I had ever very consciously experienced before. http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2011/07/individuality-can-embrace-world.html
God
Most of us most of the time experience our self as what we call 'me'. This seems perfectly natural and seems to be all there is to us and our inner being. However, there are many spiritual and psychological view points expressed in our culture and others that claim we are more than this 'me' or 'ego consciousness' which we feel so familiar with and whose well being we daily seek to insure. (Picture, as in the diagram below, one's inner life being a finite horizontal line. The 'ego consciousness' or 'me' would be at the midpoint of that line.) For nearly thirty years I continue to be fully aware of that same constant 'me' which Jung called 'ego consciousness.'
But since then I have also experienced in various ways that the center of my personality or of 'who I am' is not centered in that ego as it once was. It has moved to a different center with the ego 'me' being to the side of the personality rather than at the center as before. (Picture the 'Self' to the left end of the line. Now draw a 'C' in between the 'me' and the 'Self'. That 'C' represents the new center of one's inner life following an event of greater awareness of the 'Self.') The 'Self' is what Jung called this greater sense of the personality and it is similar to the Collective Unconscious and to our meaning of the Sacred or God.
Top line: The Center of Consciousness is 'Me' or ego consciousness.
Bottom line: The Center of Consciousness is between 'Me' and the 'Self.'
I experience this newly arranged consciousness in several ways. One is that my writing and sometimes my spoken words seem to 'come' from somewhere beyond my own common rational thoughts and reason. I still know I am, as the ordinary 'me', fully responsible for all I say , do or write but I am confident that something which is usually barely conscious to me is often at work just as much as my conscious effort is for the task at hand.
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Location Of My First 'Visions' 18 Years Later. No Houses in 1985. |
This shift in the center of my inner person is also experienced as the feeling that I live at nearly all moments on a kind of 'automatic pilot.' Again I am personally responsible for all plans made and actions taken but I am frequently surprised at what those plans and actions end up being compared to how I first thought or planned my activity. Unlike when this change first happened my ego is now generally able to step in and take control to prevent any harm or embarrassment but even then it seems it is still all supported by the larger Self. This, I think, is an experience of 'living in the Spirit' and 'Walking by faith, not by sight' in Biblical language. I never have any guarantee that taking such 'ego control' will be successful and this has a humbling effect on my attitude. Words and actions my still come from me that are not the direct choice of the 'ego consciousness.' I've learned to usually trust in such activity. I'm convinced we are far less masters of our own house than we generally suppose.
The two parts now seem to be in reasonably good harmony. This means to me that my consciousness and the unconscious are in a generally healthy relationship. This is not always particularly exciting. It can at times be down right boring yet it seems to always be a source of hope and steadiness. This kind of mind set is also the foundation of my explanation for the source of anything that deserves the description of 'creativity', 'revelation', 'ecstasy' or ' miracle.' Let me say clearly that what I am describing here also is something I strongly suspect that every thoughtful person experiences at some level. The degree of the experience must be relative depending on one's natural temperament, curiosity, unique life experience, and the degree to which one stumbles into having strong needs which seem impossible to address with ones ego personality alone. http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/08/dream-eros-and-wholness-relatedapril-15.html
As accepting, forgiving and non- judgmental as my writings show me to value and as I am generally graced to practice, I think my writings carry a very real judgment,of which I gradually became conscious, on my present culture, my religion, my family, my country and myself. I will attempt to describe this judgment below. I expect this judgment is one reason that very few who read my posts find within themselves any interest or willingness to openly respond in either an affirming or disagreeing way. I even have a similar reaction personally to much of what is discussed.
One way to describe the 'judgment' that my written material, which I consider to frequently involve contents from our Collective Unconscious, is it being similar to the kind of imagery associated with how the archetypal Biblical figure Noah's life and message served as a judgment toward himself and his culture. This would always be a judgment that one is, at least initially, unconscious of. Such things are far greater than anyone's involved personal ego but can appear later to owe themselves to some 'plan' of the Collective. Hebrews 11:7.
