If you pretend to be separated from others, rather than believe it, you are not a separate being but the formlessness of oneness.
From Duality Hack #2.1 in Alexius’ Duality Hacks.
When an electric bulb breaks down, it cannot illuminate anything. So, if the bulb identifies with that, it is finished. But if it does not believe but pretends to be an entity illuminating something, it is only what it pretends to be that ends. Therefore, even though the bulb does not illuminate anything anymore, it is still what made it possible to pretend it, namely electricity.
Likewise, if you believe in being in a world limited by time and space, you are bound to end as everything definable has an end. But if you pretend to be there, only what you pretend to be ends someday, like in roleplay. However, you must know your appearance is a pretence before it ends. Otherwise, you will hang onto it when you sense it is about to finish.
So, in the context of the above metaphor, when a bulb cannot illuminate something anymore, its life is over if it sees itself as a bulb. But if it has acknowledged that it is not a bulb but the electricity that makes it possible to pretend it, there is no end because electricity remains.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Although electricity makes reading these words on electronic media possible, it is not in them. Likewise, the formlessness of oneness is not in a world defined by time and space, although it makes it possible to experience it.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
What you appear to think, feel, and do when you believe in being someone definitive is the same as when you pretend it, except there is no need to suppress politically incorrect feelings. That is because when your appearance is a pretence, so are your feelings, thus not dangerous.
Where you pretend to be, you are not
Whether you perceive yourself as mundane or spiritual, you cannot return to the formlessness of oneness because there is no room for something specific. Fortunately, if you pretend to be ordinary or spiritual, you do not need to return to oneness because what you pretend to be, you are not.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Like nobody can extend the content on a protected compact disc, expanding oneness into more than one is impossible. Not because oneness is protected but because it is formless, thus endless. So, there is nothing but that which is One.
That is why you deceive yourself if you believe in a world with more than one. However, your mistake is easily corrected if you pretend to be there because where you pretend to be, you are not.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
What and where we appear is empty space. That is why we need not change our appearance to return to reality. On the contrary, changes enhance the belief that empty space is something.
Therefore, undoing the impression of empty space as something is not about opening up or surrendering to a higher power but being empty. You are that when you pretend to be meaningful because you are not what you pretend to be.
Fortunately, separating the pixels is impossible as it requires interruption. So, it is not a matter of returning to one perpetual present but seeing the past, now, and future as made up.
One way of doing that is to pretend to live by time because by pretending it, you do not confirm it. Thus, eventually, linear time does not seem to conceal one perpetual present.
When you pretend to be separate, you do not leave oneness
That which is One is comparable to a dot on a computer screen where there is nothing but that. The dot consists of numerous tiny square pixels so tightly together that they look like one point.
But when you extend this point by spreading out its small pixels in a continuous line, they can be differentiated, thus perceived as separated appearances in space. You get time by making the line curved, like a spiral. From any point, there is an unknown future behind the next curve and a forgotten past behind the last one.
But since there is no separation in oneness, extending it into more than one is impossible. However, when you believe in separation, it seems to take time to discover that the experience of more than one is a hallucination. Fortunately, you can speed up the discovery by pretending to be separate because what you pretend you are not. Hence, the belief in separation gets undone while you have fun appearing as separated.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Since it takes more than one to be conscious about something, everything you are aware of, whether perceived as real or imaginary, denounces oneness. That also applies to doing something about it.
However, nobody is aware of anything if you pretend to be conscious about something because what you pretend, you are not.
What casts a shadow is not in it.
Metaphorically, the universe is a shadow of oneness. But since a shadow is empty, you imagine what you believe in getting from the world. Nevertheless, if you accept the world is like a fata morgana, you can have fun appearing as someone in it. You have nothing to lose because, like roleplay, it is make-believe. [Photo: Alexius]
Believing or pretending to be someone
Interaction is the name of the game if a virtual world is to appear authentic. But since the interplay rests on what you imagine others think, you interact with your fantasy. Consequently, appearing as someone is make-believe.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Nobody in a computer game can touch you, regardless of how good the graphics are. So, if you feel that a computer game affects you, you deceive yourself. It happens in you. The fastest way to return to reality is to turn off the game. But the perceived reality of the world where we appear to be is as virtual as a computer game. Fortunately, you can turn it off quickly by becoming aware that being ‘there’ is a pretence.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Not believing but pretending to be someone, your conditioned behaviour for how to react falls apart. Hence, you can enjoy the moment as it is instead of compulsively shaping it per your conditioning to avoid feeling upset when it goes against your rules of right and wrong.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Since it takes more than one to feel something, you can only be desperate if you believe in being in a world with more than one. However, if you do not believe but pretend to be there, what you feel is not seen as real, like when you pretend to be in a game. Therefore, since the outcome does not scare you, it is fun to be chased.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
When you do not believe in a world defined by time and space, you see it as a comedy in which you have fun pretending to be what you are not.
