In the US, these four planets are close together and these days easily visible in the early morning eastern sky before sunrise.
Venus is brightest. Jupiter is lowest in the sky and second brightest. Mars is of course red. On October 9, Mars and Moon will be between Venus and Jupiter.
Beautiful!
An article I wrote about the presidential debates was just published on the front page of Elephant Journal! I’m honored to be a contributing author for a publication so intent on encouraging a conscious life. The article, Presidential Debates: What We Should be Asking Ourselves, asks readers some important questions about evaluating the 2016 presidential hopefuls. How do you separate substance from style? Merit from charisma? Sincerity from pandering?
I encourage you to read it, like it, comment on it, and share it. Let’s see if we can get the word out to as many voters as possible! Remember: a wise, discerning and effective leader will only be elected by wise, discerning and reflective voters.
Please help us get the most traction out of this article by:
To be honest with you, I find social media to be a foreign world that demands I learn its language. It doesn’t care to learn mine. Perhaps this gets easier with time and experience. But in this day and age, you can no longer just place a listing in the phone book. Social media is the fastest-growing information exchange system, which makes it an easy way to enter the conversations and awareness of today’s world. Also, social media presence is a big part of how one’s relevance, popularity, and importance are ranked. In short, to have an online presence, social media is a must.
So we’re doing our part to keep up with the times. We now have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. We are posting new articles, videos, slideshows, quotes, and pictures daily. The social media team here at Mount Soma has been working very hard on all this. I am most grateful.
I like simplicity. I like having everything in one place on one website. With so many social media sites, I am concerned that many of you will not see posts that I feel are of value. In fact, just yesterday I found several of my articles on LinkedIn. My comments on Bible verses appeared on Google+. All sorts of things are showing up on Twitter.
Some of the sites you can find me on are listed below. Please check them out and “Follow” my accounts. Not only will this keep you current, but also the more you participate, the farther the reach of the Knowledge. Your activity on social media can end up reaching far beyond the people you know. Over time, a strong social media presence demonstrates authority in the eyes of the world.
So to keep up with all the things we will be offering online and to keep up with the current world trend, please if you have not already done so, take some time to become proficient with social media.
Michael Mamas social media accounts to follow:
LinkedIn articles apply the Knowledge to business and the workplace.
Instagram features pictures from daily events at Mount Soma.
Facebook, Google+, and Twitter were previously posting the same material, but they are increasingly diversifying. Collectively, they will direct you to much of what is being published elsewhere.
You may have noticed that world history, when presented succinctly, often barely mentions India. That is perplexing. However, taking a deeper look reveals why.
To begin with, the notion of zero originated in India. Zero, of course, is nothing. How interesting that it is represented by a circle. A circle has no handle, no edge, no tip, nothing to grab on to. A dog chasing its tail forms a zero. Humanity wants something, not nothing. We are taught from childhood to view the world in terms of things. Nothing is not really understood.
The crux of the issue, however, is that the real gift from India is nothing… Pure Nothingness… the Transcendent. When you finally awaken to the true nature of existence, you awaken to nothing… no thing… that which transcends thingness. Nothing is the backdrop of existence. It is the essence of everything. Of course, when the knowledge from India is studied, the attempt is to turn it into something. Attempting to introduce people to nothing is not understood. It can even be received with hostility, as if the receiver feels they are being toyed with. The essence of Vedic Knowledge then slips through the fingers.
Who would have thought that awakening to the true nature of nothing is the ultimate awakening? How many believe that nothing is a simple concept so easily understood. How many believe that understanding Vedic literature is something attained through memorization, the intellect, an emotional epiphany, or at least some thing!
Indeed, India’s greatest gift to the world is nothing! Nothing transcends everything. It is the field of pure consciousness, not yet conscious of any thing. Therein lies the riddle of life… the longing, the impulse, in need to make nothing something. Certainly something, all things, are made out of nothing. But nothing is not something. Of course, you can wrap your brain around that but then it is not that. You just have made something out of nothing and it is then no longer nothing.
When you first awaken to nothing, then you will understand. You will stand under everything. Nothing under stands everything. Everything comes from nothing. Taking that as a concept can even frighten people, as if the world then is viewed as useless. However, nothing can be further from the truth (pun intended). After awakening to Nothing, all things take on a whole new, deeper, more profound, and beautiful meaning. Life becomes truly rich.
Indeed, we can all be most grateful to India, for giving us nothing.
