The Tao of Chaos
I'm diving into this work because a quick scan reveals that it includes comments of topics that appeal to me: The Unified Field, Enneagram, David Bohm, and Alan Watts.
These books are all out of print!
Summary
The Tao of Chaos: Essence and the Enneagram explores the concept of chaos theory and how it relates to the ancient Taoist philosophy. It examines the similarities between the principles of chaos, such as nonlinearity, emergence, and sensitivity to initial conditions, and the Taoist ideas of change, spontaneity, and the interconnectedness of all things. Stephen Wolinsky argues that chaos theory provides a scientific framework to understand the Taoist worldview and that the two can be integrated to offer a more holistic understanding of the natural world.
Key Takeaways
Chaos theory challenges the traditional Newtonian view of the world as a machine-like, predictable system and instead sees it as a dynamic, nonlinear, and unpredictable system.
Taoism emphasizes the principle of change, flux, and the interconnectedness of all things, which aligns with the key concepts of chaos theory.
Both chaos theory and Taoism recognize the importance of spontaneity, emergence, and the inability to fully control or predict complex systems.
Small changes in initial conditions can lead to vastly different outcomes in chaotic systems, mirroring the Taoist idea of the Butterfly Effect.
Chaotic systems exhibit fractal patterns, which resemble the organic, self-similar structures found in nature, as described in Taoist philosophy.
The Taoist concept of the Tao, or the underlying unity of all things, can be seen as analogous to the attractor in chaos theory, the point towards which a system gravitates.
Chaos theory suggests that order can arise spontaneously out of disorder, echoing the Taoist principle of Wu Wei, or effortless action.
Both chaos theory and Taoism emphasize the importance of embracing uncertainty, adapting to change, and finding harmony within the natural flow of events.
The integration of chaos theory and Taoism can lead to a more holistic understanding of the natural world and our place within it.
Applying the principles of chaos theory and Taoism can inform decision-making, problem-solving, and the way we approach complex challenges in various domains, from business to personal life.
References to David Bohm's work
In Section II, when discussing the concept of holism and the interconnectedness of all things, the author states:
"David Bohm, the renowned quantum physicist, has described the universe as an 'unbroken wholeness' in which all things are fundamentally interrelated. This view resonates strongly with the Taoist perception of the world as a seamless web of interdependence."
The author then goes on to explain how Bohm's concept of an "implicate order" underlying the "explicate order" of observable phenomena aligns with the Taoist view of the Tao as the underlying unity from which all things emerge.
Later, in Section III, the author again references Bohm when discussing the notion of "active information" in chaotic systems:
"David Bohm has proposed that information is the fundamental substance of the universe, from which energy and matter emerge. This is reminiscent of the Taoist view of the Tao as the source from which all things arise."
So in this context, the author is drawing parallels between Bohm's philosophical and scientific ideas about the nature of reality, and the core principles of Taoism, particularly around holism, interconnectedness, and the primacy of an underlying, unifying source.
The references to Bohm serve to further establish the connections the author is making between chaos theory, quantum physics, and Taoist philosophy throughout the book.
Science, Order, & Creativity
David Bohm's Perspectives on Wholeness and Implicate Order reinforces the fundamental interconnectedness and "unbroken wholeness" of reality, which align closely with the Taoist principles discussed in The Tao of Chaos.
Emphasis on Process and Flux: Similar to the Taoist focus on change and the dynamic nature of the universe, Bohm emphasizes the importance of understanding reality as an ongoing process rather than static structures.
Critique of Reductionism: Bohm's criticism of the mechanistic, reductionist worldview in science parallels the Taoist rejection of rigid categorization and fragmentation of phenomena.
Discussions of Creativity and Intuition: An exploration of the role of creative, intuitive thinking resonates with the Taoist principles of spontaneity and non-interference (Wu Wei) are discussed in The Tao of Chaos.
Connections to Quantum Physics: Bohm's insights on quantum theory and its implications for our understanding of reality provide further scientific grounding for the philosophical connections.
The overarching themes around holism, dynamism, and the limitations of the prevailing scientific paradigm - all of which are central to the synthesis of chaos theory and Taoist philosophy explored in The Tao of Chaos.
Enneagram Connection
"The enneagram, a nine-pointed figure representing the structure of the human personality, is one symbolic expression of this structure of cascading levels of increasing complexity. Each of the nine personality types can be seen as a unique attractor basin, drawing the individual towards certain patterns of thought and behavior."
The author makes a brief connection between the structure of the enneagram and the concept of attractor basins in chaos theory. He suggests that the nine personality types in the enneagram can be viewed as distinct attractor basins that pull individuals towards particular thought and behavior patterns.
