White Robed Monks of St. Benedict
Theology of Christ/Universal Consciousness
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Section One Christ Consciousness
1. Neuroscience and the Default Mode Network (DMN)
; Foundational Neuroscience on DMN
Andrews-Hanna, J. R. (2012). "The Brain's Default Network and Its Adaptive Role in Internal Mentation". The Neuroscientist, 18(3), 251–270.
— Describes DMN's role in self-referential processing and spiritual implications.
Austin, James H. Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness.
"When can our brain's innate objectivity begin to flourish? Only when our inappropriate self centered subjectivity begins to dissolve.". See Chapters 22–25 on meditation-related DMN suppression and global synchrony. (1)
Buckner, R. L., Andrews-Hanna, J. R., & Schacter, D. L. (2008). "The Brain's Default Network: Anatomy, Function, and Relevance to Disease". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 1–38.
— Maps anatomy and cognitive roles of the DMN.
Carhart-Harris, R. L., et al. (2014). "The entropic brain: A theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs". Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 20.
— DMN disintegration during psychedelics linked to ego dissolution.
Christoff, K. et al. "Mind-wandering as spontaneous thought: a dynamic framework." Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17.11 (2016): 718–731.(3)
Gazzaniga, Michael S. "The Mind's Past". University of California Press, 1998. See discussion of the "interpreter" module in the left hemisphere—a cognitive structure tied to DMN activity.
Raichle, M. E. (2015). "The Brain's Default Mode Network". Annual Review of Neuroscience, 38, 433–447.
— Seminal paper on DMN function and internal mentation.
Raichle, Marcus E., et al. "A default mode of brain function." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98.2 (2001): 676–682.
2. Nonduality and Consciousness Studies
; Philosophical and Phenomenological Perspectives
Heidegger, Martin. (1927). Being and Time.
— Introduces Dasein and being-in-the-world, foundational to nondual phenomenology.
Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time. Trans. John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson. Harper & Row, 1962. See §27–38 on "everyday Dasein" and absorption in das Man (the "they-self"), analog to DMN-driven narrative identification. (4)
Husserl, Edmund. (1913). Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy.
— Lays the groundwork for describing consciousness without assumptions about a separate self.
— Husserl maintains that all consciousness is intentional, "directed at something."
Husserl, Edmund. Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology. Translated by Dorion Cairns, Martinus Nijhoff, 1960 "Pure phenomenology is to be separated sharply from psychology ..."
Metzinger, Thomas. (2009). The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self.
— Argues for self as a virtual construct; bridges into nonduality and DMN decentering
Nisargadatta Maharaj. (1973). I Am That. Trans. Maurice Frydman.
Ramana Maharshi. (1955). Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. Ed. David Godman.
— Core Advaita Vedanta teachings on self-inquiry, relevant to decathecting the DMN.
— Dialogues on nonduality and universal consciousness.
Tart, Charles T. (1975). States of Consciousness.
— An early synthesis of altered states, meditation, and universal awareness.
3. Christ Consciousness and Christian Mysticism
Eckhart , Meister. (13th c.). Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies.
— Christian apophatic mysticism and union beyond egoic selfhood.
John of the Cross. (1578). The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul.
— Describes ego-death and divine union; interpretable as DMN quieting.
Keller, Catherine. (2008). On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process.
— Process theology that resonates with nonduality and cosmotheandric unity.
Ponticus, Evagrius. "The Praktikos and Chapters on Prayer". Trans. John Eudes Bamberger. Cistercian Publications, 1972.
— Evagrius' concept of logismoi parallels DMN ruminative cycles. (5)
Rohr, Richard. (2019). The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For and Believe.
— A modern integration of Christ consciousness, panentheism, and nondual awareness.
Teresa of Ávila. (1588). The Interior Castle.
— A mystic map of consciousness from self to union with God.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. (1955). The Phenomenon of Man.
— Cosmic Christ and the Omega Point as convergences of universal consciousness.
4. Integration: DMN, Nonduality & Universal Consciousness
Alcaraz, F., & Koltai, D. (2020). "The Selfless Brain: Disrupting the Default Mode Network with Psychedelics and Meditation". Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 52(1), 75–92.
— Explores how psychedelics and deep meditation suppress DMN, allowing experiences of unity.
Gallagher, Shaun and Dan Zahavi, "Phenomenology," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Grof, Stanislav. (2000). Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research
.
— Explores transpersonal states, ego transcendence, and cosmic consciousness.
Letheby, Chris. (2021). Philosophy of Psychedelics. Oxford University Press.
— Consciousness, ego dissolution, and DMN in a philosophical-neuroscientific frame.
Newberg, Andrew & D'Aquili, Eugene. (2001). Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief.
— Neurotheology: includes DMN-related findings during mystical experience.
Varela, Francisco, Thompson, Evan, amd Rosch, Eleanor. (1991). The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience.
— Introduces enactive cognition and Buddhist mindfulness into cognitive science.
5. Supplementary and Cross-Disciplinary Sources
Austin MD, James, M.D. (1998). Zen and the Brain. MIT Press.
— Neuroscientific study of Zen experience and DMN suppression in meditative states.
David Loy. (1988). Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy.
— Comparative treatment of Advaita, Mahayana, and Western thought.
Nagel, Thomas. (1974). "What is it Like to Be a Bat?" The Philosophical Review, 83(4), 435–450.
— Classic paper questioning subjectivity, useful in contextualizing universal consciousness.
Whitehead, Alfred North. (1929). Process and Reality.
— Metaphysics of interrelation; helpful in framing universal consciousness.
Whitehead, Alfred North, and Bertrand Russell. Principia Mathematica. Vol I, Cambridge University Press, 1910.
— The structure of logical derivation echoes our axiomatic formulation of consciousness states.
Wilber, Ken. (2000). Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy.
— Integrates nondual philosophy with developmental and neuroscientific frameworks.
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