زندگی معنا

by James Hollis, آراز بارسقیان

زندگی معنا: بررسی عمیق‌ترین پرسش‌ها و انگیزه‌ها در زندگی
معنای زندگی، همیشه در یافتن پاسخی قاطع و مشخص، نهفته نیست. زندگی سفری است که پیش از اتمام آن، نباید ماجراجویی و پرسش‌های خود را به انتها برسانیم. جیمز هالیس در کتاب زندگی معنا ما را برای استقبالی مناسب از این سفر ماجراجویانه آماده می‌کند. همراه با این کتاب می‌توانیم در اعماق زندگی شناور شویم و به جست‌وجوی معنایی برای آن بپردازیم.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Self Help, Personal Development, Audiobook

207 pages, Unknown Binding

First published July 1, 2023

About the author

James Hollis, Ph. D., was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught Humanities 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zurich, Switzerland (1977-82). He is presently a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years and now was Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington until 2019, and now serves on the JSW Board of Directors. He is a retired Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco/Houston.

He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grand-children.

He has written a total of seventeen books, which have been translated into Swedish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Farsi, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, Serbian, Latvian, Ukranian and Czech.

Reviews

[Stephanie Barko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This title is the June 2025 selection of South Austin Spiritual Book Group.

Although Hollis has written several books on the meaning of life, to me this book felt like an entertaining review of Jungian psychology. Reading Hollis' bio, I realized I likely took a class from him when he was ED of the Houston Jung Center during the '80s when I still lived there.

He starts his book by reminding us, as I always say "to stay in the question".
Here's how Hollis puts it: "large questions get us a larger life..."
"Answers tell us where we've been. Questions get us on our journey..."

He says we're not here to be cured because we're not a disease, we're a process."
"I am what is wanting expression through me, not what happened to me."

The slippery part is the shadow self.
"We do not become enlightened by imagining figures of light but by making our darkness visible."
Takes humility to air one's faults. And courage and grace. Laughter helps.

Hollis says that the second half of life is about recovering permission and removing ancestral blockage. If you've ever undergone Holographic Repatterning Therapy, you know what a mystical test of faith walking with ghosts is.

It was conforting to learn that "Most children are anxious about how things are going and how they're going to manage it all." I sure was that kid. Were you?

The book ends with a discussion of resilience and how to live when we know we're going to die.

If you have no grounding in psychology, the book will be overwhelming, but if you remember Jung superceding Freud and how monumental that has been for us all, you will enjoy remembering who you are with this book.

[Sharman Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on audible and then--a rarity--also got the printed copy. That's mainly because as a writer and writing teacher I am so struck by the parallels between the writing process and the Jungian suggestion of active imagination. I'm returning to Jungian psychology after some years away. James Hollis has a lovely approach, humorous, contemporary, compassionate.

[Sandra Lace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Džeimss Holiss ir tas Junga psiholoģijas zinātājs un praktiķis, kuru ir jāiekļauj obligātajā lasāmvielā ap vidusmūžu (protams, agrāk arī var!). Jo ātrāk tiksim pie kārtības ar savām ēnām un uzdosim sev būtiskos jautājumus par savām reakcijām uz pasauli sev apkārt, jo jēgpilnāka un vieglāk dzīvojama būs dzīve. Šī grāmata kustina daudzus psihes kaktus, kuros ir vērts ielūkoties.

[M&A Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب هدیه‌ای بود از سمت دوستی دانا!
پس‌ قبل از نقد این کتاب، بر خود واجب می‌دانم که مراتب سپاسگزاری خود را از همه‌ی دوستان عزیزی که مهربانی‌هایشان پیوسته شامل ما می‌شود به انجام رسانم چرا که"دوستان کتاب‌خوان، همچون ستارگانی در شب تاریک‌اند که با هر کتابی که می‌خوانند، آسمان ذهن را روشن‌تر می‌سازند و دلی پر از راز و نور به‌جا می‌گذارند."
جیمز هالیس، روان‌درمانگر یونگی، در این کتاب به بحران میان‌سالی می‌پردازد و توضیح می‌دهد که چگونه انسان در نیمه‌ٔ دوم عمر، به‌جای دنبال کردن توقعات دیگران، باید معنای شخصی زندگی خود را کشف کند. در نیمه‌ٔ اول زندگی، بیشتر افراد سعی می‌کنند با ساختن هویت اجتماعی (شغل، ازدواج، خانواده) احساس امنیت کنند.
اما در میانهٔ عمر، این هویت ممکن است زیر سؤال برود و فرد با «بحران معنا» روبه‌رو شود. بحران میان‌سالی فرصتی است برای بازگشت به خود و کشف آرزوها و ارزش‌های واقعی.
از قسمت‌های قابل توجه کتاب می‌توان به نگاه درونی و تامل‌برانگیز جیمز هالیس با کمک از الگوهای یونگی به بحران میان‌سالی اشاره کرد. برخلاف بسیاری از کتاب‌های خودیاری، هالیس نمی‌خواهد نسخه‌ای برای «موفقیت بیرونی» بدهد، بلکه خواننده را دعوت به سفر درونی می‌کند. اما از اندک قسمت‌هایی که خواننده را در درک و دریافت مسائل ممکن است دچار مشکل کند عدم ارائه‌ی راهکار عملی مستقیم اشاره کرد و خواننده بیشتر حس می‌کند که کتاب بیشتر تحلیلی و نظری است تا راهبردی. برخی خوانندگان که دنبال «چه کار کنم؟» هستند، ممکن است احساس سردرگمی کنند. مثالی خوب از عدم ارائه راهکار عملی مستقیم در کتاب «زندگی معنا» نوشته‌ی جیمز هالیس، این جمله معروف اوست: «آنچه ما آن را بحران می‌نامیم، دعوتی‌ست به رشد.»
در این‌جا، او به‌جای آن‌که بگوید «در بحران چه کنیم؟» یا «چه مراحلی را طی کنیم؟»، صرفاً برداشت فلسفی از بحران ارائه می‌دهد. خواننده ممکن است بپرسد:
چطور رشد کنم؟ از کجا شروع کنم؟ چه تغییری باید بدهم؟

