Exploring The Similarities Between The Teachings Of Carl Jung, A Course In Miracles (ACIM), and the Tao Te Ching

Hayley Zammit
Apr 26
5 min read

Different traditions but core spiritual themes

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Carl Jung, A Course in Miracles (ACIM), and the Tao Te Ching. While they come from very different traditions—psychology, modern spiritual metaphysics, and ancient Chinese philosophy—they actually overlap in some really profound ways.

Here are a few core similarities:

1. Emphasis on Inner Transformation

Jung focused on individuation: integrating unconscious parts of the psyche to become whole.
ACIM teaches that salvation comes through inner healing and the shift from fear to love.
Tao Te Ching promotes aligning with the Tao (the natural flow) through stillness and letting go of egoic control.

All three emphasize that true change happens from within.

2. Importance of the Ego vs. True Self

Jung saw the ego as a limited aspect of the Self that needed to be integrated, not eradicated.
ACIM is more stark: the ego is a false self built on fear and must be undone to return to Love (God).
Taoism suggests that egoic striving takes us away from the Tao, and we should flow instead of force.

They all see ego as a block to deeper truth.

3. Non-Dual Thinking / Unity

Jung explored the union of opposites—light and shadow, conscious and unconscious.
ACIM emphasizes that separation is an illusion; only oneness (with God/Love) is real.
Tao Te Ching embraces paradox: “Being and non-being create each other,” pointing to a deeper unity.

They all challenge dualistic thinking and promote wholeness.

4. Healing Through Acceptance

Jung: Healing happens when we accept and integrate the shadow.
ACIM: Forgiveness is the path to healing—it sees “miracles” as shifts in perception.
Tao: Peace comes from accepting what is and living in harmony with the Way.

Acceptance and surrender are central to all three.

5. Mystery Over Dogma

Jung left space for mystery—he respected symbols, myths, and the unconscious.
ACIM avoids formal religion and encourages personal experience of truth.
Tao Te Ching begins with “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”

All three respect the mystery of life and truth over rigid belief systems.

Here are a few insightful quotes from each of the three sources: Carl Jung, A Course in Miracles, and the Tao Te Ching. These selections highlight their shared themes of inner transformation, ego transcendence, non-duality, acceptance, and the embrace of mystery.

Carl Jung

"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong."
"Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking."
"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity."
"Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune."
"We are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born."
"Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk."
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."
"The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases."
"Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain."
"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism."
"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate."
"Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also."
"The most intense conflicts, if overcome, leave behind a sense of security and calm that is not easily disturbed."
"Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering."
"The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it."
"The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown."
"Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health."
"A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them."

A Course in Miracles

"Let all things be exactly as they are."
"I will not use the body's eyes today."
"The Word of God is given me to speak."
"I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts."
"The hush of heaven holds my heart today."
"Perception is but a mirror, not a fact. What I look on is my state of mind reflected outward."
"This instant is the only time there is."
"Perception follows judgment. Having judged, we therefore see what we would look upon."
"The future is but an extension of the present."
"Fear binds the world. Forgiveness sets it free."
"I never see my brother as he is, for that is far beyond perception."
"I am affected only by my thoughts."
"Anger comes from judgment."
"Each (of us is) a miracle of love."
"Miracles mirror God's eternal love."
"From the oneness that we have attained, we call to all our brothers, asking them to share our peace and consummate our joy."
"You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain."
"What you see reflects your thinking, and your thinking but reflects the choice of what you want to see."
"Attempting the mastery of fear is useless. In fact, it asserts the power of fear by the very assumption that it need be mastered."
"Forgiveness can truly be called salvation. It is the means by which illusions disappear."

Tao Te Ching

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao."
"Can you focus your breath as supple as a newborn child?"
"We mold clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that makes the vessel useful."
"The five colors blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear. The five flavors stale the palate."
"Be totally empty, embrace the tranquility of peace."
"Knowing the constant, we accept things as they are."
"The best leaders are those their people hardly know exist."
"Tao is great. Heaven is great. Earth is great. Humanity is great."
"The heavy is the root of the light. The still is the master of impatience."
"He who knows others is clever; he who knows himself is wise."
"Tao engenders One; One engenders Two; Two engenders Three; Three engenders all things."
"There is no greater misfortune than not knowing what is enough."
"Without going out the door, Know the world."
"Mastery of the world is achieved by letting things take their natural course."