Overview: What is inner work? How do you do inner work? Why is it vital for psychological growth? This guide provides a framework for engaging with one’s inner world, including nine powerful methods—both Jungian and Eastern practices.
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We focus mainly on the external world in the first half of life.
Our careers, relationships, family, home, finances, reputation, physical appearance—these are all aspects of the outer world.
In our development, attention goes toward “getting our house in order” and establishing our place in the world.
But something can happen around midlife (nowadays, even sooner).
There’s an inner calling within our depths.
We might not hear it at first, but something tugs at us to bring our attention inward.
This call to adventure—to turn inward—leads us to inner work.
Let’s dive in …
What is Inner Work?
The term inner work is derived from Jungian psychology. Inner work refers to practices for getting to know oneself, that is, one’s psyche.
The psyche represents the totality of one’s being, including the body and the mind.
In the context of psychiatrist Carl Jung’s theories and practices, inner work entails bringing all the psychic material (unconscious) an individual into consciousness.
Unconscious material can include thoughts, feelings, attitudes, impulses, images, and behavioral patterns.
Ultimately, inner work harmonizes this unconscious material with one’s conscious mind.
The goal of inner work is to bring the individual to wholeness.
Is it Worth Doing Inner Work?
Inner work doesn’t come easily for many of us, and it can be a messy process.
Is it really worth turning inward to examine yourself?
At one level, this is a humorous question. It’s like asking:
“Is it worth getting to know myself or should I just remain mostly unconscious and allow my prior subconscious programming and conditioning to rule my life?”
The truth is, as silly as this may sound, there are parts of us that would answer,
“No, it’s not worth it! Don’t do it! Stay unconscious.“
The ego likes to keep its current self-identity intact. It tends to avoid change or growth.
As such, we can experience great resistance in getting to know ourselves and exploring our inner world.
The True Call to Adventure is Inward
In the beginning stages of this process, our inner world is mostly unknown to us, and the ego innately fears the unknown.
In the hero’s journey, the hero usually initially refuses the first call to adventure.
From the hero’s journey perspective, starting inner work IS the beginning of one’s true adventure.
While a multi-billion dollar self-help industry offers ways to “elevate ourselves” and “pursue happiness,” most of the techniques and methods it provides are still on the surface level.
To realize lasting contentment, or what I prefer to call “okayness,” we must turn inward instead. Only within the subjective inner domain can we arrive at true freedom.
Resolving Internal Tensions: A Key Aspect of Doing Inner Work
A major benefit of inner work is that you resolve many existing internal tensions including conflicts, desires, and unruly negative emotions that continually plague us.
Some of these tensions you’re probably aware of, but many of them are currently outside your awareness.
That’s why this work can be messy. Bringing unconscious tensions from past trauma to consciousness can be challenging.
The ego represses many early childhood experiences and their related feelings. In engaging in inner work, these experiences begin bubbling to the surface.
At times, you might feel like you don’t know how to deal with these experiences—especially the stored negative emotions that come with them.
But as you endure these “trials and tribulations,” you eventually become more “balanced” within yourself.
In the absence of this inner balance, people tend to burn out quickly.
What Are the Benefits of Exploring One’s Inner World?
As you resolve these internal battles—harmonizing the opposites—you start to level out and a sense of inner calm and okayness prevails.
You experience less anxiety and fewer emotional triggers. In fact, you become less emotional in general as you’re less reactive to situations in the outer world.
Knowing yourself brings a kind of inner stability that’s often referred to as “self-confidence.”
As you become more intimate with your inner workings, you’ll find that you’re less judgemental of other people too. We learn through shadow work that most of our judgments represent disowned parts of ourselves.
So to summarize, the benefits of inner work include:
- Less emotional reactivity
- More balance and “okayness” (stability)
- Less internal conflict and tension
- Less judgmentalism
- More inner calm and stability
- Less anxiety and insecurity
There are many additional benefits that you discover in this process as well. For example, many of your unsupportive behaviors including addictions and impulse control issues lessen you address the unconscious triggers related to them.
Additional Benefits to Doing Inner Work
Our personalities develop and we move toward wholeness through inner work. That is, inner work is the process of inner healing.
As Jungian Robert A. Johnson examples:1Robert A. Johnson, Inner Work, 1986.
