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失去心愛事物的失落，為我們的內心打開了一個無底深洞。唯有去面對，唯有去深入探索，才可以了解當中的意義。
若非經歷過過往的所有人事物，絕對不會有今天的自己。現在所有的事物，由過去一步一步行到現在，沒有偶然發生的事情，唯有看清背後的意義，我們才可以真正成長。 我們生生世世已經流過很多眼淚，為心愛的人、甚至憎恨的人，我們流過的眼淚，甚至比海更深，一個人的悲哀，足以移山填海，愛、恨、怒……這些都可以成為毀滅性的能量，自毀毀他。當走進了偏執的思想狹道，幾多道理也沒法說服不臣服的內心。 若果仍願意打開一條光明之路，唯一的路是走進自己的內心深處。「外面沒有人，只有你自己」，這是心理學著名的理論：投射。當真正看見事情發生的底蘊——無論遇見的人、發生的事、以至後來的結果，都是深層意識運作的呈現。唯有根本地改寫內在的信念模式，才是最徹底的哀悼、才是平復失落的最終方法。所謂浴火重生，就是走過最黑暗處才看見的光明；經歷最深刻傷痛脫變出的勇氣與慈悲。
1 評論
【摘要】本文將以人生如夢的典故切入討論，後以佛法的世俗諦和勝義諦探討幾個著名的催眠治療個案，從而印證《金剛經》所說的： 「一切有為法，如夢幻泡影；如露亦如電，應作如是觀」。故而確立人生的價值和意義在於修行覺醒，從如夢如幻的大輪迴中解脫。 【關鍵詞】黃梁一夢 幻化師 世俗諦 勝義諦 催眠治療 潛意識 「滾滾長江東逝水，浪花淘盡英雄；是非成敗轉頭空，青山依舊在，幾度夕陽紅。」 ——《臨江仙》 楊慎 幾多帝皇將相，聖哲英雄，以至商賈黎民，市井草根，都隨著時間的流逝隱沒在歷史的湮海裡，再轟烈哄動的大事亦因時代推移變得微不足道。恆古以來，人們似乎都會不期然感嘆人生的流逝如夢如幻。又，既然人生如此縹緲，我們應當有一番作為，還是隨波逐流呢？人生的價值和意義是有準則的嗎？有的話，又是什麼呢？本文嘗試通過佛法二諦對幾宗著名的催眠治療個案作探討與闡述，找出人生意義的根據。 1. 人生如夢：黃梁一夢與幻化師的故事 有關人生如夢的故事，中國便有著名的黃梁一夢。據唐朝宰相李泌所著的《枕中記》：唐玄宗開元七年，有位人稱呂翁的道士，因長年修道，已掌握各種神仙幻變的法術。一次出遊時於半路上遇到一位盧姓書生，言談間，書生流露出渴望榮華富貴，厭倦貧困生活的想法，呂翁為勸解盧生，便拿出一個枕頭予盧生，說：「枕著我這個枕頭睡，可以使你榮華富貴，夢想成真。」盧生沉沉睡去之際，回到了家鄉……幾個月後，盧生娶了一個有錢姑娘，生活變得富有起來。翌年，考中進士，擔任知制誥；再過三年，他出任知州，因善治理水土工程，使阻塞的河流暢通，得當地百姓讚美愛戴。後來又被朝廷徵召入京，任京兆尹，管理京城行政。及後邊境爆發戰爭，盧生被派去鎮守邊防，成功開拓疆土九百裡，又遷戶部尚書兼御史大夫，滿朝文武官員皆深為折服。然好景不常，盧生的功成名就招致官僚們的妒忌，各種謠言傳到皇帝處，他被逮捕入獄，又流放到偏遠蠻荒的地方。又過了好幾年，皇帝知道他是被人誣陷的，重新起用他為中書令，封為燕國公。他生的五個兒子都成為國家的棟樑之材，盧家成為當時赫赫有名的名門望族，聲勢顯赫，一時無雙。唯人總會衰老，盧生垂暮之年上疏請辭，回顧自己一生起伏浮沉的經歷，上疏不久就死了。就在這時，沉睡的盧生打了個哈欠，醒了。他發現自己正躺臥在呂翁身旁，黃梁米飯還沒有熟，觸目所及都和睡前一樣。他詫異的說：「我難道是在做夢嗎？」呂翁答：「人生的適意愉快，也不過如此。」盧生悵然若失、萬般滋味，終被點化，了悟生死無常。 藏傳佛教中幻化師的故事，亦有類似意境：話說一個出家人向一個懂幻術的朋友請教幻術的厲害，結果經歷了一生跌宕——被迫還俗，後來娶妻生子，為養活妻兒成為了獵人，即使老邁氣衰仍要為生活奔波。一次狩獵回來，三名兒女因見他滿載歸來樂極忘形，不慎趺到河中被沖走了，妻子心急得也跟著跳進河裡去。出家人眼見舉家上下剎那間都死清光了，一輩子的心血都付之流水，傷心欲絕，無語問天。頃刻間，出家人夢醒過來，發現茶仍是熱的，幻化師只對著他微笑。短短幾分鐘竟然經歷了一生的坎坷，如夢幻般的人生和諸般欲望的確毫無意義，不值得追求，出家人從此一心修行，終得開悟。 2. 圓滿智慧——世俗諦與勝義諦 「諸佛所說法，真實依二諦；世間世俗諦，超凡勝義諦」 ——《解義慧劍釋》 2.1 二諦之定義 世俗諦指成為世間名言之心的一切對境（顯現之相）；勝義諦則是出世間正智的對境（究竟實相）。佛陀宣說之萬法，皆依於此二諦。 2.2 佛法的宇宙觀 佛陀開悟後嘗言：「深寂離戲光明無為法，吾已獲得甘露之妙法，縱於誰說他亦不了知，故而默然安住於林間」。 佛陀所見的究竟實相是難以向世人闡述的，單是宇宙的深廣微妙已是萬般不可思議。從空間而言，大而無外，小而無內，廣大至三千大千世界無所不包， 微細如沙粒毛塵纖毫亦至。從時間軸而言，長久至千百萬劫不可計量，短促至剎那間已起萬千念頭。因佛陀立下普渡眾生的宏願，於四十九年弘法期間不斷開示有關世俗諦與勝義諦的教法：凡顯現的一切相——眼耳鼻舌身意、色聲香味觸法——皆是虛妄，是為「諸行無常，諸法無我」，輪迴只是心性的變現，人生種種際遇得失亦繫於因緣業力，所有有情眾生以至物器世界，都必然經歷生住異滅、成住壞空。所以應當徹知「有漏皆苦」，修行「涅槃寂靜」。 3. 催眠治療案例 3.1 奇跡般康復的催眠「自療者」：鍾灼輝 （Bell Chung）博士 鍾博士於三十歲盛年之際，正當事業一路攀升、感情順利、各種上天下海的高難度運動——登山、開船、潛水、划雪、跳舞、射擊等等——逐一挑戰成功，人生似乎達致高峰時，忽然發生了一件令這些事情戛然中斷的意外——駕駛滑翔機時突然從約五十層樓的高空墜落，經歷瀕死，結果奇蹟生還。但右腳踝卻跌斷了，需要截肢。面對成為殘障的命運，鍾博士幾近絕望，幸而得母親的陪伴與支持，終令他重拾意志，以強大的生命力克服身體上的障礙和心靈上的憂鬱。鍾博士本身是心理學家和催眠治療師，靠著自創的、結合了冥想和自然療法的催眠術，竟將已被宣佈壞死的右腳踝治好了——即使照X-光仍顯示並無血液流通，組織亦已壞死。這正正印證潛意識力量之強大，創造了醫學上證明是奇蹟的案例。「心如工畫師，能畫諸世間」（《華嚴經》），內心相信的事、任何念想，都會顯化在物質層面（現相）上，這就是勝義諦——空性（實相）——化現為世間萬般色相（世俗諦）的顯例。 3.2 著名的前世今生研究學者：魏斯（Brian L. Weiss）博士 魏斯博士曾出版《前世今生》和《前世今生愛未央》等全球暢銷書。他是受過正統醫學訓練的精神科醫師，對輪迴轉世的概念抱懷疑態度。但當他的一位病人在催眠中回憶到有關其前世的創傷，並說出甚具智慧、充滿禪趣的話，更甚道出魏斯博士與已逝兒子的私人訊息時，他的懷疑瓦解了。後來魏斯博士治療過成千上萬的前世催眠個案，證實了輪迴的確存在。《前世今生愛未央》中更詳細地闡述了一個流轉多生多世的愛情故事——兩個靈魂於多個生世中相知相惜——終於到了今生，兩人的相遇彷彿填補了對方內心的若有所失，此前的所有鬱悶心結都一掃而空。在心識的層面，他們早在此生之前就已認識，是內心清明的覺知讓他們認出了對方。這兩位案主都是魏斯博士的病人，於催眠回溯中，他們回憶起驚人地相似的前世片段。多生累世的流轉，是世俗諦的顯現；而在究竟層面——勝義諦——我們的本性是超越生死，「不生不滅、不垢不淨、不增不減」（《心經》）的。 4. 總結：人生的價值和意義所在是修行和解脫 4.1 以潛意識的研究對比佛法二諦 現代科學有關意識的研究已有相當多的探索與證據證明靈魂——以佛法的語言是：心識，的存在。以研究潛意識著名的心理學家榮格（Carl G. Jung）指出，人們潛意識的底層是相連的，名為集體潛意識（Collective consciousness），即如圖示海底的部分。這說明萬有是一體相連的，表層意識的分隔只是錯覺（來自無明愚痴，看不穿底層的相連實相），類似佛法所開示的法界空性、一元狀態。榮格亦潛心研究東方哲學思想，如佛法、《西藏度亡經》等，他認同輪迴的存在、心識的流轉超越生死，只是形相上換了軀殼（世俗諦），本性本自存在（勝義諦）。眾生無始以來輪迴的所有經歷，都存藏在第八識阿賴耶識，相當於海底的部分。又經歷第七識未那識，即分別心生起處，產生貪嗔痴的執取。只要眾生仍受色相外境的牽引，輪迴只會沒完沒了地延續下去。 【備註：圖1：潛意識冰山】 4.2 從夢中醒過來——修行是唯一出路 夢境即使如何美好，亦有幻滅之時，何況好夢不常。六道輪迴中不獨有人道，較幸運的話可能會投生至天道或阿修羅道，但機會之渺茫如對比大地之土的抓上塵；還有地獄、餓鬼、旁生，此三惡道易入難出，若真的跌落惡道，隨業流轉，下次再來人間時可能已是千百劫後。