by Michael Mamas | Saturday, October 21, 2017 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
Years ago, while watching the movie African Queen with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, a line in the movie struck me like a lightning bolt. Bogart justified his behavior by saying it was his nature. Hepburn’s character responded: “Nature… is what we are put in this world to rise above.”
A fundamental understanding of the implications of that quote could transform society’s perspective on human behavior, psychotherapy, allopathic medicine, and spiritual development…
Read more.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Monday, October 16, 2017 | Personal Growth |
I may start a series of ‘What I find funny’ blogs: sayings or situations that make me chuckle, smile, or even laugh out loud.
Some of you may remember the time I took a wrong turn, and ended up outside New York City, in a pretty rough, spooky, and dangerous ghetto area. When I stopped at a gas station to ask how to get to my Manhattan destination, the attendant responded by saying, “You can’t get there from here.” I immediately burst out laughing.
Well, someone just sent a response to one of my emails that made me laugh with sort of a similar response, when it said, “I’ll let you know when I get here.”
“When I get here” is funny. Firstly, just on face value: If you’re ‘HERE’, you’re already ‘THERE.’ Right? But it is also funny in a profound sort of way. We are all already ‘HERE’ (or is it ‘THERE’?). We just don’t know it, which is why we are not already ‘HERE’ (nor ‘THERE’). But I guess ‘THAT’ is neither here nor there… or is it neither ‘HERE’ nor ‘THERE’?
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, September 27, 2017 | Mount Soma, Personal Growth |
The members of a healthy community share a similar identity. In times past, it would have been a similar ethnic background or religion. Today, by virtue of far-reaching communication through television, Internet, etc., many of those boundaries have melted away, leaving people with no sense of identity…
Read more.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, August 22, 2017 | Personal Growth, Uncategorized, World View |
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
– Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Monday, April 17, 2017 | Personal Growth |
Remember… you can justify anything with the intellect, and people do. Ultimately, our intellect rallies around our feelings to justify them. Feel deeply within, which is different from feeling intensely. Wisdom is the integration of the fine (deep) feeling level with our thoughts, and ultimately, our actions. Wise decisions are based upon deep feelings, not intense emotions. Intense emotions are often (perhaps usually) not all that deep, not that wise. It is not wise to make decisions based upon whatever emotions overwhelm you.
In life, look at all the alternatives, consider all the facts, think, reflect and ponder, then go with the one you feel, from deep within, the best about… or in some cases, dislike the least. Consider the facts… pros and cons… but in the final analysis, what matters is how you feel about those facts from deep within, not how hot or cold your emotions are running. Wisdom is the integration of the depth of your being with your thoughts and actions. Thoughts and actions are best based upon the depth, not the surface. What lies at your depth are fine feelings, not intense emotions.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, March 25, 2017 | Personal Growth |
Someone once said to the Guru, “Intelligent people might be smart, but they have no deep feelings.” To which the Guru replied, “That is not possible. The intellect is founded in deep feelings. Without a refined feeling level at the depth of one’s being, the intellect cannot be clear.”
Different people show their feelings in different ways, express themselves in different ways, but that is not for others to judge.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, March 7, 2017 | Personal Growth, Relationship |
The Huffington Post just published one of my latest articles. It begins:
While recently giving a lecture in the San Francisco area, I was asked: “Would you please talk about the need to feel needed? It seems to be a very important, fundamental instinct.”
I responded by first saying it was one of the most beautiful questions I’ve been asked in a long time. I began by telling the story of two beautiful, white, draft horses owned by a friend. The horses were inseparable. Their worlds revolved around one another. They loved each other. When one of them passed away, the other, although perfectly healthy, also died within two weeks. We hear stories of long-term married couples having a similar scenario. So, let’s take a deeper look at what is actually going on here…
Read more:
“Our Need To Feel Needed… And When It Must Change”
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, February 21, 2017 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
“Do not try to understand them. And do not try to make them understand you.” This beautiful quote from the movie is so far reaching. It feels best to put no limits upon it.
It applies to so much of life… to every single relationship… to dealings between cultures and to those whom we love so deeply… our children, our partners, our friends. To grasp anything, to name it, to define it, to decide you understand it… is to limit it. So much of life’s beauty lies in its unfathomability. To understand better is not to hold on, but is to let go.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Monday, January 9, 2017 | Personal Growth |
A few quotes from the Alabama coaches before the championship game tonight against Clemson:
“It’s called being a champion. You have to have a team of champions before you can win a championship.”
“Wrong is wrong. I don’t care if everyone is doing it. Right is right. I don’t care if nobody is doing it.”
“Be where your feet are.”
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, December 21, 2016 | Personal Growth, World View |
Today is the first day of winter. The Sun rises in the southernmost location. Many have been feeling the challenging events of the past year with the difficult jyotish influences. You may want to take a look at the Sun today knowing that by the time it returns to this position, life will be better for many of us. In fact, by 2020, the world will likely look much different and much better. Hang in there!
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
