“…the tensions between the psychic pairs of opposites are eased only gradually; and like the alchemical end-product, which always betrays its essential duality, the unified personality never quite loses the painful sense of innate discordance. Complete redemption from the sufferings of this world is and must remain an illusion. Christ’s earthly life likewise ended not in self-complacent bliss, but on the cross.”* — C.G. Jung
One of the beliefs that distorts our contact with reality is that if we perform the necessary soul work, the day will finally come when we will live calmly and harmoniously.
On the one hand, this is true. The gradual integration of our rejected parts, accompanied by a change in attitude that has overcome its one-sidedness and can look in both directions simultaneously, leads to greater inner peace and strength. On the other hand, however, the suffering from internal conflict inevitably remains—it continues to be there, albeit in a softer form.
It remains because it is precisely the fuel for the movement along the path. In the same passage, Jung continues:
“The goal is important only as an idea; the essential is the opus which leads to the goal: that is the goal of a lifetime…”
When we see that “the goal is the walking of the path,” and what we perceived as a goal is only a landmark for the direction of that walking, something inside us softens. The tension between the opposites of “real” and “ideal” decreases. We continue to move toward the future, but we are present to a much greater degree in the now, because we know—truly know—that complete redemption from the sufferings of this world is and must remain an illusion. And if there is such a thing as a final destination, it certainly is not found in this world.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
