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Published: March 7, 2021, 9:35 a.m.

Mikal Shumate grew up in a blue-collar family, served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, and worked in the construction industry for over 45 years before retiring. He holds a certification in interpersonal and trans-person counseling, and is an ordained spiritualist minister and oneness trainer. A lifetime of interest in learning about and obtaining higher consciousness lead Mikal to study and decipher the mysteries of all the world’s major traditions, spiritual philosophies and experiences. This ultimately led him to discover and interpret the mechanism for achieving awakening and enlightenment, which he now pass on to others within the pages of “Blue-Collar Enlightenment”

Connect with Mikal at LoveLightConsciousness.com !

Brandon Handley 0:00
4321 Hey, their spiritual dope this is Brandon Handley. And I am on with Michael Shumate, who grew up in a blue collar family and served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. He's also worked in the conduct construction industry for over 45 years before he retired. He holds a certification and interpersonal and transpersonal counseling and as an ordained spiritualist minister and oneness trainer, after a lifetime of interest in learning about and obtaining higher consciousness, he was led to study and decipher the mysteries of all the world's major traditions, spiritual philosophies and experiences. This ultimately led him to discover and interpret the mechanism for achieving awakening and enlightenment, which he now passes on to others within his new book, blue collar enlightenment, Michael, thanks for being here today. How are you?

Mikal Shumate 0:51
Thank you. I'm doing well.

Brandon Handley 0:54
Fantastic. Awesome. So I'd love to start these off with the idea that you and I are basically, you know, we're conduits for source energy, right? And, and we, you know, something's flowing through us, you and I, today through this podcast is hitting somebody's ears, or maybe a video depending on what they watch the video, but there's a message that can only be delivered through you to that person today. What is that message?

Unknown Speaker 1:26
That

Mikal Shumate 1:28
it is possible to live life in a peaceful and happy state of consciousness where you're not stressed, and you can achieve anything you really want to achieve.

Brandon Handley 1:51
So I think that's a I think that's a powerful message. Right? And, and, you know, you build out this system for it. But even before we kind of get there, let's go, you know, what are some of the, you know, the, I'd be curious about what is even a spiritualist minister, right, and just kind of let's talk a little bit about your path and how you got to where you are today. So in in regards to even being the spiritualist minister, what would you tell me that is, and what's that mean?

Mikal Shumate 2:19
Well, early, early in my life, I had a number of experiences they had to do with people that I knew or people that I met. The most profound was a woman named Nancy Cappy who actually, at the time that I met her, I was a young man in my late teens, and she worked with my mother at the time in are in the same company, and they knew each other, so they and we also had a group of friends and things like that for the family. And so she was part of that network. And she did what are called reads. Okay, well, readings, you know, in most terms are, are seen as being psychic readings, she was psychic, but with a very definitive methodology. And her her method was Auric reading. So she would read the energy fields around your body. And she, I mean, she was she was one of these people that was born that way. You know, and she just, she just over her lifetime learned until she got to the point where that's all she did was, was her work by reading orders. And she, she had a profound effect upon me. I came home I was in, just joined the Navy. I came home on leave. And our neighbor, Latasha comes by and says, You got to go down and see Nancy. So why would you know, she's doing readings down here and was in San Diego. She's down here at the waterfront, and you need to get out and see her. Well, okay. Don't What else you got to do, you know? So I found a hotel room down on the waterfront where she had rented a room it was giving readings. And I walked in and she looked up and saw me and she just kind of stared at me for a minute. And then she finished what she was talking about. And then she says, may I come to you? I had no idea what she was talking about at the time. So she said, Yeah, okay. And so she, she told me things about myself. And two profound things stuck with me out of that. One of those was that I needed to learn how to separate my work life. from my home life. A lot of people bring their work home with them. And she told me, it would be very important for me to separate that. Which I learned to do. And in fact I do, I learned it so well that I would tell myself as soon as I get home, I need to call so and so and I wouldn't remember until the next morning. So it's, you know, so that separation was important. And then she also then exposed me to the idea that there was something else beyond what I had learned in my life. That all fell into the category of spirituality. In spiritualism itself, to answer your question is the study of psychic phenomena, the study of energetics that are beyond our normal, day to day process. And what it did for me was, it inspired me to, to wonder about and seek to, to refine and define and understand what consciousness is. So I had like, two, two operations going on in my life, I had my, my, my work, business, all that sort of thing. And then on the other side of it, I had my quest to learn about spirituality and consciousness. And, and then, of course, that evolved over the process of time. And we're talking about, you know, a 50, year 5050 plus year process, actually, over 60 years, almost 60 years process, to try to figure out, you know, who I am and what I am and who we are, and what we are, and that sort of thing, in my book is the culmination of that process up to the point I wrote a book, because consciousness and awareness is not something that you just reach it reach an endpoint, and that's it. No, it's not like, it's not like, okay, your body has

reached its limit, and you drop the body and whatever happens after that, right. So it's not like it's not terminal. Yeah, no,

