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September 9 - November 18, 2023
Orthodox rabbis traditionally warned against the study of mystical texts until age 40, when maturity was more likely to be accompanied by wisdom.
anyone who does not yet recognize that their time will run out and that every moment is precious; until that stage of practical enlightenment, which happens around age 40,
CHAPTER 3 THE EVOLUTION OF THE BRAIN AND THE MIND
To access that potential, our ancestors required specific nutrients to provide fuel to run their neurocomputer. Once they added brain-enriching foods to their diet, the faculties of certain individuals, the visionaries of their day, came online and began to create great works of art, devise written language, establish civilizations, and lay the foundations for our modern human experience.
ancestral shamans described Creation as a web of life in which we are all interconnected.
Within this mythical net, all beings are interrelated, and all of our actions, no matter how slight, affect everyone else.
the quest for metaphysical answers about the origin of life died when Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species.
after centuries of scientists’ dismissal and ignoring of the ancient teachings, people in all walks of life are once again asking the mystic’s questions about the significance and potential of human consciousness.
WAYS OF FEAR, WAYS OF WISDOM
The history of human consciousness is marked by the battle between the older awareness, the ways of fear, and the newer awareness, the ways of love.
Lower awareness views everything, even nature’s beauty and bounty, as a commodity, valued only as a means to generate profit. Water, one of the essential elements of life, is seen not as a home of aquatic organisms and a natural means of transportation but as a liquid to be bottled and sold. Air, another essential element, is seen not as a vital substance indispensable for breath but as vacant space in which to emit industrial waste products. Soil is seen not as a necessity for growing food but as property to be owned, fenced, and contaminated with agricultural chemicals and industrial and
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Even human beings are viewed as a commodity when our thinking is fettered to the ways of fear.
to understand this extraordinary leap and to better manifest the opportunity at hand, we need to look more closely at the development of the fourth brain—the prefrontal cortex.
THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX: KEY TO ENLIGHTENMENT
the prefrontal cortex, located in the front of the brain,
our key to enlightenment,
The prefrontal cortex is associated with the loftier brain functions such as reasoning, inventing the alphabet and music, discovering science, and engaging in creative thinking.
quite likely the place where our individuality and sense of self developed.
Able to think originally, we recognize what holds us back from achieving a higher level of consciousness and what will help us to attain it.
AWAKENING THE NEW BRAIN
THE OLD MIND-SET VERSUS THE NEW MIND-SET
In many mythologies, the earth was populated by titans, giants with extraordinary powers, who had to be defeated. The early Greeks, for example, identified 12 Titans who ruled the earth during the legendary Golden Age. In the King James Bible, God tells Moses of “a land of giants [who] dwelled therein in old time.”
Indeed, if reason had ever prevailed over passion, the story of humanity would not be written in blood.
CHAPTER 4 MITOCHONDRIA AND THE FEMININE LIFE FORCE
the mitochondria—the powerhouses of your cells and the feminine life force
THE POWER SOURCE WITHIN YOUR CELLS
Mitochondria were first observed by the German pathologist Richard Altmann in 1890.
Mitochondria use carbohydrates as fuel, which they convert into life-sustaining energy with the by-products of water and carbon dioxide.
called oxidative metabolism,
THE ROLE OF FREE RADICALS
THE PROBLEM WITH FREE RADICALS AND CELL DEATH
Free radicals are chemicals that cause oxidative damage to tissues, essentially causing them to rust like a piece of iron
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA
David: An Energy Crisis
function. I added several more to the regimen as well as coconut oil and DHA, an omega-3 oil.
I ordered hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a treatment in which Susan sat in a clear acrylic chamber filled with oxygen under pressure.
CHAPTER 5 NEURAL NETWORKS AND HABITS OF THE MIND
CREATION OF YOUR BASIC NEURAL NETWORKS
During those early years of life, the child’s brain is like a digital recorder set on constant record. Or, measured with an electroencephalogram (EEG), the brain-wave frequency of a child from birth to age two is in the delta range, which is also the frequency of the brain waves in a sleeping adult. The brain-wave frequency for a child from two to six is in the theta range, which is what an adult experiences in a state of imagination or reverie or while dreaming.
Then, between the ages of 7 and 16, something quite the opposite happens. We take ourselves out of the record mode and start playing around with delete/erase mode instead. During the years of adolescence, our brains eliminate over 80 percent of the interconnections
THE TYRANNY OF EMOTIONS
Instinctual emotions are toxic. When you become upset during an argument and remain so long after the exchange is over, it’s a sure sign that you’re experiencing an instinctual emotion.
Instinctual emotions are produced by ancient survival instincts—often coupled with smoldering memories of trauma— that are wired into our brain.
Toxic emotions of fear, sorrow, envy, and anger, which are often passionate, sometimes violent, and always draining, are never experiences of the present moment only.
Everyone you meet reminds you of someone you have known before, and every new situation seems like a déjà vu.
One terrifying experience during a walk in a big city after nightfall can cause you to link large urban communities with peril.
If you are angry and it passes after a few minutes, this is a cognitive emotion.
when we think we have finally had enough, we might quit the job or storm out of the marriage, not realizing that what we need to change is our neural networks through which we engage in our current environment and situations.
REINFORCING TOXIC NEURAL PATHWAYS AND SUBCONSCIOUS BELIEFS
We strengthen the toxic emotions and neural networks in our limbic brain and begin to create subconscious beliefs about life. These beliefs drive our actions and reactions in all experiences.