人身難得，如盲龜遇浮木孔；然而人身易失，六道輪迴只是有如夢中的遊戲，並無實質和恆常。 「人生代代無窮已，江月年年只相似」 ——《春江花月夜》 張若虛 世間的變遷總易引起人們的愁緒感嘆，縱然短暫的快樂——情愛、親情、成就功名、榮華富貴等——令很多人嚮往，但終究逃不過時代巨輪的輾壓。今生百千萬劫難遭遇的佛法已得聞，珍寶人身亦已得，我們一定要把握好匆匆的此生，精進修行出世間的解脫之法，決心從夢中醒過來，此為人生價值與意義之所在。 參考文獻： [1]大陸學員.成語故事：黃梁一夢. http://big5.zhengjian.org/node/49772.正見網,2008-01-30 [2]索達吉堪布.加行教材2[M].智悲文化中心,51-53. [3]全知麥彭仁波切.解義慧劍釋[M].香港：世界青年佛學研究會有限公司,2018:6. [4]鍾灼輝.做自己最好的醫生：一位心理學家的自癒實錄[M].臺北市：大塊文化,2014 [5]布萊恩．魏斯.前世今生——生命輪迴的前世療法[M].臺灣：張老師文化,2000 [6]布萊恩．魏斯.前世今生愛未央[M].臺北市：方智出版社,2016 [作者簡介] 趙世寧, 女, 心理學學士學歷。 #soulseed #籽言工作室 #夢 #實相 #意識 #潛意識 #如夢如幻 #前世今生#世俗諦 #勝義諦 #催眠治療 #修行 #修心 #解脫 #輪迴
自小便察覺到自己對燈光，迷離夢幻，尤其是黑夜中的一片燈光、燈海，會於內心生起莫名的顫動和動容，甚至會突然冒起想哭的衝動。究竟是什麼原因呢？一直以來也不明所以，但近年來，知道了原來我們的細胞盛載着我們生生世世的記憶，可能於投胎轉生時喝下的孟婆湯讓人們忘了過去，變成好像白紙般的嬰兒重生，前世的所有經歷所有喜怒哀樂，雖然被大腦遺忘了，但我們的身體、靈魂卻清楚知道——所有莫名生起的情感，當遇上一些人，置身某些環境，電光火石間某種深刻的感覺忽然襲來，曾經刻骨銘心的熟悉感與陌生的當下帶來一陣錯愕和難以調適，即使聰明的大腦發揮最強的邏輯和無限創意，仍未能解釋這些剎那間隱含的意義，因為事情一早就發生了，在此生之前。
我們的人生猶如一個旅程，一開始懵懂天真，我們會經歷一連串的學習和多番考驗磨練，有拼搏、玩樂、放縱、破壞的時候，也有消沉、退卻、寧靜、放下的時候。
22張塔羅主牌，訴說著一個人生旅程 —— 愚者之旅，讓我們從 愚者 出發，嘗試 魔術師 的創造、女祭司 的智慧、享受 女皇 般的豐盛、聽從 國王 的指令、領受 教皇 的訓誡、經歷 戀人 的試煉、踏上 戰車 的征途、學習馴服的 力量 、探索 隱士 的沉潛、面臨 命運之輪 的不可逆轉、正義 的決斷和 死神 的摧毀，從 倒吊人 的綑綁約束看見另一番世界。 經過多番創造與毀滅、起與跌，尖銳的菱角逐漸磨去，慢慢鍛鍊出 節制 的耐心與調整、剋服 魔鬼 的引誘，人生要再提升另一個層次，高塔 的突發激變更進一步考驗我們的意志、我們開始不跟從外界的制約，靜下來聆聽內心的聲音、星星 的指引、月亮 的暗示、太陽 的豁達、最後沉澱下來接受上天的 審判 、提昇到 世界 的另一個層次。人生循環往復，當我們終於去到終點，又再發現另一趟旅程的起點，重新上路。 人生輪迴，生世不息。 Written by: Sai Ling, 2012 Introduction “One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” – the fox (Saint-Exupery, 1944). Do you think it is true? Is that bring you to think ponder? Or you just see it as a common sentence? However, this is one of the phases in “The Little Prince” touched millions people and this is one of the most important messages in “The Little Prince”. During the little prince’s journey on the earth, he met a fox which teach he what is tame and the fox asked the little prince to tamed it. After that, the fox told the little prince its secret that is the sentence above which so many people sees it is a motto. Also, it is a significant event in which the little prince made up his mind to return to his rose. It foreshadows, there will be a separation of the author (Saint-Exupery) and the little prince at the end. It led to the sadness and loneliness of Saint-Exupery and as bystanders (readers), we cannot do anything to comfort Saint-Exupery, and it brings us a sense of loss and helplessness toward the author. Since the publication of “The Little Prince”, it has been already translated into more than 250 languages and more than 200 million sales that being one of the best-selling book. It awarded the prize of National Book Award of U.S. and France’s highest Literary Awards. Also, “The Little Prince” inspired our popular culture in the aspects of films, music, literature, theater and exhibitions (Y-Jean, 2011). “The Little Prince” seems like a childish story that uses simple words, simple phases, simple characters and simple plot. However, it has touched hundreds of millions people and made millions of people cried, including me, a grown-up. It seems that the little prince’s words, questions, appearances, gestures, and even silence, have reached a secret place of us, (is that place – soul? Or maybe using an academic term suggested by Jung, “The Unconscious”) that make us stop and think, silence, and even cry. Who would write such a story? Antoine de Saint-Exupery is the author of “The Little Prince” and he is a France that born in 1900 and died in 1944, at his age of 44, during his last assigned reconnaissance mission over the Mediterranean. He was not only a writer and