My prayer (1990)

Published on September 5, 2010 in News. 2 Comments Print Print

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PORTUGUES: Minha oração

ESPANOL: Mi oración

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by Paulo Coelho

Lord, protect our doubts, because Doubt is a way of praying. It is Doubt that makes us grow because it forces us to look fearlessly at the many answers that exist to one question. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, protect our decisions, because making Decisions is a way of praying. Give us the courage, after our doubts, to be able to choose between one road and another. May our YES always be a YES, and NO always be a NO. Once we have chosen our road, may we never look back nor allow our soul to be eaten away by remorse. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, protect our actions, because Action is way of praying. May our daily bread be the result of the very best that we carry within us. May we, through work and Action, share a little of the love we receive. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, protect our dreams, because to Dream is a way of praying. Make sure that, regardless of our age or our circumstances, we are capable of keeping alight in our heart the sacred flame of hope and perseverance. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, give us enthusiasm, because Enthusiasm is way of praying. It is what binds us to the Heavens and to Earth, to grown-ups, and to children; it is what tells us that our desires are important and deserve our best efforts. It is Enthusiasm that reaffirms to us that everything is possible, as long as we are totally committed to what we are doing. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, protect us, because Life is the only way we have of making manifest Your miracle. May the earth continue to transform seeds into wheat, may we continue to transmute wheat into bread. And this is only possible if we have Love; therefore, do not leave us in solitude. Always give us Your company, and the company of men and women who have doubts, who act and dream and feel enthusiasm, and who live each day as if it were totally dedicated to Your glory.

Amen.

20 SEC READING: The Beloved Man (ENG, ESPA)

Published on September 5, 2010 in News. 23 Comments Print Print

A Siberian shaman asked God to show him a man that He loved. The Lord advised him to look for a certain farmer.

“What do you do to make the Lord love you so much?” the shaman asked the farmer when he found him.
“I say His name in the morning. I work all day and say His name before going to sleep. That’s all,” the farmer replied.
I think I found the wrong man, thought the shaman.

Just then the Lord appeared and said, “Fill a bowl with milk, go to town and then return. Without spilling a single drop.”

The shaman did so. On his return, the Lord wanted to know how many times he had thought of Him.
“How could I? I was worried not to spill the milk!”

“A simple bowl made you forget Me,” said the Lord, “and the farmer, with all his tasks, thinks of me twice a day.”

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El hombre amado

Un chamán siberiano pidió a Dios que le mostrase un hombre amado por Él. El Señor le aconsejó que buscara a cierto labrador.
-¿Qué haces para que el Señor te ame tanto? –preguntó el chamán al labrador cuando lo hubo encontrado.
-Digo Su nombre por la mañana. Trabajo todo el día entero, y digo Su nombre antes de dormir. Nada más que eso.
“Creo que me he equivocado de hombre,” pensó el chamán.

Y en ese momento apareció el Señor, diciendo: “Llena un cuenco de leche, ve a la ciudad y vuelve, sin derramar una sola gota.”

El chamán obedeció. A la vuelta, el Señor quiso saber cuántas veces había pensado en Él.
-¿Cómo podía hacer eso? ¡Estaba preocupado por no derramar la leche!

-Un simple cuenco ha hecho que me olvides –dijo el Señor-. Y el labrador, que nunca deja de trabajar, piensa en mí dos veces al día.

Character of the week: Rumi

Published on September 2, 2010 in Character of the Week and News. 272 Comments Print Print

If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see God in it. Those who are not in love with God will see only their own faces in it

All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that, and I intend to end up there.

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

Silence is an ocean. Speech is a river. Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you; Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want; Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep.

“When I am with you, we stay up all night.
When you’re not here, I can’t go to sleep.
Praise God for those two insomnias!
And the difference between them.”

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkh, or Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persian muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic.

By the river Piedra I sat down and wept

Published on September 1, 2010 in News. 186 Comments Print Print

One doesn’t love in order to do what is good or to help or to protect someone. If we act that way, we are perceiving the other as a simple object, and we seeing ourselves as wise and generous persons. This has nothing to do with love. To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.

You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

Every day, God gives us the sun – and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day, we try to pretend that we haven’t perceived the moment, that it doesn’t exist – that today is the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if people really pay attention in their everyday lives, they will discover that magic moment. It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock; it may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seems the same to us. But that moment exists – a moment when all the power of the stars becomes a part of us and enables us to perform miracles.

Joy is sometimes a blessing, but it is often a conquest. Our magic moment help us to change and sends us off in search of our dreams. Yes, we are going to suffer, we will have difficult times, and we will experience many disappointments – but all of this is transitory it leaves no permanent mark. And one day we will look back with pride and faith at the journey we have taken.

I could have. What does this phrase mean? At any given moment in our lives, there are certain things that could have happened but didn’t. The magic moments go unrecognized, and then suddenly, the hand of destiny changes everything.
But love is much like a dam: if you allow a tiny crack to form through which only a trickle of water can pass, that trickle will quickly bring down the whole structure, and soon no one will be able to control the force of the current.
Love is a trap. When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows.

I’m going to fight for your love. There are some things in life that are worth fighting for to the end. You are worth it.

quotes from “By the river Piedra I sat down and wept”