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.

Reading the comments on my post The 50 books that changed the world , I think it is a good idea to ask the following question, so you can share with others:

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.

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”

Em 2013, celebrando os 130 anos de nascimento do escritor libanês Khalil Gibran, coloco aqui – gratuitamente – um livro que traduzi em 1997. São suas cartas de amor com a musa de sua vida, Mary Haskell.
cliquem no link abaixo e façam o download ou leiam online

cortesia: Locadora Paulo Coelho

For centuries, books have been written in an attempt to share knowledge, inspiration, and discoveries. Sometimes those books make such an impact that they change the way the world thinks about things. The following books have done just that by providing readers an education in politics and government, literature, society, academic subjects such as science and math, and religion.

1. The Republic by Plato.
2. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
3. The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.
4. Common Sense by Thomas Paine.
5. Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville.
6. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.
7. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe.
8. On Liberty by John Stewart Mill.
9. Das Kapital by Karl Marx.
10. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.
11. Guerilla Warfare by Che Guevara.
12. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
13. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence.
14. Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.
15. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
16. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
17. Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
18. 1984 by George Orwell.
19. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
20. Iliad and Odyssey by Homer.
21. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
22. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
23. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
24. The Arabian Nights Entertainment by Andrew Lang.
25. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
26. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupry.
27. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
28. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.
29. Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi.
30. The Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft.
31. The Second xxx by Simone de Beauvoir.
32. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.
33. Walden by Henry David Thoreau.
34. A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson.
35. Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton.
36. The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud.
37. On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.
38. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.
39. Geographia by Ptolemy.
40. The Meaning of Relativity by Albert Einstein.
41. The Bible.
42. The Qur’an.
43. The Torah.
44. The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
45. The Analects of Confucius.
46. The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas.
47. The Bhagavad Gita.
48. I Ching.
49. Tao Te Ching.
BONUS:
50. Bartleby by Hermann Melville.

A powerful wizard, who wanted to destroy an entire kingdom, placed a magic potion in the well from which all the inhabitants drank. Whoever drank that water would go mad.

The following morning, the whole population drank from the well and they all went mad, apart from the king and his family, who had a well set aside for them alone, which the magician had not managed to poison.
The king was worried and tried to control the population by issuing a series of edicts governing security and public health.
The policemen and inspectors, however, had also drunk the poisoned water, and they thought the king’s decisions were absurd and resolved to take no notice of them.

When the inhabitants of the kingdom heard these decrees, they became convinced that the king had gone mad and was now giving nonsensical orders. They marched on the castle and called for his abdication.

In despair the king prepared to step down from the throne, but the queen stopped him, saying:
‘Let us go and drink from the communal well. Then we will be the same as them.’

The king and the queen drank the water of madness and immediately began talking nonsense.
Their subjects repented at once; now that the king was displaying such wisdom, why not allow him to continue ruling the country?

in Veronika decides to die

_________________________________________

PORTUGUES: Minha oração

ESPANOL: Mi oración

_________________________________________

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.

What I learned in life is,

That no matter how good a person is,
sometimes they can hurt you & because of this we must forgive.

It takes years to build trust and only seconds to destroy it ..
We don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change..

The circumstances and the environment influence on our lives,
but we are the one who responsible for ourselves..

That you have to control your acts or they will control you..

That patience requires much practice.. that there are people who love us,
but simply don’t know how to show it..

That sometimes the person you think will hurt you and make you fall..
Is instead one of the few who will help you to get up..

You should never tell a child that dreams are fake, it would be a tragedy if they knew..

It’s not always enough to be forgiven by someone,
in most cases you have to forgive yourself first..

That no matter in how many pieces your heart is broken, the world doesn’t stop to fix it ..

May be God wants us to meet all the wrong people first before meeting the right one..
So when we finally meet the right one we are grateful for that gift ..

When the door of happiness closes, another door opens..
but often we look so long at the closed one.. we don’t see what was open for us ..

The best kind of a friend is the kind in which you can sit on a porch and walk…
Without saying a word & when you leave it feels it was the best conversation you ever had.

It’s true we don’t know what we have until we find it, but its also true,
we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives..

It only takes a minute to offend someone, an hour to like someone,
a day to love someone, but it takes a life time to forget someone.

Don’t look for appearances, they can be deceiving, don’t go for wealth even that can fade,
Find someone who makes you smile, because it only takes a smile to make a day better,
find what makes your heart smile..

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much..
that you wish you can take them out of your dream and hug them for real..

Dream what you want, go wherever you want to go.. because you have only one life..
and one change to do the things you want to do ..

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything,
they just make the best of everything that comes their way.

The best future is based on the forgotten past..

You can’t go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

un chapitre du livre LE MANUSCRIT RETROUVÉ

Certaines personnes disent : « Je ne parviens pas à éveiller l’amour des autres. » Mais dans l’amour resté sans réponse il y a toujours l’espoir qu’un jour il soit accepté.

D’autres écrivent dans leur journal : « Mon génie n’est pas reconnu, mon talent n’est pas apprécié, mes rêves ne sont pas respectés. » Mais pour ceux-là aussi, il y a l’espoir que les choses changent après beaucoup de luttes.

D’autres encore passent leur temps à frapper aux portes en expliquant : « Je suis au chômage. » Ils savent que, s’ils ont de la patience, une porte s’ouvrira un jour.

Mais il y a ceux qui se réveillent tous les matins le cœur lourd. Ils ne sont pas en quête d’amour, de reconnaissance, de travail.

Ils se disent : « Je suis inutile. Je vis parce que je dois survivre, mais personne, absolument personne, ne s’intéresse à ce que je fais. »

Le soleil brille dehors, la famille est autour, ils veulent conserver le masque de la joie parce qu’aux yeux des autres ils ont tout ce dont ils ont rêvé.
Mais ils sont convaincus que tout le monde peut se passer d’eux. Ou bien parce qu’ils sont trop jeunes et constatent que les plus âgés ont d’autres préoccupations, ou bien parce qu’ils sont trop vieux et jugent que les plus jeunes se moquent bien de ce qu’ils ont à dire.

Le poète écrit quelques lignes et les jette à la poubelle, pensant : « Cela n’intéresse personne. »

L’employé arrive au travail et ne fait que répéter la tâche de la veille. Il est convaincu que si un jour il est licencié, personne ne remarquera son absence.

La jeune fille coud sa robe en s’appliquant à chaque détail et, quand arrive la fête, elle comprend ce que disent les regards : elle n’est ni plus jolie ni plus laide qu’une autre, ce n’est qu’une robe de plus parmi des millions d’autres partout dans le monde où, à ce moment précis, des fêtes semblables ont lieu. Certaines dans de vastes châteaux, d’autres dans de petits villages où tout le monde connaît tout le monde et à quelque chose à dire sur la robe des autres.
Sauf sur la sienne, qui est passée inaperçue. Elle n’était ni jolie ni laide, c’était seulement une robe de plus.
Inutile.

Les plus jeunes se rendent compte que le monde est bourré d’énormes problèmes qu’ils rêvent de résoudre, mais personne ne s’intéresse à leur opinion. « Vous ne connaissez pas encore la réalité du monde », entendent-ils. « Écoutez les plus vieux et vous saurez quoi faire. »

Les plus vieux ont acquis expérience et maturité, ils ont appris durement de l’adversité, mais quand vient l’heure de transmettre leur savoir, cela n’intéresse personne. « Le monde a changé », entendent-ils. « Il faut accompagner le progrès et écouter les plus jeunes. »

Sans respecter l’âge et sans demander la permission, le sentiment d’inutilité ronge l’âme, répétant toujours : « Personne ne s’intéresse à toi, tu n’es rien, la planète n’a pas besoin de ta présence. »
Dans l’intention désespérée de donner un sens à leur vie, beaucoup se tournent vers la religion, parce qu’une lutte au nom de la foi paraît toujours la preuve d’une certaine grandeur, qui peut transformer le monde. « Nous travaillons pour Dieu », se disent-ils.

*

Demandez à une fleur des champs : « Te sens-tu inutile, puisque tu ne fais que reproduire d’autres fleurs semblables ? »
Elle répondra : « Je suis belle, et la beauté en soi est ma raison de vivre. »

Demandez à un fleuve : « Te sens-tu inutile, puisque tu ne fais que couler toujours dans la même direction ? »
Il répondra : « Je n’essaie pas d’être utile, j’essaie d’être un fleuve. »

Rien dans ce monde n’est inutile aux yeux de Dieu. Ni une feuille qui tombe de l’arbre, ni un cheveu qui tombe de la tête, ni un insecte qui est mort parce qu’il dérangeait. Tout a une raison d’être.

N’essaie pas d’être utile. Essaie d’être toi : cela suffit et cela fait toute la différence.
Ne marche ni plus vite, ni plus lentement que ton âme. C’est elle qui t’apprendra quelle est ton utilité à chaque pas. Parfois, c’est prendre part à un grand combat qui contribuera à changer le cours de l’Histoire. Mais parfois c’est simplement sourire sans motif à quelqu’un que tu as croisé par hasard dans la rue.
Sans en avoir la moindre intention, tu as pu sauver la vie d’un inconnu qui lui aussi se jugeait inutile, et qui était peut-être sur le point de se tuer, jusqu’à ce qu’un sourire lui donne espoir et confiance.

*

The Substitute Singer

Though I was unable to prove the events of this tale, this event supposedly happened many years ago in the Paris Opera. On the night when a famous tenor was to perform, the packed house was told he would not be able to attend due to traffic.
Concerned, the director of the Opera appeared on the stage to explain what was happening and to ask for a local tenor to act as a substitute.
The audience reacted as expected; with discomfort. Some spectators rose and asked for their money back, while others simply waited to see what lay in store for them, seeing that they had instructed their chauffeurs and made reservations for dinner, and did not quite know how to kill the time.

The substitute tenor came on stage and did the best he could. For two hours he sang with all his heart and soul. At the end, there was almost complete silence.
Then one spectator applauded, and a child’s voice was heard, “Daddy, you’re great! Just great!”

The next moment, the whole theater gave a standing ovation; a simple word of love had changed everything.

—————————

O cantor substituto

Aconteceu há muitos anos na Ópera de Paris (não pude comprovar se é verdade). Os ingressos estavam todos esgotados para a apresentação de um famoso tenor, mas no dia marcado, já com a casa repleta, descobriu-se que um problema de transporte iria impedir que ele chegasse a tempo.
Desconcertado, o diretor da Ópera subiu ao palco, explicou o que estava acontecendo, e pediu que um tenor local o substituísse.
A audiência reagiu como era de se esperar; desconforto, alguns expectadores se levantando para pedir o dinheiro de volta, e outros simplesmente aguardando o que estava por vir, já que tinham marcado seus choferes e seus jantares para determinada hora, e não sabiam exatamente como passar o tempo.

O tenor substituto subiu ao palco e fez o melhor que podia. Durante duas horas, cantou com sua alma e seu coração. No final, um silêncio quase completo – porque não era exatamente ele que esperavam escutar.

