The Keys to Total Freedom with Gary M. Douglas

In the lush garden of our spiritual exploration, we find ourselves today with a truly remarkable guest, Gary M. Douglas. His journey, marked by a relentless pursuit of happiness and consciousness, offers profound insights into the human condition and the power of choice. From his early years, Gary harbored a unique desire: to be happy. This simple yet profound aspiration guided his quest through various religious, cultural, and philosophical landscapes in search of true contentment.

Gary’s spiritual awakening began in his childhood, with the unwavering goal of happiness. Despite life’s inevitable challenges, he maintained that happiness was a choice. He shared a pivotal realization: “It takes 10 seconds of unconsciousness to create a billion years of pain and suffering.” This statement underscores the importance of conscious choice in shaping our lives.

SPIRITUAL TAKEAWAYS

  1. Happiness is a Choice: Gary emphasizes that happiness isn’t dependent on external circumstances but is a conscious decision we make. By choosing to be happy, we can navigate through life’s ups and downs with a sense of inner peace.
  2. The Power of Questions: One of Gary’s key teachings is the importance of asking questions. By asking “What else is possible?” we open ourselves up to new possibilities and solutions that we might not have considered otherwise.
  3. Living in the Present: Gary advocates for living in the present moment, free from the burdens of past mistakes and future anxieties. This mindful approach allows us to fully experience and appreciate the richness of life.

In our conversation, Gary shared a fascinating story about his ex-wife, who once declared, “My anger is my power.” From that moment, she lived in a state of anger, illustrating how a single choice can shape one’s entire life. Gary’s approach to such situations is to remain calm and centered, pulling energy from the anger rather than putting up barriers. This technique, he found, often defused the situation.

Gary’s philosophy extends to understanding human behavior and the nature of consciousness. He defines consciousness as that which “includes everything and judges nothing.” This non-judgmental awareness allows us to embrace life fully and navigate it with greater ease.

A crucial part of Gary’s teaching is Access Consciousness, a set of tools and techniques designed to help individuals change any aspect of their lives that isn’t working. Central to this approach is the practice of asking open-ended questions like “What else is possible?” This encourages a mindset of curiosity and exploration, rather than one of limitation and conclusion.

He also touched on the concept of “utopian constructs,” the idealistic views we often hold about how life should be. Gary challenges us to move beyond these constructs and engage with life as it is, asking questions to discover new possibilities and solutions.

Gary’s insights into handling negative thoughts and energies are particularly illuminating. He advises asking, “Who does this belong to?” to discern whether the thoughts and feelings we experience are truly our own or influenced by external sources. This practice can help us detach from unnecessary negativity and maintain a clearer, more focused mind.

In his own words, Gary shared a powerful practice: “All of life comes to me with ease, joy, and glory.” By repeating this mantra, we can shift our perspective and invite positive energy into our lives. This aligns with his broader philosophy of living with gratitude and recognizing the abundance already present in our lives.

Gary M. Douglas offers us a path to a more conscious, joyful, and abundant life. His teachings remind us that we are the architects of our own happiness and that by asking the right questions, we can unlock endless possibilities.

Please enjoy my conversation with Gary M. Douglas.

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Follow Along with the Transcript – Episode 040

Alex Ferrari 0:09
I like to welcome to the show Gary Douglas. How you doing, Gary?

Gary M. Douglas 0:12
Very good. How are you?

Alex Ferrari 0:13
I'm very good, my friend. Thank you so much for coming on the show. I'm excited to get into the spiritual weeds with you today.

Gary M. Douglas 0:20
I don't like the weeds. I like beautiful gardens. Thank you.

Alex Ferrari 0:27
I would like to get into the beautiful gardens of spirituality with you today. Okay, so how did you begin your spiritual journey and your kind of awakening in your own life?

Gary M. Douglas 0:37
I began when I was little. When I was a kid. People would say what do you want to be when you grow up? And I go, happy! And they go, no, no, no, son, what do you want to be when you grow up? Happy! No, you want to be a doctor? Lawyer? Indian chief? Yeah, as long as I'm happy. And so my target from the time I was a little tiny guy at like four and five was to be happy.

Alex Ferrari 1:02
Now, did you? Okay, well, that's, that's fantastic. And that's I have that kind of enlightenment at such a young age is, is fine. But I'm assuming between the moment, the moment you said you wanted to be happy, to this moment we're speaking to right now, things have not always been happy.

Gary M. Douglas 1:19
Of course they have. It didn't feel happy. They've always been happy. They just didn't feel happy.

Alex Ferrari 1:25
They didn't feel happy. So as you got older on your journey, did you you know, what, what was it in you that you were kind of searching or looking for

Gary M. Douglas 1:36
I've been searching for as I was searching for the answer, that people give saying was there and I looked for it everywhere. I went to every church culture and religion you can possibly imagine, I went to, you know, seminar after seminar, I, you know, I did everything I could find, that might give me some awareness of the different possibility because I've watched people do all this stuff. And they say they were happy, and they were miserable. You know, and it's like, I went to church and tan I watch these people, you know, gladhands each other on Monday and on Sunday, and screw each other on Monday. And what, wait a minute, how is that? How's that? Christian? I don't get it. Right. And it's like, they just, they were just not nice to each other. And I wondered what made people not nice, quote, unquote. And I finally began to realize it's just a choice. You have to choose to be nice, you have to choose to be happy. And people were always trying to justify why they did what they did. And I realized, you can't justify it, you get to claim responsibility for it. If I'm not doing something that's good. That is because I chose it. Why did I choose it? What was I choosing here? And how did I choose this? And I became aware that it's like, it takes 10 seconds of unconsciousness to create a billion years of pain and suffering.

Alex Ferrari 3:04
Oh, god, yes. That's Oh, that's a very profound statement. It's absolutely true. 1 10 second mistake your whole.

Gary M. Douglas 3:12
It's not a mistake, it's a choice you make you wont even realize you're making, it's like people don't even pay attention to what they're doing.