It is really very simple. Look at trees. Look at water flowing down a mountain stream. Look at anything and everything. The same principles apply. Everything parallels. The same laws of nature are at work on different levels and to varying degrees everywhere. Manifestation of the universe, a breath in and out, the sun rising and setting, trees producing acorns producing trees, what goes up must come down. Everything is, in essence, the same one thing. I am that. You are that. All of this is nothing but that. It’s all the same.
Those principles are well established and fixed, like the notes of a music scale. However, notes are bent, flowed through quickly or held, played loud or softly. Music is infinitely fixed, yet infinitely flexible. So is life. So is existence. Music can be analyzed scientifically, but the meaning is in the music. The meaning is in the feeling. Feelings lie deeper than thoughts. Essence lies deeper than feelings. Feelings reach out to essence. Yet the path home can be quite curved. It’s all the same.
If you start at the surface and try to fathom the depth, you get lost in the complex web of life, charmed by the melody of the magical flute. Yet the web, the music, emerged from something quite simple. If you start at the depth and follow the blossoming to the surface, everything is under-stood.
Awaken to the depth of life. The surface all points in that direction, but you must listen. You must get the message. And at some point, like an acorn falling from the tree, you will finally let go and return home.
On some deep level of your being you long for new knowledge. New knowledge fascinates, enlivens, and thrills us all. However, there is one huge obstacle to gaining knowledge that requires attention. That is, namely, your current world view.
On the one hand, your current world view is essential to your life. It is through your world view that you evaluate anything and everything. It is the rudder with which you navigate the waters of life. It is the net result of all the life experiences that you have had. It, in a sense, defines you.
On the other hand, your current world view is what limits you. It is only natural to fear and doubt that which challenges your current world view. It is much easier to embrace new knowledge if it reinforces and conforms to your world view. Otherwise, new knowledge can feel threatening.
This is particularly true when a whole new body of knowledge is introduced all at once… especially if the conclusion of that arena of knowledge is radically foreign to you. Perhaps if it was offered in a step-by-step logical sequence, instead of all at once, it could be understood and digested gradually with the logical conclusions then received with enthusiasm and fascination.
Sometimes I take a step back and look at the knowledge I have gained over the years. I realize how much my world view has changed since I was a teenager. If I were introduced to what I know now all at once then, conclusions and all, I would have rejected it immediately. I would likely not have even been willing to start with step one to follow the logical sequences that led me to where I am now.
That lack of willingness is epidemic, not only for individuals, but even more so for societies. New knowledge progresses slowly and is more often rejected than considered. I do understand that when a person who has never considered Vedic knowledge sees, for example, a statue of Hanuman, the experience can cause them to not want to consider step one of the understanding. I also understand that when a person was raised with an understanding of Vedic knowledge, looking deeper into a new perspective may be viewed as incorrect or unnecessary. In either case, knowledge is lost, discarded, set aside.
Every individual would do well to consider where they are with all of this… how they live their life… what their relationship with new knowledge is. How frozen are you into your current world view? How open are you to new knowledge? In this world where we are bombarded with so many different world views, how do you go about discerning what to consider and what to ignore? There is no cookbook of how to go about this. However, for sure, the answer lies within you.
It is up to you to take an honest look within.
Question: About a month ago, I saw Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in my dreams twice, once during meditation, and the other in the middle of that same night. The second time I dreamed of him, I felt something burst out of my heart, and a gust of pain went all over my body. Something like this happened to me a few years ago. Could you please explain what happened to me?
Answer: Interestingly enough, I had a dream about Maharishi just about the same time you did. We associate Maharishi with the Transcendent, certainly someone who is spiritually very high. It is possible that you had a moment of transcendence during sleep and the dream was a symbolic representation of the experience of transcending, namely a dream of Maharishi.
With such a powerful transcendence, a deep-seated stress in the heart could have been released, explaining your experience. Having said that, though we can’t help to wonder and try to understand what happened when we have profound experiences, it’s best to be easy with it and not even hope to have a definitive answer about its nature. It is enough to know that your heart is in the right place and you are on a rapid evolutionary path. Rejoice in that and set all concerns aside.
Oftentimes, people think spiritual attainment is being free from the ego, often referred to as selflessness. If we really take a look at it, that is not exactly right.