The bulk of my written essays and dream reflections are centered on my life-long, and gradually becoming conscious, search for an understanding and experience of the fullness of love. I came to describe such potential love between two human partners as being grounded in the energy described by the central Greek words for love: Agape( Unconditional valuing and unquestionable dependability toward the beloved), Phileo(The strong appreciation of the presence of the beloved, the liking of , friendship with), and Eros(The strong desire for physical expression of care and appreciation via touch and, where appropriate, sexual stimulation and intercourse.) Of these only Agape is partly brought into reality by human will. Phileo and Eros have always been considered as coming by the grace of the Sacred, the supreme gifts of God. Another aspect that is essential for Eros to give its fullness of ecstasy and sustained presence is that the two lovers experience an unprotected fullness of trust in each other. Nothing must be held back as a protection of oneself against the possible hurts of rejection, betrayal or disappointment. Few must be the times where such trust has been granted, claimed and experienced by love partners. Yet without such complete trust Eros eventually escapes the relationship. http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/11/where-is-heavennovember-12-2012.html
It is my belief that humanity has forever been evolving spiritually and psychologically toward such love being experienced and sustained over the full life of a committed partnership. And that such love experience in turn will create an environment that transforms all non sexual relationships toward love, joy and peace in our families and communities, toward 'peace and good will to all persons.' In short a very new far more developed kind of human experience would be opened up on the planet.**
But Eros is the piece of such a balanced whole love which has fallen on hardest times over the past 3000 years. It has been suspect and often denigrated as being always of lower value and even thought of as sinful by its very nature. Another thing that has worked against a sustained experience of Eros is that Eros insists that the human lovers be in a fully mutual relationship. For 3000 years Western cultures have been built on hierarchical structures of patriarchy where the human love relationship is understood as man being superior and dominant in most every way to woman. Woman has often been devalued by the same forces that have devalued Eros. The lack of mutuality in the woman-man relationship has undergone nearly unimaginable positive changes in recent decades with democratic systems demanding the legalization of non-discrimination, thus mutuality, of the sexes and of sexual orientations.
It is not just 'woman' who has been marginalized but the 'feminine' principle which is also a part of a man's balanced personality and of human religions and civil institutions. There remain major problems but I have found great hope that Western humanity is on the cusp of a quantum jump in the human capacity to give and receive such balanced love described above. This belief has come from nearly a life time of my being motivated by something deeply natural and spiritual to search these things out. This 'plan', like described above, has come nearly completely from the larger personality, or Self, with my ego consciousness only coming gradually to recognize, allow and cooperate with such an ambulating path of discovery over my lifetime.
http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2012/07/looking-back-individual-life-is.html
So presently the most serious thing lacking for humans to fully be what we are intended to become is the experience of such personal love, both giving and receiving. This then is the judgment that my overall inner experience and 'message' brings toward us all. It is as if the Sacred, God, the Source of all that is or can be is saying to us, 'You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting' like King Nebuchadnezzar was told by the 'handwriting on the wall.' Daniel 5:27. What is it of which we have been found wanting ? We have not yet fully experienced love, the very thing we were created for. I sense that Sacred judgment saying, ' You have not yet experienced fully loving or being loved yet I see you erroneously believing and somewhat arrogantly claiming you have.' To have a word for an experience does not mean one has fully experienced its meaning. This is a very sober judgment. Yet it is not one without a highly motivating hope and anticipation attached centrally to it. Neither is it a judgment of shame or reprimand for a lack of moral character.
It is simply a statement that we humans have not yet arrived at the highest level of love and spiritual life that we are capable of and destined to reach. It is a judgment when heard that generates humility in all persons, from the most religious to the most secular. It is a uniting judgment that brings all persons back to our real common ground and focuses on our highest common good and need. It is a judgment designed to propel us into the future that is humanity's destiny. It implies we are on the cusp of increasing numbers of people coming into the very experience that we are presently judged as not fully having and as sometimes thoughtlessly and arrogantly claiming we have.
