|
A peer-reviewed
electronic journal published by the Institute for Ethics and ISSN
1541-0099 17(1)
– March 2008 |
Spiritual Transcendence in Transhumanism
V.R. Manoj, Research Scholar
CES, Anna University
Intern, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Email : vrmmail@yahoo.com
Journal
of Evolution and Technology - Vol. 17 Issue 1 – March
2008 - pgs 36-44
http://jetpress.org/v17/manoj.html
ABSTRACT
The
evolution of science and technology to the next several levels must include a
harmonious symbiosis between science and religion. Human civilization has so
far shown a stereotyped conflict between either. Both science and religion must
be regarded as equally important methods for spiritual transcendence in
transhumanism. This paper discusses how religion can complement the ideals of
transhumanism if looked from a new perspective. The paper draws primarily on
Eastern religious thought, particularly Hinduism, to explain why it is
important for transhumanists and progressive futurists of science and
technology to find common ground with religion in order to evolve. It is
important for transhumanism to extract the transcendent messages from different
religions. It also becomes important for religious thinkers to draw from the
ideals of transhumanist philosophies in order to allow the survival of
progressive religious thought into the undefined future.
A
wise monk inserts a plug into his forehead, that connects his frontal lobe to a
global network of inter faith monks around the globe for a meditative session
that aims to foster world peace.
In
the time that the above sentence is written, it might be argued that such a
venture should not be pursued. Its implied embrace between science and religion
remains open to intense debate across human philosophies. In a rapidly evolving
world, and with the imminence of a technological Singularity, how should the
human species reconcile differences, find meaning from religion's ancient
dictates, and interpret them for the new age? Is such an effort of
interpretation even necessary?
Over
the ages, several positions been taken on the relationship between science and
religion, among them the claim that they are inevitably and perpetually opposed
(the conflict thesis) and Stephen Jay Gould’s NOMA principle (standing for
“non-overlapping magisteria”), which denies that they can be in conflict, since
they play different roles or concern different realms (Gould, 1999). We are
very quickly arriving at a stage where both religious indulgence and scientific
achievement are being hyper-saturated. If indeed such a stage of human
development as the Singularity could be realised, then what would our questions
be?
I
believe that we would still wonder about the most basic question of all, or
rather a fusion of two questions: Why are we here, and where are we going? In
its basic form, science disregards religion because religious concepts, such as
Enlightenment, Heaven, and Hell, cannot yet be experimentally confirmed. While
religion seeks to accept death as an inevitable finality, science endeavours to
understand and conquer such finalities. Religion, on the other hand, is wary of
science because of its relentless quest to question religious claims. Religion,
though glorious and numerous in its ideals and following, is still marred by
very stringent codes that make human freedom and choice difficult and
restrained. The concepts of sin and karma have led to elaborate measures by
various religious organizations to restrict the supposedly wandering nature of
our minds. On the other hand, science's trivialization of human virtues, such
as altruism, as nothing more than evolutionary adaptations for community
behavior, irritates religious people. Yet it is not easy to argue against
either the wholesome morality professed by true religions or the perfect logic
professed by science.
In
reality, science has helped and continues to help biologically-composed life
forms to interact better, more safely and in more productive ways with this
planet - and now, the universe. We now have theories and reasons to explain
natural phenomena, such as gravity and weather, which we once feared. We have
increased our capacity to reach across geographical distances and planetary
realms and have begun to explore outside our planet and galaxy. We are closer
than ever before to designing our own evolutionary direction. This could not
have been possible without science. Plainly, we cannot always argue against
scientific progress, because we have been embracing science for the betterment
of our lives at every available opportunity. In that context, religious leaders
are mistaken when they argue against such progress, since they use the very
tools of science to argue against it. An evangelist who is born from the
consequences of modern reproductive and neonatal technology should not be
complaining against the advancement of reproductive technology using satellite
television. It just does not make sense!
Religion,
for its part, is not entirely at fault for blocking scientific progress. In
Yoga, which is one of the most important methods followed by Hinduism, there is
a Sanskrit prayer for enlightenment which reads:
Asatoma Sadgamaya
Thamaso Maa Jyothir Gamaya
Mrithyor Maa Amrutham Gamaya
Aum Shanti Shanti Shantihi
This
translates: “Lead me from the
unreal to the real. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to
immortality. May there be peace everywhere.”
