In a recent interview I said that turning 60 is the same as turning 35 or 47: a birthday cake, blowing out candles, and so on. But it’s not quite the same, and I would like to share with my readers how I decided to commemorate that date.
I normally celebrate my birthday on the 19th of March, the feast day of my patron saint, Joseph. One day in February this year, I was reading my blog, looking at my readers’ souls, and was seized by an impulse: why not invite 10 people to my birthday? I wrote the message and said that the first ten to write me would be welcome. It so happens that on the next day the first ten answers came from the most varied places on the planet: Brazil, Japan, England, Venezuela, Qatar and so on. The party would be at Puente La Reina, on the Way to Santiago – in other words, far from airports or normal means of transportation. On the other hand, I wasn’t certain that the readers had quite understood the message: I was inviting them to my party, but wasn’t paying for their travel expenses.
I sent an e-mail explaining the situation. All ten said they had understood perfectly well. I felt an immense responsibility, but kept my word, and I think that they all had a good time and enjoyed a very special evening – at least I know that I did! They all still communicate with one another.
Time passed, and soon it was the eve of my birthday. My plan was to do what I always do, and that’s what happened. At 23:15 on the 23rd of August I went to Lourdes so that at exactly 00:05 of the 24th, the moment I was born, I could be at the grotto of Our Lady to thank her for my life up to that moment and ask her to protect me from that moment on. It was a very powerful experience, but while I was driving back to St. Martin (where I have a small mill to spend the summer) I felt extremely lonely. I said so to my wife. “But you’re the one who chose it to be so!” she replied. Yes, I had indeed made that choice, but now I began to feel bothered. We were both alone in this immense planet.
I turned on my mobile phone. It rang immediately – it was Monica, my agent and friend. When I arrived home there were other messages waiting for me. I went to bed happy, and the next day I saw that there was absolutely no reason for me to feel the oppression of the night before. Flowers and presents began to arrive at the house. Communities of people over the Internet had done some extraordinary things using images and texts of mine. In most cases, this had all been arranged by people I had never seen in my life – one exception being Márcia Nascimento, who did some magical work and it gives me pleasure to say that I am a writer with a fan-club – and she is world president!
At that moment I understood two very important things. The first is that no matter how famous you may be, you will always have the feeling that you are alone. The other is that no matter how unknown you may be, you will always be surrounded by friends, even if you have never seen their faces. Even when I was unknown, there was always a hand held out to me when I needed it.
So I let Kahlil Gibran – with his unique mastery – describe this sentiment (which I have adapted because of the size of the column):
“Your friend is the field where you sow with love and harvest with gratitude. He is your home, he is your table”.
“Even when he is silent, two hearts continue to talk”.
“When you have to leave him, don’t suffer, for you will see the importance of the friendship all the better because of this absence, just as a mountain climber sees the landscape around him better when he is far from the plains”.
“May you be able to share with your friend all that is good”.
“Let him know and share not only your moments of joy but also your moments of sorrow”.
“And know that a friend is not by your side to help you kill the time, but rather to help you enjoy life in all its fullness”.
tags technorati : Technorati Paulo Coelho Paulo Coehlo Warrior of Light Warrior of the Light Newsletter
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
What a wonderful story Paulo. It was an honor to me to share this special date with you and your friends a month ago.
Like this:
“And know that a friend is not by your side to help you kill the time, but rather to help you enjoy life in all its fullness”.
Paulo !
this is to just let you know that, till now i have not been succeesful with this idea, i wanted you to help me with. in fact at this time, i have exhansuted all options i had listed down, am looking for ways.
why i am writing this here, for a second last time is that, i will write to as soon as i have some positive developemnt in this, till then I am awaiting your response !
aditya
no name !
some bad expereinces, make us bitter towards all the people ! it is not so ! people are generally good, only they are too afraid to aact their goodness ! U know when once I was in a public service job ( I was looking after maitenance of about 400 residential units ), everyday we received complaints ! some quite viscious, insulting too, we used to think as if all the 400 families are upset with us, but it was not so, those who were satsified, or even happy hardly ever bothered to tell us so, but those who were unhappy, made themselves heard !
what I am saying is that most people are good. even when zesus was being cricified, not everyone in the crowed was happy about it.
about “how can I know if ” u cannot, unless u do it. what is your greatest fear, that u won’t be saved. remember what socrates said while awaiting his death ” after death either I am not, in which case I won’t be there to worry, or I am in which case I remain, so nothing to worry”.
