UNIT 6: THE SPIRITUAL SELF

This unit of the Unpacking the Self shall explore the practice of religion and spirituality in
defining the sense of self. It shall also examine the functions of rituals, ceremonies, culture and
traditional traits in shaping one’s spiritual self. At the end of the module, it shall move you to
look into your personal ways of discovering meaning in your life. The topics in this module shall
include the concept of spirituality, Viktor Frankl’s Search for Meaning, and Carl Jung’s
Archetypes.

EXPLAIN

The Spiritual Self is said to be the subjective and most intimate dimension of the self. It is
experienced and understood by the person him/herself, and it would be difficult to explain
this experience to others. The Spiritual Self is who we are at our core. The spirit and the soul
are sometimes seen as one and the same. The concept of the soul is the non-physical aspect
of the person that manifests consciousness, thought, feeling, and will. It is the person’s moral
and emotional nature, where one’s most private thoughts and feelings are kept. Oftentimes,
people perceive spirituality and religion to be the same. There is, however, a difference
between the two.

SPIRITUALITY is said to be a way of seeking and expressing the meaning and purpose of
one’s life. It speaks of the quality of one’s relationships with others and with the Divine. It
embraces all faiths and social and political ideologies. Spirituality reflects great refinement
or a high level of Christian maturity and concern with, as well as direct and personal
connection with the Divine or Sacred.

RELIGION, on the other hand, is the belief in and worship of a personal God or gods. It
is referred to as a set of beliefs, feelings, dogmas, and practices that define the relationship
between human beings and the Sacred.

VIKTOR EMIL FRANKL: Finding and Creating Meaning

A pioneer of Existentialism, Frankl stressed that “meaning is something

to discover rather than to invent”. His concept of EXISTENTIAL VACUUM
explains how one may find that life is empty, meaningless, or aimless.
Because of this, one may fill his/her life with pleasure, which is oftentimes
destructive.

For instance, because Bill has been working at his job for several years, doing the same
thing every day, he sees his life as boring, with no goals and hopes for a better life anytime
soon. He then starts joining his old friends, gambling and drinking, which makes him think that
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 his life is now more exciting. He fails to see, however, how destructive it could be to his job,
his family, and himself in general.

WAYS OF DISCOVERING MEANING IN LIFE

Frankl proposed three ways of discovering meaning in life:

1) EXPERIENTIAL VALUES - experiencing something or someone we value; the most

important experiential value could be the love we feel towards others – our family,
friends, and other significant people.
2) ATTITUDINAL VALUES – involves practicing virtues and values such as compassion,
courage, a good sense of humor, humility, etc. For Frankl, the most famous example
is achieving meaning by way of suffering, where the ultimate goal is self-
transcendence.
3) CREATIVE VALUES - becoming involved in projects, and the creativity and passion
involved in art, music, writing, and work.

CARL JUNG

Jung’s concept of the COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS refers to a

structural layer of the human psyche containing inherited elements. It
contains the whole spiritual heritage of mankind’s evolution, born
anew in the brain structure of every individual.

The Collective Unconscious also contains ARCHETYPES. These are fundamental

personalities and roles that we draw from to develop our own unique personality.

THE MOST FAMOUS ARCHETYPES ARE:

1) ANIMA AND ANIMUS

The “anima/animus” is the mirror image of our
biological sex, that is, the unconscious feminine side in
males and the masculine tendencies in women.
Each sex manifests attitudes and behavior of the
other by virtue of centuries of living together. The psyche
of a woman contains masculine aspects (the animus
archetype), and the psyche of a man contains feminine
aspects (the anima archetype).

2) HERO
The character that displays courage and will for self-sacrifice.

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 3) Shadow
This is the animal side of our personality (like the id in Freud).
It is the source of both our creative and destructive energies. In
line with evolutionary theory, it may be that Jung’s archetypes
reflect predispositions that once had survival value.

4) Persona
The persona (or mask) is the outward face we present to the
world. It conceals our real self and Jung describes it as the
“conformity” archetype. This is the public face or role a person
presents to others as someone different to who we really are (like an
actor).

5) Wise Old Man/Woman

The archetype of meaning and wisdom, symbolizing human
being’s pre-existing knowledge of the mysteries of life; kind and
wise, and offers guidance.

6) The Good Mother

This archetype reflects maternal solitude and sympathy, any helpful
instinct or impulse, and all that cherishes and sustains, and fosters growth and
fertility.

For Jung, man’s goal is to achieve INDIVIDUATION, which involves an increasing

awareness of one’s unique psychological reality, including personal strengths and
limitations, and at the same time a deeper appreciation of humanity in general. It refers to
the process through which a person achieves a sense of individuality separate from the
identities of others and begins to consciously exist as a human in the world. The goal of the
individuation process is the synthesis of the self

References:
Villafuerte, S. Quillope, A. Tunac, R. Borja, E. Understanding the Self, NIEME Publishing House
Inc., Quezon City 2018
https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html

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transmitting in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise of any part of this document,
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