Wilhelm asked the old man how he had done it; the old man replied that he hadn't. "You see", said the old man, "I come from a region where everything is in order. It rains when it should rain and is fine when that is needed. The people are themselves in order. But the people in this village are all out of Tao and out of themselves. I was at once infected when I arrived, so I asked for a cottage at the edge of the village, so I could be alone. When I was once more in Tao, it rained."
Colin Wilson goes on to explain that "by being in Tao and in themselves the old man meant what Jung meant by individuation. That is to say, there was a proper traffic between the two selves, or the two halves of the brain. The people in the rain-less village were dominated by the left brain ego -which, while it is unaware of the "hidden ally" is inclined to overreact to problems. This, in turn, produces a negative state of mind that can influence the external world.
One could say that, according to the Chinese theory, the mind is intimately involved with nature. Synchronicity is not therefore the active intervention of the mind, in natural processes; rather, a natural product of their harmony. So when we are psychologically healthy synchronicities should occur all the time. Our fears and tensions interfere with this natural harmony; when this happens, things go wrong.
During the last two centuries and more, man has increasingly been drifting away from the lap of Mother Nature, which has its own perfect order. Industrialization which commenced in Europe has now taken rapid strides in other continents, bringing in its train a different way of life for whole peoples living in crowded cities and townships. By the turn of this century or a little thereafter, about one half of the total population of this world is expected to live in urban areas. Man's relationship with Nature will thus get severed.
But man's body is made out of the elements of nature, and his parents, and theirs too have grown up with the food and nourishment provided by nature. To break this link with Nature is the first step towards alienation. Having cut himself from the Mother, man is now taking the next step of cutting himself off from his father, the sky or space; the alienation will then be complete. The black smoke of the industrialized areas and the matchbox type apartments in which he lives do not enable him to have even a glimpse of the clear blue sky. Practically the whole of the day is spent in ill ventilated offices and factories, while the early part of the nights is given to clubs and places of entertainment under bright neon lights thus shutting out both the sun and moon from his life. Consequently tensions build up not only in his mind, but also in the muscles of his body. He is unable to feel the space outside of himself nor does he have any space inside. But space, both outer and inner, are necessary for man to ponder, contemplate and rest in repose. Otherwise man's problems and tensions will mount resulting in his killing another or himself.
This conflict and violence is of the mind, and therefore order will have to
be established there, to start with. Such order will bring about order around
oneself. One can see that there is great order in nature, and it is man's nature
that is in tremendous disorder. If man can change his ways and live in accordance
with his real nature, and therefore in tune with Nature outside, he can yet
save himself and the Earth which sustains him, from a huge catastrophe.