Updated July 10, 2023
Suppose you think you are on top of it and know where to go. In that case, try to imagine you do not know. Then feel which of the approaches makes life adventurous. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
In most cases, you do not have to read Alexius’ Duality Hacks in a particular order. But in the case of this article, you may benefit from reading Duality Hack #5 The worry-free life of the basic self.
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When the brain’s script is perceived as ‘it is what it is,’ your dark feelings are not excluded but included. Therefore this perception is not a way to the dullness of detachment but the vitality of involvement. Besides, it is very close to the nothingness from where the brain scripts its story of duality. Not as close, though, as the perception’ dunno what it is’ because it exposes all experiences are nothing.
That is why you get the bliss of nothing from perceiving your reaction to an experience as ‘dunno what it is,’ whereas you get the sadness of something specific from ‘I know what it is’ and the fullness of duality from ‘it is what it is.’
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The basic self and the special one are bound to follow the GPS coordinates from the brain without making side trips. They do not have the power to change the journey – only how to perceive it. Their perception of that, though, is different. The basic self perceives everything as ‘it is what it is,’ and the special one as ‘I know what it is.’
That is why it is easy for the basic self to be someone and very hard for the special one. It has to make a special perception of each experience, establishing that ‘I know what it is.’
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Since the perception of the special self is built upon the perception ‘I know what it is,’ it rejects what would make it relax, namely the bliss of nothing, which comes from the perception ‘dunno what it is.’
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When your reaction to something is perceived as ‘it is what it is,’ there is nothing to escape. But when the perception is ‘I know what it is,’ you must avoid everything unknown to make it look like you are on top.
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The special self does not want to perceive its response to itself as ‘it is what it is,’ but as ‘I know what it is’ because the latter upholds the idea of being something specific, for example, beautiful. In contrast, the perception ‘it is what it is’ reveals tour response is twofold, thus not specifically beautiful but just as ugly. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
You do not feel stuck when perceiving your reaction to your experience as ‘it is what it is .’ Thus, there is no urge to escape or transform anything.
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Perceiving everything as ‘it is what it is,’ every experience feels good enough.
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It feels like something is missing when you perceive your reaction to an experience as ‘I know what it is’ because the perception is specific, thus suppressing its counterpart. But if your response to an incident is perceived as ‘it is what it is,’ you feel complete because your reaction is revealed as twofold. However, the perception ‘dunno what it is’ does not result in a specific feeling or twofoldness. Thus you are in the bliss of nothing.
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It is the counterpart of a feeling that defines it. For example, hate defines love and vice versa. That is why you must sense your hatred to feel love. But since the special self excludes the unpleasant part of a duality pair, it has no hatred to define feeling in love. Therefore, since it does not know what love is, it reckons it feels love when it meets somebody whose psyche or body complies with its ideas of perfection.
Fortunately, this mistake is easily corrected by perceiving the assumed feeling of love as ‘it is what it is.’ That reveals love is coupled with hate and constantly interacting to define each other. Going with this twofoldness, you have a genuine feeling of love regardless of whether expectations are met.
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Only the brain can make you feel good enough because nobody else knows what you are. And you do not have to get its approval because it loves you as you are. However, you do not feel that if you go against the brain. Fortunately, all you need to correct your mistake is to perceive your reaction to the experience the brain processes as ‘it is what it is’. Actually, you do not even have to do that. If you do not interfere with the brain’s workings, it automatically makes this perception.
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What do the expressions of Alexius’ cat, Wincent, mean? Alexius cannot know, but if he reckons that he does, he gets stressed from trying to make it true. But, on the other hand, if he perceives his reaction to Wincent as’ it is what it is,’ there is nothing to prove and thus no stress. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
Alexius’ cat, Wincent, has had the same routine for many years. First, Wincent leaves the house early in the morning and returns when Alexius is still in bed. Then Wincent greets Alexius, lays down next to him, and waits for him to get out of bed so he can prepare Wincent’s food. At least, that is the obvious conclusion because as soon as Alexius gets out of bed, Wincent runs to the kitchen, where he, with big eyes, sits and waits for Alexius to give him food.
