by Michael Mamas | Thursday, December 31, 2015 | Spiritual Evolution |
Everything exists transgradiently (i.e., on all levels of existence). As Adi Shankara said, “Spirituality is the path of discernment.” We do well to understand the nature of discernment, particularly on the deepest level of existence. There lies the highest form of discernment.
The highest form of meditation is the technique of discernment. However at this profound level, discernment is not what many may think. In meditation, the practitioner innocently favors the mantra. When thoughts or emotions come up, we don’t push them out. Instead, we innocently favor the mantra. This is the process of discernment. On this profound level, discernment is an effortless process. Everything naturally gravitates back to Oneness. This form of meditation allows the awareness to naturally and effortlessly follow that flow.
Discernment on this level is the distinction between Sat and Asat (i.e., the Self and the non-Self). The Self is Oneness. The Self is Brahman. The Self is one with the source of all life and existence. Everything in creation naturally gravitates back to that source, just as every drop of rain naturally gravitates back to the ocean.
The vehicle the awareness rides in meditation is the mantra. The mantra resonates with the Transcendental Self as well as the subtle physiology of the practitioner.
Isn’t it beautiful that when understood, the spiritual path can be explained with that one word: “discernment.”
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Wednesday, December 30, 2015 | Spiritual Evolution |
“Arthasya nishchayo drishto vicharena hitoktitah; Na snanena, na danena pranayamashatena va.” – “By reflection, reasoning and instructions of teachers, the truth is known; not by ablutions, not by making donations, nor by performing hundreds of breath control exercises.”
Adi Shankara spelled it out for everyone. But few listen. It seems the last thing people want to do is think, reason, reflect, ponder, and discern. Unfortunately, people often view spirituality as an escape into emotionalism or desire for someone or something else to carry their cross. Spirituality should be a determined, relentless pursuit of Truth.
View your understanding of spirituality as something that must be refined, deepened, evolved over time. It is not an understanding that should be attained, put in a box, and rigidly adhered to. Evolution means change… advancement.
Ablutions, donations, breathing exercises, etc. when done properly can of course all be of value. However, first and foremost is discernment… discrimination. Remarkably, discernment is sometimes viewed as blasphemous. Questioning is considered dangerous, disrespectful doubting. Instead, questioning is the steadfast pursuit of deeper understanding.
Discernment is not just done with the intellect. You can justify anything with the intellect and people do. Thoughts are limitless. How you feel about those thoughts is what matters. But fine feelings are what is important. Superficial feelings and emotions are all too often based upon indoctrination, bias, personal childhood issues, and a myriad of limited judgmental notions.
Discernment is the integration of the surface of your being with the depth. Proper meditation is the most powerful tool of discernment. To advance spiritually, humanity must deepen the understanding of what spirituality is. Spirituality blossoms from within. It is not an indoctrination. No gardener would ever take the petals of a bud and peel them back to make a blossom. Discernment facilitates the natural blossoming from within.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, December 5, 2015 | Spiritual Evolution |
When I was a small boy, I imagined monks as faceless mystical beings in hooded robes. As an adult who lived in an ashram I, of course, know that such people are quite normal. Most would probably say that people choose to live in an ashram in order to be closer to God. But lets consider saying that another way.
Daily life for most people is lived in overload. It is as if life is a smorgasbord of activities in which we continue to fill our plates until we have pushed ourselves to exhaustion. We eventually reach the point where something has to give, namely our psychological and physical health.
The lifestyle in an ashram is designed to be quite different. The idea is that the physiology, if cared for properly, can refine. Refinement cultures health. As the awareness becomes healthier, we evolve. To evolve is another way of saying to become closer to God.
Evolution is cultured with a healthy balance between rest and activity. Proper meditation provides the deepest rest, much deeper than sleep. Such rest releases even the deepest stresses, strains, and imbalances in the physiology and the awareness. The proper amount of healthy activity balances and integrates into the physiology the benefits of that deep rest.
