Harry Terhanian.com

My name is Harry (Hampartzoum) Terhanian. What has prompted me to publish this collection of Armenian proverbs is to create a web gathering of Armenians and other interested persons. As the Armenians are spread all over the world, there is a need to gather in a forum to live, share, and evolve our culture. Culture is something that is handed from generation to generation. Due to the tragedy of massacres, modern living, intermarriage, isolation, etc. there has been an erosion of transmission of Armenian culture. I want to make a small step at reversing this trend by sharing with all interested parties what I have learned from my parents and my travels. I hope that interested readers make available their knowledge of Armenian proverbs, stories, and wisdom so that I can swell the treasure of these pages for the enrichment of all. I will gradually add more pages as we progress. I hope to have a section of Armenian folk music, cooking, health, spirituality, marriage advice, and literary comment. Imagine learning culture by proverbs, stories, cooking lessons, music, poetry, discussion, and downright good old time one on one exchanges. Please join in the fun, open your heart and mind to share and embrace this wonderful culture.

If you are interested in submitting proverbs or stories, see possible errors that you want to correct, want to ask a question, or just want to send an email, please contact me at harry@uncleharrys.com. You can also call me at 425-558-4251.

Being born into an Armenian immigrant family, I inherited the typical Armenian diet. My mother and great auntie would make “Malatyaee yergiri jahsher” (dishes in the old country style of Malatya) especially on Sundays after church. Sometimes my mother and auntie (Morkor) would toil late into Saturday night preparing what they would cook on Sunday. Some of the dishes were: boulgur pilaf, dolma with grape leaves, lahana dolma with cabbage leaves, choreg or bread with Armenian cheese filling, lahmajoun or a thin pizza like prep with a minced meat topping, baklava or a sweet prep made with filo dough and crushed walnut filling and sugar cinnamon syrup, soup with eggplant and balls made of boulgur with a fried onion filling, roasted chicken with rice pilaf, lamb chops, fried liver, gaht nabur or thick sweet rice with cinnamon and nuts, chee kuhfteh or a raw meat ball with onions, garlic and other spices, toursou or homemade pickles made with carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, and other veggies aged in either a brine or vinegar, hahtz our havgeet or french toast covered on honey or maple syrup, tarkhana abour or soup made with balls of boulgur with a type of cheese made with whey solids cooked in butter and yogurt with spices and olive oil and aged for one or more days to develop the taste, mahnur yapragh of small dolma-like wraps with grape leaves in a yogurt soup with butter and spices (the mahnur yapragh was a tedious prep because the grape leaves were wrapped around a small amount of spiced boulgur and each was the size of a tootsie roll candy), media dolma or stuffed mussels, and many more preps that have faded from my memory. Meat was usually mixed in with almost all the preps.

The meal was accompanied by strong whiskey used to toast the guests or the occasion and strong coffee was served after the meal.

The meals were made with a lot of love and dedication to please the family and guests. After dinner the guests would talk or my father would ask Morkor (my great aunt) to play the oud and sing. When I grew older, I would sometimes play the oud and sing and my mother or her friends would dance.

If it became late (after 11 PM) by dad would say out loud “oglan yatajak” or time for the little boy to go to bed or sleep. (oglan yatajak is Turkish for the boy should go to bed). Although I didn’t understand Turkish at that time, I did know what oglan yatajak meant and I would cry when I heard it. I was taken reluctantly to bed by my Morkor. I would say my prayers in Armenian that Morkor taught me which consisted of a repertoire of prayers beginning with the Lord’s Prayer in Armenian and followed by “havadov khosdovanim” or “I confess with faith.” The latter was composed by Nerses Shenorhali, one of the greatest Armenian Catholicos or supreme leader of the Armenian Apostalic Church during the 12th century. “havadov khosdovanim yev yergir bakanem, hayr yev vortee yev sourp hokeen,” “I confess with faith and bow down to the ground to worship the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit uncreate and immortal Nature, Creator of angels, men and all beings. Have mercy upon Thy creatures and upon me, a manifold sinner.” After saying my prayers, Morkor would tuck me into bed and give me a hug and kiss. But I couldn’t sleep on those nights when the house was filled with so many relatives. I would sneak to the upstairs balustrade and put my little head between the balusters or the vertical shafts of the handrail and listen intently. Often the elders would talk about the “yergir”, old country or Malatya in the Turkish part of Anatolia where they were forced to leave.
They talked about the fond remembrances or family and relatives and also of the massacres and the brutality of the Turks. I remember feeling very resentful that my family and relatives had to suffer such atrocities. Of course, the people present in our house were survivors who either left before the massacres or were miraculously saved after enduring untold horrors. I noticed that the ones that suffered the worst never spoke much. Their stories were muted and only became revealed slowly and after much prompting. I wondered why Morkor, my great aunt, never spoke much. Later, I learned that she suffered more than anyone else that was present in the assembly. My mother was only seven or eight years old when she and the remains of her side of the family were forced to deport from Malatya to Del el Zor. It was a journey of about 1000 miles on foot and without any provisions. It was actually a death march with marauding Kurds and criminal Turks and Arabs who defiled, kidnapped or murdered the women.
My Auntie was kidnapped by Arabs and forced to marry one who gave her a child. Morkor escaped from her Arab captor but was captured and stabbed and left for dead with the child. She somehow survived but suffered for months until she was able to work. But by that time, her baby son died of malnutrition. It is a sad story.

My mother walked all the way to Del el Zor. Right before reaching that desolate desert town in Syria, her mother died of exhaustion. My mother was left a lonely orphan. By some divine intervention she was picked up off the road by a Turkish family who kept her for four years and raised as a Muslim. After the war ended (1919) my mother was forcefully taken away from the Turkish family and put into an Armenian orphanage.

Everyone of the survivors had a story to tell and the more I heard the more I became upset with the Turks for their savagery and merciless treatment of the Armenians. However, I was not specifically taught to hate the Turks by my parents or relatives. As I gradually understood what happened to the Armenians, I felt they were violated, brutalized and mercilessly kicked out of their ancestral homeland. I will discuss this subject much more in detail because there are many aspects to understand

The subject of my father is very interesting because he was saved from the horrors and certain death by his mother. In 1912, his mother sacrificed everything she had to pay for my father and Uncle Kevork to immigrate to the USA. This selfless act on her part saved their lives. They would have been forcibly conscripted into the Turkish Army and then gradually murdered or, at least, very badly treated and demoralized. It was the policy of the Turkish government to enlist Armenians and other non-Muslim minority young men and place them in far off areas of the empire to keep them away from their ancestral lands so that the Turks could later perpetrate their atrocities on the elderly, women and children. My grandmother could see the handwriting on the wall and wisely chose to send her boys to the USA. When the massacres did occur, my father and uncle were safe in the USA, but they suffered the anguish of gradually understanding that all their family and relatives in Malatya were either massacred or forced to walk to Del el Zor. It took them years before they could find out if anyone survived. Their mother was slaughtered as was most of the family. This horror had a profound effect on my father who never recovered from its devastating psychological effect.

