Paulo Coelho

By Paulo Coelho

The Warrior of Light has learned that it is best to follow the light.
(Manual of the Warrior of Light)

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You have tried many ways of expressing yourself through art. Why have you finally chosen writing?

It was in fact my first choice, but I postponed it for several decades, thinking that it was impossible to be a writer. Finally, after the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, I decided to quit everything else and pay the price of the only dream that I truly had.

Read the new issues from “Warrior of the Light Online” :

Issue nº174 : The Warrior of Light and renunciation

Edií§í£o nº 174 : O guerreiro da luz e a renúncia

Edición nº 174 : El guerrero de la luz y la renuncia

Édition nº 174 : Le guerrier de la lumière et le renoncement

Edizione nº 174 : Il guerriero della luce e la rinuncia

By Paulo Coelho

In his book El Libro del Fantasma, Alejandro Dolina associates the story of sand to one of the creation legends of the Arab people.

He writes that, as soon as they had finished building the world, one of the angels pointed out to the Almighty that they had forgotten to put sand on Earth; a serious mistake, considering that humans would be forever deprived of walking alongside the seas, massaging their tired feet and enjoying the feel of the ground.

Apart from that, the river beds would always be jagged and rocky, and architects could not use this vital material, the footsteps of lovers would be invisible; in order to remedy the situation, God sent the Archangel Gabriel with a great bag, in order to pour sand in all the places necessary.

Gabriel made the beaches, the river beds, and when he returned to heaven carrying what was left over, the Enemy – always alert, always ready to ruin the work of the Almighty – managed to bore a hole in the bag, which split, spilling its entire contents. This happened in the place we now call Arabia, and almost the entire region became a vast desert.

Gabriel was distressed and went to apologize to the Lord, for having allowed the Enemy to come near him unnoticed. And God, in His infinite wisdom, decided to compensate the Arab people for His messenger’s involuntary error.

He made them a sky filled with stars, like no other in the whole world, so that they should always look up.

He created the turban, which – under the desert sun – is worth more than a crown.

He created the tent, allowing people to move from one place to another, and continually be surrounded by new landscapes, and without the annoying obligations of maintaining palaces.

He taught the people to forge the best steel for making swords. He made the camel. He formed the finest race of horses.

And he gave them something even more precious than all the other things together: the word, the true gold of all Arabs. While other peoples shaped metal and stone, the people of Arabia learned to shape the word.

There, the poet became the high priest, the judge, doctor, chief of the Bedouins. His verses are powerful: they can bring joy, sadness, health. They can unfurl acts of revenge and war, unite lovers and reproduce the songs of birds.

Alejandro Dolina concludes:

“The errors of God, like those of great artists, or of true lovers, bring forth so many joyful rewards, that at times it is worth wishing for them.”

Welcome to Share with Friends – Free Texts for a Free Internet

By Paulo Coelho

The Warrior of Light is a believer.
(Manual of the Warrior of Light)

Welcome to Share with Friends – Free Texts for a Free Internet

Today in Digg I found this very interesting article about the inventor of the solar armour.

In 1874, one man; an inventor of considerable genius, was reported to have completely reversed the effect of the sun. In the scorching heat of the mid-summer Nevada desert, he was found frozen stiff by Indians – his beard covered in frost and an icicle over a foot in length hanging from his nose. That man was Jonathon Newhouse, the genius inventor of solar armor.

Yet, is the fate of our curious inventor, that of being frozen to death at the height of summer? Or was this a desert mirage; a tale of smoke screens that involved literary geniuses and commanded international media?

To read the rest of the article, please go here.

Your novel The Alchemist, which came into being in the space of two weeks, is one of the most amazing sales successes in literary history. How long did it take you to write your novel Eleven minutes which will appear in the coming weeks?

Three weeks. After ten years I wanted to once again write about sexuality but I had neither a workable story nor main character. Therefore, several attempts failed. At a book signing session in Geneva a Brazilian woman said to me: “I have read The Alchemist. Your book changed my life because I decided to move to Europe.” As I thanked her, she interrupted me: “I became a high-class prostitute here.” Then, out of curiosity, I met with her several times. Around sixty per cent of my book is based on her life story.

