Religious But Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life

In Religious but Not Religious, Jungian analyst Jason E. Smith explores the idea, expressed by C.G. Jung, that the religious sense is a natural and vital function of the human psyche. We suffer from its lack.

The symbolic forms of religion mediate unconscious and ineffable experiences to the field of consciousness that infuse our lives with meaning and purpose. That is why we cannot be indifferent toward the decline of traditional religious observance so widely discussed today. The great religions house the accumulated spiritual wisdom of humankind, and their loss would be catastrophic to the human soul.

As human beings, we hunger for spiritual experience. To be "spiritual but not religious" is one possible response, but it often doesn't go far enough. All too easily it can become a kind of do-it-yourself spirituality, which lacks the capacity to effect the kind of growth and transformation that is the true goal of all the religious traditions.

Smith argues that we need to be "religious but not religious." We need an approach to religion that recognizes the essential importance of the individual spiritual adventure while also affirming the value of collective religious tradition. He articulates an understanding of religion as a participation in the symbolic life as opposed to a mere content of belief. By recovering our personal sensitivity for symbolic experience together with a symbolic understanding of religion, we facilitate a profound encounter with life and with the human condition through which one may be tested, tried, and transformed.

https: //medicinepathpodcast.com/podcast/jasonsmith

https: //www.jameshazelwood.net/podcast/2020/11/20/episode-70-an-interview-with-jungian-analyst-jason-e-smith

https: //youtu.be/Ail4kAoMI3Y

https: //www.jameshazelwood.net/podcast/2020/11/20/episode-70-an-interview-with-jungian-analyst-jason-e-smith

https: //youtu.be/Ail4kAoMI3Y

https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw53UwUW3E8

http: //www.jungiantherapist.net/

1137901503
Religious But Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life

In Religious but Not Religious, Jungian analyst Jason E. Smith explores the idea, expressed by C.G. Jung, that the religious sense is a natural and vital function of the human psyche. We suffer from its lack.

The symbolic forms of religion mediate unconscious and ineffable experiences to the field of consciousness that infuse our lives with meaning and purpose. That is why we cannot be indifferent toward the decline of traditional religious observance so widely discussed today. The great religions house the accumulated spiritual wisdom of humankind, and their loss would be catastrophic to the human soul.

As human beings, we hunger for spiritual experience. To be "spiritual but not religious" is one possible response, but it often doesn't go far enough. All too easily it can become a kind of do-it-yourself spirituality, which lacks the capacity to effect the kind of growth and transformation that is the true goal of all the religious traditions.

Smith argues that we need to be "religious but not religious." We need an approach to religion that recognizes the essential importance of the individual spiritual adventure while also affirming the value of collective religious tradition. He articulates an understanding of religion as a participation in the symbolic life as opposed to a mere content of belief. By recovering our personal sensitivity for symbolic experience together with a symbolic understanding of religion, we facilitate a profound encounter with life and with the human condition through which one may be tested, tried, and transformed.

https: //medicinepathpodcast.com/podcast/jasonsmith

https: //www.jameshazelwood.net/podcast/2020/11/20/episode-70-an-interview-with-jungian-analyst-jason-e-smith

https: //youtu.be/Ail4kAoMI3Y

https: //www.jameshazelwood.net/podcast/2020/11/20/episode-70-an-interview-with-jungian-analyst-jason-e-smith

https: //youtu.be/Ail4kAoMI3Y

https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw53UwUW3E8

http: //www.jungiantherapist.net/

21.95 In Stock
Religious But Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life

Religious But Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life

by Jason E Smith
Religious But Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life

Religious But Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life

by Jason E Smith

Paperback

$21.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    In stock. Ships in 1-2 days.
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

In Religious but Not Religious, Jungian analyst Jason E. Smith explores the idea, expressed by C.G. Jung, that the religious sense is a natural and vital function of the human psyche. We suffer from its lack.

The symbolic forms of religion mediate unconscious and ineffable experiences to the field of consciousness that infuse our lives with meaning and purpose. That is why we cannot be indifferent toward the decline of traditional religious observance so widely discussed today. The great religions house the accumulated spiritual wisdom of humankind, and their loss would be catastrophic to the human soul.

As human beings, we hunger for spiritual experience. To be "spiritual but not religious" is one possible response, but it often doesn't go far enough. All too easily it can become a kind of do-it-yourself spirituality, which lacks the capacity to effect the kind of growth and transformation that is the true goal of all the religious traditions.