Alex Ferrari 3:19
So what kind of is that? Can you give us an example of that specific scenario?

Gary M. Douglas 3:23
Well, as an example, my ex wife was this, these people were like, screaming at her and being really obnoxious. And she just got angry. And she said, My anger is my power. And from that point on, she's lived as an angry person. And today, she lives from anger she creates from anger, everything is about her anger. And that's her true power. Is it your true power? Or is it your ability to change in the moment with what's needed? That's my idea of to power

Alex Ferrari 3:59
So I imagine having someone like yourself as her partner must have drove her so mad someone who's at peace and like, I'm good, man. Everything's good. And they just get angry because I've been in those relationships as well.

Gary M. Douglas 4:12
Yes, I know. Well, it's like she used to get angry. And I would, I would put up a barrier and she'd scream and yell at me for as long as I had the barrier. Then one day, I got the insight that perhaps if I just pulled energy from her when she had those moments, that perhaps would be easier and better. And it was and I saw I started pulling energy from her the moment she went into anger, and she'd run out of steam and not know what to say.

Alex Ferrari 4:39
They kind of like punched themselves out, if you will.

Gary M. Douglas 4:43
You know, it's like, it's sort of like the in Ghostbusters where they have, you know, the big, you know, Marshmallow guy, and they just sort of sit there and let him punch and it's like, all of a sudden it's like, oh, gone. And that's really what it's like. It's like if you pull energy from People are angry, they've run out of steam always. Because their greatest source of anger and rage and fury is the fact that they can get people to put up a barrier and try to stop them. And so you can't stop somebody from being angry. If they want to be angry, they're gonna be angry. It's their life.

Alex Ferrari 5:18
It's kind of like their, their ego, their, their, their self, if you will, not true self, but their mind at least is trying to pull you down into the mud with them and wrestle with them. In your mind. Yes, yeah, exactly. It's trying to pull you down with where they're at. And I just know it infuriates them even more when you think it

Gary M. Douglas 5:40
Usually infuriates them, but it's like, I discovered two things with my wife tears and laughter would take care of it. So if I laugh, came up with a really good joke, or cried, then suddenly she was over.

Alex Ferrari 5:54
Interesting. Very, very interesting.

Gary M. Douglas 5:56
Use, you got to be willing to use all the tools you were given. You didn't come into this lifetime as its sedate, easygoing person. Okay, you've learned to be that? Oh, yeah. Let's use whatever is necessary to get a result. It's called being pragmatic, which is my point of view. That'd be pragmatic about this stuff, what's gonna work? Not how do I get the right answer.

Alex Ferrari 6:23
Now, why do you believe that people make these choices? That Are they make these kinds of choices that are inherently bad for them in the sense of their mind? Oh? Is that your is that your professional professional opinion sir.

Gary M. Douglas 6:39
It's my professional opinion.

Alex Ferrari 6:42
Is it just it's just madness. It's truly just madness.

Gary M. Douglas 6:45
It's truly just madness. Because people choose these things. And they decide that's the way it is. I have a next door neighbor that I invited to our Christmas party. The first year we moved here, trying to make friends with the neighbors. And the they came over and it's like my Assistant found them in my room going through my chest of drawers. No, I would never go into somebody's house and go through their stuff. And they were doing that. And they said, So are these two guys gay?

Alex Ferrari 7:17
Oh, God.

Gary M. Douglas 7:19
And it's like, and she said, not that I know of? No, they don't seem to be gay. But if you think they aren't, that's your choice. And they hated that. They wanted to make sure that I was gay that I was, you know, a judgable offense in the world.

Alex Ferrari 7:38
Is that they wanted to put you in a box.

Gary M. Douglas 7:40
Yes, they're good Christian people.

Alex Ferrari 7:45
As as Yogananda said, Christ died on the cross in one day, but his teachings have been crucified for the last 2000 years.

Gary M. Douglas 7:53
Yes, exactly. Exactly. It's just hysterical to me that people do this kind of stuff.

Alex Ferrari 8:00
I always find I mean, just even when I was in school, I would hear about the Crusades. I'm like, so wait a minute. You were killing? Because you didn't believe in Christ? I don't believe that. That was one of the teachings.

Gary M. Douglas 8:14
I didn't see it in there. I don't know. I read the Bible. And it's like, I didn't say, kill the infidels in there anywhere. But I'm sure it must say it. Because you know, the priest tell you so.

Alex Ferrari 8:25
Obviously, obviously. Now you speak a lot about consciousness. What is your definition of consciousness?

Gary M. Douglas 8:32
Consciousness includes everything and judges, nothing. You cannot judge what you do not know.

Alex Ferrari 8:39
So judgment is one of those things that really holds us back, isn't it? Yeah. How do you see it in the work that you've done over the years? How can you give the audience a little bit of an example of?

Gary M. Douglas 8:52
Well, it's like, what I noticed is now people who have, you know, have have this sense that they have to judge everything to determine what's right. And their entire lives judging themselves for being right or being wrong or being something other than what they are. What if you were all? What if you were everything? What if everything in your life was not a wrongness? And what if you didn't have to judge yourself? If you never had to go? Oh, you know, it's like, it's like the people go, How do I look today? as ugly as you did yesterday? But you know, tell him that you see, oh, that looks lovely on you. Right? They're talking about their outfit. They're not talking about them. You know, and you have to look at what's in front of you. Be aware, you know, it's like, what is this? These four questions will change your entire life? What is this? What do I do with it? Can I change it? And if so, how can I change it? Because you have to look at what's in front of you and people don't look at what's in front of you. Then in front of them. They look at what they want something to be or what They've judged it to be or what they've judged is right or judged is wrong.

Alex Ferrari 10:03
And that's where all the anger comes from when you you can't control or can't get exactly what you want. That's when the ego pops its ugly head and you get angry about like, I want this person to act this way, or I want this situation to be this way.

