Category Books

Glory of the Rose

Rose has been considered the symbol of love, beauty and divine perfection since ancient antiquity. Rose essence was  used in cooking, medicine and various ceremonies  at the time of  Zoroaster (circa 1000 BC) in Persia. Washing the hands and face with rosewater for purification, sprinkling rose water on one another, drinking rose syrup, burning rose incense featured various ethnic, cultural, religious ceremonies. During the middle ages, the rose was cultivated in monastery courtyards and was used for incense and medicinal purposes. It is been said…

Royal Road to Unconscious

Those who compared our lives with a dream were right. We were sleeping awake and waking up asleep. – Montaigne “ The earth is heavy and opaque without dreams,”  wrote Anaïs Nin ( 1903-1977) in her diary. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) described dreams as the “ royal road to the knowledge of our unconscious activities,”  in which our primitive self meets the civilized one, and where all memories are collected. The unconscious is the great guide to get to know oneself in entirety. Carl Jung (1875-1961)…

Harvesting Love

  In his international best-seller book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus , John Gray writes about the united life of Martians and Venusians who happen to find each other on earth. One day long ago the Martians, looking through their telescopes, discovered the Venusians. Just glimpsing the Venusians awakened feelings they had never known…quickly they invented space travel and flew to Venus. The Venusians welcomed the Martians with open arms. They had intuitively known that this day would come. The love between…

In Search for Eternal Life

  Life is hardly more than a fraction of a second. Such a little time to prepare oneself for eternity ! – Paul Gauguin The human quest for immortality dates back to ancient Mesopotamia (2100 BC), to the Epic of Gilgamesh. In his grief following the death of his companion,  Gilgamesh undertakes a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life. At the end of his journey, the secret is unveiled to him : Eternal life which you look for you will…

A Spring Tale from Ancient Persia

“ Do good, say good and think good. ”   – Ahura Mazda The Persian poet and author Ferdowsi (940 – 1020)  renown with his masterpiece Shahnameh – The Book of Kings, illuminates the ancient history of Persia dating back to 1500 BC. He recites the myth of creation, the personas of ancient kings and heroes, and the combat of the good against the evil through the march of history.  The stories take stage in the backdrop of  Zoroaster, who is said to be the Persian…

Legend of Poinsettia

Pepita was a young girl who lived in a small Mexican village. Her parents were poor farmers barely able to feed their family. When Christmas was near, they both fell ill, and it was up to Pepita, the eldest, almost 9 years old, to take care of her little brother and sister, and to maintain the household. In the village church, the nativity scene of the newborn Jesus was set up for Christmas. It was the traditional Christmas Eve procession, where the whole village went…

Story of the Seven Sleepers

    “Those who compared our lives with a dream were right. We were sleeping awake and waking up asleep. ” –Montaigne It was many years ago that an elderly local recounted this tale in Ephesus, Turkey on a beautiful spring day. There were seven young people who lived at the time of the Roman emperor Decius ( 250 AD) and who were of the same conviction. Although the majority believed in idols at that time, these seven companions had chosen to believe in Jesus.…

The Guest House

“ The words you speak become the house you live in ” said  Hafez, and life in this fleeting house is sublimely described by Rumi : This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for…

Einstein, Viktor Frankl, and the Sufi on the Meaning of Life

  “Between the stimulus and response, there is a space and in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth .” – Viktor Frankl Having survived the concentration camps during World War II, Viktor Frankl wrote his renowned book Man’s Search for Meaning in 1946. He asks the fundamental question “What is the meaning of life ?”   The answer, he says, does not lie in theories on life or in meditative thoughts. The meaning is crafted by…

Companions of the Ark

Ten generations after Adam, the Earth was corrupt, filled with violence. Evil spread more than ever. Humankind believed in idols who were busy building their fortune; religion was deviated and truth was twisted. Wanting to stop this dark course, God chose a righteous man, Noah, to guide people to the right path. Noah called people to partake in true knowledge, and warned them against the coming evil. A few among them heeded, while others did not want to believe that Noah was the messenger of…