blog: 1.1.1-1.1.5 The Vision: Knowledge enlivens experience; experience redefines knowledge.
This week we discuss the first five sutras of the Brahma Sutra. It is more a discussion than a list of points so this weeks notes will not include a summary of what is discussed. Please enjoy the podcast!
“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.”
JEAN DE LA FONTAINE
taste of strawberry, culminating in Brahman
the vision
at first, overwhelming… like waking up to 3 arms
not about personality [your nature] but do cultivate an evolutionary lifestyle… not mood making
the relative: its presence is inferred by the effect it produces. Maya
under the influence of maya, brahm appears as ishwara-personal god
maya; clear water avidya; muddy water
under influence of avidya, atma appears as jiva or individual soul
“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.”
HERMANN HESSE
“Hearts are the strongest when they beat in response to noble ideals.”
RALPH BUNCHE
“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.”
JOHN RUSKIN
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
athato brahma–jijnasa…”now the desire to know Brahman”
everything gravitates to the Absolute.. i,e. evolution either drifting or Knowledge inspired
srisomesvara.org click 3 bars to right of ‘select page’ to make a donation
“The higher we are placed, the more humbly we
should walk.”
CICERO
I was recently approached at the temple by a very kind and respectful young Brahmin gentleman. He spoke of his longing for true Knowledge. This touched my heart and compelled me to reflect deeply. I have been a teacher my entire adult life. I have learned a great deal about people and how they receive or reject Knowledge. The road of the teacher of deep knowledge is long and often leads to heartbreak. How can a student remain steadfast along the path? Where to begin such a limitless journey? What are the pitfalls along the way? Where and why along the way do so many spin out on tangents? The simple answer it that a persons karma brings them to the Knowledge, and their karma takes them away. This podcast is one more attempt to help. It is humbly dedicated to all sincere seekers. Perhaps it will be the first of an unending series. Or perhaps it is yet another in the lifelong unending series.
meditation.. experience vs knowledge
TM or youtube channel how to meditate
Veda traditionally not chanted for meaning but rather for repetition… meaning changes at various level of consciousness. experience/knowledge
7 heads 7 levels of intellectual understanding
“practical” application
“You must train your intuition—you must trust the small voice inside you which tells you exactly what to say, what to decide.”
INGRID BERGMAN
However “Intuition” rooted in Chit [Conditioned subconscious, programming, personal childhood ‘issues’, stress, etc.] is not true Intuition
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
The “physics” of Is-ness: Transforming the “Dark Ages”
first day of waxing moon is called “no moon” day. not a day to start new projects but good to worship ancestors, etc. then the next two days are “new moon” days. the second “new moon” day is auspicious and good day to start new things: Shiva Moon
political motivations are often very different than that of the voters
Is-ness = Consciousness…the only thing that is… isn’t a ‘thing’
Agama Shastra “cell phone to Heaven”… entry… invite Gods to enter.. there is an Agama Shastra for each deity,
yantra: all actions of havan create a ‘machine’, a yantra,
mantra: emergence of deity between yantra and tantra of havan
tantra [2 meanings one for humans e.g. meditation, one for gods receiving influence of the havan]
fish bowl effect: kali yuga: we are all swimming around in the same fishbowl. who is not affected?
“The greatest chapters in history always begin with risk, and the same is true with the chapters of your life.”
MARK BATTERSON
risking nothing is a great risk. everything is a risk. nothing ventured, nothing gained. we are always traversing the unknowable. risk is the nature of the unknown. the only true knowing is knowing you know nothing
futility of debate: to talk another out of their feelings is to impose denial… better to help them explore what they are feeling, The light of awareness is the true healer.
