Who Do You Think You Are?

Ann K Gryczan

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​We are all one in the great flowing wholeness of infinite creative power that is the source of all life including our own.

But we don’t see it that way – and that is why we have Out There! Whatever we don’t accept as ourselves and hide away in the darkness of our minds, life helpfully makes visible to us as Out There.

Out There is not afraid of parading around in its worst behavior or going to the limits of excessiveness or insanity. Things we would never admit to and that we hide away deep inside ourselves are on bold display in the world of Out There.

​Out There’s Bold Display

We often do not recognize what Out There is showing us about ourselves until it gets so obvious we can’t ignore it – then it breaks into our illusions and touches something in us that we couldn’t see before.

When that happens we all, collectively, rise up into greater awareness and shake off a layer of darkness covering our sight.

It is as if we can only take illusion so far before it foams up and spills over the glass we thought was reality.

It seems like we are in one of those times now, when Out There seems so extreme and obvious, we must be getting ready to have a breakthrough.

Dangerous Topic

What I am about to address is a sensitive subject and might seem dangerous – not to you, because in your essence you know there is no danger – but to the ego. And like all of us, when the ego feels threatened it either wants to run away or attack. But I hope you will stay and read on, because it can be very illuminating to take things out of the context of feelings and thoughts, and look at them in the context of ego vs. Self.

Here is an example of Out There looking extreme and sounding loud (and so it must have a message for us): gender identity. For example, a man believes he is a woman or a woman, a man. Since life always gives us the perfect forms (even though it often doesn’t feel that way!) this creates a very painful situation, and thousands of people are in a similar circumstance.

If we are listening, if we are watching and see Out There as part of us, what do we see? What is Out There telling us?

The best way to understand Out There is to scrape away all the content – to put aside any opinions, interpretations, beliefs, emotions or perceptions and just look at the bare bones – the context. If we do that, the context says:

• A man believes he is a woman.

Or, in the context of ego vs. Self:

• The ego believes it is form (the body) – but not the form (the body) it came with.

Egos always do this, by the way – they always think they are form. The ego attaches to any idea or form and says, This is who I am.

I Need an Oil Change

For example, have you ever heard a friend say, “I need an oil change.” This is insane, but it sounds normal in our ears. The ego thinks it is a car and we think we are the ego – that is how we can say we need an oil change with a straight face. Let us hope we don’t take this too far! The pronouns would get really interesting.

We Are All Having The Same Illusion
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The man who thinks he’s a woman is making the same mistake as our friend who thinks she’s a car, which is the same mistake as our thinking that we are our bodies, thoughts, stories and emotions. We are all having the same illusion.

This is the great illumination Out There is inviting us to get: we are not the ego (which always attaches to form) and we are not form, and all our unhappiness comes from thinking that we are.

We are not ego or form, and we have heard this countless times, in all different ways. And it’s true.

This is the breakthrough we are ready to have – we can get this. We can live it. How? Right this moment, bring awareness to what or whom you love, or touch into the inspiration you feel with music or color or nature. Got it? Have you touched into something true and good within you? (Because that is what all those examples are.)

The love or inspiration you feel right now isn’t form – it is You. You are essence, not form.

Every time you bring your attention to essence over form – the love, inspiration, gratitude, purpose or joy that is awake and alive within you, and be that – in that moment you are doing at least five very powerful life-changing things. You are:

• Letting go of attachment to form, the source of unhappiness
• Realizing, at least a little more, who you are
• Fulfilling your purpose
• Becoming happier
• Contributing to life
  
  

Cultivate your alignment with what you love. That will help you know your purpose and what you have to give – and that will put you on a path of knowing happiness. Each moment you align with your true nature over illusion changes your whole life. And each moment helps you to realize how thoughts, physical forms, emotions, stories and all the rest are just a thin crust covering the limitless awareness and essence of who you are.

Here Is a Secret to Happiness

You can never fix the form – like the body or parents – and be happy. Because when form seems to be a problem it is only showing us a problem in ourselves, and that problem is always some way that we forgot who we are.

So what can you do about the problem? Especially if the form seems really limiting and painful, like having the wrong body.

In the next post I’ll talk about how to approach form as a way of healing and a path to happiness.

Thank You

In the meantime, let us give thanks for Out There and all our brothers and sisters on the front lines who are showing us the way back to ourselves.