The Collective: Unconscious and Conscious

“The Collective” is interesting to me. Spiritualism, theology, psychology, sociology, biology, and more have always been of great interest to me. I believe in many things—including ghosts, reincarnation, and that the spirits of my ancestors can guide me. I believe dreams can interpret your subconscious mind and point you toward things you should address. I also believe in Western and Eastern medicine, including herbal remedies, crystals for magic and healing, and mind-body exercises for wellness. I am Christian (baptized as an infant, lived as throughout my life, and revived with a clearer understanding and feel in middle adulthood).

Because of these interests, I’ve been drawn to Eckhart Tolle and Carl Jung. Both explore the unconscious mind, which has led me to questions and opinions on the conscious mind. I first learned about Jung while studying Human Development in college (where I earned a minor in the subject) and Tolle through self-education, especially reading and rereading A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.

Eckhart Tolle on Pain-Bodies

In A New Earth Tolle discusses pain-bodies. To summarize:

Pain-bodies are energy fields (aka partially self-governing energy forms that attract energy that vibrates at a similar frequency). We all have them based on the remnants of pain left behind by every strong negative emotion that is not fully faced, accepted, and then let go of. Children especially find it too difficult to face emotions (especially without an awakened adult to guide them with love and compassion), and the emotions remain in them and sometimes manifest as anxiety, anger, violence, or illness. If this energy can’t grow, if it can’t feed to fulfillment by provoking other people, it focuses on your thinking. Once your mind has been taken over by the pain-body, your thinking becomes negative . . . and, it eagerly devours every negative thought.

Tolle notes that pain-bodies are unrecognized and manifest indirectly, making them unconscious (not conscious). Drugs and alcohol make things worse. I see these pain-bodies as dark spots or shadows of a person’s aura.

Some people carry more dense pain-bodies that are never completely dormant . . . They magnify the ego’s need for enemies . . . Due to the complete lack of self-awareness, they cannot tell the difference between an event and their reaction to the event . . . Sometimes people with such dense pain-bodies become activists fighting for a cause. The cause may indeed be worthy . . . however, conflict tends to generate increasing opposition to their cause.

In addition to reactivity, negative thinking, and personal drama, the pain-body also renews itself vicariously through entertainment and the media . . . violence is not only all-pervasive but even on the increase . . . The media thrives on negative news—the worse things get the more excited the presenters become.

In a sense, the media controls what some people focus on—and lately, they even lie and get away with it. Nowadays everyone says “Do your own research.” I encourage this. But keep in mind, when looking at statistics, to see the truth it is essential to look at percentages (not just the tallies). The sums need to be in perspective to reveal the truths.

Note also that the pain-body feeds on films, too—films in which violence is portrayed as normal or even desirable human behavior.

This makes sense, but in some cases it’s only harmful to you individually if you think it’s harmful.

Also interesting—these “pain-bodies” are not just individual.

That pain lives in the COLLECTIVE PSYCHE of humanity.

Tolle suggests the collective pain-body is probably encoded within every human’s DNA, [although we haven’t discovered it yet]. Newborns enter the world as happy or sad and can cry more depending on their pain-bodies. They may also pick up on their parents’ pain—which, as an empath, I agree with—and/or, perhaps, they carry weight from a past life.

Carl Jung and The Collective Unconscious

Carl Jung, the influential early 20th-century psychiatrist, theorized that within your unconscious mind, shadows hide. These shadows are denied attributes such as anger or jealousy. Bringing them to the surface helps alleviate them. He also believed the unconscious mind can be a source of intuition. In my opinion, it’s good to follow your intuition, but reflect on its source: it could be your higher-self, your inner knowledge, but it might also be from fear or unconscious defense mechanisms. (Maybe I’ll write a blog on instinct vs intuition.)

Jung also addresses the collective. According to him, the collective unconscious consists of a collection of knowledge and imagery that every person is born with and is shared by all human beings due to ancestral experience.

Whether from humanity's history (war, slavery, pillage, etc.—ancestral experience) or past lives’ pain, or even empathy, the collective unconscious exists. But I don’t think it’s only bad emotions. I believe it includes good things, too (of course, they wouldn’t be called “pain-bodies”—more like “happy-bodies”—the same energy, but vibrating at a different frequency—the love frequency, and with a brighter aura).

I see the collective unconscious as a piece of evidence that we are all connected. Throughout history, certain symbols (like in dreams and across time and cultures) carry the same meaning. And, at all times in history and through the entire world the same stories are reported again and again—things like this point to this truth: the collective unconscious. With all this, it would then be true that each awakened person helps the whole. And that, my friends, is good news.

If the media would report the full truth and more good news, and if films showed the collective unconscious (what lies behind the violence, anger and hatred passed on from generation to generation), perhaps they could help awaken humanity by acting as a mirror to our insanity. Maybe some of this is already hidden in comedies.

That in you which recognizes madness as madness (even if it is your own) is sanity, is the arising awareness, is the end of insanity. —Eckhart Tolle      

Collective Unconscious vs. Collective Consciousness

So, what’s the difference between the collective unconscious and the collective consciousness?

