Translation of the Audiofile “Companion’s Sensation”
We begin the session by drawing strength from the Absolute Power of God.
Hello, friends. I’m Hossein, a traveler and the guardian of this session. I would like to ask you all to observe 14 seconds of silence and seek refuge in Almighty God, so that we may free ourselves from our most powerful enemy: our own ignorance and lack of awareness.
Thank you, friends. I would like to ask our esteemed secretary, Ms. Zahra, to give us a brief report on the previous session and announce today’s agenda.
Secretary: Hello, friends. I’m Zahra, a traveler. In the name of the Absolute Power, today’s session, the sixth session of the 24th cycle, began on 2013, November, 26; under the supervision of Mr. Hossein Dezhakam, with me, Zahra, serving as secretary. The agenda will be soon announced by the Master.
Mr. Hossein Dezhakam: Thank you. Hello, friends. I’m Hossein, a traveler. I hope everyone is doing well. The point discussed in the previous session was that the greatest deficiency, the greatest problem, the greatest shortcoming, or even the greatest sin is fear of the future. When a person is afraid of the future, everything is affected, and nothing can remain stable or secure. A person can no longer live in peace.
Once the one puts their trust in God; they can overcome fear of the future even if they do not believe in God. If those who do not believe in God were to accept this principle, even outwardly, I think they would benefit from it. This is a very important and significant matter.
As I have said many times, human beings live on a huge stone called Earth, and this sphere is moving through the sky, rotating in the vast, infinite expanse of the universe. If a person could observe this phenomenon from the outside, they would be terrified by what they saw. Therefore, the only thing that can give a person stability is trusting in Almighty God.
The agenda for next week is “The Companion.” [A companion in Congress 60 is a woman or a man who helps and supports a traveler, that is, a person suffering from addiction.] Usually, when I speak on Tuesdays, I sometimes also discuss the previous week’s agenda. This time, however, I would like to blend that subject somewhat with the concept of sensation, creating a combination of the two.
For example, there is a famous verse that says [by Baba Taher Oryan Hamadani, the famous Persian poet]:
“I cry out in anguish [because I am annoyed] by both my eyes and my heart,
for whatever the eyes see, the heart remembers.”
There is a connection between what we see and what we feel in our hearts.
“Sensation is extremely important and encompasses everything that God has created. If there were no sensation, no transmission would take place, and friendship, love, and affection could not be established among human beings—such as the feelings people have toward one another, or the feelings of parents toward their children. If there were no sensation, no love would flow, and everyone would abandon one another. This also exists among animals for a certain period, but eventually fades from their memory. Among human beings, however—particularly between a mother and child, a father and child, or between spouses—it remains, and if it is damaged, it is like a wound. A person may even pass away while carrying that wound with them and transfer it to another World.”
Sensation encompasses all beings in existence. There is nothing in existence that is completely devoid of sensation or has no sensation whatsoever. However, the sensation of each being is limited to itself and defined according to its own nature.
As the poem [by Rumi] goes:
“In this world, everything attracts something;
the warm is drawn to the warm, and the cold to the cold.”
Or:
“Pigeons fly with pigeons, and hawks with hawks;
like seeks like in flight.”
Even the particles that make up existence—even electrons, neutrons, and protons—possess sensation. How do particles of gold come together? What about particles of silver or copper? How do the particles of different metals unite with one another? Or consider the particles that make up a tree or a plant—how do they come together [to form that living structure]? What is it that brings them together?
Is there anything other than sensation that can account for this?
It is true that we see a chair, but that chair is made up of billions and trillions of particles that have come together to form a chair. The human body itself is made up of billions upon billions of cells that have come together to make us who we are, to make you and me. All of this takes place through the power of sensation.
So, “Sensation is extremely important and encompasses everything that God has created. If there were no sensation, no transfer would take place.” All our interactions and exchanges take place through sensation—even the processes of transfer and interaction at the level of life and the whole existence.
