Book Description
Synchronicity is an inspirational guide to developing the most essential leadership capacity for our time: how we can collectively shape our future. Joseph Jaworski offers a new definition of leadership that applies to all types of leaders: community, regional, national, international, corporate, political.
Customer Reviews:
the best book i have ever read.......2007-04-11
it should be a must for all college students
Dancing in the moment.......2007-03-17
If you are following the path of coaching and be a leader in your field
its a great book to read.
An engaging personal saga of leadership and the inner life.......2004-08-01
Synchronicity is one of the most inspiring books I know on leadership. The book is a fascinating and holistic blend of the personal and the professional. Jaworski is a name you may already be familiar with. He is the son of Watergate prosecutor, Leon Jaworski. His career is facinating. He began his professional life as a high-powered attorney in Houston. He chased after and won all of the trappings of external success. Then, suddently, his wife announced she was leaving him, and he was forced to confront himself, his values, and the meaning and purpose of his life. The rest seems to flow out of this pivotal experience. Jaworski left the practice of law and went on to become founder, chairman, and CEO of the American Leadership Forum. This organization continues to serve established local leaders and promotes collaborative problem-solving in communities and regions for the public good. In the early 90's, he joined Royal Dutch Shell in London as head of Global Scenario Planning. The initiative he led there is credited as instrumental in the peaceful transfer of power in South Africa which put an end to the government of apartheid. At the time the book was published, Jaworski was with MIT's Center for Organizational Learning which later closed in 1997. His role there was to work with leading corporations on building learning organizations, a topic which still receives considerable focus in leadership circles. It's a concept that appeals to many, and yet few have succeeded in implementing one. The old models die hard. Still, change is in the air.
The book speaks to topics that resonate with us at a deep level: integrity, commitment, responsibility, values, meaning, vulnerability, trust, collaboration, to name a few.
The book begins with a familiar story. A man seeking what we've been led to believe is success. Prestige as a high-powered attorney, a big income and a big home. Then his world falls apart when his wife leaves him, and his identity proceeds to fall apart. He rebuilds a life that is based on authenticity. He speaks of finding the flow in his life when he honors an inner call. He has a vision of what is possible. He sees his life and his choices as intimately connected with the world. He sees himself and his actions in relationship, not isolated and separate. He notes the the busyness of his earlier life as symptomatic of a larger of dis-ease in our culture. We spend too much of our time on activity and too little time on being present to what's really happening around us. We've forgotten the power we have as a witness. We fear having too much time to reflect, instinctively knowing that we're going to have to face ourselves and our lives at a deeper level than we're comfortable with. We're hooked on the notion that commitment and activity are inseparable. So we create a continual stream of activity, making sure that everybody sees us doing lots of things so they'll believe we're actually committed. If we stay busy enough, maybe we'll even convince ourselves that our lives had some meaning even though, deep down, we know they couldn't possibly have any meaning, because everything is hopeless and we're hopeless, and we couldn't possibly affect anything anyhow. Often, it takes a crisis to cause us to question the value of our lives and our activity.
He speaks of proper timing -- that situations unfold at an organic pace that is impossible to rush. All of our pushing and forcing serves mainly to exhaust us. There is a natural flow to our individual lives and to the times in which we live. Nothing of real substance can be pushed or forced to fruition. The purpose of life and our individual lives is revealed at a mysterious pace that the rational mind cannot grasp. There are things that want to happen. We can either fight or embrace the natural flow of our life, thus being an integral part of that larger flow of life. We won't find more riches anywhere else than in our own experience. Jaworski also speaks to an intriguing notion he calls economy of means. Change one small thing and the repercussions can be enormous. How is is possible to see which thread of a situation or a challenge needs to be pulled in order for everything to fall into place without the space for reflection? Economy of means. It's the notion that with perspective and awareness, we can see opportunities we couldn't see before. And seeing these opportunities, we can sense when the moment is right to act, and we will know exactly what needs to be done.
We begin to see that with very small movements, at just the right time and place, all sorts of consequent actions are brought into being. We develop what artists refer to as an "economy of means," where, rather than getting things done through effort and brute force, we start to operate very subtly. A flow of meaning begins to operate around us, as if we were part of a larger conversation. This is the ancient meaning
of dialogue: (dia .logos) "flow of meaning." We start to notice that things suddenly are just attracted to us in ways that are very puzzling. A structure of underlying causes, a set of forces, begins to operate, as if we were surrounded by a magnetic field with magnets being aligned spontaneously in this field. But this alignment is not spontaneous at all -- it's just that the magnets are responding to a more subtle level of
causality.
He writes at some length about his experience at Shell with scenario planning. It's a tool for strategic planning at a level most of us are not yet used to working at. Its objective is to create the future with greater awareness of the consequences of our choices through collaboration and dialogue. The approach was designed to uncover and directly impact the mental models used individually and collectively to make choices large and small. Our mental model is the totality of the opinions, judgements, and beliefs that act as a filter, preventing us from seeing a situation clearly as it is without bias. The work led by Royal Dutch Shell included a diverse team of international experts. The team developed two scenarios known as "New Frontiers" and "Barricades" and two sets of wide-ranging implications on the international community, the environment, energy, economics, politics, business, and people.
Writing "Barricades" was a sobering experience for the entire team. We had been as realistic and conservative as we could in the development of this scenario, yet we had drawn a chilling picture of an increasingly divided world with anarchy enveloping society within our children's lifetime.
New Frontiers is a world where the center of gravity of the world economy shifts from the rich to the poor.... It's a story of new demands, new opportunity, turbulence, and vast change, resulting in governments and businesses being challenged beyond what they thought possible.
