C. G. Jung emphasizes the value of the individual as a remedy for the ills of collective man and the mass society. What Jung means by the individual is the one who "can stand the tensions of the opposites in themselves". This paper examines the psychological significance of Jung's idea of the individual in relation to the religious symbolism of Christ, "the sorrow-laden hero", and the Taoist Golden Flower. Both Christ and the Golden Flower are symbols of the Self; yet, they are quite different. One is masculine while the other is feminine. I attempt to understand the difference of these religious symbols on the assumption that they reflect the different modes of ego functioning in responding to the Self. As the reality principle, the ego functions differently to adapt to an existing context. That is, the ego functions in the "masculine" way in the masculine patriarchal Judaeo-Christian West and in the "feminine" way in the feminine Taoist China. This is the reason, I maintain, why such different and contrasting symbols of the Self have been observed in East and West. Moreover, the difference in the ego's response to the Self, or the unconscious, can also be found in the dreams of individuals from both cultures. However, both the masculine and feminine functioning of the ego are mutually complementary and compensatory. Hence, when Jun emphasizes the value of the individual as the one who "can stand the tensions of the opposites in themselves", he refers to the necessity of developing the feminine, receptive functioning of the psyche, in order to cope with the ills generated by the masculine oriented West.