From: Erin N. (enoonan@kent.edu)
Date: Fri Dec 06 2002 - 04:40:09 GMT
"The unifying principle behind meaningful coincidences. Psychiatrist Carl G.
Jung termed Synchronicity ‘an acausal connecting principle’ that links
seemingly unrelated and unconnected events. The concept is integral to Eastern
thought, but in Western thought runs contrary to cause and effect. In the
West, ‘coincidences’ are popularly discounted as ‘chance happenings.’ The
concept of synchronicity was developed largely by Carl G. Jung, who credited
Albert Einstein as his inspiration." 3
"...Jung reveals the roots of his idea of synchronicity as being in a series
of dinners with the redoubtable Albert Einstein in Zurich, Switzerland,
between the years 1909 and 1913... For many years Jung couldn’t get these
beguiling exchanges with Einstein out of his mind, nor the intriguing
implications they had for the numerous stories of baffling coincidences that
his clients were revealing to him in his consultation room, his arcane
studies, and most troubling of all, in his life." 4
What is Jung’s view of synchronicity?
Jung’s own explanation of the concept of synchronicity is as follows:
" As its etymology shows, this term has something to do with time, or to be
more accurate, with a kind of simultaneity. Instead of simultaneity we could
use the concept of a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where
something other than the probability of chance is involved." (Synchronicity,
An Acausal Connecting Principle, by C G Jung, from the article "On
Synchronicity", Appendix, pg. 104)
What did Jung state about the chance occurrence of coincidences?
Jung had been studying synchronicity since the middle twenties, when he was
investigating the phenomena of the collective unconscious and kept on coming
across connections which he simply could not explain: "as chance groupings or
‘runs.’ What I found were ‘coincidences’ which were connected so meaningfully
that their ‘chance’ concurrence would represent a degree of improbability that
would have to be expressed by an astronomical figure." Synchronicity, An
Acausal Connecting Principle, by C G Jung, pg. 21.
The principle of synchronicity is based on the concept that everything in the
universe has some kind of correspondence one to the other. There is a
"classical idea of the sympathy of all things." 5 There is a link, there is a
bond, so to speak, and even so-called inanimate objects have a form of
communication. In other words the whole universe is a living breathing entity
and its various life forms, in all the kingdoms (animal, plant, mineral,
human, etc.) are not as removed from each other as previously thought. In
support of Hippocrates (** see introductory quote on Page 1 of this article )
Carl Jung said: "The universal principle is found even in the smallest
particle, which therefore corresponds to the whole." Synchronicity, An Acausal
Connecting Principle, by C G Jung, pg. 74.
Is there a scientific theory to support synchronicity?
"... They are finding that the isolation and separation of objects from each
other is more apparent than real; at deeper levels, everything —atoms, cells,
molecules, plants, animals, people — participates in a sensitive, flowing web
of information. Physicists have shown, for example, that if two photons are
separated, no matter by how far, a change in one creates a simultaneous change
in the other." From: A Wink From the Cosmos by Meg Lundstrom ,Is everyone
seeking harmony?
Many Eastern philosophies have had a concept of SYNCHRONICITY before the
western mind set fully accepted it.
"These coincidences, which Jung termed synchronicity, are sure signs you are
in the flow; Flow is a harmony of being that has been sought after through the
centuries in the spiritual traditions of the world. In the West, flow has been
linked to trust, surrender, unconditional love, the grace of God. In the East,
it has been linked to the Tao, the underlying interconnectedness of the
Universe. In our lives, flow is obvious in those times when things happen
effortlessly, everything falls into place, obstacles melt away, and our timing
is perfect. In those times, we feel a deep sense of harmony and underlying
order. We know we are in the right place, at the right time, doing exactly the
right thing." The Power of Flow: Practical Ways to Transform Your Life with
Meaningful Coincidence, by Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrom.
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