Waking Up

God is everything. We only realize how terribly wrong and empty our lives are when God comes into them. Therefore the more fun we seem to be having in life, the more stranded we become in our own minds, until, when the fun is all over, we wonder what was really happening that whole time. The fun times fade away, and we're left with a feeling of deep loss. But the secret is that that feeling of loss was there all the time. We were conning ourselves into thinking we were having fun (very convincingly, of course) to get away from that empty feeling. So a thinking man might say, "How about eliminating that empty feeling?"

O.K. to eliminate it, you must find its cause, since it is an effect, and every effect has a cause. This is where it gets tough, and most of us never find that cause; we just live with it, distracting ourselves wherever possible.

But I tell you what: I'm going to tell you the secret cause for that empty, lonely, longing feeling. You may not like it, you may not buy it, in fact you probably won't. Why? Because it is the nature of the mind to reject this information. That's why it's been a secret all this time. Get it?

All right now brace yourselves, here goes: We feel empty in this world because this world is empty. It is rather like a giant, ongoing 3-D movie with senses. In actuality it is nothing but a dream that we are all having. The only thing is ourselves. Not our bodies or minds, but our selves, and our selves are all merely subdivisions of this One Self.

And this One Self is everything. I mean everything. This universe and the infinite expanse of universes beyond it, and everything therein. Don't you see? It's all so simple! This whole universe has a consciousness as giant and all-encompassing as infinity, and this consciousness, this One Self, for some reason we can't comprehend, has created everything you see and do and on top of that, has split up its consciousness into billions of little sparks of consciousness which are your self and my self. It has created this incredible, dramatic scene and is living it out through all of us.

The object, the point of all this (to the best of my knowledge) is to break out of this dream in which we are all limited consciousness and literally wake up! And when we wake up we will see that this was all a dream and once again we will be God in his true nature which is infinite love, power, and bliss.

We are all the same consciousness dreaming that we are not, and in doing so we feel isolated and alone. (But remember, it's only a dream.)

"Oh yeah? (you say), then how the hell to I wake up, smart guy?" Well, this is the hardest part. In fact, it is The Hardest Thing In The World To Do. Believe me, I've been trying to figure that one out for a long time. I've come up with a few answers, and the quest goes on.

To start out, I would say, just think about this infinite self (You can call it God, Energy, Om, Krishna, Fred, it really doesn't matter) and think about it all the time. Identify yourself with it. You see, you have a direct line with it - yes, it's true. The more you think of God and remember God, the more God will rise in you. Soon you will find that you can detect "His" presence in everything. (I say "His" and "Him" out of habit. You could just as well say "Her" and "Hers", for God is beyond the duality of gender.)

Eventually you will find that you can call Him and He will soothe your troubled mind. Biblical sayings like "God rewards those who seek Him" or "Ask and it shall be delivered unto you" are true. The more you seek Him, the closer you'll get.

Another thing you can do is investigate various religions. Actually religions are good and bad. Most of them are formed out of worship of God in human form. (You see, God does this from time to time to help troubled man.) Problem is, too often, as the religion comes down through the ages, the original message of God becomes distorted and buried in ritual, a function of mind. It is for this reason that I adhere to no one religion, but have studied many and have taken what I need from each one. I use religions only to help me see God in different ways, to make sure that I do not stray into my own mind and start deluding myself.

Another way to wake up is to take the universal approach. Consider that this universe is governed by a very simple law known as Cause and Effect (or Karma). From this one simple law a million complexities arise, including yourself. Important: all causes that you have initiated will affect you. All of these effects keep falling into your life, and you have to stop and deal with them. The unfortunate "side effect" of this phenomenon is that it distracts you from God. But on the other hand, by sticking to God, by constantly remembering Him, you eliminate any further effects. By living in whatever way He directs, you won't be (as time goes by) as distracted from Him. In short, your karma will just smooth out.

The last way to wake up that I have found (although there are a lot more) is to deny the ego/mind. You see, the mind loves to be continually occupied with thoughts and desires. These thoughts and desires are constantly pulling your concentration away from your true self, as well as creating ongoing karma when you act on them. So the idea is to deny yourself all the things that give you material pleasure and in their place put God.

Don't get me wrong, this is incredibly difficult. I know from experience that old ways die hard. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it must be done. The good thing about it is that you're not all alone in your work. After your first efforts, you will find God helping you. It's a very subtle process, but it happens all the same. In my case, I found myself taking care of things that I had once put off with dread and enjoying myself at that.

I am telling you all this because I care for you. Care is a form of love and love is the purest form of God, so in a way I'm letting a tiny bit of God come from me to you.

Take this path and end your suffering. It is literally the last and ultimate thing you have to do in this life.

3/31/83


 

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