Essentially, it is through sensation that we perceive and understand the world around us. If we had no sensation, we would not be able to move at all. We have the sense of sight; without sight, how could we move around? Hearing complements sight, along with the other senses.
There is also the sensation that exists between human beings. If I were to read directly from the text, it says: “If there were no sensation, no friendship or affection would be established among human beings, such as the feelings people have toward one another.”
There is a particular feeling that human beings have toward one another—the feeling of affection, friendship, or the bonds between parents and children, friends, lovers, and those who are loved, however we may define it. This exists among human beings, and it also exists among animals, but in animals it eventually comes to an end; they simply forget.
For example, sheep, horses, tigers, leopards, and lions have this feeling toward their offspring for a certain period. This is a God-given characteristic, and there is a certain order and logic to it. Lions, tigers, leopards, and other animals care for and protect their young while they are small. But once their offspring grow up, they let them go, and eventually they no longer remember them. For example, when a lion’s cub grows up, the lion drives it away from the pride. A sheep, likewise, no longer has anything to do with its grown offspring; it simply forgets them. Human beings, however, are different. In humans, this feeling remains with us until the moment of death.
Societies that lack this feeling gradually face numerous problems. This feeling is particularly strong in Asian and Eastern societies. Of course, it is also very strong in the United States. There was a time when this feeling was gradually disappearing among us, and in some areas, it is still fading. I hope it does not disappear.
This began to change with the emergence of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, where people began sending their fathers and mothers to live in such places. In particular, there are parents who, during their lifetime, have transferred everything they own into their children’s names. Once the parents have nothing left to give, their children may take them to a nursing home as soon as possible.
As far as I know, things are not quite like this in American society. Yesterday, my friend Mr. William sent me a message. He said, “My mother is 91 years old. She fell and injured one of the vertebrae in her back. We took her to the hospital, and she underwent surgery and recovered well. I want to bring her home.”
In other words, he and his children want to bring their 91-year-old mother back home to live with them. In some societies, however, that mother might have been placed in a nursing home for as many as 30 years.
In any case, this bond and this sensation depend on a society’s culture and nationality, as well as its upbringing, religious and cultural beliefs, way of thinking, and other circumstances.
But among human beings, this feeling is extremely powerful. Sometimes, if a wound is inflicted on the body, people used to say that it could be treated or compensated for. But if a wound is inflicted on the heart, it may sometimes be impossible to heal or repair. Sometimes, this wound may be the result of a broken love relationship; at other times, it may be a wound between parents and children, or between a mother and her child. Such a wound may never fully heal. It may even remain with a person and be carried into the next world.
Human beings are essentially travelers. We can say that this journey is a journey from birth to death, or from eternity [the very beginning of existence (Azal)] to eternity [the end of existence or Abad]. This journey is continuous and never-ending. In Congress 60, this journey is described as a journey from darkness to light, or from drug use to health and purity. It is a very beautiful and meaningful term.
In general, if we consider the matter carefully, all human beings are travelers. Although human beings apparently enter this world alone and leave it alone, they are always connected to certain people—to companions who accompany them throughout their journey. This is because human beings are social beings. Therefore, people choose companions for themselves or become companions to others. These relationships are extremely valuable to one another. Throughout the course of these lives, a companion can hold tremendous value for a person. Over the course of these journeys, from eternity to eternity, some companions may become separated from one another, but they will reconnect again later, and this process may continue.
We also have this concept of the Companion in Congress 60—the companions who are members of Congress 60. If we want to study and compare different types of relationships, we can say that animals also have companions. In fact, a child is a kind of companion; a spouse is a kind of companion; and someone whom a person loves is also a kind of companion.
If we were to classify the relationship between human beings in this regard, it would be similar to the distinction between a person and an animal. A person who is at the stage of the Commanding Self (Nafs-e Ammareh, which drives humans toward negativity) and one who has reached the stage of the Reassured self (Nafs-e Motma'enneh).
The highest stage of the self [i.e. the Commanding Self] in an animal becomes the first level of the self in a human being. A human being develops from the plant stage into the animal stage, and from the animal stage enters the human stage. Once a person reaches the human stage, the first level is the Commanding Self. What is the final stage of the animal is the beginning stage in the human being.