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
when someone is yelling or raising their voice, be they right or wrong in their point, it is a certain sign that they are out of balance.
when in conflict, with this and that points are being made, the underlying main point is buried beneath them. the underlying point is always how the person is feeling toward the other. the points are just rational-i-zations for the feeling. And the feeling may or may not be valid at all. Feelings rule… thoughts are often there just to justify how someone is feeling.
slipping into negative framing:
replace habitual collapsing into framing things in a negative light with habitual framing in positivity. glass half full. count your blessings.
the jyotish these days and for the next month and more is terrible.
Popularity is largely about meeting the people on the level they want to be met upon. Truth, i.e. alignment with ones own true nature, on the other hand is something very different. On rare occasion, they are one and the same.
In the podcast I respond to this email i received: What is the difference between soul and spirit? Regarding meditation, I’ve had spontaneous episodes of “no mind”. Mental chatter was suddenly gone, I could think and function but my head was quiet. This lasted a couple of weeks and tthen slowly everything went back to how it used to be. And has never come back. It feels like it just happened no matter what I was doing, meditating or not. As a matter of fact the first time it happened I wasn’t even meditating yet. So why meditate? I know you’ve addressed this ad nauseum, but could you clarify some more? Do you think the creepy astral entities lie to us?
FEEL FREE TO SEND QUESTIONS, ETC. AS COMMENTS [EVEN IF UNREATED] TO THE PODCAST/BLOG
Addressed in podcast: the various Gods like Zeus, etc. Who are they really? Praying to God to win football game
“Patience and fortitude conquer all things.”
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
“Beware of overconcern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.”
RUDYARD KIPLING
“All appears to change when we change.”
HENRI-FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
Inside the Guru Purnima Rainbow: the FEELING was amazing. felt like standing inside a giant magnifying glass. much more than just the visual…. like Alice in Wonderland
Mt Soma… a mountain of soma
Truth is stranger than fiction
The World is not as we have been lead to believe.
Ancient and Modern Legends
Practical Approaches:
maca, exercise, cardiologist light sweat, bodybuilding, diet, exercise, organic, exercise u like and let it evolve, yoga props, muscles and motion, finding root of physical tension, soma plant of the west?
“Think as the wise men think, but talk like the simple people do.”
ARISTOTLE
Rudderless in the River? … or is it? Karma’s Time Lag Revisited, Brihaspati & Shani
congregation spaces in the home…. the more the better
muscles & motion
Woody Allen once said that 80 percent of success in life is just showing up.
Dear Michael. This is off topic, but I would love to know what you think of NDE experiencers, and pre-birth memories. I’ve listened to several hundreds of these testimonies, and they have several things in common, what disturbs me most is that many of them remember being forced to reincarnate, and also having their memories wiped. I don’t understand how we are supposed to correct mistakes if we can’t remember why we’re here nor our last life here.
imbalance leading to moments of grossly inappropriate behavior… various causes
sleepy weepy… grumpy
we can spin every situation a million different ways and justify each one as “the truth”, “wisdom”, etc. How you ‘feel’ about
each may be “you” or is it your stress/issues/biases projecting? Discernment is a rare and illusive art. Practice
“Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I’ve learned that anything in life worth having comes from patience and hard work.”
GREG BEHRENDT
“There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven’t even started wondering about yet.”
ROALD DAHL
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
“No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.”
CHARLES KETTERING
“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
“If you don’t like your personality, you better change it now, because after you are enlightened, you won’t care”
SWAMI MUKTANANDA
Paradox of Liberation
If you spend your life working on self improvement, all you have to show for it at the end of your life is an “improved” self.
Quote of Unknown Origin
paradox of liberation,108 awakenings x infinity, healthy self, personal process, moksha, shastras, relationship with, “undefended” self, behavioral modification
few are willing to face their issues, or even acknowledge their nature, it’s not about getting rid of them. It’s about having a healthy relationship with them.
Denial prolongs the imposition personal issues have upon your life and your behavior yet for most is just too self compromising to acknowledge, let alone embrace them
it takes determination to work with these things. The rewards are huge a healthy relationship with self is called liberation freedom, self actualization it’s not about getting rid of your issues. It’s about bringing the full light of awareness to them and being OK with that.
