TRANSCENDENCE:

An excerpt from Transcendence by Navin Doshi

We know that we are connected to and symbiotic with Nature. We are neither external to it, entering Nature from outside to conquer it; nor are we prisoners within it, trapped and striving to get out and escape into some sort of liberated state. This is important because the ancient wisdom teaches us to live fully before attempting to achieve Nirvana. Life fulfills itself within Nature through a ceaseless process of growth and evolution, which progresses in two directions, internal and external. Internal evolution, focused on the psyche, has been explored more fully in Eastern wisdom. External evolution, focused on Nature, has been explored more fully in the Western sciences. Both are equally important, because without one we cannot achieve the other—such are the strength and reality of the inter-relationships and interactions between Nature and our total human self.

Organisms, by which are meant all living creatures, are self-organizing systems. In the process of metabolism, there is a continuous exchange of energy and matter, renewal and recycling. When organisms experience self-renewal, through birth, death and rebirth, they develop to a higher level or, in other words, they evolve in a process of self-maintenance and self-transcendence. When an organism is dissected to gain knowledge about it, the organism loses its properties and characteristics as a system, and is destroyed as an organism. Systems are dynamic and thermodynamic—dynamic because