If Carl Jung's teachings could be reduced to five simple steps, they would read something like this:
- Befriend your shadow
- Follow meaning, not pleasure
- Become whole, not perfect
- Get to know your persona
- Integrate your opposites
That's the human part of his teaching.
The more mystical, spiritual, and intangible part is lesser-known and less talked about, but equally important, and it was best highlighted in a question he asked in his book: Memories, Dreams, Reflections.
"The decisive question for man is: Is he related to something infinite or not?"
This is arguably the most important question to ask in life because how we answer it shapes what we think, what we do, and the way we live our lives.
If I believe that life is all there is and everyone is out for themselves, I live harder and faster, chasing material gains and competing with everyone else who is doing the same. In the past, this led me to become more productive but be selfish and entitled.
When I first experienced that I was a part of something much bigger than myself, I started living more slowly and intentionally, and I was more able to share and serve honestly and authentically. I didn't work as much, but I was more aligned with my values, and I was perfectly ok with that.
Some people call the infinite God, the Divine, Oneness, the Great Spirit, Buddha, Allah, Love, Consciousness, Shiva, Shakti, Brahman, and many more. I've learned that the name doesn't really matter. It's how we answer the question that does.
Only if we know that the thing which truly matters is the infinite can we avoid fixing our interests upon futilities, and upon all kinds of goals which are not of real importance…. If we understand and feel that here in this life we already have a link with the infinite, desires and attitudes change." — Carl Jung
After my first breathwork session, I remember lying there in disbelief.
After 30 minutes of deep breathing, the instructor said, "Exhale all of the air out of your lungs and hold your breath."
I don't know how long I was holding my breath for but I somehow left my body, travelled across the universe, connected with something that I can only describe as God, felt a love that was unconditional and limitless, experienced a deep peace that is still with me today — some 10 years later — and landed back in my body in time for me to breathe again.
It was unbelievable.
Before that two-hour session, I was a man living on a planet in an infinite universe. After that two-hour session, I was an infinite universe living as a man.
My views of the world began to change, along with my beliefs, values, goals, and dreams. Material goals and aspirations seemed less important. I just wanted to deepen my connection with the Divine, understand it more, get closer to it, and explore the vast and endless realms of consciousness.
That became my priority, and it still is today.
To know the infinite, you must know its opposite
Carl Jung noted that a feeling for the infinite can only be attained if we are "bounded to the utmost," suggesting that understanding our own human limitations is what ultimately forms the link to the limitlessness of the universe.
"In such awareness we experience ourselves concurrently as limited and eternal, as both the one and the other." — Carl Jung
It's one of the great paradoxes in life: to know that something is up, we must first know what is down. To know that something is big, we must first have an idea of what is small. To know that we are infinite, we must first be aware that we are limited.
It's why I meditate and do my 20-minute breathwork routine every day, because I'm reminded of my truest essence. It makes it easier for me to spend the rest of the day living with more humility, curiosity, and wonder. When I skip a day, I can feel my ego inflate, I get overwhelmed more easily, envy and comparing myself to others creep in, and I focus on "goals which are not of real importance," just like Carl Jung warned.
Whenever I notice this happening, I return to Carl Jung's question and smile. Alan Watts called this a game of hide and seek with God, and I chuckle at how I have been fooled again. I then vow not to let God out of my sight before I forget, and the search starts once more.
Closing Thoughts
To close, I'd like to leave you with something Nisargadatta Maharaj once said. He poetically captures the dance between being human and spirit, matter and energy, finite and infinite. And it's between the two that life seems to thrive.
"Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows."
Thanks for reading!
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