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Fritjof Capra
The Tao of Physics (Amazon.com)
The Tao of Physics (Amazon.co.uk)
The Tao of Physics (Powell's Books - new or secondhand)
Fritjof Capra
The Tao of Physics
Capra compares the concepts of the *new physics* of the twentieth century
to the concepts of *Eastern mysticism*, finding that they share a
similar description of the Universe.
An umbrella term like *Eastern mysticism* is suspicious. Under its banner
Capra juggles Mahayana Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, the
Yin-Yang philosophy and the I Ching, which would make one wary because
of the great differences between them. However, Capra disregards them as
religions, for he is really only concerned with certain aspects of their
thought.
*Mysticism* is a Western term, used to describe the beliefs of those
who thought they could attain *the divine nature* - men like Amaury of
Bene and Meister Eckhart. Whereas an *Eastern* text like the *Tao Te Ching*,
with its emphasis on "essential mystery", seems to suggest knowledge of that
kind is unattainable. So does the phrase *Eastern mysticism* even make
sense? Well, yes. In this book, higher forms of meditation are described as
the experience of space-time outside of a temporal sequence. Is this not
a state of perception we would normally think of as *non-human*? What is
called *Enlightenment* must mean *experience of* and not *infinite knowledge
of* the Universe.
Forgetting about mysticism, there are still many interesting parallels
between new physics and ancient philosophies. Subatomic particles are
being understood as processes, not objects. The Universe is beginning
to be seen as a "dynamic web of interrelated events". This book gives the
lie to the Stephen Hawking assertion at the end of *A Brief History of Time*
that philosophers "have not been able to keep up with the advance of
scientific theories".
- Barry Kavanagh
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