Gary M. Douglas 10:15
I want this situation to be this way. And it's like control is the ultimate basis of anger. Yeah, people want control. So they use anger to create control.

Alex Ferrari 10:26
So and of course, anger at the end of the day is insecurity. It's, it's if you keep going back fear

Gary M. Douglas 10:33
Now it's stupidity.

Alex Ferrari 10:37
It's stupidity as well. I agree with you.

Gary M. Douglas 10:40
Fucking stupidity. I don't care what anybody say

Alex Ferrari 10:43
Now, in your opinion.

Gary M. Douglas 10:44
Say whatever you want, but the reality is, is just stupidity.

Alex Ferrari 10:48
Why do you think that we, as humans, constantly are judging ourselves and comparing ourselves to others? And then also doing it in such a brutal and just negative way? I mean, the voice is like, I read somewhere, if you would, if you had a person who spoke to you this the way that you speak to yourself, you would want that person out of your life as fast as possible.

Gary M. Douglas 11:11
Yes. And nobody wants themselves out of their lives. They keep judging themselves. That's not exactly their brightest moment. Okay. Well, that's where I say it's a choice for stupidity. Because they really, you know, they don't look at and go, Wait a minute, what am I doing this for? What's the value of this? What is this creating? You know, for me, every conclusion you come to must be some sort of creation, what are you creating? What's the conclusion you're coming to? I don't come to conclusions at all. I go, Okay, what's this? What do I do with it? Can I change it? If so, how am I changing? And it's like, and I'm always and it's like, sometimes you can't change things.

Alex Ferrari 11:55
I mean, when you when you get into a car accident, it's pretty much a car accident. It's not much you could do to change that at that point in the game. At that point in time.

Gary M. Douglas 12:01
That point it's a little late. I mean, you can't do things like okay, what can I do to change this is like, I mean, I had a guy who, like he literally turned in front of me, okay, he was changing lanes, I was turning right onto the street. And he stopped for no reason right in the middle of the street. And I didn't notice he had stopped because I didn't see him put on his brake lights. And I ran into the back of a little tiny, tiny debt and his car. He went ballistic on me. I said, I'm sorry, I'll pay for it. Send, here's my number. Here's my stuff. I will pay to have this fixed. And it's like, he went ballistic on me. And the end result was I think he must have felt bad because he never contacted me. And I never got to our power barrel bill or anything. I partially take us because I'm old and feeble. And he didn't want to take advantage of that old man.

Alex Ferrari 13:02
But at a certain point, I guess, I guess during interaction like that, the ego is so out of control that he needs to even if even with all rationality like I'm sorry, I'll pay for that doesn't stop it. It just kept going. Right? It just kept going and kept going.

Gary M. Douglas 13:17
And kept going. What kind of stupid old man are you? I said, What kind of man? Are you they you stop in the middle of a fucking street?

Alex Ferrari 13:25
Fair enough. Fair enough. Now you talk, you have something called Access Consciousness. Can you explain to the audience what that is?

Gary M. Douglas 13:33
It's a set of tools and techniques that allow you to change any part of your life that isn't working the way you would like it to. And to make it work better.

Alex Ferrari 13:41
As simple. As simple as that. What are some of these are these are ideas, tools?

Gary M. Douglas 13:45
It's like one of the things is I ask people to ask the question, what else is possible here? Instead of I can't, I can't, I can't What else is possible? And when you start asking questions, the universe will empower you to find out what you can do. You know, people go I can't blah, blah, blah. Why can't you? Because Because what I can't, well, what can you do? I can't do anything. Well, can you change your underwear? Well, yeah, well, then you could change anything. You can change your underwear, you can change anything. You know, if you had dirty diapers, wouldn't you change it? I mean, I watched my kids when they had dirty diapers. They would they would poop in their diapers, and then take them off and walk away from it.

Alex Ferrari 14:37
And the child was like, Yeah, I can't deal with this.

Gary M. Douglas 14:39
I can't deal with this. I don't want to deal with this shit. You know, but people deal with a shit every day as though it's worth looking at. You know? And so it's like, what else is possible? And how does it get any better than this? If you ask how's it get any better than this? It's amazing what will happen. I lay you did one of my classes in New York City, and she left the class And there was a dime sitting in front of the elevators. She went, Wow, how's it getting better than this? And she's walking to the subway and she sees a $10 bill on the ground. She Whoa, oh, wow, how's it getting better than this flagged down a taxi, she goes to her apartment buildings, she's getting out and she sees something shining in the gutter. And she picks it up. And this is diamond bracelet. And guess what she said? Okay, like any better than this? Now? It can't get any better than this. And it stopped. That was the end of it.

Alex Ferrari 15:35
Now, how is that just? Is that just putting out good energy to the world and the universe? How is that keep?

Gary M. Douglas 15:43
It's being the question. So you say when you question things, it's like the universe will try to show you the different answers. When you come to conclusion or you come to an answer, you come to the completion of that it can't show you anything except what you've already decided to. So it's like, I went out with this girl once and you know, we had a great time. It was really fun. I went, Oh my God. She's so wonderful. I wonder what it would be like to be married to her. And then I went, I'm thinking about marriage. I don't even know her last name. Am I crazy? Yes, I am.

Alex Ferrari 16:21
But when you but when you are when you say a statement, like all things are, you know, all people are bad or all men are idiots or all you know, women are dumb or, or some statements are true. at certain levels. Absolutely. I agree with you. But But when you block off any other possibilities, that's the end of the conversation with the universe, as opposed to like, asking different questions, create different outcomes for you in your life.

Gary M. Douglas 16:46
You know, and it's like, it's like one of the things we have a motto and access all of life comes to me with ease, joy and glory. Now ease is it doesn't take a lot of effort. Joy is just this exuberant expression. And abundance is exuberant expression and, and the glory and glory is the exuberant expression in abundance, ease joy and glory. It's like you say that 10 times the morning 10 times an evening, it will change your friggin life and work.