We assuredly can be encouraged that we come nearer to such love simply by becoming aware it is our common and individual goal and by giving our sincere support to its arrival and full realization. The question comes to me, 'Jim, have you experienced such love?' And I must confess with most others, 'No, I have not.' The only way I, and some others, may differ is that in ways beyond my comprehension there was embedded in me during my most unusual times a definite sense of having had just the kind of experience of love we are all destined to have.
Like the other experiences I've mentioned above I strongly assume such an experience is embedded in us all via the Collective Unconscious. The Collective Unconscious is a way of conceptualizing how all humans are viscerally and spiritually connected at the deepest levels of reality. And that we have within us the collective experience of all evolved nature , culminating in our own species from its beginning in the mist of ages past.
I will end this post by giving some examples in story and history where ones, who in other ways were highly developed spiritually and morally, are found wanting in this specific area -of lacking yet a full love experience. The Old Testament character Uriah is praised for his excellence of loyalty to the soldiers he led and his supposed willingness to postpone personal pleasure but I see the judgment hanging over him, “Uriah, you were given opportunity by the King to be with your wife and love her but you chose to be praised for your comradery and loyalty to the army. You could have as easily done both if love had been your goal. You stand convicted of not having fully experienced love.” In this respect Carl Jung was right in one of his dreams to not fully bow to the figure Uriah like his less conscious father did. Without knowing it perhaps Jung was judging Uriah as not having fully loved thus not deserving the worshiping bow. http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2011/10/love-will-have-its-way-eventually-july.html
Consider Job who shows himself perfect in all moral respects and even of a higher level of conscious awareness and loyalty than the image of the God he struggles with in the story told in the Book of Job. Surely, as unfair and hypocritical as Yahweh's judgment of Job seems to be, it must be a true judgment that Job has not experienced the fullness of love with a beloved partner. Also even the Old Testament God image of Yahweh is found to be a patriarchal icon relating non mutually to that which he calls his bride, Israel. Yahweh is shown time and again of treating her not mutually but as his possession.
When such possessiveness drives her away, just like a modern abusive husband, he blames her completely and calls her an adulterous whore. Then following the same pattern he self righteously receives her back and promises to never so mistreat and dishonor her again. Here we see that the very thing the Eternal Sacred has been pushing the human creature to experience has yet to experience Its Self. In fact it appears that only by such love being experienced by the mortal is the Sacred itself able to achieve the experience of complete and whole love. So the very thing that will eventually make humans all they were destined to be is the same event that will result in the full and final moral consciousness of the Ultimate God. http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2011/08/cooperative-suffering-of-god-and-human.html
Another historical example of this same judgment is what I have come to see regarding Carl Jung himself. I have nearly completed reading the Biography of Carl G. Jung by Frank McLynn who appears to be a very thorough and honest writer of Jung's life. He does seem to be quite antagonistic of Jung but he also seems to make a strong effort to base his conclusions on the available facts. Primary resources are quite numerous including Jung's writings , letters and reports along with statements of people who knew him. Being antagonistic of Jung, McLynn may tend to arrive at the most negative interpretations of Jung's questionable behaviors and dispositions but not so much that he can be accused of creating a picture of Jung that is not overall reasonably accurate. I have stated that the writings of Carl Jung were life saving for me when I experienced my own confrontation with the Unconscious which brought me to the brink of serious psychological breakdown, similar to what Jung experienced. I was being helped and influenced mostly by Jung's later so-called mature writings. I found there something that gave me a nearly mesmerizing hope that in the greatest darkness one can expect to discover the brightest light. That was a message of radical hope for me for which I will be forever most grateful to Dr. Jung.
It is commonly thought that Jung either went through a period of being clinically psychotic or came very close to going over the line of sanity. I do not think that is true. In the depths of his encounter with the strong aspects of the 'other' world he continued normal day time relating to his family. He kept seeing patients regularly and followed a normal daily routine. I think also we can be confident that any conversation he had with real people was never that of an unbalanced or delusional person.
