Updated May 11, 2023

When experiences are not perceived as personal but as symbols of life’s formlessness, they do not establish us as someone definitive. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.

In 2010 Alexius was stuck in the rainforest for two days without food and water. He had followed a dried-out river down the mountain towards the sea, but the closer he came to it, the more impenetrable the rainforest. So at the end of the first day, Alexius gave up digging through the thorny lianas.

On the second day, he hallucinated and prepared to die during the cold night. However, everything was so beautiful that it did not seem important to continue as a separate being. Besides, Alexius’ had no mundane longings. They had all been fulfilled. But at the end of the second day, he was rescued by a helicopter.

Before the helicopter arrived, it was like the personal self of Alexius died per its script and was replaced by an impersonal one, having only one goal: giving back everything it receives to remain as nobody, thus a medium for the empty breath. Read about being a vessel for the empty breath in Duality hack #9 In the bliss of nothing with the empty breath.

Since giving back everything is beyond the brain’s understanding, Alexius got no relevant input from it. Yet, he sensed it was not about doing something great or saving others because life is formless, so a world defined by time and space is lifeless, thus unreal. But since there is nothing unreal without something real, every part of a virtual world symbolises reality, namely the formlessness of life.

Therefore, when a world defined by time and space is perceived as a symbol of life, the experience of it is returned to the formlessness of life. Hence our experiences do not seem to have an effect or establish us as definitive. Read more about Alexius in the rainforest here.

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The idea of giving symbols of life back to life’s formlessness only works within a world defined by time and space. Therefore, like anything else in such a world, they must be given up at some point. But ‘to give up’ must also go because it is only in a substantial world there is something to give up.

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A smartphone is a symbol of being connected and having access to everything. But what you access from your smartphone is not in it and is as unreal as the pixels on the screen. The graphic is grabbed from the web.

In the world where we appear to be, somebody has invented a smartphone where you can access things and services that are not in it – like the substantial world we access via experiences made by the brain is not in it. However, unlike a smartphone, nobody knows who has created the brain from which we access experiences of being tangible beings in a substantial world. The reason is simple. The brain has never been developed because reality is that which is One, and it takes more than one to create something.

Consequently, the experience of being someone is an illusion. No worries. There is no illusion without reality. So if you perceive your experiences as symbols of reality, which is oneness since it is formless, thus endless, you can have fun experiencing being a tangible person in a substantial world.

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Appearing in a world defined by time and space is comparable to being in a game where your role is to be someone definitive, somewhere specific. It continues until you do not use thoughts and feelings to establish being that but instead a symbol of that which makes it possible to play the game of being someone definitive, namely the formlessness of oneness. Hereafter, you are not seen as someone in particular. Thus you are free.

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Reality is the reason an illusion can appear real.

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Oneness is everywhere because it is formless, thus without beginning and end. But while you believe the experience of a world defined by time and space is real, your belief seems to hide that. However, your belief is quietly undone when it is seen as a symbol of that which makes it possible to believe in something definable, namely the formlessness of oneness.

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Seeing this photo is a fantasy because it takes more than one to be aware of something, and there is no more than that which is One. But since it is only because of oneness you can fantasise about more than one, the fantasy is a positive confirmation of that which is One. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.

As long as Santa Claus delivers as promised, you believe in him. But you dismiss him as a fantasy if he does not make you happy. Likewise, when you see there is nothing lasting to achieve in a world limited by time and space, you realise it is not real. Hence nothing to leave but the belief that you are there. One way to undo this belief is to perceive duality as a symbol of non-duality. The more you do that, the less the differences making up duality seem to make a difference. Thus, eventually, separation does not appear to hide that there never was or will be anything but non-duality.

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Since oneness is formless, thus endless, a world where there seems to be more than one is an illusion. However, if you have chosen to believe it is real, you better give it your best shot at appearing as someone there because you acknowledge your choice by doing so. Hence you can decide to have it undone, for example, by perceiving every experience of a world where there seems to be more than one as a symbol of that which is One.

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Oneness does not know that you believe to be in a world where there seems to be more than one because there is no more than that which is one. Fortunately, you can undo your belief by not insisting on being separated from that which makes it possible to believe there is more than that which is One. Hence, since your fantasy of more than one becomes a symbol of oneness, every part of a world where there seems to be more than one reminds you that there is no more than that which is One.

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There is no food in the menu card. But there are symbols of it. Thus the card points toward food in the same way as Alexius’ Enlightened Non-Teachings point toward oneness – or rather, that there is no oneness in a world where there seems to be more than one. The graphic is grabbed from the web.

A computer is not part of the world you see on its screen but the reason you see it. Therefore, the virtual world is a symbol of the computer. Likewise, everything in a world where there seems to be more than one is a symbol of that which is One.

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Symbols have nothing to do with what they symbolise. So acknowledging everything in a world where there seems to be more than one as a symbol of oneness will not make you realise it. Besides, it takes more than one to recognise something, so you can only be aware of something that is not one.

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When everything experienced is perceived as a symbol of that which cannot be recognised, namely that which is One, there is no need to understand anything.

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No reason to control, stop or deny the thoughts popping up. Since they can only be experienced because of oneness, they confirm that which is One, whereas their refusal is a rejection of it.

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Seeing a world where there seems to be more than one as a symbol of that which is One is not a way to deny unpleasant feelings. Nor do you need to do that because when you perceive unpleasantness as a symbol of oneness, it feels just as marvellous as pleasantness.