Instead of playing what if scenarios in our inds, its better to engage in some activity, anything constructive, howver trivial it may be. so i feel
aditya
A force within me that is desperate to take form … what force? and if there is something I must do, how could I know it?
I cannot know nothing because, sometimes, you meet people, and you trust them, and they are devils.
How can I know if …
How can I know if the Mother is going to protect me? Maybe I am not in the world of the Mother … Do You know what I mean? Maybe I am in the kingdom of the darkness. If so, do you think my Lord is going to Save me? Sometimes I am so scared because I feel I am in a world where Light cannot hear my voice when I ask Her to bring me to the Kingdom of Heaven again. Here, around me, there are only the same humans who brought Jesus to the Cross and I am missing my True Family. I need to be close to those humans that are close to Jesus. But I cannot see them. And I am so scared because I am alone in the hell, sourrended just by devils. Jesus had the Virgin with him, but I cannot see any other human close to me, looking at me.
That is how I feel. Am I mad? Is anybody out there who can understand what I feel without thinking that I am mad?
AGM
I have used the same words you say, in different degrees from time to time, and recently….but be assured, as our friends here have assured, god does protect you, and only you can make things as perfect and as beautiful as you wish them to be….for beauty and perfection are within you…and if you wish to open up, here or elsewhere, we will, with god, be waiting to encourage and appreciate you with love.
Tom
Thanks – you were at least half right, I don’t mean that funny, (I know you know)
My goals have led on one to another, some long some short term…I don’t see many actual conflicts, but confirmations….still confusing at times, yes, but we’ll all get there, will we not?
Love and more love to all
Dear tom !
in a way, global warming is just an oyward manifestation of the inner ‘warming’ (stressing up) of us humans ! and as we happen to be the dominant species at this time, others too must ecdure with us ! look at all the ‘wealth’ that has been created by ‘exploitation’ of natural resources, look at teh disparity, and one can see greed more than need has been a big motivating factor.
human beings are fast asleep as all the ‘masters’ have said, all their effort have been aimed at waking us up. just like u pointed out while showing concern for global warming, we can still go on using more power than what we need, the minimum we can do with. even today amongst the ‘educated’ people one can see the signs of this ‘sleep’ e.g. on one hand we want global warming to stop, for decades we paid lip service to it, till about a few years back when natural calamities started knocking on our doorstps. on one hand we go on about saving the planet and on the other hand we go on applauding the ‘superlative’ performance of our corporations, now theese superlative performnaces come at a price, directly or indirectly, of further messing up the environement. see we are asleep !
But a word of advise for you tom ! whatever may the case be, one should not allow things to get to one’s nerves ! only futher warming is the outcome.
Ignornace is no sin and all sins are committed out of ignorance only. so let’s adopt gandhian tactics of convincing people, by winning their hearts, leading by example even in trivial issues.
and worry not freind, whether humans live or not, this earth will live, don’t worry. whatever importance we may be attaching to ourselves, for earth we are not that significant, with all our stupidities a small part of this earth ( us humans, remember as far as physical body is concerned we too are composed 100 % of the same earth ) has contributed to making the whole planet a little sick, like ……like cancer… and earth is a living entity it fights back !
humans call themselves intelligent, it’s time we prove it.
aditya
Aditya,
I would like to tell you a story about humans, seriously, hear me out until you decide I am insane.
you were saying about global warming, well I would like to combat that aswell. I have told you I want to become a writer, well after I have tried this (who knows wether I will succeed) I would like to go into politics. I want to restore honour to politics and I want to embark on a project. If I do get into a high enough poosition in politics, I want to build wind turbines all the way form the tip of scotland to lands end, in england. this would be enoguh power to run the country !
But the problem with humans is, they dont do anything about it until its right in there face. An example of this is when I was watching the news with my dad:
This was in winter of this year so it was very cold (important to remember that it was cold), so it wasnt so long back, a couple of months maybe.
news: “the temparature has increased over the past years and the weather pattern could get more extreme if we dont do something about global warming”
then my dad said to me “This global warming thing is terrible isnt it, do us a favour tom, and turn that fire up, its freezing.”
This is how ignorant human beings can be, my dad is an honest hard working man, but his ignorance to this topic sometimes gets on my nerves.
I wish you luck with your device by the way ;]
Dear Paulo !
I am awiting your comments & help with this one.
I would be thankful, as you know.
regards
aditya
abraham,
I don’t want many people to accept this idea, even one or two who can make things happen, can take it to prototype stage are enough. Once the device is ready, it’s use will convince people, the theory behind will be useful only for those who are interested, others can simply plug and play, as they say.