That being said anyone who reports having visions that are as real as the outer world and having conversations with historic and imaginal figures is going to risk being greatly misunderstood by most people in our culture who have not had such experiences. I wish to say here I think this same kind of mental evaluation was true of me when I went through my own experiences of things that our culture does not consider rational or normal. I know when I was having such experiences it required much energy to keep clear the difference of what was my inner imaginal world and my outer life or what we all call normal reality. To handle ones self and manage to stay balanced during such times is a sign of a very strong mental capacity, not the opposite.
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Carl Gustav Jung |
It was much later that I began reading to gain knowledge of the man himself. That began with my reading of his very late biography Dreams, Memories and Reflections. It avoids much mention of any serious character flaws or failures of Jung. Later I read the letters of the horrendously complicated and explosive relationship of Jung and Freud. Here both men are shown to be extremely psychologically dependent on each other and both acting in ways that show marked evidence of being under the persuasion of some dark forces, both suffering strong levels of unconsciousness. At first they nearly viewed one another as gods, with Freud openly picking Jung to be his crown prince to defend and take over his kingdom of psychoanalysis and Jung being attached to Freud in an openly admitted strong father complex. Much made available in their letters clearly shows the mere humans both these geniuses were. And most will be embarrassed if looking to them as examples of consistent mature and responsible behavior in their unusually close relationship. Their relationship finally broke down completely and it is hard to tell which was the most bitter about the outcome. It is clearly obvious however that only after ending the relationship with Freud was Jung able to do his most important work on his own personal psyche and to produce his most mature writings and gifts to human progress.
Unfortunately I do relate to some of the shortcomings that are pointed out in Jung's disposition. I have never had any strong desire to 'be like' Carl Jung. My interest was that his writings helped me to stay on track in my efforts to find and be myself. I quickly felt a connection with him for his words gave me meaning and hope. He is criticized for over amplifying his ideas to the point of muddying any clear structure. But in my need such amplifications were very therapeutic and helpful. I was not asking in my use of Jung, 'What is he like?' I was asking, 'Can he assist me?' A sinking man does not ask questions of the one tossing him a rope. I only began to have some curiosity in who he was much later. I think of his amplifying style as one writing from the larger part of the personality he called the Self. This would be similar to what is religiously called revelation. I am not shy to consider his mature writings as having such a quality. At least it served that kind of religious or spiritual need for me. I know my own writings tend to be irritatingly wordy and repetitious with me always feeling I have something more to say.
I am not oblivious that my times of deepest engrossment into some deeper aspects of the Unconscious took a heavy toll on my wife and our three children. I was physically away from home for eleven months. I was able to keep regular communications with each child but I had little to give of myself during that important time in their lives. And for some years following much of my energy was still turned inward even when things had an outward appearance of calm. I have deeply grieved any harm or suffering my life process brought to these four most faithful ones in my life. I know that it was only them who kept me anchored to the earth and outer reality during my long period of assimilating the contents of the Collective Unconscious which had entered into my conscious awareness. My oldest son with whom I presently live has continued to provide a home environment that contains me in a more 'normal' and healthy life style than I would have otherwise. I'm sure neither of us saw such a need or planned for such reasons this time of our living together.
Of course I would welcome the chance to have a visit with Carl Jung but I am not certain at all that we would hit it off. I can imagine him taking an interest in my story, if for no other reason than because I express an unhesitating admiration for his work and have found so many of his constructs personally applicable. And Jung seems to have been at times as easily flattered as he was charming. Jung appears to have had at times a gruff and sharp aspect in his relating to others. One admiring Jungian scholar speaks of Jung has having trouble at times of being kind even to those closest to him. This is a shadow aspect that Jung wrote so much about as being a part of even the most well developed persons. A part that many fail to ever acknowledge in themselves. He taught that becoming aware of one's shadow was a first major step in spiritual/psychosocial development.
