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Transpersonal NOT Transhumanist (part 2)
Do these men (and they are all men) feel confident that humanity will come out of these radical changes evolved and upgraded, or merely bypassed and unnecessary? Generally, they seem cautiously hopeful. They picture the human species evolving alongside AI, using its godlike power to make we mere humans godlike as well, while simultaneously warning us that if that doesn't happen, it's essentially game over for the human race. We won't be able to keep up with exponentially advancing AI as a competitive species. Either we ride the wave or are pulverized by it.
Beyond the glitter, transhumanism doesn't look that wonderful, does it? It is pushy, it is reckless, it is male, it is left brained, it lacks any spiritual or feminine energy. It is a future essentially of the geeks, by the geeks, and for......everybody? The parallels one finds in history are the patriarchal priest classes of old and the colonialist empire building monarchies of Europe and the Middle East. The legions of tech bros who support transhumanism are either in denial of or tacitly endorse its inherent biases.
The most disturbing - at least to me - aspect of transhumanism is the low regard, if not outright disdain, it has for the natural world, of which homo species is a member and wholly dependent upon. It sees biological realities as annoyances to be overcome, and imagines the human brain successfully separating itself from the body, digitalizing itself (or availing itself of some improvement over digitalization) and living free from the slings and arrows of.....life. It is using vast resources to achieve its goals, using up the environment at a crisis point in history when Sustainability is of growing urgency, because it hubristically imagines that soon technology will become so ingenious that it will be able to make resource depletion and energy overconsumption a thing of the past. It is folly to think in such a way, to gleefully burn the rubber down to the metal on the promise that takeoff into the skies will save us just in time.Bluntly, I reject transhumanism and so, frankly, should you.
Which brings us to transpersonalism. Might/does it offer a better path forward? And if so, why hasn't it achieved this any time over, say, the last ten thousand years?
Transpersonal inquiry/discovery is very ancient; it is older than agriculture. And yet, as noted previously, it has always occupied a fringe position in human society. It has been the purview of yogis in their caves and sermoners on their mounts. A mere sliver of humanity has heeded the call, walked the path. Religions represent perhaps the biggest failure, preferring to wrap followers in preposterous myths and arid rituals rather than guide them to learn about their true nature.
Yet even popular culture has, at times, functioned as a microphone for transpersonal pursuits. Consider these lyrics from three immensely popular songs, embraced and enjoyed by millions of young people in the '60s and '70s:
The Beatles: I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
The Who: If I told you what it takes to reach the highest high, you'd laugh and say nothing's that simple
Kansas: Once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
These old songs are still listened to, even by members of much younger generations, many of whom hear them without paying attention to what they mean, convinced as they are that the universe is meaningless and all such supernatural stuff is tosh.
This is perplexing and tragic, as a society formed of members who embrace and delve into transpersonal inquiry/discovery would be kinder by far. It would also be more fun! What many people don't understand is just how fascinating and thrilling the transpersonal path is. It is an overused trope to say something is 'better than sex', but in this case it quite literally is so. The ecstasy that surges through the body, lighting it up like a Christmas tree, when one is experiencing a transpersonal moment of deep clarity goes well beyond sexual orgasm. I wouldn't write that if I couldn't attest to it. Nevertheless, it remains the path less taken.
I imagine that many reading these words will simply note them as interesting, maybe a bit odd, without their interest in what they have read being stoked to the point of wanting to learn more. This is a weird world, when more people are eager to explore the sci fi fantasies of transhumanism than sign up for the always here, always now, always available benefits of the transpersonal path. Why has the transpersonal path remained at the edges of society throughout these millennia? Has it let US down or have we let IT down? In fact, neither. Human beings are transpersonal regardless of whether they know it or not. Just as humans five thousand - or fifty thousand - years ago were composed of millions of self-reproducing cells before cells had been theorized or discovered, everybody today is much more than the expression of their personality. Your connection to all of Being is there for you to discover and cultivate, no matter what you believe at the level of the intellect, and no matter what you have done (and whom you have hurt) through the actions of your body.
