My mind is open to the idea that some monks are transcending the human condition by making some kind of conscious connection with god or the universe, but I would need scientific evidence to believe it. There are many religious and philosophical concepts (god(s), heaven, hell, karma, Zen, reincarnation, oneness with the universe) that people often associate with transcending the human condition, but I don’t think it is anything more than a profound spiritual experience that can be described as a neurological state or a chemical illusion. It is something that can be achieved through prayer, meditation, yoga, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and various narcotics like marijuana and MDMA. I don’t think Buddhist monks or any other group of people are currently doing anything to transcend the human condition. I think the beliefs that many people have about monks, yogis, and priests is derived from the “human” compulsion to revere people at the top of our social hierarchies, and the emotional connections to religious and philosophical teachings about existence, death, reincarnation, and the afterlife.

As a misanthrope I have a problem with the idea anthropomorphizing the concept of god, or worshiping and revering humans. I don’t care if it’s a celebrity, Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna or Buddha. I can love and respect people, but I stop at reverence. That’s one of the reasons why I think monks are just experiencing a complex or unique form of pattern recognition during silent contemplation. Instead of transcending the human condition, I would say that some monks are pushing the limits of the current human condition by having the ability to consciously control various autonomic functions like the physiological responses to fear and pain, heart rate, blood pressure, and core body temperature.

I’m familiar with various yogic and meditative exercises that are derived from Vedic, Hindu, and Buddhist philosophy. I started meditating on a regular basis about 16 years ago because of my interest in sports and martial arts. In the beginning I just wanted to learn how to control my response to pain. Afterwards it was mostly about controlling my anxiety and committing suicide without fear. I used to have a fear of heights, so I challenged myself by trying to keep my heart rate below a specific number while I was riding the highest roller coasters, bungee jumping, and sky diving. Falling to the ground in a calm state of mind was the perfect mental exercise to reduce my fear of death. Afterwards I learned about Tummo meditation and the Wim Hof method. Meditation helps me function in society without antidepressants. It doesn’t make me happy, but it usually keeps me in a dysthymic state of mind instead of a state that is associated with a major depressive disorder. Unfortunately I don’t think any amount of meditation can give me the temporary or permanent escape that I really want to experience. The transcendence that I would like to experience can’t be achieved without technology.

No one can predict the future, but our species is definitely approaching a point where we will be able to fundamentally change what it means to be human. Our technology has been changing the social conditions of our species since our inception, and it will probably continue to change our social conditions in ways that most of us can’t imagine. The only question is whether it will change things for the better or for the worse. I was introduced to transhumanism about 15 years ago when I read The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil. It was an introduction to a small group of optimistic, progressive, and open-minded futurists, scientists and engineers that were working to make the idea of the technological singularity a reality. The amount of people that are interested in transhumanism has increased since the year 2000. Many people still believe that Kurzweil is too optimistic, but with each year that passes the general perception of the technological singularity is moving closer to reality and further away from science fiction. Every time prominent scientists, engineers, and businessmen like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or Stephen Hawking talk about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence it reminds people that our technology is evolving at an exponential rate. People are observing the reality of Moore’s law, and we are currently living with services and technologies (3D printing, smartphones, genetic testing, Etc.) that most people would have described as improbable or impossible when transhumanists started meeting formally in the early 1980s.

My ultimate dream is to have the privilege of connecting my brain to a realistic virtual reality. Some of the happiest moments in my life were my first experiences with head mounted displays or watching a movie in IMAX dome 3D. The idea of feeling completely disconnected from my body and society is my idea of bliss. Unfortunately interactive entertainment (video games, interactive literature and movies) and VR technology has progressed at snail’s pace since the late 1990s and early 2000s. I would be satisfied if I had the privilege of using the best technology that is currently available to temporarily escape the currently human condition, but I don’t have the option of paying a reasonable price for the escape that I desire. It is more of a software problem than a hardware problem. Most books, movies, television shows, and video games embrace and glorify different aspects of the current human condition instead of promoting transhumanism and radical social changes. I want to experience realities and interactive storylines where the so-called bad guys (aliens, AI, humans using force to implement radical change) win the conflicts. I want to experience worlds where people have different perceptions of good and evil, and people are no longer imprisoned by words, subservience, and tribalism. I want to experience worlds that are created by people that make an effort not to anthropomorphize other intelligent life, and assume that any alien or AI would have to think and act like us.

Knowing that the products and services that I want experience probably won’t be created any time soon unless I do something to help make it a reality is part of my hell. I wish I could be the change that I want to see in this world. I would currently be making the interactive entertainment that I want to see if my social behavior and cognitive abilities weren’t encumbered by my depression. Pleasure helps people cope with depression and the struggles of life. The joy that I would experience from virtual reality is no different than the joy that most people experience from forming relationships with friends, family, and sexual partners. I want to have the privilege of spending 12 to 18 hours of the day sleeping, working, taking care of my body, forming and maintaining relationships, and the other 6 to 12 hours in the bliss of VR.