A Journey to the Truth, Sohrab ChamanAraSam’s life journey is a road of twists and turns, love and loss, poverty and wealth. Sam grew up on the South side of Chicago, and after the loss of his parents Sam is sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle. He hears their whispers in the night and knows that they can hardly afford to raise another mouth to feed. He works part-time jobs sweeping barbershop floors and running barefoot down coal tar streets delivering flowers, trying to ease the financial burden on his Aunt and Uncle. When a position working in the church becomes available, Sam moves into the basement, and his little cot beside the furnace becomes his sanctuary. He devours all the books scattered about the church in search of the Light to end the darkness that he feels in his soul. But instead of filling his soul with peace it just awakens more questions. Sam’s search for Truth takes him down various paths, many religions and beliefs, and he meets many people, all of whom turn out to be messengers in his life. He studies all of the religious denominations; Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and discovers that the answers can’t be found from just one religion. Sam’s poverty turns to riches when he becomes a stockbroker. He is surrounded by many friends and enjoys the luxuries of all that life has to give him. He marries the love of his life, but loses her when he becomes more absorbed in his work than his home life. The shallowness of his life makes him realize that there must be more. Sam is faced with some tragedies in his life that remind him of his quest for peace in his soul. “Black Monday” wipes out Sam’s savings, and the California earthquake claims his home that sat on the hillside. But his life changes direction when he takes a job as an electrical engineer and he meets Sohrab, a man who would play a very significant role in his life. Through Sohrab and his wife, Sam again meets his soul mate and after twenty years he is re-united with his true love. Sam’s journey to finding Truth is a journey of life; we follow him from his childhood of poverty and loss; through his early adulthood where he questions his life purpose; through his years as a parent with a child and a loving wife, to his years as a grandparent holding his grandchild on his lap and feeling the completeness of the cycle of life. I enjoyed this book, and especially liked the short parables that Sohrab uses to show Sam the answers that he is searching for. The best one is the story of the angel looking for fire in hell to light his pipe and can’t find any. Instead he finds tormented souls who feel that they have wasted their lives and are looking back in regret. Sohrab teaches Sam that those who look for peace and happiness often go about it backwards. And though Sam had been looking for peace and happiness in his life, the more he looked the more it evaded him. In the end Sam finally experiences the oneness of mankind and the Universe and he finds peace and love in his life. The parallelism of the author’s life and this story seems obvious as he uses his own name and the names of his wife and daughter in the story, maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but in any case the story is wonderful. |
