That’s an awkward sentence, but I want to avoid saying things like “part of me” or things of that nature. Even saying I perceive others as an extension of myself is not quite accurate, because, though that is true, I simultaneously see myself as an extension of the other person. We are co-extensions!
This is not a mental construct, or a tired trope of seeing the divinity in all beings. That’s very pretty, but my experience is much less romantic, and more factual and gritty. I don’t try to see things this way, I can’t help but see them thus.
How does this work in real life?
Well, my room mate is really annoying. Impossibly annoying. Even so, I feel like I’m talking to a very annoying co-extension. Not a reflection of the part of myself that is annoying, or anything like that (projection, as people working in the “persona fragment” layer are talking about).
People who have not had this experience of co-extended being sometimes think they understand this by applying what they do know a bit about: the fragments of their persona. Personas are made up of all kinds of fragments, some are mature and wise, some are kind and thoughtful, while others are highly critical, petty, insecure, competitive…or that perennial fragment people like to call the “inner child”. All these fragments. They imagine co-extended being is a bit like that, but of course, it’s not.
This may be a little beyond the scope of this particular conversation, but it’s like all time is happening now, and I’m sharing insight and providing encouragement and mentorship and clarity to myself (you, now) of a previous time, and thus changing, quickening, the Entirety of Experience.
Co-extended being (not sure if that’s even a thing, but if not, I’m coining it!) is also bound into the time paradox. I’m just going to leave it at that because it’s really hairy stuff.
Observe. If you analyse a lot, I understand this well because it is very much the way I am built also.
Some people need to be more analytical, but for those of us who lean toward being overly analytical, I would say, learn to observe without the analysis.
I know, ridiculous, right? No, don’t put yourself on the waiting list for a lobotomy just yet. Do catch yourself when you are in an experience and start to analyse it. Pull back and observe instead. Feel the difference…how does it feel in your body when you are analyzing vs observing?
There is a time to analyse, so don’t worry, it’s not some horrible cold turkey rehab.
You are self-absorbed, self-centered, and all that. So what?
Should you be? Should you not be? Just observe. It does not matter “who” is guiding this process. Even the idea that it is you…do you truly know who “you” are? Is it something outside you? Are you and that other force or intelligence different in a meaningful way?
You don’t need to see it from my paradigm now. You will when you are ready. For now, just observe without judgement. Is it okay with you to observe, “It feels like I’m making up the people and circumstances in my daily life for some purpose of expansion or growth.” You don’t have to believe it or stake your name on it or carve it into stone. Just observe it without judging or overthinking it.
Being vigilant, knowing the Synthetic Self is always trying to keep its primacy as the center of your experience is fine, but at some point it can become its own hurdle.
“Am I just being self-absorbed?” In a sense, it is another sly trick the persona self has to keep your attention trained on it. Weird, isn’t it? No matter what, the Synthetic Self always keeps its primacy, maintains itself as the center of your attention, of your world. If you only have eyes for the Synth Self…how can you truly see anything else?
In other words, these are unproductive questions. They are details which the analyzing mind loves, but can never really know by taking stuff apart.
Imagine yourself in the future, at the very, very End. Imagine that being sending back these waves of serendipity, playing with you, coaxing you, showing you how to loosen up so you can start to unravel that tight, tight cord that’s wrapped around you. It’s play, and it feels surreal. Perhaps it is more real than your workaday reality after all.
If you and I are co-extensions, then are you generating me to give you a stepping stone toward expanded consciousness, or am I generating you to serve my own expansion? Which one of us is being self-absorbed? Are you objectifying me or am I objectifying you?
Have you ever had a dream where you are more than one person in the dream at the same time? I have had those dreams all my life. In my dream I am on a beach with a ten year old boy and his dog. I am simultaneously having the dream from the perspective of myself and the dog, for instance. Not going back and forth between myself and the dog, but all at once. If you have dreams like that, you can better understand co-extended being.
You’re not going to figure it out, but you will stumble into it or even fall headlong into it.
It’s right there, all the time. You can’t miss it and there is never a moment when you are more than an inch away from it. So something (you, expanded you, you in the future, buddha you…take your pick) is inviting you to play, to observe, to shed layers, to let the weird in without having to nail it down. I can’t wait for the day when I get that email from you…it will just be, “OH MY GOD!!!”
I will laugh so hard.
