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Meister Eckhart might have liked it. Indeed, many-one thinking is the idea that there is the one ultimate origin, coherence, spirit of it all . . . but not without a multitude and diversity emerging within, which is the evolving universe with planets like Earth, with its biosphere and humankind, with you and me living in it. The Many-One is thought of as the whole of the cosmos complementing and entangled with all its parts, as beings inside Being and Being inside beings, as the Creator and "his" co-creating creatures. The both-one-and-many idea takes a strong stance against any ultimate either-or-reduction, against isms of all sorts. Being unity and plurality and duality all at once, the Many-One is neither monistic nor pluralistic nor dualistic in any way. Inside this broad frame, it is open for many specific approaches, not least those represented in this volume, which are cosmic holism, cultural-spiritual-evolution thought, Higher-We, integral thinking, the Metaphysics of Adjacency, panentheism, process theology, and transpersonal-participatory thinking. However, the many-one idea also chimes in with approaches not sampled here, like Roy Bhaskar's Critical Realism, Edgar Morin's Complex Thought, or metamodernism.

Cascade Books

Perspectives in Process Studies Series

Both One and Many: Spiritual Philosophy beyond Theism, Materialism, and Relativism

John H. Buchanan

In this book, John Buchanan takes us on a journey through the early death of a parent, the ups and downs of addiction, the extraordinary revelations of psychedelic experiences, and the rewards of a sober and meaningful life. Reflecting on these experiences, the author identifies five pivotal events that drove him to seek a deeper understanding of the significance of extraordinary experiences, the nature of mind and the universe, the meaning of life, and most generally to ask: What is Reality? Drawing on his wide-ranging studies and explorations, Buchanan discusses the ideas that most influenced his search and led him to conclude that transpersonal psychology and process philosophy, especially as developed by Stanislav Grof and Alfred North Whitehead, offer the most satisfying answers. He presents in some detail the essence of Grof's and Whitehead's thought as it pertains to these basic questions about life and reality so that readers can appreciate these ideas for themselves. Buchanan argues that taken together process thought and transpersonal theory offer the kind of enspirited worldview capable of providing both the necessary inspiration and the intellectual understanding for confronting the great challenges facing our world.

Processing Reality: Finding Meaning in Death, Psychedelics, and Sobriety

Series Description:

Process Studies refers to a transdisciplinary field of study inspired by thinkers like Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, John B. Cobb Jr., David Ray Griffin, and many others. It's a perspective that has influenced many people around the world. The process-relational perspective is a framework for conceiving reality according to the principles of deep relationality, harmony, intrinsic value, and change. The implications of taking these principles seriously are far-reaching. From cosmology and metaphysics to ecology, psychology, religion, and beyond, the Perspectives in Process Studies book series engages a wide range of topics from a process-relational lens, harmonizing fragmented disciplinary thinking in order to develop integrated and holistic modes of understanding.



Series Editor:

Wm. Andrew Schwartz