With the absolute power of God, we start the meeting.
Hello, friends, I am Hossein, a traveler.
Hello, Hossein.
Please, for our liberation from our most powerful enemy, which is our own ignorance and unawareness, let's observe a 14-second silence and seek refuge in the Almighty.
Thank you, friends.
I kindly request the honorable secretary to read the summary of the previous session's performance and announce the agenda for today's session.
Hello, friends, I am Soheila, a traveler.
Hello, Soheila.
In the name of God, the fifteenth session of the nineteenth round of Congress 60’s meetings is held with the agenda of the Fifth Valley, under the supervision of Mr. Hossein Dezhakam and Ms. Soheila as the secretary on September, 11, 2012. The session commenced at 9 a.m. Thank you.
Thank you.
Hello, friends, I am Hossein, a traveler."
The Fifth Valley asserts that “in our world, contemplation q is not the absolute power of solution; it becomes complete with departure and arrival”. I repeat, in our world, meaning the physical world, the absolute contemplation does not solve the problems of life.
As we start our departure, it will be complete. Overall, from the First Valley to the Fourth Valley, we worked on thinking. We explored thinking from various and different persectives, we stated that all structures come into existence through thought. In the second valley, it was mentioned no being has come into existence for futility. Then, we must know that no creature thinks about itself as much as the creature itself does. In the Fourth Valley, the issue of what God was addressed. Well, it teaches us that everything begins with contemplation.
Then, it showed us the field, framework, and lines of thinking and even the Fourth Valley raises the issue of responsibility. And we determined the distinctions between our own responsibilities and God’s. So that among these lines, we cannot find a refuge to give our responsibilities to God. He closes and blocks the way, this valley blocks all our refuges, until we reach the Fourth Valley, where we have only one way. We had various paths in front of us, like blaming everything on our parents.
If my parents were rich, my situation wouldn't be like this. If my parents, for example, were born in Switzerland, my life would be different. If my parents were Italians, I would be able to speak Italian now. If, for instance, I had been born in Massachusetts, I would have a green card and residency; and I wouldn't suffer so much. This person’s life is full of "ifs" and "buts". One of my friends once said: if these “ifs” and “buts” get married, their child would be called “wish”. I heard this statement from a man talking on TV. Now we have to throw all these “buts” out. In this valley, all the paths (of refuge) are closed. We have only one way, and that is to work on ourselves
Certainly, we do not deny the help of others, society, community, or family. However, the important thing is that the major responsibility lies on us. [A part of a poem by Persian poet, Sa’adi, the great Iranian poet] mentions the sons of a minister [in the past], because of their ignorance and lack of wisdom, went begging in the villages. However, the village children came to the cities and became ministers. They became Ministers, lawyers, and such – the rural children of the county who had neither educated parents nor enough food to eat – are now working in NASA or teaching in prestigious universities around the world. The children of ministers and wealthy lawyers are now begging, either on the streets or in different parts of the city. Some of them are begging here and there. I mean, not all of them, but the majority of them. So, it is not a reason to ask why this or why that (happened to me). All of these are important, our viewpoint is important. Unless we count on ourselves and consider our own potential, we cannot reach anywhere (anything). Otherwise, like the beggars of Samarra (a city in Iraq), we have to stretch out our hands and ask for help from others. Even for love, we have to beg. We must beg even for affection.
Sometimes, others show kindness to us. This valley asserts even if we know and have access to all the thoughts, coming from valleys one, two, three, and four; even if we know all the information in this regard, if we do not apply them in our life, these words and thoughts are not worth a penny [A thought that doesn't turn into action is worthless]. We had so many individuals in Congress 60 who had studied various texts, like Sardar series, and Eagle series; they were number one in terms of information and awareness. They memorized ten pages of a book, but they couldn't figure out how to use even one single line of that information. One Persian poem reads, “it does not matter whether the bequest that is left after you is gold or stone”.
What is a difference between a kilogram of gold and a kilogram of mud buried in the earth? I have a wealth of information, but I don't know how to use it. What is it good for? It's possible that we know a lot of things, but mere knowing is not useful. They come to the media, and say Mawlana (Rumi) says this, Hafez says that, Nizami Ganjavi says this, Descartes says that, Shakespeare says this, Spinoza says this, Mulla Sadra says this, and also Imam Mohammad Ghazali says this. Well, what do YOU say? Well, they have already said it. Now, what do you say? Now, can we act based on this collection of sayings or not? The fifth valley says that knowing is valuable only if we can use it. If we can't use it, it's worthless.