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Good health is great to have while appearing as someone. However, bad health is also great because both good and bad are symbols of that which makes it possible to experience being someone.

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You cannot see the power station in your living room. Yet, it is the reason you can see something in the dark. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.

Life does not know what and where you believe in being – like electricity does not see the world illuminated by an electric bulb.

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None of the illuminated appearances in a dark room resembles electricity. It is neither inside nor outside them. But they are symbols of electricity because the power makes it possible to see them.

Likewise, although oneness is not in a world where there seems to be more than one and nothing there resembles it, everything you seem to see there is a symbol of oneness because it is formless, thus endless, so nothing but oneness makes it possible to experience the illusion of more than one.

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Acknowledging the oneness of life as the sole cause of all experiences, they can be seen as a symbol of that which is One. Therefore, since everything represents the same, having bad and good experiences makes no difference.

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Thoughts seem to run wild when you seek out specific ones to interpret your experiences per your belief system. But, on the other hand, there are no busy thoughts if you see your experiences as they are and not as they should be.

This is not to say you must change your conditioned behaviour. All you need is to perceive it as a symbol of oneness. By doing that, you are set free from your tyranny of yourself.

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Listening to music, you probably go for the beats if you want to dance and the flute if you wish to feel relaxed. But if you are into what makes it possible to hear it, both ways are as energetic as relaxing because they are listened to as a symbol of that which is One.

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By saying the kitten looks little, you set it against an image of something bigger stored in your memory. As time passes, you may think about how big the kitten has become when you remember how small it was. Either way, what you seem to see is based on the past. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.

If you get a new kitten and call it Mini because it looks like a cat you once had, you do not see Mini but an image sampled from the memories of your past cat twisted into a smaller one.

And when you compare new music to something you have heard before, you do not hear the new music. Instead, you construct a listening experience based on memories. Of course, this applies to all experiences you compare to a previous one. And as most want their present experience to confirm their judgment of former experiences, they compare everything to the past.

But the conclusion is not that you see the world as it is if you do not compare it to the past but that you do not see something definitive. That is because past images shape every experience, so there is nothing specific to ‘see’ if you do not compare new experiences with previous ones. This does not mean that you enter one perpetual present. Nobody can enter that since it is formless, thus endless. But since it also means nobody has left oneness, and it is all there is, you are not in a world where there seems to be more than one – you only appear there temporarily as a symbol of oneness.

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Without the dreamer’s energy, the world in a dream would not appear there. Therefore, if those in the dream do not identify with their appearances but with the force making it possible, they are not separated from the dreamer’s energy. Hence that is where they remain when the dream is over. Likewise, you do not feel separated from oneness when perceived as a symbol of it, nor when the experience of the symbol is over. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.

It is a myth that you get fat from eating fat. It is like concluding you get green from eating greens! You burn fat if the right fats are consumed, thus losing weight. It is also a myth that it is possible to be someone because oneness is formless, thus endless, so every being is fictitious. However, there is no fiction without reality. Thus being someone symbolises that which is real, namely the formlessness of oneness. When acknowledged, the experience of being someone is not ratified as real.

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Since it requires more than one to get something, you cannot get anything in oneness. That is probably why you wondered if oneness is all and looked outside for more than one. However, looking outside is an illusion because oneness is formless, thus endless. Nevertheless, you insist on seeing a world outside of it, where there is more than one.

But just like a dreamer remains in its bed while dreaming about meeting others in different places, that which is you stay in the formlessness of oneness when appearing to be someone in a world where there seems to be more than one.

However, even within a world where there seems to be more than one, it is a well-known secret that it is an illusion. According to science, it is nothing but empty space, wherefore what you see and feel as tangible is make-believe. Fortunately, perceiving everything in this fiction as a symbol of that which makes it possible to imagine being someone experiencing a world where there seems to be more than one, namely oneness, differences are not perceived to make a difference. Thus there is no separation to support the belief that there is more than that which is One.

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This image is compiled of fragments from three different pictures. The dolphin is from one photo, the person from another and the background from a third one. It was possible to fabricate this illusion because of Alexius’s ability to manipulate pixels. Hence the image symbolises his power, which again symbolises that which makes it possible for him to appear as if he has any power, namely that which is One. Photo © Alexius Jorgensen.

You cannot remember oneness because it takes more than one to be aware of something. But while you appear as someone in a world where there seems to be more than one, you can remember it is impossible. For example, when you perceive everything as a symbol of that which makes it possible to experience more than one, namely that which is One.

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When you do not try to escape the world’s emptiness by filling it with your ideas of love or whatnot, the void you experience reveals you are not in a world where there seems to be more than one – like you are not in the story these words seem to produce.

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Acknowledging the oneness of life as the sole cause of all experiences, they can be seen as a symbol of that which is One. Therefore, since everything represents the same, having bad and good experiences makes no difference.

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In oneness, there is no synchronicity or anything else that calls for more than one because oneness is formless, thus endless, so there is no more than One. That is why it has not created what and where you believe in being. In other words, if you read this, you are lost in a fantasy. No worries. There is no fantasy without reality, namely oneness. Therefore, if you perceive your fantasy of more than one as a symbol of that which is One, everything in your fantasy becomes a positive confirmation of oneness.

NOTE: This article is part of Duality Hack #3 Seeing duality as a symbol of non-duality.