As a child I didn’t understand why my Dad was addicted to cigarettes, drinking coffee and often toasting with hard liquor. He would force me sometimes to drink a quarter shot of whiskey with him.
When I was about nine years old, Pop was diagnosed with lung cancer. He walked to the hospital and, after the operation, he was carried back home to die. He slowly and painfully died after about nine months. During that time he had a stoke. One day I was watching television with him in his room. I felt a heavy weight on my shoulder. I looked and saw that my Dad was slumped over against me. I was shocked. I tried to hold him and break his fall to the ground. He was paralyzed on one side. Sometimes, at night, I would hear him scream, “Tueen dor inzee, togh mehrneem.” “Give me poison, let me die.” I suffered with him by not knowing what I could do to alleviate his suffering and deterioration. He finally died. I was not sure what that meant. I was only ten years old and had never experienced a member of my family dying.

It took me years to understand what happened to my father. He was 56 when he passed away. He looked like he was much older. I want to analyze what happened to him and my realizations about his life. My Uncle Kevork would become very emotional and cry on those rare occasions when he remembered his mother’s sacrifice to save her sons from the Turkish brutality. He could understand her foresight, love and self sacrifice. I am sure my Dad had the same feelings. They both had to look on helplessly as the Turks slaughtered their family. The psychological effect on them was never something they could heal. Especially in my father’s case, he had a certain melancholy that pushed him to activities that dissipated his health and well-being. All his teeth were pulled out at 46. After which, he ate mostly soft food. His routine soon became drinking up to twelve cups of coffee a day and smoking two packs of Chesterfield cigarettes. He also stayed out late at night playing cards at Beno’s “Caiffeh,” the Armenian Coffee house where he often played cards all night, drank coffee and sometimes hard liquor. Beno (or Benyamin Gostikyan) was one of Dad’s best friends. He was a World War I Veteran. He used his veteran status to wrest out some privileges with the Philadelphia Police so that he could keep open an illegal gambling and small time prostitution joint near the University of Pennsylvania.
My Dad led an unhealthy life characterized by irregular hours, massive coffee intake, poor diet, smoking and drinking. By the time he was in his fifties his body was riddled with cancer and he died miserably being burned and poisoned by addictive cigarettes and later by chemo and radiation therapies of the 1950s.

The Turkish massacres of the Armenians and the extreme brutality by which it was perpetrated marked the entire generation of survivors. One consequence of the abrupt dislocation of almost the entire population of Armenians was the break down of transfer of culture and “savvy” knowledge from the older generation to the younger. My father was not educated either in technical knowledge or “how to live” knowledge. He acquired “bad habits” from a lack of cultural heritage and a life of constantly struggling to make ends meet. The excessive drinking, smoking, coffee, irregular hours, meat eating and, in general, the unhealthy life style were hallmarks of a cultural breakdown and a lack of self worth.

I remember when I was about eight years old, I asked my Dad what was the meaning of life. I was thinking one day that I wake up, go to the toilet, wash, put on my clothes, eat breakfast, go to school, come back, eat, work in the family store, do homework, watch television, go to sleep and start over again the next day. I began to wonder what was the purpose of this routine. When I asked my Dad, he slapped me really hard on my backside and said, “ayit bes aboush hartzoumner mee hartzur,” “don’t ask such stupid questions.” That was the end of my inquiry into the nature and purpose of life for the next twelve years. I guess the best answer my Dad could have given was that the purpose of life is to take care of your family so that your kids have a better chance in life than the parents. He did that as best as he could.

In my travels around the world I have seen that many Armenian men seem to be addicted to the same foibles as my father: drinking liquor and coffee, smoking, meat eating, gambling, irregular hours and sexual dalliance. My brother Dan even told me that Dad on rare occasions played around with other women. These activities are sometimes considered to be a sign of male virility and abstinence from such activities is considered as some kind of weakness.The truth is that such habits subvert the male potency and hold men back from reaching their potential as successful human beings.

The habits of our ancestors have been replaced by substandard habits that undermine the health and well being of the Armenian people. I want to summarize the healthy habits of our ancestors so that new generations of Armenians and all people can benefit from such information which should be part of the cultural heritage.

ANCIENT WISDOM FOR A MODERN DIET
Secrets of youthful and energetic life from our Armenian ancestors

Our wise ancestors did not smoke or use tobacco in any form. They did not drink coffee. Their beverages were natural herbal teas sweetened with raw honey. In fact, masour or rosehip tea was a favorite because it is rich in natural rutin (which strengthens the arteries and veins), vitamin C, and many other natural phyto-nutrients for good health. Add aloj or Armenian hawthorn berries (with optional hibiscus flowers, sea buckthorn berries, bayberries) and you have a fabulous elixir for health and long life. Hawthorn berries strengthen the heart, lower blood pressure and maintain good vitality for the whole body because of increased oxygenation. All these herbs grow in Armenia which has a mountainous elevation that increases the potency of the herbs due to the added power of the sunshine in summer, mountain glacier water, and mountain minerals in the soil.

Meat was eliminated entirely from the diet or only sparingly taken. It should be noted that our ancestors did not buy meat in a store. They ate only what they hunted in the wild or slaughtered their own domesticated animals which were mostly sheep and chickens. They rarely if ever ate beef. The cow and bull were essential for their livelihood as the cow supplied milk and the bull tilled the land. They were considered like members of the family and were given special respect. Dairy products such as homemade “maddzoun,” yogurt, homemade fresh cheese (bahneer), buttermilk (tahn) which remains from battering fresh butter from cream, and raw, whole milk. Butter was often slowly heated until the solids were separated and removed and one obtains pure butter oil which was used for cooking. It is the best oil for cooking because it resists breaking down into trans-fatty acids which block the arteries and cause heart disease and strokes. Using hydrogenated oils and rancid oils causes heart disease, strokes, and high blood pressure.

Raw, unpasturized milk, which is the greatest miracle substance for healthy life, comes from cows that are raised without hormones or antibiotics in their feed or pesticide residues in their feed. Such milk supplies natural lactic acid which has an anti-putrefactive and natural detoxifying effect on the digestive tract and intestinal tracts. Natural lactic acid from milk is necessary for metabolizing foods and oxygen and removing waste products from the body.

All food was eaten slowly with no rush. Food was cut into small pieces. Our ancestors took small bites and chewed slowly. I remember by Uncle Kevork, who, in later life, became very cautious about his diet. He would wake up at four thirty every morning and make himself a salad that he would eat throughout the day at meals. He spent at least one hour cutting the lettuce, carrots, celery, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes in very small pieces. I asked him once why he did that. He replied, “Mahnur guh guhdrem vor turoun marshem,” “I cut everything small and fine so that I digest the food easier. It is also a fact that slow and careful chewing stimulates the enzymatic flow of ptyalin and maltase, creating a healthful digestion of carbohydrates.

All food was eaten at the mealtime and no left overs were ever used. The excess food was given away to the more needy or fed to the animals. Leftover foods become quickly depleted of valuable nutrients and are of very little nutritional value.

Bread was baked fresh in a tohndeer or clay oven buried in the ground and wood fired. Wheat or corn was freshly ground from whole wheat berries or corn kernals and baked into fresh flatbread. Wheat is a rich source of protein, fiber, and iron. Corn contains precious B-Vitamins, youth maintaining Vitamin E and many minerals and enzymes. It is an excellent source of potassium which helps to promote a healthy heart.

