This past weekend I was privileged enough to have had the opportunity to attend a lecture by Ahmad Batebi right here in Chicago.
For those of you not familiar with Ahmad’s story, he is a Human Rights Activist who was a political prisoner from 1999 to 2008 under the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime, and was able to escape and request political asylum here in the United States. He currently resides in the DC area and is a founder and spokesperson for the organization, Human Rights Activist in Iran (HRAI). For more information about Ahmad Batebi’s background please see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Batebi.
At first glance, you can’t help but to notice a tall handsomely distinguished looking man, whose image reminds you of the old Persian Rostam and Sohrab Stories in the Shahnameh Ferdowsi; a complete image of a man that fairy tales are made of. His presence and aura is one in which cannot be overlooked or ignored. Without speaking to him or making eye contact, you can’t help but to feel his energy in the room; an undeniable energy that very few people possess.
As he took the stage to speak about his views, experiences, and enlighten us with the current political situation in Iran, I quickly came to the realization that this is no ordinary man. It’s almost as if his brutal experiences in prison have turned him into a Super-Human. Yes, a real life Super-Human. This is not a term that I like to throw around and use to describe any extraordinary person that I come across. But trust me when I tell you that if you see this man and hear what he has to say knowing his background, you will feel the same. One would logically think that his disturbing and grim experiences in Evin prison, the torture, the agony, and the nine-year long psychological breakdowns should have worked against his natural balance, but in contrary you witness the adverse effect of these experiences which have visibly fed positive energy into his soul.
I know for a fact that I personally would not have survived such conditions and if by some miraculous force I had physically managed to stay alive, I would have for sure been a complete mental case locked up in a psychiatric facility far away from others today. But in retrospect, you can see that those relentless and severe personal accounts, have fed into Ahmad’s soul and have created this extraordinary human being who is intelligent, eloquent, polished, astonishingly composed, well spoken, and a more complete human being.
What is a complete human being? Are we all incomplete? Do we become more complete as we age? Sadly the answer is no. In my own personal opinion, a complete human being is one in which can take into consideration every event and every view point no matter how it differs from his own moral and personal views, and really understand it and learn something from it without passing judgment. More often than not, what shapes our thoughts is our own life experiences developed in our surrounding environment. A complete human being can be placed in any situation at any given time, among a diverse group of individuals, and be able to see the world from their perspective and at the same time be able to express his views in a way in which anyone can learn something from. When others challenge the person, he can eloquently respond without becoming angry, showing negative emotions, or belittling the recipient. Furthermore, a person who possess such a trait, can take even the most unimaginable extreme experience, and fuel his own level of tolerance, and turn it into a positive quality that accessorises his own greatness.
As we all know this is easier said than done and most of us, myself specially, are nowhere near this stage in mental power nor will we ever be, but that does not mean we can’t aspire to have more of this Super-Human quality.
I am not writing to give you a summary of Ahmad Batebi’s lecture. If you are interested on his views, you can very easily search his name on the web and obtain the countless videos of his speeches and interviews to hear that for yourself. I am writing this to tell you about the unmistakable powers of positive energy that I as an observer, was able to see and feel in Ahmad’s presence; a gift that he had become blessed with during the most difficult years in his life.
In our history books we have read about other extraordinary Super-Humans who possess such outstanding qualities. People like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, The Dalai Lama, and Martin Luther King Jr. are just some of the great men of the past century that come to mind who have possessed this remarkable gift as a result of their unimaginable life experiences. We have studied their work, we admire their accomplishments, yet we don’t often take their teachings and incorporate them into our own daily life challenges. It is definitely easier said than done but I believe that Ahmad Batebi is one that has learned from such great men in the past and has used it to fuel his own soul. For that, I admire him and look up to him. How many people can say they have suffered from a stroke at the age 30, caused by mental and physical inhumane prison torture, and have come out of it in the ways that Ahmad has. You would think that such a person would be in desperate need and support of others, yet the reality is that others are in need of his.
Ahmad and I are the same age yet his challenges in life have shaped him in ways that not only I, a peer, but a much older and more ridged generation, can look up to and learn from. I will be as bold as to say that he is a role model to many and those who do not see and learn from his extraordinary gift, are sadly going to miss out on important lessons not only about Iran’s active political state, but on views about a new generation that is strong enough and open minded enough to make a real difference in their own country as well as in the world. The more I watched him, the more I listened to him, the more I learned how to face challenges in my own personal life. Although my life challenges are trivial to those of Ahmad’s and are not at all comparable, I can still use the essence and the tools that he provided, to face my own personal demons. What a gift Ahmad is to me. What a gift he is to all of us.
And as I sat there and listened, I couldn’t help but to think of all the Ahmads that this terrorist Islamic Republic Regime has taken away from us. To think how close Ahmad was to also becoming another statistic; the thought makes my heart bleed. But if Ahmad is the voice of a generation that is currently in the streets of Iran marching for their freedom, if even 1% of those marching are as open minded and as complete as he is, there is an absolute definite victory in the near future. The Islamic Republic may think they can outsmart the people, but the reality is the Ahmads of Iran are much smarter and more graceful in their tactics than to let this regime have the last word. As an observer, the feeling of hope that landed in my heart about this new generation of Iranians who are making a difference was one that cannot be easily described in words. I can only tell you about the sense of pride that overwhelmed me when I came across this particular man.
I met him briefly after the lecture and thanked him for giving us his valuable time and honoring us with his views based on his personal accounts. As I made eye contact with him, it was confirmed. The aura and the positive energy that he possessed was a very bright and hopeful light in his eyes. You could see the brightness of the light in his soul with a glance into his eyes. I knew at that very moment that this Super-Human standing in front of me was one day going to be an even larger influence in the world than he is today for the Iranians of his generation. I have no doubts about this, and when that day comes I will bring back this blog and be the one to say that I called it. I wish all the happiness and success in the world for this amazing human being as I see no one more deserving. His 20’s were sacrificed but the person that he is today and the challenging work that he has taken upon himself, is in no doubt going to bring the Iranian society light years ahead.
After watching Ahmad speak, I have set some personal goals for myself none in which had to do with the content of his message. I am taking it upon myself the challenge of learning to respond with more grace no matter how hurtful or undermining the contradicting opinion or personal attack may be. I am taking this vow in front of all of you from today, and therefore I am empowering you to call me out on it if I do not stand by this vow. I definitely cannot change my past reactions to certain interactions, but what I can do is take this one critical step to move closer to becoming a more complete human being and I have Ahmad Batebi to thank for it. He is an inspiration to me and I strongly encourage everyone to go and see him in person if at all possible when he comes to your city. If you are paying attention, you may learn something about yourself, just as I was able to do.
Bahareh Sahebi
