Unmajana (Emergence)

Jung and Neumann believed that there was a time on earth prior to the emergence of consciousness.  There was only the primordial.  Around 4.5 billion years ago living organisms began to evolve through the complex interaction of inorganic matter, gases, water and sunlight.  Somewhere in the development of different species a glimmer of consciousness arose.  Our own consciousness, with its cognitive, perceptual and emotional qualities, emerged slowly and developed to the point where humans believe they sit at the pinnacle of the developed mind. 

Jung and Neumann believed the same occurs at the individual level.  As the infant develops, provided the right circumstances are present, a series of archetypes activate progressively, and consciousness slowly emerges.  This is discussed in “Archetypes”.

The Vedic perspective offers a more complex view.  In the beginning there was nothing.  No space, time, energy or matter.  The universe was dormant.  It had not yet come into being.  Then a tiny speck of light appeared as if from nowhere.  From this speck a conscious universe emerged progressively and often dramatically.  It unfolded as a karmic reincarnation of the previous universe.  Everything in this universe is a creation of the universal mind and nothing has any ontological reality beyond this.  What appears to be concrete, solid and immutable objects have only a conventional existence.  Not an ultimate one.  Our own consciousness is part of universal consciousness and everything is connected.  As each incarnation of the universe comes to a close, after one eternity, everything that has appeared collapses back in upon itself until only the infinitesimally small dot of light remains.  Eventually this too disappears and the universe again becomes dormant.  Only to re-emerge as the next incarnation when the karma for it to do so ripens.

Reference: Brunton, Paul.  The Wisdom  of the Overself.  Rider and Company, London, 1943.

These two perspectives are quite different.  In the Jungian view consciousness must emerge from the unconscious as the infant develops and archetypes activate.  In Advaita Vedenta and Tibetan Buddhism consciousness has always been and always will be.  Consciousness does not emerge from unconsciousness.  It is ever present but must be refined and distilled to discover its essence.  If we take the spiritual perspective the levels of depth achieved through advanced meditative practices can take us all the way back to the source.