If Alexius believes he knows what is happening, he goes from the perception of the basic self, ‘it is what it is,’ to the perception of the special self, ‘I know what it is.’ Thus Alexius stressfully thinks about feeding his beloved cat to establish he is in the know. But Wincent does not get his food any sooner than if Alexius had remained the basic self and perceived his reaction to Wincent’s behaviour as ‘it is what it is’ because the brain’s script runs its course, no matter how it is perceived. Therefore the only difference between being the basic or special self is that the former feels relaxed when feeding Wincent and the latter very stressed.
In other words, life is effortless when you are the basic self but stressful as the special one because you use a lot of energy to fool yourself into believing you are in charge.
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When the perception of your response to an experience is ‘I know what it is,’ you feel important but also exhausted because it requires much manipulation to look like you are in the know. That is why the special self always needs more energy, contrary to the basic self, which feels fine regardless of being energetic because it has nothing to live up to.
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The brain uses five per cent of its capacity to shape the conscious experience of a self. But much more space is needed to establish the experience of the self as real. Therefore, a bigger part of the brain is used to make an exciting story about the self that seems to have been caused by the experiences the brain creates of a dualistic world outside it. The brain expects that your reaction to this fantasy of duality is twofold. But most people react to it through singled-out memories, feelings and imaginations to establish themselves as someone independent of duality, thus of the brain. That is why they feel disconnected.
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When you always perceive your reaction to something as ‘it is what it is,’ you do not try to prevent the brain’s script from unfolding as outlined. Hence the Enlightenment of that which is One is close at hand. Not because your story built up to it. But when it is what it is, nothing specific seems to block the Enlightenment of that which is One. Read more about that in Duality Hack #11 Going without distance to non-duality. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
Practically speaking, you are always in sync with the brain. You cannot choose not to follow its script of duality. But you can choose to think you follow a better way. However, the brain does not give a damn. Its script continues as planned, so nothing has changed other than you feel disconnected.
In other words, being in sync with the brain’s script of duality is not a matter of waiting for things to happen, according to the manuscript. They always do. Instead, it is a matter of perceiving your reaction to what happens as ‘it is what it is.’ By doing that, you see your response is not singular but twofold. Thus you are in sync with the script of duality.
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When your reaction to something in the body is perceived as ‘it is what it is,’ the response is not experienced as singular because, for a moment, it is replaced by a distinct experience of its counterpart. The two opposing feelings start interacting hereafter, so you are revitalised by the duality flow.
But your feeling remains singular when you perceive what you feel in the body as ‘I know what it is’ to uphold a particular point of view. Thus you are in the misery of believing to know something definitive.
If your reaction to something in the body is perceived as ‘dunno what it is,’ you are not in the misery of believing to know something definitive because you do not know of a body that feels something. Consequently, you are in a state of not knowing, which is the bliss of nothing. Read more about a state of not knowing here.
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Roughly speaking, the perception of the special self always assumes, ‘I know what it is.’ In contrast, the basic self sticks to the brain-generated perception of ‘it is what it is.’ The non-self says, ‘dunno what it is.’ Therefore, since it does not perceive the apparent differences in the experiences produced by the brain to make a difference, it is in a state of not-knowing.
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The special self constructs a perception of every experience, so it does not seem to endanger its default assumption, ‘I know what it is.’ Hence it can go on believing it masters its life, even though it does not even know what it is.
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You feel happy when your reaction to the experiences the brain makes is perceived as ‘it is what it is’ because that reveals they are twofold. Hence you are in sync with the brain’s script of duality.
