Michael's Blog
The Train: Posted January 29
There is a train coming around the bend, but don’t worry. Just step off the tracks. I have been speaking of this in various forms for a long time. It is like a scary dream where you see something coming and are calling out a warning but no one can hear you.
Now, with the global situations of terrorism, economic instability, etc., my words are ringing more and more true in the minds of the people. Yet still the denial is staggering. The question is, will individuals do anything about it, or will they plod along in an oblivious, trance-like stupor?
I have not asked you to blindly believe me like some ‘the end is near’ soothsayer, but quite the opposite. I have always encouraged you to think and choose wisely. Now, I am asking you to act. I was advised to say nothing - that no one will listen anyway - that they will only criticize me for being so negative. However, those of you that know me know that I will not take such advice!
I implore you to use my teachings instead of putting them on the shelf or in an ivory tower labeled “Michael.” Use them to understand your life, to better your life. Get out of the way of the oncoming train. It is a short, straightforward, common sense, and practical walk to the hillside. Safety first. Fortune favors the bold.
This is a time of great change. The deck is being shuffled. With a little foresight and willingness to take action, your life will flourish.
Being Presidential, What does it mean? Posted January 27, 2008
Like many, I have been monitoring the political campaigns. I do not feel it is my place to endorse a particular candidate, but I do have some comments.
Firstly, I was appalled to see race become such an issue in South Carolina. Have we come no further than this in our civil decency? Obama is running for president. The question is not one of color, it is one of competence. I feel the same about Romney and the Mormon issue.
Secondly, is the subject of one’s ‘stances on issues’. Most issues are complex and dynamic. I have little appreciation for a 30 second sound bite defining such a stance. I would prefer a President who is capable of reflection, deep thinking, and flexibility.
In other words, I value character above all else. Who is the candidate? What type of person are we dealing with? I regard a wise individual with some ideas that differ from mine to be a greater ally than someone who lacks wisdom, but offers 30 second sound bites consistent with my stances. This world is fluid and dynamic. We need those same attributes to exist in a president.
Occasionally in my classes I will throw out a stance on a current issue. Even though I preface it with the announcement that it is only an exercise, it is often difficult for some to maintain their balance. Emotions stir. Passions flare. Stances are embraced and identities solidified as people scurry to find stable ground. Through these exercises, our meditations, and reflections, I am pleased to see how our group continues to move beyond narrow thinking and more in the direction of depth, integrity, and character. Those qualities are real. You take them with you after the body dies. Comparatively speaking, positions on an issue are superficial, fleeting and blown in the wind. To wisely deal with the superficial, cultivate the depth. May we look for that sort of depth in our political leaders as well.
Dreams: Posted January 26, 2008
Mount Soma is moving along nicely. We have signed a contract with the builder for the community center. The contract guarantees completion by July 1, 2008.
I am dreaming of a huge inaugural celebration the evening of July 17. With your positive thoughts and support, we can make it happen! There will be a full moon (soma) and I am envisioning a night filled with outdoor lights, music, dance, festivities, and talks. The playground in front of the community center will provide a beautiful outdoor setting and food will be served in the community center. The patio, gazebo, and hiking trails will provide plenty of fun-filled opportunities. I have magical memories of late nights under the July full moon in India and am looking forward to enlivening that magic at Mount Soma.
I would like to follow up that evening with a Surya Sutra course and meditation course leading up to the summer retreat at Mount Soma in August. The film studio should also be completed by then and I plan to record a Surya 1 to 4 lecture series including all the techniques and core knowledge that were covered in those classes. They will become part of an upcoming in-residence course.
Needless to say, we plan to have some housing completed by then. Somanath Yagya Hall and park will hopefully be up and running by that time as well. To the property owners at Mount Soma, I say: Now is the time to start building! Complete your house at Mount Soma. It is up to you to make your dreams come true!
This summer promises to be historic! Please make your arrangements! I will keep you posted. For now, please remain flexible and patient. Also, send your loving wishes and support to help make this year all it can be. This is the year of manifestation and the upcoming winter retreat will be the historic springboard for what is to come. Don’t miss it!
I am sharing with you my thoughts and reflections. Please allow me to dream and join this vision by dreaming with me. The art of manifestation begins with a dream. As the summer nears, more details will become available. As the vision becomes reality, the office will provide you with the details.
I am aware that many people fear dreams. They link dreams to the potential for failure: “What if it all does not go according to plans? What will people say? Maybe I should give up now! Maybe I should not share my dreams with anyone.” I do not share that mentality. Persistence makes dreams come true. Dare to dream. Have the commitment to follow it through! Have the audacity to let your dreams be known. Have the humility and flexibility to keep moving forward. When you dream, dream big. A life committed to making a better world is a life well lived.