As for similarities, for one thing I am very aware of my tendency to harbor a superior feeling toward persons who seem to lack the capacity or effort to grow, to change their minds, to reach new conclusions or to take a stand when such seems needed in their life. I also suffer with boredom when I am hearing an individual or a speaker who is what I call 'only passing the water down the bucket brigade' rather than offering anything unique or authentic. Or when I sense one has not fully and consciously worked to internalize their material before asking me to be their audience. I feel it is a waste of time for it strikes me they have not done their homework.
This is far too critical and I have to remind myself that many are those who are far more irritated and bored by what I have to say or speak. I know these are moral issues that challenge me. I think I manage to keep some petty cynical attitudes to myself more than Jung did, who either chose to express his brashness openly or was maybe unable to contain it. I've read where he credits some of his cutting replies to patients and colleagues as the Spirit speaking through him in ways that were not his own. This may sound like the diagram of the self I described above. This demonstrates how such a model of ones inner world becomes dangerous business. But should we expect the authentic life to have no risks or dangers?
I also have been embarrassed to have had fantasies of death wishes toward some on more than one occasion in my life. That hardly increases ones sense of being a good Christian. I know I also demand more than my due of time for my private life, contemplation and writing. I am amazed that life's responsibilities have cooperated to allow me far more such time than I would have ever expected or deserve. Perhaps my failure is feeling guilty for this rather than simply being grateful? I think I fall hard on the 'Introverted Intuition With Extroverted Feeling' , with Sensation being my weakest function, category on Jung's personality scale. So I identify with some of Jung's personal Introverted Intuition experiences and complications.
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Toni Wolff |
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Jung's personal life are some affairs during his married life. I'm left with serious doubt that Jung's reported affairs were consistently ones where the balanced love I describe above was happening. Yet who can judge such matters of heart where intimate human love is involved. I do not consider Jung a sexually promiscuous person. He took intimate relationships very seriously including his life long marriage with Emma. It appears to me that much of his recorded inner experiences had to do with the conflicts he had regarding his intimate encounters outside his marriage. These conflicts and the attempts at resolution and to understand his own complex nature are very likely the origins of his mature psychological concepts and writings. Jung's extra marital behavior was a great suffering and disappointment to his wife Emma. In his later years Jung's mistress, or more practically second wife, Toni Wolff lived part time with the Jungs. Emma Jung, though overall terribly hurt and humiliated, once confessed it seemed at times to her that Toni was able to give Jung what he desperately needed that Emma could not. She even reportedly said, 'It seems like the more he gives to her the more he also gives to me.' Toni wolff is credited by most as Jung's primary help in getting through his most dangerous times of nearly becoming losing himself in his Confrontation with the Unconscious.
He is reported as saying toward the end of life that Toni Wolff's steadfast support and love for him during very difficult times was nothing less than heroic. He apparently did not consistently treat her well and appreciatively in later years. We should not judge any real human being as if they were not.
Jung raised much needed attention to the neglected aspect of the 'feminine' principle in Western culture. I found his construct of the 'anima' very instructive as an expression of the Collective Unconscious. It, I think, has the potential of bringing the value of woman to her equal place with man in all ways in the real world. That is how it has affected me. I would credit Jung's anima construct as being part of the impetus for the amazing progress of women's movements in the West which began in earnest contemporarily or after Jung first developed it. I think Jung's story shows him to have been fascinated by women and enjoying the presence of women in his life as friends and colleagues significantly and consistently more than he did men. But I don't know that he experienced women consistently as his equal even though he encouraged many women to become trained psychotherapists using his approach.
