Becoming Whole

Jung's Equation for Realizing God

By: Leslie Stein

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

A thrilling exploration of how Carl Jung found the equation for realizing the divine through personal consciousness.

In 1951, Carl Jung published what he considered the highest synthesis and exposition of the transformation of Self and the discovery of the divine in one of his latest and most difficult works, Aion. The equation’s complexity and uncharacteristic elements of mysticism have caused it to fall by the wayside in traditional Jungian and psychological analysis. No major work has tackled this fascinating concept until now.

Leslie Stein, a disciple of noted Jungian analyst Rix Weaver, here explores this groundbreaking equation to its fullest capacity. Tracing the roots of Jung’s research back to his influences in the world of the Kabbalah and Sufi mysticism, and grounding the more esoteric philosophy toward the modern sense of identity, Stein has produced both a rigorous work of scholarship on a major figure and a guide that challenges listeners to reflect on our own truths.

©2012 Leslie Stein (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Jung - Brilliant as Always, but Advanced

As a student of Jung's writing and approach, this book is indispensable, but its complexity requires a hard copy as well, as another reviewer pointed out. There are perhaps some Jungian scholars who could do with just this Audible version, but even they would want a hard copy as well I would think.

I am happy to have this Audible version as well as the Kindle version because the book contains so much that deep study is warranted.

The narrator is definitely an acquired taste. She sounds like a female Stephen Hawking after three or more generations of speech generation development. It's a remarkable, if slightly creepy voice for this book. The book's dry nature of important, Jungian depth psychology concepts could use more emotion. And the "young" pronunciation of Jung should never have happened. Don't the narrators have a director who would correct that?

Just read the book

The narration does not seem human. It is as though it is being read by AI. None of the names, or technical nomenclature is pronounced correctly, not even C.G. Jung's own name! I hate to write such a negative review, but this is a waste of time. Without the ability to reference the images discussed in the book it cannot be understood.
The book itself however is illuminating, and well put together. It provides a great deal of insight into one of Jung's more obscure and complex ideas. The book is centered around the explanation of an equation and four subsets of the equation, all of which are represented visually. Without a physical copy of Becoming Whole, or at least referencing the images in Jung' s Aion the information discussed would be almost completely unintelligible.
I am thankful this book exists, and grateful that Audible is expanding their content in this direction. I hope they will add more Jung in the future.

Mispronunciation of names is terrible

What disappointed you about Becoming Whole?

The narrator.

What didn’t you like about Cris Dukehart’s performance?

The narrator's mispronunciation of both Jung's and Ibn 'Arabi's names drove me nuts. I quit listening and bought the printed book.

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth reading by those doing individuation and students of Jung and mystical traditions like Sufism.

Ok, If you say so.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This book wouldn't turn a person off on Carl Jung, but it doesn't promote him either. It is a supplemental work, and it would be best to purchase the hard copy as there are many illustrations that the audio book listener misses out on.

Would you be willing to try another one of Cris Dukehart’s performances?

The voice is not unpleasant. It is hard to use this work, which is quite unemotional, as a measure of a reader's talents.

Could you see Becoming Whole being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

As a feature film, I could easily see Joe Pesci as the Imago Dei.

Any additional comments?

This book is like listening to a doctoral dissertation about Carl Jung. It doesn't get much more exciting than that. Don't let this book be your introduction into Jung's work, because it does not introduce. It gives explanations of equations that primarily relate consciousness to alchemy. If that turns you on, go for it.

Mesmerizing, pleasant narrator, meaningful

What the book implies: Read about the sources mentioned in the book and you will figure out the puzzle.

great book

complex and beautiful--not a book to be read lightly, rather a keystone to a vast and transcendent world of ideas

I thought the readers need to know pronunciation?

The book is fascinating. Parallels and some polemic with the Sufi, Kabbala and Indian mysticism and philosophy are presented, which makes it interesting for any explorer. What surprised me was that Audible produced a book with a reader who mispronounces even the name of the book! You have to be prepared to endure the whole book with the name of Jung pronounced as "young" and many other non-English names and words tortured into caricatures. Well, at least it is an audio-book, presumably better than computer-read. I am grateful for that.

Jung is not pronounced 'young'!!

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator mispronounces Jung through the entire book. Considering that the book is about Jung's theory, it's hard to overlook.

Excellent!!!

Great explanation of the equation found in Jung's Aion, albeit with some noticeable mispronunciations. It is definitely well worth a listen.

Jung - Becoming whole

I am a serious Buddhist practitioner and have always been helped a great deal with Carl Jung's work. When I was young I had his collected works which I read during my 14 years in India as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. I found his writing to add a great deal to my Tantric practice and delving deeper into the profound levels of consciousness. I found many insights in this presentation but I have to say some of Jung's ideas are not acceptable. I do recommend listening to this as it will give you a good understanding of working with your deeper psyche. In the final moment though I find Buddhist presentation to be more accurate. What this book does though is give one a slight variation of view, and that is very helpful.