Product Description
Jung and Eastern Thought is an assessment of the impact of the East on Jung's life and teaching. Along with the strong and continuing interest in the psychology of Carl Jung is a growing awareness of the extent to which Eastern thought, especially Indian ideas, influenced his thinking. This book identifies those influences that he found useful and those he rejected. In Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist cultures, yoga is a central conception and practice. Jung was at once fascinated and critical of yoga. Part I of the book examine's Jung's encounter with yoga and his strong warning against the uncritical adoption of yoga by the modern West. In Part II Jung's love/hate relationship with Eastern thought is examined in light of his attitude toward karma and rebirth, Kundalini yoga, mysticism, and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Coward observations are rounded out by contributions from J. Borelli and J. Jordens. Dr. Borelli's Annotated Bibliography is an in valuable contribution to bibliographic material on Jung's most senior North American student and one of the few Jungians to have recognized the important influence of the East on Jung's thinking. --- from book's back cover ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Jung and Eastern Thought
The text was very helpful in understanding many significant differences between the Eastern and Western thought in regards to spiritual consciousness.Jung helps us understand the Western unconscous mind and its relationship to the pro and cons of the practice of Yoga.

Excellent comparison of Jung mostly with Hindu thought
This is a well-written book balancing Jungian & Eastern thought in an unbiased manner-both similarities & differences.It covers yoga (Patanjali's)/Taoism; alchemy/Gnosticism, the collective unconscious=Self/ Brahman, synchronicity; mandalas/quaternity/circumambulation, karma/reincarnation, prana/libido/prajna, & Upanishads/kundalini.It has general topics & a very detailed comparison of Jung/Patanjali's yoga with considerable discussion of the Upanishads.Thus, it focuses mainly on Hinduism.There are a great many parallels, if not identities, between numerous concepts & views: p. 5: quoting Jung: "Taoist philosophy as well as yoga have very many parallels with the psychic processes we can observe in Western man."Perhaps the main similarities lie in the extensive comparisons of Jung's libido vs. yoga's prana, self-knowledge & prajna, mandalas & circumambulation as symbols of wholeness/Self, the relationship between the self & the All, & yoga vs. psychotherapy.It is erudite, convincing, yet readable.

Main differences between Jung & Eastern thought include Jung's view of the 2 directions-[Western extroverted sensing thinking judging (ESTJ) vs. Eastern introverted intuitive feeling perceiving (INFP)]:
p. 8: "The truth of the East is not in the Eastern way itself, but in the demonstrated need for a balance between intellect and intuition, between thinking and feeling...To be overbalanced in any one aspect of consciousness is a sign of immaturity and "barbarism", to use Jung's word for it. Consequently, it is not the case that the modem West should give up its highly developed scientific intellect-only that the intuitive and feeling aspects of psychic function must achieve an equally high development in Western consciousness so that a creative balance can be achieved, and a widening of consciousness result. While Jung openly admired the Eastern yoga principle of inclusiveness and balance between the opposing aspects of psychic function, it is clear that he felt that the East had overstressed the intuitive, just as the modem West had over-developed the scientific."
p. 14: "In Jung's view any unbalance in the split of psychic energy, while it may produce the short-term gains of rigorous specialization (e. g., modern Western technology), will, in the long run, prove detrimental."

This is the basis for Jung's several arguments against Westerners directly adopting Eastern methods:
p. 18: "Here Jung again sounds his warning that the solution for the Westerner cannot be found by taking up the direct practice of Eastern yoga. Says Jung, the neurosis or split within consciousness would then simply be intensified But what can be learned from the East is a general approach to be adopted so that the split, the imbalance between the opposites may be brought into harmony."
p. 22: "because the Westerner typically does not know his own unconscious, it is quite likely that when he finds the East strange and hard to understand he will project onto it everything he fears and despises in himself...he felt the direct practice of yoga by a Westerner would only serve to strengthen his will and consciousness and so further intensify the split with the unconscious...The outcome would be just as disastrous for the Western neurotic who suffers from the opposite problem of a lack of development of the conscious and a predominance of the unconscious."
p. 23: "Jung pointed out that if we try to snatch spiritual techniques directly from the East `'we have merely indulged our Western acquisitiveness, confirming yet again that 'everything good is outside.'"

