A Conscious Collapse into the Matter of Gravity

When it comes to the riddle of why we are here, whether from the view of science or the perspective of the spiritual seeker, the mystery of gravity is always going to be part of the inquiry. At present, the fundamental particle called a Graviton is still hypothetical. The world’s first detection of a gravity wave announced this week has told us about the gravitational effect of rips in the fabric of time and space undulating through our universe. And all of us, all of us, are held here together  with our feet on the ground, standing upright in balance so as not to fall down – falling with the force of earth’s own gravity field.

To the spiritual seeker, the experiential realization of gravity can be a shift-maker. The doorway to gravity, as to all experiences either inner or outer, is through the senses. It is through the physical senses that the windows of perception open to the material impressions of a material world. It is through the physical senses that the windows of perception also open inward, to allow impressions of a more subtle nature, from dimensions beyond what we have historically considered material. Through our senses we sense life. Through the opening of our senses, we become more conscious within our environment. Through our senses we learn to allow the unknowable, or to know it again, from the open door of a beginner’s mind.

Yet since Aristotle classified physical perception into five distinct senses in De Anima, the belief that we are limited to these five channels of physical perception – vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch – has pervaded our belief systems to the edge of experiential limitation. Even before we move to meta-senses (the so-called 6th sense), there is widespread debate about how many senses a living thing has, and according to which definition. In the book The Twelve Senses, Albert Soesman introduces Anthroposophy through Rudolf Steiner’s study of the senses. Yet the idea that we go beyond the limitation of five (and could be over a thousand) is now scientifically mainstream.

Among the less broadcast sensory faculties are some very familiar faculties with very fancy names. These include Thermoception: the sense of heat and the absence of heat (cold) by the skin and internal skin passages, or, rather, the heat flux (the rate of heat flow) in the body. This of course has a direct experiential quality in meditation, healing and spirituality. Another is equilibrioception. The organ of equilibrioception is the vestibular labyrinthine system found in both of the inner ears. In technical terms, this organ is responsible for two senses of angular momentum acceleration and linear acceleration (which also senses gravity), but they are known together as equilibrioception. A connected but distinct sense, which many meditators will recognize as adjusting during shifts in consciousness is Proprioception. This is the kinesthetic sense, that provides the parietal cortex of the brain with information on the movement and relative positions of the parts of the body. It’s how you sense where your body parts are in space at any given moment, within their general interconnectedness.

In allowing the sense of gravity, a spaciousness opens up.

The sense of equilibrioception – especially the sense of gravity, weight and mass, is particularly beautiful to explore in meditation and inner inquiry. When the body is at rest and supported, it’s possible to open this sense by allowing the surrender to the gravitational pull, and receiving impression of the weight of the body. These impressions at first can be simply physical. We can notice that where there is stress, there is a withholding of relaxation to gravity. There is a physical reflex to clench the muscles of the body upwards, in a way, out of agreement with being on earth. This sense of gravitational pull can move beyond the physical though. It can be felt within the “heaviness of heart”, or a sense of weight around the mind. .

In allowing the sense of gravity, a spaciousness opens up. Who is the one that is sensing weight? What is this, that can surrender experience to the pull of gravity? From where are we able to truly rest in peace in its natural mass or vibrational density? Does this one that is still aware also have a weight?

When we come to peace, resting in the arms of the earth’s gravitational field, it can be worthwhile to connect to that same experience of weight or gravity within others we know, at this moment, where ever they are now. We can expand this to a sharing of the sense of gravity with all living things: animals, trees, birds, and sense what happens.

The sense of gravity is not included in the classical five senses, yet it’s realization as part of the liberation of the nature of experience seems to be both powerful and worthwhile. It has the potential to open the gates of resistance to life as our physical brains are able to experience it, allowing a deepening embodiment and in direct proportion, a greater freedom within physical form.

A sexual afterthought:

In all our explorations of different physical sense perceptions, we found the region of sexuality and procreation persistently ignored. The sexual senses and the sense of reproduction would seem to utterly fundamental to the study of human perception. If anyone has found resources or can offer an explanation for this scientific blind-spot, it would be greatly appreciated.