If we consider this framework, everything depends on which level or grade a person occupies. That level or grade determines how faithful and committed they are to their companions.
A person who is at the stage of the Commanding Self generally has the least connection with their companion—we are speaking relatively here. In contrast, when a person reaches the stage of the Reassured or peaceful Self, this relationship becomes stronger and more firmly established.
Therefore, when a person easily abandons their companion, lets them go, or readily turns away from their own child in pursuit of their personal desires—whether that person is a father, mother, or anyone else—it indicates a stage that is closer to the animal level.
But as a person reaches a higher stage, this relationship and bond become much stronger and more firmly established. This becomes evident throughout the course of their life.
People who reach the stage of the Reassured or peaceful Self feel a sense of responsibility and commitment toward their companions. They feel responsible for their children and are committed to them. They take into consideration their care, their future, their living conditions, and their well-being.
But there are also people who simply do not care. They think only about themselves. They are at the level of the Commanding Self; they are at a lower stage. Their relationships with their companions do not have a firm foundation or basis. Wherever they can enjoy themselves more, that is where they choose to be.
We have seen mothers who devote their entire lives to their children, even if they have no spouse, or even if their spouse has passed away, or for whatever other reason. But we also see people who, despite having several children, immediately move on to something else without giving it much thought. Their children are not important to them; they do not care what happens to them, what they do, or what becomes of them.
These are the different levels and grades of companionship throughout existence and among human beings as a whole. Therefore, the more elevated, valuable, and aware people become, the greater and stronger their sense of responsibility toward their companions who accompany them throughout existence. Those who remain at lower levels of thought and understanding, however, do not feel the same sense of responsibility toward their companions.
This principle applies and remains true in all aspects of life. The same thing applies in Congress 60. There are people in Congress 60 who suffer from the disease of addiction. There are companions who either immediately give up and destroy everything, or they try to help their travelers (the addicted member of family) achieve liberation. This is particularly common among the male members, where there are many cases in which their companions (their wives or mothers or sisters) try to help their loved ones leave the world of addiction behind.
Now, if a companion wants to help another person—whether in the course of everyday life, within Congress 60, or in dealing with the problem of addiction itself—that person must possess a higher level of knowledge and awareness. This is one of the principles we have in Congress 60.
When people come to Congress 60 as companions, the first thing we need to do is somehow prevent them from causing harm to the traveler. At first, companions [the addict’s wife, mother or sister] think they have come to Congress 60 to serve and help the traveler. But we often see that because they lack the necessary knowledge and awareness, they actually begin to cause harm.
People used to ask me, “Sir, what do you want families to do? What preventive measures do you recommend? What should families do to prevent addiction?” I said, “I cannot simply tell you what you should do to prevent addiction. If someone in your family is addicted, what exactly are you supposed to do?”
We tend to think that everything requires time to learn. But when it comes to addiction, people think no time is needed [to cure addiction]! For example, if you want to learn French, it may take you two or three years to learn French, English, or any other language. But when it comes to helping someone with addiction, they think there is no need for any training. They imagine that all we have to do is tell you four or five things—five, four, three, two, one—and you simply do them. Such a thing does not exist.
The Companion who first enters Congress 60 often has the same attitude. They think they can immediately help the person who is using drugs. Sometimes, out of genuine concern and compassion, they may actually be able to help. But I think they are more likely to cause harm because there are so many things they do not know.
That is why we say that the first thing we need to do to reduce this tension and conflict is to have the Companion undergo training. The Companion must be educated and trained. It is only after one or two years that they begin to understand what they should and should not do.
In the beginning, we tell them, “Do not interfere with the Traveler.” If they try to do something without knowing what they are doing, they may make the situation worse. In some situations, I have said that the best thing you can do is sometimes do nothing at all.