The purpose of learning to work with the unconscious is not just to resolve our conflicts or deal with our neuroses. We find there is a deep source of renewal, growth, strength, and wisdom. We connect with the source of our evolving character; we cooperate with the process whereby we bring the total self together; we learn to tap that rich lode of energy and intelligence that waits within.
Perhaps most importantly, as you build greater consciousness after doing sufficient inner work, an internal “awakening” unfolds.
As Jung wrote: “But your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”2C.G. Jung Letters, Vol. 1: 1906-1950, page 33.
Inner Work versus Shadow Work
Many of you are probably familiar with the term shadow work, as we use it quite often on this website.
You may be asking yourself:
What’s the difference between shadow work and inner work?
The short answer is not much. Inner work is a more general term for working with internal psychic material. Shadow work is specific to getting to know aspects of yourself that you are cut off or dissociated from.
Shadow work is a part of doing inner work, but we can argue that there are aspects of inner work that aren’t necessarily related to one’s shadow.
In that way, doing inner work is more inclusive than shadow work. (This point will become clearer by the end of this guide.)
However, in my view, shadow work is a necessary prerequisite. That is, you’re unlikely to make meaningful progress in inner work until you confront your shadow.
How to Do Inner Work: 2 Classic Jungian Methods
To Jung, around middle age, an individual was supposed to shift from focusing on the external world (career, family, etc.) to the inner dimensions of one’s being. He notes in The Development of Personality:3C.G. Jung. The Development of Personality, C.W. Vol 17, 1954.
There is no birth of consciousness without pain. The ways that lead to conscious realization are many, but they follow definite laws. In general, the change begins with the onset of the second half of life. The middle period of life is a time of enormous psychological importance.”
Jung provided two primary methods for examining one’s psyche:
- Dream analysis and
- Active imagination.
We’ll explore both of these methods below.
A Quick Note on the Source Material
I’m going to provide a list of book sources below with links, but I wanted to quickly address the source material here.
The primary Jungian source materials on dream work are Dreams by Carl Jung and Dreams by his protege, Marie Louise von Franz.
The primary source materials on active imagination are Jung on Active Imagination by Jung and Alchemical Active Imagination by von Franz.
While the above texts are interesting and perhaps essential reading for devout students of this work, they aren’t necessarily the most accessible to the layperson.
The most accessible book on inner work, in my opinion, is titled Inner Work: Using Dreams & Active Imagination for Personal Growth by Robert A. Johnson.
Johnson is highly skillful at translating Jungian ideas and making them more accessible. Six of his books made my list of the best Jungian books.
What is Dream Analysis?
Dream analysis (or “dream work”) was the central method for revealing the psyche in Jung’s analytic approach.
For Jung, dreams provided a way for us to bridge the gap between our conscious mind and our unconscious. He perceived dreams as a kind of love letter from the unconscious.
In Private Myths, analyst Anthony Stevens explains the function of dreaming from a Jungian perspective: 4Anthony Stevens, Private Myths, 1995.
Dreaming is a means by which the life of the individual is grafted on to the life of the species. It’s purpose is to promote adaption, growth, and consciousness.
In analysis, the patient (analysand) would recall a specific dream or series of dreams and then the analyst would ask probing questions to go deeper into the dream’s meaning.
As Johnson explains in Inner Work:
Every symbol in your dream has a special, individual connotation that belongs to you alone, just as the dream is ultimately yours alone.
Dreams, then, are a means of getting to know a deeper part of yourself.
How to Do Inner Work With Dream Analysis
Johnson highlights four steps (similar to Jung and von Franz) for engaging in dream work:5Robert Johnson, Inner Work, 1986, 51.
- Making associations (with dream characters and symbols within the dream)
- Connecting dream images to inner dynamics (specific to the individual)
- Interpreting (the meaning of the dream)
- Doing rituals to make the dream concrete
The reason physical rituals are suggested is to help bring the ephemeral dream more into one’s physical reality. Jungians believe this helps bridge the gap between the unconscious and the conscious.
Dream analysis can be a demanding process. While some intuitive individuals have the propensity to do it on their own, many likely do not (which is why analysts still exist).
Even if you aren’t going to engage in dream analysis as part of your inner work, simply learning to recall and write down your dreams (when they feel relevant) can be highly therapeutic.