Specific differences include those between Jungian empirical psychology & Eastern philosophy:
p. 61: "lack of distinction between philosophy and psychology that seems to typify much Eastern thought."
p. 62: "the older psychologies of the East and the medieval West are founded on metaphysical concepts which often have little relation to empirical facts."
p. 104: "Throughout his life Jung admitted his strong attraction to Indian karma and reincarnation theory, but its lack of empirical verification was the obstacle to its full acceptance."
p. 188: "The error of Eastern thought in this regard is that it is not firmly grounded in the empirical method and instead has allowed itself to become lost in unsupportable metaphysical speculation."
p. 189: "Jung never thought of his own psychology as a closed theory. To his last years he remained open to new ideas that could come from either East or West.But throughout his life it was his activity as a psychotherapist that kept Jung skeptical of Eastern metaphysics and rooted in the tradition of Western medical science."

Nonetheless, Jung strongly supported studying Eastern thought & adapting it to Western usage:
p. 9: "The West must not simply attempt to copy the Eastern spiritual yoga, or the East blindly adopt Western science. Each should study the other and gain inspiration from its example, but each must pursue its own development within its own historical consciousness.'"
p. 23: "we must get at Eastern values from within and not from without, seeking them in ourselves, in the unconscious."
While this may seem antithetical to Eastern approaches, the Buddha advised individuals to carefully weigh his words themselves and see how applicable they were to them.Also Vajrayana masters continue to advise caution in accepting a guru/lama and even in considering what the guru tells the to do-in light of their individual discriminating wisdom.

Most interesting is the high impact issue of full Samadhi (absorption or Buddhahood) which Jung denied since it involves the dissolution of the ego and, thus, of individual consciousness:
p. 142: "Can there be mystical experience without an individual ego?" Or put another way, ''Is unlimited consciousness of the fullness of reality psychologically possible?"
p. 161: Jung: "They do not realize that a 'universal consciousness' is a contradiction in terms, since exclusion, selection, anti discrimination are the root and essence of everything; that lays claim to the name 'consciousness"
p. 177: "To Jung, consciousness is very narrowly defined as that quality of being related to the ego. `Consciousness needs a center, an ego to which something is conscious.We know of no other kind of consciousness, nor can we imagine a consciousness without an ego.'"
However, IMHO this revolves around a differing definition of consciousness.And, even Jung once implied that it might be possible for the Self to assume consciousness vs. the ego.Of course, Jung viewed himself as an empiricist and, apparently, never met an actual Buddha. ... Read more

