The Wu Li: the New Physics of What Is Within and Without………………………………………..77
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AGAPE (UNCONDITIONAL UNIVERSAL LOVE) AS EVOLUTIONARY A TRANSPERSONAL EXPLORATION INTO THE SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY By Thomas A. Menditto Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of Bphil in Philosophy and Religious Studies University of Pittsburgh 2008 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ARTS AND SCIENCES This thesis was presented by Thomas A. Menditto It was defended on April 25, 2008 and approved by Kimberly R. Flemke, PhD, Assistant Professor Milica Bakić Hayden, PhD, Visiting Lecturer Ward Allebach, MS, Lecturer Thesis Advisor: Joseph S. Alter, PhD, Associate Professor ii 2 Copyright © by Thomas A. Menditto 2008 iii 3 AGAPE (UNCONDITIONAL UNIVERSAL LOVE) AS EVOLUTIONARY A TRANSPERSONAL EXPLORATION INTO THE SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY Thomas A. Menditto University of Pittsburgh, 2008 The survival of the human race and all life on planet earth is endangered by the technological advancements of modern civilization such as weapons of mass destruction and the global climate crisis. In the 1960’s and 1970’s movements began in the academic field of psychology that radically opposed the paradigm believed to have created this dire situation. Tranpersonal Psychology is an integrated field that approaches the future of humanity with hope as it explores the highest evolutionary potentials of our race as conveyed by comparative religious scholarship, psychological literature, scientific investigations, psychosomatic analysis, and case studies. The problem identified in the old paradigm is a disconnected duality of the reductive model that promotes separation, fear, and conflict. Universal unconditional love (agape) is the proposed trait that when implemented into the new paradigm of integration will dissolve the duality into the unity of a spiritual and physical evolution of humanity. The research herein suggests not only a continuity to this proposition that can be found amongst the world’s religious and spiritual traditions, but also a physiological exploration into a scientific understanding of extraordinary levels of human functionality. The suggested physiological transformation of the human body, as understood in the Taoist tradition through studies with a Tai Chi Chuan master, renders an individual invincible to any survival threat. iv 4 The agape trait in conjunction with the transpersonal movement promotes attitudes of selflessness, compassion, and empathy in order to facilitate an initiative to insure collective survival. Universal unconditional love aligns the collective survival interests with the individual survival interests, and may present an opportunity for humanity to evolve spiritually and physically beyond the threats of our modern day. v 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………. .8 II. THE DIVINE HUMAN……………………………………………………….…....11 III. THE PRESENT CHAOS: AGE OF KALI YUGA……………………………...…32 IV. THE TRANSPERSONAL MOVEMENT, EVOLUTION, AND THE RETURN TO THE SOURCE…………………………………………………....37 A. EVOLUTION………………………………………………………...............47 V. AGAPE WITHIN TAOISM: A TRANSPERSONAL EXPLORATION INTO THE INNER PILGRIMAGE OF TAOIST ALCHEMY……………..........53 VI. WHAT IS TAI CHI? EXPERIENCES WITH SIFU RANDOLPH: FEATS INVOLVING THE ROLE OF AGAPE……………………………........70 VII. THE WU LI: THE NEW PHYSICS OF WHAT IS WITHIN AND WITHOUT………………………………………..77 A. ALCHEMY: THE SCIENCE OF THE ANCIENTS………………………...79 B. THE METHODOLOGIES AND ASSUMPTIONS OF MODERN SCIENCE………………………………………………….....85 C. THE NEWTOWNIAN PHYSICS OF TAI CHI CHUAN…………………..89 a. GRAVITY ON THE BODY……………………………………………..91 b. BONE STRUCTURE…………………………………………………….91 c. THE TISSUES……………………………………………………………92 d. PHYSICS OF THE SPHERE…………………………………………….94 e. YOU ARE THE SPHERE………………………………………………..96 vi 6 f. THE DYNAMIC SPHERE AND THE MOVING CENTER…………97 g. THE PHYSICS OF VIBRATION IN TAI CHI CHUAN……………..99 h. THE SPIRALS OF TAI CHI MOVEMENTS AND STRIKES………101 i. PERFECTED COORDINATION: HARMONY WITHIN AND WITHOUT……………………………..101 j. THE PROBLEM WITH THE NEWTONIAN MECHANICAL EXPLANATION…………………………………..103 D. POST-MODERNITY AND POST-POST-MODERNITY……………......103 E. MIND-BODY……………………………………………………………...105 F. EXTRAORDINARY MIND………………………………………………106 G. EXTRAORDINARY BODY……………………………………………....114 H. MIND, BODY, AND CHI……………………………………………….…118 I. AN EXTRAORDINARY UNIVERSE…………………………………….119 J. KUNDALINI THEORY…………………………………………………....129 K. TESLA TECHNOLOGY……………………………………………………130 L. THE DIAMOND BODY AND THE ANTENNA: THE TECHNOLOGY OF BREATH AND RHYTHM……………………..131 M. THE PROCESS AND THE HEART CHAKRA……………………………134 N. THE ABILITIES…………………………………………………………….136 O. THE SELF-CRITICISM AND THE PURPOSE……………………………138 VIII. THOUSAND PETAL LOTUS: UNIFICATION……………………………….140 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………... 