Claim Freedom

Invocation (Annotated)

This is a scholarly, annotated companion to the rhetorical invocation. It presents the same text, followed by brief notes connecting each claim to relevant traditions and research. For the unannotated version, see the original Invocation. You can also watch the short video version here: YouTube Short.

“That voice in your head… Are you that voice? Or are you the one who is listening to it?”

“I’m going to ask you to set aside everything you think you know and just listen.”

Annotation: This opening invites suspension of conceptual processing to foreground phenomenology—direct observation of experience prior to interpretation (cf. Buddhist satipatthāna and Husserlian phenomenology).

Annotation: The Invocation adopts a performative mode to catalyze recognition rather than argue propositions; the framework remains an inquiry, not dogma (see About This Inquiry).

“You have been hi-jacked… by a parasitic infection. This is not an allegory. It is a fact.”

Annotation: “Infection” functions as a distancing metaphor used across traditions—Gnostic Archons, Indigenous Wetiko—mapping to pathological narrative loops in the Default Mode Network (DMN). In neuroscience, the term is dysregulation; the metaphor highlights urgency without asserting literal pathogens. See DMN overactivity associations with depression/anxiety.

Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., & Ford, J. M. (2012). Default mode network activity and connectivity in psychopathology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 8, 49–76. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143049

“Every disease, every bit of pain… is a symptom of this infection.”

Annotation: Hyperbolic rhetoric aims to expose common mechanism—compulsive self-referential processing amplifies suffering. Empirically, DMN dysregulation is linked to rumination (depression) and worry (anxiety), not literally all pathology. Use interpretively.

Andrews-Hanna, J. R. (2012). The brain’s default network and its adaptive role in internal mentation. Neuroscientist, 18(3), 251–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073858411403316

“The greatest lie… ‘this is human nature.’”

Annotation: Many contemplative traditions assert basic goodness/clear awareness (Buddhism: Buddha-nature; Gnostic Pneuma). Neuroscience remains agnostic on metaphysics; it shows plasticity—experience changes networks.

Davidson, R. J., & McEwen, B. S. (2012). Social influences on neuroplasticity. Nature Neuroscience, 15, 689–695. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3093

“We are our ancestors… reincarnated… stuck in an eternal loop of ‘hell.’”

Annotation: Metaphysical framing (reincarnation) varies by tradition. A secular parallel is intergenerational transmission of stress/trauma via epigenetic and psychosocial pathways.

Yehuda, R., et al. (2016). Holocaust exposure induced intergenerational effects on FKBP5 methylation. Biological Psychiatry, 80(5), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.08.005

“Because you are not your body… the ‘Divine Spark’… The body is just a vessel.”

Annotation: Gnostic and Advaita claims about the Self as awareness. Empirically, contemplative training shifts meta-awareness and reduces identification with mental content (operationalized as decreased DMN dominance during practice).

Brewer, J. A., et al. (2011). Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity. PNAS, 108(50), 20254–20259. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1112029108

“It can only influence you… through Ignorance and Naivety.”

Annotation: Maps to avidyā (ignorance) and Wetiko—mis-taking mental content for identity. Mechanism: unexamined identification with DMN-generated narratives.

“It has found a backdoor… The Default Mode Network. DEMON = DMN.”

Annotation: The pun underscores mechanism, not ontology. The DMN is the dominant network at rest (self-referential thought, memory, prospection). Its activity can become maladaptive.

Raichle, M. E., et al. (2001). A default mode of brain function. PNAS, 98(2), 676–682. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.98.2.676

“A ‘Daemon’… is a background process. It’s neutral. Your DMN… is supposed to work for you.”

Annotation: Baseline narrative functions are adaptive—autobiographical memory, planning, social cognition. The issue is rigidity, hyperconnectivity, and failure to disengage for task-positive control.

Fox, M. D., et al. (2005). The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks. PNAS, 102(27), 9673–9678. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0504136102

“It ruminates on the Past… generates anxiety about the Future.”

Annotation: Rumination and worry are canonical DMN-mediated processes elevated in depression/anxiety; training often targets meta-awareness and reallocation of attention.

Hamilton, J. P., et al. (2015). Rumination, depression, and the default network. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(3), 350–357. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu061

“The dragon guarding your kingdom… Cave → Conquer → Tame. Not kill—re-claim.”

Annotation: Mythic structure (hero’s journey) reinterpreted as attentional retraining and compassionate integration. In practice: dis-identification (meta-awareness), grounding (salience/somatic), and compassion practices reduce self-criticism (DMN-related activity).

Kirby, J. N., et al. (2017). Self-compassion and psychological functioning. Mindfulness, 8, 1196–1213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0593-3

“Eternal life” as sustained balance, not invulnerability

Annotation: Read metaphorically—homeostatic regulation and resilient network dynamics (flexible transitions between DMN, salience, and executive networks).

Menon, V. (2011). Large-scale brain networks and psychopathology. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(10), 483–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.08.003

“It all starts inside your own mind… You have to see the hi-jacker.”

Annotation: First-person operationalization: moment-to-moment recognition that thoughts are objects in awareness; practical entry points are noting and inquiry.

See: Observing the Voice, Body as Anchor, Taming Your DMN, Loving the Dragon, and Working with Trauma.

The Question

That voice in your head… the one that’s been talking this entire time, telling you what you think about what I’m saying…
Are you that voice?
…Or are you the one who is listening to it?

Annotation: The core contemplative probe (Advaita self-inquiry; metacognitive awareness). The “felt gap” between awareness and content is the practical metric.

References

Andrews-Hanna, J. R. (2012). The brain’s default network and its adaptive role in internal mentation. Neuroscientist, 18(3), 251–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073858411403316
Brewer, J. A., et al. (2011). Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity. PNAS, 108(50), 20254–20259. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1112029108
Davidson, R. J., & McEwen, B. S. (2012). Social influences on neuroplasticity. Nature Neuroscience, 15, 689–695. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3093
Fox, M. D., et al. (2005). The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks. PNAS, 102(27), 9673–9678. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0504136102
Hamilton, J. P., et al. (2015). Rumination, depression, and the default network. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(3), 350–357. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu061
Menon, V. (2011). Large-scale brain networks and psychopathology. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(10), 483–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.08.003
Raichle, M. E., et al. (2001). A default mode of brain function. PNAS, 98(2), 676–682. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.98.2.676
Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., & Ford, J. M. (2012). Default mode network activity and connectivity in psychopathology. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 8, 49–76. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143049
Yehuda, R., et al. (2016). Holocaust exposure induced intergenerational effects on FKBP5 methylation. Biological Psychiatry, 80(5), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.08.005

Return to the original Invocation.