Staying on Course

by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, January 14, 2014 | Favorites, Spirituality | 12 comments

I am continuing to have a great deal of fun (fascination) with physical fitness. It serves as a wonderful mini-model for life, certainly including spiritual growth. The proper routines and diet are of course more tangible than in the spiritual arena where things are so profoundly illusive (the razors edge), yet they are subtle enough to draw some beautiful analogies.

My fitness journey has served as a reminder of how such principles apply to spiritual growth. How easy it is to drift off course without even knowing it… that is a fine example. You have a program. You know what to do. But if you take the time to reflect, it may shock you to realize how far you may have drifted without even knowing it. This is true with your meditation routine as well as with the Knowledge. The Knowledge is so delicate, so subtle. As Adi Shankara said, it must be re-enlivened and purified, generation after generation. This is so very true from day to day, month to month, and year to year for every individual.  It is very easy for little compromises to creep in here or there.

This is one of the major roles of a teacher… to keep people on course. I have been struck through the years at how easily the teaching slips away from people, all the while still believing that they have it.

Stay focused. Go 110% for your enlightenment. Listen, ponder, and listen again. This is indeed the final frontier for every individual. It is the ultimate journey, the ultimate quest. Keep a steady hand on the rudder and continue to check and recheck the course you are on. Re-affirm your commitment again and again. Your reward will be the universe and beyond!

Success means never losing your enthusiasm.  I have a fitness coach/trainer. I read his blogs regularly. They serve as great inspiration. I hope my blogs are doing the same for you.

Neti, Neti, Neti

by Michael Mamas | Monday, January 6, 2014 | Favorites, Spirituality | 12 comments

I have been working with a fitness coach/trainer for a while now.  It has been a lot of fun.  He is excellent.  I have noticed that I am quite sensitive to how he responds to me.  I sometimes wonder how he feels about a question I have… if he feels like he has already answered it or it is silly, etc.  I recall, years ago, feeling similarly with my spiritual teach, professors, etc.  The image of me that they held was important to me.

These recollections and current experiences with my coach/trainer have been good.  It has brought to light (again) the sensitivity I am sure a number of you have with respect to your interactions with me.  I think this is particularly true in the spiritual area when the path is often viewed as one of Neti, Neti, Neti… not that, not that, not that.  It could feel like everything you say is wrong.  I know that such a response, even from my coach/trainer would be difficult for me.

I want to make it very clear to you all, that the path to enlightenment leaves one with nothing, NO-THING, to cling to.  The transcendent is an abstraction, not a concrete concept or ‘thing’.  Though infinitely solid and stable, it is also infinitely boundless and without edge or handle to cling to.  Any ‘thing’ is not it… not that… neti, neti, neti.  You rest into it, rest upon it, like a sort of cosmic cushion.  It lies beyond relativity.  So it is out of my love and devotion for you, that I keep pointing you in the direction of that which lies beyond all relativity.  I love all your questions.  I never judge you for them.  I am your devoted helper.

Remember that every point has a counter point.  Every notion has an equally valid yet contradictory notion.  My job is to free you.  Anything you cling to is Not That.  Please do not forget, that my corrections or introduction of contradictory points to what you may be holding on to is not a judgment of you.  Please do not feel that I have made you wrong.  It is only to keep you moving forward… to keep your vision looking beyond the horizon and not locked on to a fixed notion, position, or principle.  You are the transcendent, the divine, the absolute.  My purpose is to awaken you to that.  Enlightenment is not about adding anything, it is only about taking away reliance upon that which is Neti, Neti, Neti.

The Guru

by Michael Mamas | Sunday, December 29, 2013 | Favorites, Spirituality | 17 comments

“So long as you have faith in your Guru, nothing will be able to obstruct your way.” — Vivekananda, 1896

This quote (that Marty provided) is one of the most beautiful things I have recently seen. It immediately made me think of my teacher. Through his presence and his words, he touched a place within me. It is as if he somehow lit a candle deep within me that once lit, could never go out. The guru lights the way. It has struck me over the years to see people who have read and studied Vedic knowledge without the influence of a true, real, and living guru. It underscores for me the understanding that real spiritual knowledge can not be attained from books. It is too subtle. Such knowledge succumbs to the ‘I get it syndrome’. People think they ‘get it’, but they do not. The words may be there, but the understanding is not. As it is said, knowledge exists in the gaps between the words. It is the guru that clarifies the knowledge.

The spiritual tragedy of our time is that so many think of themselves as spiritually knowledgeable, when they are not. Then many of them go out and teach, leading so many well intended people astray.

Finding a real guru is far more challenging and precious than many understand. All too often people are swayed by the drama or presentation: flowing robes, an appealing accent, a trip abroad, an awe inspiring moment and they are convinced they found a real living guru. Real gurus are far rarer than most spiritual seekers can even imagine.

The truth is, finding a real guru has more to do with the depth of their being and knowledge than any superficial criterion you may be holding on to. And depth of knowledge does not mean volume of facts memorized. More is not better. Better is better.

Now why would Vivekananda say ‘so long as you have faith in your Guru…?” Isn’t faith in your guru a given? Well, not always. I have seen people walk away from a real teacher for the most ridiculous reasons. Maybe they projected on to the guru that he did not like them. Maybe the guru’s correction of the person’s behavior or thinking pushed the ego too much. Some people cannot tolerate the idea that they were wrong or behaved in a not ideal manner. When you are too vested in the ego, it can seem intolerable at times to even have a guru.

Once someone said to my guru, “I love you so much, but what if you asked me to go jump off a cliff? Should I do it?” My guru responded with a shaking of his head “no”, as he said, “You know me by my teachings.” Faith in the guru means knowing him by his teachings… knowing him by what he touches deep within you through those teachings. There will be times when a glance or action of the guru may not sit completely right with you. That may be more about you than him. He is a being that is acting in this world… a world of imperfection. To live better, you must look deeper. By all means, be discerning. Any real guru would insist upon that. But be clear on who and what he really is and do not judge him by inane criterion that you have, in reality, come to him to help you overcome.

More than a few times throughout the years I have been told I live in accord with my teachings and never contradict myself or those teachings. My teacher was that way. It resonated with the divinity within me and has guided my life all these years. Divinity is within you. It IS you. The guru just more fully awakens you to it. Stay with that and “nothing will be able to obstruct your way.”