Recording your dreams can pay dividends later on in one’s inner work process.
What is Active Imagination?
Active imagination is the process of actively engaging with internal “characters” and figures from within one’s unconscious.
Jung used active imagination to augment his dream analysis.
For example, in the course of analyzing a dream, sometimes you hit a dead end and neither the analyst nor the analysand knows where to go next.
This is when active imagination was often used.
Perhaps there was a shadowy figure in the dream. Jung might have the analysand call forth the figure and try to communicate with it.
Dreams occur to the dream ego, but there’s no conscious operator.
In contrast, with active imagination, the ego becomes the conscious operator that interacts with the unconscious psychic content.
Active imagination, however, is different from passive fantasy or daydreaming, where the conscious ego tends to be “checked out.”
As the term implies, this process is active; the ego is actively engaged in the interaction.
How to Do Inner Work with Active Imagination
Johnson highlights four steps for active imagination based on Jung and von Franz:6Robert Johnson, Inner Work, 1986, 160.
- Invite the unconscious
- Dialogue and experience
- Add the ethical element of values
- Make it concrete with physical ritual
While active imagination was an auxiliary process in early Jungian psychology, it’s arguably more common today than dream work.
In fact, a wide range of newer therapies have sprouted up—all variations of Jung’s active imagination process. I highlight many of them in my 2-part guide on the psychology of archetypes.
4 Other Common Approaches to Inner Work
While dream analysis and active imagination were the foundational methods for Jungian psychology, they are not the only approaches for getting to know oneself.
Here are four other common approaches that can be used in conjunction with the above:
How to Use Active Journaling for Inner Work
Journaling can be a powerful process, especially at the early stages of one’s inner journey.
I used journaling as a daily process for years when I first began my inward turn. I carried a pocket Moleskin journal on me virtually everywhere I went.
The basic process of recording your thoughts, feelings, and dreams helps cultivate greater self-reflection.7Blake TK. Journaling; an active learning technique. Int J Nurs Educ Scholarsh. 2005;2:Article 7. doi: 10.2202/1548-923x.1116. Epub 2005 Apr 15. PMID: 16646932.
You don’t need any structure; just start journaling. While there are plenty of “journalling workbooks” on the market now, however, I don’t particularly like this approach as they are directing your mind in specific ways using “prompts.”
While staring at a blank page can be foreboding at times, use that blankness as a cue to access your unconscious.
That is, be patient and lean into the discomfort. This approach, in my opinion, is more natural than using a prescripted journaling workbook. (Remember, the unconscious can be chaotic; embrace it.)
The active imagination technique discussed above works well with journaling as well. You essentially engage with characters in your unconscious and record the dialogue as it unfolds. I found there was far less resistance to active imagination when I used a journal in this manner.
How to Do Inner Work with Self-Reflection
While some people will prefer to use a journal, others may have resistance to doing so. That’s okay. A journal isn’t essential.
What’s important is that you’re engaged in self-reflection. For example:
- Why did I just say that?
- Something feels off right now. What’s going on?
- I’m feeling overly anxious. Why?
- Do I really want this or do I just think I do?
- I’m seeing a pattern here. Let’s take a closer look …
You can capture your thoughts in a journal, or just simply allow your mind to reflect.
Oftentimes, it’s helpful to walk or just move your body to initiate this process of self-reflection. But sitting in a comfortable chair works too.
Some people establish a ritual like lighting a specific candle and sitting in a particular room to reflect.
Just find whatever works best for you.
Sample Pages from Jung’s Red Book
How to Use Artwork and Self-Expression
Art and self-expression are powerful ways of conversing with one’s unconscious.
The unconscious is more closely associated with the right brain as it communicates via images and symbols—not through words, logic, or reason (left brain). That’s why bringing the unconscious to consciousness can be so challenging.
Spontaneous self-expression circumvents left-brain logic, allowing a more direct connection with one’s unconscious.
Forms of self-expression may include drawing, painting, dancing, pottery, and writing short stories.
Jung found that virtually all of his patients began using various forms of self-expression at some point along their individuation process.
In fact, Jung was a skilled painter. He always had his active canvas in his office that only he and his patients could see. Each canvas represented an aspect of his psyche at that time. Jung’s artwork and journal entries were published only recently in The Red Book (2009).