Jaworski calls dialogue the power of collective thinking. It's the idea that there is a collective consciousness at the level of the family, the community, the nation, and the world at large. There is a collective consciousness implicit in the times in which we live. These two scenarios were widely presented in 2- and 3-day workshops. Presentations were made to government officials, the business community, black community groups and leaders in exile. The initiative was successful in getting a critical mass of key individuals to focus their attention on choices and their consequences, about the unsustainability of the system and the consequences that each scenario might have on the international community, the environment, the opportuntity for other choices. And power was transferred peacefully in South Africa.
Jaworski describes three fundamental shifts of mind necessary for the creative leadership that will solve some of the world's tougher dilemmas:
1) A shift from resignation to a sense of possibility that comes from seeing the universe as a magical dance, full of living qualities rather than a linear, logical, and predictable view of what's really going on.
2) A shift from seeing ourselves as separate and isolated from everything else that we see "out there" to seeing the world holistically as a web of relationships. Change one small thing and everything else is subtly different.
3) A shift in the nature of our commitment from a highly disciplined proposition in which you "seize fate by the throat and do whatever it takes to suceed" to a deeper level of commitment that comes from an willing spirit. This sense of willingness opens us up to connect with our inner guidance systems and wisdom. To hear the call, to recognize an innate sense of purpose and to accept and honor that.
As these shifts occur, we will notice that synchronicity comes into our life, both the personal and the professional. Synchronity, is defined by Carl Jung as "a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of change is involved." When synchronicity comes into our life, it's an indication that we are on the path. There is a sense of ease and excitement, a sense of true belonging to ourself, to one another, to the times in which we live, and to life.
Reads like a good mystery novel.......2004-07-02
My colleagues and I have been designing and facilitating leadership development programs for about 20 years. I've also served as a VP of three Fortune 500 companies. I recommend this book to everyone who is a leader or who wants to be one. Not only does it contain THE secret to true leadership, Mr. Jaworski has written his account so that it reads like a good mystery novel. You wonder what will happen next. And he has written this book from his heart. I hope our paths cross one day soon.
Good Story about Personal Reinvention.......2004-04-27
I read the book on the recommendation of a coworker. For me, it opened up my eyes to finding my type of leadership-in my case servant-leadership. His journey of personal reinvention is a joy to read especially as he learns what is truly important in life.
Book Description
Attracting Perfect Customers leads readers through a transformation as they learn that it is no longer productive or profitable to conduct business using warlike marketing techniques such as "targeting" customers and "outmaneuvering" the competition. In fact, these techniques seem both outdated and labor-intensive when compared to the Strategic Synchronicity process, which requires just five minutes of planning each day.
Strategic Synchronicity is based on nine principles that are not new but are often neglected in today's business world. Among them are the ideas that businesses don't need to search for customers if they are "on purpose"; that collaboration, not competition, is required; and that businesses create their own "clients from hell".
Customer Reviews:
modern snake oil salesmen.......2006-09-09
This book offered nothing of real value. I've noticed that the only people that really gave it good comments are other "business and success coaches". There are no real original or earth-moving ideas in this book.
So if you want to hear another "success consultant" write about "shifting paradigms" and "thinking outside the box", the same old tired and worn-out buzz words, buy the book
A Great Way to Grow Yourself and Your Business.......2006-09-06
This is a fantastic book and if you will use it as directed the process will cause you to do just what the title says. Attract Perfect Customers. I have been using the tools and processes in this book for over 2 years now and so have many of my clients and associates. We would not be without it!
Transformative process.......2006-04-24
When this book was recommended to me I was hoping it wasn't "just another marketing book". Fortunately it's so much more than that! This book outlines into a powerful and profound 4-step process designed to create clarity around your business relationships (it can also be applied to ANY relationship although the book doesn't explore this). I am amazed at the results I've had using this process. My business has grown, I'm getting paid more than ever before, and as I share this process with others their stories amaze me. I also highly recommend their web site PerfectCustomers dot com. The email tips are great!
Attracting Perfect Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity.......2006-03-19
This book was recommended by my business coach but, I apply it to every relationship in my life! The law of attraction and strategic synchronicity are helpful to stay focused on what it is that you REALLY want. We can choose to be the 'lighthouse' and the 'perfect customer' will find us.
Good stuff.......2006-02-22
This is a great read for someone trying to refocus their marketing efforts. Very thought provoking.
Amazon.com
Spirituality, optimism, career planning, and self-help neatly blend together in this highly useful guidebook on living one's true purpose. Step by step, Adrienne shows readers how to discover one's calling (learning how to take advantage of synchronicity, intuition, and "uncommon sense") and organize life accordingly. This coauthor of The Celestine Prophecy does not promise a payoff of material wealth or worldly fame. Rather, she suggests that "writing your own job description" and "doing the dream" will result in a more spiritual and meaningful life. Her most impressive leadership comes in the section called "Deep Water," where she addresses the obstacles and suffering that frequently block the path to enlightenment. --Gail Hudson
Book Description
The co-author of The Celestine Prophecy Experiential Guide helps readers uncover the unsuspected, untapped power of synchronicity and intuition that will bring success, satisfaction, and serenity.
Everyone really has a purpose in life, says Carol Adrienne in her new guide to harnessing the power inside yourself. The question is: How do you learn to go with the flow and let your true nature guide you?
Chapter by chapter, The Purpose of Your Life explains how to locate the source of your innate energy and focus it, how to align yourself with the natural forces that swirl around us always, and how to develop the intuition that fosters synchronicity. The book is packed with illuminating anecdotes and profiles of fascinating people -- from artists to urban planners to Zen masters -- who describe how they found their own purposes. There are practical exercises throughout, along with charts, self-questionnaires, and other tools that help you understand yourself and your deepest aspirations.
As you learn to recognize and trust the voice of intuition, you'll find new doors opening and new possibilities everywhere. You'll feel invigorated by the potential you've unleashed, a power that will only grow with each new accomplishment. And you'll discover the serenity and satisfaction that come only to those who are living life to the fullest. The Force is with you -- all you have to do is reach out and start to use it.