AGM,
Just hang in there buddy.. Nothing is as ever bad is it may seem, and when one door closes another always opens. Sometimes we feel like nothing could get worse, like this is what it would feel like if we were in hell, truth is, once we hit rock bottom there is no place else to go but up. All you have to do is hang in there long enough realise you can get up again. And you will, because you have strength hidden inside of you, even if you don’t realise it. I will pray for you.
lots of love
Yajna
Dear A.G.M.,
Since I do not know what has happened, or is happening in your life, I can only say that I hope that you find your way back to yourself. Ultimately you will, I am sure.
Remember that you are the sole interpreter of all of your perceptions, but you are not alone. Hence, everything and everyone around you represents something in yourself, and you must be able to find some positive aspects in all of the darkness that you are currently experiencing.
Though it might be overshadowed right now, I am sure that there is something that you must do; a force within you that is desperate to take form.
Look around you. Reach out. Talk to people and listen to see if there are some echos from within.
abraham !
shuuuuut uuuup man ! u can say what ever u want, most welcome !
as for personal legend ! there are several levels at which I can work towards it, helping the youth of my hosuing colony about 200 of them, set up a youth club, assist them in planning their activities is one of them; remember Paulo’s answer to the question of failures ! when we are working towards something we love, each step brings it’s own rewards, suceess and failure both.
as for the device is concerned, ya it lookd preety st. forward to me, wonder why i am not able to put the message across, my decision in this refgard is simple, I will keep on trying till I am, i have alreday worked out several further innovations to make more effective devices ! even in the absence of the device there are many ‘improvissations’ like leaf mentioned or u mentioned, whcih I try; the device will be much neater that is all, i am firing on many cylinders, and many options are lined out; of course even when u have a quiver full of arrows, you hope that the one leaving the bow now will hit the target, i too am hoping to enlist support of Paulo, an intro from him / a letter of recomendation / even adopting this idea, may be enough to see it thru. for me folloiwng my ‘persona legend’ is coupled with lot of introspection as well, it’s a matter of personal growth also for me. If nothing else, i would have at least lived an applied life, a life in whcih I apply myself to somthing, not a vegetating life to which I had surrendered for long !!
lest i am misunderstood again, let me clarify that the shuuuuut uuuup was said lovingly, this is paulo’s place, he sets the rules, and all he asks us to engage in is meaningful, courteous excahnge of ideas / any other help possible, like the civilsed wols that we are.
regards
aditya
A.G.M,
Whatever is going on in your life at the moment, I am truly sorry, but preying alone will not help you solve the problems in your life, get up on your feet, and do something about it. I used to prey a lot to god, I asked him to help me through it. do you know what hos reply was. help me help you by helping yourself.
I just remembered the old family motto from then on “If you truly wanted something, you’d fight for it”
ok wait a minute Aditya….
i just now went through th rest of the comments after you posted th ‘personal legend’ part..
and i couldn help thinking, if this is youre personal legend, and you think it makes sense, then
1. what are you doing about it NOW? (again, you will need the invention to keep you motivated ti invent it? lol… now that was jus for laf’s)
2. why are you so obsessed with people accepting it… if i remember right, you had been mentioning this on this space for a long time now….
I pray, dont let my comment affect you… go on with th good work… but.. ok well, tell me if I was better off keeping my mouth shut!!!!!
#Aditya…
regarding the device, Im sure it will work and will be inspirational… in gfact I remember a story about a sportswoman, i think Martina Navratilove, who had a poster on her bedroom wall saying “i will win wimbledon this year’… she would get up every morning seeing this, and it inspired her to practise hard….
NOW REMEMBER, the device that reminds you that this is your aim is no good if it doesnt inspire you to work for it when you least feel like!
anyways!
best of luck….
AGM,
hold on buddy, one more moment at a time. and if r serious about getting yourself out of the rut, read a few of paulo’s books, start doing some meditation. if u feel too tried get some sleep.
regards
aditya
PS : and u can stay here as long as u want, Paulo has not yet ordered my eviction, so rest assured his place and heart is open for all.
yagna,
goals !!!! every night when i say my last ‘thanks’ I am done with life for the day, even if i don’t wake up next day, how would i know ???!!! ceratin issues are worth working for for me, I try to devote my time accordingly, till i loose focus once again. only if I had this device in my hand……
Hi freinds , leaf, yagna, AVC, & tom ( silent watcher paulo too ),
leaf I would be lying if i said I did not dream of getting some economic benefits from this idea, perhaps that is why i have got it patented, i want an economic non dependence on my job so that i can devote more time to pressing needs where i can contribute more effectively, like fighting against global warming, fighting against the terrible inequalities in this world.