The ashram provides an environment where the worries and stresses that tend to overwhelm worldly life are minimized. No worries about paying the mortgage, paying the bills, fixing the house, running your business, taking care of others, etc. etc. There are still responsibilities but they are just in the right amount… not so great as the cause mental or physical dis-ease, yet enough to integrate and evolve they physiology and the awareness.
Joining the ashram at Mount Soma for a month or longer has wonderful benefits. However, it does not provide you with the same benefits as making the ashram a longterm lifestyle. Only when the ashram has become a lifestyle can you enjoy the benefits of not being overwhelmed by worldly demands, a more carefree state. When only visiting for a period of time, the mind is still filled with concerns about your world when you return back home. The deeper settled state of an ashram life is not attained. The benefits of a longterm life in the ashram are made evident by observing the marvelous benefits attained by the people living that life.
I lived in an ashram for nine years. It was a great, great gift to my physical health and cultivation of my awareness. The only way I can possibly return the favor is to offer it to others. It changed my life.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Thursday, April 9, 2015 | Clarifying Confusion, Spiritual Evolution, Vedic Technology |
Recently, a number of people have been inquiring about how things should be handled when someone passes, particularly with respect to Mount Soma. This is something I have discussed extensively in the past with our Panditji and other Vedic authorities. From time to time in classes this has all be explained.
That information follows here:
Generally, bodies are cremated. This helps to release the soul from the earth plane, so the individual can most rapidly move forward with their evolution. The ashes are not to be taken home. They should instead be quickly placed in a large river, ideally a holy river in India. Currently, there is a movement in India to clean the Ganges, so people are no longer allowed to put the ashes in that river.
In the West, it is a common practice to construct a little shrine or garden area to honor the deceased. That practice too can hold the soul back from moving forward with their evolution as they let go of their worldly life.
Along those same lines, mourning is something that is best to be limited. There is, of course, a natural mourning period which is not to be suppressed or judged, but is also not to be prolonged. The mourning process is another way the soul is held back.
In short, after a person passes, the best thing to do is what is best for that soul. Though it is understandable, if we are not careful, we end up doing what makes us feel better which may not be the best thing for the departed.
We, at many times, have received requests for ashes of the deceased and shrines or garden areas to be placed at Mount Soma. According to the Vedic tradition, that cannot be permitted. Mount Soma is a place that moves souls forward. So, we certainly take great care in not doing anything that would hold them back.
I certainly understand and am most sympathetic with the more traditional approaches. I understand traditions like the spiritual teacher not being around the sick, mourning, or dead is difficult for many to understand. In these most delicate and tender times, it is extremely difficult to handle all of this seamlessly. Please know, however, that we are all doing our very best. In so doing, we often find ourselves in an awkward position. Please understand that.
Please also keep in mind that in the best situations, change is difficult. In these challenging times of a life in passing, may we all do our very best to do what is best for the soul of the deceased.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Saturday, March 7, 2015 | Spiritual Evolution, Vedic Technology |
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (from Maho Upanishad) means “the whole world is one family”. If all nations, if all people, could simply work together in harmony, we would have heaven on earth.
The healthy family unit is essential to life. The world family must not be a dysfunctional family. But a healthy world family will not be attained by continually trying to mold world affairs to conform to a set of rules. That is like painting the leaves of a tree green in an attempt to make the tree healthy. The root must be tended to.
If we properly tend to the root of life, all of life will be healthy. Bringing that forth for the family of all humanity is the goal and purpose of Mount Soma. It is attainable. In fact, what is amazing is not that that is a possibility. What is amazing is that humanity does not live in accord with that simple principle.
The surface of life offers an unlimited array of polarizing perspectives and simplistic viewpoints. Tending to life solely on that level will never work.
Water the root to enjoy the fruit of life. This does not result in a homogenous worldview shared by all cultures. Quite the contrary. It nourishes the diversity of cultures in the midst of mutual respect and harmony between them. After all, the whole world is one family.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
