by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality |
Evolution is a journey, not an epiphany.
Truth is not a concept, rule, idea, law, principle or notion.
Enlightenment comes through a lifestyle, not an excursion.
Your karma lies within you, mostly as your thoughts and your emotions.
Spirituality is not emotional indulgence.
Spirituality is not intellectual derivation.
You can justify anything with the intellect, and people do.
The depth of life is simple. The web it weaves is complex.
The longest way is the short cut.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, May 11, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality |
It is really very simple. When the body dies, the mind does not… just that simple.
When the body dies, your dreams become your reality. If your mind was habitually in the gutter before death, that is what you get. If you have been living in denial, your bluff is called. If your mind has been habitually transcending (as with proper meditation), you go to the highest heaven.
‘Just that simple.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Thursday, May 9, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality |
Enlightenment is no small thing. Most everyone reading this likely believes they know that. But do they? Do they really?
Great saints have attained their sainthood by steadfastly overcoming incredible obstacles… one after another, after another. Quite simply, they were willing to endure whatever it took to attain enlightenment… year after year of relentless one-pointed devotion.
When you look at most people, even ‘spiritually aware’ individuals, it is quite a different story. They may feel a little purification (as roughness) at a long meditation retreat and decide they will never do that again. They may see that they do not really have many friends going to a particular class, so they decide not to go. They may have a little conflict with someone and therefore decide to ‘throw in the towel’. Maybe the bathroom accommodations were not quite to their liking. Maybe Starbucks is just a little too far away from the monastery for their liking!
So I ask again… Do you have the right stuff? What are you devoted to… really?
Someone once said that they did not want to do the Ashram Program because they wanted to stay in ‘the real world’. I responded by asking them if they really believed that the pinball machine they lived in was ‘the real world’. It is not. It is merely the illusion that keeps you hooked… lifetime after lifetime… chasing that mirage, that dangling carrot, like a dog chasing its tail.
Time is running out. Re-evaluate your priorities. Bliss awaits you, but you must do what it takes to become free of your addictions.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, May 1, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality, World View |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”
– Mahatma Ghandi
There is a very profound message here. Namely, that what underlies all of life, all of existence, is the Unified Field. It is a field of infinite harmony and perfection. It is the foundation upon which everything rests, just as the depth of the ocean supports all the waves on the surface. Everything comes from that and returns to it. That which is not in harmony with that, loses the support of that foundation, and is short lived.
One country may overtake another in battle, but in time, the people of that land renew their rule of that land. Every person, every nation, every thing has its own essential divine nature. To eventually come to rest in that is the course of all of life.
Nature supports.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, April 2, 2013 | Favorites, Personal Growth, Spirituality |
When one is not rapidly evolving, they are essentially like a single point in space. From the perspective of that one point, a line can be drawn through it in any direction and be argued as just as valid as any other line.
However, after doing PROPER meditation for a while, another point is experienced. The newly discovered point is a more evolved state of being. Those two points determine a line that points in the direction of enlightenment… just beyond the horizon. That is what really gives your life deep meaning. That is when you really begin to evolve rapidly.
There was a great Guru who said to not even bother talking too much to people about spirituality until they have learned and practiced proper meditation. This is the reason why. Without those two points, most anything can be justified as valid.
In this world today, you are bombarded with a multitude of perspectives… unlimited lines through a single point. Anything can be and is rationalized with the intellect. If you allow yourself to be swayed by all those perspectives, you are cast into a tailspin that wastes time… wastes life.
It is an essential awakening to move in the direction of your evolution at least enough so you experience that next point. It lies within you. It is not what you have been told or have taken on from the outside. It is what you have become from the inside.
Only then do you know what direction to set the rudder and cast the sail. Then the real journey begins, as you tack your way over the ocean of karma in the direction of what lies just beyond the horizon.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, January 19, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality |
In response to my Razors Edge blog, someone asked how you can recognize who is a real master and who is not. The one word answer is ‘discernment.’ You must cultivate discernment. Of course that leads to the question, “How do you cultivate discernment?”
That cultivation is a process. It can be compared to learning to play a musical instrument. It takes time, patience, humility, and a willingness to look beyond what you currently understand. You cannot just read a book about how to play the piano and then be able to play the piano. In the case of music, everyone knows that. In the case of spirituality, people generally do not know that. They think they can read a book and then ‘get’ spirituality. I call that the I Get-it Syndrome. The world is full of people practicing the I Get-it Syndrome of spirituality. It is a good beginning all too often mistaken for the goal.