Knowing without application is worthless, like you knowing all the techniques of judo and karate, mastering all martial arts, knowing all the rules and commands, but not being able to perform a personal defense. What's the use of all the knowledge? Our purpose of gathering knowledge is to implement and execute it. Now, in the fifth valley, it is stated that now that we are sitting here, as humans on this earthly planet, we are living in several worlds. Okay, we may say we are living in only one world. I'll tell you about three worlds, which you will also accept.
The first world is the one where we are living now. The one that we are all awake in, and we all accept it. The second world is the world of dreams; when we sleep, we exist in another dimension (world). We see some dreams, and some dreams are remembered while others are forgotten. What remains in our memory is related to the Common Sense. The internal senses give their information to the common sense, and our common sense gives it to the five external or animal senses. We remember a part of it, the rest is unknown to us (since the circle of receiving information from the internal senses is interrupted due to some unknown issues, that is why we cannot remember the whole dreams). This is also a dualistic world. The third world is the Mental World. The mental world is an extraordinary, complex, and fundamentally important world. It is so astonishing that we don't absolutely grasp its value. One of the very great masterpieces of creation is this mental world that we have. Why don't we see it? Why don’t we understand it? Because it is so great and vast that we don't recognize its greatness, and it is very ordinary for us. When you stand in front of a very, very massive mountain, you might not be able to recognize the peak of the mountain; you don't see it at all. The mountain is so large that you don't see it. The Earth is so large, you walk on it, but you don't see the Earth at all. You don't understand what shape it is or how it is. How do you feel when you realize that the Earth is moving at a speed, for example [1,000 miles (1600 kilometers) per hour and orbits around the Sun at a speed of about 67,000 miles] or around the Milky Way galaxy? I don't know its [exact] speed, it might be a million kilometers per hour. Now, no matter how big the earth or the sun or everything is; they are so giant that we cannot feel them at all; we are not able to comprehend them.
From the first valley to the fourth valley, we worked on our mental world, whatever we had in valley one, two, three and four was for our mental world. It was in our minds. Now, the fifth valley says that you must step into the operational and practical world. This means that what has come into existence in your mind; whatever you've planned and executed in your mind, now must be executed in the outside world. You must step out of the mental world, take a step into the tangible world or the operational world. What is the use of these mental structures, if they are not executed and operationalized in the outside world? What value do they have? Some people have a very powerful mental world, meaning that they know a lot, but they are unable to bring that mental world into reality.
I want to talk about the vastness and magnificence of the mental world. Perhaps it is even greater and more magnificent than the external world because the mental world works based on your order (you decree a thing and immediately it exists in your mind). Like when God says, "Be," and the creature exists, meaning when He says "Exist," it comes into existence. Human beings have this quality too and this ability exists in our mind. If you want to see how God says something and it is created, you can easily refer to your own mind. Whatever you say becomes present in your mental world. For example, right now, if I say "giraffe," all of you can immediately imagine a giraffe in your mind. Now, imagine a giraffe with two heads – you all see a giraffe with two heads. Imagine a giraffe with a head like a lion – you all see a giraffe with a lion-like head. By “shir”, I mean lion, no other meanings of it [in Persian, the word “shir” has many meanings including lion, or faucet]. You can visualize everything. You can portray a human with four hands in your mind – or you can visualize a human with six feet. If you say, "Be," it is created immediately in our mental world. But when we want the mental world to exist in the outside world, it is a different story. The problem of the parameter of time is raised here; that is why it is a different matter.