Greatness is nothing more than a healthy relationship with a sum total of who you are, If you knew the sum total of your life experiences you would know you are exactly where you are supposed to be. Trees are not meant to grow out of the ground like two by fours. It’s the contour, the curves, the hues, the shades, that birth individually, we are all unique.
——-
Current Events:
Trump indictment
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
Unification of Paradox; The Art of Decision Making; What Really Does/Doesn’t Matter; How to be Great
Mai Pen Rai… Thai: it doesn’t matter, nice motto for the soul
Horizontal and Vertical unification/integration
The Art of decision making: everybody makes decisions constantly even the choice to not decide is a decision
Memorial Day
Warrior/Leader, Life on the Line
baby/bathwater; the anchor and the waves; connotations
it is not necessarily about reflecting and mourning all day long. but take a moment as a family to address it, its value, its meaning. that more than a huge lecture will instill values in our children. touch their heart and then let them figure it out for themselves.
loving your country in kali yuga
be the person you would like to believe you were in a past life.
Home/Om/Womb: The Lords of Moksha
Current Events:
Land of opportunity, not oppression, Tim Scott
ivory tower head trips vs wisdom
moral integrity: embraced or abandoned?
95% of our children spend an average of 3 1/2 hours per day on social media
Total screen time 8 to 9 hours per day 30% of young girls has seriously considered suicide connect the dots
fiscal policy… the debt tipping point
———-
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
Mapping: life, personal process and bodybuilding, spiritual growth… perspectives are just the beginning.. find truth of it within yourself
nobody else will say it exactly right
potato/pota-a-ato to them means the world to you. ultimately, the process of your personal development is exactly that: personal.
kindness & judgement: towards the world, others, ones self
anger is unbridled judgement
fascination… my favorite emotion
find truth within yet when it feeds rebellion/defiance/militance one is losing ones way.
wisdom is inner truth integrated with a balanced heart and mind: the foundation to a “good life”
the foolish genius… smart vs crazy
just because they are smart does not mean they are not crazy
we have two brains..intellect and intuition [gut feeling] ultimately the gut is the better decision maker.
gossip means not minding ones own business. it is as destructive as it is common. it is the antithesis of kindness.
kindness is the great gift you can give to others
one persons affinities are anothers aversions. insisting that others feel about things the same way you do is oblivious futility. understanding this is a prerequisite to world peace. living your life while allowing others to live theirs does not mandate commingling.
a persons sexuality is their own business, but pushing it on others is as futile as it is unacceptable.
you can justify anything with the intellect and people do.
thoughts matter little (we have all sorts of thoughts) … how we feel about those thoughts makes all the difference
On marriage: it is easier to stand on 4 feet than two.
Married or single, together or alone, cultivate contentment in your home. That is the foundation of a good life. Requiring constant attention, build it over time and once built protect it as your #1 personal priority. Hold it with kindness.
Kindness within the home, holding one another, even without touching, even without speaking, create the atmosphere that holds others… especially those you love.
they speak of people being framed for a crime? Yet we frame one another all day long every day strive not to frame, but to be open and under-standing. …humility is built right into the word [after all, it is not “over-standing”.
We look out to the world for self actualize and yet real self actualization happens in the heart through the home, and it then goes out into the world. Outer actualization is a manifestation of true self actualization which is within.
the 3 spiritual houses of jyotish [astrology] are [4,12,8] home. om, and womb. they are all 3 of the same essence.
ultimately,best decisions are made with the gut, not the brain
intellect is an essential tool but a poor master. enlightenment is living at, from, and in your true home.
Aspire to wisdom… and remember that wisdom, lies beyond the intellect
the world famous chinese doctor Shen’s most common reason given for a persons health problem: ”life no good”. Create and maintain a “good life”: it’s the number one health essential.