Verses
such as this can be found in several other religious texts. Every single
religion, whether it be Islam, Christianity, Hinduism or any other, is a
discipline to achieve a state of perfection in everyday life. All religions
teach peace, wellbeing and respect for the dignity of oneself and of others,
including nature itself. But such teachings are lost in most cases, and
replaced by rigid dictates imposed by custodians of religions, the clergy, who
have utilized the power of these teachings to gather vast followings for
personal glorification. In several societies, the luxury of education and the
freedom of expression and experience are not available. Under such conditions,
an ignorant populace depends on the interpretations of complex phrases from
religious texts by the holy men on the ways to glorify the conduct of their
lives. This places a great deal of influential power with such clergy.
Therefore, it may be entirely possible to influence societies with
misinterpreted notions of religion, offered to a populace which would not try to
acknowledge their own understanding of the religious text which they read.
I
had this experience very early in my own childhood. I was raised to practice
Hinduism, though my parents encouraged me to visit other religious shrines.
During a visit to a bible discussion in a church where people were encouraged
to interpret their understanding of a particular biblical verse, I was shocked
to find that the pastor did not appreciate any interpretation except his own. I
have since found the same rigidity in many other religious teachers of various
religions. In my article “What is our Body?” (Manoj, 2001), I had this to say
about such experiences in the context of an explanation of my body:
One fine day, it so
happened that I looked at my reflection in a mirror and was disappointed with
what I saw. I had somehow developed a strange disappointment with my body. To
sort it out and make peace, I consulted the religious help of a Hindu priest. I
asked him why I felt a strange dissatisfaction with my own body? He immediately
offered me the explanation that I was lucky to have been born with a human body
which is the result of several rebirths and good deeds. He also said that if I
don't behave myself, I stand a chance of being reborn as somebody's mascot. I
felt strange after that cryptic answer and so I decided to visit a Buddhist I
knew. He promptly sympathized with me and said that there is no pain like the
body. He said that it is like an open wound. My visits to other religious
priests gave me similar results, all of them saying that my dear planet Earth
and my body were arenas of suffering, sin, and all the miseries put together.
Now, to regain my confidence, I sought out the help of a philosopher whom I
thought would give an optimistic answer. Behold! He said, Your body is “inutilis
caroet fluida, receptandis tantumcibis habilis” (The flesh is useless and
flaccid, so apt to be hungry and demanding). By now, I was stressed enough to
force myself into a heavy exercise routine at the local Gymnasium. Just as I
was happily comparing the dimensions of my biceps with those of legends,
someone came up and told me, “Hey!
You know what, this body of yours is a cultural body which you use for social
mobility”. Now, I knew I was surely doomed. Surely, there must be some way I could
outgrow my disappointment with my own body. Most of the social theories of the
body have been very critical than constructive. Every joy of the human body has
been criticized at some point as a sign of weakness. The body is seen as a zone
of imperfection and as being inferior to an entity we call the soul. Every
child is reared with the constant drumming that his body is to be ignored at
all costs because it shall lead to temptations of the flesh. The primary
importance has always been one of spiritual development rather than the
development of the body wisdom.
However,
I do not intend to say that all religious teachers are so rigid. I have come
across several religious teachers who so deeply understood their own and other
religions that they have a transcendent understanding of religion. It appears
that the number of such teachers is so low that you may only bump into them
through books, rather than in person, but it is such teachers with great wisdom
that we really require in this day and age. At the heart of every religion is
spirituality, a concept that seeks to understand the inner meaning of our
nature. I have explained a scenario of how spirituality may have come about in
my article “The Loss of Mystery” (Manoj, as follows:
A long time
ago, there were our very great grandparents who hunted and gathered in the
virgin forests of this planet. They discovered new ways to live but were always
confused when some among the tribe refused to move after an accident or
illness. Thus, death was discovered which was very scary and mysterious.
Sometimes, they put the dead in nice little boats onto the rivers with the
belief that their loved ones would reach the other world which must exist
somewhere beyond the horizon. Thus, belief and ritual was born. But, just as
fear and death was discovered, the joy of birth was realized. The labour of
love and the cry of a child took away the tears and brought in the ritual of
celebration as did the occasions of plentiful harvest , rains and recovery
which were celebrated with the new discoveries of art, music and dance. All
these cycles seemed to go in perfect harmony until some among the tribe were
not very satisfied. So, they ran back into the forests with their bag of
questions and discovered spirituality.
So,
simply put, I see religion as a method and spirituality as a goal. The
objective of spirituality is to arrive at a state of complete understanding
where there is no more confusion about the origin, or the intended direction,
of our and nature’s existence. The word in the English language for such a
state of spiritual understanding is “Enlightenment.” If this concept were to be
accepted, then religion need not be the only method to gain such insight.