Customer Reviews:
A great guide book for a seeker of Purpose.......2007-05-30
Carol Adrienne has written an excellent primer on the subject of Purpose. Whether you are a writer or speaker on the subject of Purpose, this book provides some important guidelines to simplifying an otherwise complex subject. The insights and the 'Talking to Yourself'sections at the end of each chapter are especially helpful.
Finding our purpose.......2007-05-22
Reading this book is a must because it will help you to find your purpose and choose the right career to fulfill your purpose. If you want a fulfilling career, read this book.
Eva Jeannine Meloche
Ageless Living Life Coach
Soul Purpose, Career & Retirement Coach
[....]
excellant career guidance.......2006-03-09
I found this a very helpful book filled with ideas for people to find their purpose. I am a career guidance councelor and ninety percent of my clients do not have a purpose for why they are doing what they are doing in their work. They come to me saying "somethings missing in my work or life". It's often because they do not have a purpose which this book can help them create. Purpose is something we create or decide on. Many people think it's something mystical and we discover it by accident. This book gives people specific tools to help identify a meaningful purpose.
A Good Starting Point.......2004-02-16
The optimism in this book combined with its emphasis on the link between intuition and synchronicity was infectious. I wanted to learn more! A new book that I stumbled across has become my companion to this one. It is called LUCKY YOU!, by Randall Fitzgerald, and it takes this book's themes and subject matter and adds to it information about using dreamwork and meditation practices and even prayer to help create streaks of good luck in our lives. Both books are relentlessly inspiring and full of optimism and hope. I liked all of the stories and the author's own anecdotes about creating good fortune.
Inspiring true stories and practical spirituality!.......2003-10-07
The co-author of The Celestine Prophecy Experiential Guide has put together this excellent collection of suggestions, ideas and true life stories to inspire one to find one's higher purpose, and a jolly good job it does! It is interesting, well-written and entertaining throughout, with each chapter finishing with a few straightforward questions and exercises to move you on in the right direction. Part three, "deep water", deals masterfully with the darker and more difficult experiences one sometimes has while trying to connect more deeply with the soul's purpose.
A major theme is developing an awareness of synchronicity (meaningful co-incidence) experiences as guiding posts for deeper personal development. There are a large number of interviews with people from a wide range of backgrounds, all of whom have come to find their unique purpose through such ideas. Quotes from the famous such as the Dalai Lama and Frank Zappa (!), and not so famous are also highlighted throughout the text e.g."intuition is the creative, universal intention expressing through you" and "either I am lost, crazy and screwed up, or I am found and on a difficult part of the path".
I found the chapter on "the void" particularly supportive, especially the section on "holding your centre during confusion, chaos and fear". Carol Adrienne is not afraid to explore the sometimes harsh realities of the spiritual journey, but the book is essentially upbeat and positively inspirational.
Book Description
Extracted from Volume 8. A parapsychological study of the meaningful coincidence of events, extrasensory perception, and similar phenomena.
Customer Reviews:
Scientifically based validation for many unexplained phenomena.......2007-01-03
This is the first written material that I have been exposed to that actually attempts to quantify (not just qualify) the possibility of unexplained phenomena in a truly scientific manner. It's the most depth I have seen any psychologist reach while studying the difference between the internally self-generated/projected vs. the possibility of externally autonomous psychological occurrences. For one who is involved in self-exploration, this particular work can be the catalyst for much inner growth & development. Be ready for Jung's abstract writing style, & have a dictionary & highlighter on hand for some fun & enlightening reading!
occurences linked together in meaningful ways.......2006-12-29
where something other than the probability of chance is involved.
I've found this to be true in my own personal experience over the years but had never heard the terminology used to explain this phenomenon. Once I discovered it, I began looking up books on the subject and, to my surprise, discovered Jung. Since I had never had a psychology class this was my first direct exposure to him and I was very impressed.
I particularly enjoy the episode in the book where he is speaking with Freud and they both experience the synchronization of the book case event.
Highly recommended. Enjoy!
I think it is a terrific book overall.
Scientifically Investigating the Unexplainable........2006-10-11
_Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle_ is an essay written by the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung, first published in 1952 and republished by the Bollingen Series of Princeton University Press, translated by R. F. C. Hull. In this essay, Jung proposes the idea of synchronicity, a "meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other that the probability of chance is involved". Throughout his life, Jung had been interested in occult ideas and as a youth had experienced several occult occurrences. As a scientist, Jung sought to explain these sorts of occult occurrences through the concept of synchronicity. Jung was influenced by many of the ideas emerging from modern physics at the time, particularly as concerned relativity theory (Albert Einstein had been a guest at his home while staying in Zurich) and the quantum theory (Jung benefited from collaboration with the physicist Wolfgang Pauli and this essay and a related study by Pauli appeared together when originally published).
