Conflict. A state of indecision, accompanied by inner tension. (See also opposites and transcendent function.)
The apparently unendurable conflict is proof of the rightness of your life. A life without inner contradiction is either only half a life or else a life in the Beyond, which is destined only for angels. But God loves human beings more than the angels.[C.G. Jung Letters, vol. 1, p. 375.]
The self is made manifest in the opposites and in the conflict between them; it is a coincidentia oppositorum [coincidence of opposites]. Hence the way to the self begins with conflict.["Individual Dream Symbolism in Relation to Alchemy," CW 12, par. 259.]
Conflict is a hallmark of neurosis, but conflict is not invariably neurotic. Some degree of conflict is even desirable since without some tension between opposites the developmental process is inhibited. Conflict only becomes neurotic when it interferes with the normal functioning of consciousness.
The stirring up of conflict is a Luciferian virtue in the true sense of the word. Conflict engenders fire, the fire of affects and emotions, and like every other fire it has two aspects, that of combustion and that of creating light.["Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype," CW 9i, par. 179.]
When a conflict is unconscious, tension manifests as physical symptoms, particularly in the stomach, the back and the neck. Conscious conflict is experienced as moral or ethical tension. Serious conflicts, especially those involving love or duty, generally involve a disparity between the functions of thinking and feeling. If one or the other is not a conscious participant in the conflict, it needs to be introduced.
The objection [may be] advanced that many conflicts are intrinsically insoluble. People sometimes take this view because they think only of external solutions-which at bottom are not solutions at all. . . . A real solution comes only from within, and then only because the patient has been brought to a different attitude.["Some Crucial Points in Psychoanalysis," CW 4, par. 606.]
Jung's major contribution to the psychology of
conflict was his belief
that it had a purpose in terms of the self-regulation
of the psyche. If
the tension between the opposites can be held in
consciousness, then
something will happen internally to resolve the
conflict. The solution,
essentially irrational and unforeseeable, generally
appears as a new
attitude toward oneself and the outer situation,
together with a sense of
peace; energy previously locked up in indecision is
released and the
progression of libido becomes possible. Jung called
this the tertium
non datur or transcendent function, because what
happens transcends
the opposites.
Holding the tension between
opposites requires
patience and a strong ego, otherwise a decision will
be made out of
desperation. Then the opposite will be constellated
even more strongly and
the conflict will continue with renewed
force.
Jung's basic
hypothesis in working with neurotic conflict was that
separate
personalities in oneself-complexes-were involved. As
long as these are not
made conscious they are acted out externally, through
projection.
Conflicts with other people are thus essentially
externalizations of an
unconscious conflict within oneself.