Brandon Handley 7:26
I get that for sure. Sure. Just to jump in real quick. You know, we're already got a little bit to unpack there, Michael. So before we, before we get too far along there, right. I love what you're saying there in terms of, you know, there is, I mean, there may seem to be points where there's a plateau, but it's still ongoing, right? Even if it levels off, it's still expanding that that consciousness that you're talking about, right? Yes. And my

Mikal Shumate 7:49
experience is that we, that it's like a ladder, you you expand, you reach a point, and you stabilize it, that area, you in my experience, I would like have what they would call a colic cathartic experience of reaching a plateau. And then that experience then becomes normal. And it's like, okay, at that time, you know, it's like, You're full of Listen, you're full of joy, and it's just this wonderful thing. And then, and then that just kind of becomes ordinary. And then as you grow, then you step up again, and it's just a continuous process of that. Enlightenment is not a endpoint, it is a actually a beginning point of the understanding of the totality of your consciousness.

Brandon Handley 8:42
Can I tell you how frustrated I was with that one, right? Because, you know, as I as I look back on my experience, right, kind of mine was kind of a sudden, sudden thing, right? Kind of, like, I would liken it to a discarded seed that just goes ahead and sprouts anyways. Right? And and really, there was no stopping it. So you just kind of like, Oh, well, great. This is amazing. And then it's taken me personally about three years to kind of understand what's going on, try to verbalize it and really develop it. It's like, just like literally like being reborn, right? There's this whole there's a whole new language that I don't understand, or I understand but I'm looking for the language to to encompass the experience. Right. So when you know when so you've got this you got this lady, right? What What is it that makes you even believe her right at that time, because she's telling us some things. I'm gonna you know, your your your your, you know, late, late to your late teens or early 20s I'm guessing and what makes you believe her that what she's telling you is something that's even worth pursuing.

Mikal Shumate 9:55
Well, my attitude is I am I am a A dyed in the wool skeptic. So you can, I will listen to whatever you have to say. And then I will look into the world and see if that's valid for me or not. And so what what happened with me was, you know, a number of things that she talked about kind of resonated. And okay, well, let's, let's just see what this is. And actually what happened was, after I, after I got out of the Navy, I went into college. And after going to college, I came back to my hometown of Encinitas, California. And there was a place there called the chapel of awareness that I happen to just walk by one day and see Oh, no, and, you know, it's like, you know, your your, if you allow yourself to be spirit will drive you to wherever it is that you need to be. So,

Brandon Handley 11:03
agreed with that real quick there. You know, what, what would you say specifically resonated with with you? I know, it's been a while, right. But you said a few things she'd said resonated. And I'm just curious what those resignation points were?

Unknown Speaker 11:16
Well,

Mikal Shumate 11:20
gee, it's, I mean, you're talking.

Brandon Handley 11:23
As I say, look, if you can't remember, if it's I get it, but you know, that was this kind of the question that popped up in my mind, you know, what are these? What are some of the sticking points?

Mikal Shumate 11:31
Yeah, I think, you know, the, the, looking at that process, because that was just a step. You don't know, it's just one step in a whole lifetime of steps. But I did, I did study spiritual ism, which is that study of psychic phenomena and, and contact with just disconnected, you know, disembodied souls and that sort of thing. And a lot of other things, which is a very primal level kind of experience, you don't have to be highly spiritually evolved, to be able to connect into that frequency of energy, you just have to have that resonance in you, that resonates with you know, whatever it is that you're you're trying to connect with. Like that. For me, for me, it's a very, was a very primal level kind of thing. And there's a whole lot more stuff, the increases with frequency as your

Brandon Handley 12:38
frequency goes up. And I think that i think that's interesting, too. Even going back to kind of, you know, the, the kind of awakening experience, right, where the awakening or the initial enlightenment isn't, isn't the end point, right? That's, it's kind of ongoing, whereas even Alright, well, hey, here it is, I've awakened, not only have I awakened, now, I feel this the source energy flowing through me right now. Now, what I'm hearing you say, is that you don't even have to be like that elevated or, you know, you don't have to be that deep end to be able to do that right to connect with sources that what you're saying, like, you know,

Mikal Shumate 13:18
we're not talking about connecting with source we're talking about connecting with, with the spiritual entities.

Brandon Handley 13:24
Okay. would you would you define things?

Mikal Shumate 13:28
Well, the requirement, as I've come to learn, okay, the requirement is that you need to resonate at the same frequency, it is true, all the way up the scale, you want to resonate with your higher self, you have to bring your vibration, so to speak, you know, that's the term that was used when I was a kid, you know, you got to raise your vibration,

Brandon Handley 13:50
it's back Michael, just say no, it's it's all it's all coming back, right. It's a cycle a cycle of things.