Armenians have traditionally eaten fresh fruits and vegetables grown organically especially fruits like grapes that are tree ripened and picked fresh and eaten raw with meals. Armenians enjoy tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, fresh mint, tarragon, thyme, radishes, mild and hot peppers and other green herbs and leaves with their meals. These raw, fresh foods are the best source of Vitamin C which keeps the blood healthy and flowing unobstructed. Raw foods replenish the body with anti-oxidants. They eliminate waste products or by-products of oxidation that can destroy cells and impede the action of vital enzymes. Vitamin and enzyme rich raw foods energize the body and help to keep it young.

Our Armenian ancestors used herbal medicines, fasting and pure mountain water and teas for healing sickness. They relied on prayer and believed in the power of saints and holy men for blessings. They
used the healing powers of Armenian Bol or healing clay found in the Armenian Highlands. They also sought out hot springs in the Armenian mountains and their healing mineral hot waters. The four elements of earth, water, fire and air are the healing agents when used properly. For healing and health one needs non-toxic organic minerals, pure water, heat and oxygen-rich pure air.

The modern Armenians have lost much of their cultural heritage. We can see this when we compare the “national customs” of our people today and what they practiced previously. Drinking wine and liquor, eating barbecued meats, smoking, prostitution and gambling are far removed from our ancestors life style.
We need an awakening today based on the first principle of life, which is “Self Preservation.” How can smoking, gambling, barbecued meats. prostitutes and liquor sustain self preservation either for adults or for new generations. Better the Armenians return to the wisdom of their ancestors and maintain healthy minds and bodies for a morally sound and productive new society.

Please read the following which is a Cancer update from the John Hopkins Hospital in the USA.
I agree with most of the following statements. I think that the best way to maintain health is to become a complete vegetarian and avoid all meat, fish and eggs. The strongest animal in the world, the elephant, is a vegetarian. The myth that vegetarians don’t get good protein is a hoax. They get primary protein from organic wheat, dairy (which comes from milk which is the blood of the cow transformed into a palatable substance), beans and lentils, etc. These are primary sources of protein and do not require unnecessary killing (such as the slaughter of animals) to obtain.

To return to the Malaytiahtzee diet I grew up on, my observations are that it could have been much healthier if all the dishes were vegetarian. The meat actually ruined everything with blood and carcass. Dolma made with rice, pine nuts, some vegetables like red bell peppers, and appropriate spices with good olive oil and fresh lemon juice is more delicious than you can imagine. All the preps that my Morkor and Mom made could have been vegetarian without any loss of flavor and with the tremendous bonus of good health and life sustaining energy.

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AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY THE KEY WORD) AND ELIMINATE CANCER JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9 When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Florescence, Essie, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

(PLEASE FORWARD IT TO PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT)

CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL , U S - PLEASE READ

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.

Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, on
without the dioxin. Such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It is safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.

I want to make some comments about these sixteen points. But, first I like to say that that such a letter of information coming from a reputed hospital is refreshing because for over seventy years the medical profession has suppressed such information calling it folklore or unscientific. It has directed unwitting people (like my father) to very toxic and dangerous treatments that are mostly unproductive. Such treatments result in a miserable death by impairing the immune system of the patient.

As a nation Armenia is noted for being the first state to declare Christianity as its official religion. It happened 1700 years ago and it is considered a defining moment in Armenia’s history.

Today, Armenia can become even more famous if it declares itself the first sovereign government to transform its country into a totally green and self sufficient land.

Whatever weaknesses Armenia has by being landlocked with antagonistic governments almost on three quarters of its borders, lacking an oil industry, depending on Russia for its national security, having a weak economy and a dwindling population, these weaknesses can be incentives to transform into a completely self sufficient, green economy.

My point is that research and development of green technologies has already been done. What remains is the will to implement and adapt those technologies for the Armenian rural farmer and eventually the city dwellers. Armenia does not have to reinvent the wheel. It can benefit from the work of many pioneer researchers. What the researchers of green technologies need is the possibility to demonstrate on a national level that their technologies are viable for an entire country and not just an academic phenomenon for isolated cases.

Armenia is the ideal venue for such a national development.

If the government of Armenia set a goal of ten years or more for such a transformation, it is sure that many organizations and governments would help it in such a brave and important experiment that may serve as a vanguard for a new green world of environmentally responsible countries.

Armenia has a small population for its land mass. Most of its land is mountainous. Due to difficult economic times, the population of its villages is gradually dwindling. It is difficult for the villagers to maintain a sustainable income. There are also drought problems and sometimes water shortages that complicate life in the villages. Armenia, being landlocked, has limited ability to manufacture goods and export them. One can understand that self sufficiency should be the primary concern for the Armenian people for survival of the nation.

Going green and striving for self sufficiency is a reachable goal. It can be done by beginning on a small scale experiment in remote villages. It is imperative to revitalize the village economy with green technologies such as developing self sufficient recycling of animal dung for producing organic fertilizer, methane gas for powering electricity and running tractors and cars.
Research and development has already been done in Europe, India, and Cuba on using cow dung and other animal feces for production of methane gas for powering energy needs. Also using bulls for plowing and other heavy work is a necessary asset for self sufficient farming. Setting up a small scale efficient methane gas production facility on a farm is one key aspect for rural self sufficiency. Foreign companies and government agencies can help the village farmers in Armenia develop the green technologies to set up such grass roots facilities.

Teaching sustainable, organic farming techniques is another important aspect of the rural farm development program. Promoting the health and well being of the rural population by training them to not depend on artificial fertilizers and chemicals in their farming techniques is a key factor. The natural health of the people depends on the intake of high quality, nutritious organic foods. Organic oil seeds are another part of the green economy. Such low cost oils, if produced in quantity, can serve to power diesel engines. It may be possible for a farmer to produce enough vegetable oil to power his diesel machines for the entire year. Such technologies exist. They need to be made available to the rural farmers. Inexpensive hydrogen/oxygen production units can help rural farmers increase the efficiency of oil or gas fuels. Such inexpensive units can be developed in Armenia with the help of foreign advisers.

There are many technologies available for inexpensive self sufficiency for rural farmers. Once a determination is made by Armenian thinkers and politicians for investing resources and energy into such a grand project, many resources can be developed from around the world for the benefit of the rural farmer.

Small scale experimental farms can be established in rural areas to adapt and perfect green technologies for use in Armenia. Once these experimental farms function successfully, the experiment can be spread to other areas of the country for the benefit of rural farmers. Helping the rural farmer with added value by the transformion of his production of natural products can also create more jobs in rural areas.

An essential aspect of rural development is cow protection and milk production. Animals such as cows are worth much more money alive than dead because of their dung which can be converted to methane gas and high quality fertilizer. After the animals die naturally, their meat can be used for human consumption. The elimination of unnecessary violence is important for the environment and consciousness of the nation. Domesticated animals are worth much more alive than dead when green technologies are available to profit from their dung.

There is a dynamic relationship between the ethical treatment of the land and animals and the environment. Researchers such
as Rudolph Steiner and others have demonstrated through biodynamic growing techniques that respecting the natural cycles of nature along with the respect of life can increase significantly agricultural production and the quality of food. Such products support health and longevity as well as sustainable natural environment. Much research and development has already been done in this field. Armenian farmers can benefit from these techniques. After all, the bottom line for a farmer is making a sustainable living from the land. If we can demonstrate that a rural farmer’s economic and physical well being are considerably enhanced, then it will be a natural process changing over Armenian farmers to sustainable green technologies for farming and secondary transformation of food products by grass roots, rural industries. A nation that can feed its population without dependence on foreign imports is well on its way to independence from foreign influence.

