In the island of Cebu, in the Philippine archipelago, is where you will find the ancient image of the Child Jesus of Prague given as a gift to the native rulers by the world circumnavigator, Ferdinand Magellan. The island is a center of spirituality and the image is its powerful symbol. Cebu is the birthplace of many Philippine spiritual masters. These masters are customarily addressed with the vernacular honorific title of Mang. They are simple everyday people without the external trappings associated with media depictions of a guru, but their spiritual energy and wisdom are both awesome and inspiring. My story is about one of these Filipino great souls. His name is Mang Mike Nator.An individual’s spiritual growth and development is accelerated tremendously when he encounters an enlightened teacher to show him the way. This is why the search for the elusive teacher is a quest sincere spiritual seekers take seriously. I remember my first encounter with Mang Mike. It was the summer of 1990. My family joined a group of friends on a picnic at the hot springs of Los Baños, Laguna. We were all vegetarians. What caught my attention was the pork chop being grilled in the barbecue pit. I found out later that it was for Mang Mike. Our friends told us that Mang Mike was a special person with exceptional psychic abilities. I also found out that he was from Cebu and a close friend of another psychic Cebuano whom I knew personally - Mang Nenet Ranudo.
Mang Nenet’s psychic gifts were exceptional. He played an important role in my spiritual unfoldment but that's another story. He was a lawyer and a towering figure. I somehow expected Mang Mike to measure up to Mang Nenet’s stature. I was disappointed when I was introduced to an obese man in a short frame struggling to move his 300-pound body with a cane. Strangely, he had his back facing us as he sat eating his pork chops. I couldn't help wondering if he could see better through the back of his head. What struck me on this first encounter were not his weight or his pork chops, but his warm loving eyes and cherub face.
On April 9, 1933, Miguel C. Nator was born in Cebu with the special gift of clairvoyance - a gift that will prove to be his joy and torment. As he grew older, he realized that he could see things that other people could not. This realization somehow made him more withdrawn from the outside world, and at the same time motivated him to study his gift more closely to be able to understand and live with it.
He was alone most of his life, and his family was his world. The family’s livelihood was centered on the bakery business, and he learned the trade and skills of a Master Baker. But his true passion was the spiritual side of life as he could see this inner world as clearly as its physical dimension. He entered the seminary to become a priest. His stay there was short-lived when his superiors caught him secretly reading Protestant materials, which were considered highly "subversive."
His interest in the Bible never waned. He was interested about God, about life’s purpose and about faith. His faith, however, failed to answer this basic question: "If God is so powerful, why is it that man has to die?" So he goes through the years searching for the answers to questions like: "What is the meaning of my life? What is the purpose? Why am I here?"
Having found no satisfactory answers, he contemplated suicide as a way out. Each attempt to commit suicide was somehow mysteriously aborted by someone’s timely presence. Spiritually troubled, he challenged God desperately to show him a sign.
Sometime in 1961 in the privacy of his room, the sadness that overwhelmed him was distracted by a totally unfamiliar fragrance. He heard a voice that seemed to come from above his head. Lying down on his bed, he was suddenly catapulted to a place on top of a mountain where two people were standing. One was older about 98 years old with a long beard. The other was younger about 35 years old.
The older man took his hand and said, "Welcome. You are one of us." Unsure of what was happening, Mang Mike looked to the left and saw people going to a white temple up the mountain by three’s. When he turned to ask the two beings what these all meant, they were gone. Joining the pilgrims, he suddenly found himself back in his room at about 6 in the morning with someone calling out his name.
That man, who eventually became the president of the Kundalini Society, brought Mang Mike five or six volumes of the Baha’i faith to read. It dawned on him that the vision on the mountain was his first encounter with Baha’i. As soon as the messenger left, Mang Mike started reading the books and finished reading all of them that same day. He changed so much since then. He was afflicted by faith and was now healed by faith. Fired with great enthusiasm and inspiration, he departed for the mountains to teach the Baha’i faith until it was time to go back home.
Mang Mike eventually operated his own bakery in Cebu. A part of this bakery was devoted to some sort of an ashram where he would teach students and disciples along the spiritual path. While baking sometime in 1971, Mang Mike fell unconscious. He heard what was like the buzzing sound of a bee followed by a big bang. Then there was this brilliant light, and the next thing he knew he was in a hotel room somewhere in Argentina with four other disciples of the Master.
During what seemed to be a short audience with the Master, they were given assignments. Each one of them was to establish a school and to form a group that would spread the teachings of the Masters. That short two to three hour interval in Argentina was the beginning of what was to be Mang Mike’s life work. Among the four other students during that fateful moment was a man named Jose Silo Rodrigo. This gentleman’s teachings will eventually become known as Siloism.