Alex Ferrari 17:18
I would have to agree with you. Now, you'd also talk about something in your book, the utopian constructs, what is that?

Gary M. Douglas 17:25
Well, it's like, I don't know about you. But as a kid, I was an idealist. I believe that everything should be perfect. Right? Everybody should be perfect. And my mother was perfect. My father was perfect. And everybody was perfect. Except they weren't. You know, and it's like, I believe that everything if we just live from the ideal, everything would work wonderfully. But it didn't work that way. And then I began to look at him. Okay, so what if, instead of having a, you know, an ideal scene? What if we did? What is the same? What if we did the question of what is this thing? So what else is this? What else is possible? Are all those kinds of things? What is this? You know, it's like when you run into, you know, it's like when you run into a snake, do you go Oh, pretty snake and pick it up? Are you go? See, luckily, snakes create rat reactions, and people more often than not, otherwise they just pick the damn things up and get bitten. You know, and it's like, the thing is that it's like snakes are, you know, one of the critters that people have a reaction to? And it's like, but without the reaction, what would they get?

Alex Ferrari 18:43
They would get hurt or killed.

Gary M. Douglas 18:45
Yeah. And it's like, did they deserve to get hurt or killed? Yes.

Alex Ferrari 18:50
Why? Because if you put your hand if you put your hand in the fire, you get burned. You're like, why don't I get burned? I'm like well.

Gary M. Douglas 18:57
Yeah. Well, with my kids, it's like when I raised my kids, I didn't say, don't touch that you'll get burned. I'd say that's hot. Be aware. And they would go and they started to put their hands on and they oops, never mind. And they never got burned. Ever all my friends went, That's hot, you're gonna get burned. What does get burned mean to you, when you're a little kid? That's hot, it will hurt. You could get hurt is like they start to go towards it. They know things. And it's like it makes a different person. And my kids have a tendency to look at life from Okay, what else is possible?

Alex Ferrari 19:42
Now there's a thing that we have to deal with here on earth as humans which is this chatter in our head, the voice the the monkey brain? Any advice on how to quiet that mind a bit?

Gary M. Douglas 19:56
Yes, I have to do is ask Who does this belong to? because you're a psychic and don't know it, you pick up everybody else's thoughts, feelings, emotions, 99,000% of your thoughts, feelings, emotions do not belong to you. You're just aware. So if 99,000% of them don't belong to you, are they yours? Do you need to pay attention to?

Alex Ferrari 20:21
So you're saying you so you're saying that most of the thoughts that are in our heads aren't thoughts that we're generating ourselves? It's things that we're getting it from the environment that we are in?

Gary M. Douglas 20:30
Yes. Ever notice that when you're out in the woods, you don't have any, hardly any thoughts. Trees do not think.

Alex Ferrari 20:40
Oh, man, I never thought about it that way. You're absolutely right. I took a walk in the forest and upstate calve in upstate in California in Northern California. And I was walking amongst the redwoods. And I was in absolute bliss. I was an absolute peace. There was no,

Gary M. Douglas 20:56
Yes. But you can walk through life like that if you don't buy these people's points of view.

Alex Ferrari 21:02
Interesting.

Gary M. Douglas 21:03
You can be a walking talking meditation. Now I tried meditating. And all I noticed is that my brain went faster. And I thought about things that I didn't think about, okay. Oh my god, I'm gonna have to clean the windows. I don't clean windows. Oh, God, what am I gonna make for dinner? I don't make dinner. What the hell is all this noise? And that's when I realized, oh, it's like, Who does this belong to is a real thing. Because literally 99,000% of your thoughts, feelings, emotions do not belong to you. Ever notice that when you go into a room where somebody is angry, ya know, instantaneously. Why? Because the person is angry is so putting it out, there was such intensity, you can't miss it.

Alex Ferrari 21:52
It's so funny, because I'll do that with my, you know, I'm living with my wife now for close to 20 years now. And I, you know, we can sense each other, you know, pretty, pretty well. But my kids, they haven't figured it out yet. I'll walk into the room. And I can see mom's had something happen to mom. And it has nothing to do with the kids. And the kids are just being 10 year olds, they're just running around being 10 year olds, and I pull them aside I go, guys is your warning. And about two minutes. Your mom's gonna blow up on you for no reason. And I'm trying to warn you protect you. And they just like, Oh, it's okay, that did it. And what happens in two minutes, she loses, you know, she'll just get angry. And she's like, What? What the kids are like what happened? And they don't seem to ever get it again. And again, keep telling me get on it. And they don't see

Gary M. Douglas 22:44
Ask him. So who does this? Who does this stuff belong to that year? Yeah, that's driving mom crazy. You or somebody else.

Alex Ferrari 22:53
I really want to kind of I want to I want to dig into this for a second because this is a really interesting concept. I've never really heard this concept before have these thoughts being other people's thoughts? Because if you start thinking about that, you're absolutely right. You know, I I love people but you know, generally don't like being in crowds. Just

Gary M. Douglas 23:13
I generally don't like being around people.

Alex Ferrari 23:16
You know, I I do love people. But I don't like being around a lot of them. All the time. It's you know, I'm a loner, I you know, I work at home, I you know, all this kind of stuff. But yet I do enjoy. I do love talking to people and things like that. But it's just a, you're right, these this energy to me, you can fit, you can pick up somebody's energy in the room pretty pretty quickly, especially, especially if someone's angry,

Gary M. Douglas 23:44
Especially if you're a loner.

Alex Ferrari 23:46
Because you're more sensitive. Because you're more, you're more you're much more sensitive to it. As opposed to the if you're if you're worried. That's why probably when I go to New York, it's it's it's intense.

Gary M. Douglas 23:59
Really, I never noticed.

Alex Ferrari 24:02
And I lived in Los Angeles, so but Los Angeles just much more spread out. But New York is so dense that you just like

Gary M. Douglas 24:09
People in New York are much more aggressive. And people in Los Angeles are pretending to be laid back while really wanting to kill people.