Now, I am reading from the valley because this valley is extremely important for us. The first four valleys are the prelude to the fifth valley and I have rewritten this valley on September first 2012. I have rewritten this valley because now the valleys include two sections: the valleys written in 2012 for non-travelers and the valleys before 2012 for travelers. Texts in these two can be very different from each other. The fifth valley reads:
“In our world, contemplation is not the only power of solution; it becomes complete with going and reaching”. When we look at the sea, we see water and waves. Or when we look at the sky, we see a blue sky and the sun, sometimes with clouds. And when the sun hides behind the mountain for the creatures to rest, we observe the sky full of stars. When we look, we see all these: water, sea, sky. But if we penetrate into them, what do we see? We normally see the sea, we see the blue sky. But if we penetrate into the water, what do we see? If we penetrate into the sky, what do we see? We see grandeur and greatness. Inside the water, various creatures live, such as sharks, whales, fish, corals, and more. Or in the sky, we only see stars. Stars are for lovers or the moon is for lovers. Stars are also for lovers. However, if we see the stars up close, and the moon up close, we get terrified. From afar, they are beautiful, but up close, it's like a dry desert – no water, no grass, nothing at all. Or the stars are all fire and flame, heat and cold. Something else is inside them or [consider] a black hole that swallows everything into itself. The sky is very frightening, with all its beauty, it is truly terrifying. But, if we penetrate into them, what do we see? Humans are the same. When we look at them, we sometimes see a few tens of kilograms of flesh and bones walking – a few tens of kilograms of flesh and bones. You see fifteen, fifty, sixty, seventy kilogram- creature walking, and talking. They are fat or slim; they are white or black, yellow or red. However, if we can penetrate into them, then we will see [recognize] a greatness that is NOT less than the external world, and when we go inside this creature (human), we see that it has not less greatness than the external world, and the greatness we see is beyond our imagination.
Now, let's consider a simple question, in this brief glance at human being. If we take a brief look at human, in how many worlds humans do live? You probably say, in one world. However, if you pay a little attention, you will realize:
1. The first world we are living in is the physical earthly world that is entirely tangible to all of us, and we are consciously living in it. So the first world, is this earthy world.
2. Second is the world of sleep (dreams), as I explained, where we unconsciously live. I provided a brief explanation of this.
3. Third is the world of Mind (Mental World), many people live in the world of the mind. They live so much in the mental world that they become depressed and sometimes, they commit suicide. These people must first commit suicide in the mental world, then it happens in the external world. If they are depressed, this depression intensifies itself. How does it intensify itself?
Inside us, our mental world acts just like a laser. The mental world is very dangerous in its place, just like a laser. How does it work? Imagine a tube, a mirror at one end, and another mirror at the other end. Consider it as a cylinder. A beam of light is radiated under specific conditions to the mirror, and hits it, then it is reflected to the other mirror in front of it, the beam hits that mirror, and goes back and forth and each time it gains more speed. It gains more speed until it is fired. It is so speedy that it pierces through anything. The mental world works the same. The mental world nurtures a subject so much within itself in the mental world that, in the end, it may lead to suicide or generate such intense hatred towards someone and it amplifies this hatred so much that the hatred reaches its highest level. Anything in the mental world can come into existence, even depressions. The mental world intensifies the depression, it can intensify despair as well. Now, the opposite can also be true.
An optimist intensifies being optimistic in their mental world. If this person wants to be fit; they do sports, and constantly intensify this exercise. If they want to study, or anything else; they keep repeating these positive desires. If they want to distance themselves from the negative values, they keep repeating it until they reach the values.
So, this exists in all aspects of life. The mental world is very important. Therefore, the third world we are living in is the world of the mind. Of course, there are other lives (worlds) that are not currently visible to us, such as the Seven Bodies in the seven layers of the Heaven, and so on. Now, just take these three, the rest is not to be discussed in here; what other Bodies or other Organs are like and how they are, is not discussed in here. You can almost say these Seven Bodies are the same as the Seven Heavens. It can be said that in those individuals who reach a stage of mysticism, theosophy, and so on, as they are sitting in a place, they can enter the Fifth World, acquire some information, and return back [to their physical body]. Few people can go and return, but for others, it is impossible. These topics are complicated, and are not useful for you. Now let’s talk about one of these worlds.
The first world that we discuss is the mental world, the mental world is the prelude to planning, action, or practice to live in the earthly world and other worlds. So, what is the mental world? It is a prelude, a prelude to what? It is a prelude to planning, action, or practice to live in the earthly world or other worlds. The mental world is a place of exercise for living in the earthly world or other worlds, by other worlds we mean “the worlds after death”. Whatever you practice now will continue after your death.
