Resurrection

by | Wednesday, January 19, 2011 | Spirituality

The Japanese intend to clone a long-extinct mammoth.

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Species exist in the absolute, even if not in the relative.  Over time, they can come and go.  The DNA correlates [maps on} to the Veda.  Vedic references to various animal species go far, far beyond superficial reverence for particular animals.  It is structured in the absolute and if studied in that context, great insights into life can be gained.

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The same is true of ‘primitive’ weapons.  They in fact are primordial, not primitive.

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Primordial structures are another  –  the circle, square, triangle, point, etc.  These are the basis of the field of yantras, which contain within them the fundamental mechanics of nature… quantum mechanics.

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Primitive refers to crude or unevolved.  Primordial refers to the fundamental, essential, underlying basis of life and existence.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Emerson Quote

by | Tuesday, January 18, 2011 | Spirituality

I started reading Emerson and Thoreau in elementary school.  I remember getting so excited when I found out that they actually knew each other!

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“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone

to tell you that you are wrong.  There are always difficulties

arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right.

To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I would add that the path is one of discernment.  One does well to use time wisely.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Karma

by | Monday, January 17, 2011 | Spirituality

When a ball is rolling, you can calculate where it will stop.  Such predetermination is termed ‘karma.’

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Most of your karma exists between your ears and in your heart in the form your conditioning.

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Karma affords no freedom.

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Freedom means enlightenment—acting from the depth of your being.

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What physics calls ‘uncertainty’ is better termed ‘freedom.’

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Watch a video of Michael talking about Karma.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Devotion

by | Saturday, January 15, 2011 | Spirituality | 1 comment

The other day I was asked to write a blog about devotion.  It inspired yesterday’s blog entitled ‘tradition.’  At first glance, the connection between the two may seem minimal or at the very least abstract, but is it really?

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What are you devoted to?  And why?  You may be devoted due to nothing more than tradition.  Perhaps you were raised to be a particular religion, and that is good enough for you.  You could be devoted to many things for that same reason.

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For example devotion to God, country, spouse, friends, and in fact anything, can be explored in this manner.  For example, do you pick your friends?  or do they pick you? Where then, does devotion really come from?  What is it, really?

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Tradition offers a construct, a framework, that supports life assuming your relationship with it is healthy.  This was addressed in yesterday’s blog. Tradition then directs the focus of at least superficial devotion.  However, true devotion, of course, comes from a deeper place within the heart of your being.  It cannot be dictated.  It blossoms from within.  It may have been discovered through tradition, but it cannot be dictated by it.

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Inner turmoil results when your superficial devotions do not conform to your deeper truths.  Integration of life emerges when you live wisely within the world of tradition, all the while staying true to your inner self, your inner devotions.

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It is an integration of heart and mind, depth and surface.  When that is lived, tradition rises up to support your inner being, your evolution.  When it is not lived, your inner being becomes buried beneath the rubble of a no longer applicable tradition.  This is a time as confusing as it is delicate.  Tradition is to be honored.  It serves to uphold you.  However, times change, people change, your relationship with all things change.  Integration does not mandate passivity, or abandonment of self.   The only constant is the quiet depth of the ocean of your being.  True devotion begins and ends with devotion to that.  All else changes.

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These words could easily be manipulated to justify many inappropriate things.  They are not to be taken lightly or as an invitation to turn you back on current commitments and traditions.

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It is an invitation – no, it is an appeal – to look within and structure your life in devotion to the abstract, ungraspable truth that dwells there.  It is felt. It is not logically derived.

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Yet to be lived, it must be embraced in a reasonable manner.  All else in life must be navigated wisely and honorably, but navigated in the name of the highest truth, which is the divinity that dwells within you, eternally untouched by any rules, codes, laws, or traditions.

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It must also be navigated in honor of the fine fabric out of which the exquisite texture of life and tradition is made.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Tradition

by | Friday, January 14, 2011 | Relationship, Spirituality

Tradition in life is a supportive thing.  It gives time tested direction and parameters to life.  It is the means through which cultures culture the individuals within society.