poet, but also a pioneering aviator. He had experienced the two world wars – the largest scale wars in human time – during his lifetime. It is believed that his inspiration of writing “The Little Prince” was quite complex. The background of the story was from his experience of a dessert crash in 1935 and the little prince was said to be the reflection of him and his younger brother who died when he was 15 and the rose is a representation of his wife. Von Franz suggested, Saint-Exupery was a typical example of puer aeternus and he was profoundly affected by his mother complex and the temptation of death (2000). Then, how come we have such emotions reactions? Is that strange? Or just normal? There are many commentaries tried to explore and analyze why and how “The Little Prince” is so touching while some studies tried to explain the meanings of the symbols in “The Little Prince”. As a reader and a psychology student, I would like to analyze “The Little Prince” from a theoretical point of view based on Jung’s Theory – archetype and unconscious. If you have read this book, I guess you know that there are many symbols in “The Little Prince”. In this paper, I will extract some of the symbols which touched me deeply and make me to think for analysis. The followings topics will be the highlights in my analysis: “The relationship of the little prince and his rose” and “author’s loneliness before he met the little prince and after the little prince’s left”. Here seems a “very odd” grown-up giving a “very strange” introduction to this paper analyzing “The Little Prince” as I have quoted many figures to prove how famous, powerful and important is this book. Yet, as a common grown-up, I think this is a quite communicable start for the “strange” grown-ups – this is what the little prince concluded during his journey after he left his planet B-612 – to understand what I am trying to express. Jung’s theory Now, before going further to the interpretation of “The Little Prince”, let’s have a look of what concepts and theories Jung had suggested which will be highlight in the present paper. The major concepts of Jung will be employed for analysis including: the unconscious, archetype, ego, persona, shadow, self and individualization. Unconscious Similar to Freud, Jung suggested unconscious cannot be known and have to be expressed from the consciousness which is the current awareness stage, or said, the Ego stage. Jung further divided unconscious into two types: first of all, personal unconscious, which is referring to the repressed memories of the individual’s past painful experience and unimportant experiences; Secondly, collective unconscious, which can be regarded as “transpersonal unconscious” refers to the shared part of all people, mankind, of all times and cultures and it cannot be gained from the personal experience (1951). According to Jung (1951), “although we develop differently and become unique individuals, the collective unconscious is common to all people and is therefore one”. It can be interpreted as the source of our most powerful ideas and experiences as well. Archetype Von Franz (2000) also called it “soul image”. It is because it has the capacity to bring us in touch with the unconscious forces and it is often the key to unlock our creativity. Archetypes are the primordial images and representations of the instinctual energies of the collective unconscious. They are inherited predispositions that respond to the world in certain ways and they cannot be traced back to the individual's past experience. Jung found that there were some remarkable ideas and