Alex Ferrari 24:17
Absolutely. So you've been there?

Gary M. Douglas 24:19
Yes. I used to live in Southern California. And I lived in New York periodically. And it's like, I've been lots of places. And it's like, and it's always interesting. I mean, yeah, it's like I love the fact that COVID occurred because I had been to Japan, where people go around wearing masks all the time. And they think it's saves them from picking up the fog of other people. You know, the ones that stir Yeah, the pollution that other people breeze. I don't believe that.

Alex Ferrari 24:52
Right. But at least it might it might save them from a cold or a flu.

Gary M. Douglas 24:57
No, it won't. Those things are worthless. Yeah. Like, the only thing that's gonna save you from a cold or flu is your immune system gets your immune system strong, it's a different reality.

Alex Ferrari 25:12
That I will have to agree with you on. Absolutely.

Gary M. Douglas 25:15
I'm almost at, okay. And I got kissed on the mouth by four different women who all came down with COVID the next day. I never got it.

Alex Ferrari 25:27
Mm hmm. Very interesting.

Gary M. Douglas 25:29
That's me my immune system is strong, and I don't take drugs or anything else. To handle stuff. I just deal with it as it comes.

Alex Ferrari 25:40
So when you walk into a room, and there's all these negative thoughts, or negative issues, or just energies coming at you, how do you dismiss them? How do you kind of put them away?

Gary M. Douglas 25:52
Belong to who does this belong to? doesn't belong to me? So that's the question you need to ask yourself, Who does this belong to? And it's like, and if it's not yours, it'll just sort of dissipate.

Alex Ferrari 26:03
Got it. That makes that makes a lot of sense. And now

Gary M. Douglas 26:06
We'll have an easier time with it, then, you know, because of the fact that you're a loner.

Alex Ferrari 26:12
And I say I'm a loner, but I'm I'm a people person, loner. It just is. It's a it's a it's a dichotomy.

Gary M. Douglas 26:20
Basic nut job.

Alex Ferrari 26:21
Obviously, obviously, obviously. Now, you we talk about, you know, focusing on good things and focusing on I focus on good things. No, you know what I mean? I miss I miss quoted you, sir. How can you focus on the possibilities of life, when you feel that life is crashing down around you, which we've all had at one point or another in our lives?

Gary M. Douglas 26:45
Okay, so it's crashing down. So what else is possible? Ask a question. What else is possible there? What else is possible? It's a really simple question, but it works. It's like when you ask what else is possible, the universe will about well, what about this? Or what about this? Or what about this? Or what about this? And it gives you all kinds of different possibilities to look at. When you go, Oh, my God, my life suck? It's over,

Alex Ferrari 27:10
Then it does is that there's not a question. It's a statement.

Gary M. Douglas 27:14
It's a statement. And when you do a statement, like that is a conclusion of the statement. And the universe can't provide you with anything to make your life better, or to make it work for you. And unfortunately, the universe likes you better than you like you. Why is that? Because the universe has no judgment of you. You do? Know, and one of the things I really think that, okay, so I'm going to bring up another subject here that you probably don't want to deal with, but I'm doing anyway. So it's like I discovered there's basically two there's a few others. But it's like, there's two basic styles of people on the planet, the humans and the humanoids. The humans always judge you and tell you how wrong you are and just slow down and stop worrying so fast. You're making me look bad. And the human, the human eyes are going what's wrong with me that this is happening? Humans always, always judge themselves. Humans always judge you. So it's like when you start judging us because you're humanoid. Okay. Now as a humanoid. You keep trying to come to conclusions to how to be human. Why would you want to be human? Why wouldn't you want to question the world? And I guarantee you're one of those guys, I can see the way your brain works. You're a questioner and you question the world and you're looking for something different, always. You're looking for a greater possibility. Now as a humanoid, you tend to judge yourself. And the problem is, when you judge yourself, you don't go and I would choose this for what reason? I do. I would choose to judge myself for what reason. And one of the things that I discovered is, as a humanoid, you judge yourself in order to not be all the strengths that you are, because if you're that strong, other people are either afraid of you, and they run away, or they kowtow and give in to you right away. And you don't like people giving in to you because you don't like people to give in to you because you'd like people to fight you a little bit because they're more interesting.

Alex Ferrari 29:22
Generally the way it goes.

Gary M. Douglas 29:24
Yeah. But the thing is when you finally get what strengthened my hiding, with the judgment I'm using you know what, strengthen my hiding with this? Yeah, it's like one of the things I have all kinds of people come to me and they, they have a problem with with something and I go okay, so what are you hiding here? Well, I can't be this. Good. I can't be this blah, blah, blah. And I go, what? Why not? Because other people would be, you know, would be offended by it. You're not going to be offended by it. Why are you assuming that? Well, people told me, they would be offended. I said, just because they told you doesn't mean it's true. question, is this true? Truth always makes you feel lighter. A lie always makes you feel heavier, you can pretty much tell what's true and dealt with not asked me to lie.

Alex Ferrari 30:21
That's another that's another thought that I hadn't had before in regards to the truth in the in the in a lie gives you your right lies are much heavier.

Gary M. Douglas 30:29
Yes. You know, it's like, yeah, people say, well prove that to me. I said, Okay, you're ugly. They go. What? I said, Are you ugly? No, no. Okay, good. So you knew it was a lie when I said you were ugly. Now, you can know that. But you can't know that, you know, that them telling you that you're wrong is a lie.

Alex Ferrari 30:50
So many people are looking for? Looking for money looking for, you know, things outside of themselves to make them happy? How do you? Well, first of all, what is your definition of your relationship with money in general?

Gary M. Douglas 31:07
Money is an interesting point of view. It's not right or wrong or good or bad. It's not the solution to anything. If you had no money, what would you have? You know, what you would have is you. So what if you're the source of all and money to? So what could I do a B that would create more money for me today than I've ever had before? Not what do I need to get rid of? What do I need to stop? What do I need to not do? But what can I do a B today that would give me more money than I've ever had before? Again, you're going back to the question? Yes. Always the question for me. So I everything becomes a question. It's never a conclusion.

