Garret Kramer's Blog, page 4

If Only We Knew

If you knew that no object—no person, creature, thing, situation, or environment—existed separate from your Self, or as an independent entity, what would be different? Or being that you’ve never experienced anything outside of your Self (or Consciousness), being that no one ever has, what implications does this fact have for you and the apparent world in which you live?

Before you answer, or try to, let me clarify my questions a bit.

First, while our culture is built on the belief that objects are actual or independent entities that exist in their own right, how do we know this to be true? Has anyone ever found an object that exists on its own—i.e., apart from an observer? The answer, of course, is no.

Second, while I am not claiming that, for certain, objects don’t or can’t exist independently, I am suggesting that since no one has ever found this to be the case, perhaps it’s time we explore this probability and its implications.

So, then, what would be different if we knew that no person, creature, thing, situation, or environment existed separate from Self or Consciousness?

Everything.

Politicians would be seen with compassion.

Politicians would see with compassion.

Borders would dissolve.

Hunger would evaporate.

Abuse would cease.

People would stop seeking what doesn’t exist (a better culture, life, financial situation, method, golf swing, or partnership).

Understanding would abound; as would peace, freedom, and love.

In short, nothing or no one would be seen as separate, there’d be nothing or no one to hurt. There’d only be Consciousness. There’d only be one.

Not sure what I’m saying? Not sure you agree?

Look up from your screen right now. Would the objects you see, smell, or hear be there without you? Nature, the walls in your house, your hands, the food on the stove, a loved one, are there genuine lines of distinction between them and you?

Not as far as you know. They’re all appearing within Consciousness, made of Consciousness, from the perspective of You—Consciousness itself. You are Consciousness and so am I. And, again, everything appears within, and is made of, us.

We’re all one and the same. It’s all one and the same. If only we knew.

But, actually, we do.

Thank you for reading,


Garret

The Separate Self’s Endless Ride

This week, let’s take last week’s article, http://garretkramer.com/a-world-of-hurt-an-intuitive-calling/, a bit further. As discussed, in order to know the world, or to recognize itself in the world, Consciousness, the infinite, must veil itself and create images of limitation: Us. That is, Consciousness veils itself with its own creativity. It seems to ignore—become ignorant to—it’s infiniteness and, as a result, the world and all things in it, including human beings or egos, are born. 

That said, it’s important to point out that even though the ego gets a universally bad rap, this transient agency or activity of Consciousness is completely innocent. Its imagined point of view presents no issue at all. There would be no life, pleasure, pain, joy, or sorrow without it. But when the ego is conditioned to believe that it is an actual thing—a personal entity and not merely an agency or activity of Consciousness—there does become an issue. A serious issue. From this conditioning, belief, or misunderstanding a separate self is “solidified.” And an ego who deems itself separate will see everything and everyone else as separate, too. It has forgotten from where it came and from what it’s made. It has bought into the concept that things, creatures, and others are “not me.” It feels isolated, alone, and frustrated. From the perspective of this separate self, life turns threatening and danger lurks.

This is why it’s critical to understand that the ego is nothing more than a normal and necessary limitation of our very true nature. Sure, since we’re all apparent limitations of the greater whole, most of the time we’ll appear to be separate. But appearances are deceiving. For example, you know the tinge of insecurity you feel when you’re tempted to cure your sense of separation—desperation, envy, anger—through an immoral or unethical act? Well, that’s true nature echoing in the back of your mind. Reminding you that there’s nothing to fix. That you’re perfectly complete. That, again, separation is only real from the separate self’s imaginary point of view.

Indeed, an ego free from the misunderstanding that it’s separate equals a loving human being. Understanding who we truly are represents the end of persistent frustration, compulsion, and the need to cope. From understanding, there’s no more hoarding, hunger, poverty, or strife. No more abuse. No more war.

But, more or less and most of the time, there will be a sense of separation. That won’t end upon the eradication of the aforementioned misunderstanding. In other words, while the programmed belief that you are a separate mind and body can instantaneously come to an end, there’s no end to stripping away the residue of this programmed belief.

Wiping the separate self clean, my friends, is an endless journey. But with a little bit of understanding, what a wonderful ride.

Inward and up,

Garret

A World of Hurt, an Intuitive Calling

Why is it so? Why do we live in a world of pain, of suffering, of hurt? Why would Consciousness, Love, or God’s infinite Being allow atrocities to occur?