Apenas um espectador aplaudia. E ouviu-se sua voz infantil:
- Papai, você é genial! Você é genial!

No momento seguinte, todo o teatro ovacionava de pé o espetáculo; uma simples palavra de amor havia mudado tudo.

—————————–

El cantante sustituto

Sucedió hace muchos años en la Ópera de París (no pude comprobar si es verdad). Las entradas para escuchar a un famoso tenor estaban agotadas, pero justo el día de la actuación, y con la casa ya repleta, se supo que un problema de transporte le impediría al cantante llegar a tiempo.
Desconcertado, el director de la Ópera subió al escenario, explicó lo que estaba ocurriendo, y pidió que un tenor local lo sustituyese.
El público reaccionó como era de esperar: tensión, algunos espectadores levantándose para pedir la devolución del dinero, y otros simplemente aguardando lo que iba a ocurrir, puesto que tenían hora para que los recogiesen sus chóferes y para cenar más tarde, y no sabían a qué dedicar su tiempo hasta entonces.

El tenor sustituto subió al escenario e hizo lo mejor que pudo. Durante dos horas, cantó con toda su alma y todo su corazón. Al final, se hizo un silencio casi perfecto: y es que no era a él a quien esperaban escuchar.
Apenas un espectador aplaudía. Y en un determinado momento, pudo oírse su voz infantil:

-¡Papá! ¡Has estado genial! ¡Genial!

Al momento siguiente, todo el teatro ovacionaba en pie, celebrando el espectáculo. Una simple palabra de amor le había dado la vuelta a todo.

by Michael Ellsberg

Age twenty-nine: I was standing by the fourth-story window of my rented flat in Buenos Aires, as I’d been doing for hours on end in recent days and months, staring sullenly at the ocean of sidewalk below, a seeming resting place of final peace with just a slight shift in weight. . .

Buenos Aires sounds to most people like a romantic vacation destination, but to me, it was a place of retreat, a sign on my failure, a last step, at the end of the earth, on the way to the end of my line.

I had taken a wrong turn somewhere in life, and after a long, winding road, I had finally hit a dead end, four stories up in an apartment overlooking the cracked sidewalks of the San Telmo neighborhood of one of the most storied cities in the world, and I was contemplating my final move.

read the full text of Michael’s experience by CLICKING HERE

Painting is an art.
And art is a power that should be aimed at developing the soul.
If art does not do this job, the abyss that separates us from God is left without a bridge.

The artist owes his talent to God and has to settle this debt.
To do this, he has to work hard, know that he is free in his art but not in his commitment to life.

Everything he feels and thinks is part of the raw material with which to improve the spiritual atmosphere around him.

Beauty, whether in art or in a woman, cannot be empty; it has to be at the service of humankind and the world.

The true work of art is born from the ‘artist’: a mysterious, enigmatic, and mystical creation.
It detaches itself from him, it acquires an autonomous life, becomes a personality, an independent subject, animated with a spiritual breath, the living subject of a real existence of being.

The artist is not a ‘Sunday child’ for whom everything immediately succeeds. He does not have the right to live without duty. The task that is assigned to him is painful, it is a heavy cross for him to bear.

There is no must in art because art is free.

Wassily Kandinsky

Buddha was gathered together with his disciples one morning, when a man came up to him:
‘Does God exist?’ he asked.
‘He does,’ replied Buddha.

 
After lunch, another man came up to him.
Does God exist?’ he asked.
‘No, he doesn’t,’ said Buddha.

 
Later that afternoon, a third man asked the same question: ‘Does God exist?’
‘That’s for you to decide,’ replied Buddha.

 
As soon as the man had gone, one of his disciples remarked angrily:
‘But that’s absurd, Master! How can you possibly give such different answers to the same question?’

 
‘Because they are all different people, and each one of them will reach God by his own path.
“The first man will believe what I say.
“The second will do everything he can to prove me wrong.
“The third will only believe in what he is allowed to choose for himself.’
 
 

The Persian poet Rumi Mo’avia was asleep one day in his palace. A strange man came and awakened him.

“Who are you?” he asked.
“I am Lucifer.”
“And what do you want?”
“It’s time for your prayer, and you’re still asleep.”

Mo’avia was impressed. But why was the Prince of Darkness, who always wants the souls of men of little faith, trying to help the poet fulfil a religious duty?

Lucifer explained,
“Remember, I grew up as an angel of light. Despite everything that happened in my life, I cannot forget my roots.”

Knowing that something was amiss, Mo’avia desperately began to pray for God to enlighten him. He spent all night talking and arguing with Lucifer, and despite the brilliant arguments he had, Mo’avia could not be swayed.

When the next day was dawning, Lucifer at last gave in, and said,
“Okay, you’re right. When I arrived this morning to wake you, my intention was not to bring you closer to the divine light. I knew that failing to fulfil this obligation, you’d feel a deep sadness, and over the coming days would pray with double the faith, asking pardon for having forgotten the correct ritual.

“In God’s eyes, each of these prayers made with love and regret, is worth the equivalent of 200 ordinary prayers said automatically. You would end up feeling like you are more purified and inspired, that God loves you this much more, and I wouldn’t be the farthest away from His soul.”

A Jewish peasant boy came to the big town to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.
But found himself without his prayer book.

The wheel of his cart had come off right in the middle of the woods and it distressed him that this day should pass without his having said his prayers.
He thought:
“The Holy One blessed is enthroned in the heavens and we pray all year long to Him. We especially pray during these two days of Rosh Hashanah when the whole world is being judged and each person is being judged for the rest of the year.
“But I forgot my prayer book”.

So this is the prayer he made:
“I have done something very foolish, Lord.
“I came away from home this morning without my prayer book and my memory is such that I cannot recite a single prayer without it.
“So this is what I am going to do:
“I shall recite the alphabet five times very slowly and you, to whom all prayers are known, will put the letters together to form the prayers I can’t remember.”

And the Holy One said to his angels,
“Of all the prayers I have heard today, this one was undoubtedly the best because it came from a heart that was simple and sincere.”

story takem from The Hasidic Stories Home Page

Music: Veneziela Naydenova (2011)
for Soprano and baritone soli, Mixed choir (SATB) and small orchestra with organ

Text: ” We pray for Japan” by Paulo Coelho

Lord, protect our planet, because we live here, and here we dwell with our daily tragedies.
May our daily reconstruction be the result of the very best that we carry within us.
Give us the courage to be able to reconstruct what was destroyed to be able to recover what was lost to be able to accept what was gone forever.
May you give us courage to look ahead, may we never look back nor allow our soul to be discouraged.
Lord, give us enthusiasm, because Enthusiasm reaffirms to us that everything is possible, as long as we are totally committed to what we are doing.
Lord, may the Earth continue to transform seeds into wheat, may we continue to transmute wheat into bread. Do not leave us in solitude.
Have compassion on us, Lord. For we often think we are dressed when we are naked.
Do not forget, in your mercy, our friends in Japan, who are now teaching us the meaning of Courage, Reconstruction, Solidarity and Enthusiasm.
Amen

Jorge sentou praça na cavalaria
E eu estou feliz porque eu também sou da sua companhia
Eu estou vestido com as roupas e as armas de Jorge
Para que meus inimigos tenham pés e não me alcancem
Para que meus inimigos tenham mãos, não me toquem
Para que meus inimigos tenham olhos e nao me vejam
E nem mesmo um pensamento eles possam ter para me fazerem mal

Armas de fogo,meu corpo não alcançará
Espadas, facas e lanças se quebrem, sem o meu corpo tocar
Cordas, correntes se arrebentem, sem o meu corpo amarrar
Pois eu estou vestido com as roupas e as armas de Jorge

Jorge é de Capadócia, viva Jorge!
Jorge é de Capadócia, salve Jorge!

Perseverança, ganhou do sórdido fingimento
E disso tudo nasceu o amor
Perseverança, ganhou do sórdido fingimento
E disso tudo nasceu o amor

Ogam toca pra Ogum
Ogam toca pra Ogum
Ogam, Ogam toca pra Ogum

Jorge é da Capadócia
Jorge é da Capadócia
Jorge é da Capadócia
Jorge é da Capadócia

Does a leaf, when it falls from the tree in winter, feel defeated by the cold?

The tree says to the leaf:
‘That’s the cycle of life. You may think you’re going to die, but you live on in me. It’s thanks to you that I’m alive, because I can breathe. It’s also thanks to you that I have felt loved, because I was able to give shade to the weary traveller. Your sap is in my sap, we are one thing.’

Does a man who spent years preparing to climb the highest mountain in the world feel defeated on reaching that mountain and discovering that nature has cloaked the summit in storm clouds?
The man says to the mountain: ‘You don’t want me this time, but the weather will change and, one day, I will make it to the top. Meanwhile, you’ll still be here waiting for me.’

Does a young man, rejected by his first love, declare that love does not exist?
The young man says to himself: ‘I’ll find someone better able to understand what I feel. And then I will be happy for the rest of my days.’

Losing a battle or losing everything we thought we possessed will bring us moments of sadness, but when those moments pass, we will discover the hidden strength that exists in each of us, a strength that will surprise us and increase our self-respect.

Wait patiently for the right moment to act.
Do not let the next opportunity slip.

Take pride in your scars.
Scars are medals branded on the flesh, and your enemies will be frightened by them because they are proof of your long experience of battle. Often this will lead them to seek dialogue and avoid conflict.

Scars speak more loudly than the sword that caused them.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Give us this day, Lord, our daily miracle.

Even if we are incapable of noticing it because our mind is focussed on great deeds and conquests. Even if we are too preoccupied with day-to-day life to know that our path was changed by it.

And when we are sad, help us to keep our eyes open to the life around us: a flower opening, the stars in the sky, the distant singing of a bird or a child’s voice nearby.

Help us to understand that there are certain things so important that we have to discover them without anyone’s help. And that we should not feel alone and helpless, because You are there with us, ready to intervene if our feet go perilously close to the abyss.

Help us to continue onward despite the fear and to accept the inexplicable despite our need to explain and know everything.

Help us to understand that Love’s strength lies in its contradictions and that Love lasts because it changes and not because it stays the same and never faces any challenges.

And to understand, too, that each time we see the humble exalted and the arrogant humbled, we are witnessing a miracle.

Help us to know that when our legs are tired, we can keep walking thanks to the strength in our hearts, and that when our hearts are tired, we can still carry on thanks to the strength of our Faith.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

I cannot sleep in your prescence.
In your absence, tears prevent me.
You watch me My Beloved
On each sleepless night and
Only You see the difference

Looking at my life
I see that only Love
Has been my soul’s companion
From deep inside
My soul cries out:
Do not wait, surrender
For the sake of Love.

If you can’t smell the fragrance
Don’t come into the garden of Love.
If you’re unwilling to undress
Don’t enter into the stream of Truth.
Stay where you are.
Don’t come our way.

All year round the lover is mad,
Unkempt, lovesick and in disgrace.
Without love there is nothing but grief.
In love… what else matters?

Love is our Mother and
The way of our Prophet.
Yet it is in our nature
To fight with Love.
We can’t see you, mother,
Hidden behind dark veils
Woven by ourselves.