global warming is not round the corner, it’s has arrived, floods in london & new york, mumbai !! if u have ever seen an avalanch ( i was in a hill station for years, seen many landslides ), initially the indications are few, almost innocuous, but then it all happnes so fast, hope humanity gets time to breath !!
another issue is – i am a contruction enginner by profession ( would always be into construction, albit less compellingly ) i come across many workers, laboureres from diffrent corners in india, u know even i hardly ever noticed their faces ( till !), nameless, faceless masses, who are …….my heart goes out to them. Disparirty is so high that we have in India worls rcichest people by the score and there are people, poor villagers, tribals who are being openly murdered, raped, ravaged, to leave their small pieces of land so that thiese rich people may become richer ! sad. worst incidents are happening in a state where we have Communist party rules, how perverted can communism become someone should see.
these are causes dear to me, and u know in a way, making humans more meditative is a solution to most ills.
so far as the concept is concerned leaf, yagna, tom and probably AVC too are on same wavelength as I am; but when it comes to effectiveness of what I have in mind, what all u have suggesetd are steps in right direction but wait till u get that wrist watch along with the three page booklet, u would also see how much more effective it is.
AVC,
even though one needs to construct his light on his own, let’s remember that no human would have ever been able to acheive anything all alone, even enlightenment, but for thsoe who showed the way, including paulo, where would we be !
all knowledge has been available at all times, but each generation has to reinvent its meaning in view of their changing world; the flame u speak of, i cannot see. the device I speak of will be an extension, like say your hand or nose, of yourself something which will work towards making one use one’s mind in a more focused way.
regards
aditya
Aditya,
I admire your thought behind the device but i have to agree with AVC and Leaf. Technically the device already exists, and it has been something that many people have created in different ways over in the past. In everything there are messages especially books and movies, and most of all it is we ourselves that will remember out of love for such a dream, as tom pointed out. Technology has advanced and you can easily set your pc, cellphones and pocket pc’s to remind you for anything. Just be a bit careful when creating a device like this, because once one activates the device itself they are already consciously thinking of their dream, which may partially defeat the purpose of it. It seems to me that you feel very strongly towards helping people or rather help stirring people towards their dreams. Maybe you’ve found the goal you said that didn’t actually exist. And maybe you should just find other way or change this device a bit to help. Maybe find a way to use the program on your device to play directly from one’s cellphone or laptop, so its integrated in their everyday life. Or maybe you should take a completely different approach like write a book. It all depends on you. Just follow your heart, always and find a way for it to work in this world.
lots of love
Yajna
Hello,
I just wanted to stay here for a moment.
I am alone in the darkness. And I’m very cold. Very cold. More than you can imagine.
I have no words to talk about what is happening to me. Indeed, nothing is as perfect or beautiful as it was supposed to be.
I’m very tired, my Lord. Very tired. Have pity on me, please because I cannot go on without Your help. I need a miracle, I need Your hand under my feet, over my shoulder … Protecting me all the time. Amen.
Aditya,
I actually didnt start archery because paulo mentioned that it would help me in meditation, besides meditation in archery isnt everybodies thing, some benefit thorugh traditional meditation methods, others through walking and archery. it all varies on what type of person you are.
I took up archery for an award called the Duke of Edinburgh, its a national award and you get to meet the royal family if you complete the three stages. within these three stages (Bronze, Silver and Gold) you have to do a physical, a skill and a service. I did archery for the physical. I practiced meditation through it and when paulo mentioned it in his book “like the flowing river” I was much pleased.
I have already read that story though thankyou for suggesting it, its superb. Oh and I am not a very sporty person, I dont like football or hockey or any of those sports. I like fishing because thats very relaxing and I like the buzz when you catch a fish, haha !
I also like rugby because it is a gentlemans sport. Somehow though even though I dont exercise as much as I should, I am very very VERY thin, I eat more food than my 18 stone, 6 foot 5 friend, whos only 14 but I can stay thin, maybe its just matabalism.
A.V.C,
This lamp is always burning but humans have built walls around it and shut it in the dark. Many go about there daily jobs and do not see this beautiful eternal light. Though a few people have a key to open this room and see this light, they are the ones that follow there dreams, they are the truly rich and successful people in this life.
