Love and the World : A Guide to Conscious Soul Practice [Paperback]

Robert Sardello (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2001

Drawing on images of the Grail legend and myths of Sophia - she who is called the Soul of the World - Sardello develops approaches to intelligence of the heart, the world significance of grieving, the transformative power of radical receptivity, re-enlivening the senses, the creative power of dreaming, and a new basis for relationships. Based on a synthesis of C. G. Jung's writings on the nature of soul, James Hillman on the work of soul making, and Rudolf Steiner on the formation of a spiritual culture, LOVE AND THE WORLD establishes a ground of hope for the new millennium, as well as a radically fresh direction for psychology-one concerned with what we can be, rather than what has influenced us from the past. Robert Sardello, author of FACING THE WORLD WITH SOUL, offers an immensely human approach to the soul we share with one another and with the world. Love and the World is vital reading for anyone who wishes to explore the riches of spiritual psychology. This is an updated and revised edition of LOVE AND THE SOUL.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bringing the world of the soul into conscious practice...in relation to time, love, dreaming, heart, relationships, community and friendship." -- Sufism: An Inquiry, Vol IX, No.4

"Practical, spiritual tools that are both timeless and carefully forged for the moment...refreshing insights on soul and spirit." -- Parabola, Winter 2001

“Robert Sardello is one of the most creative thinkers I know. He writes from a combination of breathtaking originality... -- THOMAS MOORE, author of Care of the Soul and The Soul of Sex

“Whatever Sardello touches breaks open with new meaning.” -- JAMES HILLMAN, author of The Soul’s Code and The Force of Character

About the Author

Robert Sardello, Ph.D, has been a practising psychotherapist for over twenty years, working in existential, Jungian and archetypal psychologies. He is co-founder of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture and of the School of Spiritual Psychology and a faculty member of the Chalice of Repose project in Missoula, Montana. He is author of Facing the World with Soul and Freeing the Soul from Fear.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Lindisfarne Books (April 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970109741
• ISBN-13: 978-0970109743
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK IN THE FIELD OF PSYCHOLOGY EVER!, April 25, 2001

By 

Roo Ruf Neck - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love and the World : A Guide to Conscious Soul Practice (Paperback)

well, maybe not, but without a doubt "Love and the World" is an immensely significant work in the field of depth psychology. Originally titled "Love and the Soul", Sardello's book takes an experiential look at the connection between the individual and the world. By staying within the realm of experience, Sardello allows the reader to begin the process of psychological research for him or herself. Sardello honors the original direction which Freud and then Jung trailblazed but points to the danger inherent in any exploration of soul which leaves out the world. Yet Sardello's experience of 'World' and his methodology which leads to it is what is truly groundbreaking about this work.

In "Love and the World" the world is not maintained to exist 'out there' independent of the individual, and yet, Sardello avoids any hints of suggesting the relativistic/constructivst conception which denies the possibility of talking objectively about realms such as Truth, Beauty and Goodness. Sardello maintains that to truly speak objectively about soul and the world, we must enter into the creative processes which they are. It is in the creative process that we can find, through sensing the creating activity of our own 'I', the link between ourself and the world. Sardello shows how spiritual psychology demands a distinction between the ego and the 'I'. This distinction has never been articulated in depth psychology and it is for this reason that the world has always been left out. And so after we identify the 'I' as distinct, not separate, from the ego, we can then experience the 'I' as the creative, non personal, yet completely individual, activity through which the world individuates itself and from which fully conscious, world oriented love is born.

How refreshing to read a sophisticated work in the field of psychology that earns that distinction by leaving theories, abstractions and in-bred language systems at the door. Like any truly improvisational art, Sardello is not content to present a system of finished concepts that can be repeated and systemized, but rather, he enters the active images of experience and from there performs language which can deepen the readers own explorations and questions. This is reflected in the poetic style which imbues each sentence of "Love and the World".

So much more could be said. And that's the point. This book does not attempt to finish anything. It's sole objective is to begin creating a new foundation for psychology which is based in active practice and which leads towards capacities for experiencing the creative, soul-filled and spiritual activities which are the world.

ps...my only frustration comes from what was left out of the new edition. In general not much is changed and in fact, some things are tightened up in a helpful manner. However the "Getting Started" section has been rewritten and while the new pages are a wonderful and, I believe, needed introduction to the book, the original "Getting Started" was a masterpiece. In the four or five pages of the original, Sardello wove together in a creativly condensed form all the images which live in the book as a whole. The orignial "Getting Started" also contains a few brilliant paragraphs on 'soul logic' which desribe the necessity for a new methodological approach to psychology. For these reason I would urge anyone who is still hungry after reading "Love and the World" to order the out of print original "Love and the Soul" from bibliofind.com. I hope that someday both pieces can work together in this most outstanding and potentially life changing book. Perhaps, Sardello will post the original words on his websight.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of today's most original thinkers, May 20, 2001

By 

sheridan hill (Winston-Salem, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love and the World : A Guide to Conscious Soul Practice (Paperback)

(c) 2001 Sheridan Hill--- To follow Robert Sardello's writing and to attend his workshops is to participate in the ongoing creation of one of today's most original thinkers. I have not found another author who so eloquently steps out of the accepted structure of spiritual clichés, synthesizes ancient wisdom and writes so intelligently from the heart of the future, and possesses true understanding of spiritual worlds and depth psychology. He throws absolutely nothing out while maintaining that to live, to love, and to not know is the real work of the day.

Sardello's fourth book, "Love and the World," addresses the necessity of the individual "I" and its relationship not just to the world but to the soul of the world. Along the way, he debunks today's popular notions of soul (he has been known to say, "It is not a pet that we care for.") He carefully dismantles pervasive, romantic notions of spiritual love and leads the reader into a new realm of thinking about individual nature and soulful relationships.

This new idea of intimacy involves a rich feeling life, one that includes but transcends personal feeling and returns us to a way of living and loving that includes soul as a quality already present in the world.

To understand Sardello, all that is required is an open heart and the ability to imagine ourselves, the world, and soul in a way that we have never seen before.

If you only read one more book on love, or relationships, or "finding" yourself, make it this one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Primer on Love, June 1, 2001

By 

Sheridan Hill (Winston-Salem, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love and the World : A Guide to Conscious Soul Practice (Paperback)

Suppose that soul is not yours or mine, but rather a quality in the world that we enter into? What if soul has a connection with the current of the future that has been largely overlooked, and each human individual is the living,loving connection between soul and the future of the world?

What is felt in the new millennium as an emerging, urgent turning toward soul is, Sardello contends, a calling for us to realize our capacities as creators in the world. In order to do this, we must discover what it means to love (not "I love myself" or "I love you" but simply "I love," and what self knowledge is. Goethe ssaid, "Man knows but himself insofar as he knows the world, for he sees the world but in himself, and himself in it alone." Sardello observes that one knows another only insofar as one knows the world, and our relationship with the world is rightly characterized by a never-ending curiosity for truth and the ability to observe the world through a heart that thinks.

Robert Sardello's fourth book, "Love and the World," addresses the necessity of the individual "I" and its relationship not just to the world but to world soul. Along the way, he debunks popular notions of soul (he has been known to say, "It is not a pet that we care for.") He carefully dismantles pervasive, romantic notions of spiritual love and leads the reader into a new way of imagining individual nature and soulful relationships.

For more about Sardello's work, see sheridanhill.com