Michael's Blog
Summer Retreat note: Posted July 29
The summer retreat is quickly approaching. Pundit Ramesh is planning to be here on Saturday, August 16. I think everyone at the inauguration week felt the power of homams and pujas and I want the retreat participants to have that experience as well.
This winter we plan to offer the first 6 week course. It will be highly inward. You can attend all or any part during the 6 week period. It is not something to attend if you are expecting a social experience. It is only for those who are willing to maintain an inward focus for the entire time they participate. I have been looking forward to offering such a program for a long time. Now that we have our home at Mount Soma, it can and will happen. I hope to see you there. Specific dates and more details will be provided soon.
Mount Soma Inauguration: Posted July 23
Last week, Mount Soma Inauguration Week, was one of the most fulfilling weeks of my life. Ceremonies began Monday with Pundit Ramesh, and continued until Friday. The most powerful moment for me came on Saturday morning after Pundit Ramesh had gone. Everyone was finishing up meditation and I was out sitting in front of the Havan Kund where the Homams (fire ceremonies) had been performed that week. The feeling was awesome…ancient, palpable, and profound. You could feel that something deeply significant had occurred there. The air, trees, surroundings, and even the soil were filled with still and conscious awareness—like a silent witness of what had transpired.
Just today I was told that a neighbor drove through and was awestruck by the feeling. He went home and told his wife she had to drive out to Mount Soma to feel it. She did and was also astounded. Bliss permeates the air at Mount Soma now. As Pundit Ramesh put it, he can feel the presence of the Master at Mount Soma; and that is something he has not felt anywhere for a long time.
Our mission has been long and challenging. Though there is still much to accomplish, I am filled with the feeling that ‘we have done it’. My deepest heartfelt thanks goes to the tradition of teachers who have given us this knowledge and led us to this place; and also it goes to all of you who have been instrumental in bringing this about. We are in the home stretch. We are all blessed.
Guru Purnima: Posted July 17
The evening of July 17 (In India July 18) this year is Guru Purnima, the full Moon of July. It is the night we honor the Guru -- Vyasa, Adi Shankar, your personal teacher, etc. The Guru is the conduit, the vehicle through which one awakens to the Divinity at the depth of the soul. Traditionally, one remembers and gives thanks to the Guru that day. The moonlight of Guru Purnima is particularly purifying. Going on a walk or sitting out on that night is considered very beneficial -- perhaps offering a flower to a picture of the Guru as well.
This particular Guru Purnima is considered extremely auspicious. Pundits in India say it is the beginning of an Age of Enlightenment that will last for thousands of years. It is especially significant that Mount Soma will be inaugurated on this day. Also, Jupiter and Moon will be together in Jupiter’s own sign (Sagittarius) until around 11 p.m. Jupiter is the Guru, very happy to be at home. The Moon is Soma—bright and full, happy to be with the Guru.
Sarvadari: Posted July 16
This morning I received an e-mail with the following quote:
“This year, called Sarvadari, is the year of enlightenment that repeats itself every 60 years. Every time this cycle comes, there is potential for the world to receive greater intelligence. This is the year of enlightenment, and the special full moon of Guru Purnima signifies the beginning of a new age of enlightenment on the earth.
…….this Sarvadari is the beginning of the transition to a new age that will last not just 60 years, but for a thousand years or more.
The exact beginning will be December 2012, but the transition period is happening now.”
I was not aware that other people knew of the great significance of this particular full moon. I feel they are not aware that it significance is being made manifest on Earth through the inauguration ofMount Soma on Guru Purnima. For thousands of years, it will be remembered as an event marking a moment of tremendous historical transition for the world.
Our timing is perfect. All is well.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciousness: Posted July 14
As the structure of world consciousness evolves, new knowledge will emerge. Our purpose is to evolve global consciousness. With that, new technologies will emerge that will transform the world. The time is coming when people will look back at these times in disbelief and wonder: “Is it really possible that humanity once created such devastating yet unnecessary problems for itself? Maybe those old legends of the early 21st century are just myths.”
I leave in 1 hour to begin the week of ceremonies at Mount Soma. The feeling here is very festive. People are arriving and many had a late night preparing garlands of flowers and other preparations for the homas and pujas. The priest arrived last night at 1:00 a.m. This week we inaugurate Mount Soma! A new wave of purity will bathe our planet!
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Economy: Posted July 13
Several people have recently asked me to comment on the economy. I learned the hard way that doing so inflames a great deal of passion. Almost everyone clings to a deeply conditioned economic and political identity. Any discussion triggers an intense and immediate reaction that precludes any healthy discourse. What is particularly unsettling is that our politicians and world leaders behave that way as well.