Let us first take a look at what the ego really is. We could say the ego exists on two levels: the Personality Level and the deepest level of your being, the Transcendental Level. Typically speaking, those two levels do not work in unison. In fact, the majority of people are essentially unaware of the Transcendental Level of their being. To them, the personality ego is the only ego there is. They live in a world of separation. Their ego versus the ego of everyone else in the world. Oftentimes, their sense of self-worth is all about how they view their ego, their accomplishments, their place in the world, how much money they have, their children, what a good person they are, etc. Though these things can be of great value, that ego exists in the domain of superficiality in contrast to the Transcendental ego. Spiritual evolution is about integrating these two levels of ego so that they function in harmony with one another.
Now let’s take a closer look at the Transcendental ego. It is the level of your being that transcends relativity. It is fully awake to its universal nature. That can be expressed in many different ways: You and God are one; You are one with everything; Aham Bramhasmi; I am the totality; Or, as Einstein would say, “Everything is the unified field,” (that one thing that is the source of everything).
Just as a seed births the tree, the Transcendental Level births all of creation. Just as the seed is the source of all the intelligence and harmony that underlies and guides the growth of the tree, so too is the Transcendental Level the source of intelligence and harmony that underlies your existence.
So let’s take a look at what happens to the ego when, through the evolutionary process, those two levels function in a harmonious and integrated manner. The personality ego doesn’t go away. You don’t become free from ego as some people interpret the spiritual documents to say. What actually happens is the personality ego transforms so your sense of self becomes one with all that is. It is as if Mother Nature herself is functioning through you, as you, spontaneously supporting all branches of the tree of life. You haven’t lost the ego. On the contrary, it is expanded to embrace all that is to cherish, support, and facilitate the growth of everything in creation. This is exactly the opposite of selflessness or egolessness. It is the expansion of the ego to live in harmony with, and breathe life into, the depth of all that is.
In conclusion, a person that has integrated these two levels of their being may not look like your typical depiction of a saintly Hollywood sage on the surface. They do not necessarily speak with a strange cadence or float airily through a room. They may appear quite ordinary. To understand spiritual evolution, we must always look deeper.
Children are naturally quite pure at heart. When they are exposed to the crudeness so predominant in the world today, they feel hurt. Their vulnerability has been violated. That crudeness, having had such a powerful influence upon them, is perceived by them as power and strength. They need to react to that violation with power and strength. Otherwise, they feel like they would crumble and be devastated. They decided that through this power and strength, they would take on those crude values as a defense, as an attempt to claim power for themselves. It is, of course, a facade.
You see this manifest in many forms in adolescence, and also in many adults who have never worked their way through it. They may take on a tough exterior, dress in rebellious ways, behave sarcastically, negatively, or crudely.
When children are young, parents naturally try to protect them from the dark, crude world. Children sense that protection as an affirmation that they are not yet adults. Children grow up. They want to be big. As a result of all this, they associate darkness with adulthood. Crudeness becomes the thing that is forbidden unless you are an adult. So, we can see that morbid, foul, and inappropriate dress and behavior becomes for the child a declaration that they are adults, that they are big, that they understand the world and that no one is pulling the wool over their eyes.
The best way for parents to deal with this is, number one, to understand it, to be aware of it. The light of awareness heals. Through that understanding, you can begin to work with it wisely. If you attack it directly, you may well prompt the child to defend, which would only compel them to act even more harshly. But how this is appropriately approached is not a cookbook. It depends upon the unique nature of the child, the parent, and their relationship.
Certainly in every case, the true adult is one who is capable of resting in and speaking from that place of vulnerability deep within. True strength is found in the refinement of the depth of your being, not in the crudeness that so many wear on the surface.
I just heard yesterday about drinking raw potato juice. It is supposedly a panacea… anti-inflammatory, diabetes, cancer, heart trouble, etc. I have no personal knowledge on the subject but when I Googled it, a lot came up. According to Dr. Kuai, a local acupuncture practitioner, Chinese traditional medicine says to drink 8 oz. twice daily on an empty stomach and do not eat anything else for an hour at least. He says some honey can be added for flavor. Online, some say carrot juice can be added for flavor. Use only the thin-skinned, white potatoes. Cut out any black spots, green patches, sprouts, etc. before juicing. The skin of those potatoes, I am told, is fine to leave on when juicing.
I do not know anything more and cannot say from my own experience if it is useful or not. I can’t imagine how it can hurt so I am going to give it a try.
If anyone has knowledge or personal experience with this, please post your comment.
The Truth about Religion and Flatlining