Indeed, this question has plagued theologists since, well, forever. And before I take a crack at answering this question myself, here’s a warning: Some of you will take exception to my answer. Still, with that said, here goes.

Consciousness manifests the world. Consciousness is the world. So, of course, Consciousness knows, or is conscious of, manifestation. What Consciousness also knows, then, is that there’s a price to pay for manifestation (atrocities). However, what Consciousness doesn’t know are the specific atrocities that leave many of us, including me sometimes, to doubt its very presence.

In other words, to manifest the world—and the objects, creatures, and human beings that make up the world—Consciousness must overlook its own omnipotent nature. It must veil its infiniteness. The price paid for this veiling is that human beings, for the most part, fail to recognize that what they’re made of is Consciousness itself. They forget that who they truly are is unlimited, eternal, and completely whole. They believe in their own separate existence. Thus, in a quest to fix what doesn’t need fixing—in a quest to cope with this sense of isolation, limitation, insecurity, or lack and return home to a true nature that has never left them—human beings, in a myriad of ways, lash out and damage objects, creatures, other human beings, and the world in which they live.

Every once in a while, however, a group of these human beings (Jesus, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Ramana Maharshi, Rumi, and Sydney Banks are examples that come to mind) notices something different. They see that what the world is, what we are, is none other than infinite Consciousness living within infinite Consciousness. They catch a bona fide and continuous glimpse into the nonseparate nature of all apparent things, including us. Now, don’t get me wrong, who we truly are echoes in the recesses of everyone’s mind. But, absent of rhyme, reason, or personal credit, this group profoundly identifies with this echo. They understand it, covet it, and are called to share with other human beings precisely what it means. In short, this group is inspired to remind the world that there’s no actual thing as division, distinction, or diversity. That we are one.

I suppose my message today is simply this: If you’ve made it this far through this piece, if you’ve experienced a clear and present inkling into our true nature, it may very well be your calling, too—your intuitive duty, as I see it—to point others to the fact that they are not separate. That all objects and things are activities, agencies, or images of one infinite and eternal whole. Sure, manifestation can be glorious. Yet, as mentioned, it also compels misdeed and peril. Right now, the human race is fighting, resisting, scratching, and clawing its way toward ruin. It is blind, innocently ignorant, to the Consciousness, Love, and God’s infinite Being from which it springs and is made.

So, then, perhaps it is up to you and me. Our role is to steadfastly remind this world of hurt that we’re already safe, always secure, and forever at peace. We are enduringly home.

It is my honor and blessing to share this calling, this teaching, and our true nature with you.

Inward, up, and forever one,

Garret

The Big Insight

Are you waiting on insight? The BIG insight? Well, regardless of some claims to the contrary, that seminal moment, the moment when your life’s going to change in one fell swoop, isn’t going to come.

Why?

Because insight—the recognition that you’re not a personal or separate entity, that who you are (who we are) is merely Consciousness living within Consciousness—is the most placid, and normal, experience there is. Falling into your true nature won’t bowl you over. With clarity and calm, however, it will slowly but surely ease burden and righten perspective.

In fact, since the path to enlightenment is actually a series of identical insights that strips away the conditioned misunderstanding that you are a separate self, living in a separate world of separate selves and objects, my suggestion is to pass on waiting for lightning to strike and, instead, simply explore the nature of experience or life itself. Among other curiosities, for example, you might wonder: “Is experience composed of a plethora of minds, objects, and things, or is it one seamless and infinite whole?” After all, it is this series of brief and sometimes undetectable glimpses into your true nature that ultimately has a wonderful effect on the life that you live.

No doubt, we often hear of enlightened people who’ve experienced the big or one-fell-swoop type of insight. But that’s mostly because they’re recalling past moments in time, or trying to recall them, only for their own series of glimpses to meld into one. With gradual releases of tension, they’ve woken up to who they truly are and what life truly is. They’ve seen that all of mind, matter, time, and space are actually happening within them, as them. This includes the path to enlightenment—the most subtle, glorious, non-extraordinary, and effortless path there is.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Garret

It’s Never the Thing

It’s never the lover.

It’s never the painting.

It’s never the forest.

It’s never the practice.

It’s never the sport.

It’s never the hobby.

