by Michael Mamas | Thursday, May 23, 2013 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
Let’s be very clear on one point. When first stated, you may think you already know it, but let’s take a deeper look: The spiritual path lies within you. Let’s say it a few different ways: Evolution is an inner process. The battlefield of human evolution is within. The spiritual journey is an inner journey. Most of your challenges, most of your karma, lie between your ears and within your heart.
Now the all-important point #2: You take that inner landscape and project it out onto the world. You have challenges: financial, emotional, logistical, moral, intellectual, personal, political, social, etc. You have obligations. You have conflicts. You have irresolvable issues. You have needs. You have made mistakes. You have hurt and have been hurt. You have many fears. You have beliefs and convictions about all of these things. Now here is the tough one: I say again, you take your inner landscape and project it onto the outer world. You convince yourself that your challenges are not about you, but about the situation you find yourself in. You decide that it is what lies outside of you that is wrong or needs attention. Oh yes, if the outer world just had it right, then you would be fine. Then you could tend to your evolution and make some real progress.
My daughter is in France for 10 days on a class trip. She had typical concerns such as who she would have to sit next to on the plane, who she would be assigned to room with, etc. This is the first time she went so far from home for so long. I found myself reflecting on what few words I would most like to say to her before she left on her journey. My first bit of advice was to stay close to the group, which she somehow turned into a funny joke about her dad telling her to not flirt with the taxi cab drivers. The second was to have a good attitude. Be a ‘player.’ Keep a positive attitude and be flexible with challenges or situations that may not be to her liking.
This made me think of my students. There are those that seem to be eternally plagued with outer world, insurmountable obstacles that torment them. Then there are those that keep going forward without getting caught up in this or that disturbance.
You are climbing a mountain. Imagine you have partners to climb that mountain with. What would you like them to be like? What kind of person would you like them to be? What kind of attitude would you like them to have? What attributes would make them the best partner along the way? How would you like to see them deal with conflict, adversity, things being not just exactly how they want them at times, and how they deal with major challenges?
In all honesty, I know of no one that can better help you with the inner journey than I. And I say to you, be that person. Never stop. Keep your eye on the ball. Stay one pointedly focused on climbing that mountain. Do not be distracted by your preconceived notions or the outer world. People come up with innumerable reasons to not keep their priorities straight. Your number one priority must be your evolution.
Attitude is everything.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Friday, May 17, 2013 | Mount Soma, Spirituality |
Imagine being so caught up in a television program that you forget it is just a projection on a screen and believe it is real. That is exactly what you have done.
The ‘screen’ is consciousness. It is the silent witness. It has no opinion. .. no comments… no shades or hues. It is crisp… clean… all wise and all knowing. It is profound in it simplicity… in its very nature. This is the Shiva value… transcendental.
It cannot be enlivened because it is eternally awake. Yet your awareness of it can be enlivened. That awareness changes everything, yet changes nothing. Existence remains exactly the same, just totally different. It is pure consciousness. It birthed everything. It is God’s consciousness.
Trying to ‘fix’ your life, or another’s life, by rearranging the surface is futile… temporary at best lest that rearrangement enlivens your awareness of It. Doing personal process or self-help without that understanding is sweeping the dust under the rug in an attempt to make your house clean.
This is not so difficult to understand intellectually, but to really know this is quite another matter. Do you really know it? Just take a look at how you live your life. There, you will find the answer to that question.
My purpose is to awaken you to It. I am creating a place that is so enlivened with that value that to live there is to just naturally come to know It over time. Yet your addiction to the images on the surface, on the ‘screen’, have so overtaken you, that you cling to the images and continue to look for Truth there… on the surface… as fleeting as time itself. That is your habit, your addiction. You are lost in the illusion, in the mirage. You continue to insist that it offers what you long for, what you need, what the world needs. You are lost to the illusion of time.
To awaken to ‘It’ is to awaken to that which exists beyond time. Time stands still there. Nothing is happening there. It is within ‘It’ where your life comes together. It is the water that feeds the root of life… the fountainhead, the source. It is the foundation you long for… the unification of all that is. To find it, you must go beyond the illusion of time. Yet to go beyond time, you must go through time. To vanquish the dragon of a dream, you need the sword of a dream. You must use time wisely to free yourself from the bindings of time… to see beyond time. Only then will you find what you long for.