[Catherine Arne · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent grist for the mill

A deep, nuanced, psychologically astute examination of what makes for a meaningful life. I highlighted many passages that spoke to me; it’s one of those books that probably hit you differently each time you read it as you are on a different spot each time and grappling with different issues.

[Bassmh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very rich book that helped me reflect on my life in its many aspects; past, present and future.

As I’m approaching middle age I am grateful to have come across this book.

It’s a book that I’ll be re-reading every few years for sure.

[Edu Vias · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ver veamos…! Este es objetivamente un *gran libro* y no lo voy a poner en duda porque contiene mucho aprendizaje vital que puede andamiar cualquier vida SIN EMBARGO es cierto que (al menos para mí) este aprendizaje se concentra en los primeros capítulos y luego se desinfla (??) hasta el punto en el que me lleva a dudar de algunas cosas :’(

A cualquiera que le interese este tema le recomiendo leérselo 100%, pero 1000% recomiendo la entrevista de Huberman a Hollis, q está en youtube y que me hizo descubrir a este escritor. Más de dos horas pero aprendí, tomé apuntes, lo prometo!!

[Hampus Jakobsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, Jungian psychology is a bit of a woo-woo approach to recounting dreams, recognizing "archetypal stories" (which can tend to be horoscopes), and then "understanding yourself." But James Hollis has turned me around. 

The book explains how narratives define you—something I believe in. But those narratives can be "hauntings"—unresolved past patterns—personal or ancestral—that hold one back. Awareness enables an authentic choice; what do you actually want? And, that we have completely lost connection to something "meaningful." 

We still live in the shadows of our parents and ancestors: 

The desired outcome of therapy is the discovery that we are not what happened to but what we chose to become. (...) What happened 'out there' is not who we are.

We have to remember the presence of those large figures in our lives we call the "parent complexes." Too often people think we're just blaming parents. That's not the point at all. It's rather to ask the question, in how many ways are the parents' presences still here, even when they are deceased? (---) It's not a question of whether they're there; it's how they are there, what their messages are, and what influence plays out through our choices."

Where we refuse to grow up are waiting for complete clarity and information before making decisions, or are waiting for somebody to show up and tell us what to do is deferred authority.

All of that is shadow because it infantilizes our summons to accountability. All of that allows us to avoid stepping into the large summons of the soul. And any life based on avoidance is a scant life."

And, as we have "agreed to give up meaning in exchange for power," we have also lost meaning: 

In a 1939 speech in London, Jung noted that absent a sense of connection to something numinous, we have to create disturbances. Speaking of that troubled hour before the great conflagration, Jung noted that, paradoxically, many would welcome war because at last they could live in relationship to something bigger than themselves."

We will be captivated or owned by our projection of the need to connect with the numinous through external objects of desire, such as materialism, romance, power, and so forth. (---). That's how we get hooked to fads, to fashions, to obsessions, to popular enthusiasms. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

"I don't believe in God anymore, but I sure do miss him." I thought that sentence was so telling about a profound nostalgia for a meaningful story and yet the person's present inability to affirm that story.

And, it is easy to confuse that religious belief with a belief in a tangible higher power, but maybe it is just a belief in something bigger than yourself:

You have to realize that what is sacred is not the light bulb but the energy that infuses the bulb with light. When the energy is depleted, the bulb is left behind.