What a Companion does to help with the treatment of addiction is exactly like the humorous example I have told you several times. Suppose someone catches fire. When a person catches fire, when a place catches fire, or when someone is injured, you have to know what to do. If someone becomes seriously ill, one person may need to be placed on their side, another on their back, and another face down. One person may need to have their head raised, while another may need to have their head lowered. One person may need sugar water, while another should not be given sugar water. One person may need something sour, while another should not be given anything sour. Each situation is different.
You cannot simply give everyone sugar water whenever they become unwell. Whatever happens, first aid is different for each person and each situation. These procedures are specific. The same principle applies to helping others.
Let me repeat the humorous story I have told you. Someone catches fire, people put out the fire, and then they take the person to the hospital. The doctors ask, “What did you do to this person?” The person has 95 percent bruising and only 5 percent burns!
Laughingly Mr. Dezhakam continued, the people reply, “We were trying to put out the fire. There was nothing else around, so we used a shovel!” Some people put out fires with a shovel.
Companions can sometimes be like this. When Companions have not received the necessary training, it is as if they are trying to put out a person who is on fire with a shovel. They prescribe a thousand different remedies for the person who is using drugs. And this does not apply only to addiction. The same thing happens with other problems and with life in general. What I am saying is not limited to Companions in Congress 60. It applies to life as a whole.
When one of companions [pupils] encounters a problem, what kind of prescription are you [as a guide] going to give them? How are you going to advise them? What are you going to give them? How are you going to teach them what to do? If they encounter a problem in life, how are you going to guide them?
Therefore, Companions, addiction is a science. Every aspect of life is a science. So, anyone who wants to help a person who is using drugs must first learn this science. They must acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding before they try to help—just like first aid. You have to learn first aid before you can help. Otherwise, you may cause further damage.
Therefore, Companions must come to Congress 60 and receive the necessary training first. Once they have received that training and gained the necessary understanding, they can then begin to help. To receive this training, however, the companions must first accept and acknowledge that they do not know.
When a Companion enters Congress 60, they must accept and believe that they do not know. What is it that they do not know? They may know many things. They may be a physician, they may hold a PhD, they may be a university professor, or they may have any other profession or qualification. But they must accept and believe that, when it comes to the problem of addiction, they know nothing.
They must accept this and enter Congress 60 with humility and surrender. You may say, “I have memorized all of Rumi’s poetry. c I know all the Hadith. I know all of these things.” Fine, you may know all of them, but they are not useful to you at this particular stage. They have their own value—let no one say that Dezhakam is opposed to them. No, they are valuable, but they are not useful for this particular task. When someone has a broken head and is bleeding, you cannot stop the bleeding with Rumi’s poetry, Hafez’s poetry, or Saadi’s poetry. The wound needs to be bandaged. It may need stitches, medication, and medical treatment. That is what it needs.
When I say that you should not discuss these subjects in the Legions, I do not mean, God forbid, that I do not respect Rumi, Hafez, Hadith, or religious beliefs. What I mean is that “Every word has its own proper situation, and every point has its proper place and status.” Therefore, a legion is not appropriate place for Hafez or Rumi’s words. The Legion is not the place for them, and they should not be discussed in your participation [when sharing your ideas in Congress 60 meetings].
Here, someone has a head injury. Whether it is a man or a woman, if their head is bleeding, we have to stop the bleeding and treat the wound. At this point, neither Hadith—although it is certainly respected and cherished—nor the poetry of Rumi, Hafez, or Saadi, nor anything else of that kind, is going to solve the problem. What is needed here is a doctor, a specialist, stitches, and proper treatment.
Therefore, when you enter Congress 60, you have to start from zero. All those things may be valuable, but they are not what you need here at this stage. You may have a great deal of money, social status, or knowledge. But experience has shown that all the things you had did not help you, because your son still became addicted.
Now, if you think that the information you possess, or the things you know, are extremely important, profound, and valuable, then take all that knowledge and go and treat your son who has become addicted. Or go and treat your daughter, your wife, your husband, or whoever it is.