Rest into the home, the om, the womb … the source, the foundation, the root of life, from which all else manifests. Strength in the outer world is rooted in the stability of the home. Losing that connection is the source of all dis-ease.
Hold your friends, associates, and housemates in kindness, in love and kindness… even when in other rooms, it doesn’t matter for that feeling is an underlying field, a foundation of silence that holds and cradles all…. the source, the wellspring of fulfillment.
Stability is the foundation of strength and fulfillment within. the home is that source of stability: home om womb cultivate that in your life and give it you ongoing dedication.
And resting into that place within it is carried with you wherever you go
“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.”GLENN CLARK
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
and under thinking the sublime. Intuition: the Vedic understanding, Puranas
Tid Bits:
Every 12 years or so, Kumbabishekam, re-inauguration of temple. 10 pandits, etc. will be huge 3 days… fabulous.. looking for date around May…. we are all very much looking forward to it.
Craftsmanship is steeped in tradition.
Far too many people lack the courage of their deeper inner convictions. Too many hearts and minds are blown in the winds of karma.
Simply say what you know is true I would’ve never thought that would require courage. Do your best to say it kindly, sweetly, thoughtfully; but do your best to say it.
Hatred carries the inability to speak out feelings without losing one’s balance.
‘Jesus saves’ and ‘confession’. What they really mean and how that really work explained in the podcast.
‘Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you’ll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.”
JACOB M. BRAUDE
The Counter Intuitive Culture:
Current thinking seems to be if it’s right it has to be counter intuitive. Yet God knows it’s a joy to be simple.
e..g. anti-inflation bill, lockdown to prevent spread of virus, trans parties for children, cartel run boarders, CDC suppression of vaccine data, etc.
Counter intuitive can be valid, but only rarely when it is main stream. You know things are way off.
Your life is the result of the decisions you make, and the simple truth of the matter is the drugs and alcohol, are a death trap. Take a triple backflip with a half gainer off the high knuckle board and who knows where you will land?
Intuition, The Vedic Understanding: Puranas, Relative viewing the Gap… remembering with Absolute beyond limitations of space and time.
Current Events
Fentanyl and heroin has made its way into Mexican pharmacies, as well as online pharmacies with labels that are hard to distinguish from a genuine pharmaceutical companies
some estimate $2 trillion per year in dark money… i.e. unaccounted for in US feed gov. That makes no sense to me. is it possible? Hidden gov behind the scenes with own military , navy, airfare, etc. A full level deeper than what we have even thought of as the ‘deep state’.
I am told that the federal government spent $6.27 trillion in FY 2022. This means federal spending was equal to 25% of the total gross domestic product (GDP), or economic activity, of the United States that year.
Rumor is that the plane that hit the pentagon hit where they were auditing the oversight of the money—tough for me to believe that one but who knows?
Iran is one week away from having a nuke
I heard that the physicist, Micio Kaku admitted that he will have to rewrite all of his physics books post the Web telescope discoveries. Then sadly, he added that those pictures were not of galaxies but of black holes. If true, I forgive him. I’ve said stupid things myself in life. We all have. Those were obviously galaxies not black holes.
Finally in the news: Lab really did leak the virus… no kidding, and what next? 2+2 really does = 4?
To listen to the audio version, please click here.
"Take the time to reflect on what is said here. If you find yourself associating this material with things you have heard elsewhere, please take the time to diligently explore how they are different. This knowledge is elusive. I share it here because I have seen how much this knowledge helps people – the potential is enormous." – Michael Mamas
"True knowledge slips through the fingers of those not willing to ponder…" – Michael Mamas
"Take what I say and work with it to develop a deeper understanding of life, rather than taking what I say and forcing it into the mold of your current relationship with life." – Michael Mamas
"Evolution means change." – Michael Mamas
"Your disposition is the tone with which you hold yourself, your cells, your psyche, your beliefs. More than anything else, it determines your life." – Michael Mamas
