Category Archives: Metaphysical/Spiritual

The Spiritual Path (Part 1)

There are a whole bunch of different perspectives out there, in this world, as to “What’s it all about (“Alfie” for those of you over the age of 40) and “Why am I here?” and ………..some of the other big questions of life like “Who am I?” or, for that matter, “What am I.”

The purpose of this post is not to provide an answer.  The purpose of this post is to begin to structure an argument that there is no more important inquiry to make right now than to pursue these questions.

There are several “categories” of people.  See which one you fall in…

  • Those of you who have never asked these questions.  They just have never occurred to you.  You are engaged in what is in front of you and these questions have not entered your field of awareness, and if they have, they were quickly processed as being not that important and no further inquiry was required.
  • Those of you who have considered these questions and have come to the logical and rational decision that they are unknowable and therefore, they are a waste of time to consider and better left for philosophers to wax their brains on for that is what philosophers do.
  • Those of you who have considered these questions and have come to the conclusion that we came about as a result of a random mixture of materials that, originally and magically, created an amoeba which then evolved into a more complex organism that turned into a reptile that evolved into, perhaps, some huge flying bird that eventually became a monkey and then, like some seedling flying off into some other magical soil, turned into a human being who seems to have “evolved” faster than any of the other animals.  And, yes, our essence is animalistic.  We are just like the animals. There is no Creator or God..  There just is what you see in front of you and when it ends it ends.  And you are good with that.  A matter of fact, you are beyond good, you feel a sense of rising above it all by having this understanding.  You are able to see the nonsense of taking any other position on this matter.
  • Those of you that have faith in a particular religion. Those from the first 3 views listed don’t really understand the wide spectrum of perspective you hold.  The common conclusion you seem to have is that our universe started with a Creator.   You also are indoctrinated with some kind of moral code.  You may accept it or not, most of you don’t adhere to it.  You believe in some man made map that provides a story of where you came from and where you are to go.  This map provides instructions on how to navigate your experience as a human being.   Faith is required to be in this category and this is where you all differ.
  • There are those of you who consider yourself spiritual but not religious.  Those in the religious category think you are weak in your faith.  Those in the first three categories tolerate you a little more than the religious type.  Nevertheless, you are seen by those not in your category as a bit ungrounded and flakey.  You tend to hang out with people like you and you have been seen congregating in yoga studios all across the country.  In fact, some of these yoga studios are beginning to resemble churches and mystical schools.  You are fairly open minded except you tend to be as intolerant of the religious type as the Atheist.  You think religion is the cause of a lot of the evil in the world and you, like the rational evolutionist, feel a bit above it all.  Some of you think you are enlightened beings and want to be spiritual leaders.

I am sure you can think of other categories to describe the current spectrum of human conscious view on this matter.  If you are so sensitive that the word category is disturbing you then hang in there.  I assure you I am not doing it to hurt, label, pigeon hole.  The reality is that we are all at different “places” determined by desire and ability to hold wider and wider perspective.

Now, to the primary purpose of this post.  I am here to tell you that it is critical that you take some time and inquire into the way things really are.  Not because it is a nice thing to do or because it will increase your performance levels or to convert you to being a God fearing person.

Human consciousness has been evolving since the beginning of time. This is not my opinion, this is an empirical fact.   It has been speeding up in the past few hundred years and in the last 50 years it seems to have found a new gear and is exponentially expanding.   Consciousness is Consciousness.  It is kind of like Consciousness is everything and anything that ever was, ever is and ever will be.  Human consciousness is our ability to connect to, channel, process and make use of Consciousness.  Check out Ray Kurzweil:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/

We, humans, are fast approaching a tipping point.  We need to catch up, consciously, with the advancements that we are realizing in technology.  The bad news is that we are lagging behind.  The good news is that it does not take much effort to break through and have a realization of what is next in your desire and ability to connect to all that there is.

I am not sure what is going to happen if we don’t catch up.  Some see the end of times.  I guess some would question my conclusion that we have not caught up.

Check out some of my linked sites on this website for path ways into inquiry.

Part 2 currently under construction.  I am writing a total of 5 in this series.