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Feeling bad does not indicate you should do something else because you have no say in what happens – only how to perceive it. If your perception is ‘it is what it is,’ the bad feeling is complemented by a good one. Therefore, since they, as a team, define each other, you also feel good when feeling bad and vice versa. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
Since making a specific perception takes a long time, it is often delayed, thus out of sync with the present moment. Therefore, the frustration it entails only worsens if you try to solve it using more time to process your experience. In contrast, using the brain’s default perception, ‘it is what it is,’ you are in sync with the present moment. Hence everything feels good.
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The stories the special self makes about its greatness are not always consistent. Thus it often feels disorganised and wishes to be like those it perceives as organised. On the other hand, the basic self does not need to be anything other than in sync with the stream of thoughts coming from the brain by perceiving its reaction to it as ‘it is what it is.’
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The basic self does not assume that something will happen a specific way because every response to something is perceived as ‘it is what it is.’ Therefore, getting old and unable to do what it used to is as much a loss as a gain.
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When every feeling is perceived as ‘it is what it is.’ no emotion seems scary because they are all part of the duality flow.
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Perceiving a movie as cheap because it uses furniture from Ikea, you are probably out of sync with the plot. Hence the movie does not seem as entertaining as when your perception is synced with the story. However, this does not mean you must do something about your condemnation of Ikea to get in sync with the movie’s script.
All you need is to perceive your reaction to the furniture from Ikea as ‘it is what it is.’ When you do that, your response is revealed as twofold, wherefore, there is no specific reaction to prevent you from being in sync. Hence both the script and your misperception of it seem enjoyable. Likewise, when you perceive your response to the brain’s manuscript as ‘it is what it is.’
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Nobody, nor Alexius, is solely the basic self. The special self will exploit the innocence of the basic self. Fortunately, appearing special is not a problem for the basic self because it perceives its reaction to everything as ‘it is what it is.’ Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
When you perceive yourself as a victim of others, you are out of sync with the brain’s script because nobody causes anything but the brain, regardless it appears physical or immaterial. And everything the brain produces is out of love for everyone. Fortunately, all that is needed to correct feeling victimised is to perceive it as ‘it is what it is.’
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Triumph and disaster are not perceived as equally entertaining by the special self. Yet, that is what they are if one is perceived as ‘it is what it is’ because it reveals no triumph without disaster and vice versa.
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Many try to solve the feeling of not being appreciated by finding somebody special to admire them. But maybe most try to make the feeling disappear by judging others as wrong. However, none of these methods works because feeling unwanted comes from how you assume the world should respond to you and not how it does.
The root of this misperception can be found by walking down memory lane. But it probably takes a long time, and you may miss it. Fortunately, the misperception can be corrected immediately by perceiving feeling unimportant as ‘it is what it is.’ Since that takes the distinctness out of the feeling, it does not have a specific effect on you. Therefore, the next time you, by reflex, create an attitude to disguise feeling worthless, you laugh because ‘it is what it is.’
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A straightforward way to correct your response to yourself is to perceive it as ‘it is what it is.’ That reveals it is twofold. So if your single-minded reaction is that you are wrong, you see it as interacting with being right. Therefore, since you are in the duality flow, you are not defined as someone specific, nor are those you felt you had to please. Hence they, as well as you, are seen as good enough.
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If memories from your childhood are the basis for your perception of a movie you watch as a grown-up, you are out of sync with its plot. Hence it seems frustrating rather than entertaining. Fortunately, this is corrected immediately if you perceive the plot, or your judgment of it, as ‘it is what it is.’
This perception makes the plot amusing no matter how it evolves because you are in sync with it as it is and not as you think it should be. Likewise, when the brain’s script is perceived as ‘it is what it is.’
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Since the brain’s script contains every possible experience, you are the past, the future and everything else conceivable when synced with the brain. But you are not the formlessness of oneness because it cannot be experienced. Thus all you need to cross the apparent barrier to oneness is not to experience anything.
NOTE: The above article is part of Duality Hack #6 Happiness is to be in touch with the brain.
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