The Teacher's Desk

This section is a compilation of springboard reference and resource materials to be used in the class as subjects of discussion and topics for guided spiritual learning. The list is not exhaustive by any means, but it can provide numerous entry points for learning the mystical teachings and for building a solid foundation in contemporary mysticism. May your study explorations and learning inroads bring you into the light of all Truth. (Please report to us any broken link you may find in the listings below.)

1. RECOMMENDED EXPLORATORY ONLINE ARTICLES ON —

1. • Mysticism, in general

     1. • • General introduction

          • The Mystical Path (our WordPress spiritual learning site)

          • The Journey of Enlightenment (new in 2021 as part of 21st Anniversary Celebrations of Arsha Bodha Center)

            1. Part 1: First Steps

            2. Part 2: Reaching the Goal

   • Christianity

     1. • • Centering Prayer

          • Lectio Divina

          • The Eastern Orthodox Christian Church

          • Theosis or "Deification"

          • Hesychasm of the Eastern Orthodox tradition

          • Unity's Entering "The Silence" (The "Meditation" primer is REQUIRED reading for the class. Download the primer at the linked page.)

   • Taoism

     1. • • Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (text translation and commentary)

   • Buddhism

     1. • • Introduction to Buddhism

          • Zazen: Zen Mountain Monastery (John Daido Loori Roshi)

          • Vipassana

          • Dzogchen

   • Hinduism and Advaita Vedānta

     1. • • An Introduction to Advaita Vedānta

          • Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

          • Vedanta Society of Western Washington

          • Yes Vedanta

          • The Gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas

2. FOUNDATION-BUILDING BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

2. • Joel S. Goldsmith: The Infinite Way books (sampling list only below)

     1. • The Government of Eden (REQUIRED textbook for ongoing study)

        • Man Was Not Born to Cry

        • Practicing the Presence

        • The Contemplative Life

        • Beyond Words and Thoughts

2. • Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO — books (sampling list only below)

     1. • Open Mind, Open Heart

        • Invitation to Love

        • The Human Condition (REQUIRED booklet for class reading/study)

        • Intimacy with God

        • The Mystery of Christ (recommended for recovering Catholics)

2. • Eknath Easwaran — published books and the "Blue Mountain Journal"

2. • Refer to our website's Resources page and its subpages for more leads.

3. VIDEOS TO EXPAND THE MIND & DEVELOP MYSTICAL AWARENESS

3. • Contemporary Mysticism

     1. Exploring Consciousness (See related materials under "Neuroscience" segment below.)

        • The Origin of Consciousness | Kurzgesagt

        • What is consciousness? | The Economist

        • What is Consciousness? What is Its Purpose? | AtheneWins

        • Is Consciousness an Illusion? | Episode 1002 | Closer To Truth

        • Dr. Sam Parnia (Assistant Professor of Medicine, SUNY Stony Brook; Director of Resuscitation Research at at the State University of New York in Stony Brook; & Director of the Human Consciousness Project at the University of Southampton) —

          • Evidence that consciousness continues after clinical death | CBSN Interview

          • Is Life After Death Possible? | Closer To Truth

        • Donald Hoffman on Closer To Truth (a lot more from Donald Hoffman at the "We Can Change the World" segment of this site's Help Library) —

          • What Is Consciousness?

          • Does Consciousness Cause the Cosmos?

          • Does Human Consciousness Have Special Purpose?

          • Can Religion Survive Science?

        • Consciousness: Your TRUE Nature (Atma) | Swami Tadatmananda

        • An Intimate Encounter with Your EGO (Ahankara) | Swami Tadatmananda

3. • 2. The Egg (the story and its contemporary adaptations and derivatives)

        • Animation feature by Kurzgesagt (highly recommended)

        • The short story original by Andy Weir

        • Logic's viral hip-hop phenomenon —

          • 1. Waiting Room: (hip-hop number by Logic collaborating with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, superimposed over the Kurzgesagt animation of "The Egg")

            2. Logic's "Waiting Room": official audio, working in collaboration with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, from his music album EVERYBODY

