On Life After Death

by C.G. Jung

Genres: Philosophy, Audiobook

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Carl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/; German: [ˈkarl ˈɡʊstaf jʊŋ]), often referred to as C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, philosophy, archeology, anthropology, literature, and related fields. He was a prolific writer, many of whose works were not published until after his death.

The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.

Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.

Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.

Reviews

[Citizin.Brain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting and concise take on the hereafter primarily based around Jung's own dreams about people close to him who had died. If you're into premonitions and that sort of thing, you'll enjoy the stories. He connects these experiences with some logical observations about what an eternal afterlife would imply. For him, there are no concrete conclusions to be made on this matter but he raises some thought-provoking suppositions that were new to me and insightful.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Svammel om drömmar och hallucinationer

[ellarams3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was Jung’s confession that he was actually a wizard

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alternately, brilliant, silly, and naive, just like Jung himself. Brilliant in its insight and dream analysis. Silly in its lack of full comprehension e.g. Jung didn't know what karma meant i.e. action. Naive and his belief in Hindu yogis, fake Buddhists, and other such con-artists. What is a yogi's means of support? Suckers! Just look at Sadhguru, laughing all the way to the bank while skipping over his wife's grave (if she hadn't been precipitously cremated). For fake Buddhists just look at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy etc. No real Buddhists would venerate a tooth, they'd toss it on the rubbish.
Now the specific criticisms:
1. Life after death is a paradox.
2. Reincarnation is an intrinsic, not extrinsic, phenomenon (see below).
3. Hereafter? An after/before dichotomy is illusory. Here, where? Everywhere is nowhere, just as everyone is no one.
4. The Oriental (East Asian) and his religion is wrongly interpreted once again. To understand the Oriental mind/religion is to understand that it is the culmination of a historical determinism. The Oriental is literally the current incarnation (or reincarnation as it makes no difference) of his long history, like a sapling tree in an ancient forest. Why can't Westerners understand this? It's probably because of the artificial divisions Westerners make for such things as: culture, history, society, religion, nationality, mythology etc.
5. Introversion and extroversion as fixed qualities are incompatible with the concept of mind itself.
Note: Jung mentions his NDE in this work, so it's good to read about that first.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Carl Jungs attempt to advocate for a more openminded approach to the possibility of an afterlife. He does a good job explaining the importance of myth in trying to understand things that supersede conciousness and the importance of the material world and the limitations thereof in giving structure and illuminating the knowledge of the unconcious. I cant say I understood the totality of the book but from what I did grasp it was an interesting read.

[Kara Demetropoulos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meditative journey into the nature of life after death, in Jung's classic style - mesmerizing, enchanting, evocative. Just interacting with his words will alter the mindscape.

"The meaning of my existence is that life seems to have addressed a question to me; or conversely, I, myself, am a question which is addressed to the world, and I must communicate my answer, for otherwise, I am dependent upon the world's answer. That is a suprapersonal life task, requiring much effort and immense difficulty."

I recently heard a writer (Peter Kingsley) explain that Jung writes from the unconscious itself, that he lets the numinous speak directly through him, and now that I've heard that, I can't unsee it in Jung's writing. It explains why his words sometimes bypass the rational mind, yet resonate in a way that feels truer than true. He speaks from a deep, deep Presence that is only accessible by those willing to take that plunge into the depths - and his insights bring me both courage and a thrilling sense of adventure. He makes me want to be braver with exploring my inner world, and adopt a daring confidence along the way. This short, powerful, text was inspiring in that same way - filled with so many almost-missable moments and reflections that embolden my spirit and somehow soothe it at the same time.

In this one, he shares a number of dreams and spirit visitations that have informed his speculations on the nature of the realm inhabited after death. His personal accounts are fascinating, and include conversations with Solon and Elijah, as well as a number of dreams delivering sparks of curiosity, meaning, emotional reactions, and flashes of existential insight. He also discusses themes such as the meditation and the nature of consciousness, the idea of karma, numerology, and the existence and function of the symbolic UFO.

He relates sleep to death, urging the reader not to discount the importance of sleep as a way to assimilate and/or integrate lessons and receive messages. He shares a profound second-hand anecdote which illustrates this point further, and suggests the possibility that after death, there may be an eager group of next-realm students, waiting to hear what we learned during our time here.

At one point, he meets a deceased friend in the dream, and debates whether to regard the visitation as "real", or merely a dream, before ultimately deciding to grant his friend the benefit of assuming the encounter is real, even if merely for the sake of the experiment. I felt like this was a healthy approach towards magic, spirituality, the unseen, or life in general - and evocative of just the kind of playful, yet empirical outlook that makes Jung such a unique thinker. He later "confirms" (maybe :) ) the contents of the dream following a visit to the friend's home.

He proposes a "rest" period between lives, until the "question" we have been working on begs rediscovery or the earth-conditions are ripe for the seeking. This type of individual-cosmic-mission resonates me, both as a theoretical framework for navigating life's weirds, and on a personal level. It lit me up to hear it stated so plainly and simply.

He concludes with a powerful, rousing statement regarding the way the modern approach - by denying the transpersonal reality - betrays the potential of the human, whose optimal self is the one that regards and explores both the seen and unseen. When we elevate the rational, intellectual, and material realities above the totality, the balance of the entire system suffers.

[Siegfried · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read anything Jungian, so this was a nice way to revisit his theories on the unconscious and archetypes, particularly regarding topics like life after death. This work is thought-provoking. While the barrier between life and death is insurmountable, some of his ideas resonate with me.

I appreciate how he discusses reason and prejudice as inhibitors of our psychic life. I was once spiritually limited by my adherence to reasoning and empiricism, which can make one overly attached to consciousness. When it comes to death, our reasoning presents a terrifying dark pit for the ego to descend into never to return. Jung suggested that mythologizing death and the afterlife can be helpful and enriching. From the unconscious perspective, death is a joyous event, like a wedding, a return to wholeness.

The main takeaway from this work for me is to embrace eternity and myths. Jung also talks about premonitions of loved one dying in his dreams and also suggesting that the dead learn from the living. While I'm unsure about this since it's based on his dreams, I agree to his point that the world we transition to will be both grand and beautifully terrible.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Nowadays most people identify themselves almost exclusively with their consciousness, and imagine they are only what they know about themselves. Yet anyone with even a smattering of psychology can see how limited this knowledge is. Rationalism and doctrinalism are the disease of our time. They pretend to have all the answers. But a great deal will yet be discovered which our present, limited view would have ruled out as impossible.” Carl was always slaying

[Austin Ramey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally profound. Insightful in its openness to the subconscious and the dream.