Spiritual Quests and Obstacles. A Cultural Paradigm

Various types of quest, present in the most different genres of stories, ranging from fairy tales to Hollywood movies about the self-made-man, who overcomes all obstacles, are actually founded on an ancient narrative pattern of initiation, in which the protagonist is supposed to overcome a series of challanges (spiritual quests) that define his development as an individual. Explicitly or implicitly identified with "the evil", the obstacles which are to be met are a mere pretext for the inner evolution of the protagonist, for his "growing up", and for his final understanding of the difference between the "true" and the "false" values of the world. Man becomes a model of wisdom, only by overcoming the challenging obstacles of "the evil". This pattern of evolution is equally frequent in traditional myths and rituals all over the world, in yoga, in the suffering of the Biblical Job, in Jesus' encounter with Satan after the Christian initiation (baptism), in alchemy, while in modern psychology the obstacle, the ,evil', represents a necessary step within the individuation process of human personality. Maybe contrary to expectations, the presence of obstacles does not necessarily imply a real confrontation between the good and the evil, as the obstacle itself represents a mere stage man must go through within the process of evolution; otherwise, as modern psychology envisages it, man must equally phychically integrate what seems good and what seems bad (coincidentia oppositorum), within his process of individuation. This paper explains how obstacles, as challenges, contribute to the development of the protagonist in the process of his quest for a higher identity and reality. Overcoming obstacles brings higher awareness of what is "good" and what is "evil", what is "reality" and what is "illusion", which is actually the ultimate aim of the protagonist's inner quest. Therefore, the paradigmatic purpose of all quests can be regarded as the protagonist's evolution towards a higher conscience, attainable only if/when obstacles have been ultimately overcome. The spiritual Christian, yogic and Buddhist models, as highlighted in this paper, seem to be essential paradigms for spiritual quests and obstacles to be overcome, on a larger cultural scale.