Ah Man Blog

Honoring Each Other

During the holiday season, it may be easier or harder to honor each other.  The thing to remember is that we don’t have to wait for a specific time of year to honor each other.  We should do it every day.

 

So how can we honor each other?  There are guidelines in each religion on how to act and when to act in these ways, and we as people (and also as a society) live in more peace when we do.  In the monotheistic religions we have the Ten Commandments; in the Vedas we have the Yama (social discipline) Niyama (individual discipline).

 

If we can hold to some basic truths, not only do we honor ourselves, but, at the same time, we honor each other. The two go hand in hand.

 

When Matthew asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment, He summed up the Ten Commandments as follows: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40).

 

In both the Ten Commandments and Yama Niyama, the highest respect goes to The Source, and then to others as we would respect ourselves.

 

"Namaste" is a greeting that honors the Spirit in you which is in me.  This is honoring God and man.

 

Honoring each other can involve the simplest things: we don't lie to each other; we don't take that which is not ours; we don't harm others, ourselves or the environment.  Basically, if we simply treat others as we treat ourselves, we will be honoring each other.

 

Namaste to all.

 

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There Are Saints Among Us

I guess a good place to start with this one is to explain what a saint is. All religions talk about saints.  You might think that it’s a Catholic term.  But no, Catholics do not have a monopoly on saints.  In Judaism, saints were called Tzadikam (one who not only never sins, but has eradicated any inclination to do so).  In both Sufiism and the Catholic faith, one of the many things a saint does is perform miracles.

In Hinduism, there are many saints as well. They may or may not have titles such as Srila, Sri, or Paramahamsa.  They, too, have preformed some feats of extraordinary powers.

Another one of the powers of a saint is to be able to see everyone as "One."  In other words, they see everyone as who they truly are, i.e., as God in the form of a human being.  They see beyond the bodily covering, and into the "Heat of Hearts;" that place where our Higher Self resides...where only Jivatma and Paramatma resides...spirit soul and God...where Ah (God)-Man (spirit) is.

When you come in contact with these individuals you feel it.  One of the ways you feel it is the sense of peace you experience in their Presence.  Another way is that you are naturally attracted to them.

This does not mean that they do not have feelings of anger or that they are above expressing their dislike of something.  It’s just that they are not caught up in those feelings.  In other words, they don’t allow the feelings to overshadow them.

There are saints alive today from all religions.  I won’t say who they are here and now, but feel free to contact me and I will gladly talk to you about them.

And, of course, there are those who are on the verge of knowing that they, themselves, are saints with direct communication with God.  However, they know that if they told others about their conversations with God, they just might be put away.

There are, indeed, saints among us.  Some of the ways you can identify these saints is by their God Consciousness and their ability to be at peace (as opposed to inactivity) in the midst of the storms of life.  They are in love with the "Toymaker," not the toys.  They have their feelings, but are not lost in them.  They come from a place of love, rather than fear, in every situation.

When you find someone with some or all of these qualities, hang onto them.  And listen and learn how they are able to keep their hearts open.

Next week: Honoring Each Other.

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Gratitude and Attitude

Last month, I recalled a saying that often helped "right size" me just when I really needed it:  "Put a little gratitude in your attitude."

When you have gratitude, your heart is open and you can receive so much more in life.  But when your heart is closed, there's not a whole lot that looks or seems right.  We find fault in people and situations.  We're not happy and it's usually someone else's fault, not ours...or so we think.

So as we enter the holiday season (or at any time of the year, for that matter), I encourage you to take the opportunity to spread a little gratitude.  I guarantee you that your heart will open.  And the more gratitude you share, the longer your heart will remain open.

Here are some suggestions for ways to spread gratitude:

• Actively look for the good in someone, as opposed to making a judgment about them.

• When something unexpected happens that makes you unhappy, find and focus on a lesson you have learned from the experience, and reflect on how the experience has made you a better person.

• Perform random, anonymous acts of kindness.

• Before you get out of bed each morning, write down 10 different things you're grateful for.  Do this for 30 days, and you'll be very surprised at how many things you have found to be grateful for in only one month.

• Do something unexpected for someone else.

Remember how important it is to just be "in the moment" and experience all that you have.  I'm not talking about the so-called toys we collect along the way, but rather the precious things, such as our loved ones, and the things we sometimes take for granted like our health, our home, the food and water we consume, the clean clothes we put on each day, and the very air that we breathe.  Then think about Who makes it all possible.

Now that's what I call gratitude.

Next week:  The Saints Among Us.

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Staying Present and In Our Hearts During the Upcoming Holidays

Coming from our hearts and being present during the holidays sounds real good, but how do we walk the talk?

A major part of it all begins with accepting that all we have (i.e., our homes, jobs, loved ones, etc.) and who we really are (i.e., children of God/Source) is enough.  Those who we love and want us in their lives accept us just as we are, rather than what we want to be or want to look like.

It also helps to have boundaries and to be aware our own mental and physical limitations. 

A way to check in on making boundaries for ourselves and others is to check in with someone else, such as your partner if they are supportive in helping you come more from your heart, or maybe a good friend who is on a path similar to your own.  Talk to them about your plans and expectations before you jump into the fray of holiday activities.

Staying present will look like this: if you’re cooking, then that’s all you’re doing.  Focus on what you’re preparing and what it takes to do just that particular thing, rather than on multi-tasking.  Of course, we all have to multi-task at times, but that is not being present and I guarantee that when you multi-task, you are not in your heart, but in your head.

When we try to do more then what we can do, or maybe I should say when we do more then we can handle, that’s when we get angry, frustrated and/or even depressed.  By the time we reach that point, we are already disconnected from our heart and are usually in pain and, maybe, even causing pain to others in some way.

I don’t know anybody who takes pleasure being in this state.  So if this happens, it’s time to stop and look back to the point at which you started to put yourself out of balance.  More times than not, we know exactly when it was.  In fact, we did have some sort of “warning,” but just pushed it aside and did what we “thought” we wanted or thought we had to do.

Be kind to yourself and others.  Apologize to those you might have overreacted to, especially yourself.  Forgive, learn, and move forward.  It’s all part of the journey.

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