by Michael Mamas | Monday, September 3, 2018 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
When the physiology and psyche are clean and pure, all experiences move from the surface to the depth of one’s being, undistorted. What then reflects back as the individual’s perspective is in harmony with all of nature.
However, each individual has what is called their unique “psychophysiological basenote.” The psychophysiological basenote is a distortion resulting from the sum total of one’s life experiences. For some, it is anger. For others, sadness, fear, distrust, self-doubt, or a longing for peace and love. The psychophysiological basenote can be likened to the color of glasses one is wearing. It determines the nature of one’s perceptions. So, when an impression or experience comes in, it reflects off of the psychophysiological basenote to some degree, coloring one’s viewpoint, perception, thoughts, and feelings. You could say it is the psychophysiological basenote that creates friction in one’s life, thusly creating Karma.
It’s interesting to note that even Vedic principles or principles that I teach in my classes are heard through the individual’s psychophysiological basenote. The intellect then rallies around the distortions. In that way, even knowers of the Veda or my teachings are not true Knowers. Over time, as the distortions clear, the vision and understanding becomes clearer. But that is a process that takes time and is facilitated through meditation and humble reflection. However, identification with the psychophysiological basenote is not easily brushed away. It is held firmly as one’s truth, one’s knowledge, one’s perspective.
There is a principle in psychology that a client’s positive transference (positive perception) of the therapist inevitably, at some point in time, becomes negative transference. That is as certain as a ball tossed up in the air will at some point come down. This principle also applies to the relationship of a student with their spiritual teacher. For that reason, traversing the path of that profound relationship with their teacher is sometimes viewed as the razor’s edge. In other words, one very easily slips off of that path in allegiance to one’s psychophysiological basenote.
Generally, the spiritual teacher first provides the student with fundamental principles about the nature of life and existence. For the student, that is a very inspiring and life-transforming period. During this phase of positive transference, it is often experienced as a time of euphoric infatuation with the knowledge.
The next step is more challenging, for that is when the teacher holds up the mirror to the student, showing them their distortions, in order to help them purify out their distortions. It is then that the student must remain steadfast. It is then that their anger, sadness, fear, distrust, self-doubt, or longing for peace and love can become triggered. If they are not careful, it is then that they enter the time of negative transference and remain there, and thereby lose their way along the razor’s edge.
Similar to what is said in psychotherapy, the real work with the spiritual teacher begins after the student moves through positive and then negative transference. As has been said, it takes a lot of pressure to make a diamond. The key then, as one progresses, is to keep a steady hand on the rudder.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | Spirituality |
Everything is a message from God… but understanding it is usually not so easy. In innocent moments, however, it is clear, exquisite, and pristine.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, July 11, 2018 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
Everything fits together: physics, biology, anthropology, archaeology, psychology, etc. It all unifies and seamlessly integrates into a perfect whole. Where it all comes together is in the very depth of existence itself, what physicists call the Unified Field and what theologians call God.
You can see evidence of unification on a more superficial level through interdisciplinary studies, where a couple of different fields of knowledge fit together. We see different connections all the time, but at the very depth of our being, at the very depth of our soul, everything comes together into a unified whole, a state of infinite harmony, resolution of paradox, oneness.
You can understand unity intellectually, you can even feel it emotionally, or you may have a sense of it deep within your soul. You can even have it as a belief system, attitude, or philosophy. But you don’t fully understand unity until you live it from a state of integrated physiology which is rooted in that deepest level of life.
The principle is simple enough, but the universe that emerges out of that one simple thing becomes complex, riddled with contradictions, paradox, and unfathomable intricacies. Yet we live in a world that we attempt to fathom, attempt to find our way. Though the depth is ungraspable, it can be rested upon and thereby lived. As we evolve, we under-stand more and more. As it has been said, a mango tree’s branches, filled with fruit, bend down to rest upon the ground. Similarly, when filled with the fruit of wisdom, we bow down and touch Mother Earth in humility.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Monday, July 9, 2018 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
I received the following question:
“I’m wondering what happens after life. I see the paradox of just living in a mystery, but I do believe there is some sort of experience after death. I’m wondering if I’ll be able to have fun and spread love after I’m dead. I know consciousness is eternal, but what kind of part do I play in this mix of energy and frequencies?”
Ultimately, every drop of rain gravitates back to the ocean. Like that, eventually, every soul returns to the Oneness, out of which it emerged. That is the highest heaven. However, the journey is long and winding.
Every mind, every consciousness, has a particular tone… a state, a quality. One’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and beliefs are expressions of that tone, just as the color of one’s glasses determines the color tone of everything one views.
When the body drops away, the awareness is left in a sort of dream world determined by that tone. However, that tone has a continuum of levels, from superficial emotions to deeper levels of one’s being, to a profoundly deep connection with the Divine Essence that underlies all of creation. The possibilities of what happens after the body drops away are as endless as the spectrum of human psychological states.
