John Campbell

Wonderful Portals to Jung

Revisado: 01-05-23

The depth and brilliance of Jung makes studying his work challenging. I’m very impressed with this podcast. Smith gives significant glimpses into Jung’s ideas and his essential wisdom. I don’t think there is anyone who can’t appreciate and gain from the thoughtful insights and explorations here.

Even those who know nothing or little of Jung will find much to consider and ponder. The universal appeal of Jung’s approach to human life is apparent in these essays which are approachable yet not made vulgar or simplistic. I can thoroughly recommend this for anyone interested in the human journey we are all on, yet too often avoid in the hustle and bustle of existing.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Garry Marshall was a Mensch.

Revisado: 06-07-22

I’m not Jewish. Neither was Garry Marshall. But if this man was not a mensch, I don’t know the meaning of the word.

He comes across as talented, ambitious, hardworking, kind, funny, dignified and wildly successful without coming across the least bit arrogant. He was justly proud of his accomplishments, but always spoke highly of the people he worked with. He is generous in his praise, with sincerity and appreciation of those people who contributed to his success. He was no primadonna . The cream rises to the top and Garry Marshall was full fat all the way. It was simply a joy to read and I’m sure he is supremely missed by those who knew him. But I’m equally sure they know how lucky they are that they did.

I now feel lucky knowing the man responsible for Happy Days and The Odd Couple, to name my favourites. The man was so down to earth that he brings up the expression, “jumping the shark”, referring to a late episode of Happy Days indicating a franchise that was fading after a stellar run. He saw the humour in life, without protecting his ego. The world needs more people with such talent and integrity. I’m now tempted to read about his sister Penny. What a family.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Personal, Inspiring, Intelligent, and Wise

Revisado: 03-26-21

Russell Brand’s book here is a call not to arms but to revelation, intention, and action for our souls.

Russell is an actor and comedian, so he understands the maxim – dying is easy, comedy is hard. Perhaps that’s why more than a few comedians have a philosophical bent, if not a spiritual one, and Russell is right up there at the top with both. Alan Watts too, was a gifted performer combining spirituality, philosophy, psychology, and humor. It’s curious that some of the best and most important philosophers were not known for anything close to comedy – Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard come to mind and the greatest psychologist/philosopher ever – Carl Jung – was not particularly known for his bon mots. Although perhaps their humor has been lost in unrecorded conversations and internal dialogs. Brand refers to the latter thinker a good deal, crediting Jung with more than a few of his ideas and inspirations. There are enough references to show that his is not a superficial interest in C. G. Jung. But you don’t have to be familiar with Jung or even appreciate his scholarship and ideas to like Brand here and this book.

Brand has faced many of his demons and has turned himself inside out to reveal the blood, guts, and shadow within. It’s not surprising that he has a podcast “Under the Skin”. He uses, mocks, and questions his celebrity as a powerful tool to reach out and connect with his audience. Brand never comes across as arrogant. He’s a bloody good entertainer, but in service to a higher purpose.

He quotes W. B Yeats who said: “Every artist must create their own religion.” Brand goes on to say that he thinks we all should (create our own religion) – “that we are all artists – creators of our own lives.” He tells us not to invent a “crap religion” with superficial spirituality and showy affectations. Russell is a genuine seeker, and he manifests the trickster archetype at its best. He’s deeply sincere, but never so self-absorbed that he cannot stand back and make fun of himself. No trickster can think too highly of himself. The trickster’s job is to reveal mysteries, pretensions, absurdities, paradoxes, and illusions. Those exist everywhere and in everyone, including the trickster herself, who knows this better than anyone.

I have my own ideas about all of this and am becoming more and more convinced that we are at a moment in history, facing a central and overarching issue, that few of us recognize. Brand’s “Revelation” is a wonderful guide on exploring and exercising your humanity, and the sacred above all. Russell riffs on many things including addiction, poverty, life and death, and politics, where he rejects ideologies – “left and right as masks of the same system.” The book contains enormous truth. We have to break out of the system, but few people realize how deep the system lies – the roots of the system – Logos over Eros.

