Movie Reviews for Joseph Campbell - Mythos II

Joseph Campbell - Mythos II

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Movie Reviews of Joseph Campbell - Mythos II

Movie Review: The Summit of Comparative Religion
Summary: 5 Stars

I first encountered Joseph Campbell on the PBS series The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers in 1988, as did many people. I was questioning my protestant upbringing and that series was like a thunderbolt coming out of the blue for me. What impressed me the most with The Power of Myth was the reaction of Moyers, a longtime Baptist minister, to Campbell's analysis. He was at first shocked, then disbelieving and finally accepting of Campbell's views. Unfortunately that DVD is no longer in print, but I still have the book.
The Mythos DVD set is a series of lectures given just before Campbell's death. Mythos I is a good introduction to mythology, but Mythos II gets right to the heart of comparative religion.
Campbell's main point is that religious ideas are valuable as myth, but when they are turned into doctrines they are harmful. For example, when Christian fundamentalists deny Darwin and evolution because the bible says the Earth was created in 6 days, they are turning a myth into doctrine and in the process are denying the best scientific theory we have. As myth the creation story is valuable, but as doctrine it is a disaster.
In Mythos II Campbell examines Buddhism and Hinduism in depth and compares them with Judaism, Christianity, and other religions. This is a set, released last year in HD, that is worth watching many times.

Movie Review: Experience counts
Summary: 5 Stars

As I watch this very engaging group of lectures, I am amazed at how much Joseph Campbell brings to his subjects that is of his own experience. For example, his lectures on Kundalini Yoga are, as far as I know, unique and unprecedented. I went back and read Sir John Woodroffe's classic works on Tantra and Kundalini Yoga, and nowhere in those texts is there the symbolic and psychological understanding and elucidation that Campbell exhibits in his discussion, all of which is so valuable to Western individuals. He does this by referring to our Western systems and correlating them appropriately with some of the major aspects of the Indian experience-system. This comparative method sheds enormous light on what perhaps would otherwise be a very cryptic and obscure set philosophical ideas. Even Carl Jung in his seminar on this topic did not achieve the sort of comprehensive point of reference that Campbell does. So we ought to appreciate Campbell's contribution to Western spiritual development, for a highly understandable, accessible and meaningful translation of Eastern ideas. All the lectures in this series are packed with his experience-based insights, and therefore I strongly recommend this DVD set.

Movie Review: Mythos II rocks the house, better than Mythos I
Summary: 5 Stars

This second set is, in my opinion, more interesting than than vol 1. His lectures on chakras and the tibetan book of the dead or just wonderful stuff. Too bad the JC foundation has no lectures of his perseptions of james Joyce on film or video [they do have a good book however] but his A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake: Unlocking James Joyce's Masterwork ranks as one of the finest "translations" on that tome and the last volumn of the Masks of God is incredable. You will not be dissapointed in this series and since less than a year ago the set was going for as high as 100.00, its a bargan!! Susan Saraden does an good job in her seques. This is not the place to blab about JC and his thoughts but I find that I go back and watch this series often and hear something new as I grow through the stages of my life- a constant source of thought provoking and inspiration and a remarkable look at human consciousness. If you have an open mind, this will expand it.