1. What is the DMN?
The Default Mode Network is a collection of interconnected brain regions including the:
• Medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)—associated with self–referential thinking.
• Posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)—involved in autobiographical memory and spatial orientation.
• Inferior parietal lobule, hippocampus, and angular gyrus – constructing the sense of self in time and space.
DMN = Narrative Self = "I" as the center of experience.
It activates during:
• Mind–wandering
• Daydreaming
• Remembering the past
• Projecting into the future
• Evaluating oneself or others
Overactivation of the DMN correlates with:
• Anxiety and depression
• Obsessive thinking
• Disconnection from present reality
• Reinforcement of the ego–boundary
II. The Goal: Transcending the Egoic Narrative
To deactivate the DMN is not to destroy the ego but to loosen its grip, allowing consciousness without a center to emerge—what we may call the non–self, True Self, or Universal Consciousness.
The result is:
• A boundaryless field of awareness
• No subject–object duality
• Radiant intimacy with the present
• Perception of the sacred in the mundane
III. The How: Five Modalities for Deactivating the DMN
1. Contemplative Stillness (Zazen, Centering Prayer, Dzogchen)
Mechanism:
• Sustained open presence (not concentration)
• Observing thoughts without following them
• Relaxing identification with the "thinker"
Neuroscience:
• DMN deactivation (PCC and mPFC)
• Increased activity in attention and salience networks
• Enhanced connectivity between sensory and interoceptive systems
Practice:
Sit in stillness. Let go of goals. Do not follow thought. Let thoughts pass like clouds.
Breathe, feel, return to awareness without center.
No striving. Just presence.
→ This reveals the ground of Being: empty, luminous, and immediate.
2. Breath & Interoceptive Anchoring
Mechanism:
• Anchoring awareness in bodily sensations
• Prioritizing interoception over mental narrative
Neuroscience:
• Shifts activation to the insula and somatosensory cortex
• Interrupts DMN loops by grounding in the present sensory body
Practice:
Feel the breath. Feel its movement in your belly, ribs, nostrils.
Let attention rest inside your body—not thinking about it, but as it.
Stay here, letting thought become background noise.
→ Awareness shifts from thinker to sensing presence.
3. Surrender & Kenosis (Letting Go of Control)
Mechanism:
• Voluntarily releasing the need to manage experience
• Yielding to what–is, not passively, but in active receptivity
Theological & Phenomenological Parallels:
• Christian kenosis: "self–emptying" of will (Philippians 2:7)
• Zen's mu: a "no–self" openness
• Taoist wu wei: actionless action
Practice:
With each exhale, release the need to grasp, explain, or control.
Whisper internally: "Not mine. Not me. Not I."
Let go even of the letting go. Rest in trust.
→ Ego contracts through control; surrender dissolves it.
4. Attentional Reorientation: From "I" to "Seeing"
Mechanism:
• Disidentifying with the center of perception
• Noticing that experience arises, but there is no fixed observer
Phenomenological Insight:
• In the direct seeing, there is only what appears
• The self is not "behind the eyes," but in the seeing itself
Practice:
Ask: Who is aware of this thought?
Don't answer. Just look.
Let the looking look itself.
Rest in that seeing.
→ This reorients awareness from egoic center to impersonal clarity.
In other words, we have to get out of our own way, our so–called ego.
N.B. DMN deactivation is not a substitute for real psychological work, as may be the case.
5. Sacred Attention: Practicing Transparent Perception
Mechanism:
• Seeing the world as if through it — not as things, but as presences
• Practicing loving awareness, reverence, and stillness
Transformational Result:
• Mundane objects reveal radiance
• Time slows or dissolves
• A transpersonal presence begins to permeate perception
Practice:
Look at a leaf. A cup. A face.
Notice the space around it, and within it.
Feel into its presence — without labeling.
Let it shine.
→ Perception becomes luminous. Every moment a sacrament.
