“Go with your own heart, go with your own soul.
Trust people… people are good. All over the planet people are the same, but government is trying to keep us apart… Don’t trust the government.”
A great “We the people,” perspective, delivered to us today by new friend, comedian and entertainer, Pijman.
I run into him in purchasing two small Dell monitors at his moving sale. Pijman tells me he is moving to Vegas. “There is way more opportunity there than in Los Angeles,” he further explains.
I get it, I’m an X-Vegas resident and know of the many comedy clubs and showroom opportunities that the city of neon houses. Plus, LV boasts great local community once you get off the strip.
In jest, I suggest to Pijman, “You are the comic of the future and the superstar of tomorrow.”
He smiles at my compliment, but quickly shakes it off. It is here I notice the greatness of depth possessed by this man of humor.
Pijman, is an optimist for a better world, a self-reflected realist who has faith for what man can be.
“If you look at history, we’ve just gotten better… with racial equality… with everything… we are just getting wiser and wiser.
I’m an optimistic person. I believe humanity will jump on its feet no matter what happens. No matter what government does to us… humanity will rise to the challenge,” Pijman proposes as he cites his view of the world ahead.
“I agree with your perspective,” I confirm to Pijman. But as I do, I tell him of several instances in which the people I have approached have attacked me for one reason or another.
I’ve been personally blamed for many of the problems of the world, simply because I’m American. I’ve been accused of blasphemy and of controlling the lives of people because of my baptism to Christianity, and I have been condemned for my Jewish background. I’ve been categorized for my race and repelled for my gender. You name it, it has been pointed at me… personally.
I’ve been called a hypocrite, an intruder, and just yesterday an evil spirit when, as sitting silently in a coffee-house, a stranger walks up to me, silently pointing at his handwritten note, “Why are you throwing negative energy at me?”
That one floored me.
Maybe I am an evil spirit… But I really hope not… Yet, I’m willing to explore the accusation and will get on my knees to ask from a higher power if I am off track.
Pijman, gives me his perspectives regarding judgments on the individual, and unintentionally, also talks me off the ledge of my self-plunder in rebounding to the above-mentioned accusation of being a negative energy.
“’I don’t blame Americans for anything… I am an American… A Persian American. I was born under the Shaw, which was a puppet regime. A fake regime, and there I was… witnessing people dying for nothing in the Iraq war. And it just made it clearer about what George Carlin taught. ‘Don’t trust the government.’
Weapons of mass destruction… that war that was obviously on false basis… The Shaw of Iran, which was a total sham… Not real… You can come down on the government, but I can’t blame you because you are an American. I would not blame you personally for weapons of mass destruction; you had as much say in that war as I did… None.’”
The summation: We can’t be liked by everyone, or are expected to be best friends with the world. But we can look at each other in a positive light until we have all the facts. It’s about recognizing the humanity of the human being, not at the circumstances they live, are governed by or our own fears of self-projections. Life is more about that golden rule thing we have so often spoken of.
“I love Buddhist thinking…” Pijman reveal of his beliefs, “…There is a mystical branch of Buddhism, which is called Zen Buddhism. And there is a mystical branch of Islam, which is called Sufi Islam, or Dervish.
And they’re beliefs parallel so much. It’s like these two ancient people who came from different cultures, speaking different languages, both arriving at the same conclusion about us being one. Destruction of the ego, being in the moment, being in the now, and the level of what they call perfection in Islam, and enlightenment in Zen Buddhism. When I found two cultures that meditated, and were spiritual, coming to the same conclusion… I was sold. That was my religion, I became a Dervish at that moment.”
Earlier I titled Pijman, “A man of great depth.”
A claim that even in only knowing him for twenty short minutes, I am willing to make.
He honestly allowed me into his world without reservation, and opened up with the greatest of trust. Pijman is evidence of our 365 statement, “We are all in this thing together.”
An endorsement that he bears in his concluding words, “God bless everybody. I’m a really faithful person. I believe God is in all of our hearts somewhere, regardless of what faith we are.”
I pack my bag and ready to leave, when Pijman reaches out to me one last time, “Peace to you brother!” he bids.
Pijmam… good luck in Vegas! I’m sure we will all see you under the big lights one day.