I am not speaking only to you, the female Travelers. I am speaking to everyone in Congress 60. So that you say, “We do not have many Companions here among us.” [this is for all Congress 60 members]. If you think all the knowledge you have is so important, then take it with you and go treat your son.
But with all this information, knowledge, and way of thinking, you have not been able to help your child, your spouse, your brother, or whoever it may be up to now. So put all of that aside for the time being. These things may be useful and valuable, but they belong somewhere else and have their own proper place. For now, come and sit here and listen to what your guide tells you in the Legion, and put it into practice. If you already knew all these things, then ask yourself: during all these years, were you able to free your husband from addiction? You were not! So come and sit here and listen to whatever your guide says in the Legion.
If you are a Companion and have come to Congress 60—whether you are a woman or a man—listen to what your guide tells you. You may hold a very high position or be a very important person, but when you come to Congress 60, you must become a student. If you do not become a student, you will not learn. If you want to rely on your status or position, that status has its own place [But it does not belong here.]
I have said this before: when you take a shower, you have to take off your clothes. If you try to take a shower while wearing your clothes, you will never become clean. You have to take them off. Coming to Congress 60 is the same. You have to set aside your position, title, wealth, social status, and everything else—including being addressed as “Haj Agha” or by any other title.
I have said that in Congress 60, you should not use titles at all. Do not use “Doctor,” “Engineer,” “Colonel,” and I have even said that you should not use Haj Agha [a Muslim who has been to Mecca as a pilgrim]. They asked me, “Engineer, why do you say we should not use ‘Haj Agha’?” I said, “Because everyone needs to understand that, in the process of education here, no one is superior to anyone else.” Secondly, you may have used opium, drunk alcohol, smoked crack, or used heroin, and then say, “I am Haj Hassan, a Traveler.”
Well, if you were truly a Hajji, then why are you bringing shame upon the title “Hajji”? A Hajji does not drink alcohol, and a Hajji does not use opium. Therefore, do not use these titles. I do not mean, God forbid, that I reject or disapprove of them. That is never what I mean. I do not want my beliefs, thoughts, or ideas to be misunderstood or interpreted in the opposite way.
What I mean is that when we sit together here, we are all equal. We are like students in the same classroom. We have one teacher who is our guide, and we are all students of that guide. We either accept this or we do not.
As the saying goes, “Either do not befriend the elephant keepers, or build a house large enough for an elephant.” In other words, you either accept the conditions or does not. When a person does not accept their guide’s words, then then are most welcome [they have to leave Congress 60] and I wish you success wherever you go, may God protect you. Or you accept them and stay. Once you have accepted them, you have to follow what your guide tells you.
Therefore, the Companion must first receive training. Once they have been trained, they can then help the Traveler. If they have not received the necessary training, they cannot help. Other than causing damage, they will not be able to accomplish anything. Yet they may think that they are showing a great deal of love and concern. They only realize this later.
At first, they do not understand it. But after they have been coming to Congress 60 for some time, they eventually let go of the Traveler completely. They no longer concern themselves with the Traveler. They say, “We have come here to work on ourselves. We have to receive this knowledge, gain this understanding, acquire this awareness, and reach peace ourselves.”
So the Companions eventually come for themselves. They have reached a certain level of knowledge and awareness, and once they stopped constantly focusing on the Traveler, the Traveler was able to reach liberation from addiction.
When the Companions were constantly attached to their Traveler, interfering in everything the travelers did, and expressing opinions about every aspect of their lives, the Travelers could not reach liberation. Once the Companions learned to trust them and give them space, the Travelers were able to reach liberation from addiction.
Of course, it is possible that a companion may place her trust in her traveler, do everything they are supposed to do, and then one percent, two percent, or a few percent of the Travelers may take advantage of that trust. But even that is natural. It is not something extraordinary.
Next week, we will have a celebration for the Companions. There are people who do not have a Companion at all, and that’s not a problem either. There are Legions where many members do not have Companions in Congress 60. This is particularly the case among the female Travelers, whose Companions are considerably fewer. In such cases, they [the travelers] themselves become their own Companions.
