1. CHRISTOLOGY and THEOLOGY (Eastern & Western)
   
   
   1. Athanasius of Alexandria. On the Incarnation.
      ·Foundational text on the unity of divinity and humanity in Christ; vital for early patristic understanding.
      
      
   2. St. Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologiae, Part III (esp. Questions 1-59).
      ·The definitive Scholastic synthesis of the hypostatic union from a metaphysical and rational standpoint.
      
      
   3. John Zizioulas. Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church.
      ·Eastern Orthodox view of personhood relevant to understanding Jesus as divine-human person.
      
      
   4. Hans Urs von Balthasar. Theo-Drama, Vols. 2-3.
      ·Deep exploration of Jesus' self-consciousness and mission within the divine drama.
      
      
   5. Karl Rahner. Foundations of Christian Faith.
      ·Emphasizes transcendental experience and the mystery of God's self-communication in Jesus.
      
      
   6. N.T. Wright. Jesus and the Victory of God.
      ·Historical-critical study of Jesus' consciousness and self-understanding within Second Temple Judaism.
      
      
2. NEUROSCIENCE and PSYCHOLOGY (Default Mode Network & Consciousness)
   
   
   1. James H. Austin. Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness.
      ·Seminal neuroscientific work linking brain states (esp. DMN) and mystical experience; parallels to Jesus' interior life.
      
      
   2. Marcus E. Raichle et al. "A Default Mode of Brain Function." PNAS (2001).
      ·Foundational paper identifying and characterizing the Default Mode Network (DMN).
      
      
   3. Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili. Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief.
      ·Neurotheological framework that can inform how divine experiences manifest neurologically.
      
      
   4. Judson Brewer. The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love — Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits.
      ·Discusses DMN's role in craving, ego, and presence, relevant to understanding Jesus' transcendence of ego.
      
      
   5. Antonio Damasio. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness.
      ·Explores embodiment and proto-self systems, bridging psychology and physiology.
      
      
      
3. PHENOMENOLOGY and EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY
   
   
   1. Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Phenomenology of Perception.
      ·Core text on embodied subjectivity and lived experience; informs Jesus' human perception of divinity.
      
      
   2. Jean-Luc Marion. God Without Being.
      ·Deconstructs ontological categories of divinity through phenomenology.
      
      
   3. Edmund Husserl. Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy.
      ·Lays groundwork for studying Jesus' experience of consciousness and divinity via intentionality.
      
      
   4. Viktor Frankl. The Unconscious God: Psychotherapy and Theology.
      ·Bridges depth psychology and theological openness to divine presence.
      
      
4. BIOCHEMISTRY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND EMBODIMENT
   
   
   1. Candace Pert. Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel.
      ·Biochemical basis of emotion, spiritual experience, and the body's role in consciousness.
      
      
   2. Bruce Lipton. The Biology of Belief.
      ·Cellular mechanisms that may relate to self-awareness and belief formation.
      
      
   3. Joseph LeDoux. Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are.
      ·Neurological basis of personal identity and memory — core to Jesus' integrated identity.
      
      
5. GENERAL SEMANTICS and LINGUISTICS
   
   
   1. Alfred Korzybski. Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics.
      ·Language's role in constructing reality — key to Jesus' teachings & divine self-reference.
      
      
   2. Benjamin Lee Whorf. Language, Thought, and Reality.
      ·How linguistic frameworks shape consciousness, including sacred and mystical meanings.
      
      
   3. George Lakoff & Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By.
      ·Explores how metaphor shapes religious and existential language, useful for understanding Jesus' parables and self-identification.
      
      
6. QUANTUM PHYSICS and CONSCIOUSNESS
   
   
   1. David Bohm. Wholeness and the Implicate Order.
      ·Quantum theory of holistic reality, echoing nondual Christ-consciousness.
      
      
   2. Henry Stapp. Mindful Universe: Quantum Mechanics and the Participating Observer.
      ·Suggests how consciousness may influence quantum states; supports mystical unity theories.
      
      
   3. Roger Penrose. The Emperor's New Mind.
      ·Connects consciousness, computation, and non-material understanding of the mind.
      
      
7. MYSTICISM and CONTEMPLATIVE EXPERIENCE
   (Parallels to Jesus' Divine Experience)
   
   
   1. St. John of the Cross. The Ascent of Mount Carmel and Dark Night of the Soul.
      ·Direct phenomenology of the mystical union with God.
      
      
   2. Meister Eckhart. Selected Writings.
      ·Nondual mystical theology closely paralleling possible divine self-awareness.
      
      
   3. Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation.
      ·Modern mystical theology addressing divine indwelling and contemplative experience.
      
      
   4. The Philokalia (Vol. 1-4).
      ·Eastern Christian contemplative insights on theosis and divine-human synergy.
      
      
8. JESUS' CONSCIOUSNESS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
   
   
   1. John P. Meier. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus.
      ·Multi-volume critical historical approach to Jesus' life, identity, and consciousness.
      
      
   2. Geza Vermes. Jesus the Jew.
      ·Focus on Jesus within the Jewish mystical-prophetic tradition, key to grounding historical divinity.
      
      
   3. Larry Hurtado. Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity.
      ·Examines how early followers interpreted Jesus' divine self-consciousness.
      
      
9. ADDITIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY SOURCES
   
   
   1. Iain McGilchrist. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World.
      ·Explores right-left brain asymmetry and its implications for mystical and rational consciousness.
      
      
   2. Jean Gebser. The Ever-Present Origin.
      ·Integral theory of consciousness evolution; relates to Jesus as a leap in consciousness structure.
      
      
   3. Ken Wilber. The Spectrum of Consciousness.
      ·Integrative psychology that could map Jesus' human-divine awareness across multiple levels.
      
      

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