Sources (115) Every source cited in this course: in the text, in the go-deeper layers, in the people stories and in the quiz. Listed in the order they first appear. Pages were read in October 2026.
Online Etymology Dictionary Etymonline: spirit Encyclopaedia Britannica spirituality Pew Research Center Spirituality Among Americans (2023) Pew Research Center More Americans now say they’re spiritual but not religious (2017) Project Gutenberg William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), full text Encyclopaedia Britannica Vedanta Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Mysticism Encyclopaedia Britannica Shankara Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Yoga Sutras of Patañjali Encyclopaedia Britannica Bhagavad Gita Encyclopaedia Britannica pranayama Encyclopaedia Britannica Ramakrishna Encyclopaedia Britannica Ramana Maharshi Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Śaṅkara Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Buddha SuttaCentral Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118) Encyclopaedia Britannica vipassana PubMed Zeng et al., Frontiers in Psychology (2015) Encyclopaedia Britannica Zen Encyclopaedia Britannica Milarepa Encyclopaedia Britannica Dalai Lama XIV PubMed Lutz et al., Trends in Cognitive Sciences (2008) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Daoism Encyclopaedia Britannica Tao-te-ching Encyclopaedia Britannica Laozi Chinese Text Project Analects 15.5, ctext.org Encyclopaedia Britannica Daoism Encyclopaedia Britannica Zhuangzi Encyclopaedia Britannica qigong NCCIH Tai Chi NCCIH Qigong Encyclopaedia Britannica Kabbala Encyclopaedia Britannica Isaac Luria Encyclopaedia Britannica Hasidism Encyclopaedia Britannica Baal Shem Tov Encyclopaedia Britannica Sabbath Encyclopaedia Britannica Abraham Joshua Heschel Encyclopaedia Britannica Martin Buber Encyclopaedia Britannica Hesychasm Encyclopaedia Britannica Jesus Prayer USCCB Practice of Lectio Divina New Catholic Encyclopedia Cloud of Unknowing Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Meister Eckhart Encyclopaedia Britannica Julian of Norwich Encyclopaedia Britannica Teresa of Ávila Encyclopaedia Britannica John of the Cross Encyclopaedia Britannica The Spiritual Exercises Encyclopaedia Britannica Thomas Merton Contemplative Outreach History of Centering Prayer Encyclopaedia Britannica Saint Hildegard Encyclopaedia Britannica Sufism Encyclopaedia Britannica dhikr Encyclopaedia Britannica Rābiʿah al-ʿAdawiyyah Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy al-Ghazali Encyclopaedia Britannica Rumi Encyclopaedia Britannica Sikhism Encyclopaedia Britannica Guru Nanak Encyclopaedia Britannica langar Encyclopedia of the Great Plains Vision Quest Encyclopedia of the Great Plains Sweat Lodge The New York Times New York Times, 2011 Encyclopaedia Britannica Black Elk Diocese of Rapid City Diocese of Rapid City The Conversation Dreamtime and the Dreaming Encyclopaedia Britannica meditation Encyclopaedia Britannica prayer Encyclopaedia Britannica Ramadan Encyclopaedia Britannica Yom Kippur Encyclopaedia Britannica fasting Encyclopaedia Britannica pilgrimage Encyclopaedia Britannica hajj Press Information Bureau, Government of India Press Information Bureau, Government of India (2025) Pilgrim's Office, Santiago statistics Encyclopaedia Britannica ritual tm.org TM.org Gifford Lectures The Varieties of Religious Experience Encyclopaedia Britannica Aldous Huxley Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Religious Experience Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy William James JAMA Internal Medicine (PubMed) Goyal et al. 2014, Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis Clinical Psychology Review (PubMed) Goldberg et al. 2018, Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis Perspectives on Psychological Science (PubMed) Van Dam et al. 2018, Mind the Hype PLoS One (PubMed) Lindahl et al. 2017, The varieties of contemplative experience American Heart Journal (PubMed) Benson et al. 2006, Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) Journal of Transpersonal Psychology Doblin, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology (1991) Psychopharmacology (PubMed) Griffiths et al. 2006, Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences Journal of Psychopharmacology (PubMed) Ross et al. 2016, Psilocybin for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer New England Journal of Medicine (PubMed) Carhart-Harris et al. 2021, Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression JAMA Psychiatry (PubMed) Davis et al. 2021, Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder U.S. Food and Drug Administration Complete Response Letter, NDA 215455 (midomafetamine), 8 August 2024 US Drug Enforcement Administration DEA: controlled substances list Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia) TGA (Australia), 2023 Associated Press AP, 2023 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Transcendentalism Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Ralph Waldo Emerson Encyclopaedia Britannica Henry David Thoreau Encyclopaedia Britannica New Thought Encyclopaedia Britannica Phineas Quimby Parliament of the World's Religions 1893 Chicago Encyclopaedia Britannica Vivekananda Encyclopaedia Britannica D. T. Suzuki Encyclopaedia Britannica Alan Watts Smithsonian Magazine Rishikesh and the Beatles University of Chicago Press Kripal, Esalen (University of Chicago Press), excerpt Encyclopaedia Britannica Ram Dass Vipassana Research Institute Vipassana Research Institute: timeline dhamma.org dhamma.org Plum Village life story of Thích Nhất Hạnh Encyclopaedia Britannica Transcendental Meditation Contemporary Buddhism Kabat-Zinn, Contemporary Buddhism (2011) The Guardian Purser, The Guardian (2019) Journal of Transpersonal Psychology Welwood, "Principles of Inner Work" (1984) Counseling and Values Cashwell et al., Counseling and Values (2010) Counseling and Values Fox et al., Counseling and Values (2019) Encyclopaedia Britannica Ignatius of Loyola