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 are some extracts that I have adapted:
Escaping from threats
We often think that the ideal attitude is to give life for a dream, but there is nothing more mistaken than this. In order to make a dream come true, we need to conserve our life, and so we have to know how to avoid whatever is threatening us. The more we premeditate on our steps, the more we stand to be wrong, because we are not taking others into consideration, or life’s teachings, or passion and calm. The more we feel we are in control, the farther we are from controlling anything at all. A threat gives no warning, and a quick reaction cannot be programmed like a walk on Sunday afternoon.
So if you want to be in harmony with your love or with your fight, learn to react fast. Using polite observation, do not let your supposed experience of life turn you into a machine, but rather use this experience always to listen to “the voice of the heart.” Even if you disagree with what this voice is saying, respect it and follow its advice, for it knows the best moment to act and the right moment to avoid action.
This also holds true for both love and war.
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what do you do when your heart takes you to a place you HATE?
why would life put you in a situation like this? i know there's something for me to learn, but i just don't get it.
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Quote “What do you do when your heart takes you to a place you HATE?
Why would life put you in a situation like this?” Unquote
Dear Woman, Life did not just put you there… you must take responsibility for your own decisions, yes, you listened to your heart which lead to this place, but your journey has given you a new perspective and now you are not happy there… so move on… your heart is telling you this… never stop following your path of destiny… and “Listen to you Heart”… it does not lie, Love Paul
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Quote “How does one learn to listen to the heart?” Unquote
Dear NikaMarie, I am amazed at your question… and as a your blog pages are full of “Coelho” & “Castaneda”, I can’t believe that you don’t know the answer to your own question…? You have read their books…?
I offer you a possible answer…
You stand before Good & Bad or Right & Wrong… your instinct, or intuition tells you that Good & Right are right… right ;) ?
Instinctive or Intuitive feelings come from within… that’s why many say… from the heart… and so the expression “Listen to your Heart”
Have a great day in the Gulf, and 30 is much toooo young to have a crisis ;)
Love, Paul
PS: Pardon me for assuming, but I would say that you are the Gulf for money? This is OK for a while, but without a goal or Dream as a purpose… the money you make there will not make you happy… and this will turn the precious moments you spend there… into sand ;-(
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I like that little text too much.Is an answer to many of my questions.I think is just like you have written.How nice to read your lines.I enjoy that.Take care,bye bye
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“The more we premeditate on our steps, the more we stand to be wrong, because we are not taking others into consideration….”
There is a story, passed down by the sages of India, of an old man who heard one day that a childhood friend, a boy that he had gone to school with, was in a hospital in a nearby village, very sick. He was so excited to hear of the whereabouts of his long lost friend, whom he had not seen for decades, that he vowed to set out on the very next morning to walk to this village and visit the man.
When dawn came, he set out upon his journey, on foot, over the mountains. As he walked, he imagined in his mind the conversation that would follow their reunion:
He would say first to his friend, “How are you?”
And his friend would reply, “Much better, I’m much better today.”
And he would say, “Good, I’m very glad to hear it.”
The he would ask, “So what’s been ailing you?”
“Oh, just a little cold,” his friend would say.
“Well, good thing at our age,” he would boast, “Could have been worse, I suppose.”
Then he would ask, “So, what do the doctors say?”
“They say I’ll be out of here in no time,” his friend would reply.
“Oh, that’s good, very good!” he would respond.
Along the path, as he played this conversation over and over in his head, he picked a bundle of wildflowers to bring to his friend.
So, finally, he arrived at the village, found the hospital and went up, straightaway, to his old friend’s room. He knocked on the door. “Yes, come in,” a rather feeble voice replied.
He was so nervous by this time, and so excited, as well, to be seeing his old friend again, at last, he burst into the room, and came to a halt at the foot of the man’s bed. “Here, I’ve brought you some flowers,” he said, placing them on the bedside table. The man said nothing; just stared at him, as though he didn’t even recognize him. But, rather than introduce himself, he went right into the conversation as he had rehersed it in his head on the way there:
“How are you?” he said.
“Horrible!” replied the man.
“Good, I’m very glad to hear it,” he responded.
The man in the bed gave him a rather puzzled look at this point, but he didn’t even notice. He just went on with the script in his head:
“So what’s been ailing you?” he asked.
“Cancer,” the man replied.
“Well, good thing at our age,” he said with a smile, “Could have been worse, I suppose.”
At this point the man in the bed was beginning to wonder whether he was deaf or simply a madman. Still the conversation continued:
“Well, what do the doctors say?” he asked.
“They say I’m dying - that’s what!” snapped the man.
“Oh, that’s good, very good,” he responded.
At this point, the dying man began to turn red in the face. He was furious! He picked up the flowers from the bedside table, threw them in the visitor’s face and started yelling, “Get out! Get out! Nurse..! Doctor..! Someone… get this idiot out of my room!!!”
—-
So we learn that we should never premeditate our steps, but should remain open to the moment - ready to react quickly and appropriately, whatever comes our way. Also, in facing others, whether it be a friend or an opponent, we should never assume that we know with certainty what the other will say, what they will do or what thoughts they hold in their mind. No matter how much past experience we may have with a given person or particular situation, we must, above all, remain receptive to the unexpected.
Love,
Savita
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you know.thats right i wish i have listened to my heart once because now its so weary.
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Just as it is.
Thank you, Paulo.
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You are a true Warrior dear Jessica,
Is it not because you have seen through, or as you say, “past the illusion”? Yes, you have seen beyond the illusion, and have glimpsed the awaiting light of something,”better”! Something more fulfilling.
They say there is never a better time than the present, but when the time is right dear Jessica, you will feel it… in your heart… as Marie Fredriksson of Roxette sang… Listen to your Heart… and by the way thank you for sharing that wonderful video with us all…
Believe in yourself, and believe in your dream… it’s “your” destiny
Love, Paul
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what do you do when your heart takes you to a place you HATE?
why would life put you in a situation like this? i know there’s something for me to learn, but i just don’t get it.
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Very Informative
How does one learn to listen to the heart?
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My dearest Jessica, there is a Greek quote:’When a door is closed an arch-door [I am not sure of the exact word] is opened’. Stop wasting your energy to find the reasons for injustices. Gather all your strenght and go forward. Tomorrow is another day. Do not let anyone destroy your confidence and peace of mind.
‘… Learn to react fast…and ‘listen to the voice of our heart’. This is, I think, a dangerous way of reacting when our heart is .. involved!! Because whenever we are ‘heart-broken’ by reacting fast may ruin all our dreams and change the ..flow or our life.
Love,
Thelma
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This has happend so many times in my life, that I was forced
to react fast.
That is why I survived in some cases.
But in my situation right now my heart has had a hard time to speak with my ego. My ego want everything to be fair, and tells me that I should shake my boss world around, and make him understand how he should treat people with respect.
But my heart tells me I shouldn´t give my energy to this toxic situation, but instead turn my face to the light and follow the joy of opening my own practice with healing and massage (and some more things).
Is it fear that makes me wait for a better opurtunity?
I believe so, and my ego thinks that I´m not good enough yet.
Because I don´t have all diploma yet.
And also that some people think healing is humbug.
But why do I care of what other people think ??
Because it´s my “bad” pattern and I have to reclaim my confidence in my self once again.
Ohh my it´s so hard to see past the illusion, but better late then never ;-)
Love Jessica
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