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Yet like all things, tradition has it’s pros and cons.  For example, I have seen many couples try to force their relationship to conform to strictly traditional patterns.  Interestingly enough, I have noticed that those who have succeeded in doing so are sometimes resented.  I think the reason for that is two-fold.

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Firstly, some who may have on the surface rejected the limitations imposed by tradition at the same time hold those values deeper within, ingrained from childhood.   From that place of inner conditioning, ‘successful’ relationships act as a barometer – a glaring example of how they have fallen short of the ideal.

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Secondly, there is a sense that the uniqueness of the individuals in such a strictly traditional relationship has been compromised, stifled, and limited.

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This certainly creates a slippery slope.  When does conformity to tradition feed life?  When does it limit?  When does breaking away from such guidelines support or limit.  These are not easy questions to answer.  As with all things, a wise response requires reflection, inner exploration, self honesty, etc.

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Couples would do well to hold their relationship up to the light of both possibilities.  How does strict tradition feed their relationship; how does it limit?  It is a matter of discovering your true natures, and your relationship of that with cultural values.  It is not black and white.  It is not a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to society’s norms.  Rebelliousness, impulsiveness, fear, self judgment, resentment, etc. are all obstacles to such exploration. They are aspects that too would require exploration.

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All this does not just apply to spousal relationships.  It applies to your relationship with everything: God, your children, friends, relatives, your job, your health, on and on. For example, Ananda Maya Ma diverged from her cultural norms to be a woman spiritual leader in a society where only men were permitted that status.

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I am not encouraging rebellion here.  Nor am I encouraging a blind allegiance to a belief system.  As in all of life, truth dwells within you.  I offer this as an invitation to wisely and carefully explore the world you have created for yourself. Let it serve as a catalyst to the facilitation of your own evolution and happiness, and through you, the expansion of happiness of your spouse, loved ones, and the entire world.

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It all begins with you.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Lights

by | Monday, January 10, 2011 | Spirituality

In India they have the festival of lights.  In the US we have Christmas lights.

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There is something most fundamental about the psyche here… Lights in fall/winter…  The inner light of life.  Cultures have traditions rooted in the deepest fundamentals of life.

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To feed the root of life, nurture, honor and cherish the roots of the culture.  Keep it pure.  Brush off any moss it may pick up from time to time.

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Separate the wheat from the chaff, while understanding that divinity lies beyond the reach of secularity.   Cultures (traditions) are here to culture humanity.  Life is indeed subtle and delicate.  Hold it so.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Experience

by | Sunday, January 9, 2011 | Spirituality | 1 comment

The following is worth sharing.  It is from Craig Ballantyne, a fitness guru:

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‘ “Experience is not what happens to you. It’s what you do with what

happens to you. It takes a wise man to learn from his own mistakes.”

Kekich Credo #99 …

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The more you know about yourself, and the more you respond to this knowledge, the better your results will be. Start immediately.

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And remember…

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You are not your mistakes. Do not be too hard on yourself. If you make a mistake – and we all do – just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back on track immediately. Learn from your experiences to become a better person each day.’

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.

Celestial Sight, Celestial Light

by | Friday, January 7, 2011 | Spirituality

My younger daughter was playing with her mom’s iphone and created this picture with one of the apps.

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We all have inner knowing.  Often, we like things that resonate with that inner knowing, if we are consciously aware of that knowing or not.  The picture is eerily similar to the experience of celestial sight, particularly when that sight first opens and is so overwhelmingly new.  Later,  it becomes more familiar. The image also gives a good sense of what earth spirits are and look like.  If you look carefully, you may feel like you can see some in the pictue.

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Remembering the paintings in the Hari Krishna books, my daughter’s picture made me think of a client I had years ago.  Those Hari Kirshna paintings also hinted at the experience of celestial sight.  I remember wondering if the artist had that level of perception.  One day, remarkably, he appeared at my door for a session.  When I asked him,  he said “no” he did not have celestial sight.  Yet I explained, like everyone, he did have ‘inner knowing.’

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You have inner knowing.  At first it is touched for moments here and there. To be a person of wisdom means living, speaking, and acting from that place.  In a world bombarded with preconceived notions, that is not so easy to do.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.