Mikal Shumate 13:58
So so it's like, you know, the higher you raise your vibration that gives you the ability to connect out to other intelligence at that vibration, because we are in we are in we have been divided there. There. There has been definition stated that we have that we have dimensions of existence, like the third dimension is the primal dimension of existence on Earth, right. Raising that vibration of Earth up to the fourth fifth dimension is now what what's being called, you know, the evolution of humanity. A lot of things come together as you gather pieces of the puzzle. And so what happened for me was I spent pretty much my lifetime gathering pieces of the puzzle. And about three years ago, three, four years ago, it all kind of coalesced and children came together and I had a much clearer Understanding of a much larger picture. And that's really where where my book takes people is how to get yourself into that state of being. So that you can, as you say, connect with source, because ultimately, everyone is connected to source,

Brandon Handley 15:23
for sure, for sure, for sure, right? It's not that you're not connected to source, it's your ability to recognize your connection with source or your awareness or, you know, kind of, you know, listen, so my mom, I was born in late 70s. My mom, you know, in San Francisco, right? So I've got a little bit of background in tuned in what does it tuned in turned on or whatever? Tune into now, whatever you tune in, drop out, whatever, you know, so there it is, right. There it is. Right. So the language right there, you know, is it right? It's already kind of in existence, kind of like there's already like a radio tower out there. All we got to do is dial into it. Right. And, and just recognize it. And and I think you would you say that you've got to want it, which you've got to say that you've got to be willing to receive it, that type of thing?

Mikal Shumate 16:15
Well, I yes, I think I think there are exceptions to people that with people that actually came in to, specifically to do that kind of connection. But for most people, you you meet, you need to be drawn into the what I would call it spiritual curiosity. Okay, so if you're, if you're, if you're, if you wonder, what is this? And you know, I mean, I would think that a majority of people wonder about, you know, why they're here on this planet at this time, and what their purpose in life is, and, and such like that, you know, the big existential questions that people have, but I think that the basis of all evolution is spiritual curiosity, that you want, you have a, you have an innate internal sense that there is something else and you want to find out what that something else is. And it can be drawn, you know, depending on your state of evolution, it can be drawn into a religious movement, you can be drawn into, you know, higher consciousness type movements, you can be drawn into meditation, you can be drawn into all kinds of things. I mean, there's 7 billion people on the planet, and there's 7 billion ways in which we can access this information. Yeah.

Brandon Handley 17:44
100%. And that's why like, I was definitely catching, catching your language saying, Hey, this is what you know, in my experience, this is what's been valid for me. Right, I'm hearing you say that. But what I think is also interesting, too, is that, you know, so here you are, you're, you know, you're in the military, how long were you in the military? And, and kind of what was your experience while you were seeking through that we sharing your experiences of seeking through that? Or was that kind of a solo experience for you? Well,

Mikal Shumate 18:14
I was in the military for three years, nine months at 26 days. Counting, right, so I did a minority term where I enlisted when I was 17. And I got out on my 21st birthday. So

Unknown Speaker 18:31
it was

Mikal Shumate 18:34
it was a process of working out. Or at least at least, the beginning of working out things from my childhood, in the military. It provided it provided a structure for me. It provided discipline,

Unknown Speaker 18:59
and

Mikal Shumate 19:02
gave me a chance to discover what I was capable of doing as a person. And that I was capable of going through this training and such like that. But more More importantly, what it was it was a mechanism for, for my future. In the fact that at the time, they had the GI Bill, well, they still have gi Yu GI Bill, but at the time. The GI Bill was very generous. And when I got out of the Navy, after about two years of, you know, flopping around and in society, I thought, you know, I want to I want to get an education, you know, I'd be the first person in my family to get a college education. And so the GI Bill help you do that. And, of course, when you go to college, what happens there is it's not about necessarily the subject matter. It's about the exposure to all the different things That at that time was probably the best way to broaden your horizons to expand your perspective on the world. Nowadays with the internet, it's a whole different story, because there's so much information available on the internet that you have a world education, you know, just by sitting in your, in your home, you know, but for me at that time, that was a, it was a mechanism that took me in to set me up for how I was going to operate in the business world and make a living and that sort of thing, at the same time, giving me opportunities, because where I went to school was up in the Monterey Peninsula for two years, and then up in Sonoma State University, for another three years. It gave me an opportunity to be exposed to a lot of different things, culturally different people, and become aware of other types of spiritual movements. It was a time of the Maharishi doing his thing. So I got exposed to that I got exposed to people that were interested in different spiritual paths, different gurus and things like that, because it was a lot of influence from the east coming in, at the time. So in that in those five, six years that I was hanging around in that environment, I got exposed to a lot of different philosophies, a lot of different perspectives and things like that. And each one of those things, gave me a piece of the puzzle.