images in his patients’ dreams and fantasies corresponded to the mythical and religious across different cultures, and it led him to the conclusion that there should be a level of imagery in the unconscious that is common to everyone. Ego Still, Jung’s concept of ego is similar to Freud’s. The ego is the centre of the consciousness and cannot reach the unconscious part. The ego provides a sense of consistency in our current awareness and persuades us to think, analyze and plan consciously about our life. Therefore, it is an important archetype in shaping our personality and identity. Persona Persona is referring to “mask” (in Latin meaning) which implies our pretended appearance that expressing ourselves. Therefore it is called “conformity archetype” as well. It includes our living styles and social roles which essentially affect how we express ourselves and relate to other people. Persona is interacting with the ego so as to influence the development of our personalities – the more identifying of ego toward persona, the stronger sense to conform to persona. Of course there can be positive and negative development through this process which then leads to the further development of “self” through the process of “individualization” (that will be described later) so as to attain a successful and balance life. Shadow Shadow is referring to those materials, which are denied, unrecognized and undeveloped positive and negative qualities, repressed from the consciousness. It is highly related to the persona. According to Frager and Fadiman (2005), the stronger the persona, the more we deny other parts of ourselves (the denied part is our shadow). At the same time, the unaware shadow is a threat to our personality development as well as our relationship with others. It is not only difficult to recognize, but also we tend to project the shadows – those we regarded as inferior and bad – onto others. That is, we are dominated by something we do not know. However, von Franz (2000) pointed out “just when we think we understand it, the shadow will appear in another form. Dealing with the shadow is a lifelong process of looking within and honestly reflecting on what we see there”. Self As Jung suggested self is the “central archetype”, self is the most important archetype referring to the totality of the personality and it has the function to unite the conscious and the unconscious to achieve the balance, or equilibrium, of different opposing psyche elements. According to Jung, "Conscious and unconscious are not necessarily in opposition to one another, but complement one another to form a totality, which is the self" (1928). At the same, it is the most complicated concept of archetypes and the most difficult to understand and for one trying to express and analyze (like me, at the moment). Individualization Individualization is similar to the concept of “self-actualization” of Maslow. Jung suggested everyone has the inner urge toward the “wholeness” and individualization is the process of psychological growth. In order to achieve the balance of conscious and unconscious, we have psyche struggle which in the purpose to develop into an intact and healthy “self”. The relationship of the little prince and his rose Obviously the relationship of the little prince and his rose is love relationship. Rose has long been a symbol of love, virgin and beauty. For example, we can still see people giving roses as Valentine’s gift nowadays. From the aspect of Saint-Exupery, it is a reflection of his relationship with his wife. His wife was a quite difficult woman that Saint-Exupery