The Unified Field
The concept of the "Unified Field" is explored in this work in the context of drawing parallels between Taoist philosophy and modern scientific theories, particularly quantum physics.
In Section II, the author discusses how the Taoist idea of the Tao as the underlying unity or source of all things aligns with the notion of a "Unified Field" in physics:
"The Taoist perception of the world as a seamless web of interdependence, grounded in the unitary source of the Tao, resonates with the physicist's search for a Unified Field theory - a single, comprehensive explanation for the fundamental forces and phenomena of the universe."
The author goes on to explain how physicists like David Bohm have proposed concepts like the "implicate order" and "active information" that suggest an underlying, interconnected reality beyond the surface-level "explicate order" we perceive.
This Unified Field concept is further explored in relation to chaos theory, where the author states:
"Chaos theory suggests that beneath the apparent randomness and disorder of complex systems, there may be an underlying order, a Unified Field or Tao from which all things emerge."
The author argues that both Taoism and chaos theory point to a fundamental unity or integrative principle that gives rise to the diverse phenomena we observe in the natural world. This Unified Field concept is seen as analogous to the Taoist idea of the Tao.
Overall, the exploration of the Unified Field in this work serves to highlight the parallels between the holistic, interconnected worldview of Taoism and the emerging scientific theories that posit an underlying, unifying foundation to reality - a theme that runs throughout the author's analysis of the relationship between chaos theory and Taoist philosophy.
Alan Watts
Specifically, in Section II, the author directly cites and discusses the work of Alan Watts in the context of drawing parallels between Taoist philosophy and modern scientific perspectives:
"The renowned Taoist philosopher Alan Watts has eloquently expressed this Taoist worldview, describing the universe as 'an enormous spider web in which the individual threads are not themselves the web, but only the design.' This metaphor resonates strongly with the physicist's view of subatomic particles as not being the fundamental 'building blocks' of reality, but rather patterns or configurations within an underlying field or web of interconnected energy."
The author goes on to explain how Watts' Taoist-inspired descriptions of the universe as an interconnected, non-dualistic "web" align with the holistic perspective emerging from fields like quantum physics and chaos theory.
Later in the work, the author again references Alan Watts when discussing the Taoist concept of the Tao and its similarity to the notion of an underlying "Unified Field" in science:
"As Alan Watts has observed, the Tao is 'not a thing, but the pattern that connects.' This resonates with the physicist's search for a Unified Field theory - a single, comprehensive explanation for the fundamental forces and phenomena of the universe."
So throughout the paper, the author explicitly draws on the writings and interpretations of Alan Watts to help elucidate the connections between Taoist philosophy and the scientific worldview presented in chaos theory. Watts' unique perspective on Taoism is seen as complementary to the author's own analysis.
In this way, the work of Alan Watts serves as an important reference point and philosophical foundation for the ideas explored in "The Tao of Chaos."
Connections between Taoist philosophy, chaos theory, and the broader themes explored in these 3 books:
1. Non-Dual Consciousness and the Illusion of the Ego
Watts' exploration of the Taoist and Buddhist view of the self as a fluid, non-dual process, rather than a fixed, separate entity, resonates deeply with the holistic worldview emerging from chaos theory and Bohm's concept of the Unified Field. This challenges the rigid, ego-driven perspective that Watts sees as a "taboo" in Western culture.
2. Interconnectedness and the "Mountain Stream" Analogy
Watts' famous analogy of the self as akin to a mountain stream - constantly flowing and changing, yet maintaining an underlying unity - beautifully illustrates the Taoist and chaotic principles of interconnectedness and the illusory nature of fixed boundaries.
The Tao as the Ground of Being: Watts' interpretation of the Tao as the fundamental ground or "suchness" of existence aligns with the conception of the Unified Field as the underlying, generative source of reality explored by Bohm and in "The Tao of Chaos."
Spontaneity, Wu Wei, and the Embrace of Uncertainty: Watts' championing of spontaneity, effortless action (wu wei), and the acceptance of not-knowing resonates with the Taoist principles that inform the chaos theory perspective on the natural world.
Limitations of Linguistic Categorization: Watts' critique of the inherent limitations of language in capturing the non-dual, process-oriented nature of reality echoes the concerns raised about the reductionist tendencies of the prevailing scientific paradigm in "Science, Order, and Creativity."
By incorporating Watts' philosophical writings on Taoism and the nature of the self, I can further enrich my understanding of the deep parallels between Eastern wisdom traditions and the emerging scientific worldview centered on concepts like the Unified Field, interconnectedness, and the embrace of uncertainty. Watts' unique voice and perspective adds another valuable layer to this interdisciplinary exploration.
