Red Book, Middle Way: How Jung Parallels the Buddha's Method for Human Integration

by Robert M. Ellis

Jung's Red Book, finally published only in 2009, is a highly ambiguous text describing a succession of extraordinary visions, together with Jung's interpretation of them. Red Book, Middle Way offers a new interpretation of Jung's Red Book, in terms of the Middle Way, as a universal principle and embodied ethic, paralleled both in the Buddha's teachings and elsewhere. Jung explicitly discusses the Middle Way in the Red Book (although this has been largely ignored by scholars so far) as well as offering lots of material that can be understood in its terms. This book interprets the Red Book in relation to the archetypes met in its visions - the hero, the feminine, the Shadow, God and Christ, and follows Jung's process of integrating these different internal figures. To do this Jung needs to find the Middle Way between absolutes at every point, in a way similar to the Buddha.

224 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2020

About the author

Robert M Ellis is the author of more than 20 books on Middle Way Philosophy, which is a practical philosophy focused on making the most of our experience in all our judgements. Initially inspired by the Buddha's Middle Way and Buddhist practice, he completed a Ph.D. on the Middle Way in 2001 that marked the beginning of his work exploring the universal Middle Way in relation to Western philosophy, psychology, systems, embodiment, and a range of other disciplines. He is now on the second wave of development of Middle Way Philosophy, in a new series being published by Equinox, beginning with 'Absolutization' (2022) and 'The Five Principles of the Middle Way'. (2023) He has also published books about the Middle Way in relation to Buddhism, Christianity, and Jungian archetypes, as well as the introductory book 'Migglism' (2014), the short argument 'Buddhism and God' (2021), parable fiction, and poetry. He now lives in Wales, where he runs a retreat centre and is cultivating a forest garden.