It’s all in service to coming to grips with the sacred. Solutions will not be found in technology, governance or attempts to establish a greater order. Things are falling apart because of what I consider to be a surfeit of Logos, when we desperately need more Eros, which is near enough to the sacred.

Russell does not see himself as a guru, although he could be for some who want to follow. Of course, no one should follow a guru, and least of all one who declares himself to be a guru. Just as one should avoid voting or supporting anyone who desires political power, but I digress. Brand never portrays himself as anything more than the seeker and trickster that he is. Brand seems to subscribe to Jung who maintained that: “The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.” Brand doesn’t push any particular agenda or path except that we are in need of some sort of revolution and that it involves embracing the sacred. I could not agree more.

He wants to help change the world and there’s every evidence that most of us feel the same. None of us know how the world should be, even as a journey, and the concept of change to reach some destination is beyond absurd and meaningless. A symptom of our great problem is the crazy notion that many people have – that they do know how and in what way the world should be changed, and the solutions and directives need to be imposed upon us. Brand certainly has his opinions, but I never get the sense that he is doing anything more than giving broad sweeps of essential truths – the details are up to all of us to figure out and develop over time. He is encouraging a more humane and more human world. I’m not sure that this audio book can change anyone’s personal opinion very much, but it can certainly inspire people to explore possibilities. Approached with an open mind, it could ignite a few fires, or add fuel to existing ones.

There are no easy solutions to anything that we are facing. Catastrophizing doesn’t help. Neither do shrill pronouncements nor moral crusades. We are not doomed – so call me a dreamer. But we do have a lot of work ahead of us. Jung suggested hundreds of years. Some days it seems likely to be longer. Most importantly, we have to face the inner work we have to do. We can begin that right now and continue to the end of our days here. Russell has done a lot of that inner work, leading by example and with humility. Ultimately, we have to keep one eye on the outer world and one on our inner world – hence “under the skin”.

Russell says: “I’ve been trying to escape reality since the moment I realized there was one. This impulse though is spiritual.” But he has embraced this world and is trying to help others to do the same – the pain, the joy, and the challenges of seeing the world and our self as they are and working on both sides of our skin.

The book balances beautifully between gentle humor and serious commentary – never losing the plot – losing our connection to the sacred, regardless of your conception of God, including the possibility that there is none. Above all we must reconnect with the sacred in a profound way. The book is a demonstration of humanity in an examination of the human condition. It is optimistic and challenging. And Brand can write as well as he reads and performs, never trivializing his words or the feelings they evoke.

I’m facing all these issues myself and thinking about them enormously and endlessly – the inner and the outer. I’ve been listening to Russell Brand a lot lately. I consider him a fellow traveler and he can be as funny and as charming as hell, while he explores great wisdom. We all need such companions on this journey. Thank you Russell Brand.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Nietzsche in 15 Seconds

Revisado: 12-10-20

I had hoped this would give a bird’s eye view of Heidegger’s philosophy, but within four minutes I was persuaded to stop listening.

Discussing the claim that God was dead, it was said of Nietzsche that his entire philosophy was based on his idea that God is dead. Nietzsche deserves better and so does the reader. Poor Freidrich is the most abused and popularly misunderstood and misrepresented philosopher. He is much too vital and important to be dismissed by such a generalization, with zero context or even an attempt at discussion. Nietzsche deserves to be read much more widely and such dismissals and half truths lead people away from the richness of his thinking and prose. Anyone who treats important thinkers in this way cannot be trusted to educate people in philosophy.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Tim, settle down.

Revisado: 03-25-20

Tim is a sensitive and witty writer who can spin a great yarn, bringing humanity and a great turn of phrase to a reader yearning for both. He can certainly be self-aware and self-critical, but in politics and related social culture, he is hectoring and tiresome. To be fair, this book is only dominated in parts by such pandering to a social tribe. But how many hairs in one’s soup should one tolerate?

