You’ve seen rubber bands that get bunched up and twisted into tight little balls. You can stretch it out flat but when you let it go, it springs right back into its bunched up and twisted little ball. A person’s awareness is like a rubber band. It is programmed to view everything in a particular manner. It is a real stretch to see things another way. Even when you do stretch your awareness to view things in a new way, your awareness springs right back to how it was. And how much better it feels to get things back to ‘normal’!
When presented with Knowledge of how everything really works, it can be a stretch. At the same time, it touches that deeper place within you where you are eternally one with Truth. It makes sense. Yet like the rubber band, the tensions remain in the awareness and it soon springs right back to the familiar old comfortable way of seeing things.
By repeatedly revisiting Knowledge, the tensions in your awareness are eventually released. The release of stresses and strains in your awareness is what evolution is all about. Unfortunately, people often trade one set of tensions (one way of bunching up the rubber band) for another. They just replace one world view with another.
Truth dwells within you as you. To discover Truth, you only need to release the tensions in the rubber band of your awareness. It is really so simple.
Yet the old familiar way of bunching up the twisted, tight, little ball of awareness that is the sum total of all your life experiences is very stubborn. It is the notion of truth you cling to, rely upon, and identify with. The path of freedom from those habitual patterns is true spiritual growth. It is indeed illusive.
You’re a great stretcher of rubber bands! …the blogs are great but your classes are my favorite.
I agree with Martha, classes are where I am truly stretched.
I remember the first class I took with Dr Michael Mamas…during class, what he was saying made sense and felt so right at the depth and then, when I left -I couldn’t explain to anyone what he really said…is this the same dynamic?
The rubber bands seem to hold especially tight when something apparently works on the surface. Some notion works good for awhile, then quits working so well but my old familiar habits want to keep doing it.
Nice comments. I do sometimes wish I could convey what is done in class via blogs, but it is just not possible.
And yes Cathy, that is the same dynamic.
I like how paying attention to the rubber band helps it unravel.
My rubber band has definitely lost some of its elasticity since discovery Mt.Soma. I like how it feels. I am stretching it daily however I am over do for a real serious stretching that can only happen at Mt.Soma.
I love this explanation.so vivid. I agree with others about the power of your classes. sometimes in class it feels like your words are somehow untangling a few of the rubber bands in my rubber band ball. Strands that I have been working to unravel for sometime just lessen their grip and release the tension. Thank you
I feel sad that I can’t stretch my awareness enough to keep up with you. However, I know that daily meditation, living at Mount Soma, attending classes, and working on Mount Soma projects all stretch my awareness. For all of that I am grateful.
Class and meditation retreats are a dynamic duo for making tangles come undone.
I love this analogy!
You have such a talent for expressing subtle abstract dynamics in tangible ways. The rubber band analogy is wonderful. Thank you.
Being in the ashram really stretches my elasticity. All the negative thoughts that were purified out during meditation gave me the opportunity to see my habitual way of thinking and responding. Thank you for providing an environment that allows us to speed up our spiritual evolution!
I have been noticing how one set of stretches, when relaxed, jumps to another set of stretches. Having the reminder just to go for the level of all Knowledge is great. This explanation is a wonderfully graphic analogy for what is really happening in our evolutionary process. Thank you.
Your analogy goes right to the core of how awareness works. It really helps me understand how one must repeatedly revisit the Knowledge as you said. With time and patience …EUREKA …the gold mine is reached! It really pays off!
Thank you for this blog. At times I feel the rubber band relax and then I get back into the daily work world and I am all bunched up again. Sunday nights I am so tight I have a hard time falling asleep . I need to get back to mourn soma and a class. Thanks again for this blog,
Excellent blog! It seems to strike a cord with so many of us, too. Great analogy…
The stretching, then going back to “normal”, and then releasing has been my exact experience in attending your classes and reading your blogs.
I’m sure what happens in class can’t be duplicated in blogs, exactly, but I feel there is a lot of shakti in the web site nonetheless…
Totally agree on class stretching my rubber band. mbs, I agree about Shakti here. If you peek in youtube, those videos also relay. I like reading peoples’ comments, the more the merrier..because I feel them and it touches me remembering them.