Brandon Handley 21:38
Sure, sure. And that's pretty cool. How you're the first you like that you're the first new college, college graduate, right? And in your family taking kind of advantage of that mechanism for a future, let's talk about, like, how you're talking about the idea of, you know, going in getting that education, but the education, you know, and, you know, like, you keep saying, you know, in my experience, right, and my experience, you know, going back to school, after you've had some world experience makes that education a little bit, a little bit more applicable, right. If you just go from if you just go from school to school, you're just continuously learning, you don't have some real world application. So what you're sharing is that you were able to go, you know, finish up school, go to the military, you know, like you said, flop around a little bit. And then when you went back to school, you were able to kind of learn some things that you could actually apply to the real world. Is that how I'm picking that up? Yeah. And then it's pretty neat. Like how you were exposed to all these different types of new philosophies or philosophies. I think that during during the time that you were growing up in that period where we're new to the United States, right? Yes. What was your What was your personal background prior to even jumping into these these Eastern philosophies? Were you a Christian?

Mikal Shumate 23:04
Yeah, we was Catholic. I'm the old guy. So I'm the oldest of nine children. Guess what, guess what religion? We were. Right. Right.

Brandon Handley 23:16
Right. That's fair. So it wasn't Mormon. Yes. Were you? Did you know? Did you break away from that faith while you're studying all these others, to go off on your own and figure it out yourself?

Mikal Shumate 23:28
Actually, I broke away from from Catholicism when I was about seven years old. that I had, I had an experience that kind of made me stop and think and look, it's like, you know, this has always been part of my character to, you know, wonder about things. So, one Sunday, we were getting ready to leave for church. And I think we were there was like, four or five children in the family at that time. And I just put on Sunday clothes, all the good clothes and all that sort of thing. And I and I would walk it outside. I was I'm six foot five now, which is shrunk from six foot six. And I was so I was a tall, gangly, uncoordinated kid. And I stumbled on the way out, stepping down the porch, and skinned my knee. And I tore my pants. And my father just got furious with me about it. And I couldn't understand why he was so mad about it. No, it wasn't that I tore my new clothes and things. He says, We can't go to church with you looking like that. And I thought, why not? Because why does Why does God care what I look like? And that just started me looking seriously at Catholicism and things. You know, and religions in general, over over my lifetime to see what it is that you know, that was that made sense of what didn't make sense. And so that was that was that was the initial point right there that was early in my life.

Brandon Handley 25:16
Yeah, I mean, that's definitely young to be breaking away from your own kind of foundations right or even your family structure. So that's pretty cool. Let's, um, let's talk a little bit about, you know, the idea that you've got this mechanism for achieving awakening and enlightenment, right, let's talk a little bit about maybe what we can find inside of the book, blue collar, enlightenment.

Mikal Shumate 25:36
Okay, well, the, the, the essential point is that the, there's a, there's a whole process that I go through in the book to get to this point, but the essential point is, is that the, the best state of being is to be present. Totally present for the experience of your life. And what keeps us from being present is our memories, which are, which we indulge in the thoughts of our past, actions and, and, and things like that. And that's most its most destructive and most seriously understood. If you think about times, when things that happen to you, and it just rolls around in your head and rolls around and just won't let go will leave you alone, it just, you're just stuck back there at that moment in time. Well, the past is the past, it's gone, there's nothing you can do to change it, you can reiterate yourself experience within your mind as long as you want, it's not going to change anything in the future hasn't happened yet. So that's it, that's a you know, the reality is, is that we live our life, in moments by moments by moments. And so if we can be present for the moment, then what happens is everything changes because at that point, we are connected to our core self. And we are able to be guided to that thing, which is the most appropriate for us to be

Brandon Handley 27:31
what would you say some of the mechanisms are specifically to stay president way? How do you how do you break out of, of, you know, living in the past or in the future and bringing yourself to be fully present?

Mikal Shumate 27:44
Well, it is a it is a actually a very simple thing that is hard to do. That's what I find about the truth about most things is they're very simple. It's just that they seem to be hard to do. So what I was, you know, I I trained in for about 10 years in India, learning different kinds of meditations and processes and things like that. And one of the most influential people on that kind of brought me to the Enlightenment moment was a couple of people called, well, it started out with oneness universities, where I studied with Sri Bhagwan Shri Rama were the founders of that his son tree mine stopped.

Unknown Speaker 28:45
You can just go with a son,

Mikal Shumate 28:47
he and his wife prekmurje have taken over the, you know, the university and combine their operations to into what's called

Unknown Speaker 29:06
one one world Academy.