Do you want to enter paradise?
To walk the path of Truth
You need the grace of God.
We all face death in the end.
But on the way, be careful
Never to hurt a human heart!

Do you know what the music is saying?
“Come follow me and you will find the way.
Your mistakes can also lead you to the Truth.
When you ask, the answer will be given.”

The Master who’s full of sweetness
Is so drunk with love, he’s oblivious.
“Will you give me
some of your sweetness?”
“I have none,” he says,
unaware of his richness.

You know what love is?
It is all kindness, generosity.
Disharmony prevails when
You confuse lust with love, while
The distance between the two
Is endless.

This Love is a King
But his banner is hidden.
The Koran speaks the Truth
But its miracle is concealed.
Love has pierced with its arrow
The heart of every lover.
Blood flows but the wound is invisible.

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.”

Dear Warriors,
At Paulo’s request, I prepared a list of all the links with book covers for his latest book Manuscript Found In Accra. Enjoy!
Suphi

A seagull was flying over a beach in the Black Sea when it saw a mouse. It swooped down from the skies and asked the rodent, “Where are your wings?”

Each of them spoke a different language, and the mouse did not understand what the seagull said, but did notice that the animal standing before it had two big strange things emerging from its body.

“It must suffer from some disease,” whispered the mouse.

The seagull noticed that the mouse was staring at its wings and said quietly, “Poor thing! It was attacked by monsters that left it deaf and robbed its wings.”

Filled with pity, the seagull took the mouse in its beak and swept it away for a ride in the skies. At least this will bring memories of the old days, the seagull thought as they flew higher and higher. Then it very carefully deposited the mouse back on the ground.

For a few months the mouse was a very unhappy creature, it had flown high up in the sky and seen a vast and beautiful world.

But as time passed, it eventually grew used to being a mouse again, and thought that the miracle that had taken place in its life was just a dream.

Ekaterinburg (Russia): Shoes

Right after the fall of communism, a Belgian company sent two representatives to look into the feasibility of selling their products. Two different reports were received.

“Nobody wears Western shoes here,” wrote the first representative, “if we install a factory here, we will suffer heavy losses.”

“Nobody wears Western shoes here,” wrote the second representative, “If we install a factory here, we will start the fashion trend and sell the entire production.”

Kairuan (Tunisia): The Truly Devout

Abu Sari owned a haberdashery in the middle of the main market in the city. He spent all day selling, buying and bargaining with the customers.

But every afternoon he drew a cloth curtain in a corner of his shop around himself and prayed.

One afternoon, a mullah visited him.
He said he was close to God and wanted to share his joy with Abu Sari.

“Where do you live?” asked the merchant.

“In the desert. There, I manage to contemplate the face of the Almighty Lord and swim in his blessings.”

“If you live in the desert, that means that you are still far from the Divine,” answered Abu Sari.
“An enlightened man lives in the middle of a market, and is never a single moment absent from the company of God.”

In 1986, when I was on the road to Santiago with my guide Petrus, we passed through the city of Logroño while a wedding was taking place. We ordered two glasses of wine, I prepared something to nibble on, and Petrus discovered a table where we could sit down together with the other guests.
The wedding couple cut an immense cake.
“They must love one another,” I thought aloud.
“Of course they love one another,” said a man in a dark suit sitting at our table. Have you ever seen anyone get married for any another reason?”

But Petrus did not let the question go unanswered:
“What type of love do you mean: Eros, Philos or Agape?”
The man looked at him without understanding a word.
“There are three words in Greek to designate love,” Petrus said. “Today you are seeing the manifestation of Eros, that sentiment between two persons.”

“The two seem to love one another. In a short time they will be fighting alone for life, establishing themselves in a house and taking part in the same adventure: that’s what makes love grand and dignified. He will pursue his career, she probably knows how to cook and will make an excellent housewife because since she was a little girl she was brought up to do that. She will accompany him, they will have children and they will manage to build something together, they will be happy for ever.”

“Al of a sudden, however, this story could happen the other way around. He is going to feel that he is not free enough to show all the Eros, all the love that he has for other women. She may begin to feel that she has sacrificed a career and a brilliant life to accompany her husband. So, instead of creating together, each of them will feel robbed in their way of loving. Eros, the spirit that joins them, will start to display only his bad side. And what God had meant to be man’s most noble sentiment will begin to be a source of hatred and destruction.”

“Notice how odd it is,” continued my guide. “Despite being good or bad, the face of Eros is never the same in all persons.”

Then he continued, pointing to an elderly couple:
“Look at those two: they haven’t let themselves be affected by hypocrisy, like so many others. They look like they are a couple of farm workers: hunger and need have obliged them to overcome many a difficulty together. They have discovered love through work, which is where Eros shows his most beautiful face, also known as Philos.”
“What’s Philos?”
“Philos is love in the form of friendship. It’s what I feel for you and others. When the flame of Eros no longer able to shine, it’s Philos who keeps couples together.”

“And what about Agape?”
“Agape is total love, the love that devours those that experience it. Whoever knows and experiences Agape sees that nothing else in this world is of any importance, only loving. This was the love that Jesus felt for humanity, and it was so great that it shook the stars and changed the course of man’s history.”
“During the millennia of the history of civilization, many people have been smitten by this Love that Devours. They had so much to give – and the world demanded so little – that they were obliged to seek out the deserts and isolated places because love was so great that it transfigured them. They became the hermit saints that we know today.”
“For me and you who have experienced another form of Agape, this life here may seem hard and terrible. Yet the Love that Devours makes everything lose its importance: these men live only to be consumed by their love.”
He took a pause.
“Agape is the Love that Devours,” he repeated once more, as if this was the phrase that best defined that strange type of love. “Luther King once said that when Christ spoke of loving our enemies he was referring to Agape. Because according to him, it was impossible to like our enemies, those who do us harm and try to make our daily suffering all the worse.”
“But Agape is a lot more than liking. It is a sentiment that invades everything, fills all the cracks and makes any attempt at aggression turn to dust.”
“There are two forms of Agape. One is isolation, life dedicated only to contemplation. The other is precisely the opposite: contact with other human beings, and enthusiasm, the sacred sense of work. Enthusiasm means trance, ecstasy, connecting with God. Enthusiasm is Agape directed at some idea, something.”
“When we love and believe in something from the bottom of our soul, we feel stronger than the world and we are imbued with a serenity that comes from the certainty that nothing can conquer our faith. This strange force makes us always make the right decisions at the right time, and we are surprised at our own capacity when we fulfill our objective.”
“Enthusiasm usually manifests itself in all its power in the early years of our life. We still have a strong tie with the divinity and we give ourselves with such zeal to our toys that dolls take on a life of their own and little tin soldiers manage to march. When Jesus said that the kingdom of Heaven belonged to the children, he was referring to Agape in the form of Enthusiasm. The children reached him without paying any attention to his miracles, his wisdom, the Pharisees and the apostles. They came happily, driven by Enthusiasm.”

taken from THE PILGRIMAGE

“May you never lose your enthusiasm at any moment for the rest of your life: it’s your greatest strength, intent on the final victory. You cannot let it slip through your fingers just because as time passes we have to face some small and necessary defeats.”

excepts from te post by Barking up the wrong tree

1) Thank someone
First thing in the morning, send an email thanking or praising someone. Research shows this can brighten your day.

2) Spend money — on someone else
Harvard professor Michael Norton, author of Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, talks about this in this video

3) Give 5 hugs
In a one-of-a-kind study, students at Pennsylvania State University were assigned to two groups. The first group was instructed to give or recevie a minimum of five hugs per day over the course of four weeks and to record the details. The hugs had to be front-to-front (nonsexual) hugs, using both arms of both participants; however, the length and strength of hug, as well as the placement of hands, were left to their discretion. Furthermore, these students couldn’t simply huge their boyfriends or girlfriends half a dozen times; they had to aim to hug as many different individuals as possible. The second, the controls, was instructed simply to record the number of hours they read each day over the same four weeks.
People assigned to give or receive hugs 5 times a day ended up happier than the control group. From Sonja Lyubomirsky’s book

4) Do stuff you’re good at
People who deliberately exercised their signature strengths on a daily basis — those qualities they were uniquely best at, the talents that set them apart from others – became significantly happier for months.

5) Do 5 little nice things for others
…individuals told to complete five acts of kindness over the course of a day report feeling much happier than control groups and that the feeling lasts for many subsequent days, far after the exercise is over. To try this yourself, pick one day a week and make a point of committing five acts of kindness. But if you want to reap the psychological benefit, make sure you do these things deliberately and consciously—you can’t just look back over the last 24 hours and declare your acts post hoc.

6) Create something to look forward to
One study found that people who just thought about watching their favorite movie actually raised their endorphin levels by 27 percent. Often, the most enjoyable part of an activity is the anticipation. If you can’t take the time for a vacation right now, or even a night out with friends, put something on the calendar—even if it’s a month or a year down the road. Then whenever you need a boost of happiness, remind yourself about it.

7) Spend time with friends
Having a better social life is the happiness equivalent of making an extra $131,232 a year:
There is substantial evidence in the psychology and sociology literature that social relationships promote happiness for the individual. Yet the size of their impacts remains largely unknown. This paper explores the use of shadow pricing method to estimate the monetary values of the satisfaction with life gained by an increase in the frequency of interaction with friends, relatives, and neighbours. Using the British Household Panel Survey, I find that an increase in the level of social involvements is worth up to an extra £85,000 a year in terms of life satisfaction. Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness.

8) Before bed, write down three good things that happened today
Every night for the next week, set aside ten minutes before you go to sleep. Write down three things that went well today and why they went well. You may use a journal or your computer to write about the events, but it is important that you have a physical record of what you wrote. The three things need not be earthshaking in importance (“ My husband picked up my favorite ice cream for dessert on the way home from work today”), but they can be important (“ My sister just gave birth to a healthy baby boy”).

Read the full blog post by CLICKING HERE

Life is too short for us to keep important words, for example, ‘I love you’, locked in our hearts.

But do not always expect to hear the same words back. We love because we need to love. Otherwise, love loses all meaning and the sun ceases to shine.

A rose dreams of enjoying the company of bees, but none appears. The sun asks:
‘Aren’t you tired of waiting?’
‘Yes,’ answers the rose, ‘but if I close my petals, I will wither and die.’

And yet, even when Love does not appear, we remain open to its presence. Sometimes, when loneliness seems about to crush everything, the only way to resist is to keep on loving.

Our one true choice is to plunge into the mystery of that uncontrollable force.
Then we discover, when we go home, that someone was there waiting for us, looking for the same thing we were looking for and experiencing the same anxieties and longings.

Because love is like the water that is transformed into a cloud: it’s lifted up into the heavens, where it can see everything from a distance, aware that, one day, it will have to return to earth.

Because love is like the cloud that is transformed into rain: it is drawn down to the earth, where it waters the fields.

Love is only a word, until we decide to let it possess us with all its force.
Love is only a word, until someone arrives to give it meaning.

Don’t give up. Remember, it’s always the last key on the keyring that opens the door.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Without solitude, Love will not stay long by your side.