Wikipedia describes collective consciousness as “the set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society. In general, it does not refer to the specifically moral conscience, but to a shared understanding of social norms.” Some would term the word collective as common to many individuals. But when I have been thinking of the collective, I think of all of us as one, not this collective group or that collective group. However, it does interest me (especially politics as they relate to sociology).

Sociologydictionary.org describes examples of Collective Consciousness—such as gender norms concerning how people dress and act, laws that socialize people into what is right and what is wrong in their society, or rituals such as parades or weddings. This description is more than a medical definition but still seems so basic to me. I think there is more to it. If this is it, then any group of people, say all white people, or all Jewish people, or an activist movement/organization, or the political parties would each be a collective consciousness. I’m not sure this works for me. Not all white people dress or act or believe the same things, the same goes for the other examples. Black sheep in the family know what I mean. Perhaps there’s a reason they don’t feel like they fit in. They can see. There are ALWAYS shades of gray. When I think of collective consciousness I think of all people as a whole, who are in touch with each other because of their present awareness. However, if a group of people went through the same experience at the same time, I believe they could have a collective consciousness of their own. This brings me to grouping vs the whole.

There’s a lot of push and shove going on in the world right now. We might feel forced to pick a side. I think we need to take into account the subliminal messaging in the mainstream media and commercials, things we see on any screen. Also, there are chemicals we consume unknowingly in our foods and water that have an effect on our brains such as preservatives and added minerals. And, there are things we don’t know—behind-the-scenes actions going on that are slowly being revealed and more will be revealed in time, hopefully.

Historical Pain and Moving Toward Awakening

Tolle touches on some of the darkest chapters in human history: the Holocaust, and the “Holy Inquisition,” stating that the ego took over. Can ego cause such horrors?

He notes that the suppression of Jewish people and the feminine has become internalized. This points to one extremely large group of people as a whole wherever they are today. And the feminine—that would be half the people in the world.

He continues, noting that Native Americans, whose numbers were decimated by European settlers, and Black Americans whose ancestors were violently uprooted and sold into slavery, have become part of the collective American pain-body. These point to both time and location.

Then and now so many innocent children endure pedophilia and other horrors. This is pure evil. What will life be like when they grow up and their pain-bodies grow? This happens all over the world.

Tolle states that both victim and perpetrator suffer the consequences of any act of violence, oppression, or brutality. Older nations with histories of collective violence, and Communist government that otherwise feels threatened by anything it cannot control, have heavier collective pain-bodies. Again, location.

However, Tolle also mentions that China’s heavy pain-body is to some extent mitigated by the widespread practice of T'ai Chi. I find this extremely interesting:

Spiritual practices that involve the physical body such as T'ai Chi, qigong, and yoga, are also increasingly being embraced in the Western world. These practices do not create a separation between body and spirit and are helpful in weakening the pain-body, they will play an important role in the global awakening . . .

It doesn’t really matter what proportion of your pain-body belongs to your nation or race and what proportion is personal. In either case, you can only go beyond it by taking responsibility for your inner state now. Even if blame seems more than justified, as long as you blame others, you keep feeding the pain-body with your thoughts and remain trapped in your ego.

There is only one perpetrator of evil on the planet: human unconsciousness. That realization is true forgiveness. With forgiveness, your victim identity dissolves, and your true power emerges—the power of presence. Instead of blaming the darkness, you bring in the light.

I believe that yoga and meditation are beneficial to each of us. These practices often involve visualization, breathing techniques or the chanting of mantras. They help keep spiritual development flowing and our thoughts positive. If more people do this, it will affect the whole in a good way. Chi (or Qi, aka Ki, Dosha, Prana, subtle life-force energy) is the vital life-force energy of the universe flowing through all living things.

I think empathy (empathy, not sympathy) could add to the pain-bodies, but aware empathy can heal by sending out love.

Moving thought from the unconscious to the conscious is awareness. But, can this awareness, too, be negative and cause violence to spread? I think, yes, in some cases, because it’s not enough. Healing takes time and there is more work involved—works of God, not just works of flesh (which try to do something only God can do). For instance, you cannot change people. Faith and works lead to awakening. You actually have to work on being present until it becomes natural. (Check out my blog, titled, Spiritual Enlightenment: Awakening with Faith and Works for more info.)

You have to work on forgiveness. You have to work on change. You have to work on acceptance. You have to work on moving on. But, also, if the people remained unawakened, or if they are brainwashed by drugs or too swept up in a “side” where they no longer think from other perspectives, where ego rules their thinking, trouble will follow. Moving from unconscious thought to conscious awareness can be positive and cause love and peace to spread, especially if you are present and aware of the whole (look at what Gandhi did for humanity!).

As more people become awakened, the collective consciousness can become more positive—not filled with hate and ego and evil, but filled with love and compassion and a willingness to understand and work together for good. I believe these are some of the things Jesus was trying to teach us. And remember, there’s always something to learn. If it’s too much for you (some people do not want to do the spiritual work), all you really need to do is believe and depend on Him. God is good. He loves you (even though you don’t do everything right). He is faithful. When you welcome Jesus into your life you will do better to follow the commandments not out of fear, but because you love Him.

Love,

Tracy

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Photo by Nikita Korchagin

04/17/24

updated: 06/27/26