by Michael Mamas | Saturday, December 26, 2015 | Clarifying Confusion |
Imagine three objects being juggled in the air. Now imagine only those three objects exist. There is no juggler. There is no ground below the objects. Only those three objects dancing around one and other at various rates, rhythms, and sequences. Where is the bottom line, the stable ground, in that world? There is no bottom line, no stable ground.
Imagine our universe. Planets and galaxies dance around one and other. Where is the bottom line, the stable ground? There is none. In every conversation, in every interaction, in every activity we look for a bottom line, an anchor to cling to. But there is none.
Existence is like the center of the deep end of a swimming pool. No concrete side to cling to. No stable ground below. Nothing to cling to. Instead of learning to swim, we cling to an inner tube or a rubber duck. That rubber duck becomes our ‘Truth’, our stable ground. The rubber duck becomes our reference frame we build our world around. We think in terms of ‘reference frame’. We demand a bottom line. We think in terms of ‘bottom line’. That is what the word ‘relative’ is all about.
Existence is composed of the relative and the absolute. The Absolute is not graspable, has no edge, no handle, no materiality. But the mind, longing for a bottom line, projects the notion of bottom line, stable ground, upon the absolute. The point is that we are indoctrinated into thinking in terms that are actually not consistent with the way the universe works.
What is the solution? Is there a way out of the illusion? Learn to swim. Learn to float. Learn to rest into the unbounded nature of your being, of your existence in the bottomless ocean. The very idea of no bottom line terrifies many. It brings up notions of a bottomless abyss.
The Absolute is not a ground floor. It is more like a cosmic cushion. A cloud that holds you. Like the deep end of a swimming pool, the water holds you if you learn to not fight it. It frees you from the need to cling to the rubber duck of your notions of truth.
Spirituality is generally taught as an offering of a bottom line, stable ground. The problem is: That is not how life works. We take concepts and look for the bottom line they offer. My teachings do not offer a bottom line. They are designed to free people from the notion of a bottom line. They are designed to help people learn to swim in the unbounded ocean of existence. That is called freedom… spiritual liberation.
The study of the structure of the Veda is the study of the nature of life. Though it is natural to try to project a bottom line on the dynamic of creation, its true nature, so beautifully displayed in the structure of the Veda, is that there is no bottom line. Brahman is not a bottom line. Brahmin is an unbounded ocean of consciousness in motion. It is all done with mirrors. Learn to swim and become free.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, November 21, 2015 | Clarifying Confusion |
What does it really mean to be spiritual? Some have attended numerous discourses by spiritual leaders, read volumes of life stories and quotes by spiritual Masters, and have gotten to the point where they know all about spirituality. They get it. Some have deeply heartfelt emotions about their spirituality. They love God. They pine for God. They adore God. And some are captivated both intellectually and emotionally with their spirituality. All of this can be very fulfilling and quite beautiful.
After years of such dedication, some of those people become spiritual teachers or spiritual leaders. They teach other people to dedicate themselves to spirituality in the same manner they do. Oftentimes this includes behavioral patterns, including diet or conforming to a certain outward appearance that they consider to be spiritual. This too can all be well and good, up to a point.
The fact is that knowing all about spirituality, getting emotional about spirituality, and modifying behavior and thought processes in accord with your notion of spirituality, falls short of actually embodying spirituality.
You see, spirituality is not an attitude, philosophy, or emotional state. True spirituality is a state of physiology with a corresponding level of consciousness. In fact, as your consciousness refines, your understanding of everything you thought you knew about spirituality refines/changes. Behavioral modification can bring about change, but it is a superficial change. True spiritual growth comes from the Transcendental depth of your being and radiates outward. It’s important to note that by Transcendental, we mean beyond thoughts, beyond emotion. A lifetime of thinking and getting emotional about spirituality falls quite short of resting in to the Transcendental level of your being.
On a very fundamental level, spiritual scholars and emotional devotees know this. It is often too difficult for them to acknowledge it. As a result, they live in denial and attempt to manipulate the surface to look like what they think it should look like. It can lead people into a desperate and sometimes resentful state. It’s not a pleasant thing to witness.
