"In the face of every human being, in every wisp of cloud, and in every mud puddle we sidestep is an opportunity to perceive profound and beautiful truths."
Consciousness Unfolding by: Dr. Michael Mamas
Living in California has its advantages, there are the obvious benefits like Yosemite,
great restaurants and magnificent sunsets, and then there are the not so obvious
advantages like . . . schools. In San Diego alone, there are easily a hundred schools,
from high schools to hang gliding schools and from computer schools to . . . schools for
enlightenment. One need only scan the yellow pages and if you can dream it, someone has
created a school for it.
One such school is the School for Enlightenment and Healing. The school was created by Dr. Michael Mamas, a former veterinarian, as a progressive training program for the development of hands-on-healing.
The following are some excerpts from an interview with Dr. Michael Mamas, conducted in San Diego, California.
Interviewer: So you're a healer? What does that mean?
Dr. Mamas: The word healer has connotations that might be misleading. My passion is
to assist people in self actualizing. You could use words like self enlightenment, self
realization, or freeing yourself from conditioning. The point is, we're all so incredible
as human beings. But what happens is, that our parents, teachers, our society, all
condition us to look outside ourselves for the
answers . . . and that's not normal. Innately, the human body has all the answers to what
it needs for survival , for enlightenment within. Self actualization is the process of
helping people connect with that inner being.
Interviewer: As a child of the sixties, I think I've just about been through
every "get better, get enlightened" training or seminar. How are you different
from some of those personal growth vehicles developed in the sixties and seventies?
Dr. Mamas: Most of those different modalities are valuable. When I'm asked to
distinguish between what we do and some of the other modalities, I'm put in a bit of a
double bind, because it's not about putting them down and saying we're better, but as I
talk about what we do, it may sound like it. The concept of self improvement often says
when you conform to a model, then your O.K.. For example, when you're in college, your
model may be Tom Cruise, so you try to conform yourself to that model. Sooner or later
that stops working for you so look for a new model, then that stops working for you and
you move on to a new model. That's the fundamental basis to western knowledge. Western
knowledge is about external objects. In the eastern Vedic tradition, the emphasis is the
opposite. The kingdom of heaven exists inside you.
Interviewer: O.K., you've sold me. Here's my check. Now what can I expect to get
out of your school if I enroll?
Dr. Mamas: Destroyed. I tell my students that my purpose is to destroy them. What I
mean by that is that my purpose is to destroy the overlay with which they have identified.
Interviewer: What are my friends and family going to see, when I complete your
school, a destroyed person?
Dr. Mamas: They are going to see a person coming out with the superficial aspect of
their being lessened, and the depth of their being, the truth of who they really are,
enlivened.
nterviewer: So are you saying that my family may see me being "more
neurotic," being more of who I really am?
Dr. Mamas: Here is where the fail safe is. We've all heard the concept "we are
one," from the Bible and other sources. The most fundamental level of existence is
that we are one. We are enlightened to the degree that we soften our identity with the
western model of life. The western model is where all the pain is. It's our identity with
that model, which creates many of the problems in our lives.
Interviewer: How does this all translate into the word "healing?"
Dr. Mamas: There are many levels to your being. If you work on one aspect it
transfers to a deeper level of our being. We can work on the physical level and it will
carry over into the transcendental level. We (the school) use the word healing in the
broadest sense of the word.
Interviewer: Will I come out of your school with a set of "healing"
parlor tricks?
Dr. Mamas: I think a lot of what's done in the name of spiritual healing, hands on
healing are parlor tricks. I find it frustrating, a little depressing. You see a lot of
"flash" associated with the word healing. If a person waves their hands around
and flutters their eye lids, people say "wow", that was a great healing. At the
school we're talking about a profound level of spiritual maturity. We're talking about
being real, being grounded. Enlightenment is real, it's accessible, it profound, it's
wonderful.
Interviewer: What type of techniques do you teach?
Dr. Michael Mamas: My method is not to teach people to be Michael Mamas clones. The
typical healing school says, we'll teach you these skills and these techniques, when you
have that model down, you're a healer. I teach healing techniques as a means of assisting
the students to access themselves. I tell my students that my fulfillment will be in their
rejection of me, of their going beyond me.
Interviewer: Is there a way you can give a thumb nail sketch of what you do, so
the average person can understand?
Dr. Mamas: The school is about becoming a more fulfilled person, more in touch with
their true nature, their own gifts, their own uniqueness, and at the same time, their own
universality. We teach people to access the kingdom of Heaven from within, then manifest
it outward. The fact that they will be excellent hands on healers by the time they
graduate is not nearly as significant as the evolution they will personally experience.
For a brochure about The School for Enlightenment and Healing, Inc., call (619) 495-2435.
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