– updated September 2026
The empty breath shifts the ratio between inward- and outward-facing consciousness in relation to our present situation. For instance, after a childhood accident, Alexius forgot who he was, so the ratio between the two modes of consciousness was reset. In this case, inward-facing consciousness took the lead, and Alexius began afresh from a more abstract perspective.
From Duality Hack #9.8 in the free eBook Alexius’ Duality Hacks.
The inward-facing and outward-facing senses
Every experience, whether by inward- or outward-facing consciousness, is fabricated by the brain out of nothing. The inward-facing consciousness’s abstract world is lightly processed from frequencies of nothing, and the outward-facing consciousness’s substantial world is heavily processed from the same frequencies. They only seem real because we find being someone in a world with more than one more thrilling than being the formlessness of Oneness.
These terms for consciousness don’t refer to location but to where we perceive something unfolding. Experiences through inward-facing consciousness are abstract, so we perceive them as coming from ‘within’. This abstractness is an incomplete version of the material world experienced through our outward-facing consciousness, which we perceive as ‘without’.
In the world of the outward-facing consciousness, we often try to meet others’ expectations, adapting our behaviour to fit in. But in the abstract world of the inward-facing consciousness, there is no pressure. We’re free to go with the flow, liberated from the need to define ourselves by external standards.
Through inward-facing consciousness, we encounter an abstract sphere in which time and space lose their solidity. Still, inward-facing consciousness isn’t any more real than outward-facing consciousness. Both rely on the illusion of more than one, and there’s no more than which is One. Nevertheless, the brain isn’t trying to deceive us with its experiences of more than one. We have asked it to create them so we can forget there is no more than that which is One and feel the excitement of more than one. [Photo: Alexius]
The abstract experiences of inward-facing consciousness arise when we’re not entirely focused on something material in the world of outward-facing consciousness. The little left of our belief in a substantial world makes it possible to be someone experiencing the abstractness of the inward-facing consciousness. In other words, when we appear as nobody in the world of the inward-facing consciousness, we haven’t entirely abandoned the belief in being somebody.
Yet the brain doesn’t care whether we prefer the world experienced within or without. Both make us believe we’re somebody in a world with more than one, thus concealing that reality is the formlessness of Oneness.
Everything is invisible and colourless until the brain ascribes it to something with a specific shape and colour, which we confirm as real by responding to it. The empty breath, however, doesn’t respond to anything. So, because it doesn’t ratify the brain’s assignments, the empty breath remains nothing.
It takes more than one to ask a question, but since Oneness is formless and thus endless, there’s no more than One. Hence, there’s no answer to the question: »Who has programmed the brain to produce experiences of us as somebody in a world with more than one, and who chooses to believe these experiences are real?« [Photo: Alexius]
The empty breath syncs the inward- and outward-facing consciousness
Once you’ve established a connection with the empty breath, it becomes a stable anchor that continuously synchronises outward- and inward-facing consciousness in a ratio suited to your present situation. Even when you forget the empty breath, it still synchronises, because it doesn’t recognise separation.
So, in a laid-back manner, you automatically multitask between inward- and outward-facing consciousness, focusing on appearances in one and spacing out in the other.
During the day, the empty breath generally synchronises inward- and outward-facing consciousness in a one-to-one ratio. For instance, our discomfort in the low-frequency world of outward-facing consciousness is in sync with the high-frequency world of inward-facing consciousness. Therefore, we feel calm and forget our conditioned view of how we should be in the outward-facing world.
Being nobody feels uncomfortable until you realise that in this emptiness, you’re a vessel for the empty breath. Through it, you’re drawn into the high-frequency world of inward-facing consciousness, where glimpses of Enlightenment become the basis for experiencing the low-frequency world of outward-facing consciousness. [Photo: Alexius]
Furthermore, the body ceases to be a source of trouble, because tensions arising from psychological worries about its condition dissolve when viewed through inward-facing consciousness.
Even though the empty breath’s synchronisation of outward- and inward-facing consciousness brings immediate relief, you might cling to misery to prove you’ve been wronged. In doing so, you override the empty breath’s synchronisation and revert to your conditioned ways of managing your emotions. Because this means suppressing or amplifying specific feelings to fabricate a special state of being, you feel frustrated when that fabricated state doesn’t last.
Fortunately, reconnecting with the empty breath, even for a brief moment, is all it takes to experience its soothing synchronisation of inward- and outward-facing consciousness and to forget that you felt frustrated just a moment ago.
However, he can’t illustrate the formlessness of Oneness. It has no separation, so there’s nothing to see. Even so, this doesn’t mean it’s nothing. On the contrary, because Oneness is formless, it’s endless and therefore everything.
This resembles how the brain spins countless experiences from the same emptiness, shaping nothing into apparently distinct realities. [Photos: Alexius]
In the world of the outward-facing consciousness, but not of it
As a teenager, Alexius’ sense of himself and the world shifted drastically. After an accident left him disoriented and bloodied, he fumbled home and, in a daze, asked his mother, »Who am I?« His bewilderment shifted the proportionality of outward- and inward-facing consciousness, making the latter the basis for his perception of himself within outward-facing consciousness.
This distant relationship with outward-facing consciousness became Alexius’ new normal. Yet his parents believed he had quickly returned to his usual self and did not realise that his apparent normality was automatic. The empty breath aligned outward- and inward-facing consciousness, prompting him to react as his parents expected in their presence.
His new self was far from fixed. It was a constantly shifting entity relative to the situation at hand (see Duality Hack #5.4), with the empty breath synchronising outward- and inward-facing consciousness for each event.
The name of Alexius’ cat, Trylle, is a Danish word meaning ‘magically making changes’. This was what she did when she died. Although physically finished, she remained with Alexius in the bliss of nothing, sweetening it with fairy dust.
The way to Oneness is not defined by time and space
Recently, Alexius’ ratio between outward- and inward-facing consciousness shifted again. This time, the latter gained even more prominence.
Trylle, Alexius’ beloved cat, had battled a severe respiratory illness for three years, and Alexius was determined to help her. Their relationship was unbreakable. He devoted countless hours to feeding her via a syringe, bathing her eyes, and giving her vitamins and medication. Trylle, understandably, didn’t like it, so Alexius had to restructure their home, blocking potential hiding spots and creating a safe environment for her.
As Trylle spent her final days in her little house on Alexius’ bed, it was deeply painful for him to witness her decline. Yet, when he connected with the empty breath, he found himself in its indifference, not burdened with sorrow but in the bliss of nothing, with his cat about to be unveiled as nothing. This non-substantial connection was so intense that, when Trylle’s breath ceased late one night, their love story remained in the bliss of nothing, beyond time and space.
Uma, Trylle’s sister, who had died of the same incurable illness three years earlier, immediately joined their mutual journey in the bliss of nothing. So did Nirvian, whom Trylle and Uma had never met physically, as he had died years earlier of cat AIDS. Now, their nothingness is on a mutual journey without distance from what they never left: the formlessness of Oneness. Anyone can join, without a specific reason or mutual experience.
Duality Hack #11.1 and #11.5 further explore inward- and outward-facing consciousness.
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