Catching the Thread: Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology [Paperback]

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (Author), Irina Tweedie (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

Spiritual life is a process of inner transformation in which the whole psychic structure of the seeker is changed. Exploring the threshold between psychology and spirituality, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee shows how dreamwork guides us on this inner journey and helps us to understand the different stages of the path. He explores the psychological dynamics of the relationship with the teacher, so often misunderstood in the West, and then describes what is hardly mentioned in the great spiritual literature of the world: how the soul of the disciple merges with the soul of the teacher. This book is a reedited version of The Call and the Echo, combined with some of the most important material from the author's first book, The Lover and the Serpent.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee is a Sufi teacher. In recent years the focus of his writing and teaching has been on spiritual responsibility in our present time of transition, and the emerging global consciousness of oneness. He has also specialized in the area of dreamwork, integrating the ancient Sufi approach to dreams with the insights of modern psychology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: The Golden Sufi Center (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890350001
• ISBN-13: 978-1890350000
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #453,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Ph.D., is a Sufi Teacher in the Naqshbandiyya-Mujadidiyya Sufi Order. Born in London in 1953, he has followed the Naqshbandi Sufi path since he was 19. In 1991 he moved to Northern California and became the successor of Irina Tweedie, author of "Chasm of Fire" and "Daughter of Fire." In recent years the focus of his writing and teaching has been on spiritual responsibility in our present time of transition, and the emerging global consciousness of oneness. He has also specialized in the area of dreamwork, integrating the ancient Sufi approach to dreams with the insights of modern psychology. Author of several books, Llewellyn lectures in the United States and Europe. For further information, please see: www.goldensufi.org and www.workingwithoneness.org.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cloud in a Dream, January 10, 2001

By 

Joel Brown (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Catching the Thread: Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology (Paperback)

Another book on the great Nothingness and Oneness/God and Monism-and our realization of this and merging with it. The different methods this book used to capture the essence of Spirit were brilliant. Those would be: Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology. He writes about those archetypal characters that are within your own self, and the dark shadows that you have by which casted a veil between you and the Beloved. That is what is also key to this work, it describes the true Love that is God and that I know is the essence of our full existence and the Ultimate Reality. It is the ocean that is God, and any love that we experience in this life is a glimpse of the ocean of love which is Oneness. And any beauty here on Earth is a reflection of the infinite ocean of beauty that is Oneness. Our goal is to reach that by transforming our inner shadows. Now you might wonder how that archetypal plane is related to reaching Oneness, and that is through the other side of this book: dreamwork. Usually in describing monism and reaching God through the higher levels of reality, dreams are thought of as lower levels than what we experience now. But this author interprets them in light of our Self, which is One with realization of God. I must say that while reading this I felt more deeply suspended into that mystic Oneness.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THREADS FOR SEEKERS, February 28, 2002

By 

MARY MAGUIRE (WPB, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Catching the Thread: Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology (Paperback)

The author uses many threads (Jung, Blake, Edinger, Jacobi, Mother Teresa, Esther Harding, Rumi, St. John of the Cross, etc.) to weave a simple, refreshing, mystical work. The Sufi exposure is a welcome addition for the Western reader in the journey along the alchemical path. The way of unity for seekers presents a challenge to those consciously pursuing the spiritual life.

2.0 out of 5 stars Sufi is inSUFIcient, July 19, 2010

By 

Lawrence Alschuler (Salvan, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Catching the Thread: Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology (Paperback)

Seeking more knowledge of Sufism was my main reason for reading Catching the Thread. The description of Sufism was too scattered over the chapters for me to put the pieces together in a satisfying way. Just one chapter summarizing the basics would have made the difference. The amount of dream material was excessive. Why not just a few extensive case examples. It is impossible for me to judge the quality of the dream interpretation, given the limited information on the dreamers. Most of the applications of Jungian concepts seemed appropriate to me. For those unfamiliar with Jungian psychology, this book serves as a useful introduction.