It is fun to pretend that someone chases you.
Pretending to be a child when you are grown up is amusing.
Pretending to be what you are not, there is no need to be confirmed by others as genuine. Thus, you can enjoy all the illusions of a world defined by time and space. [Photo: Alexius]
Problems are not bothersome when you pretend to have them
Should your diet not go as planned, and you feel frustrated, you can solve it by pretending to be someone with a problem. Since you do not have what you pretend to have, the problem is gone.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
When you know that everything is a pretence, you can have as many friends as you want because having them is something you pretend.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
If you revolt against your parents, you depend on them to become better. Hence, you and your parents are two sides of the same coin. The same applies to being detached from the world because your detachment relies on what you avoid.
In other words, you remain part of what you turn down. But not if it is something you pretend because what you pretend, you are not.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Be aware that pretending something is not about hiding feelings. You must be conscious about them to pretend you feel them.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Suppose you do not try to conceal specific feelings to preserve your appearance as someone definitive. Then, you can pretend to have them, thus having fun acting sad or whatnot.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
If there is somebody you dislike, you can remind yourself that it is something you pretend. Hence, it does not feel unpleasant but fun to judge others.
There is no life in a virtual world
– only in the one looking at it.
In a virtual world, you cannot know what is real. But you can realize that being there is unreal, thus a pretence.
Having fun pretending to be where you are not
The magic disappears when you grow older and realise Santa Claus is fake. However, you still hold onto the idea of being someone in a world with more than one, although it does not feel fabulous. Fortunately, not believing but pretending to be in such a feels as wondrous as when you thought you got presents from Santa.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
You do not need to stop a movie to escape its world because you are not there. It is something you pretend. Likewise, If you pretend to be in a world where there seems to be more than one, you are not there. It does not mean you see where you really are because reality is that which is One, and it takes more than one to see something. But it means you have fun seeing more than one until you are tired of seeing something not there.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Pretending to be where you are not seems amusing because you feel translucent.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Being someone definitive is like Karaoke. For example, being a mother or father is based on replicating collectively agreed-on ideas of how to look like a family.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
If you are black-haired, you cannot choose to be blond. But you can pretend it, thus feeling light-haired.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
When you meet someone who turns you on, you analyse the perceived external interaction to set up a personality you expect the other will love. But you are afraid your masquerade will be exposed, so you build something into it you reckon the other cannot live without. Fortunately, this interdependency is easy to undo. All you need is to acknowledge that your new personality is pretence.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
The world is like a puzzle. But you can never get it right because a piece is missing. No worries. If you pretend to be ‘there,’ the missing piece does not matter because you are not where you pretend to be. [Photo: Alexius]
You do not need to learn to pretend
You may wonder how to pretend. But that is not a mystery. You always do it, as illustrated by this dialogue from the TV show The Big Bang Theory:
»When did you guys start feeling grown-up?«
»Honestly, I thought when I got married, I would, but I still kinda feel like I’m pretending.«
If you do not fool yourself into believing you are honest, you know you have played out in your head how to be a parent, teacher, or lover. And playing your role feels as amusing as when actors do their best to play their part.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
»When I was little, I thought the moon was following me when I was in the car.« From Teenager Post #11156 (from the internet):
As grown-ups, we automatically correct the above experience. The same applies to experiencing a street getting narrower at the world looking flat. We cannot function if we do not correct those experiences.
But we forget to correct the impression that there is an ‘I’ seeing something. Fortunately, this idea fades out the more you pretend to be an ‘I’ seeing something.
Leave a Reply