The psychology of Carl Jung proliferates modern psychology, cinematography, and various art forms. Jung traveled to multiple parts of the world and studied tribal and shamanic cultures; he referred to them as “primitive.” Some people take offense to how he described the cultures that he learned as “primitive.” Simultaneously, Jungian scholars explain that the word really meant “primordial” and was designated to clarify that the tribal and shamanic cultures have preserved a purer form over the Western world. In truth, Jung learned so much from the people that when one juxtaposes the teachings of the more ancient cultures and compares them to Jungian psychology, it becomes evident that Jung took the philosophy of ancient civilizations and translated them into a language that Western people can understand.
One of the main theories that Jung is credited for is the process of individuation. When looking at the Buddhist Samsara, it becomes evident that the idea of the individuation process is simply a copy of the samara. Below is the comparison of specifically the Tengri teachings of Samsara and the steps of Jungian individuation. The Tengri religion is about 30,000 years old; it originated in Central Asia. It is still practiced in some regions of the world, such as by the Buryatians in Siberia, despite the massive killings and suppression people had endured over history.
The Tengri teachings include the Samsara in which there are 6 realms, with the 6th realm, the God Realms having several levels. The Samsara is represented in a Mandala, the eternal circle; Jung theorized that the individuation cycle never completes and is ever-present in an individual’s lifetime. The Samsara bears a remarkable resemblance to the Jungian stages of individuation. Below is the comparison between the Tengri Samsara and Jungian steps of individuation.
1st Realm of the Samsara — Hell Realm
According to Tengri teachings, there are eighteen Hell Realms — eight hot hells, eight cold hells, and peripheral hell. The dwellers alternate between burning and freezing, and in some cases, one part of the body is burning, the other is freezing. The main cause of birth in the Hell Realm is hateful anger, while the antidote is generating loving-kindness toward all sentient beings couples with higher meditation practices that can liberate anger into the wisdom of emptiness
1st Step of Jungian Individuation — The Shadow
The Shadow is the step in the first step of the individuation process. In this stage, the individual is cut off from Self and instead projects onto another person. This is also the normal developmental stage; think of a baby, a total narcissist who will yell at the top of the lungs when needs are not being met, unable to meet their own needs, and not yet having the realization of the Self. “There is nothing wrong with me; it’s all him, her, them.” This is the lowest stage of individuation, one in which the person refuses to look inside and thus blames everyone else. Personal darkness is repressed. The Shadow runs parallel to the ego, the qualities that the ego experiences discomfort with, it chooses to cut out. The Shadow begins to develop with the development of the ego, so it is absent in childhood, grows in adolescence, and stays through life in varying degrees in people depending on their personal individuation process. Awareness is the antidote to Shadow, and frequent inquiry and examination within allows the individual to consolidate what traits of feelings are within them, so they don’t project their sins onto other people. The individuals who cannot integrate their Shadow remain in a state where it is difficult to find the inner truth and thus have difficulties entering into genuine relationships, doing any real, meaningful work, and become increasingly burdened with mental health issues. The Shadow isn’t all bad; it also contains some childlike and naïve qualities which, when brought to the surface, can add positively to the persona. As long as we are not aware of ourselves, the other person is always to blame. Shadow work requires an in-depth and critical look at the Self; there is usually great resistance to facing the Shadow. The individual who has owned up to the Shadow dismisses viewing others in terms of, “They must be fought” and “they are wrong” the knowledge is procured of what is wrong is also within me. In this process, the individual suffers from new pains and conflicts.
The Jungian Shadow and the Hell Realm are remarkably similar; both states result from a lack of awareness of Self and anger and rage towards others. In the unintegrated Shadow, the person finds scapegoats for projection of the cut of parts of themselves, the Hell Realm, the person is born due to holding on to anger and hate. In both, the antidotes are compassion. Within the Shadow, once the person becomes aware of the Self, the rage towards others lessens because common ground is found, “what I see in you is a direct reflection of what is inside me; therefore you are not the bad guy.” Both the Hell Realm and the individuation cause immense suffering, the reflection of the hot and cold is a metaphor for interaction with the world in which there is splitting, all good or all bad, I am cold, you are hot, I am right, you are deficient. The polarity in the temperature is a reflection of the contradiction between the Self and the other.
2. Samsara — The Hungry Ghost Realm
There are three forms of the hungry ghost. In the first form, some perceive food as fire, weapons, something unpleasant. No suitable food is found; therefore, one is tormented by hunger and the constant search for suitable food. The second form — some recognize the food is good, but their body composition does not allow the food to be properly nurturing; therefore the food goes unnoticed. The existence is marked by constant hunger and dissatisfaction. In the thir
d form, the food turns into poison, causing insufferable pain. The cause for this realm is hunger and greed; the antidote is generosity and wisdom.
