In a model of the Three T’s, translation, transformation and transcendence, translation means all intellectual behaviors involving the mind such as those defined in Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy. From most concrete to most subjective Bloom identified six levels of human thinking. These were knowledge (remembering the facts), comprehension (understanding the main idea), application (using what you know in a new situation), analysis (take it apart), synthesis (putting something together in a new way), and evaluation (judging the value of information). The very act of thinking including reductionism, over-intellectualizing or any kind of mind involvement (translation) is very problematic when the goal is transcendence.
Transcendence involves leaving behind all false-self compulsions related to doing, having and knowing. The following example involves the Judeo-Christian religious myth, including Genesis, the Hebrews as the Chosen people, and the story of Job. Notice how intellectually elaborate and confusing it can be in the hands of a formidable intellect, namely C. G. Jung, operating in P-B and using all of the levels of Bloom’s thinking skills.
The tribal god, a projection of the primitive Hebrews, wanted a conscious Job to appreciate his Creation. At the same time, being jealous of Job’s superior consciousness, he preferred that Job remain unconscious. C. G. Jung put it this way: “Existence is only real when it is conscious to somebody. That is why the Creator needs conscious men even though, from sheer consciousness, he would like to prevent him from becoming conscious.”
First, to move from P-B to P-A, and to begin the process of transformation, we must simplify the human narrative and at the same time make it more profound. The good news is that simple is more profound. Simple is also much easier. We can modify the beginning of the story as Jung begins it above by removing the anthropomorphic “Creator” who is nothing more than a human projection and substitute the term Universe as the source of Creation or the word “Field” as the undifferentiated energy from which all form emerges. Recognizing the need to create a “god” in our own image is a major step in the creation of consciousness. At some point this god must be outgrown and then we will stop conceptualizing that anthropomorphic “force” in the universe which is an impediment to our awakening.
We must emphasize that we are not disputing the validity of Jung’s interpretation. On the contrary, his is a very perceptive and divergent type of thinking, which is valid in the context which contains it, namely the mythical/psychological paradigm of Jungian analytical psychology. We, however, are shifting from that context to a transformational paradigm from which we can create a sustainable future for humanity. Continuing the story:
“Yahweh, however, had no origin and no past, except his creation of the world, with which all history began, and his relation to that part of mankind whose forefather Adam he had fashioned in his own image as the Anthropos, the original man, by what appears to have been a special act of creation.”
Only naïve and arrogant people would place themselves at the center of a creation so diverse and complex by thinking themselves “special.” The fundamental principle of the emerging and more profound paradigm is “Oneness.” All of creation in the new story is seen as interdependent and interrelated with no need to fragment it into pairs of opposites such as good and bad, or important and unimportant, or special and not-so-special. Such hubris in the human community has been disastrous.
“The special providence which singled out the Jews from among the divinely stamped portion of humanity and made them the ‘chosen people’ had burdened them from the start with a heavy obligation. As usually happens with such mortgages, they quite understandably tried to circumvent it as much as possible. Since the chosen people used every opportunity to break away from him, and Yahweh felt it of vital importance to tie this indispensable object (which he had made “godlike” for this very purpose) definitely to himself, he proposed to the patriarch Noah a contract between himself on the one hand, and Noah, his children, and all their animals, both tame and wild, on the other—a contract that promised advantages to both parties. In order to strengthen this contract and keep it fresh in the memory, he instituted the rainbow as a token of the covenant.”
The principle of Oneness and knowledge of psychology and mythology obliges us not to take the special relationship that the Jews have with God literally. This is a metaphorical relationship with the Jews being the stand-ins for humanity as a whole. Understanding stories within the Bible as myth and metaphor leads us to a deeper and more wholesome understanding of where we find ourselves in the Universe and how we should respond to that reality. The tragedy of the Judeo-Christian insistence on the fulfilling of Biblical prophecy in the Middle East is leading to a particular tragic and violent chapter in this history of the “three peoples of the Book” (Jews, Christians and Muslims) who are creating a childish and unnecessary chapter in human history.
And now the most important person in the Old Testament appears on the scene. “The Book of Job places this pious and faithful man, so heavily afflicted by the Lord, on a brightly lit stage where he presents his case to the eyes and ears of the world. It is amazing to see how easily Yahweh, quite without reason, had let himself be influenced by one of his sons, by a doubting thought, and made unsure of Job’s faithfulness. With his touchiness and suspiciousness the mere possibility of doubt was enough to infuriate him and induce that peculiar double-faced behavior of which he had already given proof in the Garden of Eden, when he pointed out the tree to the First Parents and at the same time forbade them to eat of it. In this way he precipitated the Fall, which he apparently never intended.
“Similarly, his faithful servant Job is now to be exposed to a rigorous moral test, quite gratuitously and to no purpose. From the human point of view Yahweh’s behavior is so revolting that one has to ask oneself whether there is not a deeper motive hidden behind it. Has Yahweh some secret resistance against Job? That would explain his yielding to Satan. But what does man possess that God does not have? Because of his littleness, puniness, and defencelessness against the Almighty, he must in order to survive, always be mindful of his impotence. Could a suspicion have grown up in God that man possesses an infinitely small yet more concentrated light than he, Yahweh, possesses. A jealousy of that kind might perhaps explain his behavior.”
