Archive for the 'Q&A' Category

How do you make peace with a negative past and with those who have wronged you?

This is indeed a very personal question and there are certainly many ways for a person to deal with this.
I think though that first you need to accept your past and try to forgive those that have wronged you. But forgiving does not mean you have forgotten.

In order to move from the past to the present you need to accept your scars. But you need to do everything in your power in order to heal them so that the ghosts of your past will no longer barge in your present life.

It is a long and difficult process I grant you – but it’s a way out of guilt and hatred in my eyes.

If you have to choose between a person you love and a person you trust in, which one would you choose? In other words, what’s more important in a relationship: love or trust?

Ask yourself this question : would you prefer to be loved or trusted?

From my point of view – love and trust walk hand in hand. Love without trust is just passion, and trust without love is law.

Just having finished reading Brida, I find myself touched and compelled to ask you this question. I believe I have been blessed and am living a life driven by the Tradition of the Sun, but what is the best way for me to rekindle the flame and its power in time of doubt and weakness?

I am at a transformative time in my life, therefore I may be experiencing the Tradition of the Moon, and feel the world’s energies channeling through me, which are leaving me physically weak and in need of guidance.

Whenever in doubt or feeling weak, you should first accept that this is an intrinsic part of life. Let this moment cross you, do not deny it – because if you do, you will be shutting a part of existence from your life.

Of course, there’s a time where you feel the need to move onwards and for this to happen, focus on the blessings and the path of light that stretches before you.

As a friend once said: “First, Count your blessings in this world, rather than turning everything down for paradise”.

Are coincidences in our life are a part of our destiny and if everything is written as we say ‘maktub’, then what is the point in following our dreams?

There’s a traditional story that in my view sums up quite well the answer to your question:
There was an old man who had a dream one night that he would be protected from a ravaging storm that would engulf his whole village.

The next day, as expected, a terrible storm came to his region. The first day a neighbor of his offered help for him to flee – help that he denied since he was sure God was going to help him.
The second day, when he had to take refuge in the second floor of his house given that the waters had taken over all of the first floor, a rescue team came to his house and offered him to get out of there – help that he again refused given that God had promised him to get out of there. The third day came a helicopter to rescue him but he was adamant that God was going to save him. Not long after he drowned and died. Once in heaven he complained to God: why didn’t you help me as you promised?
To which God replied: I sent your neighbor, a rescue squad and even a helicopter to which you simply declined!

You see Saakshi: things are written, but you need to be attentive to the signs that constantly try to remind you that life wishes you to be “saved”. And salvation is the path that leads you to your dream, your fulfillment in this life.

How does someone know that you are doing what you are meant to be doing in this life?

When they feel enthusiasm in their hearts. Without this inner light, our actions become senseless.

I had read your book “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept”. I know is a love story, Pillar and her boyfriend will stay together defeating all that was against their love. The thing I don’t understand is what is the meaning of the title .In the book I noticed quotes from the Bible, exactly a psalm, about river Babylon, and the sorrow of the defeated people. Is it a connection to Pillars sadness while she thought she will never be with her lover? Thank you so much, hoping for a reply, if you have some time.

Your interpretation is correct. I was inspired by this psalm from David: “By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion.”

I wonder if there is anything like ‘unconditional love’? Why does love cause hurt, if its unconditional?

Definitely there is unconditional love. This love, in its very core, comes from within. It is what moves us in the direction of our true selves.

There’s a beautiful quote in the Upanishads that states:

“In all persons, all creatures, the Self is the innermost essence. And it is identical with Brahman: our real Self is not different from the ultimate Reality called God.”

Be careful when you say that “love hurts” – it is not love that is painful, but its absence.

You say that you only start a novel once every two years, which you then complete in a few short weeks. During this two-year period, you say that the book is “being written in your soul.” I have two specific questions: When do you first conceive of the idea for your new book – at some point during that two-year period, or at the moment when you first sit down to write it? Secondly, do you spend that two years thinking about the book and working it out in your mind, or do you simply sit down, with no prior concept of the work and just see where the writing leads you?

Dear Savita,
This is always variable.
In the case of the Alchemist for instance I knew I had to move from my previous book The Pilgrimage that is a non-fiction book. I knew I had to write a fiction but it took me a couple of months to find the right thread. During this time I felt a state of urgency in my soul but I couldn’t force things either. So I had to live with an intuition and also wait for it to flourish.
In the case of other books – such as The Winner Stands Alone – I simply let myself live. I went to Cannes film festival in 2007 and there I felt something was wrong – I couldn’t understand how this particular universe functioned and gradually felt drawn to understand it. Before I knew that was a story in my imagination.

You won your first award in a school poetry contest. Do you read poetry now? What authors? Is it an inspiration for you now?

Actually it was my sister who won this poetry contest with one of my poems. She wanted to take part in this poetry contest but asked me to write something. I wrote the poem, but feeling it wasn’t good enough, I threw in the bin. She sneaked into my room and got it, later to win the contest. I remember my surprise at this, and today I feel it was one of these decisive moments where you say to yourself: I’m able to do it.

Today I read more novels than poetry but every once in a while, I’m drawn back to one of my favorite writers: William Blake. I also like to re-read Brazilian poets such as Manuel Bandeira or the Portuguese Fernando Pessoa.

To give an example of how much poetry inspires me: for my book, Like the Flowing River, I got this image out of one of Bandera’s poems that goes like this:

“Be like a river that flows
Silent in the middle of the night
Not fearing the dark of the night,
Reflecting any star that is in the sky.
And if the sky fills with clouds,
Clouds are water, like the river, so
Reflect them too with no regret In the silent depth.”

Dear Paulo,
Does living have any finality? Do I truly have a mission? Or is my passage in this world a matter of chance?

Dear Rosa,
It’s impossible for any human being to answer your question with utter authority.
But I see your question from another angle : what happens if you were to discover that life is meaningless?
As you can see – there’s a contradiction in here. If you are to “know” something about life, it will always be something that you can understand – even if it’s absurd.
As you can see, you can’t escape from meaning – and therefore I take the stand that there’s a mission for each and every one of us: to live the life that we choose.
To accomplish our mission is to walk the path of our personal legend.
Last but not least – if are passage in this world is a matter of chance – embrace that chance. It’s a miracle.