A friend of mine has developed a grass roots briquettes project for third world countries by which rural farmers can achieve a degree of energy independence by making energy bricks from biological by-products of the farm. Ben Bryant, a retired University Professor, has a non-profit organization called Appropriate Briquettes International Technology (ATBI) which is dedicated to making bagel-size briquettes without a binder from agricultural residues (leaves, straws and grasses) and industrial and urban waste materials. These briquettes can be used in place of firewood for cooking and heating purposes. This is just one example to demonstrate that there are many non profit organizations that can make available inexpensive green technologies for rural development.

There are many secondary industries that can evolve from a green, organic farming and animal protection. Growing organic foods and transforming them into packaged organic food items is a growing and lucrative industry with added value when exported to more affluent countries. The label “Certified Organic” adds value commercially to food products. Even the meat of animals fed organic natural feed (without slaughterhouse additives) and protected until their natural death is more valuable and healthy than slaughterhouse meat from industrial production facilities.

Other sources of energy production such as wind and sun and natural vegetable oil for diesel engines can transform the rural farm communities into a powerhouse of economic activity. Investment into the infrastructure for such development will be the crucial step for reaching a national conversion from conventional to a green economy. Armenian ingenuity and engineering skills can be put to work to develop efficient engines using vegetable oil or other alternative home grown fuel sources. Once the emphasis is put on green technologies and the future time table for completion of the transformation is made, the best minds in Armenia can be put to work to develop the most efficient systems for the task. Many experts from foreign countries will gladly participate to help Armenian engineers accomplish their tasks of conversion to green technologies.

Many new technologies can develop from the Armenian Green Experiment that will have world significance. This will place the little country of Armenia at the forefront of the new green world of environmentally responsible nations. Armenia will be reborn as the “gunanch yergir” or the Green Country.

He who lives without meanness and envy
Is friend to every living entity
Free of erred concepts and inflated pride
Nor thinks himself the proprietor worldwide

Is equal both in happiness and distress
Tolerant, satisfied, self controlled, less stress
Engaged always in service to the Lord
With fixed mind, not awaiting a reward

Whose intelligence adheres the Lord’s advice
Without doubt or fear or any sinful vice
Such a servant is very dear to the Lord
For such humble soul, God’s love the reward

The art of developing interpersonal skills by which one can nurture on a longterm
basis loving and sincere relationships is explained succinctly in the above verses.

False concepts

The most important adjustment one must make is to be free of false concepts about one’s identity
and place in the universe. One can summarize life as a search for self identity. “Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I now? Where should I be going? What is the purpose of my life?” These questions are fundamental for understanding oneself and learning how to relate to others in life.

Learning about oneself is a relational process. It is difficult to learn about oneself in a complete vacuum. When one is in relation to others, it is much easier to understand gradually who I am. Ultimately, we come to the complete understanding of who I am when we enter into a relationship with God. God is the complete whole and we are a part and parcel of God. This means that God is the Supreme Person eternally and we emanate from God. We have many similar qualities as God but we can never be equal to or greater because we are the part. The phrase part and parcel means we are individuals eternally like God, but we are unalterably small or limited in our person whereas God’s Person is infinitely great. We are one and different than God. We are one qualitatively one and quantitatively different. The drop of ocean water is qualitatively one with the ocean but quantitatively different.

It is possible to understand God by deeply understanding oneself because we are part and parcel of God qualitatively one, but quantitatively different. The only thing that can hinder us from understanding properly is the false ego or the accumulation of false ideas that we believe to be true. The following is a simple but precise process by which we can understand what is the false ego and how it hinders our development as a person capable of loving God and all others as part of God’s family.

FALSE EGO

There is the false ego and there is the real ego. Ego means I or I am or the identification of the eternal self. As stated above, we can only identify oneself in relation to something or someone else. The false ego (or I) identifies oneself with the material nature or matter. An example of false ego is, “I am the material body.” Everyone of us resides in a material body. If I identify myself with the material body that I dwell in, then I make a fundamental mistake. I consider the body made of matter which is constituted of the basic elements earth, water, fire, air, ether or space, mind, intelligence, and ego (or self identification). The first five elements make up what is called the gross material body and the last three make up the subtle material body. Such self identification with the material body is a fundamental mistake similar to mistaking the driver of a car with the car or mistaking the person with his clothes.

Mistaking the clothes with the person or the car with the driver is a fundamental mistake of perception. If I am convinced that these mistakes of perception are true, then I am subject to illusion. An illusion is mistaking one thing to be another thing. Acting
as if the illusion is true is being in a deluded state of mind. The false ego is the deluded state of mind where I am convinced that something which is not true is true. If I organize my thoughts and actions with this false conviction, I will remain baffled about the purpose of life.

The false ego is precisely the desire one may have to dominate part or all of the material world. With the purported domination one desires to enjoy. One falsely identifies with the temporary body, mind and senses. The body is the vehicle by which one can enjoy the material world through the material senses. The mind is the center of activity of all the senses. When one hears of sense objects the mind becomes a fertile place of ideas of sense gratification. Thus, the mind and senses become repositories of lust or the obsessive desire to dominate and enjoy.

ENVY

Envy is a powerful and destructive feeling. If one harbors envy it is destructive for oneself and also be for the person to whom it is directed. To envy is to feel discontent and jealously long to have another’s advantages, success, possessions, etc. It is a much stronger emotion than jealousy, which denotes a feeling of resentment that another has gained something that one feels they more rightfully deserve.

When one is jealous of someone else, the feeling will subside if the jealous person attains the same advantage that the other person has. In the case of envy, even if the envious person obtains the same advantage as the other person, he is not satisfied until the other person loses what they have and are left destitute.

The origin of everything begins with God. In the Bhagavad gita 16.18, Lord Krishna explains the origin of envy:

“Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demons become envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme against the real religion.”

A person who becomes proud of accumulated wealth, power and the prestige may become envious of the Supreme God. God declares that He is the Supreme and that nothing is above Him or equal to Him. In the Bhagavad gita 15.18, Lord Krishna says:

“Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.”

The material world is a place where people try to control and enjoy the material energy. A materialistic person becomes happy when successful in satisfying the senses and enjoying bodily pleasures. But when he sees others’ more successful in sense gratification and he isn’t, he is sorry and envious.

Such persons are always against God’s supremacy. God is the Supreme controller and enjoyer. He is also the supreme object of envy for a certain class of people.. The envious are against the existence of God and the holy scriptures. This is caused by the prestige and accumulated wealth and power of such persons. They often doubt that there is existence after death. Thus, they do not use this life as a preparation for the next. Lacking such conviction, they actually become envious of their own self. This self envy manifests as the determined effort to deny the existence of God, debunk scriptural authority and systematically . Thinking himself independent and powerful in all actions, he deliberately disregards the proprietorship of God over all that be and acts against the instructions for good behavior given by God. Another symptom of self envy is the refusal by such persons to take good advice based on scriptural authority (or often any authority). Such persons think that they are above all others in strength, power or wealth. Thus, they think they can act in any way and no one can dare stop them. When such persons encounter a potential enemy who can counter their sensual activities, they make plans to destroy that person in one way or another.

A person who is not God conscious acts according to the concept of the material body and senses.

