Ah Man Blog

The Difference Between a Saint and You

In the August Ah-Man Newsletter, I began a discussion of Honoring Our Intelligence, focusing on the difference between Intellectual comprehension and Intuitive comprehension.  This month in the Ah-Man Blog, I’ll continue the discussion.

Spiritually, there is no difference between saints and us.  That’s true, but we just don’t believe it yet. If we really believed…if we really understood the teachings of The Christ, The Buddha, Krishna or any Avatar or Saint, we’d see things differently.

But that is also part of the journey of life: is to learn and apply what we learn as the journey continues.

The difference with the Saints is that they see God in everything, positive and negative, light and darkness, good and evil, because they see it all as God’s creation. They see God in disease and in health. They see God in a tree as much as they see God in you.

Our purpose here on earth is to see God in all that is, because God is all this is. Spirituality, here in duality (the material world, where we experience good and bad, light and darkness, etc.), is the progression of Human Consciousness toward Divine Consciousness.

How we do that is to use our intellectual intelligence to help make things better for each other here in duality (material world), while seeing the Essence of God in all this is.

Namaste,
Michael

To sign up to receive newsletters and updates from Michael, scroll to the bottom of the Ah-Man Web Site. You’ll find additional information and resources in the latest issue of the Ah-Man Newsletter. Read about his new book, Returning to WHOLENESS...Discovering Ah-Man at Amazon.

Stupid Is as Stupid Does

In the August Ah-Man Newsletter, I began a discussion of Honoring Our Intelligence, focusing on the difference between Intellectual comprehension and Intuitive comprehension.  This month in the Ah-Man Blog, I’ll continue the discussion.

One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump. Each time I see it, I still cry like a baby. And when we speak of intelligence I can’t help but think of the phrase from Forrest Gump that really stumped me.

It’s what his Momma told him over and over, “Stupid is as stupid does.” Not being from the south I had never heard of that saying, but boy did it grow on me.

I was never a kid who received high marks in school and the low self-esteem I had earlier in life didn’t help. But this phrase helped me connect some dots in my life.

Even intellectual intelligence isn’t always about being smart, or being the first one with the answer. You could be slow to come about, but stupidity is based more on your actions then the speed at which you come about.

Intuitive Intelligence is when we know nothing is stupid, it just is.

Namaste,
Michael

To sign up to receive newsletters and updates from Michael, scroll to the bottom of the Ah-Man Web Site. You’ll find additional information and resources in the latest issue of the Ah-Man Newsletter. Read about his new book, Returning to WHOLENESS...Discovering Ah-Man at Amazon.

Honoring Our Intelligence: The Janitor and Jesus

In the August Ah-Man Newsletter, I began a discussion of Honoring Our Intelligence, focusing on the difference between Intellectual comprehension and Intuitive comprehension.  This month in the Ah-Man Blog, I’ll continue the discussion.

There is a story I heard that reminds me of Honoring Our Intelligence.

The story was about a janitor of a church in the south around the ‘30s or ‘40s. The janitor was a black man and the church was comprised of white folk. The pastor was a nice man and treated the janitor well. But the janitor always wanted to be a part of the services and the pastor would tell him..."maybe someday you can come on Sunday and be a part of the services.” Time went on and the janitor continued to ask, but the pastor never gave him permission. He was too afraid of what his congregation would say and he thought he would lose them.

To say the janitor was disappointed would be an understatement. One day after he had cleaned up after the Sunday service and no one was around, the janitor got on his knees and prayed “Lord, why won’t they let me into their services? I love you very much and want to rejoice with them.”

Jesus appeared to the janitor, who was amazed to see Him. The janitor said, “Why Lord? Why won’t they let me be part of their celebration?” Jesus said to him “I don’t know why, child. I’ve been knocking on the doors of this church myself for a very long time and they won’t even let me in.”

We know we are honoring our intelligence when we are coming from our heart. When we do things that might make others upset, but we do them anyway, just because it is the right thing to do. When we come from our heart, we come from God.

Namaste,
Michael

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Honoring Our Intelligence: Ashtavakra and King Janaka

In the August Ah-Man Newsletter, I began a discussion of Honoring Our Intelligence, focusing on the difference between Intellectual comprehension and Intuitive comprehension.  This month in the Ah-Man Blog, I’ll continue the discussion.

In the Vedas (ancient Hindu scriptures), a story is told about the son of a great scholar who went to the King’s Court to participate in a spiritual debate about the Truth. The scholar’s son was Ashtavakra, and he was born with eight curves (or deformities) on his body. (There are several accounts concerning these deformities; to find out more, research Ashtavakra Gita.)

It was difficult for Ashtavakra to gain entrance to the debate because of his deformities, but he finally managed to do so. When the other scholars saw him waddling into the court, they began to laugh at him. He in turn began to laugh as well, even louder than them.

The king was astonished that the young man was laughing, and said “Young man, I can understand why the others are laughing, but I cannot understand the cause of your laughter.”

Ashtavakra became very serious and told the king he was laughing because he could not understand how the king could expect to find the Truth in an assembly of cobblers. The great and pious King Janaka was very angry and asked Ashtavakra to explain himself.

“It’s simple, your Majesty,” explained Ashtavakra. “All these honored guests are no better than cobblers, because they cannot see beyond their skin. They cannot see the Presence within the physical body. If the earthen pot is broken, does the space within get broken? If the pot is misshapen, does the space within get misshapen? My body may be deformed, but I am infinite and limitless.”

The king, who was advanced spiritually, saw at once that Ashtavakra was a completely Self-realized soul and the very next day, at his request, was accepted by Ashtavakra as a disciple.

This story is a superb example of how honoring our intuitive intelligence is honoring others without judgment. There are times we need to listen to our intellectual intelligence, but we can always honor our intuitive intelligence by stepping outside of our egos and pride for a moment and really seeing what is in front of us.

To sign up to receive newsletters and updates from Michael, scroll to the bottom of the Ah-Man Web Site. You’ll find additional information and resources in the latest issue of the Ah-Man Newsletter.

Honoring Our Intelligence

In the August Ah-Man Newsletter, I began a discussion of Honoring Our Intelligence, focusing on the difference between Intellectual comprehension and Intuitive comprehension.  This month in the Ah-Man Blog, I’ll continue the discussion.

So how do we honor our intelligence?

The most direct answer is by honoring every living thing. There is intelligence in everything that has life, regardless of whether it is intellectual or intuitive.

It doesn’t matter what type of intelligence it is, or how or what we perceive it to be. It only matters that we honor it. How do we do that? There are many ways. Some ways of honoring it is by acceptance of what it is…by not trying to change it or make it into something else. Or by validating it or finding its beauty. You will find that you can do this with people or things in nature. Both are of creation, coming from the same Intelligence. The key is acceptance.

To sign up to receive newsletters and updates from Michael, scroll to the bottom of the Ah-Man Web Site. You’ll find additional information and resources in the latest issue of the Ah-Man Newsletter.