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Sabina Spielrein - Pioneer Psychiatrist |
An emotional affair which began when Jung was quite young was with a patient Sabina Spielrein. His work of helping her heal from her mental illness was dramatically successful. (This is a central part of the recent book and movie: A Very Dangerous Method.) This in many ways, I would presume, placed her in his debt and as his inferior. And their intimate affair must have assuredly had these non mutual dynamics to it. But in time, with his encouragement, she completed her own highest level of education as a psychiatrist and I think pushed toward becoming an equal in every way with him. He to some extent, but not adequately, gave her credit for some of his seminal ideas including even perhaps the 'anima' concept. I'm suggesting that in her increased strength and accomplishments their later relationship may have potentially reached the status of a fully mutual and trusting one. But I fear Jung was not able yet to function for a long haul in such a mutual relationship with a woman. I think the overall record shows Jung fully human with significant character flaws and that he, like most of us, may never have experienced consistently the potential fullness of intimate love, given and received. So the judgment of the same Sacred voice is toward Jung as well, “You have been weighed and found wanting. You have not experienced fully giving and receiving love with a beloved.”
Jung's last pages in his biography written near life's end is a confession of the mystery of love and that he has no explanation for love as to how it comes or goes or its complete nature. So maybe the charge cannot be made of Jung finally that he presumptuously ' believed and claimed to have fully loved when likely he hadn't.' http://jhibbett.blogspot.com/2011/09/dream-help-of-womanmay-10-2011.html
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Paul Tillich, Renown Theologian 1886-1965 |
One other historical case I will mention involves the promiscuous issues that cloud the personal life of renowned theologian Paul Tillich. He too brought nearly unbearable sorrow and humiliation to his wife Hannah by his affairs. Unlike many of Jung's, Tillich's mistresses did not seem to eventually have strong negative feelings toward him. Whether this means that Tillich may have had encounters that more mirror the three components of love and trust I describe above is for each one to discern. Tillich offered up an ontological view of God that rubs against most traditional theistic views of the meaning of God. Such concepts became important to me in my effort to make better sense of the place of God in our human understanding and of my developing my sense of Human/Divine love. Interestingly Tillich, a contemporary of Jung, made positive statements about Analytical Psychology but he never availed himself of having such services. He may have been concerned of what he might find? He once lamented his fear of being remembered as a philanderer more than a highly contributing theologian. I will remember him primarily for the later. I mention Tillich because he is another authentic voice that spoke very constructively to me on my own personal journey. I am in much debt to his discoveries and thoughts in the area of modern theology.
It has been good for me to face the reality that Carl Jung whose authentic and prolific work so much helped me, from such a distance, was more fully enlivened by human imperfection than I cared before to imagine. I am grateful that I have been spared from duplicating some of his most glaring ethical failures and embarrassments. I am fully aware that the archetypes that became so active and frighteningly alive in me could have taken me down paths that would have been much more destructive, embarrassing and humiliating than they have been. Without Jung's warning I suspect that would have been more true in my actual case. How can I thank him well enough for that? All good and 'new' things come through very imperfect humans. For Jung to have brought so much back from the Collective Unconscious is a tribute to his genius, courage and endurance to say the very least.
His capacity for depth of thought, creative conceptualizing, and communication of deep thought are in my opinion without equal. He would be the first to admit that when the treasures of the Unconscious are first lifted into the daylight of human consciousness they are usually not a pretty sight, nor is the one who brings them home. One can't dive into a cesspool, find a pearl and bring it back, and himself still look very presentable. I think of it as the initial appearance of a new born baby while still covered in its bloody placenta. It is only after years of caring attention to such new revelations from the Unconscious that they may be seen by the masses for the beautiful and essential gifts to humankind they are. I am of the opinion that Jung came courageously through his ordeal with the Collective Unconscious far more gracefully than any other person in his day could have hoped for. And the gifts he brought back are undoubtedly yet to be fully appreciated. Jim H.
*There are URL's throughout this post. These are blog posts of mine that may amplify the subject I am mentioning in that part of this post.The reader will need to 'copy and paste' the URL into the browser.
** I have only recently found support for this basic imagery in the 1950's posthumous book The Phenomenon Of Man by Jesuit Priest and renowned Paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
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