Product Description
Outlines how a new working partnership between psychologists and evolutionary systems scientists can help create a more humanistic evolutionary theory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great reading
I confess I came to this book not as an expert of evolutionary theory, but as a person with a deep passion for futures and the development of the human species. In particular, my personal research relates to educational futures and the futures of consciousness. Thus the critique that follows cannot stand as that of an "impartial" expert's opinion, but merely as the considerations of a relative layman in the field of evolutionary theory. Considering my particular research foci, I found much in the volume to enthuse about.
The contributors to this volume are all members of the General Evolution Research Group. This was formed in 1986, and its purpose is "to bring together a small group of scholars from a variety of disciplines and nations to explore possibilities for the development of a general...evolution theory" (p.304). Ervin Laszlo is its primary founder and leader, with World Futures: the Journal of General Evolution being its mouthpiece.
Let me begin by stating that this is not only a well-written volume, but a necessary one. As Loye points out in the concluding chapter regarding the idea of "evolution," the mindsets of most scientists (and indeed the layperson), have been seized so thoroughly by the concepts of natural selection and blind chance that anyone challenging this idea with suggestions of "normative or developmental goals and ideals as well as standards and benchmarks for what constitutes evolution" is confronted by the reaction that "this is not only heresy but naïve and stupid." (p.281)
Yet most futurists are all too aware of the limitations of a purely biological and mathematical depiction of evolution. As Loye himself points out, conceptions of "ideal goals" are routine in futures (p.281). In futures there is generally an implicit representation of development and evolution which incorporates conceptions that exist above and beyond the merely physical and biological. Each of the contributors adds an extra dimension or two to the idea of evolution, until the total picture is one that is inclusive not only of the cosmic, chemical/Physical and biological dimensions that currently dominate the neo-Darwinian hegemony, but also includes developments in brain science and psychology, as well as cultural, social, economic, political, technological, educational, moral, spiritual, and consciousness evolution. To this is added the necessity for an action-oriented approach (p.277). The tools that are offered to move us forward are also somewhat heretical: including love (Eisler, Loye, Goerner, Bradley, Bausch and Christakis); partnership (Eisler, Goerner); communication and creativity (Goerner, Montuori, Combs and Richards); human agency (Bradley, Loye); creative action (Eisler, Goerner, Loye); and spiritual and consciousness evolution (Bausch and Christakis, Eisler, Goerner, Loye).
There is not room here to comment upon all 11 articles individually, but Loye's "Darwin, Maslow, and the Fully Human Theory of Evolution" is worth mentioning, as it encapsulates much of the spirit of the book, and will be an eye-opening piece for those unfamiliar with Loye's work. He argues that Darwin has been almost completely misrepresented by the neo-Darwinists. He points out that Darwin only wrote of "survival of the fittest" twice in The Decent of Man, whilste writing of love, moral development, and mind/consciousness hundreds of times in total. Yet the latter are totally ignored in mainstream evolutionary theory, a case of what Loye calls "the mind-binding and blinding power of paradigm." (p.23) Loye goes on to argue that Darwin actually presaged the development of transpersonal, positive and humanistic psychology, and indeed the relevance of moral development and "a spirituality freed of deism and dogma" ( p.23).
This book is aptly named. It contains an exciting array of research at the frontier of evolutionary theory. It may annoy purists of mainstream evolutionary theory for the same reason it excites the more speculative and adventurous amongst us, especially at the times that it moves into the explorative domains of evolutionary theory. Bradley's contribution stands out here, with his piece "Love, power, brain, mind, and agency." His endogenous construction of human evolution, heavily influenced by Pribram's holographic theory of perception, is predicated upon the rather prolix notion of a:

principle of organisation that governs any whole...(which) is non-local, distributed throughout the system and enfolded into its parts. It is this same notion of field, of a distributed order of socioaffective connection mediating the transformation of biological energy into psychosocial order that is the basis for ...(my) account...(p.140).

Yet as Loye points out in the introduction, Bradley's contribution is worth persisting with, despite its broad scope of theory and difficult language. Other contributions in the volume, it should be pointed out, are far more layman-friendly. The contributors generally manage to convey their understandings in easy-to-comprehend form, and considering the cross-disciplinary nature of the volume, this is a key component of its value to its potential audience.
As Loye argues, evolutionary theory "requires a massive updating, integrating and streamlining if it is to meet the needs of the twenty-first century, if not our survival itself over the long run." (p.21) This is no small task, but Loye and his colleagues are doing an invaluable job of getting the ball rolling.

Marcus T. Anthony, author of "Sage of Synchronicity" and "Integrated Intelligence." ... Read more

Product Description

There is no shortage of research methods that are easily applied to the study of everyday human experience. How, though, does one attempt to study extraordinary human experiences - ultimate values and meanings, peak experiences, transcendence and heightened awareness, among others.

William Braud and Rosemarie Anderson introduce a series of transpersonal research methods that are intended to help researchers develop new ways of knowing and methods of inquiry. While these methods will be of particular interest to researchers in transpersonal psychology, humanistic psychology, or transpersonal studies applied to traditional fields, the authors argue that these approaches - with their emphasis on developing intuition, empathy and self-awareness – can benefit anyone involved in the research enterprise across many disciplines.

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent guidance for transpersonal research
This book is an excellent resource for conducting transpersonal research.It's contents are clear, well-structured and comprehensive.This book has been much easier to understand and use than other books I have read on qualitative research methodologies.

A fundamental book for transpersonal research
During many times I red this amazing book. I think that this book is a landmark in development of methods to examine and experience the consciousness states. One of the most interesting aspects is to try apply this kind of knowledges to social dimension. Activity very well done. I recommend this book for psychologist, students and counsciousness researchers.