The first section of this essay is devoted to an exposition of the concept of synchronicity. Jung begins by explaining the concept of natural law for the scientist, noting how natural laws rest upon the principle of causality; however, since natural laws are only statistical proofs this principle breaks down at the microphysical level. To illustrate his idea of synchronicity Jung presents several instances of meaningful coincidences which illustrate the "law of series" as presented by Paul Kammerer. For example, Jung mentions a case in which the symbol "fish" repeatedly occurs in his life and in his relationships with patients throughout the period of two days. A second instance of synchronicity mentioned by Jung later in this essay involves a woman who was prone to an excessive "Cartesianism" (i.e. rationalism) and had a dream of a scarab beetle. Later a beetle was to appear at Jung's window while he was analyzing her freeing her of her rationalism. Occurrences such as these suggest the possibility of an acausal connecting principle. Jung mentions the thinking of Schopenhauer on fate at this point and he shows where Schopenhauer's thinking is wrong in light of modern discoveries; yet, he praises Schopenhauer for suspecting that the scientific understanding of natural law at the time was missing something. Jung mentions the parapsychological work of Gurney, Myers, Podmore, Dariex, Richet, and Flammarion. He notes that Dariex found cases where the probability of a telepathic result being due to chance were 1 : 4,114,545, and Flammarion found similar cases where the probability was 1 : 804,622,222. Jung also mentions the work of J. B. Rhine at Duke University on extra-sensory perception (ESP). He shows how Rhine devised experiments in which the probabilities of results being due to chance were extremely miniscule and furthermore separated experimenter and subject by enormous distances and reproduced similar results. Jung also mentions the work of the Society for Psychical Research in parapsychology and presents a summing up of the results on ESP. Jung mentions the role of the archetypes of the collective unconscious (according to his own theory) as they occur in instances of synchronicity, and suggests that they play a fundamental role in these occurrences. Jung next goes into a discussion of various instances of synchronicity, mentioning the case of the beetle. Jung also notes how in Rhine's experiments the mental state of the subject (i.e. whether he viewed the experiment in a positive light or was bored with it) came to determine the degree to which he indicated correct results. This again offers confirmation for Jung's theory that attentiveness to the collective unconscious is somehow involved in these occurrences of synchronicity. Jung suggests that synchronicity consists of two processes: an unconscious image comes into the consciousness and then an object in the world is discovered which coincides with this unconscious image. Jung relates this phenomenon to alchemy and magic (mentioning the writings of Albertus Magnus). Jung also mentions particularly in this regard the _I Ching_, a Chinese divinatory text used as an intuitive or "mantic" method for grasping a situation as a whole and placing the details against a cosmic background. Jung shows how the use of the _I Ching_ relates to the irrational nature of the unconscious and explains the differences between Chinese and modern Western thought. Jung also examines astrology as part of this discussion.
The second section of this essay consists of an astrological experiment conducted by Jung. In this experiment, Jung used statistical methods to examine the occurrences of astrological correspondences in married couples. Jung found evidence for the traditionally regarded "sun conjuncted with moon" and "moon conjuncted with moon" occurrences among marriage partners that exceeded those suspected due to chance. In this regard Jung again mentions the experiments of Rhine, as well as an interesting story regarding the Swedish seer Swedenborg whose dreams foretold a fire in Stockholm.
The third section of this essay consists of a discussion of forerunners of the idea of synchronicity. In this regard, Jung begins with a discussion of Oriental thought, mentioning both the idea of the Tao (translated as "God" or "Providence" by the Jesuits) of Taoist thought and the mantic procedures involved in the _I Ching_. Jung relates this to the theory of "correspondentia" in the thinking of medieval Europe. Jung mentions such thinkers as Hippocrates, Philo, Theophrastus Paracelsus, Pico della Mirandola, and Zosimos of Panopolis. Jung also mentions Kepler and his remarks on astrology and finally turns his attention to Leibniz, going into a fairly thorough discussion of his "monads". Jung also notes the role of number (which has real existence according to the Platonists), mentioning for example the comment of Gauss that "God arithmetizes" and a dream involving a geometrical square occurring in nature. Jung concludes this essay remarking on the role of modern physics in explaining synchronicity, emphasizing a "quaternion" with "space" and "time", and "causality" and "synchronicity" occupying opposing sides.
This book also includes the lecture given by Jung, "On Synchronicity" (1951), which appeared before the essay was written and essentially goes over the same material as present in the essay.
This book offers an attempt by Jung to scientifically explain the unexplainable. His discussion here is sure to not please the so-called skeptical rationalists. However, Jung uses the very methods of science to show that his idea of synchronicity has validity. For the discerning reader, this book and essay is sure to offer much food for thought regarding the nature of reality.
Beyond Chance, or: Mapping the Etherverse.......2005-02-16
Just as Oppenheimer's Shiva-jigging atom-stomp codified the nuclear sciences as a force to be reckoned with and redefined the method and madness of the battlefield for the 20th century, so in turn were set in motion a series of sub-atomic particle explorations that would ultimately serve just as destructive to long-held paradigms about the nature of the universe. The contradictory tenants of Quantum Physics desecrated the Newtonian Determinism that had dominated modern thought for some two hundred years: the electron 'cloud of possibility' and the photon wave/particle paradox shattered the comfortable, mechanistic notion of causality (cause and effect), relegating it to historical curiosity. In effect: these rigid clockwork rules, when viewed at the smallest sphere, suddenly turn elastic, "reality" dictated by the will of the observer and/or the constraint of the causal experiment: clockwork causality began to stretch like salt-water taffy before the conscious participant, giving Dali's soft-clock surrealism an eerily prescient scope. For empiricists and hardwired logicians, Quantum-theory was as dangerous and reality-threatening as anything Darwin pulled on the Secular Fundamentalists, and resistance to its baffling, frustratingly unfussy relativity continues to this day - some would rather reject it out of hand, rather than deal with the consequences.
Others, on the other hand, probed the quandary, and found therein substantive material for the more questionable aspects of this existence. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung latched onto the discoveries of his friends Einstein, Planck, Bohr (etc.), saw the correlation with Eastern philosophy and his own studies into the paranormal, and in 1952 published *Sychronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle,* an attempt to condense and conceptualize some very difficult peculiarities/inconsistencies that statistical science neglected to take into account - specifically 'meaningful coincidences', the inexplicable that occurred far too often to be products of chance. Or, as Jung put it: "Sychronicity... means the simultaneous occurrence of a certain psychic state with one or more external events which appear as meaningful parallels to the momentary objective state...(pg. 25)." In other words, the chaotic, malleable elements of the extreme microverse have a representative affect on our causal-ruled macroverse - although the manifestation of it cannot be adequately measured, due to its unpredictable nature - and to Jung's views, this was as a serious venture to be studied rather than outright dismissed.
