Product Description

In his classic, provocative work, Dr. Carl Jung-one of psychiatry's greatest minds-argues that the future depends on our ability to resist society's mass movements. Only by understanding our unconscious inner nature-"the undiscovered self"-can we gain the self-knowledge that is antithetical to ideological fanaticism. But this requires facing the duality of the human psyche-the existence of good and evil in us all. In this seminal book, Jung compellingly argues that only then can we cope and resist the dangers posed by those in power.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37257 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

The power to stand against the World
_In this book Jung correctly predicted that Communism had to collapse from within. No one else saw that coming. Why should they? For, as he points out, the mass state had all the force of the big battalions on their side- politics, science, and technology were their natural allies. And yet they collapsed.

_Should we rejoice in this? Why? Jung points out that the West is every bit as materialistic as our former Communist opponents. Our spiritual base is gone- in the place of true religion we have aging cults that serve the status quo. There is no inner power there. Every place Jung uses the term Communist, you can substitute Corporate and you have the same animal. That is because both are hierarchical structures where the individual counts for nothing. Indeed, the self-knowledge or individualization that would produce true men and women capable of standing up to the hierarchy is actively discouraged. They are trapped in the illusion of statistical man and of the organization- neither of which really exist. Only a few at the top can exercise the power of a true individual, and even they are usually no more than mouthpieces for the undeveloped masses and their unconscious drives.

_The hope for Jung lies in true religion. The freedom and autonomy of the individual depends on deep inner experience of a metaphysical nature. This is not "faith"; it is direct knowing. Even the deepest faith may melt away with time and circumstances- but not direct experience. It is only this that gives the individual the power to stand up to mass tyranny- and to the World itself. When you haven't made this breakthrough (which requires deep introspection, effort, and, yes, suffering) then other things get deified and charged with demonic energy- money, work, political influence...

_The shallow, rootless mass-man and his organizations are always going to lose, eventually, to the man with deep religious connection to the Macrocosm. Jung the Gnostic, Jung the Christian, Jung the Alchemist, Jung the Magician saw this. The individuated man has the cosmic correspondence within himself.

A book which covers an important issue we are facing in out Global Village.
If you have read much of Jung's works especially Man and His Symbols then don't expect any surprises this text pertains to the importance of individuation. Important in Jung's time and in our Global Village. This book only pertains to the pertinence of the issue not the how. So once you are done I suggest readingEgo and Archetype. A good book none the less and a decent intro to Jung Psych although I feel that Man and His Symbols is a better introduction.

Spiritually Blind
Jung sees virtually everything as symbolic which drastically blinds him to Truth. He writes, "...before the coming of Christianity mankind believed in a life after death and therefore had no need of the Easter event as a guarantee of immortality." This single sentence fragment negates the entire message of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was NOT symbolic. It happened, it had to happen, and it wasn't an option. This is the Gospel. Jung is explicit in his denial of this reality as he writes, "The danger that a mythology understood too literally, and as taught by the Church, will suddenly be repudiated lock, stock and barrel is today greater than ever. Is it not time that the Christian mythology, instead of being wiped out, was understood symbolically for once?" It was LITERAL! NOT SYMBOLIC! IT happened just as the Bible described. The disciples suffered intense persecution and death for reality, not for symbols.

Jung has some insightful things to say about Communism's vacuum and failure. He is sadly misguided in knowing about the reality of spiritual matters.