Imagination is Reality: Western Nirvana in Jung, Hillman, Barfield and Cassirer

This small book is the first comprehensive essay to place archetypal psychology within a major tradition of modern thought, the tradition of mythical thinking, and to recognize imagination as the primal force and basic reality of human life. By drawing upon the writings of four twentieth-century thinkers, the author clarifies the post-Jungian direction of psychology as it moves toward poetic and polythesic imagination. He then compares the radical acheivements of this direction in resolving the "ego-question" with the methods and ideas of the East: Buddhism, Tantrism, Zen, and Vedanta.

The author's grasp of understanding, easy familiarity with his subject, and startling insights together make this book both an introductory text and an advance into new territory.