[Carl Jung on the Mandala as a collective phenomenon] If the motif of the mandala is an archetype it ought to be a collective phenomenon, i.e., theoretically it should appear in everyone. In practice, however, it is to be met with in distinct form in relatively few cases, though this does not prevent it from functioning as a concealed pole round which everything ultimately revolves. In the last analysis every life is the realization of a whole, that is, of a self, for which reason this realization can also be called individuation. All life is bound to individual carriers who realize it, and it is simply inconceivable without them. But every carrier is charged with an individual destiny and destination, and the realization of these alone makes sense of life. True, the sense is often something that could just as well be called nonsense, for there is a certain incommensurability between the mystery of existence and human understanding. Sense and nonsense are merely man-made labels which serve to give us a reasonably valid sense of direction. ~Carl Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, Page 222, Para 330.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:36:11 +0000