Smith argues that we need to be "religious but not religious." We need an approach to religion that recognizes the essential importance of the individual spiritual adventure while also affirming the value of collective religious tradition. He articulates an understanding of religion as a participation in the symbolic life as opposed to a mere content of belief. By recovering our personal sensitivity for symbolic experience together with a symbolic understanding of religion, we facilitate a profound encounter with life and with the human condition through which one may be tested, tried, and transformed.

https: //medicinepathpodcast.com/podcast/jasonsmith

https: //www.jameshazelwood.net/podcast/2020/11/20/episode-70-an-interview-with-jungian-analyst-jason-e-smith

https: //youtu.be/Ail4kAoMI3Y

https: //www.jameshazelwood.net/podcast/2020/11/20/episode-70-an-interview-with-jungian-analyst-jason-e-smith

https: //youtu.be/Ail4kAoMI3Y

https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw53UwUW3E8

http: //www.jungiantherapist.net/


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781630518998
Publisher: Chiron Publications
Publication date: 10/10/2020
Pages: 230
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

Jason E. Smith is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. He is a past president of the C. G. Jung Institute-Boston and currently serves as a training analyst and core faculty member in its analytic training program.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Decisive Question 1

Psychology and Religion 2

The Religious Approach to Psyche 7

A Relationship to the Religious Dimension 11

Religious but Not Religious 17

PART 1: What Is the Symbolic Life? 21

Chapter 1 Symbols and the Symbolic 23

The Nature of the Psyche 23

Directed Thinking and Symbolic Thinking 24

The Perception of Experience 27

The Objective and the Subjective Responses 29

Symbols versus Signs 31

Mastery versus Meaning 32

Individual Symbols 35

Collective Symbols 38

A Function of Relationship 40

Chapter 2 Ritual: The Embodied Symbolic 43

Deepest Values 43

The Consolidation of Consciousness 45

Healing and the Holy 49

Tending the Ancestral Spirits 52

Participation in the Divine Drama 53

Structure and Communitas 55

Chapter 3 Religion: The Lived Symbolic 59

The Irrational Facts of Experience 60

The Numinosum 64

Religion versus Creed 66

Religiosity, Religiology, and Religionism 69

The Awakening of Faith 70

PART 2: Why Do We Need a Symbolic Life? 73

Chapter 4 The State of Religion 75

The Rise of the "Nones" 77

The Four Functions of Religion 79

The Psychological Function of Religion 81

The Sociological Function of Religion 83

The Cosmological Function of Religion 87

The Mystical Function of Religion 89

Chapter 5 Loss of Symbols 95

Creative Autonomy of the Unconscious 95

Containers for the Numinosum 97

A Personal Illustration 102

The Reality of the Symbol 107

People without Stories 109

Treatment for the Human Soul 111

Chapter 6 Religion and Psyche 115

The Human Machine 115

Reasons for Living 116

The Protective Effect of Religion 117

Therapy for the Disorders of the Soul 119

The Question of Meaning 121

The Chosen God 123

Chapter 7 The Role of Religion 127

Endurance of Suffering 129

A Widening of Vision 131

The Subversion of Values 133

A Source of Life 137

PART 3: How to Cultivate a Symbolic Life 141

Chapter 8 What Jung Teaches 143

Qualities of Experience 145

vi Religious but Not Religious

Religion 147

Dreams 149

Active Imagination 153

Chapter 9 What Religion Teaches 157

Institution as Symbol 158

The Relationship of the Individual to the Institution 159

The Elements of Institutional Religions 161

A Symbolic Field 164

Chapter 10 Experiential Consciousness 167

Ways of Knowing 167

Experiential Consciousness 170

Active versus Passive Consciousness 172

Postcritical Consciousness and the Ironic Imagination 173

Chapter 11 Psychology as Religio 177

Religio: Careful Observation of the Numinous 178

Religious Attitude versus Religious Belief 180

The God-Experience 181

A Consecration of Oneself 183

What We Serve 184

Conclusion: Opening a Space for Wonder 189

The Activity of Religious Consciousness 189

The Empty Center 190

Emptiness and Kenosis 191

Notes 193

References 209

Acknowledgments 219

About the Author 221

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews