The Future of the Body

The Future of the Body was created out of decades of research and experience in exceptional human functioning of our bodies, minds and spirits. Michael Murphy, co-creator of the renowned Esalen Institute, leads this two part journey into a transformative practice of extraordinary human possibilities.

Part One

Part Two

Note: Audio may take several seconds to start

Michael Murphy Text Excerpt

Michael Murphy
There a tendency I think among students of the perennial philosophy to look down upon the body. And I’ve been lead by all this evidence to think that the body not only is not detrimental, it’s not merely instrumental to human growth, it is fundamental certainly to life on this planet.

Tom Park
Would you clarify that distinction?

Michael Murphy
Every time we have a shift in experience, our body is going through numbers of changes we cannot count.

We have 200 trillion cells. Every cell has 200 trillion molecules. We now know that our brain produces, what, 80 opioid peptides. Remember we used to talk about endorphin highs. Now we find out that we are producing physical changes in our brain at an astonishing rate.

You know the word body comes from the German botick, which meant the brewing vat.

Tom Park
Is that so?

Michael Murphy
Yes, You know we’re 80% water. We’re brewing up these changes all the time.

So, body is always changing. And whenever we take up a transformative practice, a religious practice, an athletic, martial arts practice, psychotherapy, we are altering the flesh however subtlety.

So, what this book, The Future of the Body, really wants to emphasize is the co-evolution of consciousness and the flesh. The co-evolution of both.

Now, to break it down even further, what we’ve done in this research out of which the book grew, was to divide up human nature into twelve sets of attributes. That’s what I do. The first part of this book is a taxonomy, a classification of these twelve sets of attributes. Looking for the extraordinary that arises out of each, and giving examples of the extraordinary.

Tom Park
You feel that there is an analysis that these twelve in fact embody the full range of attributes.<

Michael Murphy
Yes, these twelve. Let me just quickly name them. It might be useful.

Perception of external events

Kinesthesis (that is somatic awareness),…….