I have always feel best when I am stick thin, a person might say emaciated. If I am above this weight, there is a constant, niggling discomfort verging on self-loathing. Thirdself says thinness is “healthy”, but going too far in the other direction to nutritional restriction might be unhealthy. A mental defect, obsession, or a distorted body image.
But that is not true. In my descent, the thinner I am the less of me that is here, in thirdself; the less of Me that is shorn away from firstself and anchored to the performances that sustain my corpulence. Mindful thinness oriented toward firstself is a necessary moment in my descent. It means that I am rejecting the kinds of secondplace indulgence that lure me in and keep me here. I must remember: I must keep letting go to get Home. That includes everything out here in the secondplace, especially thirdself nourishment.
Nutritional temperance is only one form of second and thirdself-restraint. I must also exercise physical temperance by moving less, mental temperance by indulging less in distraction and entertainment, emotional temperance by isolating myself from relationships and self-reflection, and aspirational temperance by withdrawing from the desires for achievement, recognition, and worldly success.
I consume less of everything across the spectrum of the secondplace. In short, I must recognize and abstain from everything that I believe makes me a person. This is an essential part of second and thirdself-abolition. As I succeed, I will be rewarded with shallower awakenings, deeper prayers, and firstself-clarity.
…