Seven axioms of Ruben Vardanyan

Since September 2023, Ruben has been held in detention in Azerbaijan, under circumstances whose legitimacy has been questioned by numerous international organizations. Today, his communication with the outside world is extremely limited. He is allowed to write, and occasionally speaks with his family by phone.

Through his family, Ruben sent us a message — one that speaks not only of him, but of Noôdome itself. The seven axioms he came to over a lifetime have, in many ways, become the values that define our community. They are the foundation upon which we continue to build.

We are honored to share with you the very axioms Ruben spent a lifetime discovering.

An Indian philosopher once said: ignorance may have no beginning, but it does have an end. Enlightenment, on the other hand, has a beginning — but it never ends. Seek not the word, but the meaning. Not the teacher, but the teaching.

On my life’s journey, I have discovered seven axioms — truths that, for me, need no proof. They form the foundation upon which I build myself — and my home. And thanks to these axioms, I build not on sand, but on rock. Just as Jesus urged us to do in the Sermon on the Mount.

For centuries, sages and prophets have sought to convey these truths to us — in many languages, through many words, with symbols, actions, signs, rituals, and laws. Now, as I near the age of 57, I have come to understand them. I reached this understanding through years of searching, reflection, and heartfelt conversations with my teachers and loved ones — both those living today and the authors of great books that have carried these truths through time.

Time and again, I’ve learned that real understanding cannot be found simply by reading wise books or memorizing them. Nor by surrendering one’s life to their words without question. Sometimes, it took me ten attempts to return to the same book, just to grasp a single idea — to understand the meaning hidden behind the words.
Only by passing these texts and ideas through one’s own experience, through one’s way of perceiving the world — by making them part of your very being, your natural state of daily life — can they become your foundation. Your compass in all of life’s decisions. And once you arrive at your axioms in this way, you cannot turn away from them.
Anyone can come to their own axioms. There are no permissions to seek, no barriers to break. Even someone who cannot read or write can arrive there — if the desire is real and the search is sincere. They will find their own way.

To create something meaningful, you don’t need wealth or power — everything is already within. What matters most is having something to say. And once you do, you’ll always find a way to express it. Garri Bardin, for example, made his brilliant animated film Adagio with a single sheet of paper. He had nothing but meaning to share. That film would later be recognized by the Vatican and receive an ecumenical prize. Because meaning comes first. Recognition follows. Today, it’s often the other way around. And therein lies the true crisis of our time.

No one can truly stop us — except ourselves. Remember that.

Not even by good or bad — for light and shadow live within us all. Instead, the true divide lies between those who are certain that God exists, and those who do not believe — or choose not to believe. Those who doubt, who waver, who place their faith not solely in God, but in other idols as well.

The first live with the awareness and conviction that everything we do, say, and think is written in the Book of Destiny — and that we will answer for it before God. There will be no one left to blame for our thoughts, words, or actions. The second bow to the golden calf — power, recognition, pleasure — trying to live in two worlds at once. But in doing so, they extinguish the divine spark within — and in its place, indifference takes hold.

To give thanks for this very moment. To be ready for death at any time. To live the present fully — and wholeheartedly. This is the essence of true life. We must honor and understand the past, and look to the future with hope. But life itself can only be lived — here, in the now.

But we also lose it — in processing food, chasing desire, or simply through empty living — noise, distraction, and hollow routine.

To gather energy, to hold it, and to return it to the world — this is the essence of our existence. It is a delicate and continuous practice, one that must be approached with care and mindfulness, without harming ourselves — or the world we live in. This is how we sustain the sacred balance within.

And God said, “Let there be light.” As we illuminate the path — for ourselves and for others — we are like a glowing filament: delicate, fragile, capable of burning out in an instant. The balance must shift — so that our light shines not inward, but outward, into the world around us. We must not hoard. We must not become enslaved by desire, or get trapped in either the spiritual or the material. By walking the middle path, we can make our journey a light for others — without disrupting the fragile, dynamic equilibrium of this vast world — a world we both know and do not know.

We don’t notice it — we take it for granted — and only truly feel its absence when something goes wrong.

Goodness is eternal and immortal. It grows when we do good without expecting anything in return — anonymously, sometimes without even knowing whom we are helping. Goodness is not an investment. Be grateful. Don’t repay kindness out of obligation. Instead, pass it forward like a baton in a relay. It will return — both to the one who helped you and to you yourself. Never turn anyone away. Help and share whatever you have. It all comes back.

It is like a quiet current that flows around us. If it fades, if we fail to sustain its balance, the world may vanish. Our greatest risk is not the ozone hole, but the disappearance of goodness and light. Heaven is not about the self. It is the act of giving yourself completely to others — and then returning, quietly, to Eternity. That is happiness.

The outside world holds no power over it. I have known happiness on a luxurious island in the Indian Ocean — surrounded only by my family and staff. And I have known happiness in a prison cell — with nothing but three cups of water a day. Happiness lives inside us. And only there.

Happiness, eternity, energy, light, and goodness — these are the pillars I stand on.

I’ve shared these thoughts with you, hoping they’ll make you pause and reflect. That you’ll argue with me — and with yourself. And above all — that in this mad world of routine and distraction, you’ll find a moment not for money or pleasure, but for your soul.

Keep feeling. Keep smiling. Keep living fully.