Transcendent Depravity

I’m drawn to the transcendent in all its forms.  Give me stories of the great athletes of consciousness: mystics, ecstatics, mad lovers; poets, painters, musicians that charge our imaginations and open our hearts.  All these give us snapshots, glimpses of what we could or might be. That’s a bit of upbeat news.  So two cheers for what Mark Twain called the “human experiment.” But what of the third cheer? you ask.  For balance, I feel the need to note the dark side, the monsters and grotesques beside the saints and geniuses.  So alongside the wonders, I collect tales of extreme depravity—shockers that lurk beyond the pale--‘live and learn’ moments.  

Levitation: A Huge Challenge to Science

Reading cosmologist Martin Rees’ Before the Beginning, you come away with respect  for the key role of gravitation in the evolution of the universe.  According to Rees, the particular strength of gravity is as it had to be to produce galaxies and the very conditions for life on Earth.  Gravity is the glue of our evolving universe, the fundamental factor of physical reality.

In light of that, the phenomenon of levitation seems all the more interesting. There are many examples and many forms of levitation.  I’ve focused on a well documented case, which includes thirty-five years of reliable eyewitness testimony.  St. Joseph of Copertino’s (1603-1663) frequently observed flights occurred in the complete absence of any known physical force.  That’s a huge challenge to science.

Countries Against Life After Death

I was reading an account of American movies being so popular in China.  But there are restrictions on what movies the dictatorship allows the public to watch. One forbidden movie that was mentioned surprised me—Ghost Busters!   You all remember that one—hilarious!  What’s so subversive about it? 

Even though the movie is a comedy, the idea of ghosts and life after death is forbidden, according to the government. You’re not allowed to think of anything beyond the material world. This is to consign us to a claustrophobic universe, and there are parallels in America where the constraints on what we’re allowed to think are more subtle but just as pervasive.

Ecstasy and Future Humans

 I’ve been tracking what I call human singularities—people who embody rare and extraordinary talents—like Joseph of Copertino, or Arigo, or Lurancy Vennum, etc.. I’m trying to paint a composite picture of what I believe is our latent but still hidden super-humanity.  Call it a portrait, a model of future humans, the next (urgently needed) stage of our evolution.

All the strange manifestations must have some purpose, some meaning. Besides, there’s no reason to believe that we have reached the climax of our full evolutionary potential. Far from it!  Look around at the world. We desperately need to transcend the greed, violence, and stupidity spreading havoc and mayhem everywhere on the planet. Politics alone without a deep collective change of consciousness will never save us.