It would be fair to say that all of my lectures, blogs, classes, etc. are all for the cultivation of discernment. Adi Sankara called the entire path of spiritual evolution the path of discernment. You see, discernment is not just done with the intellect. Absolutely not (pun intended). Discernment is done with the mind, the heart, and most importantly with the soul… the depth of the soul.
So what is the soul? Well, you know about the Absolute, i.e. the Transcendent… pure consciousness… that which lies beyond relativity. It is pure No-Thing-Ness. Cannot be grasped. It is pure consciousness … the Unified Field… that which birthed the entire creation… pure Is-ness… God. You can not touch it, but you can feel it radiating out through you. Just as you can feel the Sun, but you cannot touch it. The soul, then, is the glow of God welling up through and permeating your physiology. It is your life force. It is the source of all intelligence, wisdom, harmony, and love that flows through and feeds you and all that is. As you evolve, your perception of it becomes clearer. The clouds, veils, and cobwebs of life clear away.
Everyone feels his soul. Even an earthworm has some primitive sense of self, of the soul. But the nervous system of an earthworm is not developed nearly enough to perceive the full grandeur of the Absolute, even though the earthworm is (like everything else) the Absolute. In other words everything is God, but your degree of evolution is the degree to which you perceive and embody the full value of that.
Discernment is done with all levels of your being. As you evolve all those levels integrate with one another, and most importantly, with the Absolute. Discernment with the body is sometimes called a ‘gut feeling.’ However, if you are riddled with bias, then your gut feelings are not clear. They are not in clear harmony with the absolute… with God. They are confused.
The spiritual path is the path of clarification of your relationship with your True Nature, with God, with the Absolute. See?
If you evaluate from the perspective of your biases, you go astray. You need to look deeper. You need to ponder. By ponder I mean strive to find truth within. This means looking beyond mental, emotional, and psychological bias. It is a sort of double bind. You must use what discerning ability you have to cultivate more discernment. You must ‘pull yourself up with your own bootstraps’. That is no simplistic task, which is why so few are willing to do it. They would prefer to listen to someone pat them on the head and tell them what a great spiritual being they are. As a result, spirituality is often reduced down to an ‘opiate of the masses.’ The New Age is most certainly no exception.
Spiritual evolution is indeed the Razors Edge. That is why a true master is so important. The student keeps slipping to one side or the other. The master holds the beacon light that illuminates the way.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, October 2, 2012 | Favorites, Spirituality |
The Transcendent is your touchstone. It is the one constant. When it is not known, people cling to the familiar as a substitute. That is the formula for failure. It is not A formula for failure. It is THE formula for failure. It comes in many forms, many guises, but it is the same one mirage. Your portal to the transcendent is your inner being. All else is illusion. The Kingdom of Heaven dwells within. The Guru holds the lamp that lights the way, but the Self is revealed to the Self, by the Self and through the Self.
We do well to learn from history. All the principles of life and existence are there. Imagine the courage of the German Jew who left their home, their wealth, all that was familiar, to escape Nazi tyranny. To pursue enlightenment is to look beyond the indoctrination of the familiar. Transcend the familiar. As perhaps Ramana Maharshi would say, it is fine to have your boat in the waters of the familiar, but you cannot afford to allow that water into your boat.
“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” – Raymond Lindquist
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Monday, September 10, 2012 | Favorites, Spirituality |
I was asked the following:
Please comment on reincarnation and if children are able to select their parents when they come back. You mentioned in one of your previous blogs that some enlightened choose to come back. Is it a choice to come back?
To which I respond:
Throughout history, metaphysical and theological questions have been asked and answered by people before they have the knowledge of the fundamental understanding of life and existence necessary to answer the question. Such superficial answers are responsible for the recent rejection of spirituality and religion by so many rationally oriented people.
Recently, at a free lecture I gave in San Francisco, questions came up and some insisted upon answers when the topic was in this domain… i.e. the required background was not sufficient to understand the answer. Of course, many are offended if I tell them this. I did my best to satisfy them without betraying the depth of the topic.
Regarding the question at hand, we would need to deepen our understanding of what ‘select’ means, what ‘choice’ means, before we could comment responsibly on ‘select their parents.’ Regarding the enlightened choosing to come back, we would also need to understand what ‘coming back’ means. Strictly speaking, the enlightened are never really ‘here’ at all.