There was once a thief. He decided to rob a wealthy merchant’s home. Thinking
the merchant was on vacation during a holiday weekend, the thief climbed over the
boundary wall of the merchant’s estate and began to approach his house when he
tripped a security alarm which alerted everyone in the house that someone
had penetrated inside the property. The thief was shocked. He quickly took off his clothes
and rolled them up in a ball and hid them. He then ran toward the merchant’s pond and
slipped into the water in the pose of a yogi. He cropped his hair up like a yogi and began to meditate in the pond standing on one leg.

The merchant’s security guards searched the grounds. They noticed the yogi meditating
in the pond and were puzzled. The merchant was notified of the yogi’s presence. He quickly came to examine him. The thief impersonating a yogi remained deeply silent and meditated with half closed eyes. The merchant was impressed by his concentration. For a long time the merchant keep silent in the presence of the yogi. He felt peace and calm. He became convinced that the yogi was a great saint who came to bless him.

The merchant gave his guards instructions to inform him when the yogi stopped his meditation. He returned to his home and took rest. Early the next day, the guards informed the merchant that the yogi opened his eyes and smiled at them. He came quickly and bowed respectfully at the yogi’s feet and begged him to bless him and his family. The yogi smiled and said “May you and your family be blessed.” The merchant was overwhelmed and grateful. He invited the yogi to stay with him and become his guru. The thief was not sure what to do. He was amazed that the merchant accepted him as a true yogi and was ready to honor him as his guru.

The thief said, “My dear son, our paths have crossed by providence. Yet, my journey has a way to go before I can stay in one place. I must go now as my destiny has dictated that I continue on the path of seeking more teaching from my master.”

The merchant was impressed by the yogi’s sincerity. He fell at the feet of the yogi and begged him to reconsider. The yogi was tempted to say yes. Knowing well he could not sustain the charade for an extended period of time before he would be discovered to be a common thief, he insisted he could not stay.

He encouraged the merchant to continue to meditate in silence and pray for the welfare of all. He instructed him to be charitable to the poor and kind to his family. The merchant was truly overwhelmed by the yogi’s simplicity and purity. He begged him not to go. He offered him many valuable gifts. The thief was tempted by the gifts and the invitation. He was prudent. However, because he understood he could not go much longer without being discovered by someone.

He insisted that his journey was yet incomplete and that he was obliged to continue his normal course. But he promised to return in the future if the merchant and his family members followed his instructions. The thief asked the merchant for a clean new cloth and one piece of fruit as a gift. The merchant wanted to lavish many clothes and fruits on him, but the yogi only accepted one of each. The yogi then walked out of the merchant’s estate grounds and quickly disappeared into the surrounding forests.

The thief was stunned by the experience. He decided to think deeply about what had just transpired. He was convinced that it was not possible to return to his village and continue as a thief. He felt he had a discovered a new direction in his life. But how was he to continue on a path that was unknown to him? He had never received a formal education. His only contact with holy people occurred when itinerant yogis who would pass through his village and stop to beg for alms. They were always kind and friendly. He never paid much attention to them nor listened to their stories. He had given charity to one. He could still remember the smiling face of that yogi. The yogi held his arm and looked into his eyes penetratingly and said, “When your clothes come off, your eyes will open.”

At the time, the thief thought that the yogi was a crazy fellow. Now he reflected deeply about the smiling yogi’s words spoken in a long forgotten past. Could the yogi have known what would happen in his future? He was not able to walk any further. He sat down and just thought about what had happened to him and the prophetic words of the yogi.

A very powerful yearning welled up in his heart to find that yogi.

We can consider that there are two categories of education: career education and self realization.

Career education is important for earning a living and acting responsibly as a member of society.

Self realization is important to understand the purpose of life so as not to waste time on useless endeavor. Such understanding will also give one the ability to achieve real love and peace in life. Knowledge of self and one’s real position in the universe will free one from acting ignorantly and becoming more and more entangled by the laws of action and reaction in this world. Ignorance of self and ignorance of self knowledge leads to the perpetration of violence to oneself and others. A life in which unnecessary violence is avoided should be the standard for society.

Nonviolence is not a religious principle, but it is an important quality for those seeking self realization. It is common sense
spirituality because one is advised to do no harm to any other animal or living being because such harmful actions are equally harmful to one who does the harm.

The preliminary steps to nonviolence require one to understand and practice humility and be free of false pride. Humility means one should not be anxious to have the satisfaction of being honored by others. One who is self realized does not identify himself with the material body. Therefore, honor or dishonor pertaining to this material body is not of any importance. It is a material deception for which one should not hanker. One becomes proud by accumulation of wealth and prestige.

If one dedicates his wealth and life energy to the service of God and humanity without seeking to be honored for such meritorious actions, then he may be said to be without false pride. Offering service for the satisfaction of God and humanity without expectation of profit or honor is the hallmark of a humble person.

Unless one is humble and without false pride, one cannot be harmless and nonviolent. Beside not causing physical harm to others, the more complete concept of nonviolence is not to put others into distress. People are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life. They suffer material pangs perpetually. Distributing real knowledge to people so that they may become enlightened and free themselves from material entanglement is real nonviolence.

When one adjusts his life to become nonviolent, one needs to learn tolerance and simplicity of living. This is gradually achieved by learning to not neglect anyone and give proper respect to everyone especially to genuine teachers and spiritual mentors. This helps one train the senses and the mind for controlled action and frees one from unnecessary material attachments.

The culture of respect develops from basic spiritual knowledge that is a result of honest self inspection. A quick summary of this process of self inspection which leads to the culture of respect follows.

Step 1: Establishing an absolute certainty that one exists as a unique individual is the foundation for self knowledge. Descartes attempted to do this when he eliminated everything in his existence of which he was not sure. He arrived at the conclusion “I think, therefore I am.” This is the perception of self identification or the positive feeling that “I exist.”

Step 2: Existence as a thinking and perceiving individual indicates that there is a difference between the perceiver (or the seer) and the perceived (the seen). For example, one sees his hand, leg and in general his body. He is the seer and his body is the seen. There is, therefore, a difference between the seer and the seen.

Step 3: The instruments of seeing, the objects of seeing and the process of seeing are all provided to the seer by nature. One who sees things beyond himself by ordinary vision has no power to see or move independently. All our ordinary actions and perceptions depend on various forms of energy supplied by nature by different combinations.

The five objects of the senses (of perception) are

1. smell

2. taste

3. form

4. touch

5. sound

The five senses of action or working senses are:

1. hands

2. legs

3. speech (voice)

4. evacuation organs

5. reproductive organs

The information gathering senses are:

1. Eyes

2. ears

3. nose

4. tongue

5. skin

The mind is the eleventh sense. Above the mind is the intelligence and the ego. The mind functions as the sixth sense in two ways: it receives information from the other senses and stores it in the memory. The intelligence is superior to the mind because it has the power to differentiate and make judgments like “this is good but that is bad.” The attribution of value and discernment makes the intelligence superior to the mind.

The above are provided to us by various arrangements of gross and subtle forms of natural energy.