Alex Ferrari 31:56
When did you? When did you when did you come to this realization about the question?

Gary M. Douglas 32:03
I don't have a good answer for you. I, I was channeling and I learned about this stuff called the bars which we do, which is now becoming the new worldwide technique for eliminating stress and stuff for people. And they said, be in the question, and I go, what does that mean? Be in the question. And I then began to look at, you know, the, all the religions that I studied, yeah. Buddhism, Taoism, all of this stuff, I said, I realized that the one place they all had in common was the question is the source, not? The answer is the source. The question will give you the answer. I say, what if the question gives you the question, the creates a greater question that creates a greater world. And I became Mr. Question himself.

Alex Ferrari 33:02
It's kind of like, you know, like Elon Musk saying, why can't we live on the moon, when everybody else is like, we can't live on the moon, and the moon on Mars? Like, why can't we know? Because why can't we be a multi planetary species? Why Can't We? It opens the question to a possibility. But if you say can't be done, then that there's no possibility at all.

Gary M. Douglas 33:23
I say, don't use the question. Why? Because that sends you in a circle. Okay? If you take the right fork on every road, you go back in a circle, and you're back where you started. So it's not why it's like what would it take to live on Mars? What would it take, for us to have the awareness of what's possible? And for me, I thought it was funny. They just discovered that there's water on Mars, right? They said there was no, it's like, you mean science isn't always correct. When it's,

Alex Ferrari 33:54
I mean, the world is flat. Don't you know? I mean?

Gary M. Douglas 33:58
Well, that was, you know, when I lived when I used to sail with Christopher, he told me that was the case, and we were gonna fall off the edge.

Alex Ferrari 34:07
Hey, listen, at one point in my life, the yellows of eggs was good. And then the whites were bad. And then all of a sudden, the whites were bad. The whites are good, and the yellows are bad. And like it things change. You learn you grow, you evolve, and science is just like that. Generally speaking, I always said this at every moment in time. Man, thought I had it all figured out.

Gary M. Douglas 34:31
Yes. And the one thing I am aware of is man is not bright enough to figure it out.

Alex Ferrari 34:37
We're just we're out here. Just trying to we're out here. Just trying to figure it out is the ego that thinks it knows what it is. I mean, back in Greece, it was you know, it was it was the the gods obviously, that's the truth. I mean, there's Zeus that's, that's the truth. That's it. I believe it. Yeah. But that was the last time in that lifetime. Why would I mean that was it. That's all you need. You know, there was no, there was no other possible. Can you imagine telling someone in the 1900s, early 1900s about a plane? Or in the 1800s? About a plane or a car or phone or

Gary M. Douglas 35:11
How did da vinci do showing those things?

Alex Ferrari 35:14
He didn't do. I mean, Jesus, he was talking about all this stuff. And he couldn't. No one would believe him.

Gary M. Douglas 35:19
He did everything as I can think of no, nope, not happening. No. Have you imagination? That's all is

Alex Ferrari 35:25
Your crazy. Isn't it interesting, though, that all the things that happen after HG Wells, started writing his books, about science fiction, all those things started to come. Like a lot of the stuff that he wrote in his book prior to that, it was never even a thought in anyone's mind. But when I wrote him in those books, the possibility of and that those books inspired generations, and new scientists, and still do you know, and they're constantly moving things forward in a way, but it starts with the question.

Gary M. Douglas 35:58
Yes, it starts with the question. It starts with the things. One of the things that I've done is encouraged to people, people to read George Orwell's 1984, the book, tour grip book, the Ministry of Propaganda. Is that any different than what we're having now?

Alex Ferrari 36:16
Oh, it's we're in 1984. We've been in 1984 for a while now.

Gary M. Douglas 36:21
And it's just friggin crazy, but it's the way it works.

Alex Ferrari 36:24
So I'm hoping that that well, we'll see where we all go with this. But, you know, there's something going on right now in the world. I mean, for the first time in human history, the entire planet is feeling something as a as a unit, which is what we're going on with this pandemic and everything. And there's just a shift from political I mean, we're on the brink of war. Over in the Ukraine with there's so many different things. What do you think is happening just to the to the to the human race right now? Seems like a shake up, it seems like something's like the Etch A Sketch is shish is being shaken a little bit?

Gary M. Douglas 37:00
Well, the thing is that what they had to do is come up with a way of shaking people up so that people would actually begin to think again, we have gotten to the point where our life is based on an emoji. It's true. Yeah. I have a guy we have a class called right voice for you, which is where you get you know, where you find your voice in the world. And you start stating what is true for you are asking questions to that effect. And you get good at things. And so one of the things I said, okay, so she he says, What do I do? I can't get these acid, ask them to write a paragraph, and all emojis. And then have everybody interpret what that paragraph says, and see how much clarity they have. Because emojis don't say friggin anything. Emojis are what you use for the lowest common denominator of stupidity. And it's like, and we have cat become a, I mean, I get texts all the time, that have 10 or 12. Emojis attached up I go, What the fuck does this ship mean? If you can't write a word, don't write to me. And I say that to people.

Alex Ferrari 38:15
I mean, they made a movie about emojis. About the life of emojis.

Gary M. Douglas 38:19
Oh, really? Oh, good. God, I didn't see that because

Alex Ferrari 38:22
You shouldn't. It's Oh, my God. My daughters were watching it for like, first 10 minutes. And even they were like, Yeah, I can't. I can't with this.

Gary M. Douglas 38:33
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, even the little kids know that this stuff is bullshit.

Alex Ferrari 38:38
It's it's so it's so interesting. Got it. But there is a way I think you're right, that there is a shift happening. And there's something that has to shake the world up. And I think we are definitely in the middle of a shake up. There's no question.