Mikal Shumate 29:12
It doesn't make any difference. What what he what he showed me was that there are only two states of being that you can possibly be in. You're either in, you're in a state of being happy or you're in a state of being stressed. So, understanding that what isn't if you take a look at what is it you can do for yourself to resolve stress in your life. The most effective thing that you can do is calm the mind. And how you learn to calm the mind. The best way that I know is to learn how to be silent, which is is what is what we call it meditation. Okay, so if you if you Put yourself in a position where you can be called, where you can slow your process down. And your awareness can watch the mind, then what happens when you start watching the mind is it starts, it doesn't like to be watched. So it will stop chitter chattering, in this stopping chitter chatter will happen a little bit at a time. And as you persist in the process, it becomes more and more and more until you can sit and be in silence. In in when you're sitting in Venus as your total awareness and experience of what of what is there for you. And that's, that's how you get to that point. After that, it's, you know, there's all kinds of things that can happen for you, who become aware of, in fact, you know, science is actually catching up with spirituality now. They're, they're aware that everything in the universe is connected. Well, all of us are connected to each other. What I do affects you, what you do affects me on some, at some degree in some level. And so when we're able to be in that space of silence, we're able to be in a place of total connectivity. And therefore we have access to the field of consciousness, which then can out of which we can then create whatever it is that we want. The reality is, is that we're doing that all the time. We just don't know that. That's the we're creating our life. We're, you know, as they say, we're co creators of the experience.

Brandon Handley 31:51
Yeah. 100%. I think that were, I love that you got the opportunity to spend, you know, 10 years in India, right. Do you think I mean, just out of curiosity, do you think that your experience is still possible for somebody else today? To go back? Well,

Mikal Shumate 32:06
it wasn't 10 continuous years, it was over a period of 10 years. Okay, gotcha,

Brandon Handley 32:11
gotcha. Well, I mean, even

Mikal Shumate 32:15
the most time I spent there was like about six weeks. Okay. Is it possible? Absolutely. Okay. You know, it given the current pandemic condition, we have to get through that. And then once we travel again, right, yes. All those things in India are still there, right? If you feel drawn to that,

Brandon Handley 32:36
right. 100% 100% I mean, you're you're out there. I think Monterey is got some places out there. I was just out there in LA not too long ago, where they've got the Self Realization Foundation, right. Yogananda

Mikal Shumate 32:51
fellowship,

Brandon Handley 32:52
fellowship. That's,

Mikal Shumate 32:53
that's in Encinitas. That's where I used to live.

Brandon Handley 32:55
Yes. I mean, you're right down. Did you did you did you spend some time there? So, okay, I mean, yeah. Okay.

Mikal Shumate 33:02
Most, most the time it was my biggest exposure was when I was young, you know, and we actually we, it's, it's actually, there's a state park there called Swamis beach. And that's, that that's because the locals used to call the place to Swamis place, you know? Who was there? Yeah. pazza Yogananda was a great influence on me very early in my life. Okay, his

Brandon Handley 33:31
book, right? I actually just ordered it. I've never read it. And I said, Fine. You know, I'll go ahead and read it. Yeah, it's, um, I don't know if you know this, but Steve Jobs actually handed out that book on his deathbed. So what was the Yeah, Steve Jobs died. He gave everybody in attendance, a copy of that book?

Mikal Shumate 33:49
Yeah. So I thought that was it. There's a lot of there's a lot to be learned from that. That's one of the one of the things that I read when I was younger, right.

Brandon Handley 34:02
You talked about, you know, just jumping back a little bit in the in being in the military, and processing, like kind of some childhood stuff. Was there anything like in there? What would you say you had the process? to kind of get through that, how did you do it?

Unknown Speaker 34:22
Well,

Mikal Shumate 34:32
this is a lot of things. Probably just, it just, it just gave me an opportunity to grow up, you know, to to transition out of childhood behaviors into a more disciplined adult behavior. At the same time, I recognized after a couple of years, that I didn't want to spend my life doing this. So I knew that Did you know that this was just a one time thing, it really was an opportunity for me to get away from home. My father was very abusive. When, when I got big enough that I could square off against them, he stopped being physically abusive to me, and just mentally abusive to me. And actually, it was so, so intense that I actually left home. When I was 16 years old, I left home. And but, you know, after a few months, out there on your own living at friends, homes, and that sort of thing, you know, it's like, oh, what are you gonna do with your life? Boy? Well, that's what I say, Well, you know, I could join the Navy.

Brandon Handley 35:49
Nice, nice. Well, look, I mean, you got it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, good for you to kind of kind of get out of there and away from that, right, split off from there. And I'm sure that that has a lot to do with what you needed to process kind of going counter that. And even kind of going forward, right? That's not the type of thing that just that just falls away super easily. So thanks for Thanks for answering that one. You know, you talk about the calming the mind silent meditation. And I'm just trying to imagine you out there working in the construction industry, pausing in the middle of the day, taking some deep breaths and saying no mistake or something like that. How did that how, how were you able to, you know, weave this into practical application on the job and that sort of thing. Just curious how it shows up there for you? Well,

Mikal Shumate 36:36
it's not like it was a continuous day to day process for most of my life. Once, once you achieve the ability to do this, then it's fairly easy to exist in that state. It doesn't mean that you don't have thoughts that the, the achievable goal is, like 70 to 80% of the time, you're in this state of presence, not 100% of the time, if I was there, 100% of the time, I probably would have no reason to stay here. You know, if I drop the body and go do something else. Yeah. Right. But so it's not like it's all the time and it we're talking about a process here for me, that has spanned a period of Firstly, 60 years. Michael, would

Brandon Handley 37:40
you say there's any way to accelerate that,

Mikal Shumate 37:42
I would say that now is the time to accelerate that, that that it is the energy and everything is changed the dynamic, the the the the push for ascension into higher dimensions and things like that, have brought in an opportunity for people to, to make these transformations in their life, and do it in a very short period of time.

