Updated April 25, 2023
You do not enter the stress of being someone definitive when you perceive your response to an experience as ‘it is what it is.* Instead, you remain without centre and focus., thus automatically playing the role set up by the brain for the present moment. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
Most try to see a specific self behind their different approaches to the world. Yet, there is no other self than the basic one created by the brain. It has no centre and is ever-changing with the fleeting experiences developed by the brain. That is why you are bound to feel unfulfilled when you try to define yourself as definitive. But feel fulfilled when disclosed by the brain’s present experience as harsh, contrary to a previous one as fragile. Being relative and thus flexible, any experience generated by the brain amuses you, regardless of what and where you appear.
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Believing to be someone in a world where there seems to be more than one, you are a product of the brain. You have no definitive self but one relative to the experiences produced by the brain. And since the brain automatically helps you perceive your response to its experiences as ‘it is what it is,’* you are satisfied by all of them. But none of the experiences entails satisfaction if you limit them by your understanding. Nothing works out according to your assumptions but the brain’s script. Although you can choose between going right or left, for example, the brain decides your decision’s subsequent events – like a flight to New York continues as planned, regardless of your whereabouts on the plane.
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If you wish to improve yourself to become more specific, for example, spiritual, you must exclude the thoughts that do not fit into your idea of spirituality. Since that does not result in peace but fear of the repressed, you start looking for something relaxing. However, not trying to edit the ever-changing flow of thoughts but perceiving it as ‘it is what it is,’* you are not someone definitive but relative to the present experience produced by the brain. Therefore, since hating what you dislike feels as pleasant as loving what you like, there is no need to relax.
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If one’s perception is in sync with the flow of thoughts from the brain, one is relative to the brain, thus feeling entertained by its ever-changing experiences. But if one edits the flow to appear definitive, one is not free because to be that, everything has to fit into a box.
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The special self always tries to escape something, but it does not know what. Neither will it ever know because there is nothing to escape. It is all make-believe. But it seems as if it is real when you try to avoid something. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
The basic self is not a definitive entity. Instead, it is relative to the brain, thus without egoistic drive. The special self is also relative to the brain. But it denies being connected with the brain and always looks for somethingth to manifest itself as definitive, hence having a big egoistic drive.
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Being in tune with the present experience created by the brain, the basic self does not perceive itself as definitive but relative to the present. But since the special self believes it handles everything in its way and pace, it perceives itself as the master of the present, even though it does not know who it is.
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Within a world where there seems to be more than one, the basic self is everyone and no one. And since the basic self is relative, there is no self to doubt. On the other hand, the special self always doubts itself because it insists on being someone definitive.
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The special self uses much energy to suppress the thoughts and feelings judged as unfavourable to preserve what it believes in being or becoming when it lives in the now, comes from the heart, or whatnot. On the other hand, the basic self has no desire to appear definitive, thus no need to judge something as wrong.
Besides, it knows negativity is just as crucial as positivity. For example, an electric wire needs the negative pole as much as the positive one to make the energy required to publish this article online.
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If the special self perceives somebody as stupid, it is most likely meant as a condemnation. But when the basic self makes the same perception, it is not to blame somebody but to fend off a relationship that the brain instructs it to avoid. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
The special self is an expert in flattery, which it uses to manipulate others into feeling appreciated. It wants them to become so dependent on the compliments that they are willing to submit to the special self to get more.
However, this does not work on the basic self. It does not need approval as special because it is not definitive but relative to how the brain renders the present moment, thus always approved.
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Per the specific personality, Facebook’s algorithms have calculated based on what you like and do not like, we receive updates and ads that establish our particular character. Therefore, since you become more fixated on your views, you and like-minded ones seem good and others bad. However, Facebook does the same for those you perceive as wrong, so, just like you, they believe in doing the right thing.
So since everybody is in the same boat, all would benefit from not perceiving themselves as definitive but relative so that the boat can be managed in the best interest of everybody.
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If you read Alexius’ Enlightened Non-Teachings to enhance your belief in being unique, you probably feel put down by them. But if you read them to undo this belief, you become relative, thus free to be what the moment calls for.
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In the 80s, the crowd in Alexius’ bar, Floss, was a mix of punks, musicians and models. Although their appearance differed from Alexius’s, their content was the same nothingness. However, in their case, they tried to fill it with something special, like going to Floss, which was considered the most fabulous place to meet. The image is grabbed from the web.
In the eyes of the world, Alexius has been very successful. First, he designed several trendy restaurants and bars that he operated for 12 years. Later he was a TV producer, a designer for big and small companies and a teacher in public relations – all of it without any education. Read more about Alexius’ personal story here.
Before that, he worked as a kindergarten teacher and taxi driver and was a monk for four years. Although he seems to have been doing many different things, the purpose was always the same, setting the specific personality aside. Therefore, having a relative character, he could help the children in the kindergarten on their terms and ensure the people who hired a taxi had a peaceful ride. His restaurants and bars could grow in a way that benefitted the community evolving from them. And the energy of a TV broadcasting – just like his design – would highlight the content and not him as the designer.
So whether he was doing something mundane or living in a monastery, it was always about ignoring the ecstatic voice promising him fame if becoming special. But that was easy. He does not want to fill the emptiness in him with something to appear special. Instead, he wants to remain as nothing, so, eventually, his appearance as something does not seem to hide the formlessness of oneness.
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Since the basic self is relative to the experiences created by the brain, the inexact flow of thoughts from the brain seems natural. In contrast, the special self tries to make it distinct to establish itself as definitive. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.
You do not try to be someone definitive in a dream, but naturally, go with the flow. If you, in retrospect, do not arrange your memories of a dream so it seems coherent and meaningful, you are relative instead of definitive.
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As stated above and in the below quote, the brain is relative to the present experiences created by the brain. »The brain is constantly reconfiguring every second of your life. Even by the time you get to the end of this paragraph, you’ll be a slightly different person than you were at the beginning.« David Eagleman, an American neuroscientist in The working of the brain, resembles drug dealers in Albuquerque. Thus the more you read Alexius’ Duality Hacks, the more you apply them.
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Being the basic self is not something you choose because you cannot be anything else. But hiding it by perceiving yourself as special is a choice. Thus you can undo it by not confirming the stories repeating themselves in your head about being special.
*) Read more about the perception ‘it is what it is’ in Duality Hack #6 Happiness is to be in touch with the brain.
NOTE: This article is part of Duality Hack #5 The worry-free life of the basic self.
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