Because Love needs to rest as well, so that it can journey through the heavens and reveal itself in other forms.

Without solitude, no plant or animal can survive, no soil can remain productive for any length of time, no child can learn about life, no artist can create, no work can grow and be transformed.

Solitude is not the absence of Love, but its complement.
Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life.

Therefore, blessed are those who do not fear solitude, who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse themselves with, something to judge.

If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself.
And if you do not know yourself, you will begin to fear the void.

But the void does not exist. A vast world lies hidden in our soul, waiting to be discovered. There it is, with all its strength intact, but it is so new and so powerful that we are afraid to acknowledge its existence.

Just as Love is the divine condition, so solitude is the human condition. And for those who understand the miracle of life, those two states peacefully coexist.
 
 
taken from “MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA”

In the monastery of Sceta, Abbot Lucas gathered the brothers together for a sermon.

‘May you all be forgotten,’ he said.

‘But why?’ one of the brothers asked. ‘Does that mean that our example can never serve to help someone in need?’

‘In the days when everyone was just, no one paid any attention to people who behaved in an exemplary manner,’ replied the abbot.

” ‘Everyone did their best, never thinking that by behaving thus they were doing their duty by their brother. They loved their neighbour because they understood that this was part of life and they were merely obeying a law of nature.

“They shared their possessions in order not to accumulate more than they could carry, for journeys lasted a whole lifetime.

“They lived together in freedom, giving and receiving, making no demands on others and blaming no one.

“That is why their deeds were never spoken of and that is why they left no stories. If only we could achieve the same thing now: to make goodness such an ordinary thing that there would be no need to praise those who practise it.”

Why Greece?

by Keith Parkins

Early in the day Paulo Coelho held a press conference.

The party started with cocktails, followed by prayers in many languages.

St Joseph is the patron saint of workers, we should remember that many people have lost their jobs and think of them.

That is why the party this year was being held in Greece. It gets a very bad press, the workers slandered as lazy. By holding the party in Athens, it gave people the chance to see a different side of Greece, the real Greece.

We are all travellers, we then have a different view of life if we travel.

The party was held in a roof top restaurant with excellent views of Athens, the centre piece being the Acropolis.

At midnight, after eating, after Greek dancing, and following plate smashing, a rock group played until 2am.

Reading from By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, Paulo smashed a plate. This was symbolic of breaking the link with what is bad, what is holding us back.

At 1am the rock group was joined by Rudolf Schenker, who was then joined on vocals by Paulo Coelho performing Still Loving You.

Book signing.

All good things have to come to an end. The party ended around 3am. Some of us remained in the hotel lobby chatting. I finally got to my hotel around 4-30am. Others were checking out to travel to the airport to fly home.

On leaving, a special present, a relief of a classical subject, the likes of which can be found in the Acropolis Museum.

A special thanks to Paulo for such an excellent party.

As I do every year, today we are going to celebrate (this time in Athens Greece) the day of my patron, Saint Joseph. Together with 120 friends, we will say the prayer below at 8:30 PM. Be welcome to join us!

photo by Paulo Coelho

By Paulo Coelho

All creative processes, be they in literature, engineering, computing – and even in love – always respect the same rules: the cycle of nature. Here is a list of the stages along this process:

a] ploughing the field: the moment the soil is turned, oxygen penetrates places it was unable to previously. The field gets a fresh look, the earth which was on top is now below, and that which was underneath has come to the surface. This process of interior revolution is very important – because, just as the field’s new look will see sunlight for the first time, and be dazzled by it, a new assessment of our values will allow us to see life innocently, without ingenuity. Thus we will be prepared for the miracle of inspiration. A good creator must know how to continually turn over his values, and never be content with that which he believes he understands.

b] sowing: all work is the fruit of contact with life. A creative man cannot lock himself in an ivory tower; he must be in contact with his fellow men, and share his human condition. He never knows, at the outset, which things will be important to him in the future, so the more intense his life is, the more possibilities he will create for an original language. Le Corbusier said that: as long as man tried to fly by imitating birds, he couldn’t succeed. The same applies to the artist: although he translates emotions, the language he is translating is not fully understood by him, and if he tries to imitate or control his inspiration, he will never obtain that which he desires. He must allow his life to sow the fertile soil of his unconscious.

c] growth: there is a time in which the work writes itself, freely, at the bottom of the author’s soul – before it dares show itself. In the case of literature, for example, the book influences the writer, and vice versa. It is this moment which the Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade refers to, when he states that we should never try to recover lost verses, for they never deserved to see the light of day. I know people who, during a growth period, spend their whole time furiously taking notes on everything which comes into their head, without respecting that which is being written in the unconscious. The result is that the notes, which are the fruit of memory, end up disturbing the fruit of inspiration. The creator must respect the time of gestation, although he knows – just like the farmer – that he is only partially in control of his field; it is subject to drought and floods. But if he knows how to wait, the stronger plants, which can resist bad weather, will come to light with great force.

d] the harvest: the moment when man manifests on a conscious plane that which he sowed and allowed to grow. If he harvests early, the fruit is green, if he harvests late, the fruit is rotten. Every artist recognizes the arrival of this moment; although some aspects may not have matured fully, some ideas not be crystal clear, they reorganize themselves as the work is produced. Without fear and with great discipline, he understands that he must work from dawn to dusk, until the work is finished.

And what to do with the results of the harvest? Again, we look to Mother Nature: she shares everything with everyone. An artist who wishes to keep his work to himself, is not being fair with that which he received from the present moment, nor with the inheritance and teachings of his forefathers. If we leave the grain stored in the granary, it will go bad, even though it was harvested at the right time. When the harvest is over, the time comes to share, without fear or shame, your own soul.

That is the artist’s mission, however painful or glorious.

I held his hand. He knew about the great mysteries of the Goddess, but he knew about as much about love as much as I; even though he had traveled so far.

And he would have to pay a price: the initiative. Because the woman pays the highest price: the surrender.

We held hands for a long time. I could see in his eyes the ancient fears that true love creates and proves. I read the memory of rejection from the previous night, the long time spent apart, the years in the monastery in search of a world where these things did not happen.

I could see in his eyes the thousands of times I could have imagined this moment, the scenarios built around us, the color of our hair and the color of my clothes. I wanted to say “yes”, he would be welcome, that my heart had won the battle. I wanted to say how much I loved him, how much I desired the moment as well.

But I kept silent. I watched, as if in a dream, his inner struggle. I saw that he had before him my “no”, the fear of losing me, the harsh words he had heard in similar moments – because we all go through it, and accumulate scars.

His eyes began to shine. He knew I was winning all those barriers.

So I released one hand, grabbed a cup and put it at the edge of the table.

“It’s going to fall,” he said.

“Exactly. I want you to fall,” I said.

“By breaking a glass?” he asked.

“Yes, by breaking a glass. A seemingly simple gesture, but it involves fears that we will never come to understand,” I responded. “What’s wrong with breaking a cheap glass, when we have all done this without meaning to at some point in our lives?”

“Breaking a glass?” he repeated, “Why?”

“I can give some explanations,” I answered, “but to be truthful it’s only for the sake of breaking it.”

“For your sake?”

“Of course not.”

He looked at the glass on the edge of the table , I could tell he was worried about it falling.

I wanted to say that it’s a rite of passage, as he’s often said. That it’s forbidden. That glasses do not break it on purpose. That when we walk into restaurants or into our homes, we are always careful to move the glasses that are on the edge of the table. Our world requires us to make sure that the glasses do not fall on the floor.

However, I kept thinking, when broken by accident, we see that it was not so serious. The waiter says “don’t worry about it”, and I’ve never seen a broken glass be billed on a restaurant tab. Breaking glasses is a part of life and do not cause any harm to us, the restaurant, or the next person to sit at that table.

I took a bump on the table. The glass shook, but did not fall.

“Be careful!” he said instinctively.

“Break the glass,” I insisted.

Break the glass, I thought to myself, because it is a symbolic gesture. Try to understand that within myself, things were breaking of much more importance than a glass, and I’m happy for that. Look to your own inner struggles and break this glass.

Our parents taught us to be careful with glasses and with our bodies. They taught us that the passions of childhood are impossible; we should not remove men from the priesthood, that people do not perform miracles and that no one goes on a journey without knowing where he wants to go.

Break this cup, please, I thought to myself, and release of all these damn misconceptions, the habit you have of only doing that which everyone agrees with.

“Break this glass,” I say again.

He fixed his eyes on mine. Then, slowly, he slid his hand over the table, to touch the glass. In a quick movement, he pushed it to the ground.

The sound of broken glass caught everyone’s attention. Instead of covering up the broken glass or apologizing, he looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.

“Don’t worry about it!” yelled the waiter from across the restaurant.

But he did not listen. He had already risen from his seat, grabbed me by the hair and kissed me.

I pulled on his hair, hugged him with all my strength, bit his lips, felt his tongue moving inside my mouth. It was a kiss that had a lot attached to it, that had been born along the rivers of our childhood, when we did not understand the meaning of love. It was a kiss that was suspended in the air while we were growing up. It had traveled around the world through the memory of a medal, which was hidden behind stacks of books used to study for a public job. A kiss that had been lost many times before and had now had been found. At that moment, the kiss ended years of searching, disappointments and impossible dreams.

I kissed him hard. The few people who were at the bar must have looked and thought they were seeing just a kiss. They did not know at that moment, that kiss was the summary of my life, of his life, the life of any person who hopes, dreams and seeks his way under the sun.

In that minute, in that kiss, were all of the happy moments I have ever lived.

in “By the river Piedra I sat down and wept”

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream.

The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food.
The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him.
She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious.

“Teach me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone.”

story sent by David

Una mujer sabia que viajaba por las montañas encontró una piedra preciosa en un arroyo.
Al día siguiente se cruzó con otro viajero que estaba hambriento, y la mujer abrió su bolsa para compartir con él su comida.

El viajero hambriento vio la piedra preciosa en la bolsa, se quedó admirado de su belleza y le pidió que se la regalara.
La mujer lo hizo sin dudar.

El viajero partió, alegrándose de su buena suerte. Sabía que la joya valía lo suficiente como para darle seguridad por el resto de su vida.

Pero a los pocos días regresó en busca de la mujer sabia. Cuando la encontró, le devolvió la piedra.
“He estado pensando” dijo. “Sé cuán valiosa es esta piedra, pero se la devuelvo con la esperanza de que pueda obsequiarme algo mucho más precioso.”

“Deme lo que hay en su interior que le permitió regalarme la piedra”

trad: Karem Molina Escobar

“I’m going in search of the adventure of being alive.

And it’s complicated: why am I not looking for happiness when everyone has taught me that happiness is the only goal worth pursuing?

Why am i going to risk taking a path that no one else is taking?
After all, what is happiness?

Love, they tell me. But love doesn’t bring and never has brought happiness.

On the contrary, its a constant state of anxiety, a battlefield; its sleepless nights, asking ourselves all the time if we’re doing the right thing. Real love is composed of ecstacy and agony.All right then, peace.

