Rating: 
Summary: possibly his best book...
Review: ....insightful, humbling, stated simply, an eloquent autobiographical piece by the well-known Jungian analyst. Memorable items include his clash with Jolanda Jacobe and his frustration with Krishnamurti.
Rating:
Summary: possibly his best book...
Review: ....insightful, humbling, stated simply, an eloquent autobiographical piece by the well-known Jungian analyst. Memorable items include his clash with Jolanda Jacobe and his frustration with Krishnamurti.
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best work in Johnson's compendium.
Review: As a student of depth psychology, particularly Jungian, I have read all of Johnson's work and this most personal work is the one that has affected me the most deeply. By revealing the details of his life's journey, Johnson gives the reader insight into how it looks to "follow your bliss." Sometimes the call we receive is not an easy one and Johnson poignantly shares his struggles with this as well. But remaning true to the "still small voice" and allowing his ego to be used in service to the Self (God) has resulted in a life that is both rich in texture and joyful in experience. This book is a treasure and one to be savored at that!
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best work in Johnson's compendium.
Review: As a student of depth psychology, particularly Jungian, I have read all of Johnson's work and this most personal work is the one that has affected me the most deeply. By revealing the details of his life's journey, Johnson gives the reader insight into how it looks to "follow your bliss." Sometimes the call we receive is not an easy one and Johnson poignantly shares his struggles with this as well. But remaning true to the "still small voice" and allowing his ego to be used in service to the Self (God) has resulted in a life that is both rich in texture and joyful in experience. This book is a treasure and one to be savored at that!
Rating:
Summary: Warm and unpretentious account of a life lived well
Review: Beginning at the age of 11 and occuring several times more throughout his life, the author found himself in an altered state where he was able to view Heaven, or "The Golden World" as he called it. The title of this book then, "Balancing Heaven and Earth", chronicles his spiritual journey which was characterized by the need to balance or integrate the nearly undescribable bliss of heaven with the author's ordinary existence.
Looking back on his life while near the end of it Johnson examines and chronicles his life and spiritual journey for us, including his experiences growing up as a poor kid without a leg, his meeting with Carl Jung and subsequent career as a Jungian analyst, writer and speaker, and his adventures traveling around the world. Especially interesting are his tales of India.
Johnson's "voice" comes across as grandfatherly and warm. He doesn't claim to have achieved enlightenment, doesn't claim to know all of the answers, and he clearly isn't attempting to recruit followers, or build up his ego, resume or bank account. He writes simply and elequently, and avoids the complex, philosophical jargon that render many writers (such as Ken Wilber) somewhat inaccessible to simple lunkheads like me. (Note however, that a basic understanding of Jungian psychology will add to one's understanding).
Here is a sample passage that I particularly liked, which is the author's take on sainthood, coming after a small town in India had asked him to live there as their local "saint":
"I have meditated on the subject of sainthood many times since this experience, and I find a bit of wisdom in understanding that saints are people who suffer the projection of unlived holiness from a group of people and are made to serve in this strange role whether they like it or not. It is only the other side of the coin of scapegoating, in which a group chooses an individual to carry the dark side of their own personalities, which they are unwilling to own for themselves...God help the poor person who is landed with either of the excesses that humankind finds equally difficult to bear."
(The theme of people unwilling to "own" their own best qualities, and therefore projecting them onto a religious guru, is touched upon several times throughout the book).
Overall, this is a wonderful story of someone following God's leading throughout life and finally coming to a place where they are comfortable in their own skin, both physically and spiritually - having learned to lay down the ego's agenda and follow the subtle leading of the Spirit of God.
Rating:
Summary: Fresh insight amidst today's psychobabble from a true legend
Review: I had no idea who Robert Johnson was until I picked up his book. Here is a man who studied at the Jung Institute, with Krishnamurti, and was going to Ashrams in India in the 50s before that sort of thing was "en vogue." His observations on life, dreams, the spiritual world (or Golden World, as he calls it), shown through the lens of his interesting life, are refreshingly clear, vivid-feeling, and important. He is somewhat reclusive, and it shows--as anyone who is alone and meditative becomes humble and ego-less. This is a great person--a gem who has much to teach us about ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: There is wisdom here
Review: I will always be greatful to Mr. Johnson (and Dr. Ruhl) for this book. It "served heaven" by catalyzing remarkable insights in me (including the meaning of a critical, numinous dream I had 18 years ago, as an 18-year-old). There is wisdom here, plainly stated.Now for a little "balance." There are a few minor problems with the book. Particularly in the early part, there are curious repetitions that signal an editing problem. Also, Mr. Johnson insists that English has only one word to describe the many gradients of the concept "love," when in fact there many, including "infatuation," "admiration," and others. Neither of these pecadillos detracts seriously from the book.
Rating:
Summary: There is wisdom here
Review: I will always be greatful to Mr. Johnson (and Dr. Ruhl) for this book. It "served heaven" by catalyzing remarkable insights in me (including the meaning of a critical, numinous dream I had 18 years ago, as an 18-year-old). There is wisdom here, plainly stated. Now for a little "balance." There are a few minor problems with the book. Particularly in the early part, there are curious repetitions that signal an editing problem. Also, Mr. Johnson insists that English has only one word to describe the many gradients of the concept "love," when in fact there many, including "infatuation," "admiration," and others. Neither of these pecadillos detracts seriously from the book.
Rating:
Summary: A View Through Young Eyes
Review: My soul (as my mind percieves it) has not yet found the thread of enlightenment. I accept the path to stumble, fall, rise up and down and to reach into the oblivion of understanding. I have seventeen short years behind my eyes, and strive to become an old woman. I thank Robert Johnson and his writings in "Balancing Heaven and Earth", as it is of great comfort to known although I am alone in my personal journey, I am not alone in my attempt to find a middle path between the extremes of human despair and joy, and the truths behind it. I have often gazed upon the world in realization that I do not, in fact, understand it in the least! I cannot comprehend the forces behind the companies which constructed the buildings and the societies that mesh and become urban life (although the boundaries between urban and sub-urban, country, city, town and household have been blurred beyond recognition). Yet it is of comfort to me to have the opportunity to read Robert Johnson's biographical writings...as I have great respect for him. I shall further indulge in his other works!
Rating:
Summary: A View Through Young Eyes
Review: My soul (as my mind percieves it) has not yet found the thread of enlightenment. I accept the path to stumble, fall, rise up and down and to reach into the oblivion of understanding. I have seventeen short years behind my eyes, and strive to become an old woman. I thank Robert Johnson and his writings in "Balancing Heaven and Earth", as it is of great comfort to known although I am alone in my personal journey, I am not alone in my attempt to find a middle path between the extremes of human despair and joy, and the truths behind it. I have often gazed upon the world in realization that I do not, in fact, understand it in the least! I cannot comprehend the forces behind the companies which constructed the buildings and the societies that mesh and become urban life (although the boundaries between urban and sub-urban, country, city, town and household have been blurred beyond recognition). Yet it is of comfort to me to have the opportunity to read Robert Johnson's biographical writings...as I have great respect for him. I shall further indulge in his other works!
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