            3. The Logic - Tavis Smiley Interview

            4. The Ellen DeGeneres Show Interview (Logic with his wife Alessia)

        • Short film adaptation (undergraduate short film by sophomores at the University of York, 2012 Runner-Up Yorkshire Royal Television Society Student Awards: Short Fiction)

3. • 3. Visions of God | The Story of God with Morgan Freeman

3. • 4. World Transformation Movement ("promotes Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith’s breakthrough resolution of the underlying problem in all human affairs of the human condition")

3. • Christian-based mysticism

     1. The Importance of the God Experience by Joel S. Goldsmith

     2. The Spiritual Journey by Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO (includes "Centering Prayer" talks)

     3. "Living in the Presence of God Day after Day after Day," by Fr. Thomas Keating: Part 1 and Part 2

     4. The Pagan Christ | Timeline

     5. The Dark Night of the Soul (Losing Who We Thought We Were) | Einzelgänger

     6. The Christ Child: A Nativity Story video and its Behind the Scenes companion video

3. • Advaita Vedānta (Swami Tadatmananda lectures)

     1. Advaita: Non-Dual Spirituality - from Ancient India to our Global Age

     2. Intro to Advaita Vedānta (playlist consisting of 6 parts)

     3. An Intimate Encounter with Your EGO: Ahankara (recommended)

     4. Exploring the Wisdom of the Sages (playlist compiled by Swami Tadatmananda)

     5. The Matter of Desire and Spiritual Practice

     6. Consciousness: Your TRUE Nature (Atma)

     7. The Vastness of Consciousness

     8. Is a Guru Really Necessary? Who Is a True Guru?

     9. A Meditator's Guide to Mind and Consciousness (Part 3: Mind to Consciousness at 54:13)

3. • Hinduism

     1. Select videos of Easwaran talks incl. his Bhagavad Gita translation audiobook

     2. The Yugas: The Great Time Cycles of the Universe (or Yugas: The Cycles of Time)

     3. Ancient Yuga Cycles

3. • Taoism

     1. The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu

     2. Alan Watts: The Taoist Way - excellent lecture; at any of the following video channels:
        American Taoist Association / Insight Lectures / YOUNIVERSAL WISDOM / UncleEvey

     3. Alan Watts on Taoism (short animation)

     4. Einzelgänger's video series on Taoism —

        • The Philosophy of Flow

        • Be Like Water

        • Wisdom for Inner Peace

        • The Deep Meaning of Yin & Yang

        • The Art of Not Trying

        • The Power of Letting Go

     5. Zhuangzi Shuo of Chuang Tzu (highly engaging series of animation shorts)

     6. Wu wei: The Art of Effortless Living

3. • Buddhism

     1. The Buddha (PBS documentary movie by David Grubin)

     2. Alan Watts: The Four Noble Truths

     3. Alan Watts: The Real Eightfold Path

     4. Einzelgänger's Buddhist Wisdom for Inner Peace

• Neuroscience

  1. Mind-Body/Brain and Consciousness

     • The Mystical Path

       1. The Science Connection

       2. The Mind-Body Continuum

       3. The Brain

     • Dr. Heather Berlin (Dr. Berlin is a cognitive neuroscientist, professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and visiting scholar at the NY Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and Master of Public Health from Harvard University.) —

       1. The Brain Is Our Last Frontier and Consciousness Is Expanding

       2. Who Is Your Brain?

       3. The Neuroscience of the Unconscious (recommended)

       4. Cognitive Science of the Unconscious Mind

       5. Cognitive Science of the Unconscious Mind Q&A

       6. The Illusion of Free Will

       7. Considering Consciousness at Modern Wisdom Podcast

       8. The Neural Basis of Consciousness

       9. Delving Within: The New Science of the Unconscious

       10. Altered States: Psychedelic Medicine and the Brain

       11. Neuroscience & Psychiatry

       12. Is AI consciousness imminent?

       13. Sophia the Robot Interviews Neuroscientist Dr. Heather Berlin on Consciousness

       14. Theories of Consciousness (joint interview with Christof Koch)

     • The Scientific Pursuit of Consciousness | Christof Koch

• 2. Brain hemispheres

     • Left Brain vs. Right Brain Education

     • Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

       1. My Stroke of Insight

       2. The Right Brain vs. Left Brain Experience

     • What's the Difference Between the Right Brain and Left Brain?