This planning is done through thinking and its structures. We discussed the details of contemplation in the first four valleys. Therefore, the mental world is a prelude to the exercise of how to live, and its tool is thinking. This planning is created by the structures of thinking. Contemplation shapes the structure of the mental world. We previously talked about the first four valleys. Now, it gives an example of how it works. For example, it uses very simple and ordinary examples. When we decide to eat a sandwich, when we want to take a sandwich, first, we must plan all the stages from preparation to eating the sandwich in our minds. When we want to go out and eat a sandwich, we have to plan all its stages. Do we want to eat it outside? Do you want to eat it at home? Do you want to buy the sandwich from outside, bring it home, and eat it? Or do you want to buy cold cuts, sausages, and hamburgers from outside, bring them home, prepare them, and eat them with baguette bread? Do you want to eat it with lavash bread or with your Taftoon bread? You see, there are thousands of possibilities. If you want to eat this, you must first plan its mental structures, specify it, and then enter the stage of operationalizing. Eating a simple sandwich or having a cup of tea is the same. First, we must plan all the stages from preparation to eating the sandwich in our mind.
Sometimes, in the execution of our mental stages, we realize that we don't have money. We construct a mental framework that we want to eat a sandwich; we do everything, and then realize, oh, we don't have any money. It's just an illusion that has led us to think about eating a sandwich or that there is no sandwich shop where we are. For example, sometimes we plan something, but, we see we don't have money or we are in a desert where there is no sandwich shop, or we are in a place where there is no sandwich shop. Immediately, we cancel this structure and plan another structure, we examine the possibility of other foods.
When we build this new structure, and we see we don't have money or there is no sandwich shop, immediately, we change the structure.
This change of structure sometimes happens. I once told you a funny story: Someone went abroad. He did not know English, he went to a restaurant, saw people ordering food. He looked at the next table, and they were ordering a hamburger. Well, this person ordered a hamburger too, which in Iran we also call it “hamburger”. The waiter put a hamburger in front of him and he ate, it became his everyday routine. Every day, he ordered a hamburger because he did not know any other foods; therefore, he had no other choice. His mental structure was merely “hamburger” since he had no other choices.
Eventually, he gets fed up with hamburgers. He thinks to himself, let’s see what the next table orders and I try another food today. He realizes the next table orders “hot dog”. He thinks this is good. He awaits and sees that the hot dog seems delicious. Immediately, he orders one. The waiter comes and asks, how do you want hot dog with sauce or without sauce? He only says, hot dog. The waiter repeats, with sauce or without sauce? He keeps saying, hot dog, not understanding what the waiter is saying about different sauces. The waiter gets angry and shouts, with sauce or without sauce? He keeps saying, hot dog. In the end, he says, nothing, just a hamburger, a hamburger [please]! Now, sometimes in our mental structures, we want something, but the prerequisite is not ready yet. In any case, two essential points are necessary for eating a sandwich or any other foods. The simple point is:
1. Think and form appropriate mental structures for eating a sandwich. Here you can see how simply the author is speaking; he doesn't want to be too philosophical or use fancy words. The examples are straightforward and simple so that all of us understand.
For any task, two factors are required: one is the thinking and formation of a suitable mental structure for eating a sandwich, is it reasonable to eat a sandwich? What sandwich do we want to eat? Do we have money or not? The other factor is the execution of the mental structure of having a sandwich, preferably with a drink. So, the first item is to plan it (in our mind) and the other is to execute it. If we do not execute it, we will not have a sandwich. When we do not apply what we think about and prepare in mind, it will be useless and unimportant, this is just like planning to eat a sandwich with a drink, but not eating it.
Therefore, two elements are required:
1) Contemplation and forming appropriate structures (to eat a sandwich). We have to plan all the required [mental] structures.
2) The execution of the mental structures; to do all the procedures to eat a sandwich preferably with a drink. Therefore, in this valley, if we cannot turn our mental structures and thoughts into operational structures, we will never achieve results.
It is useless if we cannot operationalize our mental structure, in other words, we permanently created the mental structure of eating a sandwich; however, we have never reached its operationalized and enjoyable part, which is eating that sandwich. We have always planned to eat, but we did not eat any sandwiches.
In other words, creating mental structures for a sandwich is like saying sweet words about Halva (a type of Iranian confectionary); but uttering the word “Halva” doesn't sweeten the mouth. Therefore, we practice in this valley to put our mental structures from potential into action. Potential means something exists in latently; for example, when we say this mountain is made of gold, that is a mountain is potentially made up of gold; however, in action, we must extract the gold from it.