felt uncomfortable to stay with her and he rather requesting for joining the France Air Force instead of being at home. In the book, the little prince went on to the journey because he tried to escape from his rose which he claimed that it is a “complex creature”. Since the rose seeded on the little prince’s planet, there are significant changes of the little prince’s life – he had to take care of the rose like providing screen and glass globe, listening to her boastful autobiography because she is a proud flower, comfort her even when she was wrong, and he had a significant emotion and feeling of sadness which made him want to leave his planet as well as his rose. He had revealed he had seen forty-four times sunset one day that indicating he is really sad. The little prince’s journey, to some extent, was to search for the meaning of the relationship with his rose. From the dialogue of Saint-Exupery and the little prince on the thorns of roses, the little prince showed very strong emotional reaction to object to what Saint-Exupery said – “I don’t believe you! Flowers are weak creature. They are naive. They reassure themselves as the best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons… … Is the warfare between the sheep and the flowers not important? Is that not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman’s sum? And if I know – I, myself – one flower which is unique in the world, which grows nowhere but on my planet, but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning, without even noticing what he is doing – oh! You think that is not important! If someone loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just look at the stars. He can say to himself, somewhere, my flower is there… But if the sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened… And you think that is not important!” It is a typical statement of the love relationship. Saint-Exupery loved his wife but at the same time, he had conflicts with her and wanted to escape from her. Love relationship is, surely, a universal issue of mankind. And this is an important reason why the readers would be easier to be moved and I believe most of us, we were touched or at least have some kind of emotional reactions when reading the little prince’s “love story”. In the public’s viewpoint, we may have some common experience of love that can be found in “The Little Prince”. Here is a common struggle: During the visit on the earth, the little prince found that there is a garden and there were 5000 roses all alike, at the same time and in the single garden. He remembered that his rose had told him she was the only one of her kind in all around the universe. The little prince overcome with sadness that he thought of what he was actually owned, he said that: “I thought that I was rich, with a flower that was unique in all around the world; and all I had was a common rose. A common rose, and three volcanoes that perhaps extinct forever… that doesn’t make me a very great prince…” And he lay down in the grass and cried. It is seemingly a reflection of narcissism. He believed he should be a unique and special prince who should own a rose which is very special. Therefore it is cruel for the little prince (which is actually the projection of Saint-Exupery) to face the reality that he is just as original and common as any other people, and of course he deserved something original but not the so called “unique” which can only be defined by oneself. This is one of the important plots reflecting the sadness and disappointment of Saint-Exupery toward his love relationship with