Carl Jung

We Do Not Know Ourselves


I'm not sure what to make of Jungian psychology, but I came across this statement today in his Man and His Symbols:

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Our psyche is part of nature, and its enigma is as limitless."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its enigma is as limitless.  One thing a meditation practice will teach you is that you do not know yourself.  Not that you are analyzing yourself during meditation, but I think it makes you overall more aware of all the various drives, motivations, traumas, etc. swimming around in your mind.  I often think of the psyche as an ocean with no bottom.

One of the hopes of having a regular practice is that the psyche is pliable.  That we can actually be changed, through the practice, in a deep and lasting way.  

But I'm not sure we'll ever really know who we are.  I think what matters is the healing – the positive change – if such a thing is actually happening.  Not the self-knowledge.