Sources and reading notes

The numbered notes identify sources for the scientific claims, historical accounts, and attributed teachings. The spiritual readings of symbols, the connections among these subjects, and the Godward practice express the argument of this book. They should be read as interpretation rather than as historical claims about a single teaching shared by all traditions.

[1] NASA. What Is a Barycenter. The account explains the shared center of mass of orbiting bodies and the motion of the Sun. The application to human priorities is an analogy. Read source

[2] Joseph Cesario, David J. Johnson, and Heather L. Eisthen. Your Brain Is Not an Onion With a Tiny Reptile Inside. Current Directions in Psychological Science 29, 2020, 255–260. Corrects the layered triune-brain account of vertebrate evolution. Read source

[3] Todd M. Preuss and Steven P. Wise. Evolution of prefrontal cortex. Neuropsychopharmacology 47, 2022, 3–19, first published online in 2021. Reviews evolutionary changes across prefrontal subdivisions and their connections. Read source

[4] Earl K. Miller and Jonathan D. Cohen. An Integrative Theory of Prefrontal Cortex Function. Annual Review of Neuroscience 24, 2001, 167–202. Presents the goal-maintenance and biasing account used in Chapter 2. Read source

[5] Amy F. T. Arnsten. Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 2009, 410–422. The discussion concerns stressful conditions and cognitive functioning; it does not identify a neural location for spiritual orientation. Read source

[6] René Descartes. The Passions of the Soul, 1649, article 31. English text hosted by Digital Descartes at Claremont Graduate University. Descartes’s proposed pineal role is presented as his philosophical account. Read source

[7] Josephine Arendt and Anna Aulinas. Physiology of the Pineal Gland and Melatonin. Endotext, updated October 30, 2022. Describes melatonin production, light input, and circadian regulation. Read source

[8] Dakshinamurti Stotra with the Manasollasa exposition, Chapter IV, verses 13–16, translated by A. Mahadeva Sastri. The text locates ajna between the eyebrows within a yogic account of subtle centers. This is distinct from anatomical descriptions of the pineal gland. Read source

[9] Tara Prakash. Egypt in the Old Kingdom ca 2649–2130 BC. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 1, 2019. Gives funerary, solar, and stellar context for the pyramid complexes. The gathering of attention toward an apex is this book’s contemporary spiritual reading. Read source

[10] ANU Museum of the Jewish People. Star of David Birth of a Symbol Legends vs Facts, February 1, 2018. Discusses the development of the symbol and Gershom Scholem’s historical analysis. Read source

[11] Rabbi Uriel Vigler. Lessons from the Star of David. Chabad Israel Center of the Upper East Side, July 7, 2016. Provides one Jewish interpretation of the upward and downward triangles. This is an attributed interpretation rather than an account of the shape’s original meaning. Read source

[12] Qur’an 2:144 and 2:115. Translation by Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran, available through Quran.com. These passages concern prayer orientation and God’s relation to east and west. Read source and Read source 2

[13] Simon Sinek. Start with Why How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, 2009. The author’s Golden Circle page defines why, how, and what. The model is used as a framework for purpose, rather than as a map of discrete brain structures. Read source and Read source 2

[14] Simon Sinek. How great leaders inspire action. TEDxPugetSound, September 2009. Source for Sinek’s illustrative use of Apple and the Wright brothers. These examples are attributed to his presentation rather than treated as complete explanations of business or aviation history. Read source

[15] National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Researching the Wright Way. Details the brothers’ experimental approach, including their work on aircraft control and wind-tunnel testing. Read source

[16] Joseph H. Arguinchona and Prasanna Tadi. Neuroanatomy Reticular Activating System. StatPearls, updated July 24, 2023. Describes the RAS and its contributions to arousal and wakefulness. Read source

[17] Maurizio Corbetta and Gordon L. Shulman. Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 3, 2002, 201–215. Supports the distinction between arousal and distributed systems of attentional selection. Read source

[18] Charles L. Folk, Roger W. Remington, and James C. Johnston. Involuntary covert orienting is contingent on attentional control settings. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance 18, 1992, 1030–1044. Laboratory research on how task settings influence attentional capture; the daily-life examples are applications of the broader principle. Read source

[19] Gabriele Oettingen and Doris Mayer. The motivating function of thinking about the future expectations versus fantasies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83, 2002, 1198–1212. Distinguishes expectations from positive fantasies across four studies. Read source

[20] Vadim Zeland. Clip Transurfing Principles of Managing Reality, authorized Russian-language online excerpt, section on pendulums. The account of collective energetic structures is Zeland’s esoteric teaching. Read source

[21] Vadim Zeland. Reality Transurfing Feedback, authorized Russian-language online excerpt. Describes the formation of pendulums through collectively directed thought within his model. Read source

[22] Vadim Zeland. Can Transurfing be combined with other techniques, official Russian-language response, December 2020. Rejects interpreting the teaching as total withdrawal or emotional immobility. The English title here is descriptive. Read source

[23] Peter M. Gollwitzer and Veronika Brandstätter. Implementation intentions and effective goal pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73, 1997, 186–199. Research on specifying when and how a goal-directed action will occur. Read source

[24] Deuteronomy 6:4–5, the Shema and the command to love God with the whole person. Consulted through Sefaria, Revised JPS translation. Read source

[25] Matthew 6:19–21 and 6:33. Teaching on treasure, the heart, and seeking God’s kingdom first. The passage is read with recognition of Jesus’s Jewish identity and its Jewish scriptural setting. Read source

[26] Bhagavad Gita 2:41. Translation and commentary by Swami Mukundananda. Describes resolute, gathered intelligence and the many-branched mind. Read source

[27] Dhammapada 33 and 42–43, within Cittavagga The Mind. Translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, 1997. Provides the arrow image and the distinction between ill-directed and well-directed mind. Buddhist direction is not equated here with devotion to a creator. Read source

[28] Guru Nanak. Jap Ji Sahib, especially its opening pauris. Text and exposition through Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha. Discusses truthful living and hukam within Sikh teaching. Read source