I See God: Posted Jaunuary 22, 2008
Dear Michael,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with all of us with your blogs. Aside from the educational benefits (you know, more knowledge and the reminder to use the tools), it's a nice way for us to feel like we are a part of your daily life, a way to feel more connected or perhaps better said, a way to feel our connection to you more deeply. - DB
I received this e-mail and must say the feeling is mutual. I think of all of you so very much and feel like these blogs are a vehicle to share myself with all of you in an ongoing manner. I have wanted to express this in a blog and this e-mail has inspired me to do so.
I remember addressing someone by name outside of the classroom and said it was nice to see her again. With a shocked look on her face she said, “You mean you remember me???” I do not know which of us was more shocked!
Know that I think of you all daily and that our connection is very deep. I am by nature a rather shy person. I know people who hear my lectures at first have a hard time believing that. It is only my passion for the knowledge that animates me so when I am teaching. Otherwise, I am rather quiet and shy. But never mistake my inward nature for indifference. We are a family and our connection is of utmost importance to me. My heart is fully open to all of you. I am fully committed to your spiritual awakening. I am totally enraptured by God and when I look at you, I see God.
Fortune Favors the Bold: Jaunuary 21, 2008
As I have been saying for some time now, a global transition is taking place. No arena will remain untouched and much of what is to come will be challenging. We have witnessed one such challenge recently with the fall in global markets. It is important that you create a life for yourself that is in harmony with natural law. There are two codes to remember:
- Safety first
- Fortune favors the bold.
Now is the time to act. I must tell you that a move to Mount Soma would be a very wise thing to do. I have hesitated to say too much about this, but I feel myself in a double bind here. If I do say this, some might feel I am pushing my bias. However if I do not, I sincerely believe the day would come when some of you say, “Why didn’t you tell us.” Consider yourself so informed. From my perspective all of this is obvious. All you need to do is watch the news and understand the dynamics of group coherence. Of course to understand the principle intellectually is one thing, but to know truth from within your own being is quite another.Isn’t that one of the big problems with the world today? If someone understands something, they think they own it. That sort of ‘understanding’ is not ‘true understanding’. When you truly understand something, its truth is one with the fiber of your being. Only then do you know it, and such knowledge is a wonderful thing.
Happiness: Posted January 20
Yesterday someone asked me to talk about happiness….. what is the key to happiness? Interestingly enough, I just received an e-mail from someone about happiness. So here it goes:
Happiness is certainly for most people more about one’s internal dynamic than a set of external circumstances. Happiness boils down to the principle of “relationship with….” If you want to be happy, spend time looking at your relationship with whatever is on your mind. Start fixing a problem first by attending to your relationship with problems. That is not just the key to happiness, but is also the key to fixing life’s problems. Similarly, manifesting your dreams starts with having a healthy relationship with your dreams.
Please remember that having a healthy ‘relationship with….’ does not mean talking yourself into looking at things a certain way. That’s just denial of what you are really feeling, trying to sweep it under the rug or bury your head in the sand. That doesn’t really work.
A “healthy relationship with…” is an exploration. There are an infinite number of simultaneously valid though contradictory realities. Explore them! That exploration will free you. Your biggest obstacle to happiness is the addiction to “mental loops.” Mental loops are habitual mind sets. They are habitual ways you tend to view your world and yourself. Don’t try to override them, push them out, or talk yourself out of them. If you do that, they will just stick with you longer and be driven deeper inside you.
I am a firm believer in exploring the reality that we are all nuts and finding the humor in it! Don’t always strive for perfection in yourself, your life situation, or in others! Take time to laugh at the reality that perfection is a mirage. I also enjoy the reality that life is a series of failures! Nothing is perfect. I think it is absurdly funny that we all somehow inherently strive to attain the unattainable. Life is a paradox. That is called the cosmic joke. If you want to be happy, start by getting the cosmic joke. Then see how it applies to everything! It is simultaneously profound and funny! It comes in many forms for each and every life situation. When you get that, your heart becomes light. You enjoy life. Things become simultaneously exquisite and hilarious if for no other reason than you see the silliness of clinging to a habitual world view that only makes you unhappy. After all, that is the sort of stuff comedy is made of. Isn’t it?
Happiness is joy is humor is delight. It is a physiological state cultivated through the exploration of the profound yet absurdly unfathomable nature of life’s unlimited facets and the preposterous futility of clinging to any one. Such exploration frees your heart, mind and spirit. That freedom is called happiness. The cosmic joke is everywhere and in everything. Start by seeing it in yourself. Enjoy the exploration! Funny is the flip side of profound. Explore within until you awaken to the place where funny and profound merge….., the place where all paradox finds resolution Then you get the cosmic joke and are eternally happy.
