How You Stray From Yourself

From “Coucher de Soleil”

The most common form of despair is not being who you are.

— Kierkegaard

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A narrow, defensive, threatened ego will refuse the complexes’ entrance, deny their existence and repress their energy… Just imagine the truck drivers who have come from faraway lands, have had to travel over those ‘inconvenient and steep footpaths,’ now waiting outside the city gates of ego-consciousness to unload their diverse and complex merchandise, but not let in. They will soon grow impatient, irritated and angry. If unrelated to, they might possibly become violent, as the soul-food they are bringing is spoiled, having incubated for too long in the womb of the shadow.

— from Becoming Whole: A Jungian Guide to Individuation by Bud Harris, PhD

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Every real revolutionary is challenged to be a mystic at heart, and (s)he who walks the mystical way is called to unmask the illusory quality of human society. Mysticism and revolution are two aspects of the same attempt to bring about radical change. No mystic can prevent himself from becoming a social critic, since in self-reflection he will discover the roots of a sick society.

— Henri Nouwen

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In the Buddhist tradition, preparing for the moment of death is a major…