Explore how to enter the Enlightenment of that which is One in this tale of a wise man and a young dreamer.

From Duality Hack #11.8 in Alexius’ Duality Hacks.

Once upon a time, there was a wise old man known to reveal the Enlightenment of that which is One. A young man dreaming about Enlightenment searched for the old man until he found him in an obscure valley far from everything. Very excited, the young man asked the old one if he would reveal the Enlightenment of that which is One. The old man answered: »No problem if you are willing to work for it.«

»Of course,« said the young man, who was eager to get started but a little surprised when the old man asked him to dig a ditch around his house. He assumed the old man was poor and would reveal his secret knowledge if he worked for free.

The young man did his best to impress the old man, who kept saying the work was not good enough. It could be much better, and the ditch should be much deeper. Nevertheless, one day, the old man seemed satisfied.

Expecting to get something

So, the young man patiently waited for the old man to reveal the Enlightenment of that which is One. But for a long time, the old man said nothing. The young man pretended to respect the old man’s way, hoping it would make him feel so good that he would reveal the mysteries of Enlightenment. But the old man did not approach the young man until one day, he quietly asked the youngster to fill the ditch again.

The young man freaked out and thought the old man had lost his mind. Nevertheless, he decided to see what would happen if he did as asked. And so he filled the ditch until one could hardly see there ever had been one.

No Enlightenment but lots of shit

The young man was very proud of his achievement, which he assumed would lead to the old man revealing the secret of Enlightenment. Therefore, when the old man invited him into his house, he opened the door with a big smile. However, it did not last because, from his hiding place above the door, the old man threw a bucket of cow shit on the young man’s head. That made the youngster angrier than ever. Especially because through the shit, he saw how amazed the old man was.

The youngster left the old man furiously, thinking he had wasted months of his precious life with this sadistic man, knowing nothing about Enlightenment. But after some time, the young man returned, and once again, he kindly asked the old man to reveal the way to the Enlightenment of that which is One.

The old man agreed and gave him one meaningless assignment after the other. A year went on like that, and when the old man one day again threw a bucket of cow shit on the young man, he looked at the old man with a happy smile.

He neither felt young nor old and was not looking for secrets to be revealed in the future. Actually, he was not looking for anything anymore, and neither did he assume that he in any way had done or was anything special. He was empty, and in the emptiness, he saw nothing. Thus, there was not something to hide the Enlightenment of that which is One.

Neither success nor failure

The above is a remix of stories Alexius heard in his 20s. He considered them spaced out and out of touch with modern life, which he assumed was about being recognised as somebody, like when he entered a disco and the DJ turned down the music to greet him through the speakers. 

Nowadays, Alexius does not appear as somebody but nobody, living far away, not doing something perceived as successful. However, since writing Alexius’ Duality Hacks is not about success, he cannot fail.