Brandon Handley 38:10
What would you say? There's evidence of that, right? Where, where? Where would somebody See that? I guess, what's the basis of that statement for you?

Mikal Shumate 38:18
Well, it has to do with all the people I'm in contact with, and the things that I am continuously studying. But also from, from my experience, because it didn't all come together for me until, you know, 20 2017 2018 that's when I had my transformational experience. And, and discovered what this actually feels like. I mean, you know, this is really, we're talking about, we're talking about the mechanism for, for experience on this planet is feeling. So, you know, you pay attention to your feelings and how you feel how you how your body feels, how your attitude is, and you can accelerate this process now. And the only way that you're going to know how long that's going to take is to start doing it. But I'm, I'm very confident in in my observation of my environment and my experiences out in the world these days. shows me that yes, it's possible to make these transformations and make it you don't need to spend

Unknown Speaker 39:43
years in India

Mikal Shumate 39:44
a lifetime or you don't need to spend lifetimes doing

Brandon Handley 39:47
this. Sure. Sure. You got a couple things in there that that are intriguing to me, right. One is that you're an older male, right? And and, you know, born born and raised Western civilization, a different generation. And it's this idea of males dealing and with their feelings, right? How did you kind of come about that spot yourself to say, holy shit, I gotta I gotta pay attention to my feelings. Right? This is, this is this is the key. And then you know, so finding that key. So it's like you find the key, and you're looking for a lock, right? You're like, you're like, holy shit, here it is, the feeling is the key. What does this unlock and sounds like that, that unlocks this kind of an ongoing, enlightening experience, but just I just want to hear how you were able to get there and especially share it out with the males out there? Well,

Mikal Shumate 40:45
I have to say, first of all, I have been very emotionally aware, from very early in life. A lot of emotion was not very positive emotion. But it, it my awareness of how it affects my body and such like that. I've been aware of that for a long time, I consider myself to be very male, female, balanced. It's, I'm unusual for males. Most, most, most people are one way or the other. But I think that simply the process of being aware of what's there and acknowledging the truth of what's there is what transforms your ability to have, you know, a total experience.

Brandon Handley 41:55
Agreed, right, agreed 100%. But again, you know, it's, I guess, how did you be? What do you have a point in your life where you feel like you were always kind of emotionally aware and how it was impacting your body? Your daily life? Isn't a pinpoint for that, right? Because, again, this is something that I see over and over, especially in the western male civilization, right? Not understanding what emotions that they're feeling to begin with, right, nor understanding, you know, kind of the impact on the body, right? The, you know, if we look at alchemy, right, we are walking chemical creation factories, right, and what we feel, creates those chemicals that impact our body that impact, you know, our magnetic field and resonance, right, and on and on and on. So my question to you again, is, was there a point where you said, This, is it right, or you began to recognize those feelings and emotions and the impact that they were having? Or is it just always innate for you? And that's, that's

Mikal Shumate 43:03
its primary, it's primarily an eight. And there was a point where I recognize the impact of emotions on the body. And interestingly enough, it was when I was in college. It is one experience of many that stands out for me. I had been in a relationship and then had the gone through a relationship breakup. And it really hit my sore plexus. To the point where I had gut pain, like, I just couldn't understand why, you know, it was just, the emotion was so intense. And interestingly enough, the solution was hugging a tree. Somebody told me, you know, yeah, tell me. Tell me, the trees, trees will help you release this emotion. So I said, Okay, fine. I, you know, I've had enough of this. And I found a nice, I think it was a nice redwood tree or something like that big

Brandon Handley 44:17
tree,

Mikal Shumate 44:18
and just grabbed the whole thing and then held on for an hour or so. And it actually worked.

Brandon Handley 44:25
Wow. Well, you know, I've definitely seen that type of thing. I've got a bunch of trees in my backyard. I'm like, I kind of want to go try it out myself. But I want to do it in private, right, like, Okay, this tree and I have a moment, please. So, I enjoy that. And I also just, I see a sea kind of, and I'm familiar with this type of someone's this, this this gut punch right? Where your your feelings are just all centered right there. And just for that one moment, you're kind of your hidden pain, right? That solar plexus, right? Yes, and there's just there's nothing but that moment which, in honesty, you know, if you, you know, if I reflect back on I'm like, there's a moment where I was truly present to myself right truly present to what was happening within me. At that time, I wouldn't have addressed it. In the same way, I would have just addressed it as this sucks. But at the same time, that's what I was present for was just that feeling emotion and listening to my body. Right, and just kind of coming, you know, surrendering to that moment? space. So how can you use good ideas? If you're going through this type of thing? Michael, just I mean, another one, if you said there was a keystone to your entire program, you know, sounds like sounds a little bit like, you know, calling the mind awareness be present? Are there any other key stones or just really revelatory moments? What do you do even recall? Like, when you recognize the whole puzzle had kind of come together for you? You know, you're talking 2017 18 you're like, Eureka.