The objects of perception of the senses are also products of the natural energy. The senses of perception and the objects of the senses are all provided to us. The individual does not have independent power of perception or motion. The seer is thus dependent on the arrangement of nature to see and perceive. The instruments of seeing, the objects of seeing and the process of seeing are all provided to the seer by nature

Step 4: Our power of seeing or perception is limited. The senses are limited by four inherent shortcomings, which are:

1. We make mistakes

2. We are easily put into illusion

3. Our senses are imperfect (I cannot see around corners or through walls, etc.)

4. We have a tendency to cheat

We can conclude that we are conditioned by nature’s energy. We are dependent and limited

Step 5: The seer is fundamentally different than the seen by virtue of the fact that the seer feels dissatisfaction due to the limitations of conditioned material existence. For example, a golfer hits the golf ball toward the hole. The ball misses the hole and the golfer becomes dissatisfied. Does the golf ball express dissatisfaction? No! There is a fundamental difference between the golf ball and the golfer. The golfer is a conscious being and the gold ball is made of matter but lacks consciousness. The golfer’s body is also made of matter like the golf ball. But the golfer’s body has consciousness in it and the golf ball does not. The consciousness of the golfer expressed by his dissatisfaction indicates that consciousness is not a material substance like a golf ball or a material body. Consciousness is not a product of any material combination.

Some scientists argue that matter develops the power to see and move as part of a certain organic development. Such an argument is not plausible or scientific because there is no evidence that matter has at any time produced a living and conscious being. There is no evidence that matter can randomly order itself to the point of creating a conscious living being with all the complex structural and intricate processes inherent in consciousness. Idle talks about the future development of matter into a conscious moving living entity is deceptive because there has never been any proof that matter has developed either consciousness or the power of seeing or moving in any part of the world.

By use of the discerning power of intelligence we can understand that matter and consciousness are different and that consciousness is not a result of material combination.

Step 6: Something cannot be animate without an intelligent person behind it. Intelligence gives direction like a higher authority. A living being cannot see or move or eat or do anything without the use of intelligence. Everyone is dependent their own intelligence or that of a superior being. An example may help to understand this crucial point.

A person buys a toy train set and constructs it. When ready, he takes control of the remote control and begins to direct the train. The train moves according to the will of the driver along a predetermined trajectory along the tracts. Sometimes the train goes forward and sometimes backward, sometimes it stops all by the will of the driver. Although a material construct, the train never moves by its own will. It did not construct itself. It was conceived and built by a superior intelligence (to matter) and it is moving by a superior intelligence (its driver).

Intelligence is all- pervading in human civilization and in nature. An intelligent man can understand by honest examination of himself that just as his will is driving his body’s movements or that of the toy train set so there is a superior will and intelligence driving the entire universe.

Every being has his intelligence. If one fails to take advantage of such intelligence he becomes a deranged person. For example, a person drives his car down the street. The street and all the arrangements such as red light, stop signs, speeding limit sign and all the rules for safe driving are made by the government. The driver uses his intelligence to follow the form intelligence of the government agents who have established the rules and the thoroughfares for driving. The government has also established rules for the vehicles used for driving. The car manufacturers must use their intelligence to build cars that comply with the rules made by the government. If a person the rules made by “superior intelligence” of the government people, he may drive according to his limited range of free will. If he does not follow the rules, he will be punished and is considered either less intelligent or in more chronic cases of disobedience, a deranged person.

Every person uses his intelligence to follow the direction of a higher intelligent authority. The higher intelligent authority is like a father giving direction to his child. There are many layers of intelligent authorities and the highest authority is the Supreme Person or God. In any organization there are many layers of authorities and there is a final authority or the ultimate director. For example, in any city there is a layered hierarchy of authorities such as the mayor, his advisers, the different departments like the police, fire, sanitation, transportation, health, education, welfare, etc. There may be several thousand people necessary beginning from the mayor to manage a city. An intelligent person can understand that in the universe there are also many layers of intelligent authorities to manage the universal affairs and an ultimate intelligent authority who directs all the other intelligent persons.

A question may be asked at this point. We understand that all our perceptions and activities are conditioned by arrangements of material nature. Yet, we feel and say, “I am perceiving “ or “I am doing.” We can conclude that the body is like a vehicle that an intelligent person drives. When we sit in the car (or the body made of senses of perception and movement) we identify with it, “This is my car or my body.” This car (or body) is ultimately guided by a superior intelligence that guides and supplies us (gasoline or food) according to our desires. As I drive my car I must continually make decisions either to follow the rules of the superior intelligence or not to follow.

If I follow the superior intelligence, then I consistently understand that the vehicle (or my body) is actually not really under my control or ownership. I have been given the use of it as a privilege. A driver’s license is a regulated privilege given by the government to permit me to drive. I am not completely independent. I must comply with the rules established by the government or my right to drive will be revoked and my license and my car can be seized. Therefore, at any one time, I must decide either to follow the direction of the superior intelligence or reject to follow. My exercise of free will is limited to these two choices. If I follow, I have freedom. If I do not follow, my free will is gradually curtailed.

Our limited freedom of choice can be exercised on the basis of a misconception that I am the ultimate controller and enjoyer in this universe. This erroneous conception will lead us into an unending cycle of suffering because we will consistently violate the rules established by superior intelligence. By recognition that the superior intelligence is actually our friend and guide, we can dovetail our intelligence with the superior intelligence for maximum benefit in this life.

The honest self inspection and use of common sense leads to the conclusion that there are three distinct factors in life: matter, individual consciousness of the dependent living being, and the supreme consciousness of the ultimate authority in the universe. This six step common sense approach is the beginning of self knowledge.

With the development of self knowledge comes respect for the superior intelligence and exercise of attentive caution in all activities. One becomes very careful not to offend or violate the laws of nature and the rights of others to achieve self knowledge. Knowledge leads to caution and prudence in the exercise of our limited free will and the respect of others. With the advent of such knowledge one refrains from committing unnecessary violence and lives in harmony with the laws of nature.

The beginning of knowledge is becoming free of false pride. The delusion of pride is due to being puffed up by thinking oneself the owner and controller of material nature. It is impossible for one deluded by false pride to accept to be the servant of God Almighty. Through spiritual education one learns that he is not the lord of material nature. Only God the Supreme Person
is the Lord of everything.

Once free from delusion caused by false pride, one can begin the process of acquiescence to the will of God. But, as said above,
for one expecting some honor in this world, it is not possible to surrender to the Supreme God. False pride is due to illusion.
We come here for a short time, perhaps 60 to 80 years. Then we are forced to die. Yet, we maintain the foolish notion that we are lord of this world. This deluded state of mind makes all things complicated and causes us trouble all the time.

People claim the land, this whole earth belongs to human beings. They divide the land assuming falsely that they are the proprietors. One must discard this false notion that human beings or certain groups are the proprietor of this world.

Once free of this flawed notion one can disentangle oneself from false social and national attachments based on the bodily identification. These false bonds bind one to this material world birth after birth. Then and only then can one begin to cultivate spiritual knowledge. Such knowledge reveals what is actually the true nature of proprietorship, which is that everything belongs to God the Supreme. Understanding this plain truth, one becomes free from all dual conceptions of happiness and distress, pleasure and pain, and all the confusing dualities of material life. With such knowledge, one is able to surrender to the will of God and free oneself from the cycle of repeated birth and death in this material world.

We can control an airplane but can we control our own mind? The technological advancement of knowledge has given us many material conveniences. Yet, we are still plagued by distress and social ills. Over three thousand years ago, Moses received the ten commandments of which one says “Thou shalt not kill.” We can safely assume that killing was prevalent then and it was necessary to proscribe such horrible behavior of unnecessarily taking a life. After three thousand years, the killing has not subsided. Rather, it has become more scientific and brutal. Instead of killing a few people at a time, it is possible today, due to technological advances, to kill thousands at one time. Although we have advanced technologically during the same period, we have not advanced the human nature or the social skills by which men can live in harmony without unnecessary killing. The world seems much more violent today than it was previously.