2nd Jungian Step of Individuation — Animus & Anima (Using heterosexual examples for simplicity)
The man carries in himself the internal projection of the feminine, the soul image of a woman; the woman carries the animus the man’s internal image. When picking partners, it is theorized that we are attracted to the most similar reflection to what we hold inside the soul as the contrasexual projection. There are three forms of imbalance that cause problems within our soul and interpersonal relations.
Form 1. The displaced anima/animus — the individual, cannot own and see within themselves the feminine/masculine energies. This creates outward behavior, which mimics the negative traits of the contrasexual, such as sadism/bullying for women and seeking external confirmation/moodiness for men. This is the result of internalizing the opposite sex to the extent of overflowing energy within the Self. The type of woman unable to form intimacy with a man in turn becoming bitter resulting in hate and sadism towards men. She is using her masculine qualities for self-protection. The kind of man unable to form romantic intimacy with a woman developing disdain for women and thus putting them down in passive aggressive kind of ways such as going on rants on the internet, making nasty comments to women on social media. This man uses his internalized moody feminity to create conflict with women.
Form 2. The inability to separate the between the internal feminity/masculinity and that of the other. Poor awareness of the internal balance cases reliance on the other’s feminine/masculine sides. Such as the woman who fears being alone and depends on the man for protection cannot see her own ability to fend for Self. This woman can rarely give any real emotional support to a man and is in an eternal search for a rescuer. Or the man out of touch with his own eros, his sexuality in constant need for women to show him the way, remaining unsatisfied and unsatiated, never finding any woman quite good enough to fill his needs. This kind of man is unable to give any real pleasure to a woman and is in search of his own greedy pleasure.
Form 3. Projection of the anima/animus on to the other unfairly, fantasizing about the other as an ideal feminine/masculine object. Unable to see the partner for what truly is, becoming enraged when the idealized projection fails. The controlling man learns of his partner’s unwanted negative aspect, which spoils his idea of her and disowns her at once. The woman who idealizes her mate despite very obvious flaws of character (co-dependency), or the people that live in an internal fantasy of the other, idealizing movie starts, or models, while diminishing real life people as not good enough, resulting in a life of fantasy relations. The man that wakes up and sees his idealized object without makeup and gasps, or the woman who finds out that her newfound romance has a considerable amount of debt and runs. In this state, the idealization of the contrasexual and devaluation of the self-sex causes the imbalance. Frequently find this in women who think men are “better” than women as a whole, or in men who place unrealistic expectations onto women wanting them to be pure and innocent, or the opposite, bearers of all sacred sexuality.
The balance between the Self and the other allows for deeper love and the ability to give and receive.
The Hungry Ghost Realm and the Jungian Anima/Animus individuation step bears similarity in the object of focus is looking for satisfaction and balance. Greed and attachment lead to an inability to be truly satisfied. At the same time, the antidote is wisdom to allow for the separation of the Self and others to receive fulfillment and satiation. Both are concerned with aspects of overflowing, understating, or physically not being able to accept. Disbalance causes suffering; the inability to integrate various aspects within the self and respect differences in others results in difficulty connecting, deriving a sense of fulfillment, and satiation.
3. Samsara — Animal Realm
The three realms within the Animal Realm:
1. Undersea/Underground animal realm — these animals live in fear; the large animals kill off the small ones, the small ones feed off dead flesh, they are in a constant battle for survival.
2. Animals that live in darkness — never see the moon or stars, are dull and live their lives in misery.
3. Animals in the world and humans — fish, birds, animals we readily see around us, are suffering being hunted and disease.
The cause for someone to be born in this realm is ignorance and sloth. The antidote is wisdom and teachings through which ignorance can be liberated.
Jungian Spirit and Matter
This Spirit and Matter stage of the individuation process is concerned with becoming the highest Self, the individuation from the mother and father, and coming into one’s own persona, focusing the Self to becoming the best version. This stage is concerned with personal fulfillment, career, forming a sense of Self in the world — the discovery of unique talents and the fulfillment of such.
Within the Samsara animal realm and the Jungian spirit and matter, the concentration is coming out of ignorance into a place of wisdom. This is concerned with having a purpose in the world, instead of swimming aimlessly and simply fearing being eaten by bigger fish. These are both realms the one could continuously live in or evolve from. The escape of the dull world where there is no light, into a world filled with meaning and abundance — the relief of reactive functions into building greater concentration, persistence, and mastery.