Nowadays, many of the old-timers have become their own Companions. When we say that Congress 60 is a family, we truly are one large family here in Congress 60. One of the things Congress 60 has done is bring us together. It has given us a sense of identity and a sense of dignity. It has brought a certain amount of love into our lives. And one of the most important things it has done is bring us out of loneliness. We were all alone. We were isolated and on our own. But here in Congress 60, none of us is alone anymore.
Each of you belongs to a Legion, together with your guide, your friends, and your fellow Legion members. You can see that you have found so many friends and companions here. All the members of a Legion care about one another like members of a family, even more strongly and deeply than a family.
In a family, for example, two brothers and sisters, or two sisters, may argue with each other several times, perhaps two or three times a week. They may snap at one another or speak harshly to each other. But this happens very, very rarely in a Legion.
Therefore, all the members of a Legion are companions to one another. Another meaning of “Companion” is someone who has no history of addiction and comes to help the Traveler—such as a father, brother, mother, spouse, or anyone else. But there is another meaning of Companion: we are all companions to one another, and we are also each other’s companions on this journey. Think of this as a bus that is moving along its route, or a train traveling toward its destination. On this bus or train, there are both companions who have never been affected by addiction and companions who have become caught up in this problem.
Therefore, if someone is in Congress 60 and does not have a Companion, they should not feel disappointed or upset. They should not think, “I don't have a Companion, and now it is Companion Week.” No. We are all companions to one another. There is a connection among all the members of a Legion, and there is a feeling that they have for one another. For example, when one member of a Legion has a headache, all the members of that Legion feel concerned and saddened. When one member achieves a success, all the other members feel happy and relieved.
When someone reaches liberation from addiction, their guide experiences tremendous joy and happiness. And when a student from a Legion does not succeed in their journey, their guide is deeply affected and saddened. They wonder why their student was unsuccessful and why, God forbid, they experienced a relapse. The members of a Legion feel the same way toward one another.
So, when we look at it this way, we see that we are all companions to one another. We are no longer alone. In the past—and I am speaking for myself—I was truly alone. But now I no longer feel lonely, and I am sure none of you feel lonely either. Therefore, you can see that we have all become companions to one another. So, those who are in Congress 60 and do not have a Companion should not feel sad or disappointed, because we are all companions to one another.
Today, the Congress 60 community has become a very strong, powerful, and supportive community. The group of male Travelers’ Companions in Congress 60, in particular, has become one of the strongest sources of support for Congress 60. They provide tremendous assistance with various Congress 60 activities.
We have also some male companions in the male travelers’ sectionwho are providing extensive service to Congress 60 through the Public Relations department. The same is true in other areas of Congress 60 as well.
Therefore, during Companion Week, Travelers honor and appreciate their Companions and give them gifts. So, let us suppose that you have a Companion. During the coming week, you are expected to give your Companion a gift.
If you do not have a Companion, one of your friends in the Legion can be your Companion. They may be very close to you and provide you with a great deal of companionship. So, give them a gift, and they can give you one in return. (Laughter.) It is like barbers: when they do not have any customers, they cut each other’s hair! So, those who do not have Companions can give gifts to one another. There is nothing wrong with that.
This matter of being a Companion has a great deal to do with human sensation. At the beginning of my talk, I said that it is our sensation that determines what kind of companions we are.
Our connection with the world around us is established through our sensations. We have said that we have five senses. In the Holy Quran, we come across expressions such as “samʕ”, “abṣār” and “fuʾād” or “qulūb”)“السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ” Surah Al-Mulk, verse 23). “Sam” refers to hearing or the ear, while absar refers to the eyes, and basar means sight or vision. But where does qulub—the heart—fit into all of this? Light is perceived in eyes; and sound is perceived in the ear. But where is the heart? Where is the qalb? Where exactly is this thing that we call the heart? Why do people refer to it as the heart?