Peace? If we look Nature, there is no peace.
The winter does battle with the summer, the sun and d moon never meet, the tiger chases the man, who’s afraid of the dog, who chases the cat, who chases the mouse, who frightens the man.

Money brings happiness. Fine.
In that case, everyone who earns enough to have a high standard of living would be able to stop work.
But then they’re more troubled than ever, as if they were afraid of losing everything.
Money attracts money, that’s true. Poverty might bring unhappiness, but money wont necessarily bring happiness.I spent a lot of my life looking for happiness, now what i want is joy.

Joy is like sex – it begins and ends. I want pleasure. I want to be contended, but happiness?
I no longer fall into that trap.”
 
 
Athena, the main character in ( “The Witch of Portobello” )

In 1986, I went for the first and only time on the pilgrimage known as the Way to Santiago, an experience I described in my first book. We had just finished walking up a small hill, a village appeared on the horizon, and it was then that my guide, whom I shall call Petrus (although that was not his name), said to me:

- We must never stop dreaming. Dreams provide nourishment for the soul, just as a meal does for the body. Many times in our lives we see our dreams shattered and our desires frustrated, but we have to continue dreaming. If we don’t, our soul dies

‘The Good Fight is the one we Fight because our heart asks it of us.The Good Fight is the one that’s fought in the name of our dreams. When we are young our dreams first explode inside us with all of their force, we are very courageous, but we haven’t yet learned how to Fight. With great effort, we learn how to Fight, but by then we no longer have the courage to go into combat. So we turn against ourselves and do battle within. We become our own worst enemy. We say that our dreams were childish, or too difficult to realize, or the result or our not having known enough about life. We kill our dreams because we are afraid to Fight the Good Fight.

“The first symptom of the process of killing our dreams is lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The Truth is, they are afraid to Fight the Good Fight…

“The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are Fighting the Good Fight.

“And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams-we have refused to Fight the Good Fight.

“When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being. We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves.
“What we sought to avoid in combat-disappointment and defeat-came upon us because of our cowardice. And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breath, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from out certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of Sunday afternoons.”

in “The Pilgrimage”(1987)

Lou Salome, P. Ree and Frederic Nietzche

Lou Salomé‘s mother took her to Rome, Italy when she was 21. At a literary salon in the city, Salomé became acquainted with Paul Rée, an author and compulsive gambler with whom she proposed living in an academic commune. After two months, the two became partners. On 13 May 1882, Rée’s friend Friedrich Nietzsche joined the duo. The three travelled with Salomé’s mother through Italy and considered where they would set up their “Winterplan” commune. Arriving in Leipzig, Germany in October, Salomé and Rée separated from Nietzsche after a falling-out between Nietzsche and Salomé, in which Salomé believed that Nietzsche was desperately in love with her.

She was singularly clever and attractive. One after another they all fell in love with her like Nietzsche the moment he saw her and according to legend said: “What star have we both come from to meet here?”

Nietzsche’s mother was tradition-minded and disliked Lou, but Nietzsche thought that his sister would side with him against their mother. He failed to understand that his sister was a schemer. As a born spinster she did not appreciate the way Lou held center stage.

She wrote more than a dozen novels, a study of Ibsen’s woman characters and a famous book on her friend Friedrich Nietzsche, “Friedrich Nietzsche in seinen Werke”, 1894, one of the most informative books of the 19th century on Nietzsche’s work .

She also edited a memory-book on her lifelong close friend and onetime lover, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, after his death in 1926. Among her works is also a book she wrote during her last years based on memories of her life as a free woman.

In her memoirs, which were first published in their original German in 1951, she goes into depth about matters of her faith and her relationships.

“Whoever reaches into a rosebush may seize a handful of flowers; but no matter how many one holds, it’s only a small portion of the whole. Nevertheless, a handful is enough to experience the nature of the flowers. Only if we refuse to reach into the bush, because we can’t possibly seize all the flowers at once, or if we spread out our handful of roses as if it were the whole of the bush itself — only then does it bloom apart from us, unknown to us, and we are left alone.”

Salomé is said to have remarked in her last days, “I have really done nothing but work all my life, work … why?” And in her last hours, as if talking to herself, she is reported to have said, “If I let my thoughts roam I find no one. The best, after all, is death.”

_______________________________________________

Lou Andreas-Salomé, nascida Louise von Salomé, (São Petesburgo, 12 de fevereiro de 1861 — Gotinga, 5 de fevereiro de 1937) foi uma intelectual alemã, nascida na Rússia.

Lou Andreas-Salomé foi uma bela mulher que escandalizou a sociedade e quebrou regras morais. Teve vários amantes. Conheceu Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Rainer Maria Rilke, Paul Rée, entre outros grandes homens. Mulher sensível, tinha mito de sedutora.

A produção literária de Lou esteve sempre muito ligada aos seus envolvimentos amorosos e da relação com Rainer Maria Rilke, aos 36 anos, resultaram obras fundamentais da escritora como “A humanidade da mulher” e “Reflexões sobre o problema do amor”.

Ouse, ouse… ouse tudo!!

Não tenha necessidade de nada!
Não tente adequar sua vida a modelos,
nem queira você mesmo ser um modelo para ninguém.
Acredite: a vida lhe dará poucos presentes.
Se você quer uma vida, aprenda… a roubá-la!
Ouse, ouse tudo! Seja na vida o que você é, aconteça o que acontecer.
Não defenda nenhum princípio, mas algo de bem mais maravilhoso:
algo que está em nós e que queima como o fogo da vida!!

Dear friends:

Close to one year ago I wrote a piece on SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act)

In that post, I said:
we should fight any control on Internet. Because all writers want what they write to be read, whether in a newspaper, blog, pamphlet, or on a wall.
The more often we hear a song on the radio, the keener we are to buy the CD. It’s the same with literature.
The more people ‘pirate’ a book, the better. If they like the beginning, they’ll buy the whole book the next day

Yesterday, Feb 27, I found a pirated audiobook of “The Alchemist”.

The only thing you have to do is to click the link at the top of this post, and there you have the full book, read by Jeremy Irons.
You can listen or download it, and nobody is controlling you – except your conscience.
But you calso tell the entertainment industry that “piracy” is not the danger they think it is.
Everybody is esssentially honest. I believe in this, and I am not naive.

Let’s make a deal:
If you listen to more than 5 minutes, please buy the book (or the audiobook ) so the industry will understand that “piracy” is not a threat to their business.

Nobody is watching you, as I said before.
It is your decision, and I am sure it will be the best decision.

Love
Paulo

My literature is totally committed with a new political attitude – human beings in search of their own identity.

We are the revolution taking place. We are responsible for the world in every sense – political, social, moral.
We are responsible for the planet. We are responsible for the unemployed.
We are responsible for the tyrants currently in power.
We are responsible for the torturers, the opressors.

Of course, we can blame the banks, the disaster that irresponsible people created in the financial system, the political repression, the inability of the Govts. to hear what people has to say.

But this will not help the world to become a better place. We need to act, and we need to act now.

And we don’t need permission to act.

We are much more powerful than we think we are. Let’s use this power, use the strength that everyone has when he/she is following his/her real Bliss, Personal Legend, you name it.
We are the dreamers, but we are also the revolution.
Dreams are not negotiable. Dreamers can’t be tamed.

I outlined my declaration of principles in the links below. Do the same. And implement everything you think should be implemented.
Love
Paulo

Click below for
ENGLISH: Declaration of principles
ESPANOL: Declaracion de principios
PORTUGUES: Declaração de princípios

Beauty exists not in sameness but in difference.

Who could imagine a giraffe without its long neck or a cactus without its spines?
The irregularity of the mountain peaks that surround us is what makes them so imposing. If we tried to make them all the same, they would no longer command our respect.

It is the imperfect that astonishes and attracts us.

When we look at a cedar tree, we don’t think: ‘The branches should be all the same length.’
We think: ‘How strong it is.’

When we see a snake, we never say: ‘He is crawling along the ground, while I am walking with head erect.’
We think: ‘He might be small, but his skin is colourful, his movements elegant, and he is more powerful than me.’

When the camel crosses the desert and takes us to the place we want to reach, we never say: ‘He’s humpbacked and has ugly teeth.’
We think: ‘He deserves my love for his loyalty and help. Without him, I would never be able to explore the world.’

A sunset is always more beautiful when it is covered with irregularly shaped clouds, because only then can it reflect the many colours out of which dreams and poetry are made.

Pity those who think: ‘I am not beautiful. That’s why Love has not knocked at my door.’
In fact, Love did knock, but when they opened the door, they weren’t prepared to welcome Love in.

They were too busy trying to make themselves beautiful first, when, in fact, they were fine as they were.
They were trying to imitate others, when Love was looking for something original.

They were trying to reflect what came from outside, forgetting that the brightest light comes from within.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

We were born alone and we will die alone. But, while we are on this planet, we must accept and glorify our act of faith through other people.

Community is life: from it comes our capacity for survival. That is how it was when we lived in caves and so it is today.

Respect those who grew up and learned alongside you. Respect those who taught you.

When the day comes, tell your stories and teach, that way the community can continue to exist and our traditions remain unchanged.
Anyone who does not share his moments of joy and discouragement with others will never fully know his own qualities and his own defects.

Meanwhile, be alert to a danger that threatens all communities: people being drawn into a standard way of behaving, taking as their model their own limitations, fears and prejudices.

That is a very high price to pay, because in order for you to be accepted, you will have to please everyone.

And that is not proof of love for the community, but proof of a lack of love for oneself.

You will only be loved and respected if you love and respect yourself.
Never try to please everyone; if you do, you will be respected by no one.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Men and women whisper to each other because they have turned a sacred gesture into a sinful act.

This is the world in which we live. And while robbing the present moment of its reality can be dangerous, disobedience can also be a virtue, when we know how to use it.

If two bodies merely join together, that is not sex, it is merely pleasure.
Sex goes far beyond pleasure.

In sex, relaxation and tension go hand in hand, as do pain and pleasure, shyness and the courage to go beyond one’s limits.

How can such opposing states exist in harmony together? There is only one way: by surrendering yourself.
Because the act of surrender means: ‘I trust you.’

It isn’t enough to imagine everything that might happen if we allowed ourselves to join not just our bodies, but our souls as well.

Let us plunge together, then, down the dangerous path of surrender.
It may be dangerous, but it is the only path worth following.

Let us forget all that we are taught about how it is noble to give and humiliating to receive.
Because for most people, generosity consists only in giving, but receiving is also an act of love.

Allowing someone else to make us happy will make them happy too.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

In 1986, while I walked the St. James Path with Petrus, my guide, we passed by the city of Logroño while a wedding was taking place. We asked for two cups of wine, I prepared a dish with canapés and Petrus found a table where we could sit with the other guests.

The bride and the groom cut a huge cake.

“They must love one another,” I thought out loud. “Of course they love each other,” said a man in a dark suit sitting at the table.Have you ever seen people marrying for another reason?”

But Petrus didn’t let the question pass: “Which kind of love do you mean: Eros, Philia or Agape?”

The gentleman looked at him without understanding.