IV. The Emergence of the Non–Self (Greater Self)
As the DMN deactivates and egoic constructs soften:
1. A new field of awareness arises — not owned, not controlled.
2. There is presence without personhood — awareness aware of itself.
3. Love, clarity, and spaciousness replace judgment, effort, and separation.
4. Times dissolves into tht eternal now.
This is not the loss of identity, but the liberation from contraction. The one who suffers, strives, and fears dissolves. What remains is:
• Radiant intimacy with all that is
• Silent knowing prior to thought
• Spacious love that embraces without boundary
• Pure aliveness — the song of presence itself.
As the Default Mode Network (DMN) deactivates, the habitual loops of self–referential thinking lose their dominance. The brain's grip on autobiographical identity softens, and with it the sense of being a bounded, striving self. What opens is a new field of awareness—spacious, unowned, and uncontrived. This awareness is not generated by will; it simply reveals itself when the chatter of ",, me, mine" subsides.
In this field there is presence without personhood– awareness aware of itself. The ordinary dualism of observer and observed dissolves, leaving only the immediacy of being. Judgment, striving, and separation give way to qualities intrinsic to consciousness itself: clarity, love, and spaciousness.
Time, once structured by the DMN's narrative weaving of past and future, dissolves into the eternal now. The self who suffers, fears, and clings to control no longer holds center stage. Yet this is not annihilation of identity but liberation from contraction. The nervous system still functions; language, memory, and roles remain. But they are no longer mistaken for the whole of being.
V. Integration into Daily Life
To make the mundane luminous is to practice presence–in–the–world without reverting to the DMN's grasping, judging self.
How?
– Engage in tasks (just walking, just washing dishes, just listening) with full presence.
– Let go of "me doing this" and rest in "this arising."
– Return again and again to the field of awareness rather than the story of the self.
Example:
While drinking tea, notice the warmth, the aroma, the breath, the space.
There is no "me"drinking tea. Only the drinking, the being, the now.
DMN↓ + Interoception + Stillness + Surrender + Sacred Attention → Ego↑ → Nondual Awareness⅕ → Luminous Daily Life
1. DMN↓ (Default Mode Network down–regulation)
The DMN sustains autobiographical thinking and the sense of "me." Practices such as meditation, prayer, or breath awareness reduce DMN dominance. This loosening lessens rumination and self–centered narrative, creating space for presence.
2. Interoception
Interoception — the felt sense of bodily states, mediated by the insula and somatosensory networks — anchors awareness in the living present. Attending to breath, heartbeat, or subtle bodily sensations grounds consciousness beyond conceptual thought. As the DMN quiets, interoceptive awareness becomes more vivid, fostering immediacy.
3. Stillness
Neurophysiologically, stillness corresponds with parasympathetic activation: slower breath, heart rate coherence, reduced stress hormones. Psychologically, stillness diminishes reactivity. Phenomenologically, stillness reveals a spacious background against which thoughts & perceptions arise.
4. Surrender
Surrender is the relinquishing of control — the release of grasping after outcomes. This relaxes prefrontal overdrive, shifts network dynamics toward balance, and allows natural regulation to emerge. In lived experience, surrender feels like openness and receptivity, clearing space for what is.
5. Sacred Attention
Attention directed with reverence — toward breath, presence, or the divine — activates salience networks, focusing awareness while suffused with meaning. It differs from ordinary concentration by carrying affective warmth, devotion, and depth.
Process and Transformation
Together, these steps diminish ego–identification (Ego↓), reducing the grip of the self–model. In turn, consciousness discloses its nondual nature (Nondual Awareness↑) awareness aware of itself, unbound by subject–object division.
The fruit is a Luminous Daily Life: ordinary activities shine with clarity, compassion, and intimacy. Neurophenomenologically, this reflects a nervous system attuned to presence, flexible and open, where perception is no longer filtered through egoic contraction but through the spaciousness of being itself.