4. Samsara-The Human Realm
In the human realm, the being can develop both good and bad qualities; this is the optimal realm for practicing Buddha’s teachings, karma ripens here, and cause and effect are better understood. There are four sufferings in this realm — birth, sickness, old age, and death. There are four fears in this realm — fear of meeting enemies/obstacles, fear of being separated from loved ones, fear of not having the means for survival for the poor, and fear of losing wealth for the rich. The cause of being born in this realm is jealousy and, the antidote is opens and meditative practices through which jealousy is transformed into wisdom and calmness.
4th stage of individuation — Jungian — The Self — step 1
Part one of the fourth individuation process is the meeting of the unconscious and the conscious mind; this step is unsettling. Persona, the image the person shows the world becomes shattered in this stage, causing confusion on “how to be.” Reality is questioned in this stage. There is a distinct loss of balance, suffering is experienced.
The two have in common the underlying emotion of fear; it is frightening for individuals to experience this stage of self-development, just as the human realm describes the four fears that inhabiting beings are experiencing. Fear of being separated from a persona or loved ones. In the first step of this process, the individuals undertaking this step face significant life changes, such as moving out of the parental home and figuring out their autonomy. A part of what the individual thought was the Self is lost, people whom the individual relied on take on a different dynamic. Suffering comes from learning the unconscious’s contents, fear of how to come to terms with the repressed pains and emotions that are lying under the surface of consciousness. Both the human realm of the Samsara and the Jungian first step of individuation have the underlying current of suffering, fear, and transcendence.
5. Samsara — Demi-god Realm
The Demi-Gods are in an eternal battle with each other, the human realm below, and the God realm above. There is no peace of mind; they are always plotting, scheming, and sending disturbances to others. The cause of being born in this realm is pride and arrogance; the antidote is peacefulness and wisdom that come from meditative practices.
Jungian — the Self — step 2- Self Realization
When the midpoint of unconscious and conscious are met. The individual comes to terms with inner reality and the outside world. In this stage, the individual experiences the unconscious contents but has the endurance to continue on their chosen path. The unconscious contents will not cause the individual to act upon them, instead tolerate with dignity. Experience authentic thoughts and feelings and be able to maintain a sense of stability. The individual realizes that suffering and ailments are a part of everyday life and can acknowledge, welcome, and tolerate the pain.
The Demi-God Realm and the Self Realization step are outlining the fighting of the unconscious and conscious battles, the unconscious creeps up, and the conscious experiences the content, but chooses to go the ethical way, the chosen way, the way of high wisdom. Individuals don’t stay in this step or realm forever, few ever make it here, and they experience setbacks into any of the previous stages when they do. The collective unconscious and personal unconscious works to tempt the individual and place more obstacles, while the higher self-battles between acknowledging one’s unconscious and the wiser choices.
6. Samsara — God Realms
There are several God Realms, the highest of which would have to be taken in the form of pure light, which is impossible to achieve as long as one is in a body of desire. In the lowest God realm, the being is still attached to the desire for sensory objects. In the lower God realms, the never-ending wage against the Demi-Gods is led by jealousy. There is freedom from conflict, joy, enjoyment, and mastery of manifestations in the higher God realms. The cause of being born in these realms is the accumulation of virtue. Gods eventually pass despite living a long life, their friends and relatives first pass, and the Gods live in loneliness before being reborn in lower realms.
Jungian — the Self — step 3 — consolidation with the collective unconscious
In this final stage of the individuation process, the Self no longer projects onto the collective unconscious; the Self is never fully known, that is an impossible task; however, in this stage, the individual can take in the truths of the world, the observations and be able to accept it with peace.
What the two have in common is peace, reaching the point of least conflict with the Self and the world, and the ability to enjoy full acceptance. In this stage, the reality is maximally availed to the individual; this coincides with the God realm of the enjoyment of the manifestation. Joyfulness comes with peace and less conflict. These stages are not forever and are impossible to achieve to the highest degree, although they could be experienced with much work for some time.
Do you see how the Samsara and Jungian individuation processes are similar? These original teachings survived over 30,000 years! Mind-blowing.
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Sources
Jacobi, J. (1973). The psychology of CG Jung: An introduction with illustrations.
Ermakov, D. (2008). Bø and Bön: Ancient Shamanic Traditions of Siberia and Tibet in Their Relation to the Teachings of a Central Asian Buddha.