Best One Out There
Anderson and Braud are no armchair researchers or theorists in the transpersonal field.They bring a much needed dimension to the field in terms of research.The vast majority of transpersonal leaders are either theorists who ground their theories on top of other theories or those with very weak research designs. Anderson and Braud take no sides but present ways for every human science researcher to improve their methods of inquiry.Not only is the book the best in the field, it provides many outside resources to phenomenological, heuristic, action, case study, ethnographic, meta-study, statistical, and integral inquiry. A super book. ... Read more

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This book helps us to see and understand, from a spiritual perspective, our flaws and limitations as well as our potential for nobility and compassion. In very practical ways, it shows us how we can turn inward, awaken to the Divine presence within, and allow That to infuse and transform us as individuals and a society. BONUS: Includes excellent audio CD with various breathing exercises, contemplative exercises, and reflective meditations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Clarity at Last!
The title seemed too long, but once I got into the book I was impressed by the straightforward and surprisingly understandable descriptions of consciousness-changing processes, since I have very little background in any aspect of yoga. I've studied the psychological wisdom found in Buddhism and in esoteric versions of the JudeoChristianIslamic (JCI)line of thought. But to my amazement, Yoga Psychology helped clarify quite a few areas of misunderstanding or confusion clinging especially to the JCI teachings I've considered most familiar!

Tibetan Buddhist psychology seems almost as receptive to science methods and findings as the yoga modernized in the first half of the 20th century and described in this book. Both are devoted to doing collaborative research with psychologists and neuroscientists. By contrast, the western (JCI) mystery schools seem not to be as active as the two eastern religious or sacred philosophies even though they do express openness to altering doctrines that contradict repeatedly verified science findings. The teachings on which they were based were banned from entry into Europe for several centuries. Once admitted, in the medieval era, people who chose them still had to hide that fact to avoid severe punishments. Yoga Psychology's open, detailed descriptions of methods, processes, and outcomes made me realize that the reluctance of JCI mystery schools to provide equal disclosure may reflect a five century HABIT as well as the learning-related reasons the teachers give!

I think this book has stimulated increased collaborative research between psychological scientists and partners who have been trained, often for more years than it takes to get a PhD, to use the contemplative methods that are now recognized as needed. (Introspective methods used in the early days of psychological science didn't work because researchers didn't yet understand the kind of training that could produce useful findings.) I didn't buy this book; it came as a gift from someone who predicted - CORRECTLY - that I would like it. However, I intend to buy numerous copies of it to offer as Christmas gifts to people I predict will also like it a LOT!

An excellent "get-started" guide to yoga for self-transformation.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Don Salmon and educator Jan Maslow present Yoga Psychology and the Transformation of Consciousness: Seeing Through the Eyes of Infinity, a guide to embracing the psychological benefits of yoga. Chapters explore how to prepare for the expansions of one's mental state, awakening to vital consciousness, the transformation of one's mind, being aware of karma, and much more. An accompanying audio CD walks the reader through simple meditation techniques. An excellent "get-started" guide to yoga for self-transformation.

A fascinating exploration of the nature of our conscious experience
What a wonderful journey this book takes you on in its exploration of the nature of our conscious experience from both scientific and spiritual perspectives. Salmon and Maslow draw on the latest findings of scientific research as well as a wide variety of yogic sources, focusing in particular on Sri Aurobindo's multi-dimensional yogic vision. The authors present a fascinating summary of the scientific findings regarding how consciousness emerged over the course of evolution, how it develops in each of us from infancy to adulthood, and how it unfolds in every moment of our lives. They then use those scientific findings to challenge and delve into, in a way I found very eye-opening, the essence of how we experience the world in each moment. While honoring scientific research, they go on to challenge what we mistakenly take to be scientific fact - the view that consciousness is merely an accidental by-product of dead, non-conscious matter.

