Rating: 
Summary: Jung's Reflections on Life
Review: MDR is one of the few titles by Jung which is meant for general readership. Most of his works (his titles in the 20-volume Bollingen series) are very technical and, admittedly, soporific at times. Be that as it may I cannot emphasize enough how important the ideas and discoveries of Jung are. Had he lived two or even five centuries ago his ideas would be just as cogent to us today, or perhaps even more so, in the face of ongoing and seemingly interminable political-military crises that overwhelm us, in a time when we have enough technology to obliterate entire nations via remote control. Indeed Jung resurrects such ancient ideas as soul, psyche, daimon, gods but he contextualizes them anew. No longer are deities entities that live in the firmament above, but rather they are our projections of the psychological goings-on deep within us. And here Jung strikes at the heart of all our problems (and opportunities) for Jung always circles around and orbits the phenomenon of the unconscious, from whence our consciousness is born and in which it is and will forever be rooted. In my opinion, in MDR, Jung shares his most crucial ideas in the last three chapters, namely, "On Life After Death," "Late Thoughts," and "Retrospect." Always Jung is dedicated to reality and the truth. He does not acquiesce to the tastes and sensibilities of his readers. For instance in "Late Thoughts" he underscores the point that the "recognition of the reality of evil necessarily relativizes the good, and the evil likewise, converting both into halves of a paradoxical whole." And on the last page of the last chapter he both muses and avers: "The world into which we are born is brutal and cruel, and at the same time of divine beauty. Which element we think outweighs the other, whether meaninglessness or meaning, is a matter of temperament... Probably, as in all metaphysical questions, both are true: Life is--or has--meaning and meaninglessness." These are very somber perhaps even depressing revelations, but for Jung the only way we can rise above our neuroses is to acknowledge such painful truths. I have perhaps quoted more from this work of Jung's than from his other titles. Not only is it easier to digest, but since it was written just 4 years before his death I believe it contains some of his best thoughts, thoughts congealed and shared when he had reached the peak of his mountain, thoughts from a very, very wise old man.
Rating:
Summary: Memorable, Reflective...
Review: Psychologist Carl Jung wrote this tome near the end of his life, and in so doing wrote a book that is part autobiography, part treatise on psychology, part philosophy, but all Jung. Of all the early pioneers in psychotherapy, Jung valued the spiritual life of humanity most of all; a fact that would cost him his relationship with his own brilliant-yet-troubled mentor, Sigmund Freud. Here, his thoughts survey himself, his family, his patients, Freud, Western civilization, history, religion, and--possibly--what Jung would call "God" Itself. Each vignette is thickly permeated by Jung's ideas about myth, rituals, symbolism, and the collective unconscious, echoing themes and dilemmas as old as the human race. Read how he grapples with the dualities of masculine and feminine, East and West, "civilized" and "primitive," good and evil, life and death, Heaven and Hell, time and eternity, and attempts to resolve them all in his archetypal quest to uncover what he calls the Self. He sometimes comes close, but never completely succeeds; that's alright, neither do we. Jung's life, like his thought, is dynamic, not static; in motion, not standing still. Many of his thoughts will likely seem mundane compared to current advances in psychology, but as a work of art and one of the twentieth century's "Great Books," Jung's book is timeless. Don't read it as a literal autobiography of the man, but instead of Jung as he dons "the likeness of that more universal, truer, more eternal man dwelling in the darkness of primordial night."
Rating:
Summary: A stone not to be left unturned.
Review: Read along exploring the mind and spirit of this century's (and possibly the next) deepest thinker as he takes you on a reflective journey through his inner and outer lives. A wonderful book to bring us back to our grounding in the spirit. Jung not only speaks of but lives out the archetypal truths of mankind. His description and recounting of his discovery of the Biblical "stone the builders left untaken" which he had his builders use as the cornerstone of his castle is an inspiring revelation of a turning point in his life and beliefs from this most eastern of western philosophers. One comes away from the book with a fulfilling sense of wholeness that remains a part of the heart. It is a book to buy, read, and reread at different times throughout life
Rating:
Summary: The most important book I have ever read!
Review: Since 1964, when I first read this book, I have covered lots of "territory" in religion, psychology, philosophy, and natural science. This book stands out as the most important. It formed the foundation for my deepest and most rewarding insights into human existence. "By their fruits ye shall know them" truly applies here, for this is the "pick of the crop".