It’s never the teacher.

It’s never the thing.

We cherish the moments. We feel love. We sense beauty, passion, or purpose. Yet, did you know that these sensations are not the result of a subject (you or me) experiencing an object (see the list above)? On the contrary, they’re the result of the dissolution of the relationship between subject and object. When subject and object meld into one. When we return to our true nature. When we fall out of our heads and into our hearts. When the mind disappears and we realize that separateness doesn’t actually exist. When we see experience as one seamless, and intimate, whole.

Sure, when the mind reappears—since it cannot access what comes before it—it has no choice but to look outward and connect a feeling or sensation to an object or event from the material world. But this connection just isn’t so. In fact, all of suffering (a habit, addiction, compulsion, or obsession) springs from accepting this artificial connection, and wayward while normal perception of experience, as real.

Remember: It’s never the thing. You don’t need the thing. Who you are, who we are, what everything is—one infinite and eternal Being that can only experience itself—is always enough.

Inward and up,

Garret

The Starting Point

We’ll never save the environment through science.

We’ll never prove a point through research.

We’ll never change a mind through facts.

We’ll never mend division through diversity training

We’ll never solve a problem through logic.

We’ll never help humanity through, well, anything.

Why?

Nothing exists outside of Consciousness. Everything is made of Consciousness. Nothing can be experienced independent of Consciousness.

Therefore:

The environment doesn’t need saving. It’s a figment of Consciousness, and Consciousness is infinite.

Points don’t need proving. They’re a figment of Consciousness, and Consciousness is foolproof.

Minds don’t need changing. They’re a figment of Consciousness, and within Consciousness everything comes and goes.

Division doesn’t need mending. It’s a figment of Consciousness, and how Consciousness knows itself in the world.

Problems don’t need solving. They’re a figment of Consciousness, and only Consciousness creates and solves.

Humanity doesn’t need helping. It’s a figment of Consciousness, and within Consciousness everything plays out precisely as it will.

—

All of life occurs both within and is shaped from Consciousness.

Consciousness will not die. Will not exhaust. And will never let you down.

Start there. From the freedom of who you truly are and what life truly is. And let the rest—if there is a rest—take care of itself.

Inward and up,

Garret

When Love is True

When Love is true, there’ll be one way to know.

It won’t be practical.

It’ll have nothing to do with interests, backgrounds, possessions, or even a so-called normal life.

In fact, Love will completely displace the objective world.

Without rhyme or reason, Love will vanquish separation and obliterate ego.

Outside of space and time, all that is personal will fade away.

What remains will be Here and Now; an intimate experience of the Being we share.

A single Being.

Present.

Eternal.

Infinite.

When Love is true, there’ll be one way to know.

You and I will no longer exist.

Love,

Garret

When Love Is True

When Love is true, there’ll be one way to know.

It won’t be practical.





It’ll have nothing to do with interests, backgrounds, possessions, or even a so-called normal life.





In fact, Love will completely displace the objective world.





Without rhyme or reason, Love will vanquish separation and obliterate ego.





Outside of space and time, all that is personal will fade away.





What remains will be Here and Now; an intimate experience of the Being we share.





A single Being.





Present.





Eternal.





Infinite.





When Love is true, there’ll be one way to know.





You and I will no longer exist.





 


Love,


Garret

How We Know

Do your thoughts churn outward? Do they travel to objects, others, or moments? Do they lead to resistance, separation, and suffering?

Or

Do they do an about-face and return inward to source? To the Here and the Now? To Love, Consciousness, or God?

That’s how you’ll know.

You’ll feel it. Sense it. Either way, the experience will move you from deep within.

When our thoughts, and then words, churn outward, the result is called misunderstanding.

When they return inward, the result is called understanding.

When we attempt to unite from misunderstanding—communicating stories, successes, self-interests, facts, strategies, data, values, beliefs—thoughts churn outward. And more misunderstanding, and separation, ensues.

This is why questions that point outward—”Tell me about your past?” “What are you passionate about?” “What are you upset about?” “What are you grateful for?” “What works for you?” “Who do you love?”—run away from us; leaving us to yearn and to seek.

From understanding, on the other hand, with virtually no personal details, methods, or specifics shared, we become quiet and draw close.

This is why “Who am I?” is the primary or only true question.

