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 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 | Thursday, December 24, 2015 | Vedic Science |
Akasha means space. As with all Sanskrit terms, the meaning is contained in the sound. The sounds “A”, “ka”, and “sha” beautifully display the origin and nature of Akasha.
“A” is unboundedness, fully open throat, no edges. “Ka” refers to the birth of space at the very moment of the manifestation of relative existence. Consciousness, represented by “A,” becomes conscious of itself, perceives itself as other, and duality is born. “Ka” expresses the creation of space. It contains the feeling of pushing apart or taking a step back. Consciousness takes a step back when it perceives itself as other, and duality is born. It’s beautiful that you can feel this in the very sound of “ka.” It also displays how when duality is born, the Trinity is born. You have the Knower, the Known, and the space between the two, which is essential to the process of Knowing. As Consciousness continues to interact with itself, multiplicity is born. “A-ka-sha” continues to unfold in a flood, a shower, of self-interaction, creating a fullness of limitless interacting dynamics.
The syllable “sha” embodies the fullness of the Gap. The infinite abundance of relative existence. Infinity exists in the Gap. It is no coincidence that “sha” even sounds like the word “shower.” A shower is a lively flood of dynamism. The very sound of “sha” embodies the feeling. So “Akasha” conveys the full meaning of the notion of space, the Gap.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Tuesday, December 22, 2015 | The Veda |
The first phrase of Rig Veda is translated as “I adore Agni”.
Agni is fire. The Sun is fire.
Everything revolves around the Sun.
Everything adores the Sun. Everything adores Agni.
Surya, the Sun, is the center of all that is.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
by Michael Mamas | Monday, December 21, 2015 | Vedic Science |
The most important principle in life is also the principle most often overlooked. I call it “Relationship with….” It is actually a very ancient principle known as ‘the process of Knowing’ or the Devata aspect of Rishi, Devata, and Chhandas. To succeed, it is extremely important that you take a long and close look at the nature of your relationship with whatever it is you are dealing with.
You (the Knower or Rishi) focus on the object (the Known or Chhandas value) through the process of Knowing (Devata value). The point is that your relationship with the object counts for a full one-third of this ‘Holy Trinity’” that determines the nature of your life. In the Holy Trinity, Father is the Self (Rishi or Knower), the Son is the object (the physical manifestation, the Known or Chhandas), and the Holy Ghost (Devata or the process of Knowing) is everything else.
Sit back right now and allow yourself to experience that. You are the Self, the Knower. The words on the computer screen are the Known, the object of your perception. Everything else in the room is an aspect of the Devata value. It’s all a part of the process of Knowing. The Devata value includes your five senses: the process of seeing, hearing, etc. Those processes follow certain channels, pathways, or modes of function.
Similarly in arithmetic, there are certain modes of function: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. With respect to the Devata value, those different modes of function relate to different faces, so to speak, of the one God. Just as with arithmetic, every mode of function applies to every point on the number line, the Devata value is lively at every point in creation. Those different modes of function are often referred to as the different Gods, but with full realization that there is actually one God of which they are the diverse expressions. I often say that God is much closer than you may think. Perhaps this helps to illustrate that point. Everything is God: the Knower, the Known, and the process of Knowing.
For more information about the Knower, the Known, and the process of Knowing, please go to Rishi, Devata, Chhandas.
© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.