You Must Go Through the Door: Posted January 19, 2008
The primary component to every individual's being is divinity. Everyone senses it within, though few people feel it clearly enough to call it Divine. Most would refer to it as a sense of self esteem, the survival instinct, or perhaps even a healthy ego. Divinity, however, is what it truly is.
On a more superficial level of your being, there is something sometimes called ‘the wound.’ It is a place of extreme sensitivity– the Achilles’ heal of the psyche. People spend their life avoiding that place. To feel it is all too painful. If you push someone near it, they lose all composure. They may run away, get angry, resentful, hateful, devastated, fearful, hysterical, or collapse. It is a ‘white out’ zone. Clarity, self-honesty, balance and reason are gone. Needless to say, people spend their lives, and a great deal of energy, avoiding that place…. defending against it with rationalizations and emotional outbursts…..all are forms of denial and avoidance.
It has become ‘socially appropriate’ to do your best to avoid triggering that place in others as well as yourself. The problem is, that is like denying the existence of a monster in the middle of the room. Deny it all you want, that monster dominates your awareness and your life.
Many people run to spirituality as a means of avoiding or denying the existence of that place. However, denial is not a viable spiritual technique. To grow spiritually, that place must be dealt with and healed. The art of that healing is a subtle art…..the art of traversing the razors edge. To do so, requires a teacher skilled with a profound understanding of life as well as a committed student.
Human evolution requires inner exploration. There you will find a Heavenly garden, and an occasional land mine or booby trap. It is no place for amateurish teachers or half-hearted students. Dare to embark upon the ultimate adventure, the true final frontier for every individual. To understand the life better, explore your inner self. The kingdom of heaven lies just beyond the shroud of your inner Achilles’ heal. As the old song says, “You can’t go around it. You must go through the door.”
Discernment: Posted 01/18/08
The soothsayers, cult leaders, and pseudo-spiritual healers have done the world such a terrible injustice. Understandably, people have become extremely skeptical of spiritual teachers. Anybody’s brand of spirituality seems just as good as the next guy's. Why not proclaim yourself to be enlightened after reading a few books? After all, the guy down the street is doing just that, has a strong following, and is making money. I do not think they are deceitful. I do think they are deluded. I only ask you to think, reflect, feel, ponder and look deeper. Do not fall prey to the vogue spiritual hype of emotionalism, magic tricks, and drama. Manipulation of subtle life energies are magic tricks, not miracles. Anybody can echo the words of the ancient enlightened masters. That falls far, far short of actually being a true spiritual teacher. Shankara, the great ancient master, called the spiritual path the path of discernment for good reason. Discernment is not cynicism, judgmental-ness or negativity. It is the ability to traverse the razor's edge that leads to genuine spiritual growth. You have only so much time in your physical vehicle. Please, please, use it wisely. Your potential is unlimited.
Changing Times: Posted 01/16/08
Things are continuing to unfold as we expected. The U.S. dollar has not yet found it’s low. Gold will go higher. The stock market and currencies are a wreck and will get worse. No area is immune..
Do not worry, but do prepare yourself. Your physical world will follow the lead of your spiritual life. If not today, it will come along tomorrow.
Live wisely.
Knowledge: Posted 01/15/08
I once heard that someone said, “I am trying to keep Michael Mamas’ personality separate from his teaching." This to me represented such an impossibly Newtonian and simplistic type of thinking… the very thing my teachings are here to move people beyond.
I am my teachings. They are an expression of me… expressions of my own self. There is no separation. When a teacher’s body dies, his teachings die with him. Knowledge (I mean real knowledge) can not be separated from the knower. It is more spirit than matter.
I remember a time when I found it to be so fascinating that the death of a great leader brought about the demise of a powerful nation. At the time, that made no sense to me. Why didn’t someone else just pick up the mantle and carry it… become the new leader. Now I know better. Life is all about persona. It is all about people. Knowledge that can be carbon copied is superficial knowledge. True knowledge is being. It is expressed in the living form of a being. Knowledge is infinite in dimensionality. Each individual, deep within their being, carries a knowledge unique to them. Each is a unique facet of the multifaceted wholeness of existence. Knowledge of existence does not stand separate from the facet through which existence is viewed.
The teacher frees the awareness of the student. That is not just a science. It is an art. No two artists paint with the same exact style. Simplistic approaches bring about simplistic results. Life is not a paint-by-numbers game. To live better, you must look deeper. Humility is the flip side of wisdom.
