I now sit on the table where they all play Okay
Rapidly changing the pieces from place to place
Betting, wining and losing
I have arrived few hours back in this city which is the doorway for Mesopotamia
Diyarbakir, land of the tribe of the Beker
Here I meet very cheerful and softly heart spoken people,
easygoing and friendly
A people who have been told they are foreigners in their own land
Land which has been home for more 4000 years
The kurds have been kept a part discriminated by the way they naturally speak and behave
Long time back they were connected to an ancient religion and deep connection to the earth and the divine.
Nowadays most are muslims,
and have left forgotten the practices and belied of their forefathers and mothers
Advised not to come here,
I am now happy I followed that which seemed clear signs to follow the initial call
On the ferryboat from Nemrut Dag to Sivereki with the happy istanbuli family on vacation, wondering which road to take,
one message with Mahmut's contact in Diyarbarkir I got..
Here I meet him,
a young outspoken and very friendlt Kurdish sociologist who has been for the last years accompanying journalists as a translator in the region.
A natural host he is
who welcomes, accompanies, connects, witnesses and help to overcome the barries of the language
For the week being he is hosting a young american journalist.
Nicole has been based in Istanbul for the last 9 months as the local correspondent of an emerging international online newspaper.
The feeling of rightness was completed when I come to know that the host to offer me a room is his house is Han.
Han, the coreian peace worker who has been living in Diyarbarkir for 5 years
A placid, thin, long pony taled hair, 43 years-old man,
who speaks fluent Kursidh and denies himself to learn Turkish.
A man who is now dedicating himself to finding and understanding the unspoiled historical places of this region.
Place that only natives would know about and e kapet protected, in secret.
Veiled, sacred, meaningful and powerful places
just like the black covered woman who walk on the streets of the city.
Just like my soul sister and friend Kevser.
Young, beautiful hazel almond like eyes,
purple and black covered head and body,
who gracefully shared the journey sitting on the back sit of the minibus with me.
Kevser is newly married with her high school love,
currently teaches English for kids in some local school.
But she wants to travel the world
Hazel almond's like eyes which are willing to set gaze on far away landscapes in Turkey and elsewhere.
Pure, genuine and open hearted, Kevser
Who has thought me a little more about the relationship with God
She who has started covering her head and doing five times a day namaz
to be able to be closer to Him.
She who is closer to God
and emanating Him through her eyes and smile
As I step gently and respectful on this land,
wnich is the doorway for Mesopotamia
I have mi heart perched with an deep sense of love
that is blurred with deep sadness.
03 agosto 2009
A story of love and life
Standing at the platform of Ankara’s train station she said: “Keep making business with God. And take this booklet written by Efendi. Shall it be your passport for your journey”.
I have spent three days with Aslihan and her daughter Zaynep in Ankara coming from Istanbul on my way to Mesopotamia. Aslihan is a beautiful mignon lady with the loving hazel eyes who is a disciple of the Sufi Master Ahmet Kayhan for the past 27 years, and who have taught me much about the relationship with God and with life.
At her early 20’s Asilhan went to India and lived in Osho’s Ashram for a total time of one year and a half and there was initiated a disciple of his philosophy. Back in Turkey, young Aslihan got seriously ill. Being keen and open to non-traditional medicine, she went to London to be in the company of her sister and get treated by the different methods (acupuncture, reiki, aurosoma, and so on). Back in Ankara, one day a close friend brought her a message from Ahmet Kayhan, also called Efendi – which in Turkish means Master. Her friend was given the message by Efendi advised to pass it on to the wisest of her friends. Sometime later Aslihan was then invited to go to the Master’s house, where he would host and welcome everyone in need for assistance and spiritual search. Aslihan’s illness was not getting any better at that time, she would be very thin and weak and also unhappy with her life. But despite the doctors freighting diagnosis she says she always knew she was not going to die. Instead, that this was a death-rebirth process she, for some reason needed to go through. Slowly slowly as her visits to Efendi’s house got more and more regularly and she started following his advices, learned from his wise words, re-energized from his powerful presence, practiced the namaz and studied the Qu’ran, young Aslihan found back her health and track into life.
As the years passed she would develop this unconditional love to herself and her Master, trying as much as possible to be in his company. She would consult and inquiry with him on the subjects of spirituality as much as on her daily life decisions and themes. Soon he would tell her that for her evolutionary path it was important she found a partner to be her spouse and that she became a mother. And so she did, after meeting a kind and gentle man who was friend of friends, having the agreement of her Master and most of all, feeling deep inside that was a new step she wanted to take, Aslihan fulfilled what was meant to be her woman destiny, marrying a good man and giving birth to two beautiful girls.
Being in relationship with a man was the next lesson she was meant and willing to have. To being able to share her life with another person, from the opposite sex, loving and being loved as just one expression of the love for God. Marriage was the constant and everyday practice of compassion, forgiveness and understanding of herself through the other, as her mirror… as her own witness… as a part of herself.
Sixteen years later, Aslihan divorced from her spouse to keep her journey with her daughters and since seven years they she has been learning deeper and deeper the role to play in modeling the masculine and also the feminine for them.
“Bearing children, says Aslihan, is fun and it is the most wonderful thing in life!
My little daughters have been my mevlana since I got pregnant from both Both my daughters are gifts of my master… First one is an in-vitro baby on a single trial as I had been diagnosed ‘not able to concieve’ and the second daughter’s conception was right after he came to my house to give us a visit – which per se was already something great – and he said to me, I came here to renew your marriage vows and to gift you with a child”.
