Novelis
Jedi Master
Hello everyone, I haven't contributed to this forum for a while now, I decided that I had to really understand certain subjects I haven't looked into much before I can contribute properly.
I purchased a book a short while ago called "The secret of the golden flower" by Richard Wilhelm and with commentaries by Carl Jung, I found the text fascinating, and I appreciated Jung's attempt to delve into this world of Eastern Metaphysics, which even the author states at the beginning is a potentially dangerous and tricky path to go down. Anyway, I haven't read all of it, nor have I come close to understanding it yet, so I will be putting more here as I understand it better, but in the meantime I have a simple question:
IS IT LIES AND DECEPTION?
I mean, has someone here read it?
One interesting idea I came across was regarding western "cult mongers" as he calls them, saying that it's very easy for westerners to hold onto certain "truths" like "We are all one" and purposefully ignore scientific observation in favour of faith. In the book it says that Eastern metaphysical ideas tend to poison the scientific reasoning established in the west. It doesn't mean the East didn't test and research the subject, it's just that they could only do it through using their own bodies as a laboratory, and what affected the body and in what way was noted and compiled for thousands of years. The west however takes this information as authority and changes it into new age thinking instead of using science to test it. The author doesn't recommend this kind of attitude at all, which is why I appreciated their efforts, even if there are pitfalls in their investigation (I'd expect that since they didn't know about the dynamics of hyper dimensional manipulation and studies of psychopathy like the people behind this site, not to mention the subject of psychology is a constantly evolving study), I'm still wondering if there are valuable ideas in this book given that they were aware of cultural differences and translation problems.
Anyway, the primary reason why I decided to ask is because of one of the articles I read on the signs page that fostered questions regarding the legitimacy of Jung's work, the article is traced back to this site, Titled: Carl Jung: Psychologist or sorcerer?
http://www.sierratimes.com/06/09/14/207_200_116_8_77957.htm
Now, when I was reading the article I thought the author was very dismissive of his work, and a strong Christian slant that I find a bit dubious, I'll give some examples...
Marsha West writes:
If Burney's assertion is correct, and the human race isn't sinful, then the Bible is nothing more than myths and fables -- and Jesus was a nut job for declaring He was the Son of God who came into the world to die for the sins of all mankind. Jesus clearly taught that we are sinners, with a capital S, and "fall short of the glory of God." Sin was the reason Jesus went to the cross. His death was payment for mankind's sin debt. Thus He threw open the gates of heaven, and all who believe in Him will be reconciled to God. If it's true that we are merely "Spiritual Beings having a human experience" as Burney claims, the Son of God would have had no reason to leave His throne in heaven and come to Earth. Which is Burney's whole point! If we're not sinners, we have no need of a Saviour!
There is a clear belief in the author's writing of a Christian doctrine, as in the idea that Jesus came here to die on the cross and all that... So I question the validity of the author's accusations when the author hasn't looked into Esoteric Christianity. I mean, just speaking for myself here, but so far I've only found amazing parallels between eastern esoteric concepts and western esoteric Christianity, since they basically come from the same source, so using mainstream Christianity (Which is essentially a lie) to counter Jung's work seems a bit ridiculous.
West writes:
Which brings me back to Carl Jung. As I mentioned above, Jung was considered a "spiritual thinker," albeit his lofty ideas came from Eastern mysticism, not Christianity or Judaism. The man was no ordinary psychologist by any stretch. Actually, he thought of himself as a "spiritist." According to Elliot Miller, "The movement that Jung initiated is much closer in nature to a neopagan (Aryan) cult than the scientific psychiatric discipline that it has always claimed to be. It is not just religious but a religion." And a pagan religion at that!
Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think Jung's intention was to initiate this "religion" at all; in fact, the way people have applied eastern concepts using his psychological theories was exactly what the author of "the secret of the golden flower" advises against in this book!
West writes:
Jung was deeply involved with his mother and two female cousins in hypnotically induced s
I purchased a book a short while ago called "The secret of the golden flower" by Richard Wilhelm and with commentaries by Carl Jung, I found the text fascinating, and I appreciated Jung's attempt to delve into this world of Eastern Metaphysics, which even the author states at the beginning is a potentially dangerous and tricky path to go down. Anyway, I haven't read all of it, nor have I come close to understanding it yet, so I will be putting more here as I understand it better, but in the meantime I have a simple question:
IS IT LIES AND DECEPTION?
I mean, has someone here read it?
One interesting idea I came across was regarding western "cult mongers" as he calls them, saying that it's very easy for westerners to hold onto certain "truths" like "We are all one" and purposefully ignore scientific observation in favour of faith. In the book it says that Eastern metaphysical ideas tend to poison the scientific reasoning established in the west. It doesn't mean the East didn't test and research the subject, it's just that they could only do it through using their own bodies as a laboratory, and what affected the body and in what way was noted and compiled for thousands of years. The west however takes this information as authority and changes it into new age thinking instead of using science to test it. The author doesn't recommend this kind of attitude at all, which is why I appreciated their efforts, even if there are pitfalls in their investigation (I'd expect that since they didn't know about the dynamics of hyper dimensional manipulation and studies of psychopathy like the people behind this site, not to mention the subject of psychology is a constantly evolving study), I'm still wondering if there are valuable ideas in this book given that they were aware of cultural differences and translation problems.
Anyway, the primary reason why I decided to ask is because of one of the articles I read on the signs page that fostered questions regarding the legitimacy of Jung's work, the article is traced back to this site, Titled: Carl Jung: Psychologist or sorcerer?
http://www.sierratimes.com/06/09/14/207_200_116_8_77957.htm
Now, when I was reading the article I thought the author was very dismissive of his work, and a strong Christian slant that I find a bit dubious, I'll give some examples...
Marsha West writes:
If Burney's assertion is correct, and the human race isn't sinful, then the Bible is nothing more than myths and fables -- and Jesus was a nut job for declaring He was the Son of God who came into the world to die for the sins of all mankind. Jesus clearly taught that we are sinners, with a capital S, and "fall short of the glory of God." Sin was the reason Jesus went to the cross. His death was payment for mankind's sin debt. Thus He threw open the gates of heaven, and all who believe in Him will be reconciled to God. If it's true that we are merely "Spiritual Beings having a human experience" as Burney claims, the Son of God would have had no reason to leave His throne in heaven and come to Earth. Which is Burney's whole point! If we're not sinners, we have no need of a Saviour!
There is a clear belief in the author's writing of a Christian doctrine, as in the idea that Jesus came here to die on the cross and all that... So I question the validity of the author's accusations when the author hasn't looked into Esoteric Christianity. I mean, just speaking for myself here, but so far I've only found amazing parallels between eastern esoteric concepts and western esoteric Christianity, since they basically come from the same source, so using mainstream Christianity (Which is essentially a lie) to counter Jung's work seems a bit ridiculous.
West writes:
Which brings me back to Carl Jung. As I mentioned above, Jung was considered a "spiritual thinker," albeit his lofty ideas came from Eastern mysticism, not Christianity or Judaism. The man was no ordinary psychologist by any stretch. Actually, he thought of himself as a "spiritist." According to Elliot Miller, "The movement that Jung initiated is much closer in nature to a neopagan (Aryan) cult than the scientific psychiatric discipline that it has always claimed to be. It is not just religious but a religion." And a pagan religion at that!
Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think Jung's intention was to initiate this "religion" at all; in fact, the way people have applied eastern concepts using his psychological theories was exactly what the author of "the secret of the golden flower" advises against in this book!
West writes:
Jung was deeply involved with his mother and two female cousins in hypnotically induced s