Already, New Age movements that encourage individual eclectic propositions of
spiritual exploration are sprouting worldwide and breaking away from the
traditional rigidity of established religions. So, we are seeing an age of
emerging religions, which usually draw selective inspiration from many
different religious teachings. However, the New Age movements are not perfect.
While most New Age religions such as Realism embrace scientific methods, many
others do not embrace science but instead seek a regression to ancient ways of
life. The only common ground is in seeking “Enlightenment,” which is nothing
more than a state of greater understanding. I believe that such understanding
can be gained from established religious systems, themselves, if they are
properly interpreted. In India, for example, New Age movements have mostly been
embraced by the members of affluent societies who seek relief from
work-inflicted stress or the attainment of Enlightenment. However, for the
thousands if not millions of others, it is the dictates of established
religions that are embraced and seen as giving hope in face of the oddities
thrown upon individual lives.
There
is dogma in both religion and science, one of conviction offered by experience
and the other of surety offered by concordant experimentation. Neither approach
has been particularly successful in answering questions about our presence,
conduct, and purpose in this universe. So, we can foresee an opportunity for
evolution on both fronts. Science must evolve to accommodate the difficult
questions asked by religion about the moral consequences of its methods.
Religion must, in turn, open its methods and dicta to scientific inquiry, which
should be non-skeptical, though investigative. I am not asking for mere
co-existence, but rather for a fusion along the lines of the neurally-connected
monk that this essay began with. I also believe that such processes have
already begun. Already new forms of religion - forms that seek to incorporate
science and technology - are becoming prevalent (these include Scientology and
Raelism, among others). Traditionally strong religions, such as Christianity
and Hinduism, are using modern scientific technologies such as the internet and
satellite communications to evangelize to a global audience. Science has
simultaneously been able to find compatriots in religious teachings, such as
the Kalama Sutta from Buddhism, which encourages a systematic investigation
into the truth. Although much can be expected from both approaches, it can be
stated, with daring, that both science and religion remain conservative and rigid.
As
humanity sees new possibilities for upliftment of its current evolutionary
state, arising from advances in genetics, robotics and computers, global
movements have sprung up to address such futures. Amongst them, transhumanism
is the most popular as a benchmark for how we must approach a radically
different future. It is also the closest equivalent to a moral trendsetter for
the ethics of future technologies. One of the principal points to be clarified
is its stand on matters of religion, since transhumanism openly advocates the
freedom to completely redesign one’s body. Writing in a transhumanist vein,
Stelarc, a celebrated Australian performance artist, notes that,
The body is neither a very efficient nor
very durable structure. It malfunctions often and fatigues quickly; its
performance is determined by its age. It is susceptible to disease and is
doomed to a certain and early death. Its survival parameters are very slim - it
can survive only weeks without food, days without water and minutes without
oxygen.
This level of inadequacy for the human body is understood
as a result of the advances of science, and it motivates the transhumanist
desire to become posthuman and have a choice of several bodies with not just
one single improved body . The “Primo Posthuman” concept, introduced by transhumanist artist Natasha Vita-More, is one such
example of the aspiration for a radically enhanced body that can overcome the
limitations Stelarc mentions. Transhumanists share a lot in common with other
future-oriented groups including the Extropians, who are completely radical
visionaries, the immortalists, who want to live indefinite lives, and the
Singularatarians, who believe in a rapidly accelerating future. What sets apart
so-called “democratic transhumanism” is its desire to make such improvements
available to all. It also insists that such technologies be developed in an
ethical manner. Transhumanism of this kind is possibly the closest thing we
have, to date, to a philosophy that can survive our current aspirations for a
radically different future and bring academic deliberations on these issues
into mainstream society.
Given such important capabilities and the possibility of
such a huge social responsibility, where does transhumanism stand on the complex
relationships between science and religion?
The average religious person raised into a particular
religion has a very distinct expectation of God. God, to such a person, is most
importantly a creator and is the source of all powers manifested in the
universe. In short, God already has everything that we do not, such as
immortality, omnipresence and no physical limitations. If an average person
were able to achieve godlike powers through technology, there are two immediate
approaches that this person could take. One would be to embrace technology and
thus reach the level expected of a god and the other would be to oppose such a
development completely, saying that it is “against God's will.” But I find this
will ascribed to God rather strange. Although I am a deeply religious person, I
do not believe that God wishes us to have limitations.