his wife. For the readers, we have our own imagination to project onto the relationship of the little prince and his rose and further engage the story into our experience and feeling. Therefore, when Saint-Exupery reached the conclusion of “It is such a secret place, the land of tears”, we would feel “a queer sense of sorrow, without understanding why” (which is also the feeling of Saint-Exupery towards the little prince). It is because we all believe ourselves, to some extent, is different, there should not be a person understand our thinking and feeling and we even do not know how to clarify it. Author’s loneliness before he met the little prince and after the little prince’s left How come Saint-Exupery felt so lonely? We can have some hints from his writing. After the visit to Planet 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 and 330, the little prince reached a conclusion that – the grown-ups are odd and strange. When describing his journey on the earth, he simplified the world of grown-ups into only six categories. Also, among those he met on the trip, he would only want to make friend with the lamplighters because of their faith to order that they are “thinking of something else beside themselves”. Yet, still through the way of ridiculous because the lamplighter was too committing to the rule and lost the flexibility. From what Jung’s concept of shadow suggested, Saint-Exupery projected part of his shadow onto the character of the little prince. Looking at the little prince, we can see a very childish Saint-Exupery. In the book, Saint-Exupery tried to make fun of every behavior and dialogue of the grown-ups and presented them in a ridiculous and contempt manner. It is obvious that Saint-Exupery neither wanted to accept the value of the adult’s world, nor made any compromise with them. He did not want to fulfill the social expectation as well. As referring to von Franz’s study, Saint-Exupery cannot come across his puer aeternus, which means eternal youth that indicates a type of people, usually have mother complex, having the youth characteristics like too dependent on others prolonged to their later life, or the whole life (2000). Before encountered the little prince, Saint-Exupery had no friend (as in his definition). In his writing, he mentioned that after giving up his dream of being a painter at his six, he still tried to show his “Drawing Number One” to those seemed to be “all clear-sighted” to see whether he/ she would be “a person of true understanding”. However, he was disappointed every time and said “I would bring myself down to his level”. He did not regard anybody as his friend and looked down on all of them. Even his persona was trying to fulfill the social expectations, his ego rejecting to commit to the persona. This is a struggle between the outer persona (pretended personality) and the inner ego (conscious control and awareness toward what he wanted to be). To seek stronger ego strength (to support his belief of “strange grown-ups”), Saint-Exupery still tried to search for friends who have “true understanding”. Unfortunately, he cannot find anybody who can read the meaning of his “Drawing Number One” until he met his little man in the dessert. He found his “true friend”, the only one true friend. We can easily imagine that how important the little prince is to Saint-Exupery. However, when Saint-Exupery knew that the little prince would leave the earth and come back to his planet B-612 through a way very similar to “death”, he could not do anything and had no reason to stop the departure of the little prince. What