“In qualsiasi attivití , è necessario conoscere quel che ci si deve attendere, i mezzi per raggiungere l’obiettivo e la capacití  che abbiamo per il compito proposto”.

“Si puí² dire che abbia rinunciato ai frutti solo colui che, essendo cosí­ equipaggiato, non sente alcun desiderio dei risultati della conquista e rimane concentrato sul combattimento”.

“Si puí² rinunciare al frutto, ma questa rinuncia non significa indifferenza per il risultato”.

La strategia è del Mahatma Gandhi. Il guerriero della luce la ascolta con rispetto e non si lascia confondere da persone che, incapaci di conseguire qualsiasi risultato, vivono predicando la rinuncia.

Rinunciando alla vendetta

Il guerriero della luce ha la spada nelle sue mani. íˆ lui che decide cií² che farí  e cií² che non farí  in alcuna circostanza. Ci sono momenti in cui la vita lo conduce a una crisi: egli è costretto a separarsi da cose che ha sempre amato.

Allora il guerriero riflette. Verifica se stia compiendo la volontí  di Dio, o se agisca per egoismo. Nel caso la separazione sia proprio sul suo cammino, egli accetta senza reclamare.

Se, invece, tale separazione è causata dalla perversití  altrui, egli è implacabile nella risposta.

Il guerriero possiede l’arte del colpo e l’arte del perdono. Sa usare entrambe con la stessa abilití .

Rinunciando alla provocazione

Il lottatore esperto sopporta gli insulti: conosce la forza del proprio pugno, l’abilití  dei propri colpi. Davanti all’avversario impreparato si limita a contemplare, e mostra la forza del proprio sguardo. Vince senza avere bisogno di portare la lotta sul piano fisico.

A mano a mano che il guerriero apprende con il suo maestro spirituale, la luce della fede brilla anche nei suoi occhi, ed egli non ha bisogno di dimostrare niente a nessuno. Non bada alle argomentazioni aggressive dell’avversario – che dice che Dio è superstizione, che i miracoli sono dei trucchi, che credere negli angeli significa fuggire dalla realtí .

Proprio come il lottatore, il guerriero della luce conosce la sua immensa forza: e non lotta mai con chi non merita l’onore del combattimento.

Rinunciando al tempo

Il guerriero della luce ascolta Lao Tzu, quando questi dice che dobbiamo distaccarci dall’idea dei giorni e delle ore e prestare sempre piú attenzione al minuto.

Solo cosí­ egli riesce a risolvere certi problemi prima che sopraggiungano. Prestando attenzione alle piccole cose, riesce a proteggersi dalle grandi calamití .

Ma pensare alle piccole cose non significa pensare in piccolo. Il guerriero sa che un grande sogno è fatto da tante cose diverse, proprio come la luce del sole è la somma dei suoi milioni di raggi.

Rinunciando al conforto

Il guerriero della luce contempla le due colonne che si trovano ai lati della porta che intende aprire. Una si chiama Paura, l’altra si chiama Desiderio.

Il guerriero guarda la colonna della Paura, dove c’è scritto: “entrerai in un mondo sconosciuto e pericoloso, dove tutto cií² che hai appreso fino ad ora non servirí  a niente”.

Il guerriero guarda la colonna del Desiderio, dove c’è scritto: “uscirai da un mondo conosciuto, dove sono conservate tutte le cose hai sempre desiderato e per le quali hai tanto lottato.”.

Il guerriero sorride, perché non c’è niente che lo spaventi e niente che lo imprigioni. Con la sicurezza di chi sa cií² che vuole, egli apre la porta.

« Dans toute activité, il est indispensable de savoir í  quoi l’on doit s’attendre, quels sont les moyens d’atteindre l’objectif et l’aptitude que nous avons pour la tí¢che proposée.

« Seul celui qui, ainsi équipé, ne ressent aucun désir pour les résultats et reste absorbé dans le combat peut dire qu’il a renoncé aux fruits de la conquíªte.

« On peut renoncer au fruit, mais ce renoncement ne signifie pas que l’on est indifférent au résultat. »

Cette stratégie est celle du Mahatma Gandhi. Le guerrier de la lumière l’écoute avec respect et il ne se laisse pas troubler par des gens qui, incapables de parvenir au moindre résultat, passent leur temps í  príªcher le renoncement.