[Joelean · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We all have a compass, and the question is, do you know you have one? Do you know how to access it? Do you risk trusting it?”

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent and timely meditation on the significance of meaning in our lives.

[Elīna Grantiņa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patiesi vērtīga un domas rosinoša grāmata. Par nāvi,Ego un Es.

[Janelle Hanchett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this man and have found real help and insight from him as I navigate middle age and the process of individuation.

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There’s also a collective sense of betrayal. People who have tried to do all the right things often, at midlife, will find themselves experiencing a depression or feeling a lack of satisfaction in what they’re doing. Such moments feel like betrayals: I did the best I could, I did what I was supposed to do, and why does it not work out? Why is it so difficult?”

Books seem to show up in life when you need them the most.
I had no idea who James Hollis was until I heard him on the Huberman podcast. This book is not your run of the mill self-help book. Hollis challenges us to ask the deep questions about our life’s path. Strongly based in Jungian psychology, Hollis calls on us to pay attention to our sub-conscious aspirations as brought forth in our dreams. He makes the point that to ignore the spiritual meaning that our sub-consciousness is seeking to manifest in the world will bring about suffering.

“In our world, the de facto religion of materialism leads to this dilemma that we all have. If we don’t encounter the numinous in the outer world and the inner world, it will manifest itself as somatic illness for us or some form of pathology. Or we’ll be owned by it in our search for it among the objects upon which we projected our existential yearning in the outer world. New shiny objects, seductive electronic technologies, sex and romance, hedonism, self-absorption, and most of all distractions by a noisy culture constitute the chief spirituality of our time.”

This is an important book for the time we live in. The distractions we face in our modern lives are countless and make it difficult to consider the deeper purpose in our lives. This book forces you to stop and re-examine your life’s journey, an essential step for those who strive to live a life of meaning.

[Leanne Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the work of James Hollis and Jungian psychology. It takes the form of eight sessions which are structured like lectures, although the content is flawlrss, as in a book. I enjoyed the way the sessions were arranged, with subjects building on one another and culminating in a final chapter on how to live each day with a view to getting the most out of your life.

[Benedict Findlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed reading Jame Hollis' stuff. His clear yet lyrical prose captures the basic ideas of Jungian psychology and presents them in an easy-to-understand but nonetheless vivid way. Hollis, however, not only offers a stepping stones into the world of Jungian psychology but also adds his own to the ideas he presents. I can't do justice to the whole book, so I'll set a couple of the concepts I liked in the book.

The first one that I liked was the idea of resonance. Resonance describes the stirring feeling, however large or small, you feel when you encounter something in the world. Hollis uses a Emily Dickinson's quote - that 'the Sailor cannot see the North, but knows the Needle can' - to describe that feeling. He says feeling of resonance, like the Needle, provides the sense of directionality that you, the Sailor, might not be able to consciously grasp. Hollis asks the reader to, when they experience resonance, to ask what resonates with them and why it does so.

The other one I liked is the idea of projection. My best understanding of projecting is that to project onto someone is to give them characteristics they likely do not have, with the consequence that these projections often do evoke the whole spectrum of emotions from disgust to admiration. Perhaps the easiest of the projections to understand are especially strong projections of romantic relationships, where the traits in other are almost deified, but projections can, and frequently do, happen with anyone, with different people eliciting different projections of differing strength and emotionality. But what Hollis says these projections are doing is projecting some part of you that you are inadequately tending to. Hollis says that we should ask ourselves what it is that we project onto others so that we might understand the areas where we need to cultivate ourselves.

I think, overall, that Hollis provides the reader with new ways of looking at their old problems while imploring the reader to ask bigger and bigger questions of themselves. Also shoutout for being the first time I read poetry and found it evocative rather than feeling that it just was a big bag of baloney.

[zsuzsyb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nem gondoltam volna, hogy lehetséges, de megtörtént: a szerzőnek ez a könyve még az általam olvasott előző kettőnél is jobban tetszik. Fő témája, hogyan kapcsolódjunk a lelkünkhöz és legyünk jóban vele, miközben megéljük az élettörténeteinket, keresgéljük az utunk. Remekül rávilágít arra is, hogy ebben a kapcsolódásban mik azok a dolgok, amik tompítanak, zsákutcákba terelnek vagy éppen akadályoznak.
Nagyon tetszett az is, hogy kimondja: bármennyit fejlődsz, visszaeshetsz ugyanazokba a komplexusokba, körbe-körbe járunk, az élet nem lineáris és az emberi lélek sosem lesz egy üres lap. Nem tűnnek el a komplexusaink, ahogyan az élet problémái sem, csupán a tudatosítás segít, és a belső tér tágítása, de ehhez ugye kell az a belső kapcsolat és értelmezés...
Azon gondolkodom, hogy mennyi felesleges zavart és kusza keresgéléstől és túrkálástól mentett volna meg, ha mindig tudtam volna, hogy az a legfontosabb, megtanuljam, hogyan kell befelé figyeléskor az onnan érkező jelzéseket értelmezni. Dehát egy mai ember vagyok, és pont ez az, amihez a nagy, zajos informálódással, táguló tudásunkkal és gazdag élményeinkkel a legkevésbé értünk. És ez az, aminek a legkevésbé adunk hitelt, hiszen annyi más komoly magyarázatunk és okunk van másképp értelmezni az élettörténeteink.

