I am not from a psychological background so I easily get bemused when with psychological jargon. But I do like to read and try to explain stuff from a novice viewpoint.
I grew up in India one of the most spiritual places in the world. We had rituals for everything, I had been taught to pray a lot go to temples, chant mantras written in Sanskrit which I had no idea what they mean.
My fascination towards Indian mythology and gods reached its peak when I was around 12, but around the same time I started gaining knowledge in science and how things work in reality.
A new word came into existence : Logic. What is the reason behind something being the way it is ?
While mythologies made rousing stories when young, they failed the logic check when I thought about it. With these failed logic checks and seeing a culture of growing self proclaimed god-men, I decided to ditch the Hindu religion.
Now few days ago I was reading works on Carl Jung, he gave me a reason to change my mind. Why enchanting these myths are necessary for a human being. Why should you follow a religion ?
Then there is the philosophical part. Human mind is going to ask itself questions one day or the other about the reason and meaning about their life. If you follow a religion, the religion gives you a reason to live. The quest for meaning is satisfied by the myths.
If you don't follow a religion its your philosophy vs the rest of the world, To be successful as an individual you would have to find answers to a lot of questions.
Hence a religion gives you a handbook to look into when you have questions and Myths are important to train your unconscious mind, the same half of your brain which rules your dreams. Think about all the weird stuff that happens in your brain when you are dreaming, the product of the unconscious.
The unconscious half can be your friend or your foe. It is a battle that you don't want to loose.
I grew up in India one of the most spiritual places in the world. We had rituals for everything, I had been taught to pray a lot go to temples, chant mantras written in Sanskrit which I had no idea what they mean.
My fascination towards Indian mythology and gods reached its peak when I was around 12, but around the same time I started gaining knowledge in science and how things work in reality.
A new word came into existence : Logic. What is the reason behind something being the way it is ?
While mythologies made rousing stories when young, they failed the logic check when I thought about it. With these failed logic checks and seeing a culture of growing self proclaimed god-men, I decided to ditch the Hindu religion.
Now few days ago I was reading works on Carl Jung, he gave me a reason to change my mind. Why enchanting these myths are necessary for a human being. Why should you follow a religion ?
Jung on Myth
Human beings have instincts, It would be wrong to say that whenever someone is born, his brain is empty. Then where do these instincts come from ? Jung introduces the concept of collective unconsciousness. He says that human minds are trained to respond to myths, when you do a ritual or chant a mantra it would subconsciously change your mind.Then there is the philosophical part. Human mind is going to ask itself questions one day or the other about the reason and meaning about their life. If you follow a religion, the religion gives you a reason to live. The quest for meaning is satisfied by the myths.
If you don't follow a religion its your philosophy vs the rest of the world, To be successful as an individual you would have to find answers to a lot of questions.
Hence a religion gives you a handbook to look into when you have questions and Myths are important to train your unconscious mind, the same half of your brain which rules your dreams. Think about all the weird stuff that happens in your brain when you are dreaming, the product of the unconscious.
The unconscious half can be your friend or your foe. It is a battle that you don't want to loose.
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