Now do understand that intellectual knowledge and emotional dedication has value. That value is multiplied many, many fold if it is used to facilitate a life that cultures the Transcendental level of one’s awareness. If true spirituality is likened to gold buried beneath the ground, emotional and intellectual spiritual endeavors are the shovels and hoes used to dig for that gold. They are not the gold. Nor are they the technique used to implement those tools. The technique is the cultivation of Transcendental awareness. The technique is proper meditation.
To learn the Surya Ram Meditation, click here.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Monday, November 16, 2015 | Clarifying Confusion |
The sun rises and sets. The electron travels in waves, the pendulum swings. The millennia cycle through ages, called yugas. What scientists considered as constants in their formulas, they now realize change very gradually over time. At critical points, those gradual changes bring about phase transitions, like when water slowly getting colder and colder at a particular point, transforms into ice.
When those laws of nature change, the next yuga is upon us. It is not easy to imagine how vastly different other yugas are from our current yuga, and what the implications of those differences may be. However, through fantasy we can allow our minds to go to a deeper level of knowing, thereby imagining the unimaginable. We can access the place deep within where we are one with everything, where we know everything, where we can recall everything. Like the wicked witch who lives far off in the forest with her army of demons in the Wizard of Oz, ancient Vedic scripture refers to other yugas when negativity existed as demons (rakshasas) hidden deep in the forests.
In this yuga, negativity does not dwell in demons but in the hearts and minds of the people. Such demons cannot be slain as in ancient times, but they can be purged. The most powerful technique to attain that goal is proper meditation. To learn the Surya Ram Meditation free of charge, click here.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, November 14, 2015 | Clarifying Confusion |
One of many commonly misunderstood Vedic principles is the caste system. It is often thought of as a judgment system, where there are people of higher or better castes and people of lower, more undesirable castes. This is a horrible distortion.
Just as people have different hair color, people have different types of nervous systems. Depending on your type of nervous system, particular activities are more naturally suited for you. A heavyweight boxer and an accountant require different types of nervous systems.
Imagine a home where the parents’ nervous systems are compatible and consistent with their profession. Their daily activities are perfectly in accord with their nature – the nature of their nervous systems. Being their genetic product and having the same type of nervous system, the children find the environment beautifully suited to their nature. They naturally gravitate toward the same profession. In fact, from birth, the children learn about the family profession simply by being in the environment. I know for myself that much of what I learned from my father was simply the result of being around him.
The caste system then is simply the identification of four different types of nervous systems. When that fundamental understanding of life is prevalent, the health of individuals, families, and societies naturally flourish.
After all, life is about evolution and you evolve best in an environment that suits your nature. This includes not only your profession but: the food you eat; the activities and friends you enjoy; social, family, and spiritual traditions; and even the mantras and spiritual techniques you practice.
It doesn’t make any sense to try to force your foot in a shoe that doesn’t fit. Similarly, it doesn’t make any sense to employ a mantra that doesn’t resonate with your physiology. Some mantras are suitable for all people, but most are quite specific. There seems to be an idea that Brahmin mantras are more powerful. People need to understand that the mantra specific to their nervous system is the mantra that is most powerful.
Everything in life is a bell curve. Your caste is not an absolute dictate for your life. There are those rare exceptions. In fact, there is another type of nervous system not generally addressed in the caste system, which is that of a monk. There are those few individuals from every caste whose nature it is to live in a hermitage and reject worldly life. While that can be suitable for most everyone for a period of time, there are some whose nature it is to live a totally inward life. It is not evolutionary to live that life when it is not consistent with the nature of their nervous system. In modern times, in a world where the caste system is so misunderstood, where marrying within the family’s caste is often considered old fashioned, it is quite difficult to find a life that is consistent with the nature of one’s nervous system.
Spiritual knowledge is profoundly delicate. It can get compromised within a generation unless great care is taken. Modern understanding of the caste system, as well as many other aspects of the knowledge passed down from the Rishis, has fallen prey to that fate. Let us also keep in mind Adi Shankara’s words as we teach our children about the caste system: “The knowledge must be purified generation after generation.”
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Thursday, November 12, 2015 | Clarifying Confusion |
Getting emotional about spirituality is fine, but must not be confused with true spirituality. Similarly, you can get emotional about gold, but it is no substitute for real gold. Proper meditation is the most powerful tool to attain true spirituality.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