COMPARISON OF MYSTICAL TRADITIONS ON EGO DISSOLUTION
| Tradition | Core Practice(s) | Egoic Self Understanding | Mechanism of Dissolution | Phenomenological Outcome | Key Terms / Concepts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Mysticism (Desert Fathers, Meister Eckhart, Cloud of Unknowing, St. John of the Cross) | Apophatic prayer (e.g., via negativa), contemplative stillness, kenosis, interior silence | The ego is the willful self that separates from God; source of pride and false autonomy | Surrender to Divine Will, purification through suffering (Dark Night), loving detachment | Union with God (unio mystica), radiant nothingness, divine presence beyond image or concept | Kenosis, Dark Night, Naked Faith, Cloud of Unknowing |
| Zen Buddhism (Soto & Rinzai) | Zazen (only just sitting), koan practice, direct pointing to mind | Ego is an illusion born of conceptual grasping; no permanent self exists | Direct perception of emptiness (sunyata), dropping thought and intention, radical non–striving | Nondual awareness, spontaneous compassion, "no one to be enlightened" | Mu, no–mind (mushin), satori, emptiness, just–this |
| Tibetan Buddhism (Dzogchen) | Rigpa recognition, Trekchö & Tögal, guru yoga | Ego is grasping mind; obscures the innate clarity of awareness | Resting in the nature of mind (rigpa), dissolving effort and identification | Self–luminous awareness, timeless presence, joyful compassion | Rigpa, Trekchö, Tögal, ground luminosity, bardo |
| Advaita Vedanta | Self–inquiry (Who am I?), scriptural study, meditation on the Self | Ego (ahamkara) is the misidentification with body–mind; Self is already free | Disidentification through inquiry, realization of the witness–consciousness | Atman = Brahman, nondual awareness beyond change | Neti neti, Atman, Brahman, Maya, Turiya |
| Sufism (Islamic Mysticism) | Dhikr (chanting divine names), sama (whirling, music), love mysticism | Ego (nafs) is the lower self; impure, proud, veils the heart from Allah | Love, remembrance, ego purgation through maqamat (stations of the path) | Annihilation in God (fana), subsistence in God (baqa) | Nafs, fana, dhikr, Ishq (divine love) |
| Kabbalistic Mysticism (Jewish) | Hitbodedut (solitary prayer), contemplation of sefirot, Torah mysticism | Ego is the shell (klipah) that conceals the divine spark in man | Through purification, suffering, and loving devotion, ego is broken open | Unification with Divine light (Ein Sof), flow of Shekhinah, mystical joy | Tzimtzum, Ein Sof, Shekhinah, Devekut |
| Taoism (Laozi, Zhuangzi)b> | Wu wei (non–forcing), breath cultivation, inner alchemy | Ego is the mind that interferes with the Tao; names and judgments create separation | Relaxing into the flow, returning to original simplicity | Spontaneity, harmony with the Tao, freedom from self–consciousness | Wu wei, Ziran (naturalness), Tao, Pu (uncarved block) |
| Christian Hesychasm (Eastern Orthodox) | Jesus Prayer, stillness (hesychia), fasting, solitude | Ego is the restless mind; unpurified heart separates from Divine Light | Inner stillness and ceaseless prayer; descent from head to heart | Theosis (divinization), vision of the uncreated Light | Hesychia, Nous, Theosis, Divine Light |
| Indigenous / Shamanic Traditions | Vision quests, fasting, plant sacraments, drumming, ecstasy | Ego is seen as imbalance or disconnection from Nature/Spirit | Disruption of normal consciousness, ego dissolution via ordeal or sacred medicine | Reconnection with Great Spirit, nature as alive, dissolution of boundaries | Vision quest, Great Spirit, soul retrieval, shapeshifting |
| Quaker Mysticism (Religious Society of Friends) | Silent worship, discernment in community, inward Light | Ego is the voice of self–will; silences the Inner Teacher | Stillness, openness to the Inner Light, communal silence | Deep peace, inner truth revealed, action from divine guidance | Inward Light, clearness, waiting upon the Lord |
Common Themes Across Traditions
| Theme | Expression |
|---|---|
| Ego as illusion or obstruction | Illusory self (Buddhism), proud nafs (Sufism), grasping mind (Vedanta), false self (Christianity) |
| Surrender as the method | Kenosis (Christian), wu wei (Taoism), neti–neti (Advaita), fana (Sufism) |
| Love or presence as ground of being | Agape, Ishq, Rigpa, Atman, Tao, Shekhinah |
| Silence and stillness as gateway | Hesychia, Zazen, apophatic prayer, breath awareness |
| Nonduality as realization | Atman = Brahman, Rigpa, Ein Sof, God as beyond being, Mu |
Resignation carries the weight of defeat. It is a giving up, often with feelings of helplessness or despair. Psychodynamically, it is associated with learned helplessness—when the nervous system has concluded that no action can alter the outcome. In lived experience, resignation feels heavy, constrictive, and inwardly contracted. The sense of agency withdraws; the world appears "closed." The narrative self (the DMN's storytelling function) says: "There is nothing I can do; I must endure. Resignation is still ego–centered. The DMN remains active, looping stories of failure, futility, or victimhood. It is an ego–position of collapse.