In the book Hal-e Khosh “Well-being”, I asked: Is this heart simply that piece of flesh inside the chest? No! For example, suppose there is someone you love—someone who is your beloved, the person you are in love with, or someone with whom you have a strong emotional connection—and you have not seen them for a long time. Then, suddenly, you see them. All at once, something happens in your chest, around your heart and in that area of your body. You experience a strange sensation. It is almost as if something drops inside you; there may be a sudden flutter or pounding, or a sense of emptiness. Something happens to you.
That feeling, that emotion or affection that you experience, occurs in the Del [in Persian, the emotional part of heart is called Del "دل"]. From ancient times, people have called that place the heart or Del. They have called it the qalb, the heart. But in my view, it is not the heart; it is sensation. Because this happens in that part of the body, the heartbeat changes. The reason is quite natural. When a particular state comes over a person, or when they unexpectedly see someone they have not expected to see, or suddenly see someone they love very much, their heartbeat changes. Their blood pressure changes, and various biological and physiological processes in the body change as well. Because this change takes place inside the chest, people have traditionally have assigned it to the heart or the Del [in Persian, heart is called Del]. But what we are actually talking about is sensation.
Now, what are the senses like? We have five senses. When we look at something with our eyes, the eye itself is not the seer; it is the instrument through which seeing takes place. In other words, what we perceive through light is transmitted through the eye to another part. The things we see are not exactly as they appear to us. This is how we perceive them. For example, suppose you see this chair as blue, another object as yellow, another as white, and another as purple.
That object is not inherently purple. Rather, the particles that make up that object have a particular vibration and frequency. Their vibration and frequency are such that they cause you to perceive the object as blue, yellow, white, or purple. When light strikes an object, some of it is absorbed, while some is reflected. It is this reflected light with its own frequency and vibration that allows us to see the object's colors. Therefore, the eye itself does not see. The eye is an instrument, like a camera. A video camera does not see by itself. It captures what is in front of it and transfers it onto film or onto an electronic component.
The ear works in much the same way. The ear itself does not hear. It contains small bones, including malleus or the hammer, as well as the eardrum. It receives sound and transmits it somewhere else.
The same thing is true of a telephone. The telephone itself does not hear what you say. When you are talking on your mobile phone, the phone has, metaphorically speaking, an ear and a mouth. It speaks through its speaker, and it hears whatever you say and transmits it to the person on the other end.
The mobile phone itself does not listen to you, it does not understand or recognize what you are saying. Although it transmits your words exactly as you say them, the phone itself does not understand their meaning.
Speak Spanish, and the phone will transmit it. Speak English, and it will transmit it. Speak Arabic, and it will transmit it. You could even make the sound of a dog, and it will transmit that too! (Laughter.) Whatever sound you make, it will transmit it. The phone itself does not understand anything. There is a person on the other end who hears those sounds—and that person is the one who understands them.
Now, the eye itself does not see, the ear itself does not hear, and the tongue itself does not sense. Something receives the sound, carries it somewhere else, and it is there that the sound is recognized and identified. Therefore, these five senses receive information and transmit it to another part. Where is that part located? The channels through which this process takes place may be in the brain, just as with Wisdom [which is part of our hidden aspects], but the actual center [where senses are perceived] may possibly be located in the hidden form. The brain may be responsible for establishing the channels and connections, while the actual seat of this faculty may be in the hidden form. So, these five senses transmit their information there. These five are the external senses.
We also have a series of inner faculties that the ancients and great thinkers referred to as the imaginative faculty, the faculty of imagination, memory, or conception. These are the faculties through which we imagine things.
When we imagine something, what do we use to imagine it? When we imagine something, it may be a sound, an image, or a taste. For example, if you imagine something sour, your mouth begins to water. You have to imagine an image, or you have to imagine a sound; there has to be something that you are imagining.
Therefore, imagination, conception, and the faculty of memory—the act of remembering—I believe all belong to the inner senses. They are related to the five external senses [According to Master Dezhakam, human beings possess two types of senses: inner senses and outer or external, senses. Inner senses are those that can be perceived within the body, whereas external senses enable us to perceive our surroundings through our other bodies, for instance, when we are asleep]. These external senses do not reside in this physical body.
