The Realistic View of the Spiritual Journey

In his book, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, Carl Jung wrote, “The spiritual journey is not a career or a success story. It is a series of small humiliations of the false self that become more and more profound.”

Modern people tend to treat the pursuit of spirituality as a rosy, sugar-coated, and comfortable journey. Many Christians, for example, think that all that is required is a “come to Jesus” moment. Then, one will bathe in God’s grace and forgiveness. Modern Buddhists too have the impression that the practice of Buddhism is about silent meditation, attending retreats, etc. But that is a grossly distorted view of the spiritual journey.

I studied the works of Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Chögyam Trunpa, in the early 90s. While many Buddhists think enlightenment represents a great triumph and a personal achievement, Trungpa went against this traditional view and taught that enlightenment is about disillusionment. He said, “Enlightenment is ego’s ultimate disappointment.”

Reading Jungian psychology is a great supplement to learning Buddhism. Many spiritual people regard the spiritual journey as doing “light work.” But Jungian psychology emphasizes the importance of facing the dark. Carl Jung said, “If we make it our spiritual aim to increase light and extinguish darkness — we are setting ourselves up for trouble.” Jung…