Surrender is an intentional release. It is not passive defeat but active letting go of control. In therapeutic language, surrender aligns with acceptance, trust, and integration. The lived sense of surrender is spacious, open, and expansive. The ego–relational stance softens; the world appears "wide" rather than closed. The narrative self loosens; one experiences "I don't need to control—life flows through me. Surrender often coincides with a quieting of DMN activity, especially the medial prefrontal cortex (the "self–referential hub"). This allows networks for salience and embodied awareness (insula, somatosensory cortex) to come forward. Instead of looping self–narratives, attention shifts into present–moment embodiment and openness.
Resignation = collapse of agency, ego still contracted around loss.
Surrender = relinquishment of ego–control, opening into a larger flow (whether one frames that as divine, life–process, or simply "what is"); kenosis—emptying to allow the divine or the Real to shine through.
And discussed in another way:
Phenomenological Distinctions
Letting be is non-reactive presence: perceiving phenomena as they arise, without grasping or resistance. It aligns with Heidegger's Gelassenheit — "releasement toward things."
Surrender is intentional yielding: an active openness to the unfolding of life, self–transcendence, or divine will. It still carries directional intention (to trust, to merge).
Resignation is existential closure: one has ceased to struggle, but not from freedom — from fatigue or disillusionment. It withdraws awareness rather than deepening it.
Psychological Dynamics
Letting be: Acceptance with awareness and agency intact → equanimity, psychological flexibility.
Surrender: Acceptance through devotion or trust → transformation, integration, parasympathetic activation (calm engagement).
Resignation: Acceptance through hopelessness → learned helplessness, depressive tone, sympathetic depletion.
Neurophysiological Correlates
Letting be: Balanced prefrontal-limbic regulation; open monitoring network (anterior cingulate, insula) active.
Surrender: Parasympathetic dominance; oxytocin and serotonin pathways engaged; coherent heart-brain rhythms.
Resignation: Hypofrontality; overactive amygdala with low dopamine tone; default mode rumination.
Integrative Summary
| Mode | Attitude | Phenomenological Quality | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letting be | Allowing | Spacious awareness | Presence |
| Surrender | Trusting | Active openness | Transformation |
| Resignation | Withdrawing | Contraction / disengagement | Stagnation |
Letting be arises from clarity.
Surrender arises from faith or love.
Resignation arises from defeat.
The first two open consciousness; the last closes it.
Phenomenology of Ego Dissolution (Commonalities)
| Phase | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Disruption of habitual identity | Practices lead to breakdown of usual self–story. |
| 2. Entry into the unknown /groundlessness | Fear, disorientation, surrender (Dark Night, spiritual death). |
| 3. Emergence of presence | Awareness becomes clear, spacious, without center. |
| 4. Unitive consciousness | No separation between subject–object, inner–outer. |
| 5. Radiance and love | Reality becomes suffused with intimacy, joy, and light. |
Choose a tradition whose imagery, cosmology, and ritual life resonate with your heart—but know that at the deepest level, all roads point toward the same truth:
The "I" that seeks the Divine dissolves into the Divine that is already present, revealing the truth:
In other words, we have to get out of our own way, our so–called ego.