161 vii 7 INTRODUCTION We live in a world of weapons of mass destruction, mass disease of body and mind, starvation, environmental crisis, and increasing numbers of murder, sexual and physical abuse, drug addiction, and suicides. In this world humanity as a species is extremely fragile, perhaps even endangered. If we are going to survive this dark period of our existence we will need to drastically change the way we function on this planet. There are many individuals, past and present, who have shown us other ways of being through their extraordinary lives and teachings. Jesus Christ, Buddha, Moses, Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and many more throughout the ages have displayed the highest potentials of humans and humanity. Since then many individuals have attained this higher level functioning through practice, and have successfully displayed extraordinary abilities that have been subjected to scientific analysis. I am talking about Tai Chi masters, Shamans, Yogins, Buddhist monks, Saints, Zen masters, ….etc who have displayed abilities such as healings, levitation, telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis, vital organ control, sustaining life without food or water for long periods of time, shape shifting, iron skin, heighten sensory perception…etc. If one had these abilities, then they in essence would be made impervious to the threats of the modern day. Siddhis (extraordinary abilities) are expressed by sages as simple indications that one is on the path of enlightenment, and subsequently they are often regarded as side effects that result from the merging and ‘unitive’ experience with all that is. This mystical union is often facilitated by a feeling of unconditional love for all things known in the Greek as agape. Therefore I am positing that agape is actually an evolutionary trait for the survival of humanity. 8 Transpersonal psychology, a developing field that uses integrative methods to study specifically the highest levels of transcendental human functioning, will be the methodological view for this exploration. Comparative religious scholarship will reveal unique archetypes that portray cosmologies of our divine origins, descent into earthly form, and ascendant back to our divinity. These stories are nothing but hopeful visions in the darkness of the present day. The reality of the challenges that face our species will make the case clear that we are in need of an evolution of the physical and spiritual kind. A historical account of the development of evolutionary theory will be outlined in order to give this spiritual evolution some intellectual creditability. The ancient texts of many traditions outline the exact processes that are needed to occur in order to bring about this transformation. Taoism, in particular, will be rigorously examined in order to determine the centrality of agape within the process. Experiences with my Tai Chi Chuan Master will be shared in order to present informant evidence of the extraordinary abilities and the importance of agape. In addition, a new physics will be presented that will explore possible explanations of Tai Chi Chuan skills and the siddhis. This new theory will demystify these abilities so that they can be understood as a physiological process. In so doing the evolutionary agape trait and its influence on humanity will be explored in order to reveal what our world would be like if humans evolved beyond their own material bodies. The ‘unitive’ experience manifests abilities that place one outside of any survival threat, but it only does so to the fullest extend if the agape is maintained. Therefore, it is in the individual’s best interest to unconditionally love all things. This new forming collective of agape consciousness could end the fears and sadness that promotes the destructive behaviors of our species that is causing our potential endangerment. All the weapons, diseases of mind and body, murders, wars, and environmental disasters will dissolve away as we evolve beyond them 9 by loving all things and re-establishing our oneness with creation. Therefore, agape is an evolutionary trait that will enable individual and collective survival. Transpersonal psychology stands at the forefront of this transformation, and yet it is widely unaccepted by the academic community. It is my hope that this research will inspire academics to seriously consider the phenomenon discussed as scientifically explainable phenomenon. If the academic community can accept transpersonal psychology, then it would be a first step towards its acceptance by the general public. The implications of the acceptance of the transpersonal movement and collective evolution would facilitate a completely new way of living on this planet. Not one dimension of human experience will