Ma`rifat Farhangi Ejtemaei

On the surface, the last novel of Ahmad Mahmoud, The Fig Tree of the Temples, is the story of a family that has this tree in their home. On an internal level, the influence of religious-moral deviations in the society is narrated by changing the name of the main character of the story from "Farmarz" to "the green-eyed man". By analyzing the details of the religious beliefs and actions of the green-eyed man and his companions next to the fig tree of the temples, Mahmoud points to the religious foundations of the "TSM" cult. "TSM" means "meditation" and refers to a sect that originates from Buddhism and was founded by Jamshidreza Haji Ashrafi in 1370. Using the descriptive-analytical method, this research deals with the symbolic allegory of the novel The Fig Tree of the Temples and answers the question as to whether the religious beliefs and practices mentioned in the novel "The Fig Tree of the Temples" are compatible with the practices of the "TSM" cult. The results show that highlighting several events such as doing meditation, repeating incomprehensible and exciting sounds, etc. indicates the meaningfulness of the text, which is compatible with the main foundations of the mentioned cult. Also, by drawing a network of triple symbols (fig tree of the temples, green-eyed man, and snake), Mahmoud provides codes to refer to the message of the surreal adventures in the novel and the general spirit of the work. In one of these semantic layers, the green-eyed man is introduced as a follower of "Jay Bandrachi Brahmaya", which is compatible with "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", the leader of the "TM" cult (Transcendental Meditation) , because "TSM" cult is considered the continuation of "TM" organization.