Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell) Kindle Edition

Never in my life has a book so inspired me. It has taken me months to get through this book because every page makes me stop and relate the passages to my own life. Do yourself a favor and get this book.The image I included is one of the many pages I've underlined. This book will be read and reread multiple times.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  “There are something like 18 billion cells in the brain alone. There are no two brains alike; there are no two hands alike; there are no two human beings alike. You can take your instructions and your guidance from others, but you must find your own path.”“The basic story of the hero journey involves giving up where you are, going into the realm of adventure, coming to some kind of symbolically rendered realization, and then returning to the field of normal life.”“The scientist knows that at any moment facts may be found that make the present theory obsolete; this is happening now constantly. It’s amusing. In a religious tradition, the older the doctrine, the truer it is held to be.”~ Joseph Campbell from Pathways to BlissThis is the third review I’ve created on Joseph Campbell. As I mention in the others (A Joseph Campbell Companion and The Power of Myth), Campbell sits in the Granddaddy slot in my spiritual family tree. I heart Grandpa Joe. :)This book is from the collected works series New World Library and the Joseph Campbell Foundation are assembling.The prose and the presentation are stunningly beautiful. If you haven’t explored Campbell and his hero’s journey yet, get on it! I trust you’ll enjoy this gem, Pathways to Bliss.Here are some of the Big Ideas:1. Bliss = - Transcendent wisdom.2. Your Life - Composed by a novelist.3. Life Is Calling - Answer, please. :)4. Say “Yes!” - Pretty please.5. Bringing the Boon Back - Show me the boon!Let go of your fears that following your quest is an ego trip… And let’s become transparent to transcendence, my friend!(More goodness--including PhilosophersNotes on 250+ books at[...])

So, Campbell was a genius. I don’t dispute that. He had the privilege of living among the elites of the twentieth century. Literally, he hung out with folks like Jung and Picasso and Martha Graham. So, of course he’s brilliant. He’s also a man of his times, which is a bit off-putting at times. I’m sure he doesn’t mean to say/write things that come across as really racist, xenophobic, or sexist... but here they are, nonetheless.*However, this book was not really what I was expecting, and pretty disappointing on the whole. Most of the book is a primer on Freud and Jung, and social psychology. So, I guess my big annoyance is that it comes across as a load of pop psychology, with precious little in terms of mythology. Maybe it’s because I know social psychology—and how far we’ve progressed since the 1970s—but I really wanted to correct a lot of his assertions.I also understood that it was cobbled together from multiple lectures by editors going in, but that didn’t make it any better to read. It wandered all over the place, and repeated itself a lot. I get that the editors wanted to stay true to the magic of the lectures and his lecturing style, but I almost would have rather they just put out whole lectures clearly labeled as such rather than making the pretense of this as a monograph.There is good stuff still in here, and I still think it’s worth the read, but you need to know what you’re getting. Pop psychology that’s out of date but still thought-provoking at times, and only a sprinkling of actual mythology.*The unnamed women in the interview(?) transcripts at the end are my favorites because they totally call out his sexist assumptions.

I've discovered Campbell's work not long ago, but it feels like I've found a life Master. I've read The Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Hero's Journey, but this was my favourite from Campbell, so far. Although in The Hero with a Thousand Faces all that is covered here is also delt with in depth, in this book Campbell relates myths and personal development in a most comprehensive and profound way. It fulfils the fourth function of myth perfectly: to carry the individual through the stages in his life and facilitate the hero's journey. Plus, the last part of the book, where some dialogues with a group of women are shown, and the heroine's journey is debated, really aided me to delve deep into my own woman's psyche and inner work, in addition to providing me with sound material for my Women Circles. It's a really inspirational work and I'm so grateful to have come across this amazing Teacher, that Campbell is.

I can't really say enough about this book or Joseph Campbell - I've learned so much from him over the years. After reading other works by Joseph Campbell and watching countless hours of video I wonder how I overlooked this book? Want to understand life, death, parenting, society and culture of all kinds, psychology, history ... yourself? This book has it all. I gained a lot from the one read of it, but I know this book will be read many times to come. Now, I get even more how of the other books by Joseph Campbell and others and videos that I've watched countless times. You can't go wrong ... you just can't! My only suggestion is to read it slowly and then read it again. (BTW, I just found his reading list from Sarah Lawrence on the Joseph Campbell Foundation website just in case you didn't know it was there.)

Worth reading if you are looking for bliss and appreciate mythology. This writing is much more accessible than some of his other books. Also, the feminine is addressed more here than in "Hero with a Thousand Faces".

Joseph Campbell is the most influential person in my life (of course I never met him) and this is his best book. This will help you understand some of the bigger questions of meaning, purpose and other perplexing things we humans face. And with all the hogwash out there telling us to put a smile on our face and that will solve our problems this is a wise way to try to understand life.

What mankind is losing is still captured in our myths. No one makes it more accessible and relevant the J. Campbell.

Was not aware I was ordering the big print version, but no harm done. This book is as gratifying as all the other works by Joseph Campbell that I've read through the years, and the remarks about his own life gave it an extra dimension which was very welcome. I read it straight through and wished for more!

If the quality of a book is how much you highlight then this must be five stars. In 2020 we have a world in which our mythologies are all contested . In some ways the book is predictive. So much better to engage in myth as a personal experience. The old gods, goddesses and symbols connect us to the base of our nature and the highest spiritual virtues. There is great value if explored. New myths will be created. They will be reflections in the river of psychological precedent laid down over thousands of years. All this is set out in this book.

Questo libro di Campbell è molto ben scritto e va molto a fondo nei meccanismi più profondi dell'inconscio collettivo e, quindi, del nostro inconscio.Ritengo che, in maniera che può, ovviamente e giustamente, essere molto personale, Pathways to bliss può fornire una chiave utile ed interessante alle nostre crisi personali, senza cercare di affermare delle verità assolute, ma basandosi sull'osservazione della presenza costante di particolari miti in società del tutto distanti e differenti fra loro in termini temporali e geografici. Non è, comunque, una lettura per tutti, in quanto, a mio avviso, richiede delle conoscenze di psicologia e una consapevolezza personale di un certo livello, sebbene Campbell possa essere considerato come un grande divulgatore, almeno nei paesi anglosassoni.

I like how Campbell can incorporate so many different cultural mythologies and make them approachable for the reader. It’s not over analytical. It’s personal to him and that comes through in the writing.