However, remember that you don’t need to be a “skilled artist” to use creative self-expression. (The skill part comes with practice.)
How to Use Prayer for Inner Work
I noticed that some people consider prayer a form of self-reflection. This can be a dicey topic, but it’s worth addressing here.
First, most forms of prayer are not, in my opinion, related to inner work as you are conversing with an “other” outside of oneself. That is, most people pray to an external God instead of dialoguing with God inside oneself.
To use prayer for inner discovery, bring whatever you consider God within yourself and ask it for your guidance.
- What aren’t I seeing right now?
- What behaviors are still unconscious?
- How am I engaging in self-deception?
- What’s beneath my “positive intention” here?
- Where am I being dishonest with myself?
As the passage below from Jung will reveal, Eastern systems tend to equate the Self with God. If you’re going to dialogue with God, bring it to the Self.
Then, your “prayers” are related to personal discovery that supports one’s inward turn.
3 Eastern Methods for Inner Work
The Eastern traditions offer a myriad of techniques that are centuries old (many of which are thousands of years old).
The main difference between Eastern and Western methods is the emphasis.
Western techniques emphasize the ego and the personality.
“Getting to know yourself” in the context of Western psychology translates to getting to know the totality of your personality—the person that is uniquely YOU.
Eastern philosophy, in contrast, emphasizes the fact that this ego construct that we call “personality” is ultimately an illusion.
The focus of Eastern approaches is to get to know your true Self—that which transcends the personal ego, the body, the mind, and all of the dualities that come with them.
Jung and Eastern Approaches to the Self
What’s interesting about Jungian depth psychology is that it too is ultimately trying to arrive at the Self.
Jung called it individuation where you first get to know your shadow, then your anima/animus, and finally arrive back home at the Self.
But as Jung admitted in his foreword for The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi, Eastern philosophy is far beyond Western psychology.
Jung writes:8The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi, 1972, ix.
The identification of the Self with God will strike the European as shocking. It is a specifically Oriental realization, as expressed in Sri Ramana’s utterance. Psychology cannot contribute anything further to it, except the remark that it lies far beyond its scope to propose such a thing … The Goal of Eastern practices is the same as Western mysticism: the focus is shifted from the “I” to the Self, from man to God.
Jung believed Westerners needed a different approach than Easterners so he didn’t engage in their practices. However, since the 1980s, research in transpersonal psychology has highlighted the tremendous benefits of these so-called Eastern practices for everyone.
So while the scope of Eastern methods goes beyond Western psychology, these methods can certainly assist us in getting to know ourselves via inner work.
Meditative Practice: The Inner Observer
It can be argued that meditation is an essential prerequisite for inner work—at least for most individuals.
Why? Inner work requires us to examine unconscious aspects we generally don’t see.
Unconscious and subconscious material is often hidden and elusive—beyond or below our conscious awareness.
Meditation, at its core, is about stabilizing one’s mind. Through greater stabilization, the mind becomes more still, enabling the Observer (also called observing mind or Inner Observer) to take over.
From this neutral witness, it becomes infinitely easier to examine oneself. Self-reflection becomes a natural and often spontaneous process.
Formal meditation generally begins with a basic sitting practice, but eventually, you can cultivate the Inner Observer while walking, standing, or lying down.
If you’re new to meditation or want tips to improve your practice, see this meditation training guide.
Tune the Breath
Our breathing is integrally tied to our thoughts. The more coarse and unnatural we breathe, the more unruly our minds.
To engage in inner work, learn how to “tune the breath” first.
In Eastern practices, tuning the breath is often done before meditation training. This practice is especially beneficial for those who can’t calm down long enough to sit still to meditate.
The technique is simple: place your mind on the breath. That’s it!
Now, the challenge many Westerners have with this method is that we’ve been indoctrinated with various “breathing techniques.” For example, inhale for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, and exhale for 5 seconds.
While some of these techniques have therapeutic value, they all have the same problem: they’re unnatural.
Anything unnatural leads to problems over time. In contrast, in the Eastern arts, there are principles of proper breathing, sometimes called womb breathing, but you are NOT instructed to try to breathe this way.
Instead, you are instructed to simply rest the mind on the breath—to witness the process of breathing and the quality of one’s breath without judgment.
Under this neutral observation, the breath will naturally correct itself, becoming quiet, deep, steady, and slow.