Those who have been transcending regularly through deep meditation sail past the mountains of Karma and rest at a very high level of heaven. Others may find a world that correlates with the negativity that has colored their lives. As one lives in that world, the identity with it unravels over time until the individual is freed of it. As ye sew, so shall ye reap. The more deeply consumed by the negative tone, the more time is required to unravel its grip.
However, we must not be too simplistic in this. You see, often it is the ‘good’ (so to speak) people who judge their negativity most harshly, while the ‘bad’ live with righteous indignation. However, deep inside, we all know better. So, who and what we are deeper inside (where we know better) is what determines what we create after the body drops away. In that sense, we become our own self-honest judge and jury. If the negativity does not reach too deeply into the psyche, then the hellish nightmare that correlates with it lasts just a short time and is just brushed away like cobwebs. If the negative behavior is judged as a serious transgression, the nightmare lasts proportionally longer. We all have our value systems, our judgement systems, but deeper inside we all know better than we may be willing or able to see, to admit. Yet, it is that deeper inner knowing, the inner judge, thatprescribes what happens after the body drops away. All we can do in the meantime is our best.
To live better, look deeper. Life goes on after the body drops away. Meditate regularly and do your best. Know that you will stumble, but fear not. You are not judged by your stumblings. It is the deeper theme, the driving force underlying the path you have chosen, that really matters. Ultimately, we all reach the highest heaven. How long that takes, what you endure in the meantime, is up to you. Meditation is your most powerful tool to move forward wisely. The winds of Karma may blow harshly in your face at the time, but just move forward, forward, always forward. In spite of our many stumblings, we should still strive to live life in a manner where we can put our head on our pillow at night and say, “I did my best”.
The part you play in the greater scheme of things depends upon your steadfast commitment to the journey home to your inner wisdom, what some call your inner Divinity or the place within where you are one with God. Whatever you choose to call it… well, a rose is still a rose.
The more you move forward, the greater your part in the well-being of all you touch. Your touch reaches further and further as you grow and grow, until ultimately, you become like the Sun, whose nurturing light touches us all.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Thursday, June 28, 2018 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
I recently had a dream in which an ancient Hawaiian Shaman came and spoke with me. He talked about feelings and emotions. I can right now only remember one thing he said, “Emotions are funny things. Each time you touch one, it changes.” However, the feeling of my meeting with him said a great deal more to me, through feelings. When I woke up, I thought about it a while. I wondered if I heard that sentence somewhere and it just did not consciously register until the dream, but I do not believe so. Then I thought to search “Hawaiian Shaman” on the Internet and up came the following intriguing link about ancient Hawaiian symbols:
ancienthuna.com/symbols_pics.htm
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, June 6, 2018 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
It’s not uncommon for a competitive athlete to thank God after a victory. It’s also not uncommon for some people to assert that God picks a side in a sporting event. Let’s take a deeper look at this to figure out what is going on.
On the deepest level of existence, God is universal, supporting all things equally. We can say that God is like the trunk of a tree, supporting all of its branches. However, as that divinity wells up through different levels of existence, it, like a tree, branches outward.
Nations, communities, and individuals align with that divinity in different ways. That is one reason why there are different religions. Each religion aligns with a branch of the tree of divinity according to the laws of nature of the land. The laws of nature are different on the mountaintop than they are in the valley. Thusly, this births different religions. Each religion has with it a different and unique face of the one God. In that way, there are an infinite number of different faces of God. Some correlate with entire continents and some with small communities.
An athletic team is supported by the spirit of the community it represents. That spirit is fed by the unique face of God (the unique aspect of the one God) that correlates to the laws of nature of the community represented by that team. On a team level, it is called “team spirit”; on a national level, it is called “patriotism.” We feed our team, our community, our nation, and our world by aligning with that quality of divinity, that face of God, that soul which supports, nourishes, sustains, and feeds each particular group consciousness. Just as different branches of the same tree can sway in different directions simultaneously while still rooted in the same trunk, diverse personified aspects of divinity can lean in different directions.
If they know it or not, this explains the mechanic of how an athlete can validly thank God for their victory. If we know it or not, we all rest upon the same one God as that life-sustaining value wells up in an infinitely diverse number of ways.
In different parts of India, different aspects of divinity are worshipped. Even small villages have their own chosen aspect of, for example, Lakshmi, that they worship as the God/Goddess of their small village.
Said simply, God is on everyone’s side. The degree to which we align with natural law (with God’s nature) is the degree to which we receive the support of nature. That can play out as worship of a particular aspect of God, as team spirit, as a devotion to family, to nation, to community, or even to the group consciousness of a small business. That spirit breathes life into the community.
