One of humanity’s fundamental needs is for religion. This is what Carl Jung believed. Unlike Freud, who saw religion as a source of neurosis, Jung considered the absence of religion to be the true source of insanity. To Jung, the drive for religion is an instinctual, archaic impulse that cannot be dismissed.
The root cause of this religious drive lies in the desire to embrace aspects of the unconscious, both personal and collective. On the personal-unconscious level, religion provides ways to engage in inner works that Jung called the introversion of the libido. From the collective-unconscious perspective, religion offers symbolic and archetypal works that ultimately lead an individual to the primary archetype, the Self Archetype. For Jung, the Self Archetype is what religions call God (imago dei). Thus, the realization of the Self is equated with the realization of God within oneself.
The Self, along with various other archetypes in the unconscious, is a fundamental natural drive—Jung likened it to an instinct. The urge to realize the Self acts like gravity, naturally pulling us toward it.
Various components of the unconscious can be brought into conscious awareness through symbols and myths, and religion is the repository of these symbols and myths. Thus, practising religion is a way of living a symbolic life, a lifestyle that brings us closer to the contents of the unconscious.
However, it’s crucial to note that what Jung referred to as “religion” leans more toward “spirituality.” This is distinct from and even opposed to creedal or dogmatic religion, which Jung considered has dried out from the symbolic and intuitive dimensions, tending to distance us from the unconscious through rigid polarities (such as good-evil, right-wrong). In this context, Jung and Freud might be said to agree.
However, modern people have grown weary of traditional religion. Yet, in a way, the modern aversion to religion can be seen as an aversion to dogma. The reason is that followers of such dogma no longer bridge modern man with their unconsciousness. In religious terms, religion no longer provides them with numinous experiences. Consequently, when the intuitive and symbolic aspects of religion die, it is abandoned, and people seek other ways to fulfil their need for symbolic and intuitive life, numinous experiences, and to answer the call of the Self.
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In the midst of “need” and “aversion,” Western society has fallen in love with the exoticism of Eastern religions, which offer the symbolic and mythological life that has been long missing from their collective lives. Thus, more and more Westerners become adherents of various Eastern religions, from Indian to Chinese religious traditions. Even local animistic and dynamistic religions are experiencing a revival and finding new followers.
Many in Western society seriously adopt Hinduism and Buddhism, diligently practising meditation, performing pūjā and kirtan with devotion, doing japa with discipline, and engaging in various other sādhana. Some even receive dīkṣā or become Sanskrit scholars.
However, alongside those who fully embrace the traditional roots of Hinduism (with its scriptures, teachers, and communities), there is another side that can be witnessed in the New Age communities. These individuals borrow terminology from various religious traditions without binding themselves to their respective religious roots. The New Age is a form of “free-spirited spirituality” without traditional ties.
At this point, there is also a popular group identifying as “spiritual but not religious.” Unfortunately, in the modern era, “spiritual” does not always signify an individual’s journey to experience the numinous. For many, “spiritual” is also a way to colonize and commodify Eastern spiritual traditions, borrowing the terms of Carette & King (2005). Here, we face another trait of modernity, i.e., capitalism, that presents us with another challenge to navigate our spiritual journey.
In capitalism, spirituality becomes a product. Worse still, because of high demand, more people are tempted to seek fortune in it. These ‘capitalist spiritual teachers’ do not need spiritual understanding or achievement but marketing skills. Even morally corrupt individuals can be enthroned as spiritual teachers with millions of followers if their marketing strategy is right—and we know they are morally corrupt and far from spirituality because they are later revealed to commit abuses and various other scandals that betray their spiritual values.
Worse yet, we, as a society shaped by the currents of capitalism, start viewing spirituality from the same perspective. Consequently, we are invited to think that spirituality is determined by the products we buy and collect, not what we become. It’s about something out there instead of inner works.
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With a consumerist and herd mentality, our spirituality becomes about FOMO and trends, not a personal journey. Especially in this digital age, “spirituality” has become a lifestyle showcased on social media for validation. At this point, any Eastern spirituality, whatever its form, no longer brings us closer to the unconscious but reinforces our modern predispositions. Spirituality then becomes a consumption of the ego, a way for the ego to fulfil its need for validation and recognition.
This is what Jung tried to warn us about decades ago when Eastern religious traditions became popular in the West.
Yoga is not immune to the colonization of modern capitalism. Foxen and Kuberry (2021) aptly state that when we talk about yoga today, we talk about traditional lineage or brand, which are both often indistinguishable. To be marketable to as many people as possible, yoga needs to undergo secularization—it must be freed from its traditional roots and repackaged to suit modern tastes. Nonetheless, not everyone sells “yoga” in modern packaging; many seek other selling points by offering authenticity and romanticization of the past. Regardless of the chosen unique selling proposition, yoga for them remains a commodity, merely a medium to seek the greatest profit with little to nothing to do with spirituality.
Many who buy these spiritual products, including yoga do so with the intention to resell, there are also sincerely seek its benefits. These benefits range from corporeal to more spiritual aspects. However, obtaining the desired benefits becomes increasingly difficult because the products themselves often cannot truly deliver the promised benefits. And all the promises are sometimes just marketing tricks.
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We have a spiritual need and wish to answer the call of the Self. Unfortunately, many of us get lost on this journey. The reason is that navigating a spiritual journey in modern times is not easy—amidst the turmoil of modernity and the deceptions of capitalism, and personally, due to various mental predispositions that make us, modern society, ill-suited to yoga, as Jung put it.
However, despite these challenges and dynamics, our need for spirituality must still be fulfilled, as it is an aspect of our humanity that we cannot ignore in the name of aversion.
Navigating a spiritual journey means navigating ourselves; navigating our motivations, shadows, expectations, and predispositions. Navigating the self also involves navigating our attitude towards spiritual teachings, the spiritual journey, spiritual goals, and our role in them.
Two crucial points in this navigation are the starting point and the destination; recognizing where we are now and where we intend to go. Our spiritual journey’s starting point involves why we are interested in embarking on this journey. Are we pursuing something (life satisfaction, happiness, joy, community, giving meaning to our existence, etc.), or are we running from something (stress, depression, disappointment, sadness and pain, emptiness, loneliness, etc.)? Our starting points vary and include conscious and unconscious motivations. Recognizing various shadows, to borrow Jung’s term. We might think we are undertaking a spiritual journey for one purpose, but unconsciously we are driven by other unconscious impulses.
Concerning the destination point, it involves various tradition-specific philosophical discourses. However, psychologically, we can reflect on what we truly aim for at least in this life or in the near future.
Therefore, navigating the spiritual journey is also about navigating awareness, including its content and process, at every moment. If we lose awareness of our psychological components, we will only fall victim to our darker sides and capitalist spirituality. As a result, instead of freeing ourselves from suffering as traditional scriptures propose, we will be further entangled in suffering.
Both Tantra and Carl Jung’s thoughts offer their own navigation systems. Each has its corpus containing valuable mirrors that can help us understand the nature of the mind and how to empower it in the spiritual journey. However, because spirituality and yoga have become products displayed to meet our consumer culture, we, who genuinely wish to benefit from yoga, need to be wise consumers in selecting the offered products.
We will talk more about this topic in the upcoming Zoom webinar “Dharma Śūnya: A Dialogue Between the King of the Lotus and The Lord of the Underworld.” You can join for free or by donation.