A friend
once told me a story about a mirror maker who says that he knows his mirror is
finished when he can see his own image. This can be understood in a religious sense
if we replace the mirror maker with God and the mirror with ourselves. What
people do not realize, thanks to the distorted views they possess of their
respective religions, is that the fundamental aim of any religious method is to
exalt humankind and all life forms to higher and higher levels. In fact, if we
look closely into religious texts, we will find several instances where
humankind is urged to climb higher. In the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita, a religious book revered
by Hindus, the following verse is said by Lord Krishna to his friend Arjuna,
when Krishna reveals to him his universal body (cited from the eleventh chapter
of Bhagavad-Gita As It Is):
ihaika-stham jagat krtsnam
pasyadya sa-caracaram
mama dehe gudakesa
yac canyad drastum icchasi
(“Whatever you wish to see can be seen all at once in
this body. This universal form can show you all that you now desire, as well as
whatever you may desire in the future. Everything is here completely.”)
Immediately following
this is another verse where Lord Krishna says:
na tu mam sakyase drastum
anenaiva sva-caksusa
divyam dadami te caksuh
pasya me yogam aisvaram
(“But you cannot see Me with your present eyes.
Therefore I give to you divine eyes by which you can behold My mystic opulence.”)
Here we see a clear example of God’s desire for a human being who is
bogged down by self-doubt to see more clearly: to see that there are in fact,
infinite possibilities that can be achieved. Now, with the advances in
technology, it is not difficult to obtain a scientific understanding of the
body that Krishna reveals to Arjuna. Krishna states that his body is whatever
form Arjuna desires, i.e. whatever expectation Arjuna has of a body. In
response, I assert that a posthuman body that is detached from all physical
limitations, and exists as pure consciousness in the internet (that is as far
as we can imagine at this time), is perfectly okay with Lord Krishna.
In the second verse, Krishna givesArjuna divine eyes so as to be able to
see him. This clearly shows that Arjuna, with his human body and mind, cannot
possibly conceive of a superior intelligence and a body that holds so many
dimensions together - just imagine being able to see everything at once. Such
instances are described as a state of Enlightenment when you are able to
realize everything in this world as one entity. I am sure that science will, in
fact, give us Arjuna’s divine eyes to see many dimensions at once. Currently, a
simple desktop spectrophotometer allows you to perceive many wavelengths of
visible and ultraviolet light. An infrared monitor or even a simple x-ray
machine allows us to see what our biological eyes cannot. So, we are definitely
getting there. What is it that prevents us from seeing such possibilities? In
answer, I present to you a beautiful verse written by Aurobindo, a spiritual
guru from India who formulated the system of Integral Yoga. In his poetic book
called Savitri, he writes:
(From Savitri
by Aurobindo)
In a body obscuring the
immortal spirit
A nameless Resident vesting
unseen powers
With Matter’s shapes and
motives beyond thought
And the hazard of an
unguesed consequence,
An omnipotent
indiscernible Influence,
He sits, unfelt by the
form in which he lives
And veils his knowledge by
the groping mind.
Aurobindo, followed by the Mother (Mirra Alfassa),
has always professed that we must evolve and bring the supramental reality down
to our level and manifest it within ourselves. This view can also be understood
as bringing down and manifesting into ourselves the incredible possibilities of
posthumanity. Technology will help us realize the dream of such mystics. It has
to be realized now that religion and its foundation of spirituality have
stressed to us to rise above and touch greater heights. This can be seen
clearly in “The Progress of Man”,
a poem about the development of the
soul by
the Sufi Mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi:
“The Progress of Man”
First he appeared in the
realm inanimate
Thence came into the world
of plants and lived
The plant-life many a
year, nor called to mind
What he had been, then
took the onward way
To animal existence, amd
once more
Remembers naught of the
life vegetative,
Save when he feels himself
moved with desire
Towards it in the season
of sweet flowers,
As babes that seek the
breast and know not why.
Again the wise creator
whom thou knowest
Uplifted him from
animality
To Man’s estate; and so
from realm to realm
Advancing, he became
intelligent,
Cunning and keen of wit,
as he is now.
No memory of his past
abides with him,
And from his present soul
he shall be changed.
Though he is fallen
asleep, God will not leave him
In this forgetfulness.
Awakened, he
Will laugh to think what
troublous dreams he had,
And wonder how his happy
state of being
He could forget and not
perceive that all
Those pains and sorrows
were the effect of sleep
And guile and vain
illusion. So this world
Seems lasting, though ‘tis
but the sleeper’s dream;
Who, when the appointed
day shall dawn, escapes
From dark imaginings that
haunted him,
And turns with laughter on
his phantom griefs
When he beholds his
everlasting home.
