This research attempts to formulate a critique of the Jungian self from the Daoist, Lao-Zhuang notion of non-self. In post-modern societies an ontological critique of the self is also ideological, for the self is an indispensable device of neoliberal government. Because for Jung the self is an essential and autonomous reality, he advances a dualism that not only legitimizes the current economic and political order, but—focal to this analysis—also complicates the ‘realization’ of the ultimate spiritual ‘goal,’ and his own purpose of treating psychological suffering. Thus, the critical power and political potential of the Daoist non-self serves to demystify analytical theory, evidence the fundamental emptiness of the self, and present the ensuing paradox of the ‘spiritual process’ as consisting of a getting rid of something—i.e. the self—that is, ultimately, not there. Consequently, guidance of ‘spiritual processes’ is encouraged where the non-self remains a valid possibility