It is called ‘Bliss’.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, May 11, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality |
It is really very simple. When the body dies, the mind does not… just that simple.
When the body dies, your dreams become your reality. If your mind was habitually in the gutter before death, that is what you get. If you have been living in denial, your bluff is called. If your mind has been habitually transcending (as with proper meditation), you go to the highest heaven.
‘Just that simple.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Thursday, May 9, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality |
Enlightenment is no small thing. Most everyone reading this likely believes they know that. But do they? Do they really?
Great saints have attained their sainthood by steadfastly overcoming incredible obstacles… one after another, after another. Quite simply, they were willing to endure whatever it took to attain enlightenment… year after year of relentless one-pointed devotion.
When you look at most people, even ‘spiritually aware’ individuals, it is quite a different story. They may feel a little purification (as roughness) at a long meditation retreat and decide they will never do that again. They may see that they do not really have many friends going to a particular class, so they decide not to go. They may have a little conflict with someone and therefore decide to ‘throw in the towel’. Maybe the bathroom accommodations were not quite to their liking. Maybe Starbucks is just a little too far away from the monastery for their liking!
So I ask again… Do you have the right stuff? What are you devoted to… really?
Someone once said that they did not want to do the Ashram Program because they wanted to stay in ‘the real world’. I responded by asking them if they really believed that the pinball machine they lived in was ‘the real world’. It is not. It is merely the illusion that keeps you hooked… lifetime after lifetime… chasing that mirage, that dangling carrot, like a dog chasing its tail.
Time is running out. Re-evaluate your priorities. Bliss awaits you, but you must do what it takes to become free of your addictions.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, May 8, 2013 | Announcements, Mount Soma |
People here at Mount Soma’s Community Center and Student Union have been telling me they are receiving a lot of questions about the Bliss Course, previously known as the Awakening Course. We have renamed it the ‘Bliss Course’, as people have been referring to it that way. Some Ashram participants wrote the following and asked me to post it.
After receiving inquiries about the Bliss Course, as students of Dr. Mamas, we wanted to give you a sense of what a long-term course at Mount Soma is like.
Michael Mamas shapes all programs and courses for the evolution of individuals, the group, and the greater good. He is always responsive to the group consciousness and the flow of the moment, which gives variation and flex to everything. Courses are usually designed in harmony with the Ashram Program.
Here is a typical ashram day:
We begin with meditation at 7 AM. Afterwards, we have breakfast and then begin our morning projects. When he feels it is indicated, Dr. Mamas meets with everyone. Midday, we have a delicious homemade vegetarian meal. Over lunchtime, we often take a walk and enjoy the mountain air. We have a little more activity in the afternoon and then meditate again. In the evening, there are activities in the temple we can attend. After dinner, we often enjoy relaxing together and personal time before lights out at 10 PM.
This daily schedule of meditation, activity, and sleep supports our well being and promotes the integration of the Transcendent into our physiology and daily life.
The motivation for the Bliss Course is to support people’s evolution. All activities and projects are designed to help you catch the flow of the Cosmic Stream. When you’re at Mount Soma, there is a palpable feeling that is beyond description. It resonates with the deepest part of us and over time, the bliss wells up more and more…
Over the next week, we are hoping to put out some more information about the Bliss Course and possibly some videos of Michael Mamas discussing it.
Stay tuned!
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Sunday, May 5, 2013 | Announcements, Mount Soma |
Course Fee
Six Weeks: $1500
Three Months: $900 (This is not a typo.)
Start date is any day in June 2013 you would like.
In today’s world, bliss is often thought of as an intense experience on the surface of life. However, True Bliss is a sublime experience that exists at the depth of your being.
The group consciousness at Mount Soma offers the opportunity to touch into the field of True Bliss. We have been working for years to cultivate this place so you could enjoy such benefits. The purpose of the Awakening Course is to provide you with a taste of True Bliss.
Attaining enlightenment can be viewed as nothing more than breaking a bad habit. The habit is looking for bliss in ”all the wrong places.” That habit comes in many forms. Preconceived notions of what bliss means perpetuates the habit. It amounts to lifetimes of chasing one mirage after another. This summer, awaken to True Bliss!