Renoncer í  la vengeance

Le guerrier de la lumière a une épée dans les mains. C’est lui qui décide de ce qu’il fera ou ne fera en aucune circonstance. Il y a des moments oí¹ la vie le conduit í  une crise : il est forcé de se séparer de choses qu’il a toujours aimées.

Alors le guerrier réfléchit. Il se demande s’il accomplit la volonté de Dieu ou s’il agit par égoí¯sme. Si la séparation était vraiment sur son chemin, il l’accepte sans se plaindre.

Mais si elle a été provoquée par la perversité d’autrui, il se montre implacable dans sa réponse.

Le guerrier possède l’art du coup et l’art du pardon. Il sait user de l’un et de l’autre avec la míªme habileté.

Renoncer í  la provocation

Le lutteur expérimenté supporte les insultes ; il connaí®t la force de son poing, l’habileté de ses coups. Face í  l’adversaire mal préparé, il le contemple simplement et lui montre la puissance de son regard. Il gagne sans avoir besoin de porter la lutte sur le plan physique.

í€ mesure que le guerrier apprend avec son maí®tre en spiritualité, la lumière de la foi brille dans ses yeux et il n’a rien í  prouver í  personne. Peu importe les arguments agressifs de l’adversaire – disant que Dieu est superstition, que les miracles sont truqués, que croire aux anges c’est fuir la réalité.

Comme le lutteur, le guerrier de la lumière connaí®t son immense force ; et il ne lutte jamais avec quelqu’un qui ne mérite pas l’honneur du combat.

Renoncer au temps

Le guerrier de la lumière écoute Lao-tseu lorsqu’il dit que nous devons nous détacher de l’idée des jours et des heures et íªtre de plus en plus attentifs í  la minute.

Ainsi seulement, il parvient í  résoudre certains problèmes avant qu’ils ne surviennent. En étant vigilant aux petites choses, il réussit í  se protéger des grandes calamités.

Mais penser aux petites choses ne signifie pas penser petit. Le guerrier sait qu’un grand ríªve est formé de nombreux éléments, de míªme que la lumière du soleil est la somme des millions de rayons qui la composent.

Renoncer au confort

Le guerrier de la lumière contemple les deux colonnes qui entourent la porte qu’il prétend ouvrir. L’une s’appelle Peur, l’autre s’appelle Désir.

Le guerrier regarde la colonne de la Peur, et lí  il est écrit : « Tu vas entrer dans un monde inconnu et dangereux, oí¹ tout ce que tu as appris jusqu’í  présent ne te servira í  rien. »

Le guerrier regarde la colonne du Désir, et lí  il est écrit : « Tu vas quitter un monde connu, oí¹ sont conservées les choses que tu as toujours aimées et pour lesquelles tu as tant lutté. »

Le guerrier sourit parce qu’il n’est rien qui lui fasse peur, ni rien qui le retienne. Avec l’assurance de quelqu’un qui sait ce qu’il veut, il ouvre la porte.

“En cualquier actividad, es necesario saber lo que se debe esperar, conocer los medios de alcanzar el objetivo y la capacidad que tenemos para la tarea que nos hemos propuesto”.

“Sólo puede decir que renunció a los frutos aquél que, estando así­ pertrechado, no siente ningún deseo por los resultados de la conquista, y permanece inmerso en el combate”.

“Se puede renunciar al fruto, pero esta renuncia no significa ser indiferente al resultado”.

La estrategia es de Mahatma Gandhi. El guerrero de la luz escucha con respeto, y no se deja confundir por aquellos que, incapaces de alcanzar ningún resultado, viven predicando la renuncia.

Renunciando a la venganza

El guerrero de la luz tiene la espada en sus manos. Él es el que decide lo que va a hacer, y lo que no harí­a bajo ningún concepto. Hay momentos en los que la vida lo pone frente a una situación crí­tica: los casos en los que se ve forzado a separarse de algo que siempre ha amado.

Entonces el guerrero reflexiona. Verifica si está cumpliendo la voluntad de Dios, o si es el egoí­smo lo que lo mueve. Si la separación efectivamente forma parte de su camino, la acepta sin ninguna queja.

Pero si esa separación se debe a la perversidad ajena, su respuesta es implacable.

