EoE interpretations (psychology and religion) and a personal account/rant on EVA and depression. [SPOILERS]

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Proxy2050
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EoE interpretations (psychology and religion) and a personal account/rant on EVA and depression. [SPOILERS]

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Postby Proxy2050 » Tue Jun 14, 2016 5:39 pm

Ok so i have no real clue where i'm really trying to go with this but bear with me. Oh, and SPOILERS! (it turns out its just a rant)

I (like everyone here im sure) was (am) greatly affected by eva and EoE because i found each character and their subsequent deconstruction through out the show and the movie to be the single most relatable of any media, ever. . I found the plot incredibly compelling but seen it more as a catalyst for the shows true exposition, the Freudian/Jungian psychoanalysis of the human condition, Jewish, christian and Buddhist mythology in all (and in the case of C. G. Jung the religious mythology is greatly psychological) even if some of the religious imaginary was placed simply for aesthetic reasons rather than deep symbolism. But there are points to be drawn with Evas religions and psychological themes, for instance human instrumentality (to me, having read the Tibetan book of the dead, and i dont mean to be pretentious because im no professor or anything) is clearly based of of the Buddhist idea of nirvana, the escape from the perpetual reincarnation cycle, the cycle of life i.e. the cycle of suffering, where all beings in a sense escape this existence and well, however you look at it, become 'one' in the 'no-thingnes' (confused? well the concept is a little abstract, but hey, so is Eva). This being represented when everyone is turned into LCL in EoE and are fused into god Rei becoming one entity, lacking their individuality, and some people might not like that idea but personally i think it is something maybe worth striving for, but for the show to make the point that it was setting up from the beginning (with which i agree to be just as sound point to strive for as nirvana i.e. instrumentality) Shinji had to reject instrumentality, to return everyone back to their individuality even though that would mean suffering for everyone, but its worth it just to know he exists, so he can have the hope that he can live in a world where people experience hurt, sorrow. And in order to make this decision, ill be it possibly unconsciously, Shinji is exposed to the whole spectrum of his psyche, experiencing each and every human flaw (as presented through him self and all the other characters). He chooses to remain an individual, which might be explained using the Jungian idea of individuation, where an individual confronts their shadow and anima or animus to achieve a kind of union within ones self (as i understand it.... barely) which then leads to a sort of cognitive human evolution where humanity takes another step towards greater consciousness and all the theorised things behind that, yada yada yada.

So thats one of my personal interpretations of Eva or mostly EoE to give you a platform to understand my next thing.

I seen a post on here about evangelion and depression and how it helped some people through their own depression as well as anno him self using the show as a creative catalyst to work through his own depression. Now its hard not to come off as pretentious or attention seeking when you tell people that you have depression or anxiety because for some people (i too am guilty of this) it becomes their identity and rather than something they are coping with it becomes a thing they rely on for recognition and attention from others (which may be a product of depression meaning its one deadly cycle of self hate blah blah). So having made that disclaimer i do experience depression and crippling anxiety and a degree of agoraphobia and evangelion forced me to face that as well as visualised the internal struggle i sometimes go through and gave me annos own personal 'philosophy' that has since been incredibly valuable to my entire life and i can only hope to achieve one day a masterpiece to the same proportion as End of evangelion. I dont really know what kind of point i was trying to make, i guess i just wanted to vent a little and interact with the EVA community... sorry if i wasted your time! comments are obviously welcome, what did EVA do for you, whats your interpretations ect....

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