In Cebu, Mang Mike became a member of the Kundalini Society, which had seven special members. These Cebuano mystics called themselves the "Humble Seven." They were Mang Nenet Ranudo, Mang Mario Garcia, Mang Hector Zosa, Mang Joe Ostia, Dr. Jun Ramas, Dr. Savellon, and Mang Mike. In 1972, the Humble 7 underwent a special spiritual training. The Masters would speak through Mang Mike or through Mang Nenet. The Tibetan Master, Djwhal Khul, would give instructions about group consciousness, and Helena P. Blavatsky would sometimes appear.
On one occasion, the group underwent an unusual experience while meditating. They were put in aluminum-like coffin structures inside a big space ship, which they called the Argonaut. As they were placed inside these coffins, they were transported instantaneously to the center of the sun. Inside what seemed to be the brain of the sun, bright light surrounded and blinded them. The Humble 7 eventually went on their separate ways, and most of them established their own schools.
Three years later, Mang Mike was introduced to a chemical engineering student of San Carlos University who was looking for a psychic. This Cebuano whose aura and future Mang Mike read became known as Choa Kok Sui, the Master Pranic Healer, and another great Filipino guru. Their paths will cross once again to fulfill a great destiny. Meanwhile, Mang Mike went to Iran the following year, 1976, and returned in 1979. It was in 1981 that he suffered a stroke, which impaired his speech and physical movement then onwards.
He eventually moved to Manila where he and Master Choa were reunited and began seeing each other regularly. They would get together to do some experiments from 12 noon until 12 midnight. While meditating during one of those experiments, Master Mei Ling appeared and overshadowed Mang Mike to tell Master Choa to write books. He was to write the book on the teachings of pranic healing. So the experiments with Master Mei Ling’s inputs started in 1983. By 1987, the book entitled The Ancient Science and Art of Pranic Healing was published. This collaboration between Master Choa and Mang Mike produced other books, which have since been translated, published and circulated worldwide.
All this time, Mang Mike was being haunted by a voice reminding him of his personal mission and urging him to form a group. Among the people in the first group were students from University of the Philippines, about two or three psychics, and those who were well-versed in theosophy. They would meet almost every afternoon, and talk about theosophy and other schools of thought. Under Mang Mike’s guidance the group grew bigger and bigger.
The group observed meditation and fellowship every full moon of the month - a practice adhered to faithfully to this day. The focus was spiritual self-transformation - achieving spiritual and material balance through fellowship. There were certain principles and laws that Mang Mike would emphasize. The group should be seekers of synthesis, and that harmlessness, selflessness, meditation, study and service were to be its core values. Students from different schools of thought were welcomed.
There is no better tribute to a man than his works and the lives that he has touched. The acronym U.N.I.C.O.R.N. encapsulates Mang Mike - who he is and what his mission stands for. The Union for National Involvement Concerning Operations to Regenerate the Nation is a movement he founded to rally the Filipino people towards spiritual regeneration and transformation. It rallies everyone to the task of raising their country’s spiritual consciousness.
Mang Mike teaches us that there are seven steps to this process:
- Development of harmlessness or non-injury in thoughts, words, feelings, and actions.
- Development of inclusiveness by regarding every man a child of God.
- Development of self-forgetfulness and selflessness in the service of God.
- Demonstration of good thoughts and ideas translated into practical deeds through positive goodwill.
- Donate intelligently and wisely with loving kindness - time, effort and money to the Great Plan of God.
- Meditate and Study regularly and conscientiously.
- Desire nothing for the separative self but desire all for the good of the other Self.
The vehicle for spearheading the U.N.I.C.O.R.N. movement is Serve the U.N.I.C.O.R.N Fellowship Inc. (S.U.F.I.) and its educational arm I.S.I.S. SUFI-ISIS is the vehicle for service and for spreading wisdom. It is Mang Mike’s wish that everyone becomes a light worker not only for the Philippines but for the whole world.
His life's purpose was however impeded by his health and physical disability. He depended on the support of benefactors and his mission was relegated to a subordinate role by circumstances. In spite his handicaps, he continued to be a true model of unconditional love, a great teacher of the ageless wisdom, and a faithful partner and friend in the pursuit of uplifting mankind's spiritual consciousness. He touched and influenced the lives and hearts of many.
After a series of deteriorating health conditions, he transitioned on 15 February 2003.
Laoshi
22 May 2010