Like the character in the Kansas song I quoted from above, I have risen above the noise and confusion to get a glimpse beyond this illusion. Although I would phrase it differently. It makes more sense to me to say that I have dropped below the noise and confusion, moved further inward along the bicycle spoke of my being to the hub from which all emanates. And doing so, I looked across and saw everyone else there as well. I saw each and every one of us capable of and willing to join me in creating a New Earth experience of love, harmony and justice. A world absent all cruelty, sadism and depravity.
Thus, at times I have strongly felt that we will create such a world; that it is our collective destiny to do so. At others, I have felt that perhaps we will not and cannot attain such a collective alignment on this plane of personalities, and must experience it elsewhere, where our vision is clearer.
Unlike transhumanist proponents, I make no promises about how much better things are going to eventually be, and how much more we will be than we are now. My hope, of course, is that many more people will harken to the voice of wisdom within them, standing always at the ready to reveal its truths to them as it has done for me. Perhaps the series of crises we seem bent on racing toward societally - environmental, technological, political and so forth - will act as catalysts to bump large portions of humanity into a sense of urgency that NOW is the time to get it, claim it and use it for oneself and others. If not, then the human experience is likely to fail. Transhumanism is fantasy, a technological pseudo philosophy with Victor Frankenstein as its symbolic leader that has no power to save us.
It is important to remember that the Elon Musks and Bill Gates' of this world have no greater power than you in truth. The 'power' they have to influence society with money and technology is shallow. It seems much greater than it is. If you, like me, wish to experience a different world than the one they are offering, then you have just as much power, and just as much right, as they do to put your stamp upon the future. If you go deep into meditation and see a vision of humanity coming together at the transpersonal level to collectively create a kinder world, hold that vision. Hold it with the same intensity as you imagine billionaire tech bros are holding THEIR visions. The power is in the vision, not the moolah and the gadgets.
Finally, if society does fail, that will be tragic at the level of the human personality. If we end up following transhumanists over a cliff, I will lament. Transpersonally, however, we will all be okay. Remember that in troubling times.
Beyond the glitter, transhumanism doesn't look that wonderful, does it? It is pushy, it is reckless, it is male, it is left brained, it lacks any spiritual or feminine energy. It is a future essentially of the geeks, by the geeks, and for......everybody? The parallels one finds in history are the patriarchal priest classes of old and the colonialist empire building monarchies of Europe and the Middle East. The legions of tech bros who support transhumanism are either in denial of or tacitly endorse its inherent biases.
The most disturbing - at least to me - aspect of transhumanism is the low regard, if not outright disdain, it has for the natural world, of which homo species is a member and wholly dependent upon. It sees biological realities as annoyances to be overcome, and imagines the human brain successfully separating itself from the body, digitalizing itself (or availing itself of some improvement over digitalization) and living free from the slings and arrows of.....life. It is using vast resources to achieve its goals, using up the environment at a crisis point in history when Sustainability is of growing urgency, because it hubristically imagines that soon technology will become so ingenious that it will be able to make resource depletion and energy overconsumption a thing of the past. It is folly to think in such a way, to gleefully burn the rubber down to the metal on the promise that takeoff into the skies will save us just in time.Bluntly, I reject transhumanism and so, frankly, should you.
Which brings us to transpersonalism. Might/does it offer a better path forward? And if so, why hasn't it achieved this any time over, say, the last ten thousand years?
Transpersonal inquiry/discovery is very ancient; it is older than agriculture. And yet, as noted previously, it has always occupied a fringe position in human society. It has been the purview of yogis in their caves and sermoners on their mounts. A mere sliver of humanity has heeded the call, walked the path. Religions represent perhaps the biggest failure, preferring to wrap followers in preposterous myths and arid rituals rather than guide them to learn about their true nature.