Rating:
Summary: Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus Deus Adherit
Review: The inscription from the Delphic Oracle which Jung carved in stone over his front door: " Invoked or not invoked the god will be there" He said you could take away a man's gods, but only to give him new ones. He spoke from personal experience. His great teacher was a critically skeptical materialist who staunchly maintained he was free of any irrational wishfull thinking, as a healthy adult and as true scientist should be. However. . . "I can still recall vividly how Freud said to me , 'My dear Jung promise me never to abandon the sexual theory. . .You see, we must make a dogma out of it'. He said that to me with great emotion, in the tone of a father saying, 'And promise me this one thing, my dear son: that you will go to church every Sunday." A dogma? He continues: " I was bewildered and embarrassed. . . One thing was clear: Freud who had always made much of his irreligiosity, had now constructed a dogma; or rather in the place of a jealous God whom he had lost, he had substituted another. " But Freud was in step with his time. Psychology is, literally , the study of the soul. And what truck did the 20th century have to do with gods or souls? So Jung became branded as a head in the clouds mystic, after his 'father' disowned him. And former admirers to the 'heir apparent' abandoned him.
----------------------------------------------------------------- This is an autobiography that reads like a lyrical poem, yet lucid and very easy to follow---right into the land of dreams. He covers his earliest childhood memories, his relationship and break with Freud, and his subsequent explorations into the heart of modern man. The emphasis is always that of the physician. Where can the healing come from?
----------------------------------------------------------------- As to his final conclusion, by the end of his life he stated that he did not believe in God. He knew.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING
Review: The introduction starts with:
"He looked at his own Soul
with a Telescope. What seemed
all irregular, he saw and
shewed to be beautiful
Constellations; and he added
to the Consciousness hidden
worlds within worlds.
----------- (fom) COLERIDGE, Notebooks" The last paragraph of the last chapter goes:
When Lao-tzu says:
"All are clear, I alone am clouded,....." This is the first time I ever read a book by Jung. It is suppose to be an auto-biography. However it is WAY more than that. This book introduces you to yourself - your real Self, the Unconscious. The Unconscious is our hidden raw self , it is connected to our ancestors, it is connected to a higher Being beyond us , it is connected to others, to relationships. He is opening a door for us so we can recognize our Unconscious selves. We can know more about it by analyzing our dreams. Jung is like a wake up call. Otherwise we will be sleeping in our "real, physical, routine, scheduled, predicted, world." And the challenge is, do we wake up or do we go back to sleep?
Rating:
Summary: Wisdom from the inner life in Jung's own words
Review: These writings come straight from Jung's own inner experience and it is his last book before his death in 1961. I have read and re-read this work because at different times in my life I needed to re-evaluate where I was and where I was going. Other books by Jung are more intellectual and scientific, whereas, this autobiography has the wisdom of a person in the later part of life and it was written not so much to teach but to leave with us his legacy. Having myself had a near death experience, I was especially re-affirmed by Jung's own near death experience and his dealings with this phenomenon. His acceptance of his own humanity and his returning from this state to share with us his knowledge and vision is a gift to all of us. It is not easy to return to our humanity and deal with the sufferings we encounter but growth is the only evidence of life. We have to come down from the mountain top and work in the valley. This brings to mind two books written by Hannah Hurnard called Mountains of Spices and Hinds Feet in High Places. Allegories about living our lives with others and not in solitude. Solitude is a wonderful place but if we stay too long we become self-centered, afraid to reach out to others. Another author who gives a good perspective on life is Henri Nouwen and his books Out of Solitude and Reaching Out.
Rating: 
Summary: A glimpse into the humanity of the healer
Review: This book does give a good overview of Jung's ideas, and how the developed in his life and interior thought. What I most love about this book, however is the feeling I came away with for Jung himself. It made me feel that he was a deeply compassionate, openminded and rational man, if imperfect as all men. Its greatness is that it puts a human face behind all of the science and ideas of his legacy, and gives the reader an insight of his own inner experience which one can relate to.
Rating:
Summary: A glimpse into the humanity of the healer
Review: This book does give a good overview of Jung's ideas, and how the developed in his life and interior thought. What I most love about this book, however is the feeling I came away with for Jung himself. It made me feel that he was a deeply compassionate, openminded and rational man, if imperfect as all men. Its greatness is that it puts a human face behind all of the science and ideas of his legacy, and gives the reader an insight of his own inner experience which one can relate to.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all time favorites
Review: This book is for anyone who is interested in Carl Jung,
his life and teachings. One of the greatest thinkers of all times.
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