According to Carl Jung, we grow up as humans and on the journey, we have spiritual experience. The goal for life is to mature, to become spirits having a human experience.
Here are Jung’s 4 Archetypes or Stages of Development:
1. The Athlete Stage: This is the physical or body stage. At this stage, we are mostly preoccupied with our physical attributes and appearance. We might admire how we look in a mirror, focus on clothing, and wonder what others think about our looks. Our bodies and physical needs are our focus.
2. The Warrior Stage: During this period, our concern shifts outward. We seek to go out an conquer, to do our best in comparison to others, to score more, get more, be more all in relationship to others do and have. By out performing, even defeating others, in physical, verbal, or societal battles, we feel better about ourselves.
3. The Statesman Stage: In this stage, we want to make a difference in the world. The lack of satisfaction of the Athlete or Warrior Stages drive us to seek fulfillment by making a noticeable impact on the broader world around us. Goals of getting are replaced by goals of giving. Status, material goods. Gold is no longer a primary goal but is replaced by broader goals of service and contribution for a greater good.
4. The Stage of the Spirit: According to Jung, this stage often comes late in life when we realize that we the earlier stages are not who we really are and don’t define or way in the world. We begin to comprehend that we are more than our body, more than our accomplishments, more than the change we bring to the world. We begin to transcend our experience as bodies. We grow from humans having spiritual experience to spirits having human experiences. We not only live a moment, but can see ourselves, aware but not consumed by our own emotions or the emotions of others, our perceptions or the perceptions of others. We are strangers in a strange land (Hebrews 11:13). We are in the world but not of it (Romans 12:1-2). Only in this stage do the teachings of Jesus become clear. Blessed are the poor. Love your enemies. (Luke 6:20-49). Only Spirits having a human experience can engage in life where the fullness of every experience, pain and pleasure, life and death, can be engaged fully as we observe ourselves form a different perspective.
To explore being a spirit having a human experience in a deeper fashion click below:
Audio: Luke 4 “Our Way in the World”
Book: The Way and The Word by David W. Jones