Familiarize yourself with the principles of proper breathing here.
Hold to the Center
A related topic, that’s more Taoist in origin, is the concept of the Center.
The Center is like a gateway to the Self. The Center, in the traditions, isn’t located in a specific place within the body. Instead, it’s the Center within oneself. It’s a place of “at-homeness” where one is neutral, calm, steady, and alert.
By holding to the Center, the Spirit (Self) returns and the ego takes a backseat. It’s not that the ego goes away; it’s just no longer in command. When the ego is in command, we are susceptible to archetypal possession.
Different characters or subpersonalities within the unconscious take the driver’s seat, and we experience their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes—generally, without realizing it.
The Jungians call these characters archetypes. The Taoists call them “ghosts and spirits.”
When you abide in the Center, the ghosts and spirits are held at bay. That’s why the principle of the Center is so vital. It’s integral to inner work as well.
Jung wrote in his autobiography, Memory, Dreams, Reflections:9Carl Jung, Memory, Dreams, Reflections, 1989.
I began to understand that the goal of psychic development is the circumambulation of the self.
Uniform development exists, at most, at the beginning; later, everything points toward the centre.
This insight gave me stability, and gradually my inner peace returned.
Learn more about the Center here.
These Eastern Methods are Foundational
I view these basic Eastern methods as foundational. In my experience, it’s prudent to develop a strong base using these methods as it can greatly assist in inner work.
One of the biggest challenges with inner work, especially with integrating the shadow, is overcoming self-deception.
The more unruly one’s mind is, the more self-deception will become an issue. Conversely, with a more steady mind, greater curiosity and self-honesty are present.
These Eastern methods may appear more passive. You’re not trying to dialogue with archetypes and you don’t invest energy analyzing symbols or images.
In fact, in these types of Eastern practices, you’re specifically instructed to avoid placing your attention on images or the imagination as this draws your energy into your mental landscape.
Yet, by further stabilizing the mind, you begin to “come to your senses” in the Center. With greater access to the Self, your inner guide takes over.
Done with the right intent, much of your inner world is revealed to you on its own.
Common Obstacles to Doing Inner Work and How to Overcome Them
The primary obstacle to inner work is the same as any dimension of self-mastery: internal resistance.
We already discussed how to overcome this resistance above: focus on the Eastern methods like tuning the breath and accessing the neutral Observer to help reduce this resistance.
Sometimes, in the course of this work, you may feel like you hit a wall. You’ll experience a mental block or just feel like you’re lost or don’t know what to do next. Fear not! This is normal.
You may be hitting a plateau, or some archetype is taking over and blocking the inner discovery process. (The Innocent One archetype is a likely culprit.)
There’s no need to get frustrated or try to force anything. Doing either of these things will likely only create more resistance.
Instead, just let everything be as it is. Go back to your daily practices. Go for a walk. Or just do nothing for a while.
Sometimes, spontaneous writing in your journal can kickstart the process too.
A Warning About Self-Expression
Other times, you may find that insights are flooding in so quickly that it’s difficult to keep up.
The impulse here may be to share these insights with other people—friends, family, or even on social media.
I can’t stress this enough: do whatever you can to resist this impulse.
If you start sharing these insights (or your artwork related to inner work) with others, you will soon feel a sense of emptiness. You will likely reduce your drive for inner discovery as well. Why?
Because you’ve brought your conscious ego into the mix. The energy that was flowing inward has now been extroverted.
Jung understood this principle only too well. One of his patients was the curator of a major art museum in Zurich. She wanted to create a special exhibit for Jung’s work. He declined. Jung understood the purpose of his artwork and knew it would be an error to share it publically.
Something to be mindful of.
Ready to Start Doing Inner Work?
If so, this guide should have provided you with a good foundation to begin (or continue) your inner journey.
Safe journeys …
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Books Related to Doing Inner Work
Inner Work by Robert A. Johnson
Dreams by C.G. Jung
Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Jung
The Red Book by C.G. Jung
Dreams by Marie-Louise von Franz
Alchemical Active Imagination by Marie-Louise von Franz
The Way of the Dream: Conversations with Marie-Louise von Franz
Marie Louise von Franz’s The Way of the Dream is highly instructive for those interested in dream analysis. Unfortunately, it’s now out of print. However, if you’re interested, you can watch the documentary the book is based on for free on the Internet Archive.
