The Lightening of Internal Gravity

"Vast emptiness, nothing holy!" ~ Bodhidharma (1)

       Unaware of the ego-mind’s back-door technique, we may assume that the only way to deal with it is to attack and destroy it, as well as the simulate selves and their thoughts, as if rooting out unwanted, persistent weeds from the garden of the mind. But the ego-mind, an integral part of our materialized existence, is here to stay, and there are gentle, creative, aware responses that bring the situation to the infinite openness of compassion. Because we are essentially spirit, all matters of the heart and mind are first addressed in some spiritual way, beginning with directing the will. For most individuals, free will does not yet exist, and much effort will have to be made to gain psychological freedom while seeking the spiritual clarity for which they yearn. (2)   One cannot regain free will on one’s own; assistance must be requested. Communing with one’s Authentic Self while requesting spiritual assistance can be done in solitude or with The Risen, through formal or informal prayers and meditation.
       Although seemingly counterintuitive, sensing spiritual being as an embodied human actually begins with first bringing the attention to the body. The body has its own inherent wisdom to direct us, if we can get to an internal place of quiet so we can hear and listen. Non-competitive exercise, journaling, psychotherapy, chanting, listening to music, guided imagery recordings, singing, dancing, drumming, painting—all may lift the focus from that which is dark and heavy toward a finer vibration that lightens internal gravity. As inner gravity is lightened, muscles and tendons release and relax and begin to smile. Done on a regular basis, these things will maintain a healthy mind-body system.
       We each must find our own ways—which often cycle and change—to get quiet within. After connecting with the body, talking and listening to it, a course of inner direction will make itself known. There are usually no direct instructions, only feelings that emerge and flow with the spontaneity of a new mountain stream. We aim our conscious awareness inwardly by directing our attention away from the world assumed to be outside our body. We declare to the Universe/Higher Power/God/Deepest Loved One that we honestly don’t know what we’re doing or what to do next, but that we are willing to receive help. Asking for help needs no special skills, no holiness or advanced spirituality—we come just as we are. If we don’t know how to ask for help then we can say so and ask for guidance on how to ask, and then be at least willing to trust that some kind of answer will come.
       Be willing to be willing without ceasing, especially whenever feeling the slightest hesitation of doubt, and ignore the ego-mind’s insistence that you don’t need help. You may have to find this inner quiet literally thousands of times a day. The ego-mind will be just as persistent in interrupting the silence with the voice of a negative simulate self, because it knows what’s at stake.


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(1)  When one "empties one's self", there are those who believe that Higher Self or, perhaps, God, can then fill the emptiness. This idea mistakenly approaches the situation from a viewpoint of limitation. Subjectively, from the level of ego-mind, negativity can be removed, and replaced with its polar opposite of positivity. However, the absolute realization, when ego-mind is stilled, is that what was perceived as empty is actually fullness of Self.
(2) Here, “psychological freedom” means freedom from psychological time—that is, freedom from memories. – AG

[Excerpted from the chapter "Ego-mind and The Simulate Selves.]