Mikal Shumate 46:07
Well, yes, there, there was a thing I was. I was studying at the One World Academy. And, and they were taking us through a process. And that process was called

Unknown Speaker 46:31
the

Mikal Shumate 46:40
minds, the mind slips. Oh, mercy. Google, will be

Brandon Handley 46:55
able to edit that out. And yeah, just a space. But there's a process that you were going through, you don't remember a specific process? And that's all right, can you talk a little bit about like, what happened during the process, and then maybe, what the well actually what

Mikal Shumate 47:09
happens, what happens in the process is they they take you through a meditation where your where your consciousness has expanded out into what they call the, the limitless field of consciousness. And you can, if you can experience that space, then what happens is, there is a space where there are no limitations. And if you can focus on one single thing and focus on a clear intention for that, then you can create that intention manifesting. So

Brandon Handley 47:59
do you have a recollection of maybe the first time you realize was this the first time you realize that you were capable of being the CO creator and manifesting those things? Or do you realize that before?

Mikal Shumate 48:11
Well, what manifested what made this sink in it actually like to be honest with you took me it took me months to really realize what had to happen. But at the time, I had a very serious cancer related growth on my cheek. It was it covered it covered a good portion of my cheekbone, and it was probably a couple inches in diameter. And so my, my wish my intention was that my face heel, and this, I mean, this looked like a charred burned mass on my face. And but we did that meditation is the great soul sync meditation. That's what is called the great soul sync meditation. So available on YouTube.

Brandon Handley 49:08
We got that one out right now. Right? Hey, guys, here's the secret. Oh, wait, I forget what it is. But good luck out there.

Mikal Shumate 49:17
Hey, I'm 75 years old. What do you want, you know? But anyway, that was about four days before the course ended. By the time I left, at the end of those four days, that great big mass had shrunk to about the size of a dime. And three days after I got back home, which was about five days later, it was completely healed, because I had an appointment with my dermatologist. And he looked at that and he said, My God is incredible. And so it's like okay, Miracle, right? Well, we can create miracles. And that's when I discovered that process and what it felt like to be connected into that space. I mean, this is the most important thing is what what it felt like. Because when you have a feeling, you now have something you can relate to other than just a thought. So you can, you can be aware of that thing when you when you get back there again, you go, Okay, I'm back here again,

Brandon Handley 50:38
Michael, what's up? What's the miracle feeling? Right? Like, I mean, what does that feel like? Tell us a little about

Mikal Shumate 50:43
that. It's, it's, uh, it was, it was, it was a soul premiere, it was a slow dawning process, that of what actually happened after I had a few months to, to, you know, live with it, and be aware of it and have people talking to me about it, and that sort of thing. And, and it's kind of like, okay, yeah, this is something that is possible. And, from that, in the experience of learning how to meditate to the point where I can slow down in inactive consciousness where I can be present, you know, those things came all out of that experience. And for me, it's, it's a, it's easy to recognize when my thoughts are running. And I can stop the train. And I can be present, I can move, actually, you know, I mean, this is, this also involves some physical awareness in the heart is the key to the whole thing. So it's like, there is a, that's where our connection to sources, there's a little, little tiny space in the heart, where that little spark of of source resides in us. And so connecting with that source connecting with that spot, and you're able to do that by being present, you've moved, you can actually, actually, you can move your consciousness anywhere in your physical body that you want. I don't know how much time we have. But I, I learned, I learned that when I went through the string, II St. Earhart seminar training back in the 70s, early 80s. We had an instructor who had a scar on his face, and it was an ugly scar. And he says, I'm going in this weekend to have had this scar produced fixed. He says, I'm going to do it without anesthesia. And he says, and that's because if you because I know that if you put your consciousness right there at the point of pain, pain has the job is to tell you that something's going on here that needs your attention. If you put your attention there, if you put your awareness and your consciousness at that point, he will not hurt to pain will have recognized pain will recognize that it's done its job and it will not hurt. This guy did that process, I discovered the truth of that as, as in most things, through my own experience, when I cut myself and slice my finger in, you know, a work related kind of thing. And, you know, I bashed it, it was throbbing in it, so it's okay. Little mind pops up and says, Well, what about that thing? That guy said, Oh, well, let's try that. Okay, so I just focused my attention, put my awareness and my consciousness into that point. And it's not hurting. Because it Okay, this works.