“Action” here means “performance”. Therefore, we practice in this valley to transform our mental structures from potential to action and let logical thoughts enter the stage of execution and operation. To make the transition from mental to operational structures, we need to do certain things. We must execute the logical and operational structures in our minds and turn them into practical actions.
We may create numerous structures and have worked hard on them, or we are working on them, but they are not executable or operational. Therefore, we should operationalize structures that are logical and practical, to do so, we have to take some steps.
When transforming a mental and thought structure into an operational structure, certain conditions must be met. We need to create a conducive environment (bed), otherwise, we will never succeed in doing them. How can we make that environment? We should get rid of anxiety, fear, lack of self-confidence, hopelessness, and other negative factors, to step into a state of calmness and peace.
When we want to enter the operational phase, if we have anxiety, fear, lack of self-confidence, and hopelessness, we will not be able to execute the plan or we do it incompletely. [Therefore], we shall do it gradually. Again, we come to purification and refining. In reality, these negative emotions need to be gradually eliminated or reduced so that we can comfortably perform our tasks.
For example, when we want to participate in a track and field contest and feel a lot of anxiety, fear, and worry, we can't take even a step. Similarly, someone attempting an exam with anxiety, fear, and hopelessness will fail the exam and forget even what they know.
To transform mental structures into practical ones, we must eliminate anxiety, fear, lack of self-confidence, hopelessness, and other negative elements to step into a state of peace and calmness. Achieving this calm state is essential for making our desires practical, and to reach tranquility, we must initiate self-purification and self-construction. To correct behavior, ethics, and character, we need to consistently consider three principles: healthy thinking, healthy words, and healthy deeds.
Well, we shall see our efficiency in actualizing our rational wants, here we are dealing with what percentages of our logical desires we can put into action. We have to see how much of our logical thoughts can be executed, and what conditions are necessary for this transformation, it is not accidental, we must take action.
To overcome fear, anxiety, lack of self-confidence, and hopelessness, purification is essential. What is purification? It means we have to change our behavior, our morals and our characters. To change all these items, we have to consider three principles: healthy thinking, healthy words, and healthy deeds. By healthy thought, we mean our contemplation and thinking must be healthy, our words must be healthy, and then our deeds must be healthy. Instead of good thinking, good words, and good deeds (mentioned by Zoroaster), I have used healthy thinking, healthy words, and healthy deeds, because healthy thoughts, actions and words [which have good ending] are more important to us.
Always remember when our thoughts and contemplation are healthy, our speech automatically becomes healthy too; when our contemplation is healthy, our words will get healthy too, and as our words get healthy, we are led towards righteous and peaceful actions.
It's essential to understand that knowledge alone, without practical application, is worthless. I have emphasized this point from the very beginning of Congress 60. Many individuals have vast knowledge, quoting verses, stories, and facts from the greats, knowing various cultures, religions, and schools of mysticism. For any discussion, immediately they consider themselves as erudite; however, unfortunately, they are not able to use their knowledge. They are like people with thousands of gold coins who is dying of hunger, unable to part with even one coin to buy bread and survive.
Their story is just like a person dying of hunger, although he has thousands of gold coins. They are not able to give up one gold coin and buy bread and stop dying of hunger. They know thousands of stories, fables, science, and information; however, they are not able to use even one of them, alright let’s continue.
As we already know, to transform polluted and dirty water into clean and clear water, there is only one way: purification. We have mentioned this point multiple times – just as a bowl of muddy water has only one method of becoming clean, which is through purification – similarly, to convert an unbalanced and completely disordered individual into a balanced and rational person, there is only one way: purification and refinement. This means distancing oneself from anti-values and moving towards values. As mentioned earlier, consider a bowl filled with muddy, dirty, and black water. If we leave it there from morning till night and recite prayers or read all the holy books to it, if we read all the heavenly knowledge into that bowl, practice asceticism, and say prayers; the muddy water will not turn into clear water.
To be continued
In the same vein, an individual, who is in disarray and imbalance, has only one way to transform: purification. Just like water purification, it requires staying away from anti-values. Now, to exit or ascend from anxiety, worry, distress, despair, illness, and many other things towards liberation, we must take certain steps and pass through stages.