Gary M. Douglas 38:52
Well, it's either this or, you know, Yellowstone has to go off and blow us all off the planet, you know?

Alex Ferrari 38:59
You're, of course, of course, or the asteroid is coming.

Gary M. Douglas 39:05
Yes. Or something. You know, it's like, Come on, get with it. It's my point of view is I mean, it's like you look at like rabbits, when is going to be a really bad year in spring. They don't breed. They don't have babies. Now, how do they know that? They do have watched horses. Horses will grow long hair before we get a big cold spell that's unexpected, quote unquote. They're prepared. They're willing to know the future. We are not. Do you feel that gets smarter?

Alex Ferrari 39:37
Do you feel that most of our problems lie that we live in the past, which is our memories and in our in the future, which is imagination and the actual moment that we're in?

Gary M. Douglas 39:50
Well, I, I would agree with that. To a certain extent. I think the difficulty is you've been taught that you must focus on the past that makes the same mistake Hey, my question is would you make the same mistake? Personally, when I got burned, I stopped touching stones.

Alex Ferrari 40:07
You don't have to relive the burning of the first time

Gary M. Douglas 40:09
You do the burn every once in a while just to, you know, to be aware, you know, and I had a horse that was afraid of fire engines and big trucks and stuff. And I was riding him one day. And he saw this, this fire engine coming and he decided he was going to jump into to the left into this big grass. Well, it wasn't big grass, it was a steep hill. And it's like he actually fell down on his knees. He never balked at a big item again, really. So it's like, if a horse is smart enough to learn that, shouldn't we be able to be smart enough to learn? You don't have to avoid the mistakes of the past, you have to be aware of the mistake you made and what choices do you have now.

Alex Ferrari 40:59
But the thing that I find interesting about your story is I don't think the horse is sitting there, in his stall, rethinking and reliving that moment

Gary M. Douglas 41:08
He never is like nothing is except in the moment with an a horse or an animal. Right? In the moment. We live in the past. And we live in the imagination as though those two things are going to create for us what we think we would like to have. Unfortunately, if you're thinking you're thinking,

Alex Ferrari 41:28
Fair enough. Now, you mentioned something about a meditation walk, can you kind of explain what that is?

Gary M. Douglas 41:34
Yes, it's like I did this meditation walk. And I've done it with people. And like, what I have them do is walk 100 yards, in one hour. Okay, but they can't get there before they are, they have to slowly go through them and notice everything around them. Notice the breeze notice that when notice the speaking of the leaves is they flutter by notice everything to try and get people more present in their lives. Of course, and for me, that's the way I live my life. I'm a walking talking meditation. You know, I remember one time I was angry at someone and I was pissed and yelling it with some of my, my friends about this person and what a stupid ass they were for what they were doing. And I'm sitting there yelling about it, and I look outside. And about 150 feet away is a giant fucking iguana and a tree. Oh, look at that Guana. And I went, how can you do that while you're angry? I said, What I cut off awareness when I'm angry. Now I'll be angry and aware. I'm going to have it all. I'm going to have it all I'm going to have it all. And that's all there is to it.

Alex Ferrari 42:51
It's like it's like, like a child, a child does the exact same thing. They'll have a conversation with you about the toy that they just lost and like, oh, look, a cat. Yeah. Look of squirrel. It's their constant awareness because they are absorbing everything. Everything's coming into them at all times.

Gary M. Douglas 43:07
And unfortunately, you know, to live as a child is probably a better way of living period. You know, because they will experience in the moment and they will not Yes. Like, people say, Well, how do you avoid disasters, I said, I'm never home when a disaster occurs. I never am. I mean, our house was flooded during Hurricane Harvey. We were not here, we were gone. And it's like, and when we came home, we got it all fixed. In a matter of two months, there's still people that are doing repair of their houses. Three years later, four years later, whatever it is, at this point, we got ours all done. Totally redid the house or the staff or you know, just had it done. Why? Cuz that's what you do you take care of business.

Alex Ferrari 43:58
Now, another thing that I think we all have problems with, or many many of us have problems with is appreciating the abundance that's in our own lives, as opposed to what it's not there that you might want. Can you give any advice on how to really just be grateful for what you currently have while still aspiring to maybe obtain other levels of enjoyment?

Gary M. Douglas 44:24
First thing, check out the definition of the word one in an old dictionary prior to 1946 1946 they changed the definitions of words to make people more controllable. Interesting, and you know, it's like, so, before 1946 The word want has 26 definitions which mean to lack in one, which means to desire in the future. Now, the third definition is to desire in the future For two desire period, which is not what it really is, want is lack. So if you say I want this, you're going to lack it. So just say 10 times I don't want money, I don't want money, I don't want money, I don't want money, I don't want money, I don't want money, I don't want money, I don't want money, I don't want money, I don't want money. And don't smile. You always do. Which means it's what is true. You don't lack of money, but you don't have the willingness to be grateful for every penny you have. And if you really want to have gratitude for money, I have a book called How to Become money. And one of the things it says put 10% of everything that comes in, of every dollar that comes in, put 10% of it away, and don't ever spend it. ties to the church have you. And if you do that, within a very short period of time, you won't have money problems anymore, because you will forget that money has meaning. You start to see it as something you play with. Money should be a play toy. Not a need.

Alex Ferrari 46:16
How long did it take you to come to that realization?

Gary M. Douglas 46:18
Three classes I did on money.

Alex Ferrari 46:24
But I imagine on your own personal journey took you a minute to figure this out. I'm assuming a five year olds you didn't have this all figured out.

Gary M. Douglas 46:30
No, I didn't have it figured out. No, I was in my 50s before I figured this out. Wow. And I started you know, it's like I was I had spent all kinds I had made lots of money and bet lots of money and get, you know, lost lots of money. And it's like all this stuff. And what I did, and I Okay, I'm going to put this 10% away, and I started putting the 10% away. And I went oh my God, I need money for this. So I took the 10% and spend it and the moment I did all the money had coming in dried up. I went with the universe trying to tell me here. Not what's happening. But what's the universe trying to tell me. If I spend the 10% I'm going to have less. Because I'm not I'm saying I don't matter.