When you imagine something, you have to imagine an image, and you begin to see that image. Now, imagine the two-liter family-size Coca-Cola bottles that they bring to your Legions during Ramadan. Can you all see one in your minds right now? You can all see that family-size bottle of Coca-Cola, can't you? It is ice-cold, almost frozen, sweet, and fizzy! You can even imagine its taste and feel its coldness.
Now, what are you using to see it? Are you seeing it with your physical eyes? No. You are seeing it with your inner eye, through that inner sense. Or suppose you hear a sound in your mind. You perceive it through the inner sense [physical senses]. Or imagine a romantic scene of any kind. A filmmaker who wants to create such a scene must first imagine and visualize it. How do they do that? Through their inner senses. They visualize that scene through their inner five senses. So you see, these faculties are also related to the inner senses. Therefore, I think that imagination and these inner faculties are, once again, connected to sensation.
Thus, the combination of these inner senses and the combination of the outer senses constitute what we call the heart, or Del. Each of us acquires and carries with us more or less information depending on the power of our receptors [our senses].
Of course, Wisdom also has its own distinct position, while sensation has its own separate place as well. Therefore, sensation is one of our great and fundamental pillars. The world [existence] is built upon three components that we have mentioned many times: sound, light, and sensation. And it is on the basis of our sensation and feelings that we choose our companions.
Our choice of a Companion is based on these sensations and feelings. Likewise, it is on the basis of these same sensations and feelings that we either support our Companion or do not support them.
Sometimes, it happens that several of our senses do not resonate with the senses of our Companion. This does not mean that all the senses of two people—the Traveler and the Companion—must necessarily be in harmony with one another. No, that is not always possible.
Sometimes, you begin a journey with someone. That journey might be a journey through drug use, or it might simply be the journey of life. You begin the journey together, but at some point you realize that you are no longer in harmony with one another. That may become the point of separation.
Up to a certain point, there has to be a certain compatibility or harmony between the two people. But this does not mean that the sensation a Traveler has toward their Companion, whether on the journey of life or on the journey in Congress 60, must always remain in complete harmony. There may come a point when the two are no longer in harmony. It happens.
This is particularly true in the journey of life. You may reach a point where you realize that you are no longer in harmony with one another. No matter what you do, it simply does not work. You say one thing, and they say something completely different. They are fundamentally different in nature .
As the saying goes, “Pigeons fly with pigeons, and hawks with hawks; like seeks like in flight.” These two people are simply not of the same kind. It happens. At that point, the situation is different, and when this happens, the course of life may need to be changed.
We are not like the Catholics, for example, who say, “No, this husband and wife, here this Traveler and this Companion must remain together forever, for as long as they are alive.” No. This principle does not apply in our school of thought.
Every effort should be made to compromise and maintain the relationship. But in the journey of life, there may come a point when something happens and you realize that two people are no longer on the same wavelength.
So, a human being is a Traveler in their own right. A person travels from birth to death, from the very beginning of the universe to the very end or eternity [from Azal to Abad], and throughout this journey they have Companions with them.
These Companions are chosen on the basis of the person's inner and outer sensations. All these inner and outer [internal and external] senses come together at a certain point in what we call the heart, or Del—the center of the senses. This center of the senses has also been referred to as the Common Sense. The common sense is the place where all the senses come together, like several streams flowing into a single pool. That pool is what we call the common sense.
The combination of all these sensations determines whom we can become companions with and whom we cannot. Essentially, it is our feelings and the combination of our sensations that determine whom we accompany on our journey—whether on the journey of life or on the journey from the very beginning to the very end or eternity.
Of course, Wisdom also plays its role here and operates in its own way, while sensation has its own distinct place, which is extremely important and influential.
Thank you for paying attention to what I had to say. Thank you very much.
Translated by Elahe, Sheikhbahaee branch of Congress 60, Isfahan Iran
11 October, 2026