Leaf,
The support I have got from this blog has been immense, I will make sure that I follow my dream, you make sure you follow yours, because if you have tried your hardest to achieve what you thought was your dream and you dont get to the end objective. you wont have left this life empty handed, maybe the objective you were trying to reach then, wasnt what you were supposed to reach, but it was the striving to try and get to that goal that made you complete, maybe you werent supposed to reach that goal at all, but instead find another one on the way to it. Much like a cross roads in your path, you dont always have to choose the obvious way.
Aditya and all
Yes, this blog came at an appropriate time for me too, and the few words of The Prophet I have read through Paulo’s blogs have just now inspired me to get hold of a copy.
The absence of the friend showing the nature of the friend, is absolutely priceless, and thanks for all the other quotes which reveal to me, another special writer/life.
Tom, best wishes to you and your dream, my prayers and thoughts towards your success.
Aditya, you have, in a way, just in words, already created your device…we can, (I will certainly) all program our mobile phones to give us an interrupting tune or pre-recorded message, to set us back on track……maybe you once wished to earn money from your device, but I think what you have highlighted here is priceless, and (I hope you take this the right way) if you can accept that this is free reminder to all Warriors – be aware of our goals, and assist our poor memories and fickle hearts – then you, Aditya are free to choose your next goal/vocation, with leisure and the pleasure to succeed and earn money another way…..well, that’s my thoughts anyway, well done, brilliant, and beautifully written too x
Paulo, I just wanted to point out, that during my last wee ‘holiday’ in my favourite hospital, last week, I anonymously left ‘the Zahir’, (the only book I had left to give) on the lonely bookshelf, which absolutely no-one had been near whilst I was there
and
when I went back for a final meeting, two days later
the book had magnetically already attracted a reader, and was off the shelf, happily involving a person in deep thoughtful poise.
(it was only one of about 50 books, I thought that remark worthy)
Love to all
keep fighting the good fight you warriors
xxxx
Aditya,
I mean no disrespect, but this device has existed for many thousand years. It is the holy lamp that is burning without a wick or oil. It is the lamp that evenly illuminates everything, without casting any shadows.
Many books have been written on this topic. Still, there are no manuals to construct this lamp and it has to be done without the aid of anyone else.
Good luck!
and ya tom !
I too have my own ‘devices’! the one I have in mind now ( and on paper too ) is much more effective ! as u too have said ! thanks for your kind words and encouragement ! it helps !!!
thanks
Human mind ! our mind ! my mind !!!! is such a beauty ! it connects the spiritual world with the material world, it’s such a powerful machine, so compact, so self sufficient ! despite continuous efforts over decades at cerating Artificial Intelligence, we are at rudimentary level compared to the human mind, we have not even reached all factes of basic animal minds, human mind is … way off for AI.
thanks tom !
wish u success ( jorney too is equally enjoyable ), read Paulo’s bow story, it’s mindblowing, in fact it wont’ harm us if we start practicising archery along with whatever ‘personal legend’ we may be aspiring for, just to unedrstand Paulo’s words in the bow story better, u know comprehension will be better , what it means to strentch the strings, what it means to take aim etc etc, if we practice archery also, archery only because Paulo has written with reference to it, had he written about hockey, of cricekt or even foot ball then many be those games.
Paulo, sir, the creation of this device is my personal legend, your views / help can make all the diffrence. the device itself is very discreet, no one has to carry anything other than what we mostly do, no phones need to be put in anyone’s ears ( yet the message gets whispered periodically ). details I would be happy to provide, if anyone who is working in wrist watch industry, anyone who can talk to decision makers in wrist watch industry, anyone who is known enough that his/her reco will carry some weight, is willing to help.
( we created wrist watches to control time, in most cases wrist watches have reinforced the grip of time over us; now we will use the wrist watch only, to ride time, be in the present, go after our personal legend !! )
aditya,
what a genius idea !
I think that people could use this, for me I have my own device. whenever I see a piece of writing, a famous book, or even a book that only I seem to have heard of. My heart reminds me, one day there will be on a book the name Thomas Usher. He will be happy with his works and with the money he makes from his books, he will spend. Not on himself, on anyone and everyone who had ever helped him achieve his goal. This writer will help the poor, misfortunate and dis-owned, all of those in need. He will have a long way to go, but everyone knows that when he gets to the end of his path and looks back, he will say, “That was worth it.”
No spiritual meaning in that saying, its not deep, its not clever but it will be the most truthful thing that anyone will ever say when they get to the end of there path.
dont get me worng I forget other things that I am in goal of and this device would be a….dare I say it…..miracle if I were to get one. Follow this dream and you will, as if by magic, meet the right people who will help you construct it and think of ways to improve it. When I started to realise that I wanted to be and was always meant to be a writer, I magically got a book form my aunt about paulo coelho. So that narrowed it down, I wanted to be a spiritual writer. Then i got a new english teacher in school who pushed me forward to an A in english. It is true that when you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to help you achieve your dream.
