Jung and All Things West

I recently read a biography of the psychologist Carl Jung.

Carl Gustav Jung

Jung, possibly looking for his spectacles

Really, I'm not actually looking for a new path ( if "path" is even the correct word to use for my stumbling approach to what is called "life" ) The last thing I need is another set of buzz words - in this case "anima", "archetypes", "individuation", "synchronity" and a few more. All a bit of a jigsaw puzzle needing to be put together to try to sort out the mysterious "self" we appear to experience ourselves as being.  Myself, I like biographies, life stories, and actually find the actual meaning of the buzz words easier to grasp when put into the context of a life as lived and experienced. Letters to friends by the subject of the biography are often another source of insight and illumination. 

An early quote  from Jung's letters caught my eyes so I'll copy it here.....

The journey from cloud cuckoo land to reality lasted a long time. In my case Pilgrim's Progress consisted in my having to climb down a thousand ladders until I could reach out my hand to the little clod of earth that I am.

What will grow from our own little clod?

"The little clod of earth that I am" seems pretty disparaging and in certain contexts could be seen as an expression of low self-esteem. But it IS all in the context. I think that everything must be known and seen in context to be seen at all. Just a case of getting the context right, which can be pretty tricky at times, given our own predilection of thinking ourselves more the diamond in the batch rather than a clod of earth. 

Seen in context, just the once, there, then.

"We all have Buddha nature". I have heard that one a few times. To think so could become a source of pride. But the context is in the "all". All living beings have the same real essential nature. Our personality, culture, our beliefs, are not inherent parts of us; more guests. Alas, we can take great pride in them and see some collections of often accidental conditions as better than others.

"Does a dog have Buddha nature?" is the great question which I will leave with my non-existent readers.

Thank you.