Read Next
Puer Aeternus: A Deep Decoding of the Peter Pan Syndrome
Carl Jung’s Theory of Anima and Animus
A Beginner’s Guide to Classic Jungian Archetypes
What do you think?
Add your comments and thoughts below.
Hi Scott,
Can you please share your thoughts on the distinction between transformation, transcendence and transmutation in relation to inner work?
Is there specific applicability for each?
Thank you.
Hi Roopa,
Sure thing.
Transformation is more closely related to ego development and the structural changes that occur over time. Transformation applies to personal development.
Transcendence is more about moving beyond the ego-self. That is, shifting from the self to the Self, from the exclusive identification with the small “I” to a more expansive state of consciousness. Self-transcendence applies to spiritual development.
Transmutation is a term derived from alchemical literature. It’s also stage-related similar to transformation, but denotes more of an “unseen” process that can be less structural. Transmutation can apply to both personal and spiritual development.
Thank you very much, Scott. As someone who has been working on myself for sometime now, I use my everyday “happenings” as the material for understanding what is going on inside me. I’ve often wondered if what is broadly termed as inner work can be broken down into specific processes. I’ve heard the terms transformation, transcendence and transmutation used in relation to change and wondered if this very unscientific approach I use in some way feeds into one of the three I asked you about. Based on your response I would think that it might be the case helping me at a spiritual and/or psychological level. Thank you very much for your clarifications.
Another more technical term for what you described is called “phenomenological research.” Ultimately, inner work requires the examination of our subjective experience as we interact with the “objective” world.
Sounds good! Thank you!
Hi Scott, I have some follow-up questions from the earlier conversation, can you please share your thoughts on them.
With regard to subjective experience…
* From where/how is subjective experience generated?
* Do I create/co-create my own subjective experience using the content of my psyche?
* What in your understanding is the benefit of inner work at a personal and collective level?
Thank you very much. Your input in telling me about phenomenology was very useful.
“From where/how is subjective experience generated?”
This is a deep question, which I can not answer with an economy of words. Put simply, it’s generated from consciousness itself. Understanding the nature of this consciousness is the realm of the mystics.
“Do I create/co-create my own subjective experience using the content of my psyche?”
Philosophers would debate this type of question from their favored viewpoints. From the mystic’s perspective, impersonal consciousness is creating this experience of reality. Your psyche influences how you interpret it based on your “mundane conditioning”.
“What in your understanding is the benefit of inner work at a personal and collective level?”
I address numerous benefits in Part 2 of this guide:
https://scottjeffrey.com/shadow-work/
On the collective level, if enough people did inner work, the world wouldn’t be so absolutely insane; nor would it be run by psychopathic parasites.
Thank you for your explanations. These are topics relevant to our human existence that are of high ambiguity and your understanding is much appreciated.
The statement you mention “From the mystic’s perspective, impersonal consciousness is creating this experience of reality.” …does this not remove personal responsibility from the individual. If I were to engage that statement then it would leave me feeling that life is just happening to me and I have no part in its creation. Wouldn’t that introduce an element of disassociation with a person’s experience of their own subjective experience? It’s seems I’m caught in the philosophical debate. Since I do value the mystics view, I find the use of “impersonal” challenging.
As I said above, there’s no way to answer your question with an economy of words. A very long detailed response is necessary to give proper context (too much for a comment section of a post).
Nonduality (which is impersonal) must include duality (the ego-mind or body-mind organism). There’s an autonomous, independent “I” (the “I am” principle) that’s having this experience (believing it is separate).
But on a deeper level, this “I am” — the source of one’s subjectivity — is impersonal. As the sages all explain, the primary illusion (maya) is this “I am” — that is, at a higher level of realization, everything is happening spontaneously, and there’s no independent experiencer.
Here’s the challenge: what’s stated above can not be accurately apperceived by the mind because the mind is the source of duality.
Inner work is the process of moving toward wholeness. That is, healing the psyche that was wounded in childhood. But what’s being addressed here is beyond “inner work.” No Jungian insights that are relevant here.
You have clarified the use of the word impersonal as nonduality which is no longer challenging. The rest of your explanations are what I can resonate with. Thank you for your clarifications and explanations.