Dear Warriors !
( all are warriors, some know it some don’t, some r conscious of it, some not! )
I am posting this to seek your opinion and if possible, help with a project dear to me.
In spirituality, a lot of emphasis is put on maintaining one’s awareness; even for material goals, it’s important to maintain an awareness of the goals.
Paulo writes thru the character of the wise man that the secret of happiness is to maintain an awareness of the ‘oil drops on the spoon’ while enjoying the various sights and sounds / experiences world offers. The oil drops on the spoon are like our goals, unless we are able to maintain them in our awareness continuously we fail.
We all have heard and found it true that 90 % of our time gets spent on activities which are least important for us, we all have ‘heard’ all the wisdom from Paulo & others, yet we go on behaving just the same !!
Maintaining awareness is important whether the goal is spiritual or material. Maintaining awareness is not the only condition, but it’s a prerequisite for other things like planning & execution.
Why we are unable to retain goals in our mind is because of the nature of our mind, firstly it loves to jump from topic to topic, it’s very difficult to keep it focused. Secondly there is always a stream of stimulus ( signals from environment ) which goes on getting received.
A lot of people start pursuing their dreams, at least when they are young, but because of our inability to keep our mind focused, soon we abandon those dreams. Problem is that each of us “must’ fulfill our personal legend, we can go on postponing it, maybe for lives but till we fulfill our personal legend, we remain stuck.
To achieve our objectives / goals, material or spiritual, we have to focus our mind. The first step is to retain that ‘goal’ in our mind, at least at the ‘back of our mind’ continuously. Easier said than done.
To help us with this, I propose to create a device ( what & how it works I am omitting for the moment, there are some reasons ) which will keep us reminding us of our chosen goals. an analogy may be – the following thought experiment
Scene two of the wise-man, palace, boys scenario : Now that the wise man has told him, the boy ‘knows’, again he is asked to go around the palace with the drops of oil. What will happen now, if the ‘scene’, the palace is enthralling enough, the drops will be lost again !
Now suppose that boy is using this device then every few period of time say every ten minutes, a very discreet, very personal, very brief message ‘remember the drops’ is whispered in his ears; I think it will surely enhance his chances of success.
Problem with maintaining awareness about something is that once the awareness is lost when and how it will come back is uncertain.
Now for more ‘real’ goals, like becoming a writer, a social worker, a this or that, even attaining enlightenment, constant remembrance of the ‘goals’ is required. The device I have in mind does just that, it helps us in remembrance of our chosen goals, at suitable frequency, very discreetly ( of course not as frequently as every 10 minutes ). With such a device at my service, for me getting bored or engaging in ‘time-pass’ will become very difficult. (I become aware of time as it is passing by, if one is focusing on the present, one will notice time passing by )
Well friends what do u think, am I making sense here, would such a device be useful for warriors, people who have any goals, either voluntary or imposed ! would u use such a device?
hi Paulo
I write this to ask a request. There is a wonderful passage in “By the Piedra I sat down and wept” about Mary knowing that she would have to go through suffering, but she said “Your will be done!” about one and half pages of text or so!
In case you dont mind, can you mail me just that portion out of the story? I have the book, but its back home in Kerala, so It wont help my need.
We have a youth service in church every 1st sunday, and we come up with a booklet with the songs, the worship order and some other soul nourishing stuff. Dec first sunday’s theme is “Mary’s journey”, and I suddenly thought this would be a good passage to include.
I hope that using it wont end up as copyright infringement or anything. Hope you dont mind sharing…
ok wait, I hope Im doing the right thing in approaching you first :)
Abraham
btw, tomorrow (17th is my birthday- its a funny coincidence that you talked about yr birthday only now!))
HI freinds thank u !
i should be able to post it by tomorrow, i am looking forward to your comments / what do u feel about it.
Aditya- I was curious before when u mentioned it on Paulo’s blog. Looking forward to reading it :)
Aditya,
thanks, I will make sure to read it, and of course, answer back, hopefully it can help me answer some questions, and therefore, it is only fair if i answer those of yours. I look forward to finding out about this “device” theory that you have devised…..bad pun
Aditya,
Looking forward to reading (and discussing) your paper!
Hi tom !