Long conversations we had sitting on Aslihan’s living room or at the porch of the outside garden. These conversations all turned around “our businesses with God”, going from the relationship with our mothers and the act of becoming a mother and stepping into one’s motherhood phase, to loving relationships, professional work, Turkish history, Sufi tradition, Islam and the stories of our lives and families.
Aslihan and Zaynep opened their house and hearts to me, offering with incredible love, generosity and tenderness a safe and sacred space for sharing, learning and growth. Together we have created the bounds for a life longing, meaningful and authentic relationship.
Their house, company and energy were a touchstone and an important entry point into the next phase of this journey I am in as I ought to go further into the East. It strengthened my alignment, reassured my soul calling, nurtured my inner child, challenged the letting go of my maiden and blessed my blossoming woman with Efendi’s energy.
There I could make my luggage lighter, as I have been assigned to do, letting go of the material means which have kept me attached to beauty and lust, offering them to other dear women who can take their magic forward and beyond. It was special and magical seeing the bright into young Zaynep’s eyes as I gifted her with oil pastel crayons, the chilly skirt, the orange happy dress and the bubbly blue funky hand luggage. Also powerful was to meet Eda to whom the colorful pair of summer pants, shining blue t-shirt and dancing green skirt will do well and hopefully uplift and bring trust to her wounded spirit.
To all of that I am most grateful and appreciative, to God and the enlightened beings who have brought our paths together at this time and enabled our encounter to be beautiful and generative of life and love.
Ankara 31st of July
I have spent three days with Aslihan and her daughter Zaynep in Ankara coming from Istanbul on my way to Mesopotamia. Aslihan is a beautiful mignon lady with the loving hazel eyes who is a disciple of the Sufi Master Ahmet Kayhan for the past 27 years, and who have taught me much about the relationship with God and with life.
At her early 20’s Asilhan went to India and lived in Osho’s Ashram for a total time of one year and a half and there was initiated a disciple of his philosophy. Back in Turkey, young Aslihan got seriously ill. Being keen and open to non-traditional medicine, she went to London to be in the company of her sister and get treated by the different methods (acupuncture, reiki, aurosoma, and so on). Back in Ankara, one day a close friend brought her a message from Ahmet Kayhan, also called Efendi – which in Turkish means Master. Her friend was given the message by Efendi advised to pass it on to the wisest of her friends. Sometime later Aslihan was then invited to go to the Master’s house, where he would host and welcome everyone in need for assistance and spiritual search. Aslihan’s illness was not getting any better at that time, she would be very thin and weak and also unhappy with her life. But despite the doctors freighting diagnosis she says she always knew she was not going to die. Instead, that this was a death-rebirth process she, for some reason needed to go through. Slowly slowly as her visits to Efendi’s house got more and more regularly and she started following his advices, learned from his wise words, re-energized from his powerful presence, practiced the namaz and studied the Qu’ran, young Aslihan found back her health and track into life.
As the years passed she would develop this unconditional love to herself and her Master, trying as much as possible to be in his company. She would consult and inquiry with him on the subjects of spirituality as much as on her daily life decisions and themes. Soon he would tell her that for her evolutionary path it was important she found a partner to be her spouse and that she became a mother. And so she did, after meeting a kind and gentle man who was friend of friends, having the agreement of her Master and most of all, feeling deep inside that was a new step she wanted to take, Aslihan fulfilled what was meant to be her woman destiny, marrying a good man and giving birth to two beautiful girls.
Being in relationship with a man was the next lesson she was meant and willing to have. To being able to share her life with another person, from the opposite sex, loving and being loved as just one expression of the love for God. Marriage was the constant and everyday practice of compassion, forgiveness and understanding of herself through the other, as her mirror… as her own witness… as a part of herself.
Sixteen years later, Aslihan divorced from her spouse to keep her journey with her daughters and since seven years they she has been learning deeper and deeper the role to play in modeling the masculine and also the feminine for them.
“Bearing children, says Aslihan, is fun and it is the most wonderful thing in life!
My little daughters have been my mevlana since I got pregnant from both Both my daughters are gifts of my master… First one is an in-vitro baby on a single trial as I had been diagnosed ‘not able to concieve’ and the second daughter’s conception was right after he came to my house to give us a visit – which per se was already something great – and he said to me, I came here to renew your marriage vows and to gift you with a child”.
Long conversations we had sitting on Aslihan’s living room or at the porch of the outside garden. These conversations all turned around “our businesses with God”, going from the relationship with our mothers and the act of becoming a mother and stepping into one’s motherhood phase, to loving relationships, professional work, Turkish history, Sufi tradition, Islam and the stories of our lives and families.
Aslihan and Zaynep opened their house and hearts to me, offering with incredible love, generosity and tenderness a safe and sacred space for sharing, learning and growth. Together we have created the bounds for a life longing, meaningful and authentic relationship.
Their house, company and energy were a touchstone and an important entry point into the next phase of this journey I am in as I ought to go further into the East. It strengthened my alignment, reassured my soul calling, nurtured my inner child, challenged the letting go of my maiden and blessed my blossoming woman with Efendi’s energy.
There I could make my luggage lighter, as I have been assigned to do, letting go of the material means which have kept me attached to beauty and lust, offering them to other dear women who can take their magic forward and beyond. It was special and magical seeing the bright into young Zaynep’s eyes as I gifted her with oil pastel crayons, the chilly skirt, the orange happy dress and the bubbly blue funky hand luggage. Also powerful was to meet Eda to whom the colorful pair of summer pants, shining blue t-shirt and dancing green skirt will do well and hopefully uplift and bring trust to her wounded spirit.
To all of that I am most grateful and appreciative, to God and the enlightened beings who have brought our paths together at this time and enabled our encounter to be beautiful and generative of life and love.
Ankara 31st of July
02 agosto 2009
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