The Tao of Psychology: Synchronicity and the Self

This is a sweet little book. In its 25th anniversary edition, it stands up well to more recent analyses of synchronicity. I haven't covered the subject exhaustively, so I may have missed a more insightful study. Nonetheless, Bolen's examination of synchronicity holds because there really hasn't been much to add to the subject since Jung spoke and wrote about it in the 50's. Synchronicity is like a psychological prank. Suddenly, it happens. The subject of it is surprised, sees a meaningful connection between a mental and physical event, and then can have any number of responses from a chuckle to an emotional storm.The important thing is that synchronicity occurs outside of time and space. It is experienced in a temporal context, but that's not how it got there. It appears out of nowhere and no time. And, it communicates. This is marvelous. Synchronicity is a kind of language and, in my own experience, is the way that those who have left this reality communicate with those of us still here. By this time, shouldn't we know more about how this works, in other words, how to speak the language ourselves? So far, we know that belief in synchronicity makes it more likely to occur, and an emotional component helps to initiate it, but beyond that, synchronicity is left to chance, which itself doesn't exist. This is an irresistible paradox.Bolen's book, like many others, abounds with tales of synchronistic events, which never fail to fascinate. It was the occasion of a synchronicity for me when Bolen's account of a patient suffering from deep depression decided to cast the I Ching and discovered hexagram 5, Waiting. My wife passed more than a year ago and since then I have annoyed her with constant complaints about having to wait before I can join her. Hexagram 5 spoke to me at the appropriate moment. Not only that, but Bolen's first name is Jean, the same as my wife's. There were other parallels.Bolen is a Jungian analyst, which makes her especially qualified to write about synchronicity because it was Jung himself who coined the term. She contends that the space between people and things must contain a connecting link or be a transmission medium. Jung called it the collective unconscious and argued that an archetype must be in play in order to create a synchronicity. Maybe so. For me, the question is still an open one. The medium could be the Zero-Point Field or, in metaphysical terms, the Akashic Record. Anyway, synchronicity suggests that everything in the universe is interconnected, so potential communication between dimensions is a given.Bolen links synchronicity to the existence of the Chinese Tao out of which everything is manifested. The Tao itself is meaning. This compliments quantum physicist J. A. Wheeler's contention that everything is made up of information. Knowing that, we could realize that every moment of our existence is one big synchronicity, and that we frequently get peeks at it in operation when we make meaningful connections between ourselves and external things and events.Anyway, Bolen's book is a stimulating read and manifestly something more than a collection of Believe-It-or-Not experiences. Maybe this review will itself lead to a synchronicity for me. Stranger things have happened.

I appreciate this slim book for how quickly the writer explains complicated interconnected fields or study. She pares it down and relates it to real world experiences. I will be rereading it several times to digest the insightful text. The writing is also smoothly written so that it not full of academic jargon or complex sentence structures. Which makes it more accessible to the general reader. You don't need a college degree to enjoy the exploration of a highly fascinating subject.

The Tao of Psychology has stellar reviews from impressive sources, “[Bolen] charts a path that will lead many readers to the heart of their own emotional and spiritual pilgrimages.” I ordered it with great anticipation, like looking forward to opening a gift on Christmas morning because it purports to bring together beliefs and studies on which I've based my life for the past 30+ years.......Books that are hyped to be something and then offer me nothing irritate me, as does this one. She may be a great speaker, and if she were in my area, I'd attend her presentation on this subject, but I read/scanned the book in an evening while watching a movie (Cloud Atlas) that I didn't expect to like and turned out to be more interesting than the book. IF I had never studied the Tao, IF I had never read a word of Jung or any psychology that refers to him, and IF I'd never consulted the I Ching, this might be a mind-blowing book. I have, and it isn't......I expected the Synchronicity part to be the most exciting, however, because I've always had such moments in my life, one recently that still has me glowing, and I wanted her to delve deeper than the mere definition of the word. She didn't.The other draw, for me, was the promise that the author would connect the various disciplines/studies. She connects them by saying they are one, as the Father, Son & Holy Ghost are in Christianity. She writes at length about how she came to know what she knows and tells stories to illustrate Synchronicity in her life and the lives of others. She seems to be bringing this wealth of discoveries to ignorant American Christians. I'm an American Christian, and I have my ignorant moments, but I haven't lived my life wearing blinders. So there were no Aha! moments in this book, and I'm going now to list it for sale (half price) because I don't want it in my library. Oh well, I've always got more books coming from Amazon.com. I don't review many of them, only the best (like The Untethered Soul) and the worst.

In the introduction to this 25th anniversary edition of The Tao of Psychology: Synchronicity and the Self, Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. describes her own book "for many intuitive readers an easy-to-grasp introduction to Jung and an intelligible introduction to the Eastern philosophical concept of underlying oneness which is the Tao." I agree completely and am delighted that this quick read (103 pages) integrates two of my favorite subjects with examples from her life and that of her clients. Every time I re-read this I become more aware of the "meaningful coincidences" in my own life.

Fell in love with this book several years ago, when I checked it out of the library. Have recommended it to others. Always thought: I should have my own copy to reread and refer to. Finally bought it. Looking forward to reacquainting myself.

Great advice on appreciating synchronicity in your life.

Well written, informative, and useful on a personal level. Takes Jung's writings on synchronicity and makes them accessible to average humans. Does a fine job explaining the inter-relatedness of psychology, synchronicity, and eastern thought. Highly recommend.

This short, concise book is so appropriate especially during these times. A new way of looking at the world.

I never thought of synchronicity in the way Jean presents it before. But after reading this, it made me think of individuation and connectedness in a different light. Recommended reading :)

Get it. It's brilliant. She really knows what she's talking about. So refreshing.

This little (100 pages) book is a gem. It stretched and deepened my understanding of synchronicity and was a joy to read - light, simple, unpretentious and inspiring.

Genius! Like all her stuff!

いろいろな視点でユング心理学を学べ、ページを次々とめくりました。もともとタオについての本を以前読んだことがあったので自分にとってはわかりやすかったです。読み返したい一冊です。