"Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model of something that was almost completely lacking in Western psychology--an account of the development phases of higher consciousness.... Jung's insistence on the psychogenic and symbolic significance of such states is even more timely now than then. As R. D. Laing stated... 'It was Jung who broke the ground here, but few followed him.'"--From the introduction by Sonu Shamdasani
Jung's seminar on Kundalini yoga, presented to the Psychological Club in Zurich in 1932, has been widely regarded as a milestone in the psychological understanding of Eastern thought and of the symbolic transformations of inner experience. Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model for the developmental phases of higher consciousness, and he interpreted its symbols in terms of the process of individuation. With sensitivity toward a new generation's interest in alternative religions and psychological exploration, Sonu Shamdasani has brought together the lectures and discussions from this seminar. In this volume, he re-creates for today's reader the fascination with which many intellectuals of prewar Europe regarded Eastern spirituality as they discovered more and more of its resources, from yoga to tantric texts. Reconstructing this seminar through new documentation, Shamdasani explains, in his introduction, why Jung thought that the comprehension of Eastern thought was essential if Western psychology was to develop. He goes on to orient today's audience toward an appreciation of some of the questions that stirred the minds of Jung and his seminar group: What is the relation between Eastern schools of liberation and Western psychotherapy? What connection is there between esoteric religious traditions and spontaneous individual experience? What light do the symbols of Kundalini yoga shed on conditions diagnosed as psychotic? Not only were these questions important to analysts in the 1930s but, as Shamdasani stresses, they continue to have psychological relevance for readers on the threshold of the twenty-first century. This volume also offers newly translated material from Jung's German language seminars, a seminar by the indologist Wilhelm Hauer presented in conjunction with that of Jung, illustrations of the cakras, and Sir John Woodroffe's classic translation of the tantric text, the Sat-cakra Nirupana.
Customer Reviews:
An Incredibly Intense ReadMay 24, 2007 9 out of 13 found this review helpful
I found this book an incredibly intense book to read. There's nothing simple about it. I had hoped for both clarity and understanding and received neither. I kept reading...hoping upon hope that Shamdasani's words would hold me spellbound and captivated.
I seek truth in its simplest form, but did not find it here. While I am certain that Shamdasani's intent was to provide the reader with an intelligent read, his need for intellectual diatribes created, in stead, an emotional abyss; I found that I could not connect with his analysis without great intensity of focus. Frankly, I didn't have either the time or the inclination to work that hard to grasp the connections.
Had Shamdasani employed simplicity of thought and content as his guides, the average reader might actually benefit from his wisdom and intellect.
Worth reading both for Jung and for ShamdasaniFebruary 26, 2006 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Jung's ideas on Kundalini are brilliant, but reveal more about Jungian psychology than Kundalini. As with all of Shamdasani's writing, his introduction provides a historical context that both enriches Jung's interpretation and tells us much of the era in which his ideas emerged
Although Jung didn't understand kundalini phenomenon...June 1, 2000 11 out of 21 found this review helpful
...or what we now refer to as Spiritual Emergence, he amplifies the chakra symbols with such interesting illustrations that the book is well worth the price paid for it.
