HUMAN BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS

By William C Bushell

In the last several installments we described demonstrations of dramatic and remarkable bioelectric* phenomena by adepts (and adepts-in-training) of East Asian Taoist yoga-based practices (including Nei Gong, Fa Qi, and other practices). These included (see last installment):

• The production of muscle spasms, twitching, and contractions in volunteers through the application of touching to the limbs by practitioners, putatively solely caused by the endogenous electricity (or electricity-like energy) of the practitioner
• The production of intense sensible electric shocks (or electric shock-like phenomena) in volunteers solely through the application of practitioners’ hands alone (purportedly the conduits of the endogenous bioelectrical energy source)
• The production of distinctive small, but largely painless, blisters on the skin of volunteers, through the putative transfer of endogenously generated and channeled heat (from innate bioelectrical or other sources of the human body)
• The production of sufficient heat from the hands to incinerate a combustible material, such as a newspaper

While members of our research team (including two trained medical anthropologists, and two medical doctors [MDs]) directly observed such phenomena, including under ad hoc experimental conditions (“field clinical conditions”), this evidence was presented solely as preliminary observational evidence which would require further rigorous clinical and experimental conditions (also sketched out in that installment) in order to then be considered within a bona fide scientific framework. Carl Sagan’s dictum (based on principles first articulated by the great 18^th-19^th century French philosopher of science, Laplace), “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” has been very much of a priority in our approach and orientation to the subject of adepts, and perhaps even more significantly in our consideration of the subject of their apparent manipulation of bioelectric energy.

Before proceeding to the most important subject of the implications of these demonstrations for the achievement of alleged adept-level health and functioning, including longevity, we will first briefly consider the question of what innate human biological mechanisms, if any, could possibly account for such remarkable demonstrations, demonstrations of what are, after all, phenomena (which if real, genuine) are unprecedented, and anomalous, in the popular as well as scientific, worldviews of the West.

The first of these questions, is there actually a source of bioelectricity in the human body that may be accessed by individuals, and manipulated to produce the phenomena described in this series and the sources cited within? One answer, which is affirmative, comes from what may be considered a surprising source of research, and one that is not focused on the search for human potential in the sense that that term is used in this series: it comes from research conducted in the field of biotechnology.

Here I am referring to very recent research that has focused on the search for sources of naturally occurring electricity – ie, bioelectricity – which might exist somewhere within the human body, and which can be used to power, like a battery, implantable human-made electronic devices (such as heart rate monitors, pacemakers, neural stimulators, etc). And indeed, such sources have been discovered by biotechnology researchers (see, eg, Dagdeviren et al 2014; 2017; Bera et al 2021; Tel Aviv University News 2021; see also Yue et al 2024). The form of bioelectricity discovered for these applications is known as piezoelectricity, a term that denotes electricity produced through mechanical pressure (piezo- being a Greek root signifying “mechanical”), and has been shown to be produced in human and animal bodies “from [naturally occurring] motions of the heart, lung, and diaphragm” (Dagdeviren et al 2014; and see also Dagdeviren et al 2017; Bera et al 2021; Tel Aviv University News 2021). As these authors summarize, regarding their 2014 biotechnology discovery: “The reported results provide evidence that piezoelectric mechanical energy…can yield significant electrical power from [natural] motions of the internal organs, up to and exceeding levels relevant for practical use [ie, in the powering of the kinds of implantable devices mentioned above].”

Although to our knowledge not yet researched in a similar way by any Western (or cosmopolitan) research groups, observational and interview data regarding the Mo Pai and related forms of adept practice provide robust preliminary evidence of similar forms of piezoelectric energy in use by such adepts (and adepts-in-training) to achieve their abilities to demonstrate the phenomena described above (see Blair & Blair 1988; Danaos 2000; Bushell et al in progress; among other sources). However, a most important difference, as we will discuss in future installments, is the fact that this adept-related evidence strongly suggests that these adepts employ techniques involving muscle and related tissues in the abdominal cavity, with much greater mechanical force, which in turn significantly increase the magnitude of the piezoelectric output.

This (preliminary) evidence compellingly indicates that these adept yoga techniques allow for a greater and more proficient accessing, harnessing, amplifying, and eventually channeling and guiding, of higher levels (in terms of magnitude) of bioelectrical power, as revealed in their demonstrations. As we will also discuss, the ability to channel and guide the energy out of the abdominal region and out through the hands – as well as to other locations in the body – is based on the yogic practices designed to dramatically increase interoception (see Bushell 2009; Bushell et al 2020; Bushell et al in progress), enabling sensory access to these internal processes, potentially from start to finish. And we will also discuss the role of this bioelectricity in the potential achievement of the highest levels of true human potential, adept-level optimal health, functioning, and longevity, the currently “missing piece” of the “bioelectric revolution.”

*As discussed in previous installments, we use the term “bioelectricity” as a form of heuristic shorthand for (1) what also includes bioelectromagnetism and other forms of related energy; and as (2) a working equivalent of Asian terms such as qi, prana, etc. Also as stated previously, much scientific and scholarly exegesis ultimately will still be required to adequately elucidate these terminologies.

References

Bera S, Guerin S, Yuan H, O’Donnell J, Reynolds NP, Maraba O, Ji W, Shimon LJW, Cazade PA, Tofail SAM, Thompson D, Yang R, Gazit E. Molecular engineering of piezoelectricity in collagen-mimicking peptide assemblies. Nat Commun. 2021 May 11;12(1):2634. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22895-6. PMID: 33976129; PMCID: PMC8113556.

Blair L, Blair L (filmmakers). Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey. SavEarth Media LLC, 1988.

Bushell WC 2009. Integrating Modern Neuroscience and Physiology with Indo-Tibetan Yogic Science, in (EA Arnold, editor) As Long as Space Endures: Essays on the Kalachakra Tantra in Honor of H.H. the Dalai Lama. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Press.

Bushell WC, Stern E, Seaberg M, 2020. Yoga and Meditation, Sensory Health, and COVID-19. Psychology Today (online) (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sensorium/202007/yoga-and-meditation-sensory-health-and-covid-19).

Bushell WC et al, in progress. New and Old Discoveries in Human Performance Science and Human Biology: Adepts, the Interstitium, and New Models in Human Bioelectricity/Bioenergetics.

Dagdeviren C, Yang BD, Su Y, Tran PL, Joe P, Anderson E, Xia J, Doraiswamy V, Dehdashti B, Feng X, Lu B, Poston R, Khalpey Z, Ghaffari R, Huang Y, Slepian MJ, Rogers JA. Conformal piezoelectric energy harvesting and storage from motions of the heart, lung, and diaphragm. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Feb 4;111(5):1927-32. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1317233111. Epub 2014 Jan 21.

Dagdeviren C, Li Z, Wang ZL. Energy Harvesting from the Animal/Human Body for Self-Powered Electronics. Annu Rev Biomed Eng. 2017 Jun 21;19:85-108. doi: 10.1146/annurev-bioeng-071516-044517. PMID: 28633564.

Danaos K. The Magus of Java: Teachings of an Authentic Taoist Immortal. Inner Traditions, 2000.

Tel Aviv University, 11 July 2021. “Healthy” Electric Current to be Produced Inside the Human Body (Innovative material creates green energy through mechanical force). TAU News.

Yue O, Wang X, Xie L, Bai Z, Zou X, Liu X. Biomimetic Exogenous “Tissue Batteries” as Artificial Power Sources for Implantable Bioelectronic Devices Manufacturing. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Mar;11(11):e2307369. doi: 10.1002/advs.202307369. Epub 2024 Jan 9. PMID: 38196276; PMCID: PMC10953594.