Now some may consider me harsh here in my criticism, but those are the same people who revel in being of the same tribe as Tim here. This is the tribe of self-satisfied progressives who are just as pig-headed and annoying, when they speak like Tim does here at times in this book, as those on the right whom they so eagerly put down as luddites, or worse. Both sides are part of the problem and not the solution. I identify with neither group. I don’t want to constantly hear the prejudices and limited worldviews of either side, since the news and popular culture are both drowning in the noise that such political grandstanding engenders. Pandering to your tribe never looks good nor wears well. It is lazy – both morally and intellectually. I may agree with much of the progressive agenda, but this is all more nuanced than the caricatures portrayed in this book. Tim, you’re writing now - not cartooning. And good cartooning includes subtlety and shading, in order to communicate and not simply resonate,

The truth is that the progressives are especially annoying in one way. They see themselves as particularly and uniquely open-minded and enlightened. At least most on the right are not so confused, and frankly delusional, to claim that moral high ground.

I’ve no doubt that Tim is a nice guy. I’ve no doubt that I’d love to spend time with him and I suspect that we could even be great friends. He is uncommonly wise and perceptive in so many areas, and his wit and writing are supremely entertaining. I see us sharing drinks on a sunlit patio having the time of our lives, laughing and solving the problems of the world, as we delve into our own addled psyches. But when the conversation veers into politics, I’d be forced to yell “shut up Tim”. Heeding my admonishment, good times would return.

I write this Tim, as a friend.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Beautiful - Light - Deep

Revisado: 03-16-18

Rilke was a master wordsmith,, but never lost sight of his purpose - to do justice to the exploration of life and everything within it and within us. In this beautifully crafted book, Baer gives us a taste of Rilke's passionate conversations found in his letters. The result is an intimate, and yet universal mediation on life separated into categories such as "on work", "on nature", "on language", "on art", and of course, "on love.

At first I wasn't sure that Ethan Hawke was the best choice for narrator, but I quickly came to love his work here. His voice is warm and soothing and he never tries to add anything unnecessary to Rilke's words. He lets those words express what Rilke intended, yet you can feel the passion of Hawke, as well as RIlke.

You don't have to love poetry - this is prose. You just have to be willing to love life. And Baer indicates that RIlke actually felt his prose was even better than poetry to express his thoughts. Transcendent and practical.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Jung - Brilliant as Always, but Advanced

Revisado: 04-05-17

As a student of Jung's writing and approach, this book is indispensable, but its complexity requires a hard copy as well, as another reviewer pointed out. There are perhaps some Jungian scholars who could do with just this Audible version, but even they would want a hard copy as well I would think.

I am happy to have this Audible version as well as the Kindle version because the book contains so much that deep study is warranted.

The narrator is definitely an acquired taste. She sounds like a female Stephen Hawking after three or more generations of speech generation development. It's a remarkable, if slightly creepy voice for this book. The book's dry nature of important, Jungian depth psychology concepts could use more emotion. And the "young" pronunciation of Jung should never have happened. Don't the narrators have a director who would correct that?

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Not a book for children, but all sentient beings.

Revisado: 09-18-15

Do yourself a favor and immediately buy this audio book. Oh - before that, stop reading or listening to that dreary self-help or business book, or some serious adult book. Now - cue up Stephen Fry and the rest of this brilliant cast that give life to A. A. Milne's masterpiece.

Like many, I grew up reading and listening to Winnie-the-Pooh as a child. I loved the stories then and was lucky enough to be exposed to them before the Disney processing - sigh. But the brilliant language and gentle humor shine through in these stories and in this audio book in particular.

This is very funny stuff - even more for adults than children I believe. Stephen stars as the bear and plays him just right - serious and obsessed with his obsessions - honey, adventures, and his friends - especially Christopher Robin, and himself - Pooh. The tone and writing of the stories strike me as more related to Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, than anything else. And sure enough - there is a brief clip of Adams interviewed on BBC and he tells that he was deeply influenced by Winnie-the-Pooh in his writing. Shades of Monty Python are recognizable as well. For me, this is laugh out loud material.

