I'm learning about Carl Jung (among other founding psychoanalytic theorists) in my psychology classes, and although I don't connect with all of his ideas, he certainly has created a thought process for me. He believed in what he called "the collective unconscious," which is, by loose definition, a storehouse of archaic remnants inherited from our ancestral past (psychic inheritance) which contain "deposits of the constantly repeated experiences of humanity." I interpret this to mean that there are little pieces of thought energy floating around in the universe from every thought ever thought throughout eternity. As Dave has learned through intense study and then has explained to me, energy never dies, nor does it disappear; it just changes forms. (I guess this is physics, too, right?) As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we believe that before our spiritual bodies were created, we existed as intelligences--little particles of energy in space that were attracted to each other to form a body of intelligence, which then became spirit, which then had the opportunity to choose further progression on earth, and if this progression was chosen, this spirit body of intelligence was then given a body of flesh and bones--and a mind, which I interpret to be that original body of intelligence. But then, even with all of the billions of bodies that have been formed, and all of the worlds that been created and populated, there is still an infinite amount of intelligence, or energy, in the vastness of space, that will not only never end, but also will never die...
Do I make sense so far? I'm not sure I can write it as I "see" it or "feel" it...
But anyways, Dave has also taught me that "thoughts are things." More correctly, thoughts are energy, and if that is the case, they never die or disappear. I imagine them as little particles of light that shoot either into or out of our minds at a speed faster than light, and if that be the case, then Jung's idea of a collective conscious is not that far off. We--meaning all mankind--are connected by thought. There must be some kind of attraction system (which Dave has explained to me that there is, which is known as vibration frequency) that filters thought processes, making some thoughts available to some and others available to others. Maybe available isn't the right word, because it seems all energy (thoughts) can be available and shared with everyone, depending on the frequency at which they vibrate. AND we can tune in more clearly and even learn to change our frequency as we increase our knowledge...
This is really deep, and while I understand it to a certain point, my understanding is not to the point of being able to explain it clearly, but it can be studied. If you would like to know more about what I am trying to explain, here is a really great video by Bob Proctor. He explains it well.
I wanted to at least mention this so that I can better illustrate my own thought processes of late:
In class on Thursday, we watched a short movie about Jung. There was time in his life that he traveled the world, and he observed people and their cultures, rituals, beliefs, and behaviors. One of his most intriguing observations (in my book) was that every culture was, albeit different, similar! Some of their beliefs and rituals were so similar, in fact, that he said they were almost identical! Yet, these cultures had never met, never had human influence on each other. One of the interesting things I noticed was that all of the cultures featured in the video displayed some version of kneeling and folding their arms while praying or addressing their version of a supreme being. This simple idea opened thought and understanding to a whole new level for me: here was yet another proof that there is a God. We all are connected through Him. We share a certain knowledge or remembering of something we knew collectively in a life before this earthly existence. In my own mind, I imagined little flashes of thought energy flashing in and out of the minds of every human being, igniting the pieces of spiritual memory within each one of us, and then leaving us to decide what we will do with that remembering. I feel like if we choose to connect with that collective thought, our energy vibrations will begin to match the vibration of the thought and all bits of energy and knowledge that vibrate at that same frequency will come together to reveal a deeper, more complete version of the knowledge, until all knowledge is revealed to us, line upon line, precept on precept. I'm not saying this is exactly how it works--this explanation is at best scratching the surface--but it makes sense to me.
There are so many theories on every possible life subject, and as I expose myself to more and more theories, it feels like there is an element of truth in all of them, as in the psychoanalytic theories that I am currently learning. In my opinion, the idea of the collective mind added to what I understand about eternal life, through my knowledge of the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, explains why this is so. We all came from the same place, we all share a common pre-earth existence, and there is a collective conscious that contains our memories and gives us sparks of memory. When one person allows himself to ponder on his or her thoughts, his understanding expands and theories form. Whether we realize it or not, we are all trying to figure out why we are here and where we are going.
There are so many theories on every possible life subject, and as I expose myself to more and more theories, it feels like there is an element of truth in all of them, as in the psychoanalytic theories that I am currently learning. In my opinion, the idea of the collective mind added to what I understand about eternal life, through my knowledge of the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, explains why this is so. We all came from the same place, we all share a common pre-earth existence, and there is a collective conscious that contains our memories and gives us sparks of memory. When one person allows himself to ponder on his or her thoughts, his understanding expands and theories form. Whether we realize it or not, we are all trying to figure out why we are here and where we are going.
William Wordsworth explains it this way:
