The Search for Self and the Search for God

Individuation is a path of awakening…transforming …becoming conscious…being fully engaged in living… being authentically alive… and fulfilling the unique pattern within ourselves. There is a common thread that runs throughout this book of lectures and seminars that Dr. Harris presented over the last ten years, including the questions and exercises that sparked reflection and participation. In Jungian terms, the process he spoke about is referred to as individuation, yet, personally, Dr. Harris calls it the search for Self and the search for God. He also emphasizes that this process of fruitful self-knowledge calls us into a continuing confrontation with ourselves and our experiences. "This search - which has required me to become liberated from the person that I had been shaped, formed, and indoctrinated into being, as I grew up - has been and is the foundation for my growing consciousness and for becoming real. In Zurich, I became keenly aware of the power of the deep, innate, substrate patterns within us, which are called archetypes. In particular, I came to understand that religion and spirituality are the great, primordial archetypal pathways that offer the possibility of connecting to the Self, to God within us. Through these universal pathways of religion and spirituality, we find an archetypal, living Story that can nurture, inspire, and sustain us, and give perspective and meaning to our lives. Yet, this living, sacred pathway must also be able to evolve in our psyche or soul, as we ourselves evolve throughout our lives. It must be able to continue to support our connection to the Self, God within us. Our spiritual selves actually need these ongoing, religious/spiritual practices that can, in a day-to-day way, support and inspire our connection to life and the presence of the Self and the Divine within us."