You usually think of support as doing something, but real support has nothing to do with that. It is an inner sense of solidity, of a solid ground within you that feels like support for being truly yourself. True support is our contact with a certain quality of our Being, which is an authentic sense of presence, which is beingness. When this inherent inner support is not present in our experience of ourselves, we start to effort. Efforting becomes the ego’s way of acquiring support or of supporting ourselves. The fact is that this efforting cuts us off from our true and essential support, which is complete effortlessness. Essential support is an aspect of Essence, so it is Being, but in a solid, firm, and strong way, the way a mountain is present. 

The manifestation of the empty shell, with its attendant sense of falseness, tends to arise before the breakdown of the mirror transference, and hence is not dependent upon this breakdown. Becoming aware of the shell results from becoming less identified with the layers constituting the structure of self-identity. The totality of the processes in the work of self-realization leads to the revelation of the inner reality of this structure. So the empty shell may manifest before or during the breakdown of the idealizing transference, but more definitely after this breakdown and the consequent resolution of the need for support. Several factors may affect the awareness of the empty shell. The breakdown of the idealizing transference destroys the main support for the self-identity structure. The arising essential support, in the experience of the Diamond Will, puts a pressure on this structure for it supports the true identity of Essence, and not ego structure. All these factors, plus the deepening working alliance with and trust in the teacher and the teaching, contribute to the accelerating exposure of the shell and its underlying emptiness. 

Our perspective on will differs significantly from the conventional view. Will is usually associated with action, but we are seeing that in the context of spiritual work it implies the opposite: nonaction. Essential will is associated with action only in the sense that it provides the self with the confidence that allows it to persevere and to be patient. This insight becomes clearer as one experiences the various dimensions of will that manifest in the deeper stages of spiritual transformation. The Diamond Will clarifies this understanding in very specific details, in the utmost subtlety of inner actions. It is because of this precision, clarity, and subtlety, that we refer to the essential support as “Diamond” Will. This dimension of Essence supports the soul’s identity with Being, not only by its presence, but also, very significantly, because its presence exposes the futility of engaging in activity to support one’s sense of self. The “diamond” quality refers to the fact that this quality of presence is of a particular precise knowledge, a whole dimension of spiritual understanding. The presence of this quality teaches us that we do not need inner ego activity to support our true identity; in fact, the moment we reengage this habitual activity, we lose contact with the presence of the Diamond Will.

So inner essential support is experienced as groundedness and rootedness, which means being grounded in our own personal experience through our physical body. The more we have our own inner support, the more confidence we have to simply be open. Then we can see that inquiring is all that is needed. Being, which is our true nature, will do the rest. We can just open up and invite our Being, and it will respond and display its riches. It is a cooperation, like a feedback loop in which inquiry invites and Being reveals. The revelation expands the inquiry, which in turn accelerates the revelation. Inner support gives us a sense of confidence in this cooperation. Why is that? Because the sense of grounding, which is a function of embodying the Will, is an expression of the universal will in the soul. The universal will is the optimizing force of Being’s dynamism, the force that actualizes the revelation that our heart desires—the realization of who we truly are. The more we have our own inner solidity, grounding, and support, the more we feel confident in our inquiry, because this confidence is an expression of the universal will, which is the force of the optimizing dynamism. In other words, having our own inner support makes us aware of the functioning of true dynamism and lets us know that this dynamism functions to optimize experience.

Achieving a measure of freedom from this incessant ego activity is not easy; it requires a deep surrender. This letting-go requires several factors. One of these is learning what Mark says he discovered: that not knowing what to do in order to be is not a deficiency, for being is not a matter of doing anything. When there is nothing to do, then not knowing what to do is an objective situation and not an indication of a personal failing. When this happens, then the feeling of “I cannot do anything; I do not know what to do,” which is the hole of the Diamond Will, transforms into the solidity of essential support, with the understanding that Being is the support for being (see Chapters 25 and 26). The surrender also requires deep and unquestioned trust in truth and in reality in general. It requires an unusual faith or basic trust that if one suspends the activity, everything will be okay, that everything will be taken care of. For most people, this basic trust was eroded because of early parental treatment that failed to give the child the implicit confidence that she would be taken care of without having to manipulate for her environment to provide what she needed. 

Your support increases with experience and understanding. Understanding the situation can be supportive. But, ultimately, the way you experience essential support is by giving in, by surrendering to the situation. You can’t just trade lack of support for support. If you are experiencing a state of no support, you cannot have an inner experience of support. It is like letting yourself be under the influence of the inner resources. That’s why I say it is a very difficult thing to deal with. 

For true self-realization you have to jump. You have to take the risk of jumping when there is no support, when you have no idea of what’s going to happen. It feels like jumping into an abyss. You don’t know whether you are going to come out of it or not, or whether you’ll be better or worse, or whether you’ll come out of it the same kind of person or not. You don’t know whether it will work or not. You have no idea. That is why a deep faith in reality, a basic trust in truth, can be very helpful at this point. When the hole is experienced completely, true support will arise. Basically, true support is resisted by the attempt to hold on, which is why the true support of Essence cannot be faked. It is very difficult to really let go; you cannot be lazy about it. You can experience all kinds of states without doing much work, but not true support. Even certain self-realizations can happen without much work, but to experience true support your work has to be real. When the support is integrated, you become independent. You do not need the external supports. The lack of mirroring from outside, not being seen correctly and appreciated by others, no longer affects you. The most that can happen when you are not seen is that your inner essential support will arise at such times. Your self-realization becomes a permanent attainment, a station. You are truly your beingness, regardless of the absence or presence of external feedback. You have support now in your alone space, in the aloneness of your mind.