Coward, H. with Bocelli, J., Jordens, J., and Henderson, J. Jung and Eastern Thought.  State University of New York Press, New York, 1985. Pp.  218. N.P.

This volume carries an introduction by Joseph Henderson, and includes two papers by Dr J. F. T. Jordens and a paper and annotated bibliography by Dr J. Borelli. The work is in three sections: the first deals with Jung's encounter with Eastern thought, its influence on his psychology and Jung's difficulties with and criticism of Eastern spiritualty. The second part consists of a series of papers under the general heading ‘Jung and Indian thought: conceptual comparisons’. This covers Karma, Kundalini, mysticism in Jung and yoga. The last two papers by Dr Jordens are entitled ‘prakriti and the collective unconscious: purusha and self’ and ‘prana and libido: prajña and consciousness’ and coclude the theoretical apsect of the book.

Most, if not all, of Jung's thoughts and feelings on the subject are most meticulously covered. The author does not allow himself to stray outside the source material of Jung's collected writings and has made a serious attempt to research the influence of Eastern thought on the development of his theories, and, in the words of the author, ‘to assess the overall impact of Eastern thought on the development of his life and teaching’.

The main Eastern source material appears to have been Patañjali's Yoga Sutras. These were a republishing of doctrinal and technical traditions of Yoga set in the Samkhya system of metaphysics. To Jung, all systems of Eastern thought became yoga — Indian yoga, Tibetan yoga, Chinese yoga and Japanese yoga — even when talking of Tibetian Buddhism, Tao and Zen Buddhism. These sutras were comiled before the tenth century, and are full of notoriously difficult passages even for contemporary translators; nevertheless they do contain in systemised form a residuum of teaching and practice common to most Eastern traditions although it is probable that Buddism and Samkhya share a common ancestor. It is on this ancient text and the Upanishads that Jung bases most of his theoretical speculations and perhaps borrowings. Initially,