control of individuals to the extent of becoming crippling handicaps. Even
if this practice is understood in theory alone, it can still offer a perspective
on human psychology that will allow for an objective and nonjudgmental
approach to the understanding and treatment of mood and personality
extremism.
Jung's reasons for warning people away from golden flower practice
were ostensibly based on what he perceived as cultural incompatibility. It
was his belief that
Europeans of his time lacked the proper psychological basis for the yogic
practices of Chinese, Indian, and Tibetan religions. Therefore Jung thought
it only reasonable that Westerners should not imitate Eastern methods; and
he underscored his point with a proverbial Buddhist warning about incorrect
use of practices.
Jung quarreled not with the method of the golden flower, but with the
Western attitude toward technology of any kind. His remarks on the
Western mentality suggest avenues of study, but he does not examine the
cultic behaviors that make imitation methods ineffective. Had he done so,
Jung could have found that neither the reality nor the imitations of spiritual
practices are limited to East or West.
Furthermore, Jung does not show how his method is actually equivalent
to the golden flower practice. Apart from the fact that he was faced with a