Introduction
Over the past 25 years of my life, I have explored in depth the field of psychology, the Yoga tradition of India, the Buddhist approach to self-realization, and Sufi Psychology, along with Quantum Physics. What became part of my study was a search for a unified field theory in Psychology. For many years noted physicist Stephen Hawking has been writing about the search for a unified field theory in physics. When he says unified field theory, he means a Theory of Everything. Stephen Hawking believes that before the end of the century, there is a very high probability that there will be a unified field theory in physics which would describe the movements of everything.
This lead me to begin to look at a possibility of a unified field theory for the field of psychology or, better said, a theory of human behavior which describes the creation of personality. More simply put, an organizing principle that can explain the way personality is created, developed, and maintained - with the context not only being the individual, but including the entire universe. With this understanding in mind, Quantum Physics has demonstrated that everything is connected to everything else. In this way, behind all appearances of differences there exists a unified field of interconnected wholeness. Quantum Psychology holds this unified field or background as its context. The appearance of personality is space which has boundaries. For this reason and with this as my intention, I will offer an organizing principle of personality with its background being the underlying unity or unified field.
Most psychologies have offered this to varying degrees, as per the individual, but none have used the science of physics as its cornerstone, and none has included the unified field as its context. Psychology has organized and developed a system of human behavior based on the study of the individual. Family therapy made a leap as it expanded the context of human behavior to include the family unit. Social scientists and political frames from the Greeks to Karl Marx have expanded the nature of the context of human behavior to include the world and its economic and social orders. Quantum Psychology however, is asking us to take yet another leap: the development of a Psychology of Everything by expanding the context of the individual to include the entire universe.
In order to do this, we must stand on the shoulders of Quantum Physics and the emerging new Science of Chaos. In my former book Quantum Consciousness: The Guide to Experiencing Quantum Psychology, parallel universes and chaos theory were mentioned but were not explored in depth. One purpose of this book is to explore both of those in depth and use hard science as a jumping off point to create a unified field theory for psychology; a Psychology of Everything. Such a theory could be used to explain the organization of personality, and the creation of systems used by the personality which self-organize and maintain the limited and outdated psychic-apparatus of the individual mind.
The Tao of Chaos Made Simple
For example, let's imagine a child has to face the uncertainty and chaos of an abusive father. To handle Dad, the child develops the false I-dentity called obedient son. Years later, the adult no longer needs this compliant obedient false self or I-dentity. However, the I-dentity develops a life of its own, and automatically organizes the adult's life years later. Stated more simply, the adult is organized by its earlier created I-dentity (obedient son to handle abusive Dad), rather than the obedient I-dentity being organized by the individual in present time.
Consequently, we have two important ideas. First, chaos seeks order by creating an obedient I-dentity, and second, to resist the chaos in the future, the obedient I-dentity is placed on automatic. Stated another way, chaos organizes the creation of an internal I-dentity and is maintained through a resistance to imagined future chaos. This creates and maintains the future subjective reality of the adult in present time.
The title The Tao of Chaos was chosen because understanding chaos in the physical universe and as it is mirrored in the individual psyche helps us to go beyond the resistance to chaos within ourselves. This, as will be demonstrated later, helps us to move through different and "higher" levels of order, rather than an attempt to freeze the chaos in order to manage it. What I have found to be most extraordinarily pervasive, in our society if not in all societies, is the resistance to chaos. People seem to resist chaos in their lives, people seem to resist chaos emotionally, people seem to resist chaos in their thought processes. There is a general and very powerful resistance to the experience of being out of control or chaotic in one's life.
Most religions, certainly the Buddhist religion, the Hindu religion, Christianity, the Sufi, Neo-Sufi, the esoteric traditions, and the religion of psychology, attempt to try and make sense out of and create belief structures that can order this chaos; this apparent randomness that we all find so intolerable and must resist. However, in order to be free one must be willing to ride the rapids of chaos. This allows the larger context or unified field to be included which connects us to the universe. In other words, by not resisting chaos, a more subtle form of order occurs.
The way out of chaos is through it. This is the context of a psychology that chooses chaos as its organizing principle' and as the vehicle to reach a more universally integrated state, or what I call a no-state state. This no-state state is a more subtle form of order. Stated another way, it is the chaos which we resist that can lead us to a deeper order.
In Quantum Consciousness we talked of Dr. David Bohm's implicate order, which is the quantum field or emptiness. When the particles and waves and the field are seen as moving together and the same substance, Bohm calls this vision the second implicate order.