What I am trying to explain is that futurists need not be wary of
religion as a barrier to their progress. We must understand that religion has
always held the progress of humankind and nature in the highest regard. In
essence, religion is a method to understand greater realities and states of
being. In this regard, all religions are essentially the same, but there are
limitations to religion, too. Aurobindo in his Essays on the Gita expresses the imperfections of religions very
clearly:
But the weakness of the kinetic and the emotional
religions is that they are too much absorbed in some divine personality and in
the divine values of the finite. And, even when they have a conception of the
infinite godhead, they do not give us the full satisfaction of knowledge
because they do not follow it out into its most ultimate and supernal
tendencies.
This then calls for an evolution in religious thought. Who better to
introduce it than the transhumanist movement, which is the closest to
interpreting and making available radical futuristic technology to all? There
is much wisdom in religion that is yet to be realized. Even the concept of a
Singularity is remotely described in Hindu philosophy as the 24,000-year cycle
of Yugas, in which the
world goes through four periods accelerating progressively towards divinity and
then recycles again. We need such ancient systems of wisdom to help us
understand what it feels like to overcome ourselves. Sadly, such comparisions
and useful parallels are forgotten or overlooked for argument’s sake.
Much religious wisdom was conceived in a time when superhuman
possibilities could only be imagined. Now, we have come to an age when we can
rapidly accelerate. As the concept of Singularity teaches us, we can realize
the many wonders that we have imagined. Conversely, religions must realize their limitations. In his Slate article, “Buddhist
Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion,” (Horgan, 2002), John Horgan has this to say about the limitations of Buddhism:
All religions, including
Buddhism, stem from our narcissistic wish to believe that the universe was
created for our benefit, as a stage for our spiritual quests. In contrast,
science tells us that we are incidental, accidental. Far from being the raison
d'être of the universe, we appeared through sheer happenstance, and we could
vanish in the same way. This is not a comforting viewpoint, but science, unlike
religion, seeks truth regardless of how it makes us feel. Buddhism raises radical
questions about our inner and outer reality, but it is finally not radical
enough to accommodate science's disturbing perspective. The remaining question
is whether any form of spirituality can.
At the end of everything, we are biological. We are organic life forms
that, in the end, slowly decay to be stripped of independent conscious activity
in this planet. In the midst of all this available time, we manage to form
societies, generate cultures, art and many other things. Finally, it is time to
go and we are inevitably led out of life. How would a mind contemplate such a
thing? Do we have the faculties to contemplate such things? In the movie Caligula, Prince Caligula asks a dying
Tiberius if he can see the Goddess Isis as he dies, to which Tiberius replies
that he sees nothing. Perhaps this one situation completely reflects the hopes
we humans lay on religion . . . that somehow at the end of all life’s
tribulations, we will finally find the gods and goddesses that we worshipped
devoutfully all our lives and that they will answer all of our elemental
questions. Science then teaches us to prepare for the other possibility, one of
nothingness, and thus inspires us either to embrace it or to escape such
finalities completely through technology.
Transhumanism must take off from where religion stops. It is by no means
a religion, but only an axiom. Transhumanism should facilitate, rather than
disintegrate, the deeper meanings of religion and spirituality. Soon, our
advances in brain chemistry and understanding of neurotheology will help us all
gain the insight that until now, only a few mystics have achieved. Therefore,
science's role in the future should be to help people on their way to greater
understanding through specific methods towards spiritual realization and then
once they get there, religions can become entirely different. If we can achieve
such incredible scientific perspectives with our biological brains, just
imagine an age when we would all have greater spiritual understanding through
the tools of technology. Perhaps then we will completely turn into a peaceful
species that will spread all around the multiverse. The age of fantasy where
men and women talk and live with intelligent elves, hobbits and wise animals
will come. New religions will be born. Let transhumanism lead the way starting
with the monk who plugged his brain for world peace.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
I would
like my parents who guided me to several of the passages in the Bhagavad-Gita.
I thank Dr. N.Vasudevan, my Ph.D supervisor who has encouraged me to look at
things from a direct angle. I also thank my bioethics mentor Dr. Jayapaul
Azariah whose lessons on eastern and western philosophy within five minutes
still influencees
my thoughts. I also thank Dr.Frank J.Leavitt, who exposed me to mysticism,
Dr.Hilda Azariah, who gave me practical biblical insights, and Dr.Darryl Macer,
who has given me the inspiration for a love of bioethics.
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