Essential to this argument is the concept of a 'soul,' or soul-network: 'something' beyond the physical perception, and beyond the spatial limitations of energy, working in accordance to its own plan. Jung envisioned, beyond the mechanistic aspect of the 'normal' world, a broader framework of existence, in which all things are connected via an indefinable ether-verse, encompassing such derided/quizzical concepts as "meaningful coincidences," foreknowledge/precognition/intuition, ESP, telepathy, telekinesis, and so forth. As a human came to channel the Quantum theory, "...we must regard them as creative acts, as the continuous creation of a pattern that exists from all eternity, repeats itself sporadically, and is not derivable from any known antecedents (pg 102)."
Heady stuff! It's interesting to note Jung tip-toe around the `G' word (the thesis would have been outright rejected then and there by self-respecting scientists), instead incorporating the Tao, Schopenhauer's Will & various other cultural representations of an all-pervading force that, as the Chinese sages knew three thousand years before, could not be comprehended consciously, but through meditative "non-being" ... or the ~unconscious state~, Jung is quick to clarify. Integral to this discussion are archetypes, the common models upon which cultural icons/identities are patterned. Jung does not go into specifics here (for he mined archetypes throughout his career) but does pose several interesting notes - the theory of whether numbers actually existed, as archetypes, before human conception (and human existence?) was certainly something to ponder upon.
*Sychronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle* is divided into four sections, being 1) the establishment of the theory, 2) an experiment of statistical randomness to 'prove' Sychronicity by way of astrology, 3) a list of examples of similar concepts throughout the ages (the Tao etc. mentioned above), and 4) a lecture in 1951 wherein the genesis of this book was formulated. As a student of Eastern philosophy, nothing Jung stated here was exactly new or revelatory to my mindset; but when the dominant Western attitude of that period is taken into perspective, it is easy to see why this work would be deemed controversial and, a favored expression of shallow dismissal, "junk science."
Still, some reservations should be made here. For one, Synchronicity shouldn't be considered science, rather a metaphysical theory; and Jung falls into the all-to-common trap of claiming his hypothesis as irrefutable, using the higher-than-probable results of his tests and a number of "meaningful" coincidental stories to make his case. I suggest that anyone seriously investigating these theories make the effort to view both sides of the coin - those who support and those who refute the concept of Synchronicity and the innumerable derivations of Quantum possibility, for the following reason:
This thesis can be seen as an origin point for the current market of the New Age: hokum and free-wheelin' misinterpretation take voluminous cues from that established by Einstein et al. Although there are practical alternatives - self-help agencies such as PSI and similar motivational speakers a la Tony Robbins utilize these concept as the base platform of success: "To Think is to Create" - despite this, the more intricate (and exciting) aspects of Quantum Physics are often diluted by some into mass-consciousness vehicles for easy enlightenment - think of Redfield's bestselling poppycock-omnibus *The Celestine Prophecy,* or any number of Quantum-cannibalizing frauds designed exclusively for the bohemian soccer-mom set - and the increasingly nebulous 'pseudo' aspect of it subsequently strengthens resistance from traditionalists and skeptics.
This book is an excellent attempt to map the unknown, the indefinable *Something* so intrinsic with the ongoing process of life. A brave, massively influential analysis of all that 'beyond chance' - five stars.
A Unified Theory of Mind and Matter........2005-01-21
Jung's "Synchronicity" is an essay about those moments when everything just seems to come together. Jung defined synchronicity as "the coincidence in time of two or more causally unrelated events which have the same meaning". Synchronicity is a cluster of meaningful patterns that normal cause and effect has not caused. Synchronicity is acausal. Beyond cause as we know it. A bridge between the known and the unknown, between the conscious and the unconscious. Though there have been others from the West that have expanded upon Jung's thoughts concerning synchronicity this is still a very good place to start. For further reading I would suggest looking to Jean Shinoda Bolen and F. David Peat, among others. For an Oriental perspective regarding acausality, synchronicity, may I suggest the "I Ching" and "Tao Te Ching". Lao Tzu, the author of "Tao Te Ching", is the father of Taoism. As Barbara Marx Hubbard has said, "The spiral of our evolutionary progress is turning back in time to reconnect with the great sage Lao Tzu". Taoism is a way of life that attempts to live in harmony with the unity of the universe by following the natural grain of things, of going with the flow. Wisdom is timeless and knows no bounds.
In "Synchronicity" Jung was trying to describe to the Western mind, his own included, the phenomenon of the alignment of universal forces with one's own life experiences. Much like Quantum Physics, Jungian Pyschology was beginning to leave behind the mechanistic universe of the 18th and 19th Centuries and starting to view reality as an organic whole. Our leading thinkers were becoming more than mere observers, they were becoming participants. Objectivity and subjectivity were merging. There are no lines of demarcation in nature, rather there are merely areas of confluence. Everything is interconnected. With Jung chance met design.
Synchronicity though subjective by nature, is scientific. Cynical skeptics will point out that the theory is not "Scientifically" verifiable because synchronicity is not quantifiable. That synchronicity is nothing more than magic, fantasy. The fact that the "Scientific Method" these same skeptics cherish was channeled via a series of dreams, including a dream within a dream, to Rene Descartes strikes me as ironic to say the least. Subjectivity created their system for objecting to subjectivity. Can't we all just get along? To quote Einstein, "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality". All attempts to describe anything exactly fall short. Our best theorys are models of reality, not reality itself. Most, if not all, of our greatest scientists have also been mystics, or at least had a mystical experience. The "Promethean Impulse" or "Divine Inspiration" that has been granted to our greatest minds is not make believe. The answers to many of our scientific questions have come in the form of dreams, or other non-rational states of consciousness. It took a dreamer to realize that the Earth is round. There is always something new to learn. Jung was no charlatan. He was an optimist. He believed in our ability to grow and change. He spoke from personal experience tempered by thoughtful meditation. He claimed that the Universe is no coincidence and neither are we. I agree. Read Jung.
