2
" Jung says, “Here one may ask, perhaps, why it is so desirable that a man should be individuated. Not only is it desirable, it is absolutely indispensable because through his contamination with others he falls into situations and commits actions that bring him into disharmony with himself. From all states of unconscious contamination and non-differentiation, there is begotten a compulsion to be and to act in a way contrary to one’s own nature...For these reasons individuation is indispensable for certain people, not only as a therapeutic necessity, but as a high ideal, an idea of the best we can do. Nor should I omit to remark that it is at the same time the primitive Christian ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven that ‘is within you.’ The idea at the bottom of this ideal is that right action comes from right thinking, and there is no cure and no improving of the world that does not begin with the individual himself. "
― Bud Harris , Becoming Whole: A Jungian Guide to Individuation
3
" Amor Fati means accepting our fate, a term from Nietzsche that both Jung and Campbell were fond of using. This is really a second-half-of-life need—that is, a state of longing for meaning. We are thrust into this state after experiencing the psychological heroism of the first half of life. As you may know, heroism, in the first half of life, describes the quest for independence, identity, and a place in the world. We need this heroic attitude in order to overcome and subdue the dragon of our dependency needs. Heroism supports our struggle to achieve a place in the world and stability in love and work. But when midlife, unhappiness, trauma, or illness thrusts us into the search for meaning—as well as the need for the support of our own depths and the Divine within us, the Self—a new kind of heroism is called for. This heroism is the ability to say yes to our fate, to what is already happening to us, to dive into it and into our own depths. "
― Bud Harris , Becoming Whole: A Jungian Guide to Individuation
7
" All of us, no matter who we are, in the pressures of our busy, complicated lives, lose this fundamental relationship to ourselves, again and again. We get caught in false “doing” that isn’t rooted in the ground of our being, the Self. False “doing” manufactures a hollow or false sense of identity and accomplishments. It assaults us with formulas for changing and bettering ourselves, that ultimately leaves us feeling diminished, frustrated, or empty, like imposters. "
― Bud Harris , Becoming Whole: A Jungian Guide to Individuation
8
" Jung loved to tell “The Rainmaker Story” which he used to illustrate our journey of return to ourselves. This story is so popular in our circles that you may have heard it before. In this story, a remote village in China was experiencing a prolonged drought. The fields were parched, the crops were dying and the people were facing starvation. They had done everything they could. They prayed to their ancestors; their priests took the sacred images from their temples and marched them around the parched fields. But no prayers or rituals brought the rain that they so badly needed. In despair, the villagers pooled their last few resources and sent for a rainmaker from far away. When the little old man arrived, he found the cattle dying and the people in a miserable state. When the people asked him what he wanted, he said only a small hut and a little food and water. He went into the hut, closed the door, and left the people wondering what he was doing. On the third day, it began to rain. When he emerged, they asked him what he did. “Oh,” he replied, “that is very simple. I didn’t do anything. I came from an area that was in Tao, in balance. Your area is disturbed, out of balance, and when I came into it, I became disturbed. I retreated to the little hut to meditate, to bring myself back into balance. When I am able to get myself in order, everything around me is set right. "
― Bud Harris , Becoming Whole: A Jungian Guide to Individuation