Globally Interconnected Mentalities: Posted January 13, 2008
The Taliban, Al Queda, Democrats, Republicans, Wall Street, Washington, the list goes on and on. It struck me the other day just how interconnected all these facets of global consciousness are. Global consciousness is like an old rusted gear box. Each mentality is another gear, another cog in the works. Crusted over with rust, it is all in a deadlock.
My reflection on this came about from a news report about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Of course, Hillary is firmly entrenched in a political faction of old, established, economic and political power. So many such factions dominate our world, fixed and rigid. Yet, the other day, I felt them move like the first shift in the gears of an old encrusted gearbox showing its first sign of motion—just a hint, a slight brief click of movement.
Then, I got it: Fixity of frozen thought need not be dismantled. It can be made to spin. Rigid thinking need not be dismantled. It only needs to become a bit more confused! A bit more cognizant of the complex paradoxical nature of life. A bit more humble. As this occurs, all the gears begin to free up. The interconnectedness, the unification, the oneness, of all the divergent mentalities comes to light. In time, as the gearbox of human mentality frees up, harmony comes forth.
The WD-40 needed to free up the gearbox of global mentality is the infusion of consciousness at its most fundamental level. It is a level deeper than thought, beyond sight, intangible, and abstract. It is infinitely powerful, yet profoundly delicate. In its undeveloped stages, dogma is enough to collapse it down to still another political or religious faction.
Our mission is to enliven that fundamental consciousness uncompromised. As we do so, its first glimmers will expand to a full sunshine. It will then not be overshadowed by factions of humanity, but will free those factions from their rigid and narrow world views so they maintain their unique integrity, while they flow in free integration with the complex and profound gearbox of human integrity.
Global Consciousness: Posted January 10, 2008
For a number of years now I have been saying that it is inevitable that rogue nations will acquire nuclear weapons and the required delivery system. That, to me, is just common sense. Now, with the current developments in Pakistan, one of the means by which that will occur is surfacing. If the nuclear weapons in Pakistan are not acquired by terrorists directly, the technological knowledge there certainly will be. Give it at most a few years. That is not a question.
The question is, what can we do about it? There is only one hope for the world: to shift global consciousness. However, the popular interpretation of that notion is insufficient. To promote peace and harmony as a philosophy is gravely naïve. The terrorists are laughing in the faces of those who do so. They see such western simplistic mentalities as the seed of our own futility and destruction.
To attain world peace, global consciousness must shift on a much more fundamental level. This will not come about through a modeling of love and light ideals. Shifting world consciousness is a matter much deeper and more abstract than your typical pacifist can even imagine. Promoting a philosophy of peace is like asking a fire to stop burning. It doesn’t work. Infusing the cool waters of coherence into group consciousness is a material phenomenon. It is not a conversation.. A humanity aligned with new more enlightened philosophies is a highly desirable side effect resulting from psychophysiological evolution. Evil is not a philosophy. It is physiological……psychophysiological Similarly, peace and love is not a philosophy. It is a state of physiology. Philosophy is secondary to physiology.
To understand all of this intellectually is a good first step. However, until that understanding becomes known to you directly as a result of the evolution of your own psychophysiology, it, too, remains a mere philosophy. Moreover, until the mechanism of group consciousness becomes intuitively obvious to you, it is merely a philosophy to you. Once you know it from within your own being, your life is never the same. Dedication to that mechanism of evolution of global consciousness becomes your passion.
Our purpose is clear: to facilitate the evolution of global consciousness. Doing so is a technology, not the promotion of a philosophy. Only after that evolution is attained do profound theories and philosophies cease to be notions, and become common sensible truths.
I am not here to profess a philosophy. I am here to transform global consciousness. I use concepts to free minds, not to indoctrinate them into a philosophy. I encourage you to join me in dedication to the only hope for humanity. It is not only our only chance to circumvent disaster, but it will usher in a truly enlightenment age.
Relationships: Posted January 8, 2008
Volumes have been written about relationships… how to have good relationships with other people. There certainly is much to be said, but if you want a basic rule of thumb I would suggest “just basic respect.” If the respect is there, you can work through your issues with another. Respect needs to be more of a base note for all people. It is an expression of something that lies deep within: reverence for God. When the physiology is integrated, that expression of inner divinity shines forth as "basic respect."
A good question for reflection is: How do you feel and respond when someone is disrespectful towards you? Lack of it is so harmful, not only for the object, but also the subject. Yet disrespect is, in the world today, such a popular stance. It comes in the guise of self esteem, defiance, independence, free thinking, strength, power, being smart, etc. These things have been on my mind lately as they pertain to one’s relationship with humanity as well as interpersonal relationships in general.
We would all do well to take some time to reflect on our relationship with respect and the forms it comes in as well as the distortions and issues around it. |