Brandon Handley 53:52
Right, this works. And I think that I think that a lot of times, right? It's, it's when somebody tells you something like that, or teaches you, you know, you kind of want to call bs you like, I will bs until you actually experience it yourself. Right. And it's one of those things that can only happen internally, and it's subjective. So it's difficult for somebody else to outside of you believe that right? unless they've had that experience themselves.

Mikal Shumate 54:21
Yeah, I think I think it's where healthy skepticism comes in.

Unknown Speaker 54:24
We don't for sure,

Mikal Shumate 54:25
allow the possibility that this thing may be, in fact true. But don't just become a believer actually branch out and be in become a knower right

Unknown Speaker 54:41
now and yeah, no,

Brandon Handley 54:42
this thing is true. For sure, for sure. You know, when you're talking about being a co creator, you know, I was definitely skeptical of that kind of thing before until, you know, I've had some experiences myself where there's just been co creation, right, like, Wow, I can't believe that happened almost identically to What I saw my mind with great ease and just kind of showed up in my life. Right? And and that's, I mean, it's pretty crazy. And you have to be willing to look for it right? You have to kind of be willing to look for the evidence of that. And all those other things, one more thing for you kind of before we tie it up, right? This is the book is for ordinary people. Right? And I'm just curious what you mean by ordinary people,

Mikal Shumate 55:26
people that have no spiritual training, particularly spiritual training. I try to keep all the blue stuff out of the book. No, it's because I don't want to put people in a position where they have to decide whether this stuff is real or not, you know, I don't want to turn people off, it's a process a very simple process of understanding our relationship to our existence on this planet, and how we can change our experience of that get into the point where we're living in that, what krishnaji calls a beautiful state as compared to be in a stressful state. So if you're experiencing negative emotions, you're angry, you're, you're sad, you're having you know, those kinds of experiences, you're stressed. That's one way to live life. The other way to live life is to, to recognize that those things are just thoughts in your mind. And it's not you. So that you can and then to recognize an experience that you can be something other than that. And, you know, most people have had some kinds of, you know, really positive experiences in their life that they can relate to, to that sense, that feeling of being that way. And in my book, I take you through all the background understanding of how to get to the point where you can know that this is possible, and then it's up to you to to do it.

Brandon Handley 57:07
That's awesome. That's awesome. I love it, man. What you know, and why now? Right? Why? Why? Why this book? Why now for you?

Mikal Shumate 57:16
Just, it's how it evolved?

Brandon Handley 57:18
Yeah. Okay,

Mikal Shumate 57:19
I gotta do what I got to the point where I, where I understood it. I just was, I was just was guided, to be honest with you, I was just guided to, okay. You know, I've been, I've been writing these pieces and things like that, you know. And now it's time to put all this stuff together. And because as I go, as I go along, in my training and my experiences and things like that I you know, kept it not necessarily a journal, but I kept a log would write things, things would be inside ones be inspired by I'd write it down. And so all that stuff I brought together into the book, and even the name of the book came to me, you know, I was just like, I was told, look all enlightenment. Let's, let's name your book. Okay.

Brandon Handley 58:10
I think I think it's a great name for the book. And I, you know, I'm pretty excited. I haven't read it yet myself. But I think that I think that what you're talking about is going to speak to the blue collar people to those ordinary people to somebody who's maybe had one or two experiences and doesn't know how to kind of pin it down, right doesn't know how to recreate those experiences. And it sounds to me like, you're helping someone to, again, decipher the mysteries, right? And some of those mysteries are what was that feeling that I was feeling and how did this happen? Right, and then being able to pin it down, recreate it and and implement it for the rest of their lives that said about what it boils down to?

Mikal Shumate 58:48
That's it's a path to do that. Yeah, for sure. Why can you just all you have to do is do the work?

Brandon Handley 58:54
Do the work, right. I mean, that's, that's all that's always the challenge, right? That's the challenge is actually doing the damn things. Right. Dude is a simple,

Mikal Shumate 59:02
simple process. That is hard to do. For sure. So this

Brandon Handley 59:07
helps you to do that. Where Where can I send people to find out more about you and this book?

Mikal Shumate 59:14
Okay, well, I have a website. It's love, like consciousness.com. My book is available to my website. It's available on Amazon. It's available on Melbourne press, who is the publisher of it? And there's a number of things on the website. recently have happened. articles that have been published and that sort of thing that might interest people.

Brandon Handley 59:43
Okay. Would you call those kind of just add ons to the book, right? Be like, hey, since I've written the book, you might want to you might you might want to find out about this. Right. Right. Right. Okay. Well, great supplemental material can be found on love, light and consciousness as well as the full book, Michael, I just want to say thank you so much. much for joining us today on spiritual dopes Ben great.

Mikal Shumate 1:00:03
Hey, if you send me a link, I'll put it on my website.

Brandon Handley 1:00:07
Absolutely. Absolutely.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai