Eastern moments in the evolution of the primitive mind: A Jungian perspective

The primitive mind described by C. G. Jung and still in evidence in the Oriental psyche is rooted in the primal oneness of the individual with his environment. Contemporary illustrations, such as the East-West tension depicted in Andre Malraux's The Temptation of the West and the life and work of Yukio Mishima, reveal the creative and destructive powers of this undifferentiated psyche. The research of East and West scholars including Lucien Levy-Bruhl, Claude Levi-Strauss, Ernst Cassirer, Oswald Spengler, Daisetz T. Suzuki, and Inazo Nitobe further illustrate and amplify the dynamic energies of archaic mentality. A solution to the destructive aspect of the undifferentiated psyche is found in the transcendent dimension of the human psyche described by C. J. Jung, particularly in his analysis of mandala symbolism and healing power of ancient Chinese philosophy.