by Michael Mamas | Thursday, April 17, 2014 | Spirituality |
Just returning home from class in San Francisco, I received the following lovely note from one of the students in attendance:
I can’t stop thinking about last weekend. It was so amazing to me, they all are, but this one took my breath away. I want to say something then I will shut up. It is so humbling to be around someone who’s only agenda is to show us god, with no ulterior motive. The fact that it brings you joy to see others evolve is almost a miracle in itself.
What I learned this weekend is intuition, wisdom, and things of that nature are good to have, but they pale in comparison to perceiving what is.
Thank you!
“To perceive what is” …. yes, that is so precious and rare. It was inspired by something I heard an Irish priest say about what a prophet is… not a soothsayer, but one who sees things as they are and says what he sees.
Also, in San Francisco I was asked about management of a business… and how I manage the school. Sitting and reflecting, making lists of bullet points and more specifically making a list of the people I needed to contact on a given day were aspects of what I said. I forgot to mention my use of acronyms or series of letters. I use them for my daily ‘to do list’ as well as a grocery list. The last one was bbbtm. Just accomplish each letters meaning and the day is done.
Now just today when I told the ashram people back at Mount Soma about this, two interesting insights came up.
Firstly, this method is consistent with the nature of existence. Everything starts in seed form. Just a bullet point, or even a letter from an acronym is enough. All else emerges from that. Also, it all starts with silence… sitting and reflecting. Also, life is all about people. Also, start with being, resting into your being. From there comes a deep merging with the issue at hand. Then a knowing naturally arises. From the knowing, the doing… what to do… arises. Too commonly, people try to start with ‘what should I do?” That is upside down.
Secondly, I did not create this management approach because I wanted to follow these points that I teach. I do it as a result of living in harmony with nature… with the nature of life. Realizing this came just today in talking with the ashram people. The living it is spontaneous. It is living naturally…. in harmony with nature, my nature, all of nature. First do the Surya Ram meditation to awaken to your true nature. Then work with the point you learn in class and in these blogs to facilitate the process of harmonizing with nature. In time, you will spontaneous live in harmony with nature, your nature. When practiced, these points will help to free you from a programmed mode of function that is unnatural. See?
And on another note, yes…. Madonna did change the world. But she was part of a larger wave that involved a cultural swing… a swing that was not all that in harmony with Mother Nature. That is like swimming against the current of the Divine Flow. And yet they managed to change the world. We work to align with that Divine Flow… swimming with the current. Yet first we must face and overcome the winds of karma that have been set in place.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Friday, April 4, 2014 | Personal Growth |
Instead of just looking to the outside world to determine your karma,
look to what lies within your emotions and your mind, your heart and your ‘head’.
For an illustration, watch the video below.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, April 2, 2014 | Favorites, Relationship |
People have many diverse motivations in life. Some strive to make money. Others are devoted to mastering a musical instrument. Some aspire to higher and higher levels of education. Some are dedicated to certain principles, that is to say their beliefs regarding being in the right as much as possible. Still others focus on accomplishing whatever task may be at hand.
But after it is all said and done, there is one thing that brings more fulfillment regarding how you live your life than anything else. That, quite simply, is how other people feel about you. Do they respect you as a person?
The odd thing about all this is that that most fulfilling aspect of your life is very simple to attain… yes indeed, very, very simple. The only problem is that people do not have their attention there. They focus more on motivations such as the ones listed above. That is done at the expense of gaining the respect, love, and good feelings of others. Simply making a habit of keeping your finger on the pulse of how others are feeling about you is the simple yet profound key to it all. And even more amazing is that you do not have to always do it perfectly. Mistakes in this regard are not really a problem. You have only to do your best to correct the mistake and move forward. And the correction need not be a dramatic act. A simple acknowledgement is usually quite enough. That in fact, will gain you more respect than if the mistake was never made in the first place. You may think the acknowledgement is a swallowing of your pride or and undermining of your stature, but in truth, it is exactly the opposite.
I encourage you to just try it. Go ahead and focus on whatever task is at hand, but keep your finger on the pulse of how your actions are compelling people to feel about you as a person and do your best to make that a very positive feeling. You will find that in doing so, whatever the task at hand may be, you will be more successful in the accomplishment of it. At the same time, over and above the accomplishment of the task, you will find greater fulfillment in life.
It is really all so simple. Just do the Surya Ram Meditation as instructed and keep you finger on that pulse of respect. Respecting others is the key to attaining their respect and love, is the key to success in whatever task you may embark upon, and is the key to fulfillment in a life well lived.
One final point: It is not so much about how you behave when everything is wonderful and everybody is getting along that gains the respect of others. It is more about how you behave during conflicts or disagreements. Do you just try to prove your point, make yourself right, or make the other wrong? Do you stonewall any perspective or feeling other than your own? Or are you working with the relationship in a manner that will gain the respect and appreciation of others. Never forget that this is how you gain your own self-respect and appreciation. Never forget that you have not won over a person, just because you have silenced them.
Real conflict resolution, and I mean resolution within your own heart and mind, comes not from winning an argument, but instead it comes from winning the respect of others.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Sunday, March 30, 2014 | Personal Growth, Spirituality |
The following quote is true in all fields of life… politically, philosophically, socially, morally, economically, and so on. The field of spirituality is no exception. Like a reed blowing from side to side in the wind, society swings like a pendulum through varying degrees of perception of truth.
Though all things are rooted in Truth, few see the Truth underlying all things. Yet people cling to their current notions of truth. This is the way of the world.
“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” – George Orwell
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Monday, March 24, 2014 | Announcements, Mount Soma
We are in the process of finding a suitable video camera for the online live video of the temple at Mount Soma. It should be up and running before too long. Thanks for your patience.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