And it begins (Zen Rule Chapter 4: Only–Just–Sit) .... As the Scripture says: Listen, my sons and daughters, to a father's instruction; pay attention, and learn what clear perception is (Pro 4: 1). The human being who studies the Wisdom of Direct Knowing, the Wisdom of Christ, first arouses the intention of compassion, next makes the vow to save all beings from their suffering, and then carefully cultivates the attitude of Presence.
This means that even though the monk may have great understanding and be full of insight, able to know at a glance, one knows one may have reached only the courtyard. One still lacks something of the vital path of liberation.
Therefore, the monk stops daily the intellectual practice of investigating words and chasing after talk. One takes the backward step of turning the light and shining it back. Body and mind will drop away of themselves, and the monk's original face before his or her parents were born will appear.
The face of God becomes apparent only–just–sitting. As the Apostle says of the Lord: Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I, the light, have come into the world. (John 12: 44–46) To only–just–sit, the monk makes a quiet place. One spreads a thick mat, perhaps a folded soft blanket, on the floor one does not let in drafts. One keeps one place where s/he practices daily only–just–sitting. The place where one only–just–sits is bright, both day and night. It is warm in winter and cool in summer.
Before only–just–sitting, one casts aside all involvements and discontinues all affairs. The monk says: Be still and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted over the earth! (Ps 45(46):10). Good is not thought of; evil is not thought of. It is not a matter of mind, intellect or consciousness; nor of thoughts, emotions, ideas or perceptions. One does not intend to gain any–thing, and is not even attached to sitting still, yet that is how one sits. One is moderate in food and drink. Before only–just–sitting, one casts aside all involvements and discontinues all affairs. The monk says: Be still and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted over the earth! (Ps 45<46>:10). Good is not thought of; evil is not thought of. It is not a matter of mind, intellect or consciousness; nor of thoughts, emotions, ideas nor perceptions. One does not intend to gain anything, and is not even attached to sitting still, yet that is how s/he sits. One is moderate in food and drink.
The monk uses a cushion or pillow on a thick mat. One sits down on the front portion of the cushion and sits either full cross–legged, half cross–legged, or legs folded horizontal in front. For the first position, one places the right foot on the left thigh; then places the left foot on the right thigh. For the second, one simply rests the left foot on the right thigh. For the third, one sits as described.
The monk then arranges the clothes. One places the left hand in the palm of the right hand. One lightly touches the thumbs of both hands together. With the hands in this position, one places them lightly against the body, so that the joined thumb tips align with the navel. One slowly raises the torso and stretches it forward. One then swings to the left and right; then straightens the body and sits erect. One does not lean to the left or right, forward or backward. The monk keeps hips, back, neck, and head in line. One does not strain the body upward too far, lest it makes breathing forced and unsettled. One keeps the ears in line with the shoulders, and the nose in line with the navel. One presses the tongue against the front of the palate, closing lips and teeth. One keeps the eyes slightly open to prevent drowsiness. One breathes gently through the nose.
Once one has settled posture and has let breathing regulate itself, one relaxes the abdomen. When– ever a thought occurs, one is be aware of it. As soon as one is aware of it, it will vanish. If one remains for a long period unattached to thoughts, one will naturally become unified. One continues only–just–sitting without thinking This is the essential art of only–just–sitting.
If a human being grasps this essential point of only–just–sitting, the four elements of the body will become light and at ease, the spirit will be fresh and sharp, thoughts will be correct and clear. The flavor of realized experience, the Law of Christ's Love, will sustain the spirit, and the human being will be calm, pure, and joyful. Daily life will be the expression of the monk's natural state. One will realize that when right thought is present, dullness and agitation cannot intrude. One realizes the Presence of Christ.
One who has already achieved clarity of Christ's love may be likened to a mirror with no stand, always clean and pure, where there is no room for any dust. Even one who has not yet achieved it, by letting the wind fan the flame, will not have to make too much effort. One just assents and surren–ders to it; one will not be deceived. Nevertheless, as the path gets higher, demons flourish, and agreeable and disagreeable experiences are manifold. Yet, if s/he just keeps right thought present, being without thought, none of them can obstruct any human being.
(c.f. Chapter 4 Only–Just–Sitting: Chapter 4 Only–Just–Sitting)
Peace and Joy!
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