{"id":8483,"date":"2011-01-17T15:37:59","date_gmt":"2011-01-17T07:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/?p=8483"},"modified":"2011-01-17T15:37:59","modified_gmt":"2011-01-17T07:37:59","slug":"is-collective-unconscious-buddhist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/2011\/01\/is-collective-unconscious-buddhist\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Collective Unconscious Buddhist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Question: <\/strong>How does the concept of the Collective Unconscious (http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Collective_unconscious<\/a>) fit in Buddhist philosophy?<\/p>\n

Answer: <\/strong>Commenting based on the definition of ‘collective unconscious’ in the Wikipedia link, Buddhism would see that the collective unconscious is actually based on the personal unconscious. Because of the existence of past lives with similar experiences for many individuals, they are imprinted in the depths of the mind (the Alaya or Eighth Consciousness: http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eight_Consciousnesses#Store-house_consciousness_.28.C4.81layavij.C3.B1.C4.81na.29<\/a> ) for individuals – which together forms what seems to be collective unconcious (in terms of perception of universal archetypes and such) for all.<\/p>\n

In this sense, the idea that the collective unconcious exists separate from personal unconscious is an illusion. Personal (un)conscious existing independently too is\u00a0an illusion. This is reflected in the Buddha’s teachings on non-self; of the idea of a fixed, unchanging and separate self being illusory as all mind and mattter is subject to constant change. More on this can be found in this online book: http:\/\/www.buddhanet.net\/pdf_file\/noinnercore.pdf<\/a> (No Inner Core) It is the attachment to the sense of self that there is suffering for one and all from self-centredness, selfishness and such. Only with constant change can we evolve to become perfect, enlightened.<\/p>\n

Yet, for enlightenment (in terms of Buddhahood) to be possible, there must be the potential to become enlightened. This potential is called Buddha-nature. As long as we are not\u00a0aware of or work towards actualising it, we are unconscious of the ability to awaken to full consciousness.\u00a0We are ‘collectively unconscious’. Buddha-nature should not be mistaken as Jung’s concept of collective unconscious, which refers to a mysterious\u00a0inbuilt set of perceptions not based on cause and effect (as its origin is unknown).<\/p>\n

Buddha-nature is not a set of perceptions to be tapped into; it is the nature of a Buddha within us all to be discovered; it is the ability to\u00a0develop perfect compassion and wisdom, to have\u00a0pure perception of things as they really are, beyond limiting archetypal perception.\u00a0When Buddha-nature is realised, we become Buddhas. Buddha-nature bears some semblance in concept with collective unconscious in terms of being universal and impersonal in all beings (though it is sometimes called the ‘true self’ too, which is still selfless in nature and function).<\/p>\n

The concept of collective unconscious also has some remblance with the Dharmakaya, the universal and impersonal living body of all Buddhas, that pervade space and time, being synonymous with truth. However, instead of being a pool of consciousness that\u00a0unenlightened beings\u00a0tap into\u00a0or connect to unconscously, which is the case for the idea of the collective unconcious, individuals who have fully realised their Buddha-nature (becoime Buddhas) ‘join’ the\u00a0Dharmakaya, or realise they are part of it. As\u00a0this realisation is essentially awakening, this process\u00a0takes place with\u00a0fully\u00a0consciousness. In this sense, the Dharmakaya is\u00a0‘collective conscious’ we can become part of; not ‘collective UNconscious’ we are supposedly part of!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: How does the concept of the Collective Unconscious (http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Collective_unconscious) fit in Buddhist philosophy? Answer: Commenting based on the definition…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[48,47,126,544,310,111],"class_list":["post-8483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mix","tag-anatta","tag-anicca","tag-buddha-nature","tag-consciousness","tag-dharmakaya","tag-perception","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8483\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}