By Paulo Coelho
During the early part of the Christian era, the monastery at Scete became a center where many people gathered. After renouncing everything they had, they went to live in the desert surrounding the monastery. Many of the teachings of these men have been collected and published in numerous books.The stories of the desert priests
Judging my neighbor
One of the monks of Scete committed a grave error, and the wisest hermit was called upon to judge him.
The hermit refused, but they insisted so much that in the end he agreed to go. He arrived carrying on his back a bucket with holes in it, out of which poured sand.
- I have come to judge my neighbor - said the hermit to the head of the convent. - My sins are pouring out behind me, like the sand running from this bucket. But since I don’t look back, and pay no attention to my own sins, I was called upon to judge my neighbor!
The monks called a halt to the punishment immediately.
Welcome to Share with Friends - Free Texts for a Free Internet
By Paulo Coelho
The warrior of Light behaves like a child.
(Manual of the Warrior of Light)
Welcome to Share with Friends - Free Texts for a Free Internet
Do you feel the connection with others Latin-American writers? Had the writers, such as Borges, Márquez and others have any influence on you or your work?
Of course I’m bound to other writers. Borges has been a constant source of inspiration. It’s through his novels and short stories that I found ideas that subsequently became books.
The Zahir for instance was a term that I found in one of his stories and his definition is what propelled me towards the realms of obsession.
He also guided me throughout my youth. I remember, when I only caressed the dream of becoming a writer, that I took a two day bus trip to Buenos Aires to meet him. I saw him in a caf - but didn’t have the courage to talk to him. I regret this. Specially from a man that said something that I regard as being one of the fundamental truths in life: “there no other virtue than being brave”.
With time I came to realize this: that braveness is not the absence of fear but rather the strength to keep on going forward despite the fear.
