Dare to peel onions?

Dear Friends

One of the joys of travelling is meeting people from different backgrounds.  Recently I met a German executive and it occurred to me that deep down we share a common humanity that is masked by colour, creed and gender. If we are brave enough to peel this ‘onion’ the results are potentially life changing...

In my humble opinion it begins with language that has to be deconstructed. We meet friends for coffee but drink tea or cocoa. We have all kinds of coded language for business, fraternity, romance, politics and popular culture that will vary across the globe.

This is where the role of the ‘business counsellor’ , diplomat, perhaps even spiritual teacher  becomes crucial in building bridges of common understanding that enable mutual trust, confidence and ultimately transcendence.

A highly evolved example is the great Sufi sage Ibn Arabi who uttered 800 hundred years ago:

My heart has become able
To take on all forms.
It is a pasture for gazelles,
For monks an abbey.

It is a temple for idols
And for whoever circumambulates it, the Kaaba.
It is the tablets of the Torah
And also the leaves of the Koran.

I believe in the religion
Of Love
Whatever direction its caravans may take,
For love is my religion and my faith.

Salaam / Peace...

Faisal