Alright, let's go through these steps.
1. Turning Away from Anti-Values: I introduced a change in these steps because, when an individual’s psyche is contaminated with anti-values, they become restless. Therefore, it is necessary to abstain from anti-values altogether, and we should reverse the path of anti-values. What do we do with anti-values? We have to turn away from them. This is called repentance. Repentance means coming back. It means if you are in the depths of darkness, come out of it. It means if you are addicted, return from addiction, get out of it. Returning is not a one-time event; you must gradually come back. It means you have to turn back the way you have passed. It's like saying, "I went to Karaj, and now I want to return. I must go back through the same path I took in Karaj to reach Tehran." Repentance does not take place offhand. Well, the amount that we are involved in anti-values needs to be returned. You might ask what anti-values are. In the first step, if everyone goes within themselves and thinks for a moment; they will realize what valuable actions are and which steps are anti-values. Some might ask what anti values are, the answer is that if you go within your own self [if you think], you quickly realize what anti-values are and what values are. It is not a strange and unusual thing. Things like murder, lying, corruption, and despair, you know, all are the anti-values.
2. If a person goes within themselves and takes a moment to think, this will be revealed to them, this is a self-evident truth. In the second step, anti-values might differ slightly in different cultures. Therefore, the first one is to “Go within yourself”, while the other is that different cultures might have different cultural perspectives. For example, in some societies, drinking alcoholic beverages is acceptable, while in others, it is not. Dressing in one culture might be different from how it is in another. Therefore, the values can be determined based on the cultural, civil, and religious laws of each society. Secondly, some things are shaped based on their culture; considering their civil and religious culture, each society has its own values, which might be different from others.
So, I will exemplify some of the anti-values.
Let's name a few anti-values that are universally recognized [as detrimental] by the collective wisdom of the world, the ones on which all religions, the faithful, the atheists, and even the savages, all people, and tribes are in agreement and all acknowledge these as anti-values: lying, theft, bribery, breach of contract, drug consumption, backbiting, giving false testimony, violating the sanctity of others, espionage in others' affairs, and so on. All are Anti-values. Well, these are clear.
2. Self-Restraint: Sometimes, whatever you think about doing something, you don't reach a conclusion. Occasionally, you want to do something, and no matter how much you think, you see you can't determine if it's right or wrong. What do you do? Some say they consult divination to decide whether to do it or not. Some might cast lots (like opening the holy Quran and receiving an impression) to decide whether to perform that task or not. Others might roll dice or draw straws because they don't know whether this job is right or wrong. Sometimes, for doing something, no matter how much you think, you can't reach a conclusion. In other words, you don't know if that action is beneficial or harmful to you, or if doing that action is a value or anti-value.
3. In these circumstances, Aql (wisdom) dictates that one should refrain from performing that action. When we don't reach a conclusion, it might be useful to conduct some research to arrive at a decision. For example, if someone is considering a marriage proposal and is unsure whether this person is good or not, they should investigate. They do research and analysis. This means everything requires research and analysis, but sometimes, even though we've conducted research and analysis, we still don't know what to do. In that case, we should refrain from doing those actions or deeds whose goodness or badness is unknown to us. I am thirsty, I do not know whether or not this glass of water is contaminated with poison or is drinkable; I have to restrain drinking this water. Therefore, we shall stop doing the actions whose goodness or badness is unknown to us.
4. Well, the third one is Contentment. We all emerged from nature, NATURE acts as our mom and we have to learn from nature how to create the best from the simplest things and the least facilities. This valley asks us to look at nature and see how from the simplest things, it creates the best. Truly, this is the masterpiece of creation, but we fail to realize it. When a plastic flower is made, just like the ones I give you on the day of your liberation from addiction, hundreds of factories are working to make such a plastic flower, if you see, lots activities are done to make a plastic flower; from oil extraction companies, oil tanker transportation, oil delivery, to sea piracy – finally it reaches refineries, gets purified, becomes petrochemical, and then designers come to make molds for it to turn it into plastic.