Hi Scott,
I’ve been contemplating the section on prayer as it is something that I feel meaningfully attached to in my own human identity.
What I also find myself doing is in a very active engagement within myself (inner dialogue) that I believe holds Divinity (not outside as popularized by many organized religions).
In previous discussions I have voiced a method I use in intimately connecting with my everyday experience to gain a depth of awareness into the nature of my experience that taps into ego-centricity, social conditioning and many other factors both personal and interpersonally.
What I have been struggling with is this very abstract word “God” which can from certain religious context appear very masculine.
I believe a primary purpose in engaging with inner work has been to deepen my understanding of myself as a “Woman (gender-wise) and my own Masculine principle (Animus in Jungian terms).”.
The Divine Expression that I can relate to within this framework would then lend itself to perceiving “God” having two Divine Emanations ( a Divine Masculine and a Divine Feminine), wherein the Divine Feminine can offer guidance to my Feminine self and the Divine Masculine can offer guidance to my own (masculine)/Animus within.
Wouldn’t this view offer a more direct experience with Divinity within oneself that can be applied to the objective world we live in?
Hi Roopa,
If this view that you described is helpful for you then perhaps there’s no reason to ask for external validation.
From my perspective, however, projecting masculinity or femininity onto divinity is an error in understanding. For example, you won’t see me refer to terms like “Divine Feminine” or “Divine Masculine” in my writing. The term “Divine Feminine,” in my experience, is almost always used in misguided ways.
I haven’t addressed Jung’s concept of anima/animus here yet, but I don’t entirely agree with his assertions. He thought he found confirmation of his theory in classical Taoism, but he was grossly mistaken.
If the term “God” doesn’t work for you, no need to use it — or find a replacement for it. I also shy away from the term because it has been twisted and distorted by so many interested parties.
However, I think if you project masculine/feminine onto the Self or Original Spirit, at some level, you’re anthropomorphizing the concept of “God.” Leave gender to the realm of form. In my opinion, it has no place outside of this realm.
I actually intuitively resonate with what you say in “if you project masculine/feminine onto the Self or Original Spirit, at some level, you’re anthropomorphizing the concept of “God.” Leave gender to the realm of form.”
It just feels right.
Thank you!
I hope you don’t mind another related and relevant question.
If we as human beings should become more divinely conscious, how can we relate to a divine existence based on our individual gender, without personification of “Divine attributes”. For example, if I am female and I want to live to embody a “feminine ideal or simply better feminine” that exercises the finer qualities of the feminine in human form, how would one do that without a relatable higher expression? Would it be flawed to follow that train of thought? Is there an alternative way from your experience?
Thank you for taking the time and effort to answer my questions.
I just wanted to clarify my earlier comment, Scott. I don’t feel I have made myself clear regarding what I mean by “Divine attributes”, which can be misleading if I am not specific. For practice purposes, I have found the work of Sri Aurobindo very useful especially around how he describes the “Divine Mother”. His personification is well-rounded in that it offers someone like me a framework of qualities that someone could embody in aspiration to connect with the Divine. His 4 manifestations of the Divine mother as “Maheshwari (Wisdom), MahaKali (Strength), MahaLakshmi (Harmony), MahaSaraswati (Perfection) offer a subset of qualities that any woman can aspire for, at least that is how I perceive it. Thank you again.
Roopa,
In this context, Sri Aurobindo is taking these four qualities or virtues — wisdom, strength, harmony, and perfection — and ascribing them to the “Divine Mother.” If that’s a helpful framework for you, I don’t see any problem with it.
From the perspective I was speaking from, I would ask, are wisdom, strength, harmony, and perfection not human qualities too? Are they otherwordly so we need to project some kind of higher power like divinity onto them? Are they not simply expressions within ourselves when our trauma and “mundane conditioning” are removed?
As a final point, I don’t know the context in which Aurobindo was using the term perfection, but striving for perfection can be very damaging to the psyche.
I do agree with you when you say they are human qualities, it’s very difficult to explain in words how they seem to present within me though without considering a spiritual context/perspective. I somehow seem to experience them in a strange manner though. It’s seem to developed and deepened over time.
I’ve also had an issue with the word perfection with MahaSaraswati. I guess my understanding is that her expression is one of completion without error (given she is associated with learning, knowledge and creativity). Thanks again, for your thoughtful responses.
