Paulo Coelho

The egg, seen as containing the seed that will give birth to manifestation, runs in all cultures. Indeed the birth of the world from an egg exists in the Celtic, Greek, Egyptian, Phoenician, Tibetan, Chinese, Hindus and Japanese traditions.
It is the process of how this egg evolves that changes from place to place. In Ancient Egypt as well as in China, the egg is spit by a mythical animal and represents the manifestation of the verb. In Hinduism, the egg is born from primeval waters and when it cracks it creates the earth and the sky.
Mircea Eliade, who worked on symbols, sees in all these traditions a common streak – that the egg is an image of totality, usually appearing as the first principle after chaos.
Now you take the floor, what do you associate with the egg?

Paulo Coelho

Many centuries ago, in the days of the samurais, a text was written in Japan on the spiritual art of wielding the sword: “Impassive comprehension”, also known as “The Treatise of Tahlan”, the name of the author (a fencing master and Zen monk). Below an extract that I have adapted:

Learning to be the other

We are so centred on what we feel is the best attitude that we forget something of great importance: in order to reach our objectives, we need other people. So it is necessary not only to observe the world but also to imagine ourselves in the skin of others and to know how to follow their thoughts.

This holds true for both love and war.

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

Paulo Coelho

The Warrior of light takes responsibility for everything he does, even if he has to pay a high price for his mistake.

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

What do you think of books like The Secret, in which the authors have been accused of making money out of vulnerable readers?

I don’t think there is anything wrong with making money out of art. There is the idea that to do art you have to starve to death, but why should this be so? What I think is important is you have to be responsible for what you write and know God is watching. If you’re manipulating people, you’re going to pay the price.