by Narkissos 14 Replies latest jw friends
Nark,
I've read Holotropic mind by Stanlov Grof and I think he was intrigued by Freud's pyshoanilist but found it quite unsatifactory in actual practiced and so he was more interested in Carl Jung,,and the "collective unconsciousness which Carl Jung got knowledge of through Philemon his private spirit Guru.
Nark,
I bring this up because Freud from what I read may be out dated by Jung,,Freud I think was good for his analization of symbols of the unconscious,,but it was very limited compared to Jung's findings I think Jung also had many talks with physist who were in the Neil's Bhor camp. I know there was some rich lady that hosted these think tanks which she wanted Jung to run but I think he declind. Jung had a lot of interest in myths even as a boy who father was a Pastor of some church . They used to conduct spiritual calling up the dead right from his infantcy so he was well aware of the paranormal.
"...An it harm none, do what ye will."
When you were a JW, did you feel attracted to this kind of "sacrifice", where the most unpleasant thing (such as going from door to door, becoming a pioneer or a Bethel member) just appeared to you what God wanted you to do, especially if you didn't "desire" it?
I desired all of it.
If so, how do you cope now with this kind of feeling? Has it disappeared altogether, does it express itself in other ways (as "sacrifices" to another cause), or do you repress it to lead a "normal" life?
Actually, I find that it expresses itself in me in many ways that I'm still discovering. I've been conditioned to accept suffering as not only a necessary, but even a desirable, way of life. And so even though I now tell myself that it's not desirable, there is that residual kernel of my being that draws me back to that mindset.
As a young child, every part of the "theocratic lifestyle" involved giving something up. Saturday morning field service meant no cartoons. Tuesday book study meant no Battlestar Galactaca. Meetings in general meant trading homework and play time for sitting in a stark hall hearing boring talks while wearing uncomfortable clothes. Circuit assemblies meant I could not go see my best friend off at the airport, who was moving away for good. It also meant no fun holiday or birthday parties at school or extracurricular activities. The reward for all that sounded really good (life forever on a paradise earth), but it was never anything tangible that was experienced. As a child there are always things you have to do that are not fun because you are "supposed to," like eating vegetables or doing chores, so all the JW stuff fell into the same category. So I wonder if the perspective here is different for the "born-ins", who have no choice initially, than for the adult converts who at least find something attractive about the JWs to choose to join them....
