11th Feb 2013

Light of Baalbeck

I was told about a prominent Lebanese Oud maker in Ras Baalbeck who had participated in our concert by Internet and I envisioned a special light that I had seen when I visited Baalbeck and met him at a café not operating of an hotel that had a pleasant historic look. No guest was there but as soon as we had entered a hall a service man appeared and made us tea. He told me that before the civil war it was a popular hotel but because the owner had disappeared. As I tasted the tea vigor of old days was revived. Traces of war were visible and miserable. So today I recalled this and how I felt that we should never repeat any tragedies happening because of defects of human society. The craft man delivered me his new oud and now that was placed in my living room. Though I could not play the instrument I was greatly impressed by its beauty and decided to have it. When I suffered from pains at heart or in deep sadness the oud saved me many times just by generating a sound out of itself as I could realize that my life was connected to the universe. And especially when Mr. Idaki Shin played the oud at his concert I could hear voices of people living in the Middle East countries who knew great sadness and pains and still paved a way for a glorious future. Their tenderness, strength and beauty at heart always touched my heart and guided me to a great romanticism of history and the world of souls. While Ras Baalbeck was situated near the border between Lebanon and Syria, I heard that many refugees were coming and village people were supporting them. I was moved by hearts of people who always remained active and joyful in search for a way out under any difficult circumstances. So I thought that we should do more in Japan for the sake of people all over the world as we knew our way globally to exercise positive influences by holding the Idaki Shin concerts that allowed us to become connected to the cosmic space and awakened to a higher and deeper dimension of life. I sincerely hope our activities would be recognized as a hope and resource of energies to live on by many people in need of drastic solutions to the misery of the world. In reality many Lebanese friends keep on sending us a message of gratitude. I recalled also that when we met the mayor of Baalbeck after a war, he welcomed us to organize our concert saying that the peaceful state of mind was the foundation for building a truly peaceful society, though to my regret, our concert has not been realized in Baalbeck yet. I also recalled that several years before this visit to Baalbeck, immediately after my having lost both of my parents we traveled through Lebanon as I wished to trace the origin of my roots, the link between Koguryo and Phoenician civilization, and get over a great grievance. It was a very rapid and tight trip of four days and we slept only one night at a small and modest hotel in Baalbeck. In the morning I took only a piece of bread with milk. Though wars have been repeated and people’s life was difficult, I was greatly moved by the marvelously shining spirituality and land. I considered that Lebanon was indeed a very special place full of divinity. So a light-scape I had encountered there was still visible in my heart. I was grateful and moved to shed tears that our concert has reached there, not to mention that I was grateful to my friend and family members of Prof- Ghazi in Tyre, ancient capital city of Phoenicia, having 9000 years of history, as I was officially entitled as its permanent honorable citizen. Our souls were reverberating to each other to transform our world into a new one, so we would never stop moving forwards.