White Robed Monks of St. Benedict
Theology of Christ/Universal Consciousness
PDF: Theology of Christ/Universal Consciousness
Section One Christ Consciousness
Book 3: Catharsi Circuitus Mentis
On the Decathexis of the Default Mode Network
- Part 1: Utrum sit possibile decathectere Retem Modalem
Defaultam ad experientiam Unitatem?
(Whether it is possible to decathect the Default Mode
Network in order to experience Unicity)
- Objection 1. It seems impossible to decathect the DMN, since the Default Mode Network is essential to the narrative self and autobiography. Without it, rational function collapses.
- Objection 2. Furthermore, scripture says, "We see now through a glass darkly" (1 Cor. 13:12), thus the veiling of the self cannot be lifted in this life.
- Objection 3. Moreover, quantum neurobiology suggests that the collapse of the wave–function depends on observation; thus, to deactivate observation is to fall into unconsciousness, not awareness.
- On the Contrary: Evagrius Ponticus:, "If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian."
Zen Master Dogen: "To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self."
Modern neuroscience (Austin, Zen and the Brain) supports that meditative absorption correlates with decreased DMN activity and increased global synchrony.
- Reply to Objection 1. The rational faculty is not destroyed by DMN decathexis, but purified. Higher–order volition and global attention networks remain operative. (Austin, 2006)
- Reply to Objection 2. The veil is lifted not by effort, but by surrender. Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.
- Reply to Objection 3. Observation collapses wave–functions only under classical frameworks. Nondual awareness is an open field, not a discrete observer. (cf. Wheeler's Participatory Universe)
- One Answers That: Decathexis of the Default Mode Network (DMN) is not only possible but requisite for theoria—unitive awareness beyond egoic reference frames. The DMN—comprising the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and angular gyrus—is associated with narrative self–processing, future simulation, and self–referential thought. In both Zen kensho and Christian unio mystica, transcendence of this "me–center" occurs through attentional refocusing, de–automatization of language, and neurophenomenological simplification.
- Part 2: Ad Decathectandum Retem Modalem Defaultam, Quatuor Viae Distinguuntur:
(To decathect the DMN, four main pathways are distinguished)
- Via I: Silensio Interiori — The Path of Interior Silence (Christian Mysticism)
- Axiom 1.1. For every thought, there exists one and only one silence that negates it.
- Method: Practice of apophatic prayer (cf. The Cloud of Unknowing), centering prayer, and lectio divina lead to suspension of discursive processing.
- Neurological Correlate: Downregulation of mPFC and PCC; increase in right anterior insula and thalamic gating.
- Spiritual Dynamic: As memory and identity dissolve in silence, awareness of the Logos (unitive ground) emerges.
- Via II: Zazen — Non–Grasping Awareness (Zen Buddhism)
- Axiom 2.1."All awareness, if non–clinging, approximates emptiness."
- Method: Objectless attention, open–monitoring meditation (shikantaza), and koan introspection disintegrate self–referential loops.
- Language Deactivation: Use of paradox (mu, who is hearing?) undermines symbolic reification (cf. Korzybski: the map is not the territory).
- Neural Effect: Decreased functional connectivity within DMN; increased synchrony in task–positive and salience networks.
- Via III: Corpus Veritatis — The Somatic Descent (Phenomenology & BenedictinePractice)
- Axiom 3.1. "If the gradient of attention into the body increases over time, DMN activity decreases."
- Method: Phenomenological grounding via breath, posture (cf. Alexander Technique), walking meditation (Desert Fathers), and Benedictine manual labor (ora et labora).
- Integration with General Semantics: Avoid identification with abstract symbols; root cognition in sensate reality (cf. extensional orientation).
- Quantum Resonance: Collapse of identity wavefunction into a nonlocal field of presence.
- Via IV: Verbum Lucis — Linguistic and Christic Reorientation (Christ Consciousness + Linguistics)
- Axiom 4.1. "If the Word is Logos, then all Self–structures in DMN are illusion."
- Method: Repetition of sacred phrases (Jesus Prayer, mantra), redemptive self–redefinition through contemplative scripture (c.f. John 1:14), and paradoxical logophasis ("I am not I").
Linguistic Subversion: Language used not to reinforce self–narrative but to dissolve semantic self–modeling (cf. Tractatus 7: Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.)
Christic Neurology: Sacramental consciousness activates transcortical networks through embodied ritual and Eucharistic mindfulness.
- Conclusion: Therefore, per silentium, non–cogitatio, incarnatio, et transverbum, decathexis of the DMN is the via negativa toward unitive being (esse unitatis). The false self dissolves; what remains is luminous awareness beyond category.
White Robed Monks of St. Benedict
Post Office Box 27536
San Francisco CA 94127–0536 USA
Phone: 415–292–3228
e–mail:webmaster@wrmosb.org
Page URL: Restricted
Copyright © 1996–2025 White Robed Monks of St. Benedict
