My Life, Your Life

by | Friday, July 22, 2011 | Spirituality | 3 comments

“Destiny is not a matter of chance,

it is a matter of choice;

it is not a thing to be waited for,

it is a thing to be achieved.”

–  Winston Churchill

~

All those years in the Ashram, my entire life actually, I never thought in terms of how much money I was getting for my efforts.  My sights were always set on something much more meaningful.  It was about my life.

~

“What am I doing with my life”, I always asked. It must have meaning, purpose, real value… a value that is not measured in dollars and cents. It must transcend dollars and cents.

~

In the Ashram, we worked hard in the name of a higher purpose. The idea that we were not “getting paid” never, ever crossed my mind.  For me, the motivation was a purposeful life.  That completely transcended the idea of committing my soul’s life force to mere money.

~

Someone recently commented to me that we can’t expect too much from the Ashram participants because, after all, they are not being paid.  Such thinking astounds me. Paid with what!?  Money?  Does the value system not surpass dollars and cents? What do people who think in such terms have to show for their life?

~

And we wonder why the world is in such dire straights.  Just look at the value system people adhere to.

~

I choose to have nothing to do with that. My commitment is to something far greater, far more laudable, far more enduring.

~

There are many currents in the ocean of life.  You align with the one of your choice.  I choose the one that offers something of enduring value to show for my life at the end of my life.

~

I invite you to join me.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Keeping Things in Their Proper Place

by | Tuesday, June 28, 2011 | Spirituality

From time to time scientists and academicians are referenced to support things that I say.

~

Though it is appreciated and sometimes quite interesting and even helpful, it is important to remember that we are the authorities here.

~

I mean no disrespect.  Their knowledge certainly does have value.

~

However, things must be kept in their proper place.   The following quote addresses this.

~

“The book-learned are reputed to be wise,

but they are attached to the world of ignorance.”

–  Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Selfless Devotion

by | Thursday, June 23, 2011 | Spirituality | 1 comment

My years of commitment to the school and Mount Soma have led me along a most remarkable and unexpected path.

~

By fully committing myself to my work, attention naturally shifted away from my personality, or what I like to call my samskara self.  My identity ceased to be with my individuality.  I have been overtaken by a flow that I can only describe as God.

~

The universe is an unbounded ocean of consciousness in motion.  It is a Divine flow. When the individuality melts away, you are left with universality.  This is the path of devotion.

~

Physical representations of God certainly have their value.  Emotional enrapturement with God does also.  However, a loss of individuality leads to a disappearance of the small self that most identify with.

~

Devotion culminates in the dissolution of the samskara self (which is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the death of ‘ego’).  It culminates in the awakening to the Divine Ego.  The Ego does not die.  It transforms, becoming infinitely huge, including all that is.

~

The dissolution of the small self is at times a scary thing.  You, at times, feel like you are losing your grip on life.  You feel like you are being overtaken by something that at first feels separate from your self.  The value system that you have clung to and were brought up with waxes insignificant.

~

The process is one of all out commitment.  You are in with both feet!  No holding back.  No hedging your bets!  No compromising.

~

I did not think of it in this manner as it happened.  I did not view it as a technique that would evolve me.  It was not about ‘me’ at all.  It was about the throwing away of ‘me’ in the name of a purpose.

~

Only years into the process did I begin to see where it was leading – to the death of ‘me.’

~

God takes over everything.  You cease to exist.  It is as if I am becoming invisible – a virtual imagine.  It feels like I am no longer really ‘here.’

~

Yet it is not selfless… not really.  Really, the old self is constructed of samskaras… conditioning… programming.   That just melts away to leave you with what lies deeper.

~

The true Self… God.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

To See the Sun

by | Tuesday, June 14, 2011 | Spirituality

Though the sun shines, the blind cannot see it.
–

Yet if they were to pay attention, they could not only feel the warmth of the sun upon their face, but could also distinguish between day and night- morning and eve.
–
If they allow their attention to become yet more settled, by smelling the air they could make those same distinctions.
–
They could know the nature of the clouds above by the feeling the sensation upon their skin.
–
Few in life discern the subtle in that manner. They prefer clinging to the thoughts that rattle around in their brain and pursuing increasingly intense stimuli to keep them entertained.
–
Oh, if only they were willing to pursue the sublime.
–
They would learn to open their eyes and finally see the sun.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Greatness

by | Saturday, June 11, 2011 | Spirituality

~

~

~

Even in the most challenging incarnation, greatness can be attained provided your dedication is sufficient.

~

Greatness can not be measured superficially.

~

It does not involve wealth, recognition, or even success in worldly endeavors.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

The Gates of Karma

by | Tuesday, June 7, 2011 | Mount Soma, Spirituality

I received the following question:

~

If life on planet earth becomes chaos, are we supposed to make our way to Mount Soma? Or will the doors be closed at that point?

~

To which I responded:

~

‘Make hay while the sun shines.’

~

If chaos is to come, why wait for the chaos to restructure your life?

~

If chaos is to come, resistance will only be greater. Why wait until the wind is in your face before you try to move forward?

~

As to the gates being closed, the gates to Mount Soma will never close.

~

However, karma being what it is, the gates that constrain your life close when they do.

~

If chaos is to increase, making your way to Mount Soma could well be more difficult from your side, but certainly not from the side of Mount Soma.

~

Simple, yes?

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Truth

by | Saturday, June 4, 2011 | Spirituality | 1 comment

The follow article was run throughout south India:

~

http://expressbuzz.com/lifestyle/the-master-on-the-mountain/278379.html

~

In response to which I received a number of lovely emails including the following:

~

I am still digesting the experience of being back there with you [during the temple inauguration], but it was powerfully moving.

~

When I would look at you during the ceremony, you seemed deeper than I’ve ever experienced.  Even now, in looking at pictures of you at the event, the darshan flows out much more strongly than before.

~

It might just be me, but it feels like a reality-changer.

~

Sanjay’s article seems to say it isn’t just me, and clearly he’s seeing the value of what is offered.

~

After years of wondering what it would be like if there was a temple, now we have direct experience… insert string of unfathomable adjectives here.

~

To which I responded:

~

It is all based upon the one fundamental premise: alignment with natural law. Few really understand what that means.

~

They may think instead, “Oh, he was persistent and that is what did it.” or

~

“Oh, he was bold and lucked out” or

~

“Oh, it could not have been alignment with natural law because he did not conform to my belief system of what that is supposed to look like” or

~

“Oh, he followed powerful Hindu philosophy and that is what did it.” or

~

“Oh, he was a persuasive speaker.”

~

Any amount of rationale will rise, but we know better.  The world is not as people have been lead to believe.

~

Alignment with natural law is not attained through superficiality: belief systems, religious codes, rules, being clever, or being shrewd.  It is much deeper.

~

It looks like nothing of this world because it is of that which transcends this world.

~

Many things claim to point in the direction of “it”, but nothing in the relative can really do that.

~

Truth is not a concretion.  Truth is an abstraction… no-thing-ness.    Yet it is to the concrete, to things, which humanity clings.  Alignment with natural law, means life in accord with that which transcends life.

~

As stated in the Veda, even the Veda finds fulfillment is it own annihilation.

~

To live better, humanity must learn to look deeper.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.