Particularly eye-opening for me are the deeply intelligent descriptions that bring rich new dimensions to familiar concepts such as karma, rebirth, ego, and soul. The authors also make beautiful sense, in a way I haven't quite seen before, of the purpose of life even in the face of deepest suffering, of our collective purpose and potential even in the face of a world that seems to be falling apart. But this book gives so much more than just wonderful explanations. Through vivid well-chosen examples and through the ongoing recounting of a particular individual's moving life story, it actually evokes the deep and vast dimensions of consciousness that it describes. The CD which comes with the book also does a brilliant job of making the radical and inspiring vision of yoga psychology accessible to our experience. In their own gentle voices, Salmon and Maslow guide us through effective basic meditation practices, and a series of provocative and evocative contmplative exercises. Salmon's sensitively composed and performed music which accompanies the entire CD helps to powerfully create in the listener a deeper experience of oneself and the world. ... Read more

Product Description
This intense, fascinating book explores how the ancient symbolism of the Chinese I Ching can be used as a transpersonal oracle during the various stages of life. Marysol Gonzalez Sterling takes readers on an exciting journey, providing guidance and vision to enhance one's personal experiences. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

intense and very interesting , highly suggested for everyone
This book offers a different perspective of the I Ching, the most expressive perspective I have read yet. Since the Chinese language is difficult to translate, this book is very well explained on a broad subject. There are many books on diffrent aspects about the I Ching, thisis one I have enjoyed the most. I congratulate the author on a job welldone. ... Read more

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Blue Dolphin Publishing ... Read more

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Must have
This is a classic text for anyone who truly wants to gain knowledge into the tradition of the existential humanistic phenomenological tradition of therapy.This is an important exploration on the meaning and relavance that this tradition holds today despite many new "gimmick" therapies coming along over the years. ... Read more

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Celebrates and instructs in the healing power of breath. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Washburn Gets It
This is one of the best books on Transpersonal Psychology/Spirituality on the market. Of the 30 or 40 books on the subject that I have read, this is clearly the best. This work far exceeds the work of Wilber and other authors in this field when it comes to mapping the inner journey.

The book is profoundly authentic as it is obvious that Washburn has actually traveled the journey that he writes about. The author maps out the "Dark Night of the Soul" and does so in a manner that removes the ambiguous mythical and superstitious language of religion.

Washburn maps out the process of right brain/left brain integration or the marriage of the conscious with the unconscious spheres of the human soul. This process is spoken of in veiled language in most of the religious and mythical texts. It is called "Kundalini", "Death and Resurrection", "Night Sea Journey." etc. It is very difficult indeed.

It is not a vertical process of ascent as proposed by other authors in this field, most of whom are mere theorists and have themselves not taken the journey. Most of these types have an experience of Spirit and prop themselves up as gurus or pandits. Only a person who has undertaken this perilous journey can accurately describe it, and Washburn obviously has. This is the most arduous and difficult process that any human being can experience and leads to integration and spiritual wholeness. Other books on "enlightnement" speak the language of "attainment" and of states and levels of consciousness. Anyone can attain higher states of consciousness on a temporary basis, but who has the courage, fortitude, and integrity to go deep into the bowels of their own unconscious and work through every fear and karmic issue?

knowing Who You Are
This is a very in depth preview of the human journey from birth through what many people would call Enlightenment from the perspective of a therapist.The overall energy is one of the highest that I have calibrated (Map of Consciousness from "Power versus Force") making it, what I would consider a Classic.It is a must for all therapists and for those who wish to know who they are.

Brilliant Map
This is the best book on transpersonal psychology I've ever read. It does not require huge metaphysical leaps of faith. The explanations of the difficulties on the spiritual path related toreconnecting to the Dynamic Ground are nothing short of brilliant. It puts mystical experiences, Jungian psychology, and spiritual development into a clear, coherent model which makes perfect sense. I've used Washburn's model in a university level course I've taught on transpersonal psychology and have started a Washburn study group with my friends.

return to the depths
Whatever may be said about the technicality of the alternatives offered here to the usual transpersonal paradigms, Washburn does a fine job of recogizing that our vitality as awakening beings isn't only to be found onthe heights of spirit; it also lives in the vales, in the lowlands andplaces of origin.The problem with verticality worship is that"enlightenment" becomes a goal by which one transcendseverything, leaps over everything, instead of working through unresolvedconflicts and lingering vulnerabilities.