None of us are ever too old to be a kid again and these stories will help remind you of that. And keep you tethered to your child-like nature. Absolute perfection.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 71 personas

Every seeker should listen to this at least once.

Revisado: 08-01-15

As a recovering strict scientific materialist, I've been expanding my mind with a compulsion to broaden my perspectives on life, the universe and everything. I've always had a spiritual side, but one that lived in the scientific closet. Since my awakening to a much broader perspective, I have absorbed as much as I can - voraciously moving from one set of ideas to another - Amazon and Audible can attest to my addictions. I'd come a across Ken Wilber before but quite frankly I was turned off, thinking he looked arrogant on his book covers, with that serious know-it-all look from behind round glasses beneath a bald head. I'm not denying I can be shallow but in my frantic search to catch up from my years in the closet, I didn't want to waste time on some arrogant twit.

Recently, for whatever reason, I decided to explore Ken Wilber's ideas - leading to revelation and then epiphany. Wilber has the most grounded and comprehensive view on, well everything, that I have ever come across. I don't suggest that this audio book, or rather interview should be heard by all seekers because Wilber is "right" or dispensing "truth", but rather he looks at the big issues in the most comprehensive and integrated way. Even if you largely disagreed with him, his perspective would shake up your views in a positive way. I happen to largely agree with much of what he discusses here, but his perspective is not portrayed here as the sum of wisdom, but rather a framework to organize and build upon, for much greater wisdom in the future. We are all contributing to this human wisdom, and Ken Wilber serves our task admirably by suggesting a wonderful map to help us explore our place in reality or whatever this is - it's a lot more than a closet.

This is truly a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to mind-blowing ideas from a person who is extremely widely read and knowledgeable. Wilber is very comfortable with and supports the scientific method or approach as a very valid perspective. His gig is an integral or integrated approach and I realize that this is what I was missing in my spiritual and life quest. This man has thought an enormous amount about humans and our place in the Kosmos - and I cannot recommend too highly, listening to some of those thoughts.

And it turns out that Ken Wilber is a funny and down to earth human being. I would give anything to spend a day or a week hanging out with him and the interviewer here. Tammy Simon is the publisher of Sounds True Publishing. Hers is the intelligent and sensual voice that introduces those audible books and here she is the one to question Ken Wilber and lead us on this intellectual and spiritual adventure. I can only assume that she is too gracious to have her name listed as an author here, but her wonderful questions and her rapport with Wilber are just as important as Wilber himself. Obviously the two are friends, but she does not avoid gently challenging Wilber to explain some points she obviously takes issue with at times.

In short, this is a brilliant and breath taking opportunity to think about some big, or rather giant ideas in a comfortable format. And I intend to listen to it again very shortly. There is much to consider and learn. Enjoy!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 34 personas

The Biggest Question in Life Explored Brilliantly

Revisado: 11-24-14

Jay L. Garfield is a wise and thoughtful guide to the philosophical exploration of the greatest question in life. Just what is the meaning of life?

He discusses the meaning of the question in the first place and then goes on to discuss a broad range of philosophers and traditions as he helps us understand the different approaches. I was impressed with the course right from the beginning and that positive impression only grew as I listened to the entire course.

Jay Garfield is passionate, humble, and respectful in his teaching. He covers a broad range of thinkers and links them nicely. He paints a broad landscape of the majesty of philosophy when it helps us explore the meaning of our individual and social human experience.

The course was not short and it covered a lot of material, but the pace was excellent. I learned a great deal, but would be happy to hear a lot more of Jay Garfield. A great Audible program for anyone interested in the big picture of human life - highly recommended. Jay Garfield is a brilliant teacher who shares his passion as much as his knowledge.

This would be a great course for anyone wanting to dip their toe into philosophy. I expect that it would encourage many to plunge in after that first dip.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 22 personas