Hi all! I’m Odd. Odd Ness, even. When I introduce myself with my first name to native English speakers, I am often met with a certain incredulity. When I follow up with my family name, hilarity usually ensues.
In my native language of Norwegian, odd doesn’t mean strange but pointed. More specifically, it points to the pointed head of an arrow. A pre-Christian myth tells of how arrowhead turned into a name due to a man who was an avid seeker of truth. One day this man asked the Norse gods to turn him into such an arrow’s odd, and for this arrow not to stop until it hit the goal of ultimate truth. The gods promised to fulfill the man’s wish. The man was transformed into the odd of an arrow, and the gods ordered the strongest man in the village to release this arrow from his bow. According to the myth, that arrow is still roaming the skies and will forever continue to do so. Ultimate truth can never be hit, caught or seized. Its very nature is impermanence – flux.
I hope this story didn’t leave you with vertigo. If so, here are some words of comfort, courtesy of late Tibetan Buddhist master Chögyam Trungpa: The bad news is, you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there is no ground.
This site is dedicated to spreading the word about a concept called Transduality. Transduality claims that what’s inside of you isn’t fundamentally separate from what’s outside of you. A book on Transduality would easily risk being placed in the Mysticism section of your local library. But there really isn’t much mystical about it. There are no virgins giving birth or old men parting the Red Sea involved. None of that. It simply entails the down-to-Earth observation that separation doesn’t seem to be fundamental to life. Anyone can test the hypothesis for themselves. No tools are needed. No money. No academic degree or years of dedicated spiritual practice either. If you can read these words, that is enough.
The whole philosophy of Transduality takes only a moment to explain, so please allow me to do so. In fact, let me use this very moment that you and I share here and now to explain it. Just notice how, looking outwards, this moment doesn’t end at the screen in front of you, or at the wall behind it. Nor at the horizon or at the border. It doesn’t end at the outer reaches of the atmosphere, and it doesn’t even end at the end of the universe, whatever that may mean. Everywhere we can and cannot go, it’s the same moment. This one.
Looking inwards, notice how this moment doesn’t end at the perimeter of your skin. Nor does it end at the gate to your heart or your brain. This moment transcends and includes everything, including you and me. We are both manifestations of this infinite moment that we share here and now. Or, more poetically speaking; We are leaves on the same tree of life.
And yet, since before we can speak, we are taught that we are fundamentally separate beings – headquarters placed somewhere behind the eyes. Cut off creatures doing our best to survive in an alien world out there. The cornerstone on which the whole edifice of duality rests, that separation is fundamental, is easily dismantled. It relies only on the thought, ‘I’m fundamentally separate from what’s outside of me.’ This thought has nothing to back it up. Neither logic, the sciences, or any other quarter gives any credence to this notion.
The challenge is this: We live in a world or matrix that is built on this assumption. The platform we all stand on rests upon it. Even if we try to step out into the unknown we will sooner or later gravitate back to the matrix of duality, since there isn’t yet another platform to stand on.
During the recent pandemic I felt impressed by friends on SoMe using their spare time to learn new skills. This woman in particular served as an inspiration:
I’m not really a coffee drinker though, so I decided to have a go at making sushi instead, as I positively love the stuff. Here’s how that went:
After this setback my spirits were again lifted when I read that Newton had spent quarantine during the great plague of 1665 inventing calculus, formulating a theory of universal gravitation, and doing groundbreaking work on the nature of light. I ended up doing the very same thing during covid! Well. except for the calculus, gravity and light bits. Here’s an actual snapshot of what I did bring back to the world after my own quarantine:
That picture doesn’t tell the full truth. I did actually invent a three-pronged cellular cure for the duality disease during the pandemic: the Single, Double, and Poly Cells of Transduality. Together these Cells will create a new matrix, a new platform to stand on. Am I comparing myself to the great man himself? Why, of course not. I have much better hair, and my finely tuned sixth sense would never allow falling fruit to ruffle my mop.
If, to paraphrase the Wu-Tang Clan, duality rules everything around me, does talking about Transduality turn me into this guy?
Shiver me timbers, I hope not. This next image may occasionally hit closer to home though…
But mostly, not even that. I’ve spoken to tons of people about Transduality, and I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t resonate with its ideas. No one really believes in the gospel of duality anymore. We have all seen how it produces conflict, lack of connection, and environmental destruction. And we have all experienced glitches in the matrix of duality, what I call NLEs (Near-Life Experiences), where the unbearable heaviness of being is replaced by lightness.
Maybe in a house of worship. While meditating, doing yoga or breathing exercises, or taking a Wim Hof style ice bath. Or dancing your ass off at a rave where God is a DJ. Maybe on attending or participating in a sports event. While watching the Super Bowl, catching a wave, trekking in beautiful nature, or participating in a game of wine volleyball. Or at a concert, playing in a band, singing in a choir, or banging away in a drum circle. Maybe after a particularly satisfying day at work. While having a heart to heart with a trusted friend. Or living those magical first six months of love. Making love. Tripping on psychoactive drugs…
But the high always ends. Back to life, back to duality. Such experiences of lightness and connection come from having the weight of the world off our shoulders, if only for a short while. When we mistake the line between us on the inside and everything else on the outside to be fundamental, that’s what we get. The weight of the world placed firmly on top of us. No amount of dedication, meditation or medication will change this fact. A fundamentally separate self sinks like a stone when chucked into the deep waters of reality. We must flog that dead horse to keep it afloat, rendering life into the slide of an unprotected knee over a never-ending gym floor. The fluid flow of life morphed into science friction.
So, we’ve seen through the limitations of the duality OS. Transduality offers a clear upgrade, a smoother OS that isn’t at constant loggerheads with the reality we’re trying to navigate. But how do we get there from here?
Great Integral philosopher Ken Wilber claimed that the German Idealists were the modern Western philosophers who came closest to the conclusions reached by the most interesting Eastern traditions – conclusions I would call transdual. The problem, according to Wilber, was that the Idealists lacked a yoga, vessels other people could sail to reach the shores of those conclusions themselves. The cells of Transduality are designed to be such vessels, and you are hereby invited to climb onboard your own vessel and sail to the other shore.
If you want to be part of helping the world finally become what it could have been long ago if MTV would have just kept playing music, while simultaneously seriously upgrading the quality of your own life, you should consider checking out my book:
Transduality – philosophical first aid for a world that can’t breathe.
It is and will always remain free of charge. In fact, Transduality only has two rules, and that’s one of them: Money should never be involved in Transduality. To learn the other rule, read the Manifesto.
Have a wonderful day
PS – Don’t seize it, unleash it!
TRANSDUALITY 