The Resilient Spirit: Transforming Suffering Into Insight And Renewal

by Polly Young-Eisendrath

Young-Eisendrath teaches readers how to learn from their hardships by drawing on the traditions that have enriched her life experience--the theories of Jung, the practice of psychoanalysis, and the teachings of Buddhism--as well as the stories of people who have faced tremendous downfall and come through it. An edifying work on the stewardship of pain.--Body Mind Spirit.

Genres: Psychology, Spirituality

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 1997

About the author

Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst, psychologist, and psychotherapist in private practice. She is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont and the founder and director of the Institute for Dialogue Therapy. She is past president of the Vermont Association for Psychoanalytic Studies and a founding member of the Vermont Institute for the Psychotherapies. Polly is also the chairperson of Enlightening Conversations, a series of conversational conferences which bring together participants from the front lines of Buddhism and psychoanalysis. Polly has published sixteen books, as well as many chapters and articles, that have been translated into more than twenty languages, including The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance> and Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path>.

Reviews

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet useful book, especially for those with a little bit of Jungian psychology or Buddhism in their vocabulary. Superficially, The Resilient Spirit reads like a self help book on the theme of transforming pain into something constructive, not going under. But Eisendrath's treatment isn't cliche: it's more like a variation on the blues--fingering the jagged grain of brutal experiences. She doesn't demand that you know Jung or Buddhism, but she draws on both to illuminate a set of stories about people who successfully dealt with difficult experiences (one of them, Joanne Macy, is a wonderful writer and activist who has a similar kind of style). There were times when I wished she'd filled in the background more, elaborating her understanding of archetypes or karma, for example, but that's not really the purpose of this book.

[Jackie Dishner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended to my by my therapist, this book was spot on in helping me reconnect with my resilient spirit. My book is now dog-eared and highlighted, with notes on nearly every page, it was that good.

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago and read again because someone purchased it from me.

It should be a must read in high school psychology coursework.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often agonize when I rate books. Frequently, I will call a book a "Perfect Four". By that I mean, a book that is just a good read, often a very good read.

I try to reserve a five rating for books that knock my socks off. Sometimes, I'll read an anthology where there is one really amazing story and other stories that are just good, a few meh. How should I rate that?

This book was coasting into four territory, a thoughtful analysis of resilience from the perspective of a Jungian analyst who has found her spiritual path in Buddhism. But then I reached the chapter, "The Transcendent Function". It was like an almost karmic moment, if you will. I felt like I was "supposed" to be reading that chapter right then.

"Resisting our tendencies to defend our complexes," Polly Young-Eisendrath writes:

we develop an ability that Jung called the "transcendent function." It is the capacity to hold tensions and let meaning emerge without prematurely deciding whether a situation is "good" or "bad."

Meanings emerge over time, not in events themselves, and through our perspective and actions we make the events purposeful and fulfilling or empty and distressing.

Here she gets at what wisdom is. I rifled through the notes to look at her sources for this chapter--and know it will occupy my thoughts in the coming days. And help me shape the memoir I am writing and the epic that I am editing.

This book I had personal meaning for me because I am striving to write about suffering and setbacks. And Polly Young-Eisendrath's book helps give me access to the tools I need to write about such challenges I have faced without bitterness.

May it serve the same purpose for you.

[Anita Ashland · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book about suffering, compassion, and resilience. She is a Jungian analyst and the insights here are very accessible to anyone not familiar with Jung. She is a Zen Buddhist so there are some Buddhist insights throughout.

Some quotes:

"Too often we're waiting for the other person to change rather than looking into the mirror of self-recognition to see how we might change."

"To stay relatively free of suffering is to stay very awake and conscious of our tendencies to create it. They may never disappear, although they will weaken. What seems to work best in holding onto this awareness is some kind of practice or belief that returns you again and again to compassion and connection with others. This produces a different kind of attitude about pain, loss, and even death."

"Much of our suffering originates with our own discontent When we discover that, we begin to find a path to freedom. Our society is moving in a psychologically and spiritually dangerous direction, as we attempt to explain more and more of our personal difficulties through biology and genes. We've dropped the mirror of self-recognition."

"Similar to present-day psychoanalysts, the Buddha emphasized not only the consequences of actions themselves but the consequences of our motivations. The Buddha used the term karma specifically referring to volition, the intention or motive behind an action. He said that the motivation behind the action determines the karmic fruit. "Inherent in each intention in the mind is an energy powerful enough to bring about subsequent results."

[Linda Eguchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

About 3.5 stars for me. I needed more examples to illustrate and flesh out the author's concepts. The book circles around the same ideas over and over: that suffering and pain are inevitable and, if made meaningful, can be transformative. Well, actually, she makes the distinction that pain is inevitable, suffering is not. I agree with her ideas, based in psychotherapy and Buddhism. This book just lacked something for me.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished read this book. It's full of wisdom. This book guide me to deal with suffering and diffuculties wisely in my life. It gives me hope too.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

in trying to deal with my grief after my brother's death, I wanted to find a way to not become bitter and angry because of it. It seems to me that traumatic events can be opportunities for us to grow in strength and kindness. This book is a wonderful gem, and I learned so much from it.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never cloying, but at times overly simplistic, this book has comforted me as I reflect on the sometimes painful and difficult relationship I have had with my father, who is now in hospice.