by Michael Mamas | Monday, December 10, 2012 | Mount Soma, Spirituality |
I do not consider myself to be a big animal lover in the conventional sense. What I mean by that is that though I do like animals very much, I do not have my pets sit all over the furniture or be a pivotal part of my life. I recall when I was young a saint once said, “People are people and animals are animals and they should live separately.” My pets have their own world. I honor that. My relationship with them, I would describe as respectfully loving.
Our cat, Ollie, was with us for around 9 years. He was several years old when we got him. He became a great friend. When I would return home late at night from California classes, he seemed to be waiting for me… somehow knowing I would return when I did. He would escort me as I carried my bags into the house. It seemed natural enough at the time, but is now fond memories that somehow defined the nature of our friendship. I rarely called him Ollie… usually just ‘Boy’ or ‘Boy Cat.’
Over the past six months he aged rapidly… kidneys went as is typical of older cats. Toward the end he was skin and bones with a distended abdomen. Though he lived outside, the last weeks feeling he was not up to weathering the elements, I kept him in. He just sat on the bench in our foyer… all day and all night… staring off… seemed comfortable but only half there. We softly play a Ram chant in our foyer 24/7. It was good for him to hear it in those last days. I would carry him out to go to the bathroom and he would sit there for a while and then come back in the house [not his normal routine at all], get back on the bench, and sit until I took him out again. It was quite clear that he was dying with only a few days left. I know he felt like I was his old friend who spent those last weeks serving him. It was really quite touching. Finally, one day, he went outside and disappeared. I knew I would not see him again.
It is a wonder how animals seem to know when their time in the body is up. Or is that what they know? Maybe it is more just a sense of needing to go off and curl up in their secret hiding place and have a mahasleep… just as they instinctively know to eat, sleep, etc. At any rate, it was a most honorable and dignified way to go. He was like that.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Sunday, December 9, 2012 | Spirituality |
“If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.” – Napoleon
Just one more step and Napoleon would have been on to one of creations deepest principles… namely, mapping.
Just as there is a central source to our solar system, there is a central source to all existence… namely, the Unified Field.
This principle is seen everywhere; the center of a wheel, the seed that births the tree, etc. The Sun correlates to the Unified Field… one IS the other, just expressed on a different level.
Everything maps.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Friday, December 7, 2012 | Spirituality |
The unenlightened state is really just a state of denial. If you could just be completely honest with yourself, you would Know the Truth immediately. You only choose to be deceived to perpetuate your bogus desires and convictions.
Just as the wisp of cloud shrouds the magnificence of the sun, so too does that which you cling to overshadow the grandeur of your true nature.
“We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, December 5, 2012 | Mount Soma |
Message from Barbara at Mount Soma.
We have received our Certificate of Occupancy for the Student Union!
Obstacles from ever-changing county regulations have brought us many unforeseeable expenses. Those overages are an astounding 41.6% above the cost of the original, county approved, plans for the Student Union. As a result, we are in need of funds for outstanding construction invoices and costs involved in setting up the Student Union so that it can be fully up and running.
This is typically the time of year when people make donations to non-profit organizations. If most people can donate $500 by January 12, we can keep things moving forward. For those donating $500 or more, your name will be included in a special havan for health, wealth, and enlightenment. You will also receive a rudraksha bead blessed during that ceremony, mounted on gold-filled wire as a pendant for personal jewelry, meditation, or a home altar.
Please let your family and friends know how to contribute. Click here to donate, and select Student Union.
This Student Union building will make it possible for the ashram to grow in numbers. The ashram is the core work force for achieving our goals: raising the consciousness of humanity and bringing peace on earth. What better cause is there?
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, December 4, 2012 | Spirituality |
Some interpret the Mayan Calendar to say that humanity was created 5000 years ago and that Armageddon will occur this month. According to Vedic literature, 5000 years ago indeed marks a shift… from Dvapara Yuga to Kali Yuga. Also, Vedic literature says this current time marks the shift from Kali Yuga to an era of Sat Yuga (Enlightened Age) in the midst of Kali Yuga.
It is interesting to note that experts in the Mayan culture are not sure how to interpret the predictions about the upcoming shift. It is clear their interpretation of what was said to occur 5000 years ago did not occur. Some say the upcoming shift will be to a time of Armageddon; others say simply the shift to a new cycle. The Vedic literature is more clearly understood and is therefore a good place to look for a deeper understanding of the shift.
Interestingly enough, geologists have found evidence that a shift did in fact abruptly occur 5000 years ago. It has been said that such shifts are like a saw tooth graph. In other words, the shift is approached with gradual change. But at the point of the shift, the change is significant and rapid.
According to Vedic accounts, the upcoming shift is to an Enlightened Age… just around the corner. Objectively looking at our current world situation, it actually makes sense that a shift is coming, certainly economically to say the least.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