Milyen könyv ez? Sokkal több, mint egy önfejlesztő. És több: mint egy sima pszichológia.
Mély, árnyalt, lényeges. Józan. Őszinte és tisztelettudóan szívhez szóló.
Könyvtári példány volt, de ezt most már meg kell vennem. Hiszen szinte minden oldalról ki akartam jegyzetelni, hogy megmaradjon. Ez az a könyv, amit majd életem során újra és újra el akarok olvasni. Öregségemkor az utolsó fejezeteket meg pláne, nagy szükségem lesz rá.

[Mike Kanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since retiring last year, I have been looking for purpose and direction to a life not defined by my job. Because of this, Hollis' book showed up as a recommendation through Kindle Unlimited.

This is not an easy read. Although it is not drenched in academic or psychological jargon, the subject matter often requires rereading passages. Dr. Hollis uses Jungian psychology to help the reader understand their lives. He does not give you a to-do list or specific suggestions. He asks questions and asks you to consider how you would answer them.

I don't know if I have any answers. However, I do have a better understanding of how my life has progressed and why I have a certain worldview.

[Nicholas Tan Wei Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating journey into Jungian psychology and the meaning of life

Dr. Hollis presents great wisdom from a life well-lived as to how to navigate the notion of meaning, especially in our modern world where we’re increasingly distracted by ‘divertissements’ of the iPhone and social media. It is an invitation to turn away from these many distractions and to look inwards as the “guiding compass of the soul”.

[Vojtěch Tatra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories... Doesn't mean they are all right, but many of them sticks because the have grain of truth in it and our unconscious mind understands this language the best. Yet you can get lost in this forest easily.
Even today, we can learn more from Jung and the beatniks than from Freud or the Rorschachists. He who bore witness to the fact that there can be no recipe for a truth that doesn't exist—that is the one who will never become obsolete.

[Paul Ispas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genul de lucrare care își propune să ajute cititorul dar pe alocuri mai tare îl confuzează. Hollis folosește multe exemple din poezie în modul în care-și ilustrează punctele de vedere, metaforele adesea nefiind perfect aliniate cu subiectul.
Overall cartea e o ”traducere” bună a gândirii lui Carl Jung, cu exemplificări concrete și sfaturi utile, însă, pentru mine, a fost o parcurgere anevoiasă.

[gary hawker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The challenge is always within

The simplicity of this book belies the complicity of its content. Our heart seeks meaning in a way which may leave the rationality of the mind behind. Hollis explores a way to resolve this dilemma and find purpose and integrity in life especially as we travel through our mid life and beyond.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accessible and transformative. A necessary reminder of our personal accountability in understanding our life journey and claiming it consciously in the second half of life. James Hollis (and his inspiration, Carl Jung) have a way of shaking me awake and into my own capacity for courage and action.

[Ale Tz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content of the book was great, but the writing style not so much. This could have been a much more concise book in my opinion. But nevertheless, it was thought-provoking and I found myself highlighting lots and taking notes. One question that the author invites us to contemplate and really resonated with me is: "Who am I apart from my history, my roles, and my commitments?"

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Courage, curiosity, questioning, listening and paying attention go a long way in making life's journey less lonely and more meaningful. The more questions asked of your Self, the longer you will live. That's encouraging. Especially liked Hollis' examples and prescriptions in chapters 6 and 7.

[Tomas Nilsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best self help book I’ve ever read. I hope to remember to read it again. I don’t think that it would have meant much to me, had I read it as a 20 year old. I’m very fortunate to live in these times.

[Ann Doremus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was in the mood for something different when I came across this title. I enjoyed it, written like a series of lectures. Offered thoughtful questions, interesting stories, and literary references. It felt both smart and accessible.
I think I'd enjoy a second listen someday.

[M F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Dr. Hollis does a wonderful job at conveying the core ideas that Jung explored. However, there are a few times that I found myself asking where the source is for some of his paraphrasing. All in all, a profound and eye opening read.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenmenonal

Just incredibly insightful and so humble. Absolutely loved this book. Goes over so much in such brevity and understand. Insights that will carry you over for years to come

[Roben]

As usual, a manual of self awareness and evolution

[Rob Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absorbing and meaningful. What your psyche wishes you'd read.