• 3. Programming and conditioning in the brain

     • Why You Feel What You Feel | Alan Watkins (emotional programs)

     • The Journey from Mental Health to Enlightenment | Alan Watkins

     • The Most Important Lesson from 83,000 Brain Scans | Dr. Daniel Amen

     • Change Your Brain, Change Your Life | Dr. Daniel Amen

     • One Thing to Know About Your Brain That Will Change . . . | Ann Herrmann-Nehdi

     • Think Like Your Future Depends on it, Because it Does | Ann Herrmann-Nehdi

     • 7 Secrets to Turbocharge Your Brain | Sandra Bond Chapman

     • We Must Be Out of Our Minds (Exposing Human Programming) | Ian Crane

     • What is Brainwave Entrainment? - And WHY IT WORKS!

• 4. Brain plasticity, neurogenesis and neural connectivity

     • Brain Plasticity: A Mental Health Renaissance | Hani Akasheh

     • Enhancing Brain Plasticity | Max Cynader

     • Changing Your Brain Can Be As Simple As Child’s Play | Denise Medved

     • Your Wonderful Plastic Brain! | Hayley Teasdale

     • Rewiring Revolution: Neuroplasticity's Impact on Wellbeing | Kristen Meisenheimer

• 5. Music and the brain (Music soothes the savage beast!)

     • How Music Changes the Brain | Dr. Robert Zatorre

     • Music on the Brain | Jessica Grahn

     • Unlocking Music with Neuroscience | Ardon Shorr

     • Emotional Responses to Music | Hauke Egermann

     • Why the Brain Loves Music | Dr. Oliver Sacks

     • Music and Mind | Dr. Oliver Sacks

     • Musical Minds | Dr. Oliver Sacks

     • The Power of Music | Umi Garrett: TEDxOrangeCoast and TEDxHarkerSchool

• 6. Mindfulness/centering/meditation and the brain

     • Meditation - The Single Most Important Skill Needed Today | Dr. Shyam Bhat

     • How Meditation Can Reshape Our Brains | Sara Lazar

     • Meditation: Change Your Mind, Change Your Life | Bodhin Kjolhede

     • The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger | Shauna Shapiro

     • Self-Transformation Through Mindfulness | David Vago

     • Mindfulness & Meditation | Shannon Albarelli

     • Reaching Your Fullest Potential Through Meditation | Jenn Fairbank

• 7. The holographic brain

     • Your brain hallucinates your conscious reality | Anil Seth

     • Do we see reality as it is? | Donald Hoffman (see more from Dr. Hoffman under "Contemporary Mysticism" above)

     • Time and the Brain: The Illusion of Now | Hinze Hogendoorn

     • Time: Do the past, present, and future exist all at once? | Big Think

• Geophysics, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

  2. • The Whole History of the Earth and Life

• Body Care: Good Health Habits and Proper Diet & Nutrition

  2. • Is Ketosis Dangerous? (Science of Fasting & Low Carb Keto)

     • Fasting vs. Eating Less: What's the Difference? (Science of Fasting)

     • Longevity & Why I Eat One Meal a Day

     • What To Eat On One Meal A Day (OMAD): Intermittent Fasting Diet | Dr. Sten Ekberg

     • Fasting as a Therapeutic Option for Weight Loss | Dr. Jason Fung

     • Intermittent Fasting: Transformational Technique | Cynthia Thurlow

     • Fasting: A Path To Mental And Physical Transcendence | Phil Sanderson

     • The Right Way to Do Intermittent Fasting for Maximum Benefits | Sadhguru

     • Top 10 Foods To Eat For Intermittent Fasting Benefits | Dr. Sten Ekberg

     • Why Fasting Bolsters Brain Power | Mark Mattson

     • Why Drink Butter Coffee? The Science of Bulletproof Coffee

     • Fasting: Awakening the Rejuvenation from Within | Valter Longo

     • Intermittent Fasting over Age 40 | Thomas DeLauer

• Paleoanthropology and the Course of Human Evolution

  2. • Hominin Evolution

       1. Part 1: The First 5 Million Years

       2. Part 2: The Genus Homo

     • The Humans That Lived Before Us | PBS Eons

• Quantum Physics and Theoretical Physics

  2. • 
       

• Philosophy, Psychology and Psychiatry

  1. Carl Gustav Jung

     • Biography of Carl Jung

     • Face To Face | Carl Gustav Jung ("I don't believe in God; I know God.")

