To treat physical illnesses, physicians put the body to sleep during surgery. For the body heals through silence and stillness.

Yet, what a human being truly needs in order to attain a healthier, more meaningful, more productive, and more fulfilling life is the surgery of the soul. And the surgery of the soul is accomplished not by putting it to sleep, but by awakening it.

For unless a human being strips away the old, false, contaminated, and passive self that loves being an object, they cannot reach the new, authentic, purified, and active self that chooses to be a subject. Without this transition, it is impossible to speak of an internal revolution.

This is exactly why a human being is in need of a revolution of meaning, a revolution of perception, a revolution of mercy and compassion, a revolution of bread and word, and a revolution of truth. In short, there is a need for deep comprehension and internalization of everything that is spoken.

Unless these awakenings and revolutions sprout within the inner world of the human being, the true surgery of the soul cannot take place.

For this reason, a human being needs to deepen in meaning, to become clear in perception, to multiply with mercy and compassion, to share in bread, to give voice to truth in the word, and ultimately to take root in truth itself. Because truth does not manifest on the surface; it manifests in the depth that is comprehended and internalized. Unless these awakenings sprout within the inner world of the human being, and unless these transformations find roots in the depths of the soul, a true "spiritual surgery" cannot take place.

Because a human being develops not by defending themselves, but by questioning themselves.

For this to happen, the human being must return to themselves, discover themselves, and know themselves. This cannot be bought with money or materiality. It is gained through a great effort molded by a fine understanding of life and Syriac culture, by awareness, labor, discipline, morality, modesty, decency, and patience.

Its price is very heavy. It requires entering into the light and seeing the "invisible" within the visible. It requires giving up assuming that one knows, and instead knowing that one does not know. It requires a fine comprehension of the known in order to learn the unknown. Reaching that source requires purification from the mud. It requires doing and living what is right with a right spirit.

It requires sincerely believing in the word: "In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2: 3)

My latest Syriac work, titled “Sawto d-Mardutho ܨܰܘܬܳܐ ܕܡܰܪܕܽܘܼܬܳܐ / The Echo of Culture,” serves precisely this awakening. By bringing the ancient and deep conceptual world of Syriac together with the subtle language of literature, it aims both to offer a contribution to the language and to make a powerful call regarding the surgery of the soul.

Yusuf Beğtaş