Healing

This is an email I sent to my yoga clients and others:
If you are getting this email then you are on my “yoga” list or I, have or am working with you on a related subject.  I came across this video and I would like to share it with you.  The link is pasted toward the end. Allow me to create some context.
Yoga, from the Sanskrit root “Yuj” gives us our word “union.”  Returning to wholeness, therefore, is the essential meaning of Yoga.  The heart of Yoga lives in realizing the path by which we unite our finite self with Infinite Being.  The vision of Yoga is an unbroken (unceasing) awareness of our oneness with Spirit.  This new level of consciousness evolves through yogic practices aimed at developing an ever-increasing awareness of the various levels of our experience : physical, energetic, emotional, spiritual, and so forth.
Keeping us from experiencing ourselves as truth, bliss and consciousness are obstructions, both obvious and subtle.  These obstructions create disharmony within us and is considered the root cause of our dis-eases.    In response to this alienation from Self, the practice of Yoga assists us in holding these unconscious patterns of obstruction and disturbance up to the light of our awareness.  This is the healing journey; the path to wholeness.
Swami Kripalu described it this way………
“The purpose of Yoga is the attainment of happiness, peace and bliss.  The meaning of
Yoga is the union of individual consciousness with Shiva consciousness; with
God (Source, Creator).  Yoga is the meeting of the drop and the ocean.
The ultimate result of all Yoga is purity of mind and body.”
Ok, with that said, most of you know that I acquired Type 1 Diabetes at age 14.  This dis-ease has been my “cross to bear.”  My deepest desire is to heal it.  It is a very challenging and uncomfortable obstruction to deal with albeit all the medical advancements.  Prior to the invention of injectable insulin in 1922 a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes ended quickly (not quickly enough).  Without insulin the body is not capable of metabolizing food.  Without insulin the body starves and is drained of all water.  My awareness that this life was a path of healing hit my square between the eyes in November of 1976.
I teach Yoga in the context of understanding that we are inquiring into how to become whole; how to heal.  This attitude is the foundation of my passion.  Yoga is but one map that I have studied and engaged in.  Some of the other maps are Vipassana Meditation, Kabbalah, Mystical Christianity, Spiral Dynamics, Integral Theory, Cranio – Sacral Therapy, Light Therapy, Bio-feedback, Acupuncture, Chakra balancing and others similar.  I love having Yoga as the backbone because it is such a dynamic map.
This video is one of the most comprehensive processes I have experienced.  It is 24 minutes. When you have a 1/2 hour find a comfortable place to be. lower the lights, maybe light a candle, wear comfortable clothes. make a cup of tea, put your headphones on, click play and enlarge the screen so you are in full screen mode.  One of my facebook friends posted this and then I checked it out.  The internet and advancements in technology are both mirroring and making possible the evolution in human consciousness that all of us can tap into now.
I teach the yoga classes not so much to teach yoga but rather to find and walk the path of healing.  I think we are about ready to quicken the pace.  As one of my personal mentors often said…..”Let’s gitty up.  Feel free to forward this email to any friends or family that are in need of healing energy.
Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7iLX14ua6k
Michael Mahanger
Coach, Trainer, Meditation Guide & Certified Yoga Teacher
www.choicetimes.com

Less is More

This is a concept in yoga.   Yoga is not about stretching or struggling past your edge. Proper yoga means, first, proper alignment.  Then, finding your edge with the attitude of inquiry and compassion. A perfect example of this in dealing with diabetes is the amount of food we eat in any given sitting. I have found that less food means more control. I try to restrict my food intake to less than 40 grams of carbohydrates in one sitting. When I do this I achieve more control of my blood sugars. When I go beyond 40 grams, control becomes more uncertain.

Do You Believe In Evolution?

 I have often times been in a conversation with someone and we may be talking about the workings of things and they might ask ….”Do you believe in evolution or intelligent design?” Usually, not always, when I am asked this question, or something similar, the questioner wants to know where I stand as to what I “believe” explains the Cause of the Universe.  We may have entered into some spiritual discussion about God, meaning or purpose.  In most cases, the questioner assumes that these are the two choices for original “Cause.”  Almost always, they have made their choice and it is Evolution.   I think they use the word “believe” because they think belief is necessary. I also think that they are, unconsciously, going on the offense by using the word belief.  They assume that for someone to choose intelligent design, faith is required.  “Belief” is a close cousin to Faith.   On its face, the question is not a valid question.  Today, with what we know, there is no need for the word believe in the question.  We know that things evolve.  We also know there is intelligent design weaved throughout everything in our world and the universe.   

 “Everything that arises is bound to pass away.”  Buddha.  What happens in between the arising and passing away is the evolution of that which arises.  Evolution is not a place to rest your hat on for original cause.  However, it is the warp and woof of existence.  It is not something to be believed in.  It is something to become aware of, understood and applied.  There are many evolutionary theories and maps.  It is Darwin’s theory of evolution that is referred to in the question.  But there are so many more maps of evolution/development/growth.  Darwin’s theory does not monopolize evolution.  The evolution of any line of existing and being, physical and non physical, can be observed as it arises and passes away.  I have written about this process extensively in my blog posts.  I choose to utilize a 5 step map that cycles from step to step sequentially and loops back from step 5 to step 1 creating a rising cyclical cylinder, vortex, vessel. 