"The first implicate order applies to the original field... And the second, or superimplicate order, applies to the "superfield" or information that organizes the original field.: (Science, Order and Creativity by David Bohm and F. David Peat, Bantam, 1987, p. 183)
This suggests that the second implicate order when the particles and space are seen as the same substance, contains the information that organizes the entire system. Simply stated, the chaos that the individual experiences, if the context is expanded, allows the emptiness of the unified quantum field or implicate order to become available. When the implicate (field) and explicate (chaos) are seen as the same, then the second implicate becomes available, and order is revealed We all can feel that we resist chaos; we try to order chaos so that our lives make sense, our world makes sense, and the universe makes sense. But by attempting to manage the chaos, or apparent randomness of the world, we have created separate subjective structures and internal universes to explain such things. Unfortunately, creating structures to manage or explain chaos continues the chaos. It is through allowing chaos that higher orders can be revealed (Discussed in Section II).
Bell's Theorem
John Stuart Bell, who I mentioned at the end of Quantum Consciousness Volume 1, created one of the most powerful theorems in Quantum Physics. Noted physicist Henry Stapp calls Bell's Theorem "The most important discovery in the field of science." Bell's Theorem says that there is no local cause in the physical universe and that there is no location in the physical universe. To look at this requires a very subtle inner vision. For if Bell's statement is correct-that there is no location in the universe-then there are no things you can point to as hav- ing causal relationship; this causes that. The universe and its actions are causeless and the ultimate cause, or better said the causeless cause, has order. This order, however, cannot be seen at the level of the individual, only at the level of the second implicate. At the level of the explicate this appears extraordinarily random. This promotes the feeling of chaos. Very few people would deny that they continually ask them- selves, "Why did so and so get a promotion, and I not get a promotion? After all, I seem to deserve it, I worked harder." Questions like these continually pop into our minds because the world seems chaotic.
Some spiritual systems talk about the theory of karma to explain this discrepancy between action (what is done) and reaction (what is received). In Christianity it is said, "What you sow so shall you reap." In Asia, reincarnation explains this discrepancy between sowing and reaping. For example, in a past life, I did this to so and so and my karma is coming back to me. It is related as cause and effect. This is a way of trying to order chaos through explanation. This resists chaos and keeps us stuck in chaos. What is important in this book is to look at what our resistance to chaos is and, as David Peat says in The Philosophers Stone: "possibly chaos is actually the natural order and in that chaos there might be islands of order. But chaos is the order." The Philosophers Stone by F. David Peat, Bantam Books, New York, 1991. The resistance to chaos keeps the chaos there, makes life uncomfortable, but more importantly robs us of a higher order whereby interconnection and unity are revealed. "Order is actually being born out of chaos; rather than chaos out of order." The Philosophers Stone by F. Da- vid Peat, Bantam Books, New York, 1991, p. 199.
For example, if you could picture yourself as a very tur- bulent river. If you try to resist the flow of the river then you will experience more and more chaos. You will experience the water batting against your chest, your stomach; your whole self being knocked around. But if you become the water and flow with the water, then all of a sudden a new order comes out of the chaos. There was once a Zen teacher who said that the way he became enlightened is that he went down to the freeway and he saw that all the cars were going one way and he decided that all he would have to do is to go that way, to go in the direction the cars were already going. So what we are going to explore is the notion that chaos has a natural order to it. That chaos, the thing we resist so much, actually has a beauty and an order to it. That when explored and discovered as an energy flow, chaos allows us, as David Bohm would say, "a deeper interconnectedness to ourselves as the universe."
Chronic Problem States and Chaos
The development of a diagnosis and treatment for the recognition of the order of chaos requires a reabsorption of frozen, stuck Identities or false selves that were created and whose purpose was to resist chaos. In the second two-thirds of the book, we will look at Essence as the second implicate order, and how by touching Essence, the personality can be reabsorbed. Stated another way, personality is the explicate order. Essence the second implicate, and the implicate is the quantum field. This will be discussed later in Section III, with exercises, and individual case studies. Psychology Psychology has a brief history. Although the early Greek philosophers searched to remedy the human condition, the world of psychology has been dominated by philosophies placed in action. By this I mean that each branch or school of psychology demonstrates a map or pathway to release the suffering of the human condition, and for the most part psy- chology is a soft science. Although psychology has scored many successes in areas of human behavior from sexual dysfunction to family therapy, from phobic relief to chronic depression, the art of psychotherapy has left many questions unanswered and has left many dissatisfied customers. The why of this will depend on the brand of therapy your therapist is offering, which will limit her/his ability to pierce through the uncharted waters of problem resolution. For ex- ample, few therapies can help all problems, although many claim to, and each form of therapy is limited by the model it represents. This can best be understood by noted philosopher Alfred Korsybski's the "map is not the territory." This means that the therapist is offering a map of reality, which if the client puts