“There are three Greek words to designate love,” he said. “Today you are seeing the manifestation of Eros, that feeling between two people.”

The couple smiled to the flashes and was being greeted.

“It seems that they love each other. Soon they will be fighting alone for life; they will build a house and will participate in the same adventure: that ennobles and dignifies love. He will follow his career, she probably knows how to cook and will be an excellent lady of the house, because she was brought up to know that. She will follow him, they will have children and if they are able to build anything together, they will really be happy forever.”
“Suddenly, however, this story may happen in the other way around. He will start feeling he isn’t free enough to manifest the whole Eros, all the love he feels for other women.

She may start to feel that she has sacrificed a career and a brilliant life to follow her husband. So, instead of a joint construction, each one will feel robbed in their way of loving.

Eros, the spirit that unites them, will start showing only its mean side. And what God had destined for Man as his noblest feeling, will be the source of hatred and destruction.”

I looked around. Eros was present in many couples. But I could sense the presence of Good Eros and Evil Eros, exactly as Petrus had described.

“Observe how curious it is,” my guide continued, “in spite of being good and bad, the face of Eros is never the same in each person.”

The band started to play a waltz. People went to a small cemented space in front of the bandstand to dance.

The alcohol started to rise and everyone was happier and sweating more. I noticed a girl dressed in blue who probably waited for this wedding only for the moment of the waltz because she wanted to dance with someone with whom she dreamed of embracing ever since her first adolescence years.

Her eyes followed the moves of a welldressed young man in a bright suit among a round of friends. They were talking happily, they hadn’t noticed that the waltz had started; they didn’t notice that at a few meters distance there was a girl in blue looking insistently to one of them.

It reminded me of the small cities, of the marriages with the chosen boys longed for since childhood. The girl in blue noticed my look and moved away.

And as if every move were concerted, it was the boy’s turn to look for her with his eyes. As he noticed her near other girls, he went back to talking happily to his friends.

I called Petrus’ attention to them. He followed their staring games for a while and then turned back to his cup of wine.

“They act as if it was a shame to show they love each other,” was his only commentary.

Another girl looked fixedly at both of us; she should be half our age. Petrus raised his cup of wine, cheered, the girl smiled bashfully, pointed to her parents, almost apologizing for not getting nearer. “That is the beautiful side of love,” he said.

“The love that defies, the love for two older strangers who came from afar and will already have left tomorrow for a path she would also like to walk. Love prefers adventure.”
 
 

in The Pilgrimage
 

Tonight, before leaving, I’m going to spend time sorting through the pile of things I never had the patience to put in order.
And I will find that a little of my history is there.
All the letters, the notes, cuttings and receipts will take on their own life and have strange stories to tell me – about the past and about the future.
All the different things in the world, all the roads travelled, all the entrances and exits of my life.

I am going to put on a shirt I often wear and, for the first time, I am going to notice how it was made.
I am going to imagine the hands that wove the cotton and the river where the fibres of the plant were born.
I will understand that all those now invisible things are a part of the history of my shirt.

And even the things I am accustomed to – like the sandals which, after long use, have become an extension of my feet – will be clothed in the mystery of discovery.

Since I am heading off into the future, I will be helped by the scuff marks left on my sandals from when I stumbled in the past.

May everything my hand touches and my eyes see and my mouth tastes be different, but the same.
That way, all those things will cease to be a still life and instead will explain to me why they have been with me for such a long time; and they will reveal to me the miracle of re-encountering emotions worn smooth by routine.

I will drink some tea that I have never tried before because others told me it tasted horrible.
I will walk down a street I have never walked down before because others told me it was totally without interest.

And I will find out whether or not I would like to go back there.

Everybody thinks only about safety. ADVENTURE, I WANT YOU BACK IN MY LIFE!
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Nature is a manifestation of the Love of God.
Regardless of what we do, Nature continues to love us.
Let us, therefore, respect and understand what Nature teaches us.

We love because Love sets us free, and we say things that we once never even had the courage to whisper to ourselves.
We make a decision that we kept putting off.
We learn to say ‘No’ without thinking of that word as somehow cursed.
We learn to say ‘Yes’ without fearing the consequences.

We forget everything we were taught about Love, because each encounter is different and brings its own agonies and ecstasies.

We sing more loudly when the person we love is far away and whisper poems when he is near, even if he doesn’t listen and pays no attention to either our shouts or our whispers.

We don’t close our eyes to the Universe and then complain: ‘It’s dark.’
We keep our eyes wide open, knowing that the light could lead us to do undreamed-of things.
That is all part of love.

Our heart is open to love and we surrender to it without fear, because we have nothing more to lose.
Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

A merchant sent his son to learn the Secret of Happiness from the wisest of men. The young man wandered through the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. There lived the sage that the young man was looking for.

However, instead of finding a holy man, our hero entered a room and saw a great deal of activity; merchants coming and going, people chatting in the corners, a small orchestra playing sweet melodies, and there was a table laden with the most delectable dishes of that part of the world.

The wise man talked to everybody, and the young man had to wait for two hours until it was time for his audience.

The Sage listened attentively to the reason for the boy’s visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have the time to explain to him the Secret of Happiness.

He suggested that the young man take a stroll around his palace and come back in two hours’ time.

“However, I want to ask you a favor,” he added, handling the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. “While you walk, carry this spoon and don’t let the oil spill.”

The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases, always keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. At the end of two hours he returned to the presence of the wise man.

“So,” asked the sage, “did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see the garden that the Master of Gardeners took ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?”

Embarrassed, the young man confessed that he had seen nothing. His only concern was not to spill the drops of oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“So, go back and see the wonders of my world,” said the wise man. “You can’t trust a man if you don’t know his house.”

Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and strolled again through the palace, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceiling and walls.
He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, the delicacy of the flowers, the taste with which each work of art was placed in its niche. Returning to the sage, he reported in detail all that he had seen.

“But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?” asked the sage.

Looking down at the spoon, the young man realized that he had spilled the oil.

“Well, that is the only advice I have to give you,” said the sage of sages.
“The Secret of Happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon.”

from the book “The Alchemist”

(THE AUTHOR – MYSELF – IS NOT RECEIVING ANY RIGHTS OF THE 25.000 COPIES )

Paulo,

Thank you.
Mark Tauber
(my publisher in Harper Collins USA)

For more information on the World Book Night 2013, please CLICK HERE

Even if you were to study your own life in detail and relive each moment that you suffered, sweated and smiled beneath the sun, you would still never know exactly when you had been useful to someone else.

A life is never useless. Each soul that came down to Earth is here for a reason.

The people who really help others are not trying to be useful, but are simply leading a useful life.
They rarely give advice, but serve as an example.
Do one thing: live the life you always wanted to live.

Avoid criticising others and concentrate on fulfilling your dreams.
This may not seem very important to you, but God, who sees all, knows that the example you give is helping Him to improve the world. And each day, He will bestow more blessings upon it.

And when the Unwanted Visitor arrives, you will hear it say:
‘It is fair to ask: “Father, Father, why hast thou forsaken me?”
‘But now, in this final second of your life on Earth, I am going to tell you what I saw: I found the house clean, the table laid, the fields ploughed, the flowers smiling. I found each thing in its proper place, precisely as it should be. You understood that small things are responsible for great changes.

‘And for that reason, I will carry you up to Paradise.’
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

We are afraid to change because we think that, after much effort and sacrifice, we know our present world.

And even though that world might not be the best of all worlds and even though we may not be entirely satisfied with it, at least it won’t give us any nasty surprises.
We won’t go wrong.
When necessary, we will make a few minor adjustments so that everything continues the same.

We see that the mountains always stay in the same place. We see that fully-grown trees, when transplanted, usually die.
And we say: ‘We want to be like the mountains and the trees. Solid and respectable.’

Even though, during the night, we wake up thinking:
‘I wish I was like the birds, who can visit Damascus and Baghdad and come back whenever they want to.’

Or: ‘I wish I was like the wind, for no one knows where it comes from nor where it goes, and it can change direction without ever having to explain why.’

The next day, however, we remember that the birds are always fleeing from hunters and other larger birds, and that the wind sometimes gets caught up in a whirlwind and destroys everything around it.

It’s nice to dream that we will have plenty of time in the future to do our travelling and that, one day, we will. It cheers us up because we know that we are capable of doing more than we do.
Dreaming carries no risks. The dangerous thing is trying to transform your dreams into reality.

Wrong!
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

(statistics are for USA only, but I believe that they repeat themselves in every single country on this planet)

1] Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year.

2] 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4 percent of the time.

3] Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying.

4] 1 in 7 students in grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying.

5] 56 percent of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school and did nothing.

6] Over two-thirds of students believe that schools respond poorly to bullying, with a high percentage of students believing that adult help is infrequent and ineffective.

7] 71 percent of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school.

8] 90 percent of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of bullying.

9] 1 out 10 students drop out of school because of repeated bullying.

10] Harassment and bullying have been linked to 75 percent of school-shooting incidents.

11] Physical bullying increases in elementary school, peaks in middle school and declines in high school. Verbal abuse, on the other hand, remains constant.

(source: DoSomething.org )

Our great goal in life is to love. The rest is silence.

We need to love.
Even when it leads us to the land where the lakes are made of tears, to that secret, mysterious place, the land of tears!

Tears speak for themselves. And when we feel that we have cried all we needed to cry, they still continue to flow.
But when we believe that our life is destined to be a long walk through the Vale of Sorrows, the tears suddenly vanish.

Because we managed to keep our heart open, despite the pain.

Because we realised that the person who left us did not take the sun with them or leave darkness in their place.
They simply left, and with every farewell comes a hidden hope.

It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

In order to hear Love’s words, you must allow Love to approach.

However, when it does draw near, we fear what it might say to us, because Love is free and is not ruled by our will or by what we do.

All lovers know this, but refuse to accept it. They think they can seduce Love through submission, power, beauty, wealth, tears and smiles.
True Love, however, is the love that seduces and will never allow itself to be seduced.

Love transforms, love heals.
But sometimes it lays deadly traps and ends up destroying the person who decided to surrender himself completely.

How can the force that moves the world and keeps the stars in their places be, at once, so creative and so devastating?

We are used to thinking that what we give is the same as what we receive, but people who love, expecting to be loved in return, are wasting their time.

Love is an act of faith, not an exchange.

Contradictions are what make love grow.
Conflicts are what allow love to remain by our side.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

People always say: ‘It’s inner beauty that matters, not outer beauty.’
Well, that’s not true.

If it were, why would flowers put so much energy into attracting bees?
And why would raindrops transform themselves into a rainbow when they encounter the sun?

Because nature longs for beauty, and is only satisfied when beauty can be exalted. outer beauty is inner beauty made visible, and it manifests itself in the light that flows from our eyes.
It doesn’t matter if a person is badly dressed or doesn’t conform to our idea of elegance, or isn’t even concerned about impressing other people.

The eyes are the mirror of the soul and reflect everything that seems to be hidden; and, like a mirror, they also reflect the person looking into them.
So if the person looking into someone’s eyes has a dark soul, he will see only his own ugliness.