El guerrero domina el arte del golpe, y el arte del perdón. Sabe cómo aplicar cualquiera de las dos con la misma habilidad.

Renunciando a la provocación

El luchador veterano soporta los insultos; conoce la fuerza de su puño, la habilidad de sus golpes. Frente al oponente poco preparado, él apenas lo contempla, mostrando la fuerza de su mirada. Vence sin necesidad de que la lucha pase al plano fí­sico.

A medida que el guerrero de la luz aprende con su maestro espiritual, la luz de la fe brilla cada vez más en sus ojos, y ya no necesita probarle nada a nadie. Ya no importan los argumentos agresivos del adversario, que dicen que Dios es superstición, que los milagros son trucos, o que creer en ángeles es huir de la realidad.

Al igual que el luchador, el guerrero de la luz conoce su inmensa fuerza; y jamás lucha con quien no merece la honra del combate.

Renunciando al tiempo

El guerrero de la luz escucha a Lao Tzu cuando dice que debemos olvidar la idea de los dí­as y las horas, y prestarle cada vez más atención al minuto.

Sólo así­ consigue resolver ciertos problemas antes de que ocurran. Prestando atención a las pequeñas cosas, consigue resguardarse de las grandes calamidades.

Pero pensar en las pequeñas cosas no significa pensar pequeño. El guerrero sabe que un gran sueño está compuesto por muchas cosas diferentes, así­ como la luz del sol es la suma de sus millones de rayos.

Renunciando a la comodidad

El guerrero de la luz contempla las dos columnas que se encuentran a ambos lados de la puerta que pretende abrir. Una se llama Miedo. La otra se llama Deseo.

El guerrero mira a la columna del Miedo, y allí­ está escrito: “Por aquí­ se entra a un mundo desconocido y peligroso, donde todo lo que has aprendido hasta hoy no te servirá de nada”.

El guerrero mira a la columna del Deseo, y allí­ está escrito: “Por aquí­ se sale de un mundo conocido, donde se guardan todas las cosas que siempre has querido y por las que tanto has luchado”.

El guerrero de la luz sonrí­e, porque no existe nada que lo asuste, ni nada que lo retenga. Con la seguridad de quien sabe lo que quiere, abre la puerta.

“In any activity, we have to know what to expect, the means to reach our objective, and the capacity we possess for the proposed task.”

“The only one who can say that he has renounced the fruits is he who, being thus equipped, feels no desire for the results of the conquest, and remains absorbed in combat.”

“You can renounce the fruit, but this renunciation does not mean indifference towards the result.”

This strategy belongs to Mahatma Gandhi. The Warrior of Light listens with respect and does not allow himself to be confused by people who are incapable of reaching any result and always preach renunciation.

Renouncing vengeance

The Warrior of Light holds the sword in his hands. He is the one who decides what he is going to do, and what he will not do in any circumstances. There are moments when life leads him to a crisis: he is forced to divorce himself from things he has always loved.

Then the Warrior reflects. He assesses whether he is fulfilling God’s will or if he is acting through egoism. If separation is really the path he must follow, he accepts it without complaining.

However, if this separation is provoked by the perversity of others, then he implacable in his answer.

The Warrior possesses the art of the blow and the art of pardon. He knows how to use both with equal skill.

Renouncing provocation

The experienced fighter endures insults; he knows the strength of his fist and the efficacy of his blows. In front of the ill-prepared opponent, he merely contemplates and shows his strength through his look. He wins without needing to take the fight to the physical level.

As the Warrior of Light learns from his spiritual master, the light of faith also shines in his eyes and he does not need to prove anything to anyone. The aggressive arguments presented by the opponent – saying that God is superstition, that miracles are tricks, that believing in angels is fleeing from reality – are of no importance.

Like the fighter, the Warrior of Light is aware of his immense strength, and will never fight with anyone who does not deserve the honor of combat.

Renouncing time

The Warrior of Light listens to Lao Tzu when he says that we must detach ourselves from the idea of days and hours and pay more and more attention to the minutes.

Only in this way will he manage to resolve certain problems before they happen. By paying attention to the small things, he manages to protect himself from the great calamities.

But to think about the small things does not mean to think small. The Warrior knows that a great dream is made of many different things, just as the light of the sun is the sum of its millions of beams.