Alex Ferrari 47:17
I love that you said that that you took you've learned it in your 50s because I'm getting close to 50 myself now. And I've learned a bunch of things at this stage in my career in my life, that it's taken me a lot, you know, my lifetime to learn. But so many people put so much pressure on themselves to have it all figured out at 21. And I'm like, You're not gonna get it at 21 My friend. It takes time.

Gary M. Douglas 47:42
Your brain has not developed enough for you to get it. It's 21 and you still believe in your emotions. You still believe in your emojis?

Alex Ferrari 47:53
Your poop emojis? A lot of poop emojis? No, it's because I put me you put on just unrealistic pressures on yourself when you're younger to achieve and achieve and achieve and achieve. And as you get

Gary M. Douglas 48:09
You that puts him on your family does it too?

Alex Ferrari 48:12
Yeah. family and society in general. And

Gary M. Douglas 48:15
Yeah, so I have a question for you. Are you ever told that you're not not living up to your potential?

Alex Ferrari 48:23
I mean, early in school because I wasn't getting good grades. Because I was I didn't like I didn't like school, but afterwards No. But in school, I was like, Oh, you could do it. You could do better in school. I'm like, Yeah,

Gary M. Douglas 48:33
You're not living up to your potential. I wanted a definition for potential and they wouldn't give me one. Right. And basically the definition of potential was you're not doing what I want you to do.

Alex Ferrari 48:45
Mm hmm. No, you're absolutely you're absolutely right, Gary, you're absolutely right. Because when someone says that it's generally coming from a place of I want you to do something that I want you to do not what's best for you

Gary M. Douglas 49:02
What do you want to do? What do you want to do?

Alex Ferrari 49:04
Yeah, look, it took me I wasn't I was I wasn't a really particularly great student growing up, but and I barely skimmed through high school. But bored I was bored. I didn't it didn't make sense to me. But then I went to film school and I was top of my class and in film school, and then I went and then I went back to school for the mute for the pure enjoyment of learning not for a degree and I was you know Dean's List and straight A's and I'm like, what it was this guy in high school like I obviously I was able to because

Gary M. Douglas 49:37
It's always there but nobody was pushing you to become all of you. It was here and make a good grade and shut up and you know be normal.

Alex Ferrari 49:47
Right! I just did it because I wanted to and that man just changed. Everything changed perspective was

Gary M. Douglas 49:53
You realize you're not a normal person.

Why is this sir?

Because you actually have curiosity and you would like to to learn. People don't want to learn they want to receive the benefit of the world giving to them the way it should, because they've been told it should.

Alex Ferrari 50:14
Well, that ego has a lot has a lot to do with this. I feel that that's a t shirt that you use are you selling? Right? That's That's stupidity.

Gary M. Douglas 50:26
That's just plain stupidity. Yeah, it's like, you keep trying to blame the ego. The ego had nothing to do with it's just stupidity did look at it the next time you start to say ego and go with stupidity fill in here just as well.

Alex Ferrari 50:39
Well, look, anytime you use the word ego and stupidity can be interchanged. In many ways,

Gary M. Douglas 50:45
They're not interchangeable. They are the same thing.

Alex Ferrari 50:47
Exactly. That's what I think it is. But you know,

Gary M. Douglas 50:53
The way you make yourself feel better about yourself by calling your stupidity ego.

Alex Ferrari 50:57
That's actually that's a very profound statement. You're absolutely right.

Gary M. Douglas 51:01
It's judgment, light, in my estimation, absolutely is judgment as opposed to full scale.

Alex Ferrari 51:07
Now, I'm going to ask you a couple questions. Ask all of my guests. What is the what is your mission in this life?

Gary M. Douglas 51:14
My mission in life is to change as many people as I can to give them a greater life and a greater possibility, and then make the world a place worth living in. Because what we've done is we've given up and lost the graciousness, the beauty, and the silence of it. And instead, we have replaced it with emojis, multiple, you know, screen televisions, and electronic music. That's enough to deafen you at all times. I love the music of silence. I think it's amazing.

Alex Ferrari 51:53
I love the music of nature walking in those in those forests that meet that that music of that sound is is is the ocean acts like that.

Gary M. Douglas 52:02
God Yeah. Which is everywhere.

Alex Ferrari 52:05
And why do you think we are all here?

Gary M. Douglas 52:08
Because we're stupid.

Alex Ferrari 52:10
It's, um, we're bored up in up in the wherever you want to call it heaven or something. But like, let's let's spice things up. Let's go back down to earth and see what we can figure out.

Gary M. Douglas 52:19
I don't think it's that much of a thought process. Look, that's a pretty body. I'll take that one.

Alex Ferrari 52:28
Let's see what happens.

Gary M. Douglas 52:31
Let's see what kind of havoc I can create here.

Alex Ferrari 52:35
Um, Gary, where can people find more about you in the work that you do?

Gary M. Douglas 52:40
Accessconsciousness.com And it's like, and we have all kinds of free things. We have all kinds of stuff there. Accessconsciousness.com.com eu.com Europe. I don't know. We're everywhere. Yeah, it's like I started this out with two people in my garage. Now we're in 176 different countries.

Alex Ferrari 53:04
That's amazing. That's amazing.

Gary M. Douglas 53:06
Amazing. And it's all word of mouth. You know, I don't advertise. I don't do you know, big promotion pieces. You know, I don't do seminars for millions of people. I just keep on truckin.

Alex Ferrari 53:18
Gary, you have been an absolutely entertaining and enlightening conversation to say this at least my friends so I appreciate what you do and and the work that you're doing. And thank you for coming on the show and sharing your emojis with us.

Gary M. Douglas 53:31
It's a pleasure to share my emojis with you. Thank you, sir.

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