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- The Times of Our Lives
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The Times of Our Lives: Extraordinary True Stories of Synchronicity, Destiny, Meaning, and Purpose
Louise Hay
Manufacturer: Hay House
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ASIN: 1401911501 |
Book Description
The true experiences that are featured in this book, introduced by best-selling author
Louise L. Hay, have been culled from the writings of some of the most renowned writers and teachers in the fields of self-help, transformation, social consciousness, and spirituality. These are stories reflecting metaphysical miracles; momentous milestones; heartwarming, humorous, and sometimes heartbreaking reminiscences; and extraordinarily poignant personal accounts.
In addition, there are many narratives that will actually make you sit back in your seat and exclaim, “Wow!”
As you read this uniquely fascinating book, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry . . . and most of all, you’ll be reminded that truth is not only stranger than fiction—it’s infinitelymore interesting!
Customer Reviews:
The Times of Our Lives.......2007-04-12
This is a brilliantly inspired work. The collection of true stories go beyond "Chicken Soup" material. Louise Hay and friends have shared their personal lives in ways that reveal destiny, meaning and purpose for all of us. Best of all, this book brings laughter to the lips, tears to the eyes and awe to the heart.
By Eldon Taylor, author of Choices and Illusions: How Did I Get Where I Am, and How Do I Get Where I Want to Be?
Uplifting.......2007-03-19
This book is full of wonderful essays from luminaries and not-so-well known wise women and men. I am inspired and uplifted by these persons' stories of transformation, illumination, and growth.
Amazon.com
Here is a collection of spine-tingling stories that we all recognize from our own encounters with inexplicable, woo-woo coincidences. The German homemaker who discovers a ring she lost 40 years before--inside a potato! The out-of-work musician who finds the gig-of-a-lifetime by listening to a mysterious voice in San Francisco. The woman who dreams of her husband drowning in a bathtub, only to rescue him from drowning in the bathtub the very next night. These "sly winks of fate," as author Phil Cousineau calls them, give us hope that the hidden order of life is being determined by a higher order.
Customer Reviews:
Sate Your Appetite for Synchronicity Stories.......2002-06-13
Seldom does one book manage to capture the mood and feeling of the hidden energies behind the mysterious synchronicities in our lives as well as Phil Cousineau's scintillating SOUL MOMENTS. From the first opening pages, this book transports the reader to a universe in which any and every synchronous experience is possible, and may well happen to you.
Just as Cousineau noted that synchronous events became much more prevalent in his life as he worked on SOUL MOMENTS, so too will the reader find these wondrous experiences begin to grace this otherwise hum-drum, workaday world. Suddenly we discover there is magic all around us, and it's for real!
I would love to tell you which synchronicity stories are my favorites from this beautiful collection -- but in truth, I find them all to be sparkling in clarity and bright with inspiration. After reading the moving accounts shared by observant individuals from all walks of life (including Larry Dossey and Huston Smith), even the smallest things no longer seem insignificant.
Treat yourself to a deeper view of the world that grows on you with each passing story, and get yourself a copy of SOUL MOMENTS. This is a book you'll treasure for years to come.
a nicely written book.......1999-11-28
this book presents synchronicity in a non-technical, easy to read format...reading the stories makes us appreciate our interconnectedness with the rest of the cosmos giving us a reason to hope and not to despair...
Bravo, Phil, for spinning a gossamer web--of what was..........1997-09-13
Soul Moments: Marvelous Stories of Synchronicity -- Meaningful Coincidences from a Seemingly Random World, Conari Press (Reviewed by Carroll Straus)
I may perhaps be biased, as my story is in this book. But the deep sense of peace I came away with after reading Soul Moments came from two sources. First, the realization that at both ends of the process of finding myself in the pages of such a book, meaningful "coincidences" pointed me in a direction that has given my life deep meaning, and second, after reading, it, I knew with absolute certainty that the "coincidences" are real, and that I am not alone in experiencing them.
The forward to this book was written by Robert Johnson, whose gift for clarity in the otherwise esoteric realm of Jungian writing knows no equal. He writes that Jung thought that "synchronicity" -- apparently opportune "coincidences" that seem deeply meaningful and perhaps signs of grace -- should be taken as seriously as dreams in individuation; the "unfolding of the unique life of the soul." Of course, mainstream thought has not yet arrived here. This beautiful, thoughtful volume may do much to help change that.
Among the contributors to this collection are Mark Watts, son of the late Alan Watts, so evocative of the sixties; Roberto Takoaka, a dermatologists in Brazil; Trish Sanders, a dancer in San Francisco's Bay Area; Madiline Nold, a psychotherapist from Brookline, Mass; Nick Carrington, a disc jockey in England, and Dr. Larrey Dossey, a leader in the field of spiritually based mind-body medicine -- among others. Oh -- and yours truly, a lawyer in Mission Viejo, California.
Each of us, a square in a patchwork quilt whose pattern we could not see, seemed to tell our stories with the same delicacy, the same sense that not many would accept, uncritically, the numinous realities we had each experienced. But what is clear from the pattern which emerges is that these are not isolated events -- not in any way.
Reading this collection, one never needs to feel isolated again, and I surely do not. I can only hope everyone else who bravely tendered such a moment from their lives received as exquisite a gift as I did. The writing and submitting of this story made me one cherished new friend, pointed me toward healing as a way to practice law, and gave me heart to believe this vision can and will come to pass.
Anyone who reads this book will, I am sure, come away with the same comfort I did. Those who recognize this grace in their own lives are invited, on the final page, to join in the journey by sending their stories to Phil. I invite you, too. Soul Moments is an exquisitely crafted gossamer web -- of all of our lives.