Renouncing comfort

The Warrior of Light contemplates the two columns beside the door he plans to open. One is called Fear, the other Desire.

The Warrior looks at the column of Fear, where he reads: “you are about to enter an unknown and dangerous world where all that you have learned up to now will be of no use whatsoever.”

The Warrior of Light looks at the column of Desire, where he reads: “you are about to leave a known world where all the things you always wanted and all that you have fought so hard for are kept.”

The Warrior smiles, because nothing can frighten him and nothing can hold him. With the confidence of those who know what they want, he opens the door.

“Em qualquer atividade, é preciso saber o que se deve esperar, os meios de alcaní§ar o objetivo, e a capacidade que temos para a tarefa proposta”.

“Só pode dizer que renunciou aos frutos aquele que, estando assim equipado, ní£o sente qualquer desejo pelos resultados da conquista, e permanece absorvido no combate”.

“Pode-se renunciar ao fruto, mas esta renúncia ní£o significa indiferení§a ao resultado”.

A estratégia é de Mahatma Gandhi. O guerreiro da luz a escuta com respeito, e ní£o se deixa confundir por pessoas que, incapazes de chegar a qualquer resultado, vivem pregando a renúncia.

Renunciando í  vinganí§a

O guerreiro da luz tem a espada em suas mí£os. É ele quem decide o que vai fazer, e o que ní£o fará em circunstí¢ncia nenhuma. Há momentos em que a vida o conduz para uma crise: ele é forí§ado a separar-se de coisas que sempre amou.

Entí£o o guerreiro reflete. Verifica se está cumprindo a vontade de Deus, ou se age por egoí­smo. Caso a separaí§í£o esteja mesmo no seu caminho, ele aceita sem reclamaí§íµes.

Se, entretanto, tal separaí§í£o for provocada pela perversidade alheia, ele é implacável em sua resposta.

O guerreiro possui a arte do golpe, e a arte do perdí£o. Sabe usar as duas com a mesma habilidade.

Renunciando í  provocaí§í£o

O lutador experiente agüenta insultos; conhece a forí§a do seu punho, a habilidade de seus golpes. Diante do oponente despreparado, ele apenas contempla, e mostra a forí§a do seu olhar. Vence sem precisar trazer a luta para o plano fí­sico.

í€ medida que o guerreiro aprende com seu mestre espiritual, a luz da fé também brilha em seus olhos, e ele ní£o precisa provar nada para ninguém. Ní£o importa os argumentos agressivos do adversário – dizendo que Deus é superstií§í£o, que milagres sí£o truques, que acreditar em anjos é fugir da realidade.

Assim como o lutador, o guerreiro da luz conhece sua imensa forí§a; e jamais luta com quem ní£o merece a honra do combate.

Renunciando ao tempo

O guerreiro da luz escuta Lao Tzu, quando ele diz que devemos nos desligar da idéia de dias e horas, e prestar cada vez mais atení§í£o ao minuto.

Só assim, ele consegue resolver certos problemas antes que eles aconteí§am. Prestando atení§í£o nas pequenas coisas, consegue se resguardar das grandes calamidades.

Mas pensar nas pequenas coisas, ní£o significa pensar pequeno. O guerreiro sabe que um grande sonho é composto de muitas coisas diferentes, assim como a luz do sol é a soma de seus milhíµes de raios.

Renunciando ao conforto

O guerreiro da luz contempla as duas colunas que estí£o ao lado da porta que pretende abrir. Uma se chama Medo, outra se chama Desejo.

O guerreiro olha para a coluna do Medo, e ali está escrito: “vocíª vai entrar num mundo desconhecido e perigoso, onde tudo que aprendeu até agora ní£o servirá para nada”.

O guerreiro olha para a coluna do Desejo, e ali está escrito: “vocíª vai sair de um mundo conhecido, onde estí£o guardadas as coisas que sempre quis, e pelas quais lutou tanto”.

O guerreiro sorri, porque ní£o existe nada que o assuste, e nada que o prenda. Com a seguraní§a de quem sabe o que quer, ele abre a porta.

By Paulo Coelho

(Here I continue to transcribe notes made during conversations with J. between 1982 and 1990)

– Bernard Shaw was right – said J. – He wrote that people take morbid pleasure in complaining all day long about the conditions in which they live. I agree with him: true men and women are those who seek out ideal conditions, and – if they are unable to find them – end up creating them.