Turning back the clocks
In my opinion, Washburn is the counter-revolutionary, reacting to the revolution Ken Wilber has brought to the field of transpersonal psychology. Where Wilber has broken with the depth psychological roots of Westernpsychology, and situated spirituality in the superconscious mind (followingAssagioli and others), Washburn is trying to get back to these roots,combining Freud and Jung. Positive about this book is that it makes thefundamental options stand out more clearly. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Broad Reader
This book presents "emerging" approaches to research.Yes, during the mid-1970's back when Nixon was president.It completely misses massive changes in the past half century from post-structuralism, deconstruction, boarderlands theory, neuro-mapping, structural equation modeling, evolutionary psychology, post-positivism, as well as many other theoretical developments.Forty years of journals cannot be ignored without consequences.It also predates massive changes in social life including the ubiquitous spread of cable television (which was only beginning to gain penetration in the late 70's), as well as cellular telephones, home video players, the PC, statistical and qualitative software packages, and the Internet.When this book came out people were still using punch cards, mainframe computers, and rotary dial landline telephones.It also misses several advances in statistical and qualitative approahes to social science research. Given this context, that is addressing the question of whether one should purchase this book today, I would give it a zero. Even in its time, like all textbooks, it skims entire schools of thought, over-simplifying and distorting sub-fields.But one would know this only if the reader has read the primary texts in the various sub-fields.In this sense, it may have once been okay to introduce some areas to undergraduates but certainly not a book for doctoral level reading.One might read it as a way to see historically how social science has changed over the decades.Any other use would be a great disservice, especially for advanced undergrads who should not be reading such summaries.Interestingly Polkinghorne's second book when he was a more mature thinker that came about a decade after this one and which focuses on qualitiative methods was better.The one thing this older book does adequately, if compared to introductory level undergraduate textbooks in sociology or psychology, is present a cursory view of the now long faded structural-functionalism made famous by Talcott Parsons.Otherwise it presents a very sketchy version of the philosophy of science made popular by the Vienna Circle prior to World War II. I would recommend reading primary sources written since then (in the last half century).

Solid, informative, and what you want in a good textbook
The aim of this book is to provide the reader with a comprehensive textbook that surveys the emerging body of research literature, and clearly describes procedures and methods for carrying out new research. (From the back cover) This book does that and more.While most historical overviews will cover the major personages and movements, Polkinghorn does so with easy-to-understand and adequate descriptions so you get a good idea how of the field of science, and its methods have shifted through the years.His work served me like a tour guide, and filled in the gaps in my thinking about the historical unfolding drama in science, and their seminal figures.What I got out of the book was the courage and freedom to explore new areas of qualitative research, and not worry about conforming my research to some illusionary image of what I thought science what to be about all about. The book is a dense read, but will serve as a good foundational text in and out of the classroom for those who want to understand research in the human sciences. ... Read more

Product Description
Psychology and the Internet provides the first resource for examining how the Internet affects our definition of who we are and our communication and work patterns. It also examines how normal behavior differs from the pathological with respect to Internet use. The book contains three sections: the first section covers the "self" in relation to the Internet; the second section explores how the Internet is used to meet new friends and love interests, as well as to conduct business; and the final section examines the philosophical ramifications of Internet use and our definitions of reality and consciousness.

Key Features
* Provides the first resource for looking at how the Internet affects our definition of who we are
* Examines the philosophical ramifications of Internet use and our definitions of self, reality, and work
* Explores how the Internet is used to meet new friends and love interests, as well as to conduct business
* Discusses what represents normal behavior with respect to Internet use ... Read more

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This mediation how-to manual brings together the collective wisdom of two of the field's most renowned founders, John Michael Haynes and Larry Sun Fong. The book not only covers a range of mediation cases, but also uniquely provides feedback from the clients as they reflect on the sessions and report on what worked best for them. Beginning with a review of the theoretical underpinnings of the Haynes model of mediation, the book then presents six case studies with each demonstrating one or more of the organizing principles of mediation. The sessions examined reflect the different mediation areas currently being practiced-business, employment, neighborhood, adoption, education, and family. The book goes beyond simply reporting what mediators experience as it shares the insights and motivations of Fong and Haynes. This well-rounded approach includes the exploration of the clients' thoughts, helping readers to incorporate successful organizing principles into their own mediation practices. ... Read more

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AUROBINDO'S INTEGRAL YOGA PSYCHOLOGY AND A. MASLOW'S HUMANISTIC/TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY. ... Read more