5. Oh, how much time does it take? With lots of time [and energy], only a plastic flower is made, in other words, an artificial flower is made. Now, let’s see how nature works. It makes a very sweet melon from the salty land, the bitter water, and with some cow, sheep, and chicken droppings, using some simple things, nature produces [the best], Varamin’s melon which tastes like honey, Mashhad’s sweet melon which is very delicious, cherries with their extraordinary beauty, color, and taste, green cucumbers with their [good] smell and taste; wheat, dates, fresh dates. See, from the simplest and most basic things, and with the least facilities, nature creates the best and the most beautiful things. How about us as humans? Everything must be prepared for us to do the simplest things. We have all the facilities, yet we are ungrateful and unappreciative.
6. In the past, seven or eight children were living in a house. In the old days, a mother, seven children, a husband, and other relatives were all around. The mother fed all the family members at noon, she would heat water and add a bit of onion with some oil, sprinkle some turmeric, and add salt and pepper to make a meal. Some onion, pepper, and salt with lots of water, it was their meal. They would break four or two eggs into it; if they were rich, Tehranis call this food "Eshkene," and Kermanshanis call it "abgarmo" [which means heated water]. All cultures have this dish. Seven or eight people would eat this food. What about now? With those [simplest] facilities, they raised the best and healthiest humans.
Children wouldn't sit in front of their fathers or mothers with their legs stretched. They would sit cross-legged or on their knees. In Nowruz, they would go to see their father and relatives and kiss their parents’, uncles’ and aunts’ hand [to show respect], and receive a 1000 or 5000 Rial note. Once a year, they would get new shoes. The shoes were not like now; they had to measure your foot. We had to stand on a piece of cardboard, and the shoe maker would draw around our foot on the cardboard using a pen, or a piece of charcoal and say, "alright, your shoes will be prepared in a month, go now and come back one month later." What about now? All children are demanding.
7. One of my friends said that his child came to him and said, "Determine our share of the inheritance." A 24 or 25-year-old child goes to his father and asks, "Determine our share of the inheritance, give us our share”. The generation who wouldn't even stretch their leg in front of their father, now has changed into ones who claim their inheritance and want their share. What share are they talking about? You're 18; go find a job. Your share? You have to earn your share yourself. Until now, they've given you more than what you deserve. What share shall your parents pay?! Our ancestors raised powerful and strong humans from the weakest facilities just like Nature. How about now? We have prepared the highest facilities, and all mothers and fathers have become their children’s servants. The era of patriarchy has been over, the era of matriarchy has been over, now the era of child-oriented families has begun. A spoiled child is so adored that it will be spoiled, parents go crazy for it. Now, parents give too much love and attention to their children, they spare no expense for their children, if the child feels hot, they cool it, if the child gets cold, parents will take it to a doctor prescribes Novalgin and Diphenoxylate. If the child moves [runs] this way or that way, the parents take it to the doctor, the doctor claims this child has ADHD, and prescribes [Ritalin]. If the child sits silently, again they take it to a doctor. They take the child to doctor consecutively, and it consequently becomes an isolated individual sleeping all the time, because they take the child to doctors frequently.
As a result, because of excessive attention, a mischievous, rude, disrespectful, and sickly child is grown up, as if it were the only child created in the existence, as if there were a famine in this regard. A child should be valued, respected and educated; however, they must not be spoiled, worthless and undisciplined. We must educate children, not raise lazy spoiled freeloaders. I get surprised when I hear a child has come to his father asking for his share of inheritance. The father has spent his lifetime raising the child, he is still alive, but the child comes to take its share of his father’s properties!
You ask your living father to give your share! This is because we don't know contentment, we don't know how to be content. Contentment means this, it does not mean that we act like a beggar, being content does not mean, for instance, gathering everything, no. It means at all levels, you should make the best use of minimum facilities; making the worthiest use of minimum facilities.
Don't waste even a crumb of bread. Look at the trash bins, all houses’ trash bins are filled with bread, rice, meat, food, and such and such. You can find anything in trash bins. They eat one meal in the morning, one at noon, and another in the evening. The child comes and makes a fuss at the table, addressing their mom “what's this? Every day you make the same rice and stew”. Or some children, if there's no rice, they refuse to eat it since they only want and eat rice and stew! Why you didn’t make a different dish, they ask. We've raised some spoiled and overindulged children in this way. If I claim you've raised some monsters, I'm not lying. You've been doing this since their childhood. These things will make you suffer. These same kids will put you in a nursing home and won't take care of you.
