The Behnam Khodarahmi Doctrine
A Manifesto of Thought and Artistic Living
Introduction: The Responsibility of Two Images
I believe each of us carries two images. One is private, born from quiet moments, thought, and time spent with ourselves. The other is public, and it places a real responsibility on my shoulders toward the outside world. What follows isn’t a portrait of the person I am, but a map of the person I’m trying to be.
1- Holding on to a Civilisation: The Single Note
I am the child of an old civilisation, and I feel it’s my job to look after the roots of Persian classical music. Staying close to my roots: No matter where I am in the world, no matter what kind of music I’m making, I always leave a trace of Persian identity in my work, even if it’s just one note. That note isn’t a technique to me. It’s my way of saying I belong to the history I was born into.
2- How I Work: The Magic of Contrast
I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me, but I look at the world with today’s eyes. Analogue in a digital time: I trust the old tools, and I trust what the people before me got right. If they built things on analogue, I walk that same road, but I bring today’s possibilities with me. That mix of old soul and modern eyes feels like magic to me.
3- Simplicity at Its Best
I’ve taken the words “hard” and “I can’t” out of my head. Simple, but deep: I think art should be deep and simple at the same time. My job is to take big ideas from my civilisation and put them into a language anyone can understand. I want my art to bring hearts together, and I see simplicity as the highest skill there is.
4- Drawing a Clear Line
My doctrine has a firm, honest line against shallow trends. No to empty commerce: I won’t reduce music to just another product, and I won’t follow trends that have no roots. To me, art isn’t something to sell. It’s something to live by.
5- Honesty Shows Up: Art as a Mirror
I really believe that whoever the artist is on the inside shows up in their work. An honest heart matters: An artist is watched from start to finish. If there’s bitterness or unfairness inside, the work won’t last. For me, the right path gives me strength and direction. The wrong path just gives me a guilty conscience.
6- A Human Way of Living: Kindness with No Strings
I’m kind because I want to be, not to look good. I stick to my values for myself, not because someone told me to. Standing by what’s right: Kindness with no expectations is the first thing in my life. Even if the world is unkind back, I won’t move from my principles. I’m kind for my own heart, and that’s how I keep the beauty inside me safe.
7- Private Life: The Richness of the Unsaid
For me, love, family, friendship, intimacy, and close bonds grow richer in quiet and privacy, not on display. The dignity of the unsaid: In the end, this is a truly noble quality, in the true sense of the word. Not noble as in wealth, but noble as in grace, dignity, and knowing what to leave unsaid.
8- Putting Myself First, and the Reflection Within
I live for myself, not for others. The real me: This isn’t ego. It’s what I call a “conscious, chosen self”, a self I place above anything else in the world, and I pick the best and truest things for it. I believe when an artist becomes whole inside, others will naturally see it, hear it, and feel it on their own.
9- Teaching: Sharing What I Know with Flavour
As an educator and a researcher, I see my job as helping people become aware. Passing it on with taste: I try to share real knowledge in a way that’s sweet and easy to take in, without losing what makes it real. I think awareness is like a good meal, people will always come back for it.
10- Who I Am, No Matter What
I’m like the word “music” itself, which keeps its beauty in any situation. Letting go of titles: Titles like composer, researcher, or performer just change where I show up as a human, they don’t change who I am. My truth stays the same, with or without any label.
11- The Joy of Helping: A Hand to Hold
I believe that the value of helping others is not measured by gratitude, recognition, or return. Giving without expecting anything back: A helping hand loses its meaning the moment it becomes a transaction. Even when kindness is met with coldness or misunderstanding, the act itself remains pure. To me, true generosity is part of human dignity, and its meaning exists beyond reward, beyond approval, and beyond what the world chooses to give back.
12- Connection with the Creator: Oneness
I deeply accept the creator of this colourful world, and I’m at peace with that bond. One truth, many names: It doesn’t matter to me what name anyone gives the creator, from any country, place, or belief. The creator is in me, and I find my meaning in that bond. This connection is at the heart of every melody I play and every thought I have.
13- Thirteen
I deeply believe that the universe is built upon order, meaning, and unseen harmony, and that numbers are among the languages through which existence reveals itself. Nothing enters human life without reason; even repetition carries meaning. The number thirteen, to me, stands as a reminder that transformation, awareness, and destiny often arrive through symbols long before they are understood through words. And how meaningful it is that this doctrine ends with thirteen.
These thirteen points, which do not end with the number 13 by accident, are not rules, and they’re not a statement to the world. They remind me, every day, who I am. If I ever lose my way, these words will bring me home.
Perhaps these lines will be a mirror for you too, or maybe just a window into my world. Either way, being read is itself a kind of bond.
I’m just a note in the music of being.
– Behnam Khodarahmi
