Myths of Light: Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal

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"In Myths of Light: Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal, Campbell explores, with his characteristic clarity and humor, the principle that underlies all the great religions of India and East Asia, from Jainism and Hinduism to Buddhism and Taoism: the transcendent World Soul. Just as Campbell's book Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor revealed the mythic underpinnings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, so Myths of Light offers a glimpse into the heart of Eastern mysticism." In Myths of Light, Campbell explores the core philosophies and
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Overview

"In Myths of Light: Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal, Campbell explores, with his characteristic clarity and humor, the principle that underlies all the great religions of India and East Asia, from Jainism and Hinduism to Buddhism and Taoism: the transcendent World Soul. Just as Campbell's book Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor revealed the mythic underpinnings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, so Myths of Light offers a glimpse into the heart of Eastern mysticism." In Myths of Light, Campbell explores the core philosophies and mythologies of the East, comparing them through vivid examples and stories to each other and to the West. A worthy companion to Thou Art That and to Campbell's Asian Journals, this volume conveys complex insights through warm, accessible storytelling, revealing the intricacies and secrets of his subject with his typical enthusiasm.
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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
In this volume of previously unpublished lectures and articles, the late world folklorist and comparative mythologist Campbell extols the myths of Asian religions, though, as always, the whole of humanity is the author's intended audience. With jaunty, American optimism, Campbell delves into the stories and imagery, as he defines them, of Buddhism and Yoga and other "Oriental" systems of belief, to find a well of deep humanistic wisdom in each one, sharply in contrast to the anti-spiritual habits of the West. "You may have practical ethics and that kind of thing, but there is no spirituality in any aspect of our contemporary Western civilization," Campbell writes, suggesting that Western society "is disintegrating as a result" of the loss of religious myth. Campbell molds his stories into Jungian vessels of mystical awe, finding recurring archetypes and story lines embedded in large swaths of the Asian continent; sometimes a sort of fetishizing awe towards the object of his study creeps in: "When one goes [to the Orient], of course, one may be physically shocked by the squalor and misery of the people and the life they're living there. Yet this coordinating principle comes shining through all the poverty in a strangely fascinating way, shining with the radiance of this mythic world." Campbell excels in telling the stories themselves-which feature brahmins and yogis, gods and monsters, as they disguise themselves as charioteers, eat themselves up and spy on mortals-and in his glancing descriptions of traditions foreign to us: Japanese "play language," an exceedingly polite mode of speech, for instance, or Jainism's insistence on quenching "all desire for life." His persistent, unifying interpretations cans sometimes deflate the power of these traditions, but this is nevertheless a solid primer. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781577314035
  • Publisher: New World Library
  • Publication date: 5/15/2003
  • Series: Collected Works of Joseph Campbell
  • Pages: 166
  • Product dimensions: 5.78 (w) x 8.76 (h) x 0.82 (d)

Meet the Author

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) is widely credited with bringing mythology to a mass audience. His works, including the four-volume The Masks of God and The Power of Myth (with Bill Moyers), rank among the classics in mythology and literature.

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Table of Contents

About the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell
Editor's Foreword
Introduction: The Humbling of Indra
Ch. I The Birth of Brahman 1
Interpreting Oriental Myth 1
The Ever-Burning Sacrifice 15
Ch. II The Jiva's Journey 25
The Mystical Tradition in India 25
The Round of Sorrow 44
The World Soul 48
The Individual in Oriental Myth 59
The Imagery of Rebirth Yoga 68
Creativity in Oriental Myth 79
Ch. III Vessels to the Farther Shore 93
Jainism: The Path of Withdrawal 93
Hinduism: The Pursuit and Escape of Dharma 101
Buddhism: The Flower of the World 117
Envoy: The Tiger in the Depths 137
The Cry of the Buddha Child 137
The Tigers and the Goats 138
Chapter Notes 141
A Joseph Campbell Bibliography 149
Index 153
About the Author 163
About the Joseph Campbell Foundation 165
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 5, 2003

    Great Introduction to Eastern Religion

    As someone who had been long fascinated by the religions of South and East Asia, I felt like what Joseph Cambpell had had to say in his wonderful Power of Myth was like a great appetizer. When I'd tried to get some more of his thoughts on the subject, however, I went to his huge book, The Masks of God: Oriental Mythologies and was utterly intimidated. I was very pleased, then, to pick up this wonderful 200 page volume. It is a lovely, insightful, humorous introduction to Hinduism, Buddhism and the rest. It's more in depth than Power of Myth but not as academic as the Masks of God. I enjoyed it alot, learned alot, and felt that funny mixture of having done something good for myself and something really fun that only seems to happen in the presence of a really good teacher. Joseph Campbell is certainly that, and this book makes me wish I could have attended some of his classes and glad that the Campbell Foundation people are still releasing his unpublished work.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 14, 2011

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