Ruben Vardanyan asked his family to once again extend his heartfelt gratitude to all his allies and to share some of his reflections, which he believes may be of value to people in many different parts of the world.
Part 1
“I want to thank everyone who thinks of me, worries about me, prays, writes letters, speaks to me in their thoughts, and simply cares about what is happening in the world and with all of us.
I would like to dedicate these words to my teachers: to my beloved parents, who have, sadly, passed on, and to my dear elder sister. They were the ones who helped me see the beauty of this world and guided me onto the path of discovering it — and myself. Alongside them, I also wish to thank all those who played a role in shaping me into who I am today.
They showed me that a person who seeks, who walks their own path despite all hardships and challenges, can be helped. Helped to find meaning, to reflect upon their journey, to save time. But such help must be offered delicately, for each of us matures and perceives truth at our own pace. Much of what my father once told me I have only come to understand now.
We each hear and absorb the same words differently. That is why every person must reach their own understanding through a painful, sometimes excruciating and arduous process of ‘pregnancy’ — and be prepared for a labor that can be as difficult and even life-threatening as actual birth.
Only by giving birth to this knowledge within ourselves, drawing on our own experience and memory, can we make it whole — free of ambiguity — and allow it to become the core of our being, the axis around which a full and love-filled life can revolve. For it is in this difficult but noble pursuit of self-knowledge that one truly becomes human.
Let those with ears — hear! Let those with eyes — see! Let those with minds — understand. May the seeker and the thinker comprehend! And may light, goodness, and energy forever abide in our world!
A man of the world with an Armenian soul, serving our Lord without fear or desire, loving all and everything around him, an eternal learner discovering both self and world, one with his wife Veronika, a member of the caste of meaning interpreters, an integrator and catalyst of people, projects, and ideas into a unified space, a bridge connecting past and future, Armenia and the world, living in peace with himself and with joyful awareness of the immense debt I owe to the Lord — for the chance to simply be a happy man,
Ruben, son of Karlen.”
Part 2, in which Ruben shares his life axioms, will be published next Sunday