– How does one create the conditions needed?

– A Chinese man wrote about this, thousands of years ago: by respecting the five fundamental points. However, before speaking of the five points, it must be said that the starting point is respect for oneself. One can achieve anything, but not everything; so one must know what it is one desires.

– How can we know what we desire?

– When we feel well after carrying out a certain task. Consequently, everything which causes us to lose our enthusiasm and self respect, is harmful; even if it means power, money or success. I have seen so many people suffocated by success, making mistakes which ended up destroying years of work, yielding to heavy drinking, becoming aggressive, tough, bitter. These people are distant from themselves, and distant from others.

– Tell me about the Chinaman.

– He wrote a book about war, but the five points he mentions in it apply to any task carried out by mankind.

“Item one: the law of the will. We just talked about this: one should only do that which truly fills our hearts with enthusiasm. If we brush this aside, if we put off the moment to live that which we dream of, we lose the energy necessary for any important transformation in our lives. Someone once put this most succinctly: “I don’t know the secret of success – but the secret of failure is to always try to follow the will of others.”

“Item two: the law of the seasons. Just as a war fought in winter demands different behavior and equipment from a war in the summer, human beings must learn to respect their own seasons, and not try to act when it is time to wait, not try to wait at a time of action. However, in order to make progress in anything, we must make the first move – from then on, our personal rhythm and intuition will show us how to conserve his energy.

“Item three: the law of geography. A battle in a ravine is different from one fought in a field: in the same way, one can only achieve favorable conditions by paying attention to what is going on around, to the space one is occupying, what must be done to increase it, where there may be an ambush waiting, how to escape if a momentary retreat is necessary.

“Item four: the law of the allies. No one can fight alone; friends are necessary to give us strength when we need it, people who can advise us without being afraid of what we will think. As a poet once said: “no bird can fly high, if it only uses its own wings.”

“Finally, the fifth item: the law of creativity. There is only one way of understanding things – when we try to change them. We do not always succeed, but we do learn, for we seek a path no one has been down – and the world is full of such paths. The problem is, everyone is afraid of virgin forests, uncharted seas. As one enters the unknown, one fears that one may lose oneself.

“But no one gets lost – the hand of the merciful God always lies on the heads of courageous men and women, those who dare to be different because they believe in their dreams.”

Welcome to Share with Friends – Free Texts for a Free Internet

By Paulo Coelho

The Warrior of Light recognizes the silence that precedes an important battle.
(Manual of the Warrior of Light)

Welcome to Share with Friends – Free Texts for a Free Internet

Today in Digg, I found this interesting article for Time.com by  Lev Grossman

Every web surfer, in the course of his or her browsing, has been forced to stop and perform this weird little task: look at a picture of some wavy, ghostly, distorted letters and type them into a box. Sometimes you flub it and have to retype the letters, but otherwise you don’t think about it much. That string of letters has a name; it’s called a CAPTCHA. And it’s a test. By correctly transcribing it, you have proved to the computer that you are a human being.

This electronic hoop you have to jump through was invented in 2000 by a team of programmers at Carnegie Mellon University. Somebody at Yahoo! had gone to them, complaining that criminals were taking advantage of Yahoo! Mail–they were using software to automatically create thousands of e-mail accounts very quickly, then using those accounts to send out spam. The Carnegie Mellon team came back with the CAPTCHA. (It stands for “completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart”; no, the acronym doesn’t really fit.) The point of the CAPTCHA is that reading those swirly letters is something that computers aren’t very good at. If you can read them, you’re probably not a piece of software run by a spammer. Congratulations–you can have an e-mail account.

(…)

The faster that software evolves, and the harder it gets to distinguish between people and computers, the faster CAPTCHAS have to change. They might soon involve identifying animals or listening to a sound file–anything computers aren’t good at. (What’s next? Tasting wine? Composing a sonnet?) Von Ahn is confident that the good guys are still ahead for now, but the point at which software can reliably read CAPTCHAS is probably as few as three to five years away.

(..)
To read the rest of the artcile, please go here.

Why is your novel called “Eleven minutes” ?

According to my research, customers stay on average 45 minutes with a prostitute. For the actual sex, eleven minutes are allotted.