Having said that, allow me to say that I have been warning for some time about what is now happening. As I have said, the worst is yet to come. Financial institutions will continue to collapse. Commodity prices like gold will continue to go up. Currencies like the U.S. dollar will continue to go down. I have given the reasons for all of this in class lectures, but emotions soared so quickly that few could hear me. It quickly melted down into a reactionary fervor of political agendas.
My advice is to look deeper. The state of group consciousness determines the health of your society and your world. Individuals and societies that live in accord with nature will flourish. Free your mind. Free your soul. The mirage of yesterday’s convictions is quickly crumbling. A more fundamental understanding of life will emerge. This will bring about an enlightened age that will look very different than the goals born of yesterday’s mirages. To move forward, you must be willing to change. To change, you must be able to move past your current conditioning. To do that, requires courage.
A healthy house requires a solid foundation. Build your life based upon a healthy foundation. A new paint job does little to help a crumbling structure.
The most fundamental principle is consciousness. Life is structured in consciousness. Evolve your consciousness. Live in an environment that supports that. Avoid a life that reinforces yesterday’s mirages.
My life is about providing you with a way of evolving. Mount Soma was created to support that process maximally. If you want safety and security, create a life that aligns with nature—with natural law—with fundamental truth. Do what you need to do to get your life there as soon as possible. Clinging to old principles in hopes it will lead someday to a life in accord with nature is continuing to paint the house with a collapsing foundation. My advice is to get out fast and get into the cosmic flow of harmony with nature. That is the only thing that will carry you to true success. The rest is a mirage.
Question & Answer: Posted July 5
I recently received an email regarding whether to come to Guru Purnima this year or come a month later to the retreat. My response follows:
Nature is a matrix constructed of nodes, critical points or junctions in space and in time. They are like the intersection of highways on a map. They include pivotal power points in the history of humanity. The inauguration of Mount Soma on July 17 is a hugely significant power point. For many years now, I have envisioned the existence of what will be birthed July 17th. To be a part of it is a rare opportunity that humanity will understand and appreciate more and more as decades and centuries pass.
We plan to have a priest at Mount Soma from July 14 to 18 doing pujas, etc. That will be fantastically powerful and a great thing to have attended in one's life. I view it almost as a war against the rakshasas (negative
forces) that have ensnared (conditioned) global awareness—the hearts and minds of people. If you are willing to be one of those who hits the beach and enters the trenches, then be at Mount Soma for this first Guru Purnima celebration. The good karmic returns you will receive have been rarely available throughout history.
The retreat will also be powerful as they have been... even more so as the first one at Mount Soma. The Learning Center and routine at Mount Soma will probably be more comfortable. The recently seeded grass will have had more time to grow and finishing touches will have been added to the newly constructed sites, etc.
Being the first event at Mount Soma, I suspect the Inaugural Celebration of July 17 will not be entirely comfortable. The birthing process is not without its challenges. However, if I were you, I would not miss the opportunity to attend.
Having never experienced the type of thing I am referring to, I understand it is difficult for most to understand or appreciate what I am talking about. That is all right. In time, through their experiences at Mount Soma, many will be able to comprehend the significance of these words.
Some might wonder why I did not express this earlier. For now, suffice it to say that it needed to be that way. Nature needed to have its hand in how things unfold.
Your devoted friend through lifetimes uncountable,
Michael
Fourth of July: Posted July 4
Happy Fourth of July! The essence of every holiday is purity. By celebrating holidays, that purity is enlivened to well up and radiate throughout humanity. The Fourth of July symbolizes the purity of our national identity, the highest ideals that birthed our nation. Such celebration is a purifying wave for the entire planet. It is like a washing of global consciousness.
I have spoken of the conditioning around identity as that which imposes distortion upon us. The purity of our true identity (our divinity) is overshadowed by such conditioning. As we purify our hearts and minds, we become free of such conditioning. What remains is true self awareness. This applies not only to the individual, but also to our community, our nation, and our world. Healthy identity means living in harmony with nature. We become established in our unity with everything and everyone through the uniqueness of our individuality and our culture.
My words have sometimes been misunderstood, interpreted as if I was saying identity was not a good thing – as if I were promoting life without identity. I am actually promoting purification of identity. As a result all families, communities, and nations maximally benefit. The culprit is when identity becomes conditioned. With that conditioning comes narrow-mindedness, evil, polarization, and negativity.
Today, let’s ride the purifying wave of cultural integrity in the highest sense, as we celebrate national identity and the birth of America. May the celebration cast off conditioning, purifying our nation, and our world. Just as innocence is not the same as naiveté, true cultural identity is not conditioning. “Conditioned cultural integrity” is a contradiction in terms.
Today is the day to celebrate our cultural integrity with the innocence of a pure heart. |
