Iranian soccer star Andranik Teymourian scored a game-winning goal for his team on Saturday, just after rescuing an imperiled butterfly from the field – which some are equating to being a karmic gift.
Teymourian, a defensive midfielder for Iranian team Esteghlal, was playing against Buriram United in the Asian Champions League, when he’d saved the butterfly from being stomped to death. Soon after, Teymourian scored from 35 yards, which advanced his team into the semi-finals of the tournament.
The 30-year-old ethnic Armenian Teymourian also played in the Premier League with Bolton and Fulham, and is the only Christian member of his Iranian club. He had played on Iran’s national football teams at every youth level, before being drafted into the senior side, and was a member of the Iranian national team during 2006 World Cup. He is recognized as a national hero in Iran because of the passion he displayed during that tournament.
The concept of Karma, which originated in ancient Indian religions, is the idea of “action” or “deed,” and how they affect the entire cycle of cause and effect. Some karmic traditions believe that a god-being plays a role as the dispenser of the ‘fruits’ of karma. In the western world, karmic views are described in phrases like, “what goes around comes around,” “one reaps what one sows,” “violence begets violence,” “live by the sword, die by the sword,” and now, “save a butterfly, score a goal.”
Image courtesy of YouTube.
