shrinks back from the prospect of extinction, that he passionately
longs for immortality and that he tenaciously clings to beliefs which
are related to the continuation of life beyond death. We may also
note that eschatology forms an essential part of every religion the
world over, with the solitary exception of Buddhism. The highest
flights of poetic imagination have often been inspired by the hope
that death is not the end of life but a transition to a higher state of
life.
We may briefly comment on Freud’s treatment of religion. For
him religion is an illusion which man has created to obtain solace
and comfort in a world which is full of misery and affliction. Man’s
strongest desires are frustrated and their energy is dammed up. It
finds an outlet in imaginative activity which creates fantasies. Those
repressed desires which are denied gratification in the real world
find it on the ideal plane. The Imago, or the image of the father
which lies buried deep in the unconscious, is projected on to the
cosmos as God. Dr. William Brown, himself a psychoanalyst, has
taken strong exception to this view. On the basis of his clinical work
he affirms that a complex usually disappears when the patient is
psychoanalysed. Religion, however, does not disappear, but may
even be strengthened in the mind of the patient who has been
psychoanalysed.
We may consider the views of another major psychologist, Carl
Jung. Let us see what light he throws on the causes of inter-personal
and intra-personal conflicts. His theory of personality is, in some
ways, more profound than the psychoanalytic theory. In his view,
the human personality is a complex system which comprises a
number of sub-systems. Conflict may arise between any one of
these and others. Jung’s theory of personality is highly complex and
intricate, but it is not necessary for us to consider it in detail. We will
confine ourselves to that part of it which is relevant to our
immediate purpose. Jung’s observations on the chief source of
discontent in the present age deserve careful consideration: these
are that the opposing trends in the several systems are likely to clash
with one another. The conscious desire may be in opposition to the
unconscious.
A man may consciously desire wealth and may devote himself to
making money. But his unconscious may harbour the wish to
The Function of Deen 59