It’s an invitation straight back to source. Straight back to peace.

Absent of thoughts churning outward, nothing can veil. No person exists. The wound of separation heals; love flows free.

We return to God’s infinite Being—One Being.

We know, once more.

Thank you for reading,

Garret

The Three Stages of Awakening

This week, let’s take last week’s article, http://garretkramer.com/the-requirement/, one step further. To wake up to your true nature (as revealed last week), here, as I see it, are the three necessary stages:

Stage 1: Recognizing who or what you are not.

Stage 2: Recognizing who or what you are.

Stage 3: Living it.

Now, for most, stages 1 and 2 are fairly obvious. It’s stage 3 that’s a bit unclear. So let’s review 1 and 2 on our way to 3: living a more peaceful, free, happy, generous—or awakened—life.

Stage 1. Recognizing who or what you are not.

From the moment you were born, you were programmed by well-meaning parents, teachers, and coaches (who’ve been programmed themselves) that who you are is a separate or personal entity. Your name, your body, your mind, even your soul. It’s all about you. You’re a bona-fide individual; isolated and distinct. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s also suggested that you are imperfect, less than whole, with only a finite amount of time on a finite planet containing a finite amount of resources. Thus, you must do this and that, chase this and that, obtain this and that, hoard this and that in order to become a better individual. In order to become complete. In order to find the awareness, peace, freedom, and happiness that echo seemingly in the back of your mind.

As a young person, however, it all feels off. You don’t sense separation, lack, or life span. You actually see one vast canvas, call it Love, with no distinctions, shortages, or boundaries. But, again, you’re told that the elders and experts who are focusing on some vague material world know better, so you fall for it. Until, that is, you don’t. You half listen when they tell you to merge with or acquire objects, substances, better states of mind, strategies, techniques, and relationships. All in the suggested quest to know yourself and be more secure. Then one day, you’ve truly had enough. Something’s definitely not right. You’re not a limited body and mind (an object) who can be satisfied through objective experience. There can’t be limits. While still somewhat confusing at times, this liberating recognition initiates the journey. You’re on your way home.

Stage 2. Recognizing who or what you are.

So, then, if you’re not a finite body and mind, who or what are you? You start to receive clues. You look out to this sort of divvied-up world and, rather than see distinctions, separateness, time or space, you see Love once more. You experience yourself in everyone and everything. The face of God, infinite or unlimited Consciousness, is everywhere you look. What does this mean? What is your experience telling you? Where is it taking you? The answer is: They are not qualities, states, or feelings to seek—you actually are the Awareness, Peace, Freedom, and Happiness that’s been echoing in the back of your mind. You are a download of the One Being that all human beings share. Jesus said: “I and my Father are One.” And it falls into place. You are a refraction of this One Being, of God’s infinite Being, of Consciousness. It is through the download of you, the image of you, that God knows itself in the world.

Stage 3. Living it.

Now the challenge. Prior to stage 1, virtually every thought in your head has revolved around a false sense of self and a natural yearning to calm this desperate activity. “How am I feeling? What time is my meeting? How do I look? How can I improve my life? How do I relieve this tension? How do I survive?” All fortifying the idea of a personal you; deepening roots that do not exist.

Therefore, you must be patient. This idea of a personal you, who you are not, will reappear. And when it does, it’s essential that you cut this false sense of self some slack. Sure, the recognition of 1 and 2, the insight, was instantaneous. Yet, the aftereffects will be slow to seep from the background to the foreground of everyday life. You might, for example, take things personally. You might overreact. You might fall for the lure of old habits. It’s all okay. Stages 1 and 2 will not bring immunity to struggles and suffering. In fact, when the bar gets raised, challenges often seem greater; the tests more severe. You will, however, start to welcome these tests as opportunities to rise above and, no matter your current feelings and experience, share these recognitions with a programmed culture and world. Then, as the separate self continues to wither—more readily turning its back on the needling and impulses of substances, activities, relationships, and the acquisition of things as a means to cope—harmony, compassion, and resilience will become even more the rule. From the perspective of the One Being you truly are, integrity is automatic; morality a cinch. Those who have forgotten will begin to take notice. As you see yourself in them, they wonderfully see themselves in you. Far and wide, you are now reflecting your very true nature. You are home. We are home. The Awakening’s at hand.

Thank you for reading,

Garret