This part talks about dream analyzes with symbols. I quote”How to Get Started With Dream Analysis
Johnson highlights four steps (similar to Jung and von Franz) for engaging in dream work:4
Making associations (with dream characters and symbols within the dream)”, did Jung compile a list of meanings for organic/man-made matter in his dream interpretations? Thank-you.
No, he did not.
I assume the characters in dreams are archetypes, and Jung knew them when he did his dream analysis. Where these known before Jungs dreaming in the red book? Symbols seem to be a different category, where did these come from, who made their meanings, were they conjured from people long ago and they listed them?
In Jungian dream interpretation, you don’t make the mistake of thinking that a particular image or symbol definitively means something. For example, a snake doesn’t mean “X.” There can be at least a dozen different interpretations of snake imagery and it depends on the individual’s dream as well as other factors.
When you say, “If you start sharing these insights”, in the part about warning on self-expression. Could there be an exception when you’re expressing something that needs work and you’re hoping for feedback or perhaps understand what you expressed at a later time? I assume the warning is about an accomplishment and is put out for your verification or give help to others.
This comment was about intuitive insights and creative self-expression that arise from within oneself. If you’re seeking external feedback or validation of these insights then you aren’t honoring the source of the insight. Instead, you’re projecting authority outside of yourself. As a general rule, patiently sitting with the insight will yield more meaningful results.
Can you tell me a distinction between Jung’s decision of not exhibiting his artwork, and he publicating his Red Book? I quote you.
“Jung understood this principle only too well. One of his patients was the curator of a major art museum in Zurich. She wanted to create a special exhibit for Jung’s work. He declined. Jung understood the purpose of his artwork and knew it would be an error to share it publically.” Thank-you.
Carl Jung passed away in 1961. “The Red Book” was published in 2009. Jung’s estate agreed to publish the Red Book, not Jung.
Jung didn’t even allow his partial autobiography (“Memories, Dreams, Reflections”) to be published until after he died.
Hey Scott, I really enjoy reading your work. I’m curious about practices like parts work by Richard Schwartz – and how this fits with inner work and if there are links to Jung in any way?
Hey Dea,
Richard Schwartz’s IFS is a more “modern” form of active imagination. I reference IFS here:
https://scottjeffrey.com/active-imagination/
(It’s a new guide that I haven’t sent out yet.)
According to Schwartz, the creation of Internal Family Systems was not influenced by Jung’s work. That said, the “parts” in IFS are akin to archetypes.
Regardless, IFS is a robust and structured system that individuals can use as a form of active imagination.
Greetings! Scott… And thank you for another wonderful guide. My question is on the denying innocent one archetype. How does one end up possessed by it, does it it start from childhood and how can one become better and better at spotting this archetype in action?
Greetings Given. Most of the shadow archetypes are learned behaviors from childhood. One way we become possessed by this shadow archetype is we were conditioned by “goodness” or “to be good” (“behaved”) during our upbringing. That is, we were manipulated into playing the Fool, often by one or both parents.
The Denying Innocent plays ignorant and naive. It doesn’t want to see how the world really is just as much as it doesn’t want to examine the dark side of the personality. When you feel clueless, confused, grandiose, or “good,” these are potential signs that the Innocent One is in the driver’s seat. When are unwilling to look at your “darker” impulses, thoughts, and sentiments, this too is a sign. Also, the more grounded you are, the easier it is to observe/spot this archetype taking over. (When the Innocent One is in charge, your feet are never “on the ground.”)
I’m sorry Given for writing in your post. I was inspired to write after reading your post and seeing Scott’s reply.
Can I know if I’m possessed by the innocent from other people’s reaction to me? For example, wanting me to feel guilt by calling me “goody goody”, and other people with vague words for example “YOU!” As though I did something wrong.
I have felt innocent in these situations, not knowing why they are discontented with me.
Observing the reactions of others is often a good indicator of the patterns you’re running — especially when you get the same type of behavioral responses from multiple people in different settings.
But I can’t speak to the vague illustrations you provided.
Another great guide! I’m currently reading The Wisdom of Enneagram that you have recommended. This guide helps me to figure out what the further works would be. Thanks again!
Thank you for the feedback, Niimka. The Wisdom of the Enneagram has many excellent insights.