Beauty is present in all creation, but the danger lies in the fact that, because we human beings are often cut off from the Divine Energy, we allow ourselves to be influenced by what other people think.
We deny our own beauty because others can’t or won’t recognise it.

Instead of accepting ourselves as we are, we try to imitate what we see around us.

We try to be what other people think of as ‘pretty’ and, little by little, our soul fades, our will weakens, and all the potential we had to make the world a more beautiful place withers away.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Nature is telling us: ‘Change!’

And those who do not fear the Angel of Good Fortune understand that they must go forward, despite their fear.
Despite their doubts.
Despite recriminations.
Despite threats.

They confront their values and prejudices. They hear the advice of their loved ones, who say:
‘Why do that? You have everything you need: the love of your parents, your wife and your children, the job it took you so long to get. Don’t run the risk of becoming a stranger in a strange land.’

Nevertheless, they risk taking a first step, sometimes out of curiosity, sometimes out of ambition, but generally because they feel an uncontrollable longing for adventure.

At each bend in the road, they feel more and more afraid, and yet, at the same time, they surprise themselves: they are stronger and happier.
Joy. That is one of the main blessings of the All-Powerful. If we are happy, we are on the right road.

Despite their doubts.
Despite recriminations.
Despite threats.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Ask a flower in the field: ‘Do you feel useful? After all, you do nothing but produce the same flowers over and over?’
And the flower will answer: ‘I am beautiful, and beauty is my reason for living.’

Ask the river: ‘Do you feel useful, given that all you do is to keep flowing in the same direction?’
And the river will answer: ‘I’m not trying to be useful, I’m trying to be a river.’

Nothing in this world is useless in the eyes of God. Not a leaf from a tree falls, not a hair from your head, not even an insect dies because it was of no use. Everything has a reason to exist.

Even you, the person asking the question. ‘I’m useless’ is the answer you give yourself.

Soon that answer will poison you and you will die while still alive, even though you still walk, eat, sleep and try to have a little fun whenever possible.

Don’t try to be useful. Try to be yourself: that is enough, and that makes all the difference.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

For those who are not frightened by the solitude that reveals all mysteries, everything will have a different taste.

In solitude, they will discover the love that might otherwise arrive unnoticed. In solitude, they will understand and respect the love that left them.

In solitude, they will be able to decide whether it is worth asking that lost love to come back or if they should simply let it go and set off along a new path.

In solitude, they will learn that saying ‘No’ does not always show a lack of generosity and that saying ‘Yes’ is not always a virtue.

And those who are alone at this moment, need never be frightened by the words of the devil: ‘You’re wasting your time.’
Or by the chief demon’s even more potent words: ‘No one cares about you.’

The Divine Energy is listening to us when we speak to other people, but also when we are still and silent and able to accept solitude as a blessing.

And in that moment, Its light illumines everything around us and helps us to see that we are necessary, and that our presence on Earth makes a huge difference to Its work.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat: there is only movement.

The winter struggles to reign supreme, but, in the end, is obliged to accept spring’s victory, which brings with it flowers and happiness.

The summer would like to make its warm days last for ever, because it believes that warmth is good for the earth, but, finally, it has to accept the arrival of autumn, which will allow the earth to rest.

The gazelle eats the grass and is devoured by the lion. It isn’t a matter of who is the strongest, but God’s way of showing us the cycle of death and resurrection.
And within that cycle there are neither winners nor losers, there are only stages that must be gone through. When the human heart understands this, it is free, able to accept difficult times and not be deceived by moments of glory.

Both will pass. One will succeed the other. And the cycle will continue until we liberate ourselves from the flesh and find the Divine Energy.

Therefore, when the fighter is in the ring – whether by his own choice or because unfathomable destiny has placed him there – may his spirit be filled with joy at the prospect of the fight ahead. If he holds on to his dignity and his honour, then, even if he loses the fight, he will never be defeated, because his soul will remain intact.

And he will blame no one for what is happening to him.
Ever since he fell in love for the first time and was rejected, he has known that this did not put paid to his ability to love.

What is true in love is also true in war.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Loyalty can be compared to a shop selling exquisite porcelain vases, a shop to which Love has given us the key.
Each of those vases is beautiful because it is different, as is every person, every drop of rain, every rock sleeping on the mountainside.

Sometimes, due to age or some unsuspected defect, a shelf collapses and falls. And the shop-owner says to himself:
‘I invested years of my time and my love on this collection, but the vases have betrayed me and broken.’
The man sells his shop and leaves. He becomes a solitary, embittered individual, believing that he will never trust anyone again.

It’s true that some vases do break – a promise of loyalty broken. In that case, it’s best to sweep up the pieces and throw them away, because what was broken will never be the same again.
But sometimes the reasons why a shelf collapses and falls go beyond mere human intentions: it could be an earthquake, an enemy invasion, clumsiness on the part of someone who enters the shop without looking where he is going.

Men and women blame each other for the disaster. They say: ‘Someone should have foreseen what was going to happen.’ Or: ‘If I had been in charge, these problems could have been avoided.’
Nothing could be further from the truth. We are all prisoners of the sands of time, and we have no control over them.

Time passes and the shelf that fell gets mended.

Other vases fighting for their place in the world are put there. The new shop-owner, who understands that nothing lasts, smiles and says to himself: ‘That tragedy opened up an opportunity for me and I will try to make the most of it. I will discover works of art I never even knew existed.’
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

(VERSION EN ESPANOL: clicar aqui)
___________________________

Obsession arrives and says:

‘Your fate now belongs to me. I will make you look for things that do not exist.
‘From now on, your heart will know no peace, because I will drive out enthusiasm and take its place.

‘Your son, who once would have followed his own path in the world, will now be mine as well.
‘I will have you surround him with unnecessary worries that destroy his taste for adventure and risk,
‘that make him suffer whenever he displeases you and leave him feeling guilty because he has failed to live up to your expectations.’

Never let Obsession control you.

If it comes too close, say: ‘I’m not worried about tomorrow, because God is there already, waiting for me.’

If it tries to persuade you that taking on lots of jobs means having a productive life, say:
‘I need to look at the stars in order to feel inspired and to be able to do my job well.’

If it threatens you with the ghost of hunger, say:
‘I do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

For those who cannot learn how to deal with anxiety, life will be a nightmare.

The very thing they should be grateful for – all the hours that make up a day – becomes a curse. They want time to pass more quickly, not realising that this will also hasten their encounter with the Unwanted Visitor.

Even worse, in an attempt to drive away anxiety, they do things that make them even more anxious.

The mother, waiting for her son to come home, begins to imagine the worst.

The lover thinks: ‘My beloved is mine and I am his. And in the broad ways I sought him, but I found him not.’ And with every corner I pass and with each person I ask and who fails to answer my questions, I allow the normal anxiety of love to be transformed into despair.

The worker, while he awaits the fruits of his labours, tries to occupy himself with other tasks, and each task will bring him more moments of waiting.
It will not be long before each single anxiety has grown into one larger anxiety, and he can no longer see the sky or the stars or his children playing.

And mother, lover and worker alike all cease living their lives and simply expect the worse; they listen to rumours and complain that the day seems never-ending. They become aggressive with friends, family and employees. They eat badly, either eating too much or unable to keep anything down. And at night, they lay their head on the pillow, but cannot sleep.
That is when anxiety weaves a veil through which only the eyes of the soul can see.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

What the future holds for you depends entirely on your capacity for love.

And for that, you must have absolute and total confidence in what you are doing. Don’t let others say: ‘That road is better’ or ‘That route is easier’.

The greatest gift God gave us is the power to make decisions.

The adventure of the days to come needs to be full of romance, because the world needs that; therefore, when you are mounted on your horse, feel the wind on your face and enjoy the sense of freedom.

But don’t forget that you have a long journey ahead. If you surrender totally to the romance of it all, you might fall.
If you don’t stop occasionally to let both you and your horse rest, your horse might die of thirst or exhaustion.

And precisely at the moment when everything seems to be going well and your dream is almost within your grasp, that is when you must be more alert than ever. Because when your dream is almost within your grasp, you will be assailed by terrible guilt.

You will see that you are about to arrive at a place where very few have ever set foot and you will think that you don’t deserve what life is giving you.
You will forget all the obstacles you overcame, all that you suffered and sacrificed. And because of that feeling of guilt, you could unconsciously destroy everything that took you so long to build.

That is the most dangerous of obstacles, because renouncing victory has about it a certain aura of sanctity.

But if a man understands that he is worthy of what he has struggled so long for, he will realise that he did not get there alone and must respect the Hand that led him.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Our dream, the desire that is in our soul, did not come out of nowhere.
Someone placed it there.
And that Someone, who is pure love and wants only our happiness, did so only because he also gave us the tools to realise our dreams and our desires.

When you are going through difficult times, remember: you may have lost some major battles, but you survived and you’re still here.
That is a victory. Show your happiness and celebrate your ability to go forward.

Pour your love generously out onto the fields and pastures, down the streets of the big city and across the dunes of the desert.

Show that you care about the poor, for they are an opportunity for you to display the virtue of charity.
And care, too, about the rich, who distrust everything and everyone, keep their granaries crammed with grain and their coffers full, but, despite all that, cannot drive away loneliness.

Never miss an opportunity to show your love, especially to those close to you, because we are always at our most cautious with them, for fear of being hurt.

Love – because you will be the first to benefit. The world around you will reward you, even if, at first, you say to yourself: ‘They don’t understand my love.’

Love does not need to be understood. It needs only to be shown.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

There is nothing wrong with anxiety.

Although we cannot control God’s time, it is part of the human condition to want to receive the thing we are waiting for as quickly as possible.

Or to drive away whatever is causing our fear.

That is so from childhood onwards, until we reach the age when we become indifferent to life. Because as long as we are intensely connected to the present moment, we will always be waiting anxiously for someone or something.

How can you tell a passionate heart to be still and contemplate the miracles of Creation in silence, free of tension, fear and unanswerable questions?

Anxiety is part of love, and should not be blamed because of that.

How can you tell someone not to worry when he has invested his money and his life in a dream and has yet to see any results? The farmer cannot speed the progress of the seasons in order to pick the fruit he planted, but he waits impatiently for the coming of autumn and harvest-time.
How can you ask a warrior not to feel anxious before a battle?
He has trained to the point of exhaustion for that moment, he has given of his best, and while he believes he is prepared, he fears that all his efforts could prove to be in vain.

Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it – just as we have learned to live with storms.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Just as there are many paths to the top of a mountain, so there are many paths to achieving our goal. Help us to recognise the only one that is worth following, the one on which Love is to be found.

Help us to awaken the Love sleeping within us before we awaken love in other people. Only then will we be able to attract affection, enthusiasm and respect.

Help us to distinguish between battles that are ours, battles into which we are propelled against our will and battles that we cannot avoid because Fate has placed them in our path.

May our eyes open so that we can see that no two days are ever the same. Each one brings with it a different miracle, which allows us to go on breathing, dreaming and walking in the sun.

May our ears also open to hear the apposite words that suddenly emerge from the mouth of one of our fellows, even though we haven’t asked for his advice and he has no idea what is going on in our soul at that moment.

