Thursday, April 21, 2011

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when i say to my iranian friends that my spiritual life is lacking in the US, they are usually surprised. at best they are skeptical, and at worst they are scornful. my spiritual life is lacking none the less. and for someone who is not religious nor spiritual, this might sound strange.

it isn't that i used to feel a connection with a larger entity and now i have lost that. no, i have not been a believer since i was an adult. but i was connected to something important and that was the eastern philosophy. it is hard to explain how that used to get translated into my everyday life, but it was a huge part of my life. from the Hafiz poems my father recited at every occasion, to conversations about the nature of love, human values, and the purpose of life, i was absorbed in spirituality in my everyday life.

it's not that i don't get into meaningful conversations anymore. i do. i talk about politics, economics and even relationships all the time. but these conversations are all outward-looking as opposed to the ones i mentioned. i realize that this is probably a function of age as well. i was in my early 20s when i left iran, and naturally, much more in search of a meaning for my life. now, i just understand life better and i know myself better, so maybe i am not as curious about the philosophical issues as much. but i still miss all of that.

2 comments:

  1. completely understandable hon, it's not the matter of place you live, it's exactly the matter of age and desperate that give us a new feeling of absurdity.

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  2. Who says that it wont come again ? Sometime life goes in waves. Sometimes I am surprised (and feel a big satisfaction) that the real important things in life are amazingly robust. They can survive in a hibernating state long periods of trouble. I guess if one once discovered liked Hafiz, one will always love his poetry.

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