Education gives us the power of discernment between what is real and what is not real. Some things are real but temporary. Others are real and eternal.. Some things do not really exist although we may believe they do. The goal of education is to strive for things that are eternally true. We can use those things that are temporarily true to achieve eternal truths. We must not be fooled by things that are false. For example, a horse’s egg is something we can articulate but it does not really exist. Seeking such a thing is an illusory endeavor. The body is true but it is temporary. It can be used, however, to achieve self realization or it can be used to chase illusory things. There is an eternal spiritual realty such as the individual soul and its relationship with God which is forever true and is above the transitory nature of the material world. Real education is directed at understanding what is matter, the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, God. Once this is understood, one is liberated from unnecessary suffering and illusion in this world.

With freedom from illusion and true knowledge, one becomes capable of achieving real love and happiness.

When we incorrectly see or hear about something we can make a mistake. For example, if I am driving on an asphalt highway on a sunny, dry, hot day and see a slick of water ahead of me, I may conclude that there is water ahead on the highway. This is most probably a mistake that I will find about quickly as I accelerate because once reaching the point ahead where I thought there was water I do not see water there but it appears to be still further ahead. What I am perceiving with my eyes is the mirage of water due to the hot sun shining on the asphalt highway. It is a mistake of perception. If I accept that there is water on the highway when in truth there is not, then I am subject to an illusion. A mistake of perception is not necessarily an illusion. But accepting that the hot highway is a body of water is an illusion because it is accepting one thing to be something that it is not.

If I am convinced that the illusion is true and begin to act on such an assumption of false truth, then I am in a deluded state of mind. Let’s say I truly believe that there is water on the highway ahead of me and purposely slow down drastically believing that my car may hydroplane on rolling into the water at my fast speed. If my abrupt slowdown causes the car behind me to tailgate my car and cause an accident, my action in a state of deluded mind has serious consequences. A mistake of perception can lead to an illusion or accepting one thing to be something else. Believing that my mistake is actually true (an illusion) and acting on it I fall into the trap of a delusional mentality with potential serious consequences.

Our position in the material world is very precarious and dangerous because material education teaches us to accept the material body and temporary bodily pleasures as the ultimate reality or goal of life. Thus, we organize our life to serve the bodily needs. We ignore our spiritual essence, believing matter is everything. There is no formal education today to teach the difference between the body and the soul. Thus, most people spend their whole lives seeking only bodily comforts. The temporary body is served but the soul is starved.

Above the body is the consciousness made up of mind, intelligence and ego. Psychology only scratches the surface of consciousness studies. The human consciousness is not regulated by material laws nor is it a mechanical construct. It is not produced by a combination of matter. Therefore, it remains an elusive subject for science.

Consciousness is the symptom of the soul, which is not a material thing. Science stays away from the subject of the soul because
it is not observable or measurable with our material senses or instruments of measure. The Vedic literature, namely the Svetasvatara Upanisad (5.9) explains that the soul is one ten-thousandth portion of the tip of a hair. It is said,

“When the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spiritual soul.”

The individual particle of the spirit soul is a spiritual atom smaller than the material atoms. No scientist has ever seen a
material atom. They have only surmised its size and shape or constitution. They know however, that the material atom is capable of being divided or broken down. Therefore, there are existing particles that are even smaller than the material atom. The Supersoul is considered the soul of the soul and is even smaller than the soul. The Supersoul is present in the heart of every individual living entity and in every atom of the universe.

The Nicene Creed (325 A.D.)

We Believe also only one universal and apostolic holy Church; in one baptism with repentance for the remission and forgiveness of sins; in the resurrection of the dead, in the everlasting judgment of souls and bodies, in the kingdom of heaven and in the eternal life.

Explanation of some aspects of the Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is a statement of Faith used by many Christian Churches. There are some variations between the Armenian version which is translated above and that used by the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, or Protestant Churches.

The first question to ask is why should there be a statement of belief when there is the Bible or the perfect word of God? The problem has always existed of people using their fertile brains to speculate on the word of God and extract speculative theories and false representations of the original Bible knowledge. Beside the ravages of speculation, the second crucial problem is trying to understand the nature and person of Jesus Christ. Christianity introduced an esoteric element that the ancient Jews refused to accept: the possibility that God may incarnate at his will, or send
“His Son” to incarnate in this world. The idea of the incarnation of God or the incarnate Son of God were concepts that the ancient Jews could not accept.

I recently emailed and phoned three rabbis in the Seattle area about the Jewish point of view concerning the possibility of the incarnation of God or that God may have a son. One rabbi emailed me back the following statement.

“Judaism typically rejects the notion of God’s physical incarnation, and also that of any one individual becoming God’s son. The closest to any of this is the Jewish mystical notion of the Shekhinah – the feminine, indwelling, intimate presence of God in the world.”

The second rabbi explained to me on the phone that Judaism considers every being as a sort of incarnation of God. However, Judaism cannot accept that Jesus Christ was the unique Son of God or the unique incarnation of God or His Son.

The third rabbi explained to me on the phone that in the time of Jesus the Jewish rabbis would not be concerned by the technical details whether Jesus was an incarnation or the son of God. They were most concerned to determine if Jesus was the Messiah of their prophecy. They examined if Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecy. The Jews would not doubt that God can do anything such as incarnate or have a son. But they examined according to their scripture if God would appear in the particular way that Jesus appeared and acted. They would not accept, however, that Jesus was born of Mary if he was indeed the Messiah. Obviously, they concluded that Jesus was not the Messiah.

The concept of the incarnation of God or His Son cannot be understood in a comprehensive way by using the Jewish or Greek philosophical systems. These systems of thought are certainly profound but they lack the knowledge to understand the transcendental nature of God. I will give an example for illustration from the Gospel of John.

John 14 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
[NIV at IBS] [International Bible Society] [NIV at Zondervan] [Zondervan]

John 14
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
1″Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus the Way to the Father
5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15″If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25″All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

28″You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.”

It is impossible to approach these statements of Jesus by using Jewish or Greek philosophical systems to understand what he means. The Jewish and Greek systems are limited to the range of conceivable duality and oneness. For example if we try to understand the statement of Jesus,

“9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”

With conceivable oneness or duality, we understand that Jesus and His Father are either one in the sense of the same person, or that they are two distinct persons like a father and a son. This is an example of conceivable oneness or duality. However, this is not what Jesus is indicating in these statements.

When he says, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves,” we must analyze what he means. In what way is he “in the Father and the Father is in me.” There is an impliocation of a simultaneous oneness and difference which is mysterious or inconceivable. We can understand the words but the experience is inconceivable. To understand how such a thing is possible, we can use the Vedic philosophy as summarized in the Bhagavad gita. The following three verses from Bhagavad gita are important.

BG 9.4: By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.

BG 9.5: And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everywhere, I am not a part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation.

BG 9.6: Understand that as the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, all created beings rest in Me.

Lord Krishna explains in these three verses the esoteric nature of God which can be summarized by the Sanskrit term acintya bheda abheda tattva, the truth is simultaneously and inconceivably one and different. First, He says that He pervades the entire world in His unmanifest form. Thus all beings are in Him but He is not in them. To understand the science of God realization, one must accept that God has inconceivable potencies or powers that are beyond our own human abilities.