Book Description
Synchronicity implies wholeness and meaningful relationships between causally unconnected events. Science has been rediscovering the view of the world as an unbroken fabric in which seemingly separate events do not occur in isolation, but form pieces interwoven into a common tapestry. This book is filled with people's stories because synchronicity is ultimately best understood and comprehended through the stories of our lives. Synchronicity, Signs & Symbols has fascinating stories throughout by people of all walks of life including Angeles Arrien, Arielle Ford, Deb Jordan, Frank Joseph, Denise Linn, Raliegh Pinskey, Jacquelyn Small, and Dottie Walters.
Along with chapters on messages from Nature and Past Life Experiences the book includes a Dictionary of Symbols and Signs to help guide the reader on their path. This book helps the reader listen to the whispers of the Universe and let them understand the synchronicities that flow into their lives.
Customer Reviews:
Look at how all the reviews are worded the same!!!!.......2007-01-04
Look at how they are dated!!! The writer's name is mentioned(always in first sentence) and then the "reviewer" thanks the writer at the end? Isn't this much more than a little suspicious?? Look at how many "reviewers" also appear as peers on the jacket comments of this "book." (!!!!!) The reviewers who did post a name are friends/peers. I believe the reviewers who did not probably have a relationship with the author other than "reader."
Very disappointed with this 78 page "book." It is more of an average term paper. There are many concepts discussed without explanation. I am a Polarity Practitioner and not new to the material. If I was new to the material, I would be very confused.
This is an average/sub-average compilation full of mini biographies of others in the holistic/awareness field.
I saw an ad on CraigsList the other day for reviewers of books for Amazon posts. Reviewers were to be paid a small sum to give selected titles five star ratings.
Between "friends" and, now, paid superlative ratings, the rating system at Amazon may now be adulterated beyond repair. I was misled by eleven five star ratings for this "book."
I don't know what synchronicity, sign or symbol may have enlightened me by the misrepresentation of this "book."
Disappointed. Perhaps there were three to five valuable phrases in the 78 pages.
Made Me Look At Things Differently.......2002-11-11
Patricia's book is awesome. It opens the eyes and senses to allow for experiences to have meaning rather than just be everyday occurrences. To think that the smallest most insignificant interaction is sending large waves of meaning through the cosmos is mind boggling. And the crane that sits in my tree outside my house is offering me the concept of protection and wisdom truly makes my day, each and every day. I tune in more now, and I am much more because of it. Thank you. Raleigh Pinskey, author of 101 Ways to Promote Yourself.
Fascinating Book!.......2002-07-17
In reading the book Synchronicity by Pat Upzack, I perceived many answers to some deep metaphysical questions about "timing' and destiny.It is quite a fascinating book!
It is filled with real life stories that keep the reader's attention . I read the book in 24 hours because I simply could not put it down. It is written in a style that nearly everyone can understand but it is the type of book you need to read over and over because you feel you might have missed something.
It has many layers and layers and it touches some key metaphysical principles of synchronicity. It has a glossary of symbols and terms which explain how by " being awake and aware" you can get the most meaning out of life. It really made me notice! It gave meaning to what I used to think were some of most common occurrences.We are destined to live certain experiences to learn.
Some of my favorite passages were about those who met their soul mates under the strangest of circumstances. There was a case of clairvoyant dreaming. The book talks about the importance of numbers and symbols, principles which the Ancients considered a normal part of everyday life but Western civilizations consider bizarre.
This book is great and a "Must read"!!!!
Great read and powerful message...........2002-07-16
I was thrilled to read this book and discover that so many things that have happened in my life have such a greater meaning. Seeing the bigger picture can be a catch phrase but so much of the time you get stuck in your mess - you don't see what is going on around you! Thank you Ms. Upczak for your beautifully written book that illustrates so wonderfully the need for taking a breath of fresh air and not missing the help that surely must come from above. There truly are no accidents in life!
At last, A book easy to understand..........2002-07-12
I found Ms. Upczak's book very helpful. I have been looking for a book to give me some clarity about this subject. I really enjoyed the individual stories and found that I had had simular experiences. This opened my eyes. Then the signs and symbols dictionary made it so easy to understand those events in your life that we find so amazing. I would highly recommend this to anyone searching for meaning in those events we can not explain.
Thank you Patricia..
Customer Reviews:
Chance is an act of God.......2007-06-14
This is a thin book consisting of six powerful lectures. This is appropriate since Jung's original paper on synchronicity was also a thin but powerful volume. That is the theme here- the connection of the concept of synchronicity with traditional methods of divination. However, do not make the mistake of thinking that divination represents "tame" synchronicity for there is nothing tame or predictable about it.
Von Frantz points out that all traditional civilizations have used oracles to try to ascertain the will of God. Indeed, this is perhaps one of the greatest distinctions between the modern and the traditional. In modern Westernized cultures the approach is to look at an event and then abstract a mathematical model. In traditional cultures one uses an intuitive mental model to read an event. The first way seeks control; the second seeks meaning. Therein lies a vast gulf.
It is pointed out that the unconscious knows things- things of the past and future. This breaks out into the conscious world in dreams and in synchronicity. There is a vast matrix of symbolic meaning in the unconscious and when you energize one nexus, one archetype, other related archetypes sympathetically resonate with it. These resonations break out into the "real" world of the day-to-day conscious in the form of seemingly causeless synchronicity.