It is about creating a device which will help users keep their mind focused on any goal, spiritual or material. a device has an inherent advantage over a concept – to understand concepts one needs the intellectual inputs, but to use a device even .1% knowledge of how the device works is enough. we all use TVs, mobile phones, computers, these are devices based on concepts which will be beyond the comprehension of most of us.
I had written the first draft a about 3 years back 2004, since then i have approached about 20 established companies in the field. commnts like ‘interesting’, seems workable etc have come by, but final decision has been refusal.
The device echoes the wise man’s words from alchemist. details i will post in days. what i expect from you all including paulo is to read it and then anser a few question which will follow.
aditya,
I would take pleasure in helping you with your project or assignment, or anthing you want to call it! I am always happy to lend a helping hand, who has always given me honest criticism. I would be honoured if I could read this page, ifrstly though, let me know a few things about it, whats it called ??? what is it about ??? how long have you wanted to write it ???
marie,
Kahlil Gibran, in my opinion is one of the greatest authors of all time along with, mark ravina, roald dahl, and of course paulo coelho. I think that all of these authors have something about there works that makes you want to think a little more about what they have written. I know I do every time I read one of there books. I am currently reading “like the flowing river” by you paulo. Its extremely good, just like the alchemist.
Blessed are U Paulo ! and u know it, right ! blessed u r for u have so many friends.
But being alone and feeling lonely are not the same, are they !
I second the recomendation by tom ! anyone who can read, must read a few books, Prophet is one of them.
regards
PS :
Warriors / friends (& of course Paulo,) some time back i made a request to paulo for helping me with one of my projects. He suggested that I discuss the idea on this blog, so that other warriors too can participate and I can benefit from their views. seems appropriate to me too. I have almost finsihsed writing that idea ( something which was originally written in 30 pages, reduced to 4 pages for paulo, now I have almost reduced it to one page ), would appreciate your views / any other help on it, which i would be posting here soon.
aditya
Hey Tom,
You are correct Paulo’s word do help us explore our soul.
Also at the moment i have been reading Broken Wings by Gibran Khalil Gibran. So romantic! I see why Paulo mentions him so much!
marie,
I have this feeling aswell, sometimes I think that since I need help, paulo’s words help us explore our soul, and maybe that is why it feels like the right time. because there is never a worng time to learn something new about your soul.
I love this post and I sometimes think, maybe me and paulo talking about this and this post going up wasnt total coincidence. maybe it was fate or destiny, or some other word that makes a coincidence a spiritual experience. That is all fate is, maybe you want to be a writer and you run into an old friend whilst you are thinking about this and he has become a publisher. your prayers are answered, or maybe all of this was supposed to happen from the day I was born ??? Or at least since I knew I wanted to be a writer.
Anyone who likes this blog, I strongly advise you to buy the prophet. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of literature that I have ever read.
To all my friends here,
I wish you all a very happy Diwali.
May God bless and guide all of you throught your life.
I love you all.
Yajna
:D
This post surely came on time! (I know I write this a lot) but I truely feel that when I read each issue its at the right time to teach me, comfort me, bring me understanding. Sometimes I will go weeks before I decided to read an issue then when I read!!!! IT IS LIKE MAGIC!! AND I SAY THANK YOU LORD!
Thank you Lord for my friends
Thank you Paulo for sharing your GIFT with the World!!!
Thank you Chrissa for reminding me that I am not Alone and for being a Great Friend to me!
Thank you Warriors of The Light for opening up here inspiring, listening, teaching, and sharing!
God Bless All!
love this issue, Paulo!
love and light
friends..
Hmmmm… You know.. Kahlil is really incredible…
Here’s some more random quotes i really love..
“As love crowns you, so shall he crucify you. As love is for your growth, so is he for your pruning.”
“To be wounded by your own understanding of love, and to bleed willfully and joyfully. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; to rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy; To return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.”
-Love
“The more sorrow craves into your being the more joy you can contain.” -Joy and Sorrow
“You were born together, and together you shall be evermore.”
“Fill each others cup but drink not from the same cup.” -Marriage
“Your heart knows in silence the secrets of the days and night. But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart. You would know in words that which you have always known in thought. You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.” – Self knowledge.
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your knowledge.” – Pain
I love the Prophet :)
And i love you all :)
Lots love
Yajna
dear Paulo,
it is my first time to visit this site, and im glad i did. it gives me a better understanding of the man who writes such books, i cannot explain. before i go on, happy belated birthday!
i was randomly looking through a friend’s desk, as im wont to, when i saw your book “Like the flowing river”. its the third book by you ive read. for a college student, its difficult to find the time for reading, and this particular book was a great find because its short stories and messages that can be quickly read before bed. thank you.
moreover, it allows me to readily focus on the message you are trying to convey to me as a reader. one of my favourite entries is entitled “Charity under threat”. your message there was how as human beings we can only give what we have. how true.
