What lies beneath?

We feel proud that we have unravelled the mysteries of the smallest matter and can explain the laws of the Universe. Yet, the ‘mystery’ of Self within remains elusive. Yet, most of our actions are driven unconsciously. Carl Jung said: “Men’s task is to become conscious of the content that press upward from the unconscious.” The Unconscious is that part of the mind which is inaccessible to the conscious mind but which effects behaviour and emotions. That’s so with the Individual mind – the the Personal Unconscious.


Is there something as a Collective Unconscious? Carl Jung avers that this is the aspect of mind that is not shaped by experience but genetically inherited and common to mankind – something akin to an inherited hard disk. According to Jung, they contain archetypes or universal primordial images and ideas. One form of ‘awareness’ of the collective unconscious is through our dreams, and explored through the design of ‘Social Dreaming Matrix’.


For a nation, the ‘Kaal’ (time), ‘Desh’ (region) and ‘Patra’ (the inherent characteristics) influence the ‘Conscious and the Personal Unconscious as also the Collective Unconscious’. Therefore, it is not just our experience, but the ‘hard disk’ as well that became the ‘ground for how we ‘Think, Feel and Act’.


Through exploration in Human Process Labs and Group Relations Conferences, I have discovered these insights for myself:


1. Collective Conscious is a reality.


2. We unconsciously carry ‘past baggage’


3. I do not see it, does not mean it does not exist.


4. What I see, also what I choose NOT to see, is significant.


5. There is no ‘slip of tongue’ or ‘forgetting’ or ‘coincidence’.


6. Insights come laced as ‘finished products’ yet also contain with it messiness.


7. Our narrative of ourselves or the other can shape ‘group think’.


8. Not just intergroup exploration, but systems level exploration is to be explored.


9. We feel we are being objective yet is always judgement and assessment.


10. Hierarchy exists in the mind.


11. Not just the other, the self can also cause itself to be ‘othered’.


12. Conflict does not have to be scary.


13. Aggression can be explicit, or covert as in ‘holding back and being silent’.


14. Being silent, can impact me and the other.


15. In staying silent, not confirming our ‘Ayes’ or ‘Nays’ we are unconsciously colluding with the system.


Dear Reader, I would love to hear your reflections to this article and any incidents or comments you may wish to share.