Even when true bliss begins to dawn from within, at first it goes unnoticed. The habit keeps you distracted by things more superficial. It takes time to break the habit. This course offers you the opportunity to do just that.
We understand people are busy and it is hard to take time away. We are offering a shorter program to accommodate those who are unable to commit to the full three months. Of course, it is best to do the full program. We have made the full course an absurdly low price because we want to share this experience with as many people as possible.
Give us three months of openness to a new understanding, and we will introduce you to the universe of True Bliss.
Our motivation for the fee structure is to give you incentive to take maximum advantage of this opportunity. Your commitment is of the utmost importance.
If you register for the full course at $900 and decide to leave early for any reason, you will be expected to pay the additional $600.
If you sign up for the shorter course and decide to extend your stay, you will be required to pay an additional course fee of $900.
A new and deeper experience, understanding, and appreciation of bliss will transform your entire life. We are thrilled to share this opportunity with you!
Register Now!
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, May 1, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality, World View |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”
– Mahatma Ghandi
There is a very profound message here. Namely, that what underlies all of life, all of existence, is the Unified Field. It is a field of infinite harmony and perfection. It is the foundation upon which everything rests, just as the depth of the ocean supports all the waves on the surface. Everything comes from that and returns to it. That which is not in harmony with that, loses the support of that foundation, and is short lived.
One country may overtake another in battle, but in time, the people of that land renew their rule of that land. Every person, every nation, every thing has its own essential divine nature. To eventually come to rest in that is the course of all of life.
Nature supports.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Sunday, April 28, 2013 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” – Edward R. Murrow
Prejudice reaches far beyond the limits that most project upon it. This is particularly so in how one views ones own personal prejudices. Through prejudice, you create your world.
Most information is wrong information.
Putting all that together, you may feel there is little hope… no way out of the illusion. However, it is through the awareness of this nature of life combined with the dedication to Truth that you will navigate the waters of life and ultimately attain wisdom.
Life’s beauty lies in its elusive nature. The spiritual path is the path of discernment.
Discernment arises with the integration of heart and mind, both discovering their roots in the same one thing.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, April 24, 2013 | Mount Soma, Spirituality, World View |
A comment including the question, “How do you fix a nation that doesn’t want to fix itself?” was posted in my last blog. My answer is below.
The solution to not only this but all problems is the same one thing: Awakening of world consciousness to pure consciousness.
By infusing pure consciousness (the Unified Field) into relative existence, all is healed. It is like watering the root of a plant to feed all aspects of the plant.
Pure consciousness is the underlying basis of all existence. It is the source of infinite harmony, peace, intelligence, awareness, health, divinity, wisdom, truth, etc.
It is as if a whirlpool of identity with that which is more superficial than pure consciousness has overtaken the world.
You too are pulled in that direction. To live better, humanity must look deeper. “Heat” is generated by the friction created when identity is too superficial… lost to relativity. To cool the planet is to move group consciousness more deeply. Otherwise we are merely rearranging the same old furniture in our home, hoping it will make the furniture new.
To answer directly your question, I say, Awaken world consciousness to pure consciousness, the Unified Field. The fastest and best way to do this is to build Unified Field Generators, i.e. Enlightened Cities. They will radiate the light of life to all existence. We are starting with one, Mount Soma. It will serve as a guiding light for humanity.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, April 20, 2013 | World View |
With all the debate about gun control going on, have you considered the topic from the perspective of Vedic knowledge? What should be done? Outlaw guns? Tighten regulations? Stricter penalties for violations?
Imagine the world to be a pot of water. A fire burns beneath it. It inevitably boils over. To prevent it from boiling over, would it make sense to attack the bubbles? Laws against bubbles would have no net effect. Take away the guns and they will use knives or bombs. Doesn’t it make more sense to turn down the fire? With all the fire, the bubbles are inevitable.
That is easy enough in the case of a boiling pot of water: just turn down the heat. Though it has eluded the world, the solution to a world boiling over with the fire of anger, fear, and hatred is just as simple: Create coherence… build Unified Field generators. Cool off the planet. That will solve the problem of real global warming.
That is the only and the simple solution.
This does not mean that we should not have laws. It does mean that the laws will not be effective as long as the heat is on ‘high.’
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