It is pointed out that this sort of phenomena occurs mostly to certain "gifted" individuals. The gift consists of a weaker conscious ego that does not get in the way of the unconscious as consistently as it does with the average man or woman. This sort of person can somehow relate more to the absolute knowledge of the unconscious. It seems that it is the bright light of ego consciousness that dims access for others. When the ego is weakened (as in the ego-death of the traditional shaman) then one can dwell on the threshold. Traditionally it is stated that one only learns the secrets of life after dieing, however, if one dies in life and returns then the living can access the secret of the two worlds, of heaven and earth. This is the fenestra aeternitatis, the window into eternity.
complex ideas yet easy to read .......2006-05-05
I love this book! She talks about the Chinese world view, how aboriginal cultures practice divination, integers, causality and many more fascinating (and sometimes obscure) topics. I have donated most of my library to charity but this one's a keeper.
Synchronize this!.......2003-03-02
This book is incredible.
It's presented in the format of the original lectures that it was based on (Sometimes that means she repeats important points for the audience's memory, but it never hurts, and its the only stylistic oddity).
Content-wise it is mind-blowing. I like Marie Louise Von Franz so much because she takes all these obtuse ideas that Jung had, and gets them to make so much sense and have such a real life and personality and weight to them, which is often hard to get by just reading the original material straight from the horses mouth (Jung being the horse, in this case).
This is a great book about synchronicity. It spends a whole lot of time talking about integers and chance and stuff like that.
Customer Reviews:
One of the most magical physics books ever written.......2006-12-01
Peat defines synchronicity as a meaningful relationship between personal psychic processes and events in the objective world. From such experiences, he develops a theory of a creative ground common to both mind and matter where relationships between the two can be forged. A mind limited by societal conditioning can be uplifted under the influence of synchronicity. The meaning and operations of all magick and mysticism may be derived from Peat's ideas.
Synchrnicity lucidly explained.......2006-02-15
As a layman who loves Quantum Physics and the mysteries of life, I found this book fascinating. David Peat explains in simple language how the universe might work. I say might because the more we know the more we discover new mysteries.
One of the best and most Helpful books I have ever read.......2001-02-03
Synchronicity shatters causality as being capable of applying to the entire macrocosm. It demands that we progress on from the Newtonian worldview. Though the explanations for synchronicity might seem just as incomprehensible, with this book synchronicity won't seem as impossible. We get the bridge between an artistic and mechanistic universe. Linearity and Nonlinearity, mind and matter, Acausality and causality are to be complimentary, not isolated dualities. With synchronicity we will variegate, but not transmogrify, the mechanistic Kosmos. He thoroughly examines two valuable sources of synchronicity work: Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli. Perhaps as Pauli believed, an integration will occur with synchronicity by bringing the objective into pyschology and the subjective into physics. In our universe, which is more of an organism than a machine, "everything is the cause of everything." We cannot observe phenomena without disturbing it, by being an integral participator in phenomena itself. With the development of the illusions of our distinct selfs and our Newtonian strict mindsets, a synchronicity can be the only moment in which we can see transcendant eternity. But if we are willing to break down these walls, we will be submerged in eternal creativity, and stop seeing life as linear in time and causality. Another thing, at some points in this book, it almost seems as if Peat was directly writing about God. I don't mean an anthropomorphised jealous demiurge, but rather, as I quote from his own words, "an eternally creative source that lies beyond the orders of time." pp. 195 Or how about pp. 88 "What if the laws of nature---the ones that really fly---are not simply abstractions of experience but are realization, within the world of mind, of something that is creative, generative, and formative, of something that lies beyond mathematics, language, and thought?" If he realizes this, I cannot say. But later he does speak of how the ancients described this same thing as the Tao. So I think he does, but that using a word with such a negative connotation as G-d would be misleading. But when I hear him say "objective intelligence" it seems like nothing less than being politically correct talking about the Supreme Personality of the Godhead.
Or perhaps he was expecting a white beard.
Extremes of redundant redundancy.......1999-02-11
I have this strange compulsion: once I start a book, I must finish it. Even if the book drones on and on, I have no choice but to read every word. Sometimes this compulsion pushes me into a quite uncomfortable corner. This book put me there quite early, and kept me pinned for a couple of weeks. If I were extremely masochistic, I would read it again and highlight identical themes. Never in my life have I read anything more redundant. It seemed as if, at the onset, the author outlined his major points, and then thought of ten ways to say each point. Then, each of the ten variations for each point were repeated two or three times. I won't go on and on about this book. It was somewhat interesting, but it was entirely subjective, every point that the author was trying to disprove could very easily be seen from other points of view, and it was about 100 pages too long. The editor on this one really fell asleep on the job.
To Make the Spirit, Matter. . ........1998-08-06
All of us at sometime have had the experience of a "coincidence" which seems to odd to be random. This conjunction of co-incident encounter is explored brilliantly by the author from the early collaboration of Pauli and Jung to modern day expositions of quantum theory the non-physicist can understand. For anyone seeking the origin of currents surrounding our intuitive rock in the River, this book is a must read. Or, as Mark Victor Hansen warns, "Whatever you want, wants you;" This book helps explain, Why. MR
Customer Reviews:
Lucid, Approachable & Comprehensive Book on Synchronicity.......2004-09-24
I found this book comprehensive and readable in regards to Jung's theories on Synchronicity/Religion - and learned more
about Jung's general concepts of psychology (such as the unconscious and individuation) through this book than many other books I have read on Jung (or even books by Jung himself).
The scholarly presentation of the book by Aziz, who spent many years preparing the work I found outstanding. The introduction of fundamental concepts, leading into other Jungian theories, backed up by examples and other psychological real-world parallels is impressive in the book.
Overall, any serious student of the great psychologist Carl Jung or student of Synchronicity/Dreams I think should waste no time ordering this book! (heh) And even the casual layman who is curious about what Jung meant by "Synchronicity" - Aziz is emminently approachable because of his clear writing style.
This book perhaps may well be the most up-to-date scholarly work on Jung that appears solidly authentic, rational, and clear-headed on Jung's very serious approach to religion - synchronicity - and the "objective" autonomous unconscious.
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