Saint-Exupery can do is just sitting beside the little prince and seeing him falling down on the sand and finally left only his “shell”. On the other hand, the little prince tried to comfort Saint-Exupery. He said that although he seemed died, it is not true. He would go back to his planet in which there is his rose. He would leave his “abandoned old shell” on the earth. Therefore “there is nothing sad about old shells”. He continued: “All men have the stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they are wealth. But all these stars are silent. You – you alone – will have the stars as no one else has them – In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night… you – only you – will have stars that can laugh! And when your sorrow is comforted (time sooths all sorrow) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometime open your window, so, for that pleasure…” Even the little prince is going to die, he still had the reason, or said excuse, to comfort Saint-Exupery. We can interpret it as part of Saint-Exupery’s fantasy world – his shadow. It reflects that Saint-Exupery is really lonely, disappointed, sad and helpless. Tracking to his past experience, his younger brother died in his aged 17, in which Saint-Exupery should already had the sense of death, yet he could not do anything but seeing his brother passed away. Death had a profound influence on Saint-Exupery’s life. As the little prince was also a self representation of Saint-Exupery, he might be essentially affected by the temptation of death. The little prince once said “I wonder, whether the stars are set alright in heaven so that on day each one of us find his own again…” Saint-Exupery wanted to go back to his own fantasy world – the place where is no anybody else and he is alone. After the little prince left, for six years, Saint-Exupery still cannot let go and he always looked up at the stars at night to memorize his little man and wondered whether the rose had been eaten by the sheep. Suggested by von Franz, it is a torture to him (2000). If the little prince lost his rose, Saint-Exupery would lose his little man’s laugher and happiness – Saint-Exupery’s stars would lose light and the sky would be suddenly darkened. Saint-Exupery kept his story secretly and still showed a socially-accepted image before others – when he returned from the desert crash, he just told his companions: “I am tired.” In fact, he was sad. His sorrow of the little prince’s left was still with him after six years (even he said that time sooths all sorrow). Therefore he tried to draw the landscape where the little prince landed on the earth and disappeared. And he asked if the readers, who would travel to the African dessert and meet a little man laughs and refuses to answer questions, could send him words about the return of the little prince to comfort his sorrow. For us, the readers, some of us would feel the same or have sympathy on Saint-Exupery’s story. According to Jung, all of us should have the struggle between our ego and shadow, conscious and unconscious (1951). We can also refer to the conflict of the reality and the fantasy. When facing the reality, people may try to pretend to be certain type of people or make compromise with the society in order to gain rewards and acceptance of other people. However at the same time, people do think that there are some ridiculous things and something that they don’t want to face up in the world of grown-ups. To a certain extent, we agree with what the little prince said: the grown-ups are really odd. Also, we might believe ourselves, our beliefs