And when we open our mouth, may we speak not just the language of men, but the language of angels too and say: ‘Miracles do not go against the laws of nature; we only think that because we do not know nature’s laws.’

And when we achieve this, may we bow our head in respect, saying: ‘I was blind, but now I can see. I was dumb, but now I can speak. I was deaf, but now I can hear. Because God worked his miracle within me, and everything I thought was lost has been restored.’
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

We can define it in various ways:
something that goes against the laws of nature;
an intercession in moments of deep crisis;
healings and visions;
impossible encounters;
a last-minute intervention when the Unwanted Visitor arrives.

All these definitions are true, but a miracle goes beyond even that.
It’s something that suddenly fills our hearts with Love.
When that happens, we feel a profound reverence for the grace God has bestowed on us.

So please Lord, give us today our daily miracle.
Help us to see in each grain of sand in the desert proof of the miracle of difference, and may that encourage us to accept ourselves as we are.
Because just as no two grains of sand are alike, so no two human beings will think and act in the same way.

Help us to be humble when we receive and joyful when we give.

Help us to understand that wisdom lies not in the answers we are given, but in the mystery of the questions that enrich our lives.

Help us never to be imprisoned by the things we think we know, because we know so little about Fate.
And may this lead us to behave impeccably, making use of the four cardinal virtues: boldness, elegance, love and friendship.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

No one can go back, but everyone can go forward.

And tomorrow, when the sun rises, all you have to say to yourselves is:
I am going to think of this day as the first day of my life.

I will look on the members of my family with surprise and amazement, glad to discover that they are by my side, silently sharing that little understood thing called love.

I will pass a beggar, who will ask me for money.
I might give it to him or I might walk past thinking that he will only spend it on drink, and as I do, I will hear his insults and know that it is simply his way of communicating with me.

I will pass someone trying to destroy a bridge.
I might try to stop him or I might realise that he is doing it because he has no one waiting for him on the other side and this is his way of trying to fend off his own loneliness.

Instead of noting down things I’m unlikely to forget, I will write a poem.
Even if I have never written one before and even if I never do so again, I will at least know that I once had the courage to put my feelings into words.

I will keep smiling, because it pleases me to know that people think I am mad.
My smile is my way of saying: ‘You can destroy my body, but not my soul.’

If it’s sunny tomorrow, I want to look at the sun properly for the first time.
If it’s cloudy, I want to watch to see in which direction the clouds are going.
I always think that I don’t have time or don’t pay enough attention. Tomorrow, though, I will concentrate on the direction taken by the clouds or on the sun’s rays and the shadows they create.

Above my head exists a sky about which all humanity, over thousands of years, has woven a series of reasonable explanations.

Well, I will forget everything I learned about the stars and they will be transformed once more into angels or children or whatever I feel like believing at that moment.

For the first time, I will smile without feeling guilty, because joy is not a sin.
For the first time, I will avoid anything that makes me suffer, because suffering is not a virtue.

I am living this day as if it were my first and, while it lasts, I will discover things that I did not even know were there.

Even though I have walked past the same places countless times before and said ‘Good morning’ to the same people, tomorrow’s ‘Good morning’ will be different.
It will not be a mere polite formula, but a form of blessing.

And if I’m alone when the night falls, I will go over to window, look up at the sky and feel certain that loneliness is a lie, because the Universe is there to keep me company.

And then I will have lived each hour of my day as if it were a constant surprise to me, to this ‘I’, who was not created by my father or my mother or by school, but by everything I have experienced up until now, and which I suddenly forgot in order to discover it all anew.

And even if this is to be my last day on Earth, I will enjoy it to the full, because I will live it with the innocence of a child, as if I were doing everything for the first time.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

“A humanidade terá de ser mais responsável e menos destrutiva”
O escritor diz que 2013 é tempo para as pessoas assumirem as responsabilidades sobre seus atos e aprenderem a entender outras culturas em nome da paz mundial
Luís Antônio Giron

Em 2011, o escritor Paulo Coelho sofreu uma obstrução nas artérias do coração que o lançou ao limite entre a vida e a morte e o estimulou a repensar toda sua carreira de autor de sucessos. “Os momentos difíceis nos ensinam a viver melhor”, disse a ÉPOCA de sua casa em Genebra, na Suíça. Hoje, aos 64 anos, menos viajante e mais preocupado com a qualidade de vida, ele encontra tempo para meditar, planejar um romance a ser lançado em 2013 e fazer previsões. Nesta entrevista, discorre sobre o futuro do Brasil e do mundo. Segundo ele, a palavra de ordem para os meses que virão é “responsabilidade”.

1 – ÉPOCA – Que sentimento o senhor recomenda à humanidade para os próximos meses?
Paulo Coelho – O sentimento da responsabilidade. A humanidade terá de ser mais responsável e menos destrutiva. A comunidade social permite que qualquer pessoa tenha uma voz que será ouvida. É preciso aproveitar isso para se fazer ouvir. É o contrário do que acontece hoje, nas caixas de comentários de notícias. Em vez de se dar conta de que são responsáveis pelo que dizem, elas se dedicam a criticar qualquer coisa e pessoa de forma violenta e indiscriminada. É o que se chama de “trolar” no jargão da internet. Faça com que sua voz seja ouvida com responsabilidade, e não como uma brincadeira. Mais responsabilidade e menos “trolagem”!

2 – ÉPOCA – Que lugar inspirador ou para peregrinar o senhor recomenda para 2013?
Coelho – Peregrine por seu coração. Ele é inspirador. As pessoas estão freqüentando muito a lógica e deixando de lado o sentimento. O coração tem uma caixa de ferramentas de que você precisará em 2013. Ali, você encontra a intuição e a capacidade de reagir rápido sem pensar muito. Com isso, não quero ser irracional. Refiro-me ao coração como metáfora, não como órgão. A linguagem do coração será cada vez mais importante. Usando seu coração, você volta ao estado de criança. Sem a ingenuidade da criança. Isso lhe dará condições de ser criativo para os desafios do ano. Fará você se adaptar às crises do mundo, como lidar com as novas linguagens. O coração pode não ser pragmático, mas é sábio. Procure conhecer o interior de sua alma. E assim estará no meio da tempestade, com raios e trovões a sua volta, e se sentirá bem. Você é um desconhecido, e seu potencial é maior do que você sabe. Passeando pela alma, você ficará feliz com o que encontrará. As pessoas temem a confrontação. No outono, as folhas brincam entre si que não querem cair, mas não adianta: elas cairão. A paz é uma utopia se associada à idéia de ausência de conflito. Aceite os conflitos, dê boas-vindas a eles e toque para a frente, porque isso é parte da condição humana.

3 – ÉPOCA – Quais serão os maiores obstáculos para o crescimento pessoal humano em 2013?
Coelho – A zona de conforto será o pior obstáculo. Você cria essa zona achando que tem controle sobre tudo. Ora, isso é uma ilusão completa. No momento em que você acha que está tudo bem à sua volta, aí é que reside o perigo. Estou aqui parado, mas não me sinto tranquilo. Persigo a atividade, evitando a crença no controle. Aprendi isso em duas situações. A primeira foi em 1974, quando me achava o rei do mundo, porque tinha acabado de lançar a canção “Gita”, com Raul Seixas. Foi quando fui preso, desapareci – e aí meu mundo caiu. A segunda foi em 1979. Era um executivo de gravadora, achava que sabia aonde queria chegar. Troquei a Polygram pela CBS e aí fui mandado embora. Não consegui mais arranjar emprego. Foi uma bênção. Mas na hora você sofre. Você não tem controle sobre nada.

4 – ÉPOCA – Que poder espiritual ou habilidade o senhor pretende desenvolver no ano que vem?
Coelho – Quero fazer algo de que não tenho certeza se conseguirei: aprender árabe e hebraico. Acredito que, no caso de línguas em conflito, como essas duas, quem sabe as palavras “não estão sendo mal traduzidas”? Quando Lutero traduziu a Bíblia e ela se tornou a base do idioma alemão, demonstrou que as palavras do latim eram imprecisas. A língua necessita de uma precisão. Se você entende os idiomas, passa a entender melhor as pessoas que falam aquelas línguas. Eu gostaria de manter um diálogo entre essas duas línguas distintas. São línguas místicas. O hebraico com o misticismo da cabala e o árabe com a poesia do Corão.Quem sabe não consigo aproximar esses dois universos?

5 – ÉPOCA – O ano de 2012 foi marcado pela ascensão da literatura erótica para mulheres. O senhor acha que a tendência continuará? Quais as consequências desse tipo de literatura paraas mulheres?
Coelho – Vejo como uma coisa positiva. Se gente como a Erika (Leonard James, autora da trilogia erótica Cinqüenta tons de cinza,) vende tantos livros, é porque tocou numa veia sensível que estava oculta. Esse tipo de literatura é liberadora. A relação das pessoas em relação ao sexo é ainda travada. Minha geração experimentou o sexo como livre. Depois, houve um retrocesso tremendo. É hora de as pessoas repensarem a sexualidade.

6 – ÉPOCA – A literatura continuará a contribuir para o aperfeiçoamento das pessoas ou perderá terreno para a tecnologia?
Coelho – A literatura viverá uma transformação radical, por causa das pessoas. A primeira delas é a linguagem. Não há mais espaço para escrever a seus pares. Isso é perder a relevância. A literatura é beneficiada pela busca da simplicidade. O blogueiro se educa em concentrar-se na essência do que escreverá. É essa a transformação na literatura. Ela se tornará importante, mas não será como a conhecemos hoje. Literatura precisa de estilo, de conteúdo e de uma plataforma. A literatura está mudando nos três níveis. Como escritor, tenho de me adaptar à nova linguagem. Minha literatura sempre seguiu o princípio da objetividade que evita a superficialidade, sem perder a poesia. Escrever pelas redes sociais é fazer literatura. Hoje em dia, a literatura, como tudo, está migrando para a tela dos celulares. A literatura será lida pelo telefone.

7 – ÉPOCA – O torcedor brasileiro tem pela frente dois eventos internacionais sediados no país: a Copa das Confederações em 2013 e a Copa do Mundo em 2014. Vamos vencer?
Coelho – Minha esperança é que o Brasil dê o show que ele dará. Não tenho dúvida de que venceremos. A Olimpíada de Londres foi criticada, mas foi responsável pela recuperação do país. Espero que aprendamos com os erros alheios.

8 – ÉPOCA – Os brasileiros estão ficando mais ricos. A riqueza nos trará felicidade?
Coelho – O Brasil se livrou do complexo de vira-lata. Demos um passo gigantesco. Antes, o brasileiro batia no peito e dizia que tinha orgulho, mas, no fundo, admirava outras culturas. Agora ele é brasileiro, está contente de ser brasileiro, porque sua voz é ouvida. O brasileiro está conquistando a vida plena. Demorou!

9 – ÉPOCA – Ficaremos mais sábios ou mais superficiais?
Coelho – Não sei. Se escolhermos combinar os lados masculino com feminino, a intuição e a força, