We lack concrete proof that anything of us is preserved for eternity.
[Carl Jung – We lack concrete proof that anything of us is preserved for eternity.]
We lack concrete proof that anything of us is preserved for eternity.
At most we can say that there is some probability that something of our psyche continues beyond physical death.
Whether what continues to exist is conscious of itself, we do not know either.
If we feel the need to form some opinion on this question, we might possibly consider what has been learned from the phenomena of psychic dissociation.
In most cases where a split-off complex manifests itself it does so in the form of a personality, as if the complex had a consciousness of itself.
Thus the voices heard by the insane are personified. I dealt long ago with this phenomenon of personified complexes in my doctoral dissertation.
We might, if we wish, adduce these complexes as evidence for a continuity of consciousness.
Likewise in favor of such an assumption are certain astonishing observations in cases of profound syncope after acute injuries to the brain and in severe states of collapse.
In both situations, total loss of consciousness can be accompanied by perceptions of the outside world and vivid dream experiences.
Since the cerebral cortex, the seat of consciousness, is not functioning at these times, there is as yet no explanation for such phenomena.
They may be evidence for at least a subjective persistence of the capacity for consciousness even in a state of apparent unconsciousness. ~Carl Jung, Memories Dreams and Reflections, Page 322.