Yet even popular culture has, at times, functioned as a microphone for transpersonal pursuits. Consider these lyrics from three immensely popular songs, embraced and enjoyed by millions of young people in the '60s and '70s:
The Beatles: I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
The Who: If I told you what it takes to reach the highest high, you'd laugh and say nothing's that simple
Kansas: Once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
These old songs are still listened to, even by members of much younger generations, many of whom hear them without paying attention to what they mean, convinced as they are that the universe is meaningless and all such supernatural stuff is tosh.
This is perplexing and tragic, as a society formed of members who embrace and delve into transpersonal inquiry/discovery would be kinder by far. It would also be more fun! What many people don't understand is just how fascinating and thrilling the transpersonal path is. It is an overused trope to say something is 'better than sex', but in this case it quite literally is so. The ecstasy that surges through the body, lighting it up like a Christmas tree, when one is experiencing a transpersonal moment of deep clarity goes well beyond sexual orgasm. I wouldn't write that if I couldn't attest to it. Nevertheless, it remains the path less taken.
I imagine that many reading these words will simply note them as interesting, maybe a bit odd, without their interest in what they have read being stoked to the point of wanting to learn more. This is a weird world, when more people are eager to explore the sci fi fantasies of transhumanism than sign up for the always here, always now, always available benefits of the transpersonal path. Why has the transpersonal path remained at the edges of society throughout these millennia? Has it let US down or have we let IT down? In fact, neither. Human beings are transpersonal regardless of whether they know it or not. Just as humans five thousand - or fifty thousand - years ago were composed of millions of self-reproducing cells before cells had been theorized or discovered, everybody today is much more than the expression of their personality. Your connection to all of Being is there for you to discover and cultivate, no matter what you believe at the level of the intellect, and no matter what you have done (and whom you have hurt) through the actions of your body.
Like the character in the Kansas song I quoted from above, I have risen above the noise and confusion to get a glimpse beyond this illusion. Although I would phrase it differently. It makes more sense to me to say that I have dropped below the noise and confusion, moved further inward along the bicycle spoke of my being to the hub from which all emanates. And doing so, I looked across and saw everyone else there as well. I saw each and every one of us capable of and willing to join me in creating a New Earth experience of love, harmony and justice. A world absent all cruelty, sadism and depravity.
Thus, at times I have strongly felt that we will create such a world; that it is our collective destiny to do so. At others, I have felt that perhaps we will not and cannot attain such a collective alignment on this plane of personalities, and must experience it elsewhere, where our vision is clearer.
Unlike transhumanist proponents, I make no promises about how much better things are going to eventually be, and how much more we will be than we are now. My hope, of course, is that many more people will harken to the voice of wisdom within them, standing always at the ready to reveal its truths to them as it has done for me. Perhaps the series of crises we seem bent on racing toward societally - environmental, technological, political and so forth - will act as catalysts to bump large portions of humanity into a sense of urgency that NOW is the time to get it, claim it and use it for oneself and others. If not, then the human experience is likely to fail. Transhumanism is fantasy, a technological pseudo philosophy with Victor Frankenstein as its symbolic leader that has no power to save us.
It is important to remember that the Elon Musks and Bill Gates' of this world have no greater power than you in truth. The 'power' they have to influence society with money and technology is shallow. It seems much greater than it is. If you, like me, wish to experience a different world than the one they are offering, then you have just as much power, and just as much right, as they do to put your stamp upon the future. If you go deep into meditation and see a vision of humanity coming together at the transpersonal level to collectively create a kinder world, hold that vision. Hold it with the same intensity as you imagine billionaire tech bros are holding THEIR visions. The power is in the vision, not the moolah and the gadgets.
Finally, if society does fail, that will be tragic at the level of the human personality. If we end up following transhumanists over a cliff, I will lament. Transpersonally, however, we will all be okay. Remember that in troubling times.
