Teenage Spirituality...
AntiUtopia@aol.com
Wed, 18 Feb 1998 17:40:25 -0500 (EST)
I'm responding to a paragraph in an earlier post by Scottie, in which he said
he like Jung's dictum that youth should not concern themselves with higher
things, applying this judgment to the glass children...
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to reply to Scottie without his post being in
front of me :( Can't find the dang thing. So I'll be brief...
eh, just where are youth supposed to get the resources to apply themselves
properly to their physical and emotional development (if I recall, that's what
you advocated)? You may say that they already have the resources, but then
I'd say if they had the resources to do this without guidance, they probably
have the resources to approach matters dealt with by religion at their age as
well....
My experience with teenagers have been that their strengths and faults are
pretty well reflected by our beloved Holden C. They tend to see everything in
black and white, even their denial of black and white thinking. They tend to
be idealistic. They tend to see a few things with such clarity that they can
forget there are many things they do not see. But they are capable of seeing.
That is my point.
I'd be more worried about the shallowness and materialism of a person who
wasn't like Franny than of the depth of a person who was.
But even your statements are a reflection of one particular religious approach
to human development. Do you think Jung made up what he was saying? It's
very much Hindu. We start out developing in the sensual, then in the
familial, then as members of a community, and then in the spiritual. We have
to see the limitations of each step and become dissatisfied before we can
progress to the next.
The sensual/physical stages are often associated with youth, just as the
communal are associated with middle age, but I don't see age as being the
primary criteria, for souls move from one to the next over the course of many
lifetimes, not just one.
So what you are doing, Scottie, is propogating the point of view of a specific
religion. Shame on you :)
And quite self contradictory, given the nature of your advice :)
Jim