or behaviors, are quite odd sometimes. That should be one of the reasons why we could feel Saint-Exupery’s loneliness. The dilemma and paradox in life Suggested by Jung, we are struggling between conscious and unconscious (1951). Or we can say that our thinking, decisions, feeling, emotions and behaviors are always affected by our (varying) ego (which is our conscious control) and shadow (referring to the unconscious implication). Moving toward the “wholeness” of life, we have to go through the process of individualization – the process striking for a balance between ego and shadow so as to attain an “intact” self which is the most important part of our whole psyche including both conscious and unconscious. As suggested by von Franz, all of us live with two sides – statistic reality and mental fantasy (2000). These two sides seem on the opposite sites, yet, it is not incompatible. We should have a balance of them and cannot live only on one side but ignore another. Saint-Exupery was a typical example of puer aeternus and he failed to live with both sides – he engaged too much in his fantasy world which is romanticized too much and finally led to a tragedy life. Most of us, if not everyone, want to be different, everyone want to be a unique person. However, inevitably, all of us share something in common, like we have to go through the socialization process, we have to relate to other people, we need friends, we have to work to earn money (although there are some very few exceptional cases), we have common emotions including sadness, happiness, angry, surprise and disgust. In this perspective, we are all common. Yet, at the same time, all of us have our unique past experience. We have our own thinking, value and feeling that would be different from other people even toward the same situation. Undoubtedly, there is no one having exactly same experience, feeling and personality as other person. In this sense, we are all special. The struggle between originality and uniqueness is one of the most common and essential dilemmas in life. This struggle can be referred to the process of individualization. During this process, we have to come across the influence (mostly negative) of shadow which is very difficult to be discovered. Once the shadow is being found out, it may change into another format. Therefore, we can see that how not easy to live as an “intact” or “perfect” people. Here are some remainders from von Franz (2000): “If you touch that unconscious shadow problem, you get a complex – an emotional reaction.” “In general, where there is sentimentality there is also a certain amount of brutality.” Jung pointed out that – one has more sense and awareness of their shadow, one will have stronger ego and self (1951). Although Saint-Exupery failed to fight his shadow, we, as the readers, should still look forward to our lives but not engaging too much in the little prince’s fantasy world. References
Franz, M. L. V. (2000). The Problem of the Puer Aeternus. Guernsey, GY, United Kingdom: Inner City Books. Frager, R. & Fadiman, J. (2005). Personality and Personal Growth,(6). Boston: Prentice-Hall. Jung, C. G., Baynes, H. G., & Baynes, C. F. (1928). Contributions to Analytical Psychology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Jung, C. G. (1951). Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self (Collected Works,9). Princeton, N.J.: Bollingen. Saint-Exupéry, A. D. (1944). The Little Prince. U.S.A.: Reynal & Hitchcock. Y-Jean, M. D. (2011). Guardians of the Future. The Peak Magazine. 63. |
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