This essential first point is revealed in the Bhagavad gita by the following:

BG 10.39: Furthermore, O Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being — moving or nonmoving — that can exist without Me.

BG 10.40: O mighty conqueror of enemies, there is no end to My divine manifestations. What I have spoken to you is but a mere indication of My infinite opulences.

BG 10.41: Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.

BG 10.42: But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.

To understand what it means that by a single fragment God pervades and supports the entire universe, we can study a verse from the Vedic scripture called the Satvata tantra wherein it says:

“For material creation, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s plenary expansion assumes three Viṣṇus. The first one, Mahā-Viṣṇu, creates the total material energy, known as the mahat-tattva. The second, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, enters into all the universes to create diversities in each of them. The third, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all the universes and is known as Paramātmā. He is present even within the atoms. Anyone who knows these three Viṣṇus can be liberated from material entanglement.”

There is the spiritual world which is eternally existing. In the spiritual world, God or Lord Krishna, the father of Christ, possesses unlimited or inconceivable powers. From His position, He expands unlimited energies to sustain the spiritual world and also to manifest the material worlds. The spiritual world exists for the eternal loving exchanges between God and His devotees or loyal servants. The material world exists to give those souls who revolt against God an opportunity to see the futility of their attempts to live separately from God and eventually to rehabilitate themselves and return to the spiritual world.

Everything we perceive in the material world is made by the expansion of God’s energies. Everything is maintained by the mysterious expansion of God Himself into every atom of the material creation and also into the heart of every living entity. For the creation, maintenance and eventual destruction of the material world, God expands Himself into the Vishnu expansions or forms. Maha Visnu is the repository and creator of the entire material energy technically called the mahat tattva. When Maha Vishnu breaths or exhales, innumerable molecules expand from His Body and in each one there is a separate and complete universe. This is unimaginable for us ordinary living entities but we must accept the grandeur and infinite power of God. Maha Visnu expands Himself as Garbhodakasayi Visnu and enters into all these molecular universes to create diversities. This second Visnu form is also the collective supersoul of the material universe. Garbhodaksayi Visnu expand Himself as the all pervading supersoul known as Paramatma who is present in every atom of the universe and in every heart of the living entities.

Thus, with a single fragment of God’s infinite energies everything that we perceive in this world is pervaded by Him. The concpet of a “single fragment” of God’s infinite energies is important because the entire material creation with its millions of universes (we, of course, only live in one tiny universe) does not constitute more than one fouth of God’s creation. The other three fourths is made up of the spiritual worlds. So the spiritual world is much bigger and much more expansive than the material creation and the diversity of the spiritual world is much more expansive than the diversity here as Jesus himself indicates, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”

The statement by Jesus that the Father is in Me is easily understood now. As the Supersoul of everything, God the Father is personally present in every atom and in the heart of every being. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad gita 13.23,

“Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.”

This verse makes a clear point that God is present in one’s body as the Paramatma (or the 3rd expansion of Visnu) as the overseer or witness, the transcendental enjoyer (bhokta), the proprietor (maha-isvara), the permitter (anumanta), which means it is only by his permission that one can act either by following His instructions or willfully disregarding them. The Paramatma (God) in the heart is different than the individual soul (jivatma) or each one of us. There are three distinct topics of discussion namely the body, called the field of activity, the individual soul, or the knower of activities in the body, and the Supersoul, or God (isvara) the supreme knower of activities and the supreme controller of both the body (material nature, prakrti), the individual enjoyer (purusa). Just as one should not confuse the painter, the painting and the easel. The material world as the field of activity is nature, the enjoyer of nature is the individual living entity and above both of these is the supreme controller or God.

The individual soul (the jiva) and the Supersoul (God as the Supersoul is present in the heart of all beings) are one and different.
They are of the same nature because all souls come originally from God. This is stated in Bhagavad gita 15.7:

-

ahskharuh dzohv, mehnk dzahrav
ahskharuh ahrohd, mehnk metch gahrohd

The turtle and the ducks

There was a turtle of little wit
bored of her pond, desired to quit
See the wide world, mounts, rivers and vales
Marvel splendors amidst nature’s trails

She shared her desire with two ducks flying high
Who agreed to carry her to Paris through the sky
They said: “We’ll fly you to the banks of river Seine
Where Eiffel Tower touches heaven, was built by men

You’ll gaze on different races whose customs vary
Who eat fine foods, colorfully dress and make merry
The turtle agreed to transit to exotic, far lands
While the ducks searched around for a strong branch

Fortune shined for they found a sturdy rod for transport
Cautioned the turtle to bite hard on it for support
“Oh thick shell with four fins and blessed with a mighty mouth
Don’t let go or you’ll hit the ground with a deadly clout.”

The ducks each grabbed an end of the rod
The turtle stared up and prayed to god
Upward and onward the ducks flapped high
Crossed seas and forests, they plied the sky

Wherever they flew all stared amazed
Raised their voices, cried aloud and dazed
“The queen turtle has risen the sky.”
Proud and impatient to make reply,

She said, “Yes, I’m the queen, what’s it to you!”

Better for her to journey quiet, closed lipped
Enjoy her trip without losing her grip
Wise to remain humble, not make facade
Than let go one’s hold and slip from the rod.

Down she fell forced by her weight and gravity
bouncing from one hard rock to another heavily
Broken and maimed she met death at the end game
Sad is the plight who falls from such height, poor dame

It is said, “Sweet speech is silver esteemed in days of old,
But knowing the art of staying silent is better than gold.”
One who is rash and cannot forbear
Whose tongue unleashed lives without care
Has certainly a dark destiny to suffer and bear
I declare I understand this truth, I’ll forever beware

An intelligent person asked the trees: “Why is it that the higher you grow, the deeper you sink your roots?” They replied: “You are a thoughtful person, how can you not be aware that we would be unable to bear so many heavy branches and resist the power of the wind if we did not sink our roots deep into the ground?” The sand-box tree (hachari) and the pine (p’ichi) do not grow deep roots. They are unable to resist powerful winds because their roots are shallow.”

This fable by Mkhitar Gosh counsels those who want to establish spiritual and physical stability to consecrate the time to build a strong foundation like trees that have deep roots that are able to withstand the power of strong winds.

It is wise to start off with a firm base in order to pass the tests of time. If a tree grows on shallow land with short roots, it will not be able to resist strong winds that blow its branches and trunk. It will be easily uprooted.

In Matthew 7.24-27, Jesus tells the parable of the two houses.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Jesus asked the question : “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” He said there are two types of people in the world. One, the wise person, comes to him, hears his words, and then uses them to guide his actions in life. The foolish person hears the words of Jesus but does not follow them.

The wise man builds his life on the rock of Jesus Christ, and that life will stand when the storms of life come. The foolish man builds his life on another foundation (his intellect, his talent, worldly wisdom, and speculative philosophies), which is compared to a weak foundation. When the storms of life come, that house will collapse.

The entire Sermon on the Mount follows. It is a great lesson in Christian teaching.

Matthew 5-7:27 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
[NIV at IBS] [International Bible Society] [NIV at Zondervan] [Zondervan]

Matthew 5
The Beatitudes
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3″Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11″Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Salt and Light
13″You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

14″You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
The Fulfillment of the Law
17″Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, no