     • Jung - Sea of Faith: Part 1 and Part 2 (BBC documentary)

     • How To Become Whole: Carl Jung & The Individuation Process | Einzelgänger

     • Carl Jung: What is the Individuation Process? | Academy of Ideas

     • Introduction to Carl Jung: Individuation, Persona, Shadow & Self | Academy of Ideas

     • Becoming "whole" and Individuation - a Jungian Perspective | The Hero's Journey

     • Embrace The Darkness (Carl Jung & The Shadow) | Einzelgänger

     • How to Integrate Your Shadow | Academy of Ideas

     • Ending Your Inner Civil War | Einzelgänger

     • What is the meaning of sacrifice? | Jung: Psychology & Religion | The Hero's Journey

     • Jung Predicts Apocalypse | Jordan Peterson

     • Carl Jung: "The world hangs on a thin thread...."

4. PRESENTATIONS, CHARTS, TABLES, and Other TOOLS & AIDS

   • Presentations

     1. Introduction to the Class

     2. Spiritual Contemplation

     3. The Human Condition

     4. The Nature of Error or Evil

     5. The Fabric of Consciousness

     6. The End Time Phenomena

     7. The movie Lucy — Paradigm for spiritual transformation and the future of humankind

4. • Charts and Tables

     1. Our Methodology for the Spiritual Journey along the Mystical Path

     2. The Fabric of Consciousness

     3. Proposed syllabus for the class

Meditation Timers (for silent meditation sitting)

Do you need a timer for your individual meditation sitting practice outside of class? Here are timers that are available online. Select the right time duration as well as the desired audio track for your sitting. Then click on its link.

• 15-minute Vipassanā meditation with 5-minute interval markers

• 30-minute Vipassanā meditation with 5-minute interval markers

• 60-minute Vipassanā meditation with 5-minute interval markers

• 5 minutes Continuous Silent Meditation using a Tibetan bowl as alarm signal

• 10 minutes Continuous Silent Meditation using a Tibetan bowl as alarm signal

• 15 minutes Continuous Silent Meditation using a Tibetan bowl as alarm signal

• 20 minutes Continuous Silent Meditation using a Tibetan bowl as alarm signal

• 30 minutes Continuous Silent Meditation using a Tibetan bowl as alarm signal

• 60 minutes Continuous Silent Meditation using tingsha cymbals as alarm signal

Background Music for Relaxation or Meditation

Here is a sampling of ambient mood sounds or music to relax and meditate with. They can be played in the background for extended contemplation sittings.

Suggested Meditation Background Music

• Tibetan Bowl with Nature Sounds

• 3-hour Tibetan Singing Bowl music with nature sounds background (for chakra healing)

• Pure Tone Tibetan bowl music

• Lazaris Remembers Lemuria (classic piece of New Age mood music)

• Lazaris Remembers Lemuria (1-hour extended version without screen visuals)

• Prelude to Lazaris (classic piece of New Age mood music)

• The Blue Moon (Indian flute music for meditation)

• Indian Flute Meditation Music

• 10-minute Tingsha Bell 4th Chakra/Heart Chakra Meditation

• 10-minute Tingsha Bell 3rd Chakra/Solar Plexus Meditation

Suggested Relaxation Music

• Gentle Peaceful Stream (nature sound)

• Chinese Zen Flute Music

• Healing Zen Music (relieves stress and anxiety)

Other Resources

• TempleSounds - YouTube channel featuring Tibetan bowls, tingsha cymbals, and gongs