Synchronicities

Principium individuationis::常道

The aim of individuation is nothing less than to divest the self of the false wrappings of the persona, on the one hand, and the suggestive power of primordial images on the other.

— Jung, C. G. (1977). The Relations between the ego and the Unconscious. Collected Works. Vol. 7. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 172.

Individuation is a process of psychological integration, the development of the psychological individual as a being distinct from the general, collective psychology, often a movement that, at the start, deals with the persona, then moves to engage with the ego at the second stage, then to handling the shadow as the third stage, to finally treating the anima or animus, the Self as the final stage.

Four stages of life, according to Carl Gustav Jung

Carl Gustav Jung and the 4 stages of life

"Completely unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life. Even worse, we take this step with the false presupposition that our truths and our ideals will serve us as hitherto. But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning, for what was great in the morning will be little at evening and what in the morning was true, at evening will have become a lie."

1. The Athlete stage

The phase when a person is at its most self-absorbed state and many never make it out of it or worse, usually continuously revert to it. Of the four stages, this one tends to be the least mature. It is usually characterized by being obsessed with the physical body, as well as appearance. This phase can be narcissistic, critical, or both.

2. The Warrior stage

For those moving forward in life, the second phase of development, which is the warrior phase can be reached, a stage where responsibilities are taken and arises the desire to conquer the world. A more goal-oriented phase with objectives to accomplish as the vanity of the first phase starts fading. This phase is characterized by life struggles that early adulthood usually presents. This phase is also the most common one to which people revert, throughout their lives, as they “re-invent” themselves.

3. The Statement stage

When the warrior stage reaches its end, comes forward the question of the others and focus will shift from one's own achievements to accomplishing goals that are based on forwarding the lives of others. This phase is usually associated with parenting, providing a better life for children, and what must be done to achieve that. The statement phase actually is much more than the connection to parenting, it is more about leaving a legacy or a footprint in life, a time of reflection on accomplishments and the related moving forward principles – not just for the individual, but for others too. As far as maturity goes, this phase is actually a huge step forward from even the warrior phase.

4. The Spirit stage

The final stage of life, during which comes the realization that a human being is more than what has been accumulated – be it money, friends, possessions, as well as good deeds or milestones in life. As spiritual beings individuals realized that they are divine beings in a journey of life that has no real beginning and no end. The last stage of life is characterized by a sense of “getting out of one's own mind”, as well as focusing on what is waiting beyond the physical beings. 

Cf  RAM's "I am more than the physical body..."

& 老子，道德經 第十章

載營魄, 抱一能無離乎?

專氣致柔, 能嬰兒乎?

滌除玄覽, 能無疵乎?

愛民治國, 能無知乎?

天門開闔, 能為雌乎?

明白四達, 能無知乎?

生之畜之.

生而不有.

為而不恃.

長而不宰.

是謂玄德.

"Can you hold the door of your tent

Wide to the firmament?

Can you, with the simple stature

Of a child, breathing nature,

Become, notwithstanding,

A man?

Can you continue befriending

With no prejudice, no ban?

Can you, mating with heaven,

Serve as the female part?

Can your learned head take leaven

From the wisdom of your heart?

If you can bear issue and nourish its growing,

If you can guide without claim or strife,

If you can stay in the lead of men without their knowing,

You are at the core of life."

-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 10 

आश्रम Āśrama is a reinvented, re-redacted Hindu system of four stages in life, revised in the heat of the occurred tension between ब्राह्मण: brāhmaṇa, the Brahmin and श्रमण Śramaṇa "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic," the Shramans (hermits, monks), often illustrated by the fight to the death between the Cobra and the Indian Gray Mongoose.

I — to a fault

0/1-25 ब्रह्मचर्य Brahmacharya, lit. 'pure conduct', a concept that literally means to stay in conduct within one's own Self., a bachelor's life spanning a period of approximately 25 years and dedicated to studies.

25-48 गृहस्थ Gṛhastha that literally means "being in and occupied with home, family" or "householder" and that is an involvement in the most intense physical, sexual, emotional, occupational, social and material attachments that exist in a human being's life. Hence the source of all possible deviations and deviances.

कश्यप मुनि गृहस्थ-आश्रम Kaśyapa Muni "silent tortoise" Gṛhastha-Āśrama

48-72 वानप्रस्थ Vānaprastha literally means "way of the forest" or "forest road" marked by a gradual withdrawal from society.

72 on, संन्यास Saṃnyāsa literally translates as "to put down everything, all of it" or "Purification of Everything," is the life of renunciation, the last stage of the return process focused on मुक्ति, mukti, मोक्ष, mokṣa (√mokṣ, “to free one's self, loosen, liberate”) the liberation from संसार saṃsāra, the circuit of mundane existence, transmigration, metempsychosis and the concomitant suffering; release from worldly existence or transmigration, final or eternal emancipation, the ultimate goal of life.