Dr. Shen was a famous Chinese medical practitioner and my dear friend. He once told me, “I don’t deal with disease. I support health.” Similarly, we support health on all levels of life by maintaining a positive dedication to what is healthy in the society. It is not that we bury our heads in the sand with respect to problems. Rather, it’s that we understand the source of true health, success, and prosperity. So, feel free to cheer for the home team!
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, April 24, 2018 | Spirituality |
“A person who only laments the past is a coward, whereas a person who can change the future is a true hero.”
~ Jackie Chan in Dragon Blade
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
~ Soren Kierkegaard
Forward, forward, always forward. Life is funny. Even the Bhagavad Gita states that the course of action is unfathomable. Yet, so many attempt to fathom it before we move forward, and judge it looking backward. Actually, I do not believe life can ever be understood by looking backward, though 20/20 hindsight certainly has its advantages.
In The Golden Frog, the idea of memory was addressed. Memory is more about perspective than knowledge. This world is the world of perspective. That is why it is called relativity. Yet we cling to our perspectives as truth and look for the Truth in everything. As Dylan sings in the song “Love Minus Zero”:
“In the dime stores and bus stations
People talk of situations
Read books, repeat quotations
Draw conclusions on the wall
Some speak of the future
My love she speaks softly
She knows there’s no success like failure
And that failure’s no success at all”
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Sunday, December 24, 2017 | Spirituality |
There are so many different understandings of Christ: who he is, what he is. As we refine our understanding of nature and existence, so too do we refine our understanding of everything. This includes our understanding of Christ. As we evolve, instead of rejecting our earlier notions of Christ, we do well to be open to a deeper understanding of Christ. I would think that even the most skeptical among us are open to the ideas of modern physics. Namely the idea that everything is born from the same one thing. We have only just begun to fathom the significance of that, and the insights it could provide to understand the spirituality of Oneness, the notion of the Christ.
Still, in a more humble sense, we can all embrace Christmas as a feeling of love, peace, and harmony we share. Whatever one’s level of understanding, the notion of Christmas offers us all a richer, more beautiful, and meaningful life. Regardless of our religion, intellectual understanding, or position, may we all feel into those values and come together during this holiday season to celebrate the tender beauty of life.
Merry Christmas!
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Friday, December 8, 2017 | Meditation, Personal Growth, Spirituality |
The laws of nature are very different on the surface of life as opposed to the depth. For example, on the surface, you are you, and I am me. We are separate. Whereas in the depth, we are all one. For that reason, behavior oriented around the surface of life can look very different than behavior oriented around the depth. It’s as if there are two different fronts that we are negotiating simultaneously. Proper behavior is a matter of the integration of the two.
When a person is disproportionally oriented toward one front or the other, imbalanced behavior is the result. For example, people may favor spiritual reflection with a love for the transcendental depth of existence. However, when they go out into the world, they cease to be practical or effective in the material world. On the other hand, when the imbalance is excessively toward the material world, behavior can become petty, selfish, cynical, and polarizing. Oftentimes, individuals may enjoy reflecting upon the spiritual, but when it comes down to living their lives, they disproportionally become superficially oriented. It is easy to be spiritual on the weekends, but how much do we retain as we live the rest of our lives? How wisely do we integrate the surface with the depth?
Those overly entrenched in the superficial front tend to become overly materialistic and cynical. Those overly entrenched in the spiritual tend to become impractical and unrealistic. Those living a life that integrates the two are often not recognized by those living a less integrated state. That usually is a matter of projection. People tend to project their value system, based upon their level of integration, upon others, and judge them accordingly. For example, the cynical and materialistic scrutinize the behavior of others, assuming they too must be equally cynical, materialistic, and not to be trusted. They spontaneously assume ulterior and selfish motives are at the root of others’ behavior. This is what we face as a society these days. Those immaturely spiritually-oriented judge pragmatic behavior as being superficial and not deep.
However, a life integrating the two is subtle. Attempting to integrate the two in an unsophisticated way becomes a matter of cross-realm projection (i.e., trying to impose the laws of nature of one front onto the other front). For example, just because we are all one doesn’t mean you give away all your money and abandon all pragmatics.
Proper integration of the two is a sublime and exquisite dynamic. It is a state of physiology, a state of being. The majesty of an artful navigation of life integrating those two fronts of life is not easily recognized or appreciated by those living a less balanced state. An imbalanced relationship between those two fronts precludes wisdom, maturity, and artful living. Such imbalance is the source of negativity (e.g., suspicion, mistrust, misunderstanding, hatred, resentment, judgment, polarization, and conflict).
Through meditation, as well as reflecting upon the nature of life and the nature of our own personal psychodynamics, we can cultivate a healthy, wise, and mature relationship with life (i.e., the integration of the surface with the depth). When feeling challenged in life, reflect upon the subtle nature of life. Aspire to understand the sublime relationship and harmonization between the surface and the depth. Aspire to wisdom. Aspire to a pragmatic relationship with the material world integrated with an unending adherence to the Divine.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
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.