Now we begin to see why one of the most often-heard admonitions in the Bible is “Fear God.” A God that can be persuaded by his errant son Satan to treat a human being as a pawn on the chessboard of life must be a very unconscious God at best or even worse a sadistic one. The high point in Jung’s elaborate analytical argument is that God is jealous of Job because he is more aware, i.e. possesses more consciousness than he does. Most of humanity today remains enthralled by and fearful of projected gods that are acting out unconscious behavior. In short, human beings feel they are being unjustly moved around in the game of life, where the rules are not friendly to them, by forces that must be appeased in order that they may escape ultimate disaster. What sort of disaster? Returning to the story:
“Without further ado Job is robbed of his herds, his servants are slaughtered, his sons and daughters are killed by a whirlwind, and he himself is smitten with sickness and brought to the brink of the grave. To rob him of peace altogether, his wife and his old friends are let loose against him, all of whom say the wrong things. One must bear in mind here the dark deeds that follow one another in quick succession: robbery, murder, bodily injury with premeditation, and denial of a fair trial. This is further exacerbated by the fact that Yahweh displays no compunction, remorse, or compassion, but only ruthlessness and brutality. The plea of consciousness is invalid, seeing that he flagrantly violates at least three of the commandments he himself gave out on Mount Sinai.”
Much of the Old Testament is about the Chosen people failing to live up to God’s high expectations. The story of Job seems to be about God failing to live up to Job’s higher expectations. However, it is impossible for God to behave differently from human beings because he is, after all, a projection, i.e. “made in the image of” humanity. Let’s return to the long suffering Job and his unconscious God.
“Yahweh abruptly breaks off his cruel game of cat and mouse. But if anyone should expect that his wrath will now be turned against the slanderer, he will be severely disappointed. Yahweh does not think of bringing this mischief-making son of his [Satan] to account, nor does it occur to him to give Job at least the moral satisfaction of explaining his behavior. Formerly, [Job] was naïve, dreaming perhaps of a ‘good’ God, or of a benevolent ruler and just judge. He had imagined that a ‘covenant’ was a legal matter and that anyone who was party to a contract could insist on his rights as agreed; that God would be faithful and true or at least just, and, as one could assume the Ten Commandments, would have some recognition of ethical values or at least feel committed to his own legal standpoint. But to his horror, he has discovered that Yahweh is not human but, in certain respects less than human. It is the behavior of an unconscious being who cannot be judged morally. Yahweh is a phenomenon and, as Job says, ‘not a man.’ The naïve assumption that the creator of the world is a conscious being must be regarded as a disastrous prejudice which later gave rise to the most incredible dislocations of logic.”
Job is now beginning to reap some of the benefits that often accompany extreme suffering—he has a profound insight. The anthropomorphic god is an illusion. He has begun to leave the old paradigm and must begin the shift to one more profound. For this he must become a courageously self-reliant person. He has learned not to resist the reality of suffering and in so doing he has changed his relationship with personal suffering. He has made it “not personal.” Suffering, like so-called “good fortune” is impermanent—they both come and go and neither will last so there is little point in becoming attached to either. But we haven’t finished our story yet.
“Yahweh has to remember his absolute knowledge; for, if Job gains knowledge of God, then God must also learn to know himself. It just could not be that Yahweh’s dual nature should become public property and remain hidden from himself alone. Whoever knows God has an effect on him. The failure of the attempt to corrupt Job has changed Yahweh’s nature.”
Job finally is rewarded for his long-suffering equanimity and emerges as the hero of the Book of Job. He has been responsible for enabling God to become more conscious and hopefully more compassionate foreshadowing Jesus and the New Testament. Job as a symbol of every man and woman has shown that our raison d’etre as human beings is the creation of consciousness itself. As human beings become more conscious, of course, so does the projected God. Job demonstrates that the only way we can succeed in awakening to a more profound understanding of reality is to respond to life with patience rather than resistance. We must accept the principle of impermanence without becoming attached to what is pleasant or reacting to that which is unpleasant. We must live with uncertainty but according to efficacious principles that we can implement and that reduce human suffering and increase human joy.
Jung’s full interpretation contained in his book Answer to Job is 120 pages long and is overly intellectual as is typical within a mind under the influence of P-B. We have attempted to interpret the Book of Job, with Jung’s help, getting to the essence of the story from a P-A perspective. Notice how we arrived at conclusions with a very brief and simple process. We included Jung’s basic conclusions and added some of our own from the principles under-girding P-A. In so doing we arrived at our destination free from the headache that so often accompanies P-B analysis paralysis.
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References and notes are available for this essay.
Find a much more in-depth discussion in books by Roy Charles Henry:
Who Am I? The Second Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Where Am I? The First Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Simple Reality: The Key to Serenity and Survival
