The Masks of God, Vol. 2: Oriental Mythology
by Joseph Campbell
List Price:
Our Price: $10.95
You Save: $9.05 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.82 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Joseph CampbellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-11-01
ISBN: 0140194428
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780140194425
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Masks of God, Vol. 2: Oriental Mythology
Book Review: Uneven but fascinating commentary
Summary: 5 Stars
"Oriental Mythology" is the second in the "Masks of God" series, the follow up to "Primitive Mythology". It covers more of the mind boggling extent of humankind's mythic past, material that is the basis for religion and philosophy. Campbell presents all sorts of details from artifacts dug up by archeologists and some rather long-winded quoted passages. Much of it is rather uneven and challenging to follow, but the payoff is usually Campbell's own commentary which often uses a soaring language to elucidate, to associate and connect different myths of different cultures.
The especially fascinating part of the book for me concerns the mystery of how yoga philosophy and practice came into being and evolved as it did to different forms such as Buddhism and Hinduism. Yoga philosophy defines a very different state of being than the Abrahamic tradition of the West. It does not situate humankind in a state of sin and guilt, stranded in a corrupt world, alienated from a transcendent God; but rather, in a state of ignorance with knowledge as the key to escaping from inevitable suffering caused by the delusion of living in a material world. The ancient civilization in the Indus Valley contains seeds of it's development, but it is far from clear just how it developed and what role the Aryans, who invaded and plundered India, played. In any event, Campbell concludes "tentatively" that yoga is "indigenous" to India.
The many different forms and manifestations of Buddhism follow from the ancient yoga tradition of asceticism. The book is not an good introduction to Buddhism, and it can be difficult to distinguish between the many sects and their different metaphysics and practices. It's influence burgeoned and then waned in India, but spread throughout the Far East, and combined with the Native nature religions of Tao in China and Shinto in Japan. Though Buddhism in whatever form mainly involves a turning away from the affairs of the world, from what is shown here, it has hardly ever failed to provide a civilizing influence.
I have to echo some of the criticisms of other reviewers. The inclusion of a chapter on ancient Egypt and also a section on the hieratic city states of Mesopotamia do not go the way of clarifying how Oriental myth grew as it did. The organization of the book would have been a lot more straightforward if he had gone directly from the introduction, in which Campbell compares East with West, to ancient India and directly to the mysteries of the Orient. He seeks to trace the influence of Egypt and Mesopotamia to the East, but the influences are so scattered and so relative, that it would have been better to have stuck with India, China, and Japan. Also, the final section on Tibet, although illuminating, departs in large measure from the subject matter.
Summary of The Masks of God, Vol. 2: Oriental Mythology
An explanation of Eastern mythology as it developed into the distinctive religions of Egypt, India, China, and Japan.Fairy Tales Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Fairy Tales Books
Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Nightby Nicholas Rogers
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2003-10-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
The Mythology of North Americaby John Bierhorst
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2002-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.95
Price in other shops:
The Creation of Feminist Consciousness: From the Middle Ages to Eighteen-seventy (Women and History)by Gerda Lerner
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1993-03-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Tiger's Whisker and Other Tales and Legends from Asiaby Harold Courlander
Harcourt; Published: 1959-12; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Panchatantraby Vishnu Sharma, Rajan Chandra
Penguin India; Published: 2005-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.48
Romance of the Mango: The Complete Book of the King of Fruitsby Kusum Budhwar
Penguin Books; Published: 2002-01-01; Paperback; Book
Liberating Voicesby Gayl Jones
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $23.08
Classical Myth (5th Edition)by Barry B. Powell
Prentice Hall; Published: 2006-05-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $38.97
Price in other shops:
History of Middle-Earth (Pt. 3)by Christopher Tolkien
Harpercollins; Published: 2003-01-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $64.78
Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Oxford World's Classics)Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1998-09-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.95
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Transformations of Myth Through Timeby Joseph Campbell
Harper Perennial; Published: 1990-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.96
Price in other shops:
The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell)by Joseph Campbell
New World Library; Published: 2002-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.49
Price in other shops:
Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphorby Joseph Campbell
New World Library; Published: 2001-10-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.95
Price in other shops:
Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companionby Joseph Campbell
Harper Perennial; Published: 1995-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.17
Price in other shops:
Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformationby Joseph Campbell
New World Library; Published: 2004-10-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.50
Price in other shops:
The Masks of God, Vol. 3: Occidental Mythologyby Joseph Campbell
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1991-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.31
Price in other shops:
Myths to Live Byby Joseph Campbell
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1993-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
The Power of Mythby Joseph Campbell
Anchor; Published: 1991-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.74
Price in other shops:
The Masks of God, Vol. 1: Primitive Mythologyby Joseph Campbell
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1991-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell)by Joseph Campbell
New World Library; Published: 2008-07-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.36
Price in other shops: