Some people see you as a guru. Do you accept that?
Of course not.
Is it flattering?
No. It’s totally out of reality.
Are you a political writer?
Everybody is a political person, whether you say something or you are silent. A political attitude is not whether you go to parliament, it’s how you deal with your life, with your surroundings. I am at least giving the readers the sense they are not alone. But instead of trying to answer the question, “What is the meaning of life?” I try to give some meaning to my life.
When you were 17 your parents had you committed to an asylum.
Yes, three times, and also I was in jail three times, but I never saw myself as a victim. This is part of my journey. My parents wanted me to follow their dreams, not my dreams, and the simple fact that I didn’t accept that does not make me a criminal or an outcast. I thought, “One day I will write about it,” and I did. I wrote Veronica Decides to Die, and the book was about this: accept your differences and this is how you make a difference.
You can listen 3 minutes of the interview by clicking here.
Or you can read the whole interview by clicking here.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Atma Namaste to all!
Paulo: thank you for not accept yourself as a guru. You’re great because your choice is free. I love you very much just the way you are: a wonderful human being!
Beijo, Paulo!
Kiss, everyone!
Marta
The boy from Brazil. A 1 page articl on the Sunday times magazine interested me to know about you and your works.
I will start by reading the very new of your work “THE WINNER STANDS ALONE”. But I have to wait untill realized April 7?
Cristina,
You are always welcome..,, :)
God bless you all !
Thak you Santosh! nice, inspire, words.
have a nice day
all of you.
Dear all,
Even gods have sought out gurus for themselves. As the saying goes, “When the disciple is ready the Master arrives.” Like a lone ship sailing in turbulent waters hunts for a safe harbor for anchorage, similarly one has to make constant efforts in the journey of his life to find a true guru, a harbor against all storms.
-Extracted from the book, Nature God(2008)
God bless you all !
Nancy – :)
can also apply to cats 2 I guess. Meow!:)
dear Savita Vega
i have read ur post and i feel just the way u feel about our vvvvery special Paulo Cohelo.
and i think most of us feel this way!!!
i would say BRAVO Paulo Bravo we all love u!
i dont see u as a guru but i reallllllly reallllllll admire u and ur ideas and ur honesty,,,
and as a matter of fact i had never in my life had any connection to a writer in this way- blog,, and i am not sure but i hope u read some times my ideas,
and i hope one day to get to see u personally,,,,
u have helped me a LOT during my last ten years with my jurney thru ur books,,, and i feel lucky to be able to join this amazing blog,
take care of urself and be happy
orly
thanks alot
Paulo,
I love the honesty in everything you write, it helps me and no doubt others to accept who we are and our lives as they are knowing that the battles we have fought along the way have made us the person we are today. :)
Love Alex
it is seen in your eyes,you have most beautifull eyes ,what your parents done to you its horrible and for me its too sad
“Everybody is a political person, whether you say something or you are silent.”
I agree with Coelho.
There is something from me
…can be said about the corrupted politicians who easily take possession of the state’s money. They avoid thinking where this money could be used, for example, in health care or in ensuring the traffic. Robbing the state some hospitals might really be short of resources to save the life of people who could have been saved. Such politicians are the persons who without any troubles in order to get their own comfort sell lives of other people, health and prosperity. Those of their relatives, friends and acquaintances. Because every day almost everybody is constrained to come into contact with the surroundings that are not adjusted enough because the state has missed some capital or politicians and clerks have spend their time making hustles or travelling around „on business” instead of working. They do not even think that money wasted in a business trip could be used for a salary of a nurse who would save a life of a real person. Or this money could improve the policeman’s work so that he could be able to stop another murderer.
Every time ignoring the elections or without thinking voting for the politicians once caught in lying and stealing we actually give them possibility to continue their deeds, namely, stealing money that could have been used for the state’s purposes, for example, for better children’s protection.
Just a part form full post “True price for giving oneself and selling”
Radience.We can put some ideas in desires.Desires make projects become reality.And than just five senses to use-what do we long for can be obtained.Fully “covered up”,as a wooden doll,matryoshka.But to do the way round,to strip off all coverings-that’s just MASTERS can do and help us to do the same.
Dear Mr. Coelho;
It took me four years to finish The Alchemist. I could not slow down enough back then to appreciate the presence of a shepherd. I did not have the innocence of heart to let him into my life. As a result I sent the book to my cousin in Greece. She loved it and told me I must read it, for indeed the universe conspires to help you get what you want, she said.
Here I am now, having read most of your books and seeking you out on the net, wanting more of the light which you offer.
I am midway through Veronica Decides to Die, and I realize, the book was meant to reach my hands(there recently was a big to-do in my life——about Slovenia——and of course, the question of what is the point of all this struggle of life).
I want to thank you for the books, and for the shoulder to lean on that they provided. Also, for the light and thought and love of reading again that they inspired.
Thank you.
I like the lampost answer it was quite funny. Nice photo of you on the Guardian link.
Indeed.I do not see you as a Guru,maybe because I think many Gurus are only using weak people and must not be followed.Instead,you are an open sincere being, so the case does not apply.I see you as a possible leader,for theres no doubt you have all the qualities for that.I never praise easily,so I think you really are a very charismatic person,and I am glad I knew you and I read your wonderful books.
I do not either believe in .. Gurus or Idols! We are all … stars on our way to … Eternity! We are on the .. Ladder. Brothers and sisters..
LOVE,
Thelma
Dear Paulo,
You are not a “guru” perhaps, in the traditional sense – as someone to be worshipped and followed blindly – but I do think you have created something very special in your life, both in your work and here with this blog. I would say that both are very highly charged with the Divine Energy that makes the thing we call “synchronicity” possible.
I have the same experience with your books as with this blog. I can be thinking on a certain issue, or dealing with a particular problem in my life, and I come here, and there it is, in black and white, right before my very eyes – the same issue or problem I was just thinking about of dealing with. For example, I can be thinking all weekend about doors, doorways, the meaning of doors as symbols, and on Monday morning I open the blog to find that the association of the week is: doors! I can have just had a dispute with a friend and be thinking, “Well, that was pointless – I lost that battle,” and I open the blog to read: “All battles have some use, including those in which we were defeated. (The Fifth Mountain)”
This also happens with your books – I find that, as I am reading them, there is this profound connection between what I am reading and the current experiences in my life. It is like simultaneously living out the spiritual lessons I am reading of in the book. This may sound crazy, but this is the thing I call “synchronicity.” And it doesn’t happen just everywhere and with everything. When I was a student and spent much time in the stacks section of the university library, I found and became familiar with certain books that seemed to have the peculiar properties (whatever those are) to produce synchronicity. I could go in there, take one of these books from the shelf, open it at random, and the words I read would be a direct address to whatever I was dealing with in my life at that moment. Most of these were by what you might call “spiritual writers” – I remember one was some ancient text on Jewish mysticism – but some had no obvious “spiritual” content whatsoever.
My only conclusion is this: when someone, like yourself, Paulo, is walking their path and living their life in line with the Divine (as in the Bible, when it says of certain people “and he walked with God”) that person develops a certain unconscious capacity to connect with and thereby effect the lives and paths of others. You have that capacity, although I doubt that you are consciously aware of it, and it comes across both in your books and on this blog. I am sure that other people too have this experience that I am describing – these sorts of synchronicities – when they encounter your work. That is a special treasure – a special gift on your part (a treasure for us) – and indeed it is a form of spiritual “guidance.” But it isn’t as some would make it out to be – you preaching a certain system of beliefs and others taking that in as dogma and applying it to their lives. It is more like God/The Goddess working through you and through your work, as a medium, in order to reach the lives of others.
I thank you for the time and dedication you have invested and continue to invest in all your work. It is a thing of great value to many in this world.
Much Love,
Savita
Hey,great interview.I already knew most of that cause I’ve read it.
I know what you mean when you say your book is written in your soul.
Two weeks is short but possible.I have a change of heart for mine,the male character is going to change which will lead to other places and another turn,got to make some research.For me it can’t be two weeks,too short but hopefully it won’t be two years!lol.
How many here are on their way to write a book?I guess many.
Hold on tight.
;)
Kudo’s!
Love
“Is it true you wrote it in four weeks?”
_”Two weeks, yes “hi, hi, hi.:) On a score of 1 to 5 = 5!/2
“Does the dog hurt the lamppost?”
Can Keep it moist and smelly that’s all.
“when you are scared you don’t react” – you just sit in the corner.
“when you are angry you react” Which one comes first?
YES PAULO, positive energy, there are around you, that’s how I came to you. yes, I sometimes think they are on your side (I have felt and seen) as they are for me. I may be able to feel their presence and positive energy.some are protected, and I think our ancestors did not dare talk about it.
if everyone knows about today, the world would know and therefore would appear more “normal” and would be less afraid. in fact it is always the unknown that’s scary. we have confidence he asks and love, love is the key, opening the “passage” …men are willing (that is what I wanted to say in December, when I was led to you). God told me “go and shoot at them because I am among men” … I’m there by you all …
and before the grotto in Lourdes, a man “angelic” said “we must testify” when I testify, and I hope in man, in love and the energy of love that will create again and again, because the resulting.
“That your way of life is always a path of love, wherever you are”
Amen
OUI PAULO , de l’énergie positive , il y en a autour de vous , c’est comme cela que je suis arrivée devant chez vous . oui , je pense qu’ils sont parfois à vos côtés (j’ai ressenti et vu ), comme ils le sont pour moi . J’ai la faculté de pouvoir sentir leur présence et leur énergie positive . sûr certains sont protégés , et je pense que nos aïeux n’ont pas osé en parler .
si chacun sait en parler aujourd’hui , le monde aurait une connaissance et donc tout cela paraîtrait plus “normal” et ferait moins peur . en fait c’est toujours l’inconnu qui fait peur . avoir confiance nous demande -t -il et aimer , aimer : c’est la clé , l’ouverture du “passage” …les hommes sont-ils prêts (c’est ce que je voulais vous dire en décembre , lorsqu’on m’a conduit vers vous ). Dieu m’a dit “vas et descends vers eux car je suis parmi les hommes ” …je suis donc là , près de vous tous …et devant la grotte à lourdes , un homme “angélique” m’a dit “il faut témoigner ” alors je témoigne , et j’espère en l’homme ; en l’amour et en l’énergie de l’amour qu’ils seront créer encore et encore , car c’est l’issu
” Que votre chemin de Vie soit toujours un chemin d’Amour , où que vous soyez ”
Amen
{ 1 trackback }