The individual asking this question thirsts for Knowledge. I love that. I respect that tremendously. At the same time I know that longing will never be fulfilled on the level such questions are asked. I intend with the blog, to inspire you to look deeper. So many have such questions. So few have the patience to do what is required to find the answers. So many ‘teachers’ (who would appropriately be students) are happy to provide simplistic and bogus answers.
It is like a child in math class who has yet to master addition and subtraction asking the teacher to teach him calculus and complex variable analysis. It cannot happen. Any answer sets the student adrift more than it instructs. Why satiate him into a false sense of knowing leaving him to float in a cloud of oblivion thinking he now has more knowledge than before?
The teacher longs to give an answer… in fact, that is the deep longing of every real teacher… to teach. Yet these things must be done in proper time and order, lest the answers mislead more than instruct.
To answer the questions asked here directly, the answer to each is the same, namely, ‘Yes and No.’ Further understanding would require deeper knowledge.
As I entitled one of my books, “Look Deeper, Live Better”.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, August 25, 2012 | Favorites, Personal Growth, Spirituality |
Psychosis is a mental disorder characterized by a life of emotions, perceptions, and thoughts that are so distorted that the individual has severely impaired contact with reality. Neurosis is essentially everyone else. My dad used to say that ‘we’re all nuts.’ Now add to the mix the notion of subtle sight, hearing, etc. and we are in a delicate arena indeed. You can justify anything with the intellect and people certainly do!
How do you know if you perceptions are perception, psychosis, or neurosis? To my way of thinking psychosis is blatant, even to the ordinary observer. However, regarding neurosis verses subtle perception, I have seen many, New Agers in particular, who could use a lot more humility in the matter. It boils down to having ‘a healthy relationship with’ your perceptions.
No one really perceives. We all project. We perceive on to. Wisdom includes having a healthy relationship with that fact. The more fully integrated the surface of your being is with the depth, the healthier your relationship with these matters. But then, how do you know how integrated you are?
You must learn to discern. This includes learning how to use other people as a mirror. That too is subtle. You can find people to collude with easily enough. However, do keep in mind that everyone, at the depth of their being, is infinitely wise… one with the Unified Field… one with God. Therefore, on that level everyone can sense how healthy they and others are. Yet that knowing is masked by ones neurosis or psychosis, i.e. ones conditioning (samskaras).
It is a double bind, isn’t it? It seems like there is no way to know, doesn’t it? Well that’s life, isn’t it? Most look for a solid handle on life to cling to. However, the only absolute there is has no handle. It is like a soft cloud you rest upon. It is the Self. It is God… the place you are one with God. From a scientific perspective, it is the Unified Field. As you evolve you awaken to it more and more. Your physiology becomes more and more fully integrated with it. However, it does not come with a handle.
Introducing subtle perception to others must be done wisely. Otherwise, the introduction becomes an invitation to neurosis, if not psychosis. But to throw out the baby with the bathwater and reject the entire arena is unfortunate. You must learn to discern. I strive to help my students, as well as my kids, cultivate discernment. Only then can you well navigate the subtle arena of life.
I remember years ago I attended an expo where there was a room of people offering ‘psychic readings’. One glance at the group was enough to convince me I wanted nothing to do with it. If you are honest with yourself, and reflective, then you can develop insight enough to have a good sense of the person you are speaking to.
This may be disconcerting to many who want a simple cookbook approach to all of life. There are many out there that offer that and many cling to those offerings. I will not do that, because it is not the way life really is. On the other hand, the beauty of life lies in its subtlety… in its elusive nature… in knowing that the only true knowing is knowing that you know nothing.
After all, the unified field is beyond relativity. It is the field of ‘No Thing Ness’. How beautiful… God is beyond thingness, yet permeates all things.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, August 22, 2012 | Favorites, Spirituality |
~
Everyone longs for adventure,
yet many prefer only read of it,
hoping that will satiate the desire to live it,
without risk.
I have chosen to live the adventure.
Not for the sake of adventure,
but because I chose to look beyond the horizon.
Having seen what is there I am compelled to go forward,
through the portal,
into the greatest adventure of all…
The pursuit of Truth,
the unraveling of the mystery of life,
of existence,
of the Self.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