Im a young Christian, and most of my friends come to me when they are feeling lonely and need some upliftment. however, i can only impart some of my knowledge and understanding of the world if i have it.
the Bible says in Proverbs 2:4 “if you search for it (knowledge and a better understanding of God) as for silver, as for hidden treasure”, meaning that my understanding of God will only come if i dedicate my life to understanding him.
again thank you. that bit about friends is absolutely true. one only has to put fear of rejection aside, and open his heart to the people around. that is the best way to make friends.
Kahlil Gibran – He was the writer of the prophet correct ???
Were those not quotes from the prophet ???
Paulo, I remember when we had a brief conversation about the prophet, I dont know wether you will get a chance to read this but yes, it was on myspace.
I have thought a lot about kahlil Gibran, and how he was post humously famous. He actually became very famous in the 1960′s for his book the prophet. Sadly, he died long before that, in 1931.
“Your friend is your needs answered.”
‘think not you can direct the course of love for love, if it finds you worthy directs your course’- kahlil gibran
love you people loads
‘The first is that no matter how famous you may be, you will always have the feeling that you are alone. The other is that no matter how unknown you may be, you will always be surrounded by friends, even if you have never seen their faces. Even when I was unknown, there was always a hand held out to me when I needed it’
i loved that bit…. Even when you are always surrounded by many people, loneliness can hit you big time becuase it is then that the fear creeps in… ‘why am i feeling lonely when i am with so many people?’ or the scarier question, ‘is there then something extremely wrong with me that I cant let myself enjoy the company of these people and choosing to instead indulge in the loneliness’. once you start asking this question, you start questioning yourself, how accepted you are, how loved you are, how many true friends you actually have.. one may put up a brave front saying that ‘i am a loner. i dont care about what others think about me..’ but how many can actually say that and really truly mean it? even if you dont care what others think of you, what about what you think of yourself? can one not care about the nagging, ever present voice in the head? True loneliness, insecurity and self doubt go hand in hand together… many people experience loneliness because they do not know what they are looking for in life… however, they do know what they do not want… others place too much importance on a specific issue or a specific person until they lose it and feel absolutely alone because the reason for living is not there anymore…
Being alone does not mean you’re lonely… in solitude, you can talk to yourself and ask questions and get too know yourself better… i love myself, but when will someone love me?
Go Paulo, its your birthday.. We going to party like its your birthday.. We going to sip bacardi like its your birthday.. *grin*
sorry.. I have a tendency to burst into song.. :)
Dearest Paulo
its my birthday next month.. On the 8th. Wanna come to my party? Be great, it would be a dream come true. :) in fact anyone here wanna come, you’l welcome :) you can meet all my closest friends and family! :)
ahh.. I love khalil. That extract was the first piece i ever read, and fully understood by him. When i was 11 or 12, some of my best friends moved away. I was sad, and began to miss them, and i didn’t understand why i missed to much- to an extent i did not realise what an amazing friendship i had going on. My father speaks highly of the prophet so i found it, and looked up friendship. I found some understanding, and comfort in these words, for i seemed to get a better picture as to what friendship is all about. After that i’ve never stopped reading his work. His complete collection is always with me, (where ever i am staying) and has helped me through many times in my life. “Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.”- such incredible words, that hold so much of truth.
Paulo, i think that people forget famous people are still people. No matter who you are, whether you are famous or unknown, you will feel like you are alone at times. But you know, sometimes we put ourselves in a situation were we feel alone, where you don’t see the people around us, and the fact that they are there. Paulo, never forget you are greatly loved. There are millions out there, who you may not know, like me, who love you. Next time you feel alone, just read your blog or go on facebook or even read a few emails, you’l realise your not alone. And no one really is alone- not if you put yourself out there. Not if you look carefully around you. I’m very glad you invited those people, i’m sure you made their dreams come true.
Thank you for being
Yajna
well i can understand that….all the while i thought i had no friends but then i discovered that many people were just scared to come to me,for to them i didn’t look inviting….it is important for us to search for someone every now and then…that way we will know who is around…
“When you have to leave him, don’t suffer, for you will see the importance of the friendship all the better because of this absence, just as a mountain climber sees the landscape around him better when he is far from the plains”.
its just like…