 Step 1.  This step is about identifying what “it is” we are looking at.  When dealing with people with diabetes, I lead with the word confront.  What are we confronting?  It includes the primary objective and goal.  In the growth cycle, this step is called confusion.  We confront the confusion and commit to its resolution.  From a “game” perspective it is the object of the game; score the most points, capture your opponent’s pieces, etc.  It is the seed level in any evolutionary process.

 Step 2.  This step is called exploration in the growth cycle.  When dealing with diabetics I call it understanding.  It is the functions or ingredients needed to make the pie.  It is a brainstorming step.  We are identifying all the components we need to play the game.  It is good to prioritize them in order of value or importance.

 Step 3.  Step three is the creative step.  It is about putting together the systems and procedures.  We put all the ingredients together in the most optimal portions and order.  When working with diabetics I call this step integration.  In step 2 we became aware of and understood the functionality of all the things we need to account for.  Now we put it together in a system.  In the growth cycle this step is called Incubation.

 Step 4.  When working with diabetics I call this step Mastery.  It is the implementation step.  We “work” our system.  In the growth cycle this is called Illumination.  From a game perspective, we are practicing and we are playing.  We know what we are wanting to accomplish.  We have all the ingredients needed to play the game.  We have designed a game plan.  Now we engage.  

 Step 5.  This is the results or outcome step.  Through our efforts in following the process we will have achieved an outcome.  We validate our outcomes and are now ready to cycle back to step 1 as a new confusion begins to set in.  But we have evolved through the process.  In the growth cycle this step is called celebration.  When working with diabetics I call this step liberation.  

 “Total accountability and total feedback constitute the minimum and only requirements for a perpetual motion system.”  Buckminster Fuller, Critical Path.  Life is built on intelligently designed perpetual motion systems.  Evolution is the gift given to us so we may explore the design and experience its intelligence. 

Chronic

I recently finished writing a series of blogs entitled, “Transforming Diabetes.”  It was a culmination of work I have been doing over the last 5 years dealing specifically with the process I have used in managing and, intermittently. mastering diabetes. If you are interested in reading about my perspective and what I have discovered in my 34 years of experience then click on Transforming Diabetes under the Categories section of this blog site. Start with Post #1 and proceed from there.  Diabetes is called a “chronic” dis-ease.  Webster’s dictionary defines chronic as –

1. lasting a long time or recurring often: said of a disease, and distinguished from ACUTE.  2. having had an ailment for some time (a chronic patient) 3. continuing indefinitely; perpetual; constant (a chronic worry) 4. by habit, custom, etc; habitual; inveterate  (a chronic complainer) – n. a chronic patient —chronically adv. —chronicity n.

SYN. – chronic suggests long duration or frequent recurrence and is used especially of diseases or habits that resist all efforts to eradicate them (chronic sinusitis); inveterate implies firm  establishment as a result of continued indulgence over a long period of time (an inveterate liar);  confirmed suggests fixedness in some condition or practice, often from a deep-seated aversion to change  (a confirmed bachelor);  hardened implies fixed tendencies and a callous indifference to emotional or moral considerations (a hardened criminal)”

At age 14 I was “given” this serious, complicated, dangerous and, often times, insidious, physical condition to address.  I guess it is called chronic because it is here to stay.  There is no cure.  Prior to 1921 any human being who “caught” this disease died in a matter of weeks.  And it wasn’t an easy way to go.  It is death by starvation.  Today Type 1 diabetics can live longer.  Some even make it past the current average expected life span of a human being.  We have injectable insulin and we have better tools to deliver it and to test our blood sugar levels.  The real chronic characteristic of the condition now is the constant monitoring of insulin dosage, food intake and blood sugar levels.  It is a 24/7 job.

In the past five years I have been working on “ways” to  assist others in confronting, understanding, integrating, mastering and transforming that in their life that they have become aware of as a chronic condition.  My intention in my service is to guide  and support them in discovering, experiencing, and practicing the “work” they must engage in and celebrating the outcomes they realize.  My experience with a dark and challenging physical, mental, emotional and spiritual chronic condition has shown me a path that has produced movement, softening, change and a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

Is life itself chronic?  It can be.

The Buddha, in his teachings, said;

Better a single day of life

seeing the reality of arising and passing away

than a hundred years of existence

remaining blind to it.

At the core of the Buddha’s teaching is the path to liberation from suffering by becoming conscious that we are, and for that matter everything in the universe, is constantly changing and impermanent.  “What arises is bound to pass away.”  And at the subtlest level the tiniest particles of the universe which make up everything are “arising and passing away at great rapidity.”  Quantum Physics is telling us that these tiniest particles are the most real thing there is.  In reality everything is a big vibration.

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