These children will take you to nursing homes, they'll consume all your property, they'll consume your money, they'll consume your properties. While you're living in your own home, they'll sell your home, they'll make plans to sell the house you've settled in. When these kids grow up, even your sons-in-law and daughters-in-law will get involved and sell the houses and change your house into money. They'll put you in a nursing home and won't pay any attention to you at all. No matter how hard you've worked and toiled, they'll use it up, because we didn't teach them contentment, just because you thought this was the only child sent to you and this is the only person came into this world for you, and you want to live all your failures through your children. If you didn't study [at its time in your past], now you want your children to study; if you couldn't achieve what you wanted, you now want your child to achieve it; well, this can be too much, it can be an extravagance.
Extravagance happens not only in food, but also in upbringing. When you pour out a kilo of rice, that's one thing, but if you neglect discipline and indulge your child, you will come up with an impolite and spoiled child. These are crucial points. So by contentment, we do not mean turning into deprived destitute individuals. Contentment applies to all levels. We should learn it from nature itself. How does nature utilize [its resources]? How does nature bring its own creatures into existence?
How are different types of plants created? How is our food made? You scatter wheat or watermelon seeds in a desert, once a year you scatter them in a desert, a dry desert, or you scatter watermelon seeds, next year you go there, you harvest a lot of wheat, they call it rainfed wheat, some areas are rain-fed, you scatter wheat in the desert, on the ground, hills, ups and downs, and so on, you collect the wheat, what is human nature? In the desert, you pour one kilogram of wheat, it gives you 50 kilograms of wheat, what about humans? How did we raise them? We give them everything, they consume whatever given to them, but do they respond to us or are they demanding and insulting us? If they do this, it is a wrong upbringing; this means we did not know how to raise them, we did not learn it, and we spoiled them, we ruined them, we corrupted them, we wasted [our time and energy] in our upbringing.
Now let’s return to our discussion, contentment. So, we all come from Nature, and nature is our mother. We must learn from it how to create the best from the simplest and least of resources. For example, from salty soil, bitter water, and animal manure, it brings forth the most beautiful flowers and the tastiest fruits. We must learn to create the best conditions for life with minimal resources and simultaneously plan in a way that we gradually strengthen the financial foundations of our lives. Of course, it is essential to note that our intention is not to become destitute and penniless for the rest of our lives, no, never ever. Because we can be generous and help others, only if we are rich, otherwise, a poor person is always begging others to receive some money. Finally, we shall understand that there is a big difference between being greedy and being content.
One told the crow to go and bring the most beautiful baby animal. The crow went and brought its own baby which is the ugliest among birds. They used to say that among all animals, the crow's baby is the ugliest, even the crow is told to go bring the most beautiful baby, it brings its own baby. Now, we humans, we all think our baby is the most beautiful baby in the world. We always spoil them and appreciate their talent and quality.
If you want to serve your children, educate them, teach them [how to behave]. Educating them is not as easy as it seems; they look at you and learn from you just as they learned to walk from you, just as they learned to talk, they learned language from you, just as they learned to sleep from you, just as they learned to wash their hands and face from you, just as they learned to eat from you, they also learned manners and etiquette from you, and it is your behavior that they learn from. So, if you want to educate them, the first step is to correct your own behavior, sitting, standing, and walking. If you are correct, the child will be correct; if your behavior is wrong, the child will be wrong too.
If you truly love your children and want to serve them, try to raise them, teach them culture, impart expertise, literacy, humanity, and art to them, and teach them sports. Raise them in this way. So, what was the interesting point for us? It was that contentment must be instilled, meaning we must cultivate the best things from the simplest resources. Putting everything within reach for your child is the worst way to raise them. Parents who don't have bread to eat buy five pairs of shoes, coats, clothes, and the best things for their children. Some parents claim we prepare everything for our children so that children will not develop any complex [psychological diseases]; however, they are spoiling their children, corrupting them; why do these parents say these words?!
They think since our child is going to school, they have to prepare the best for them. Well, I hope we raise good children for the society. The next issue we'll address is patience, which is the fourth step; the fifth step will be avoiding “stalking, contentment, backbiting”, the sixth step will be savings, and the seventh step will be trust [in God], contentment, and surrendering [to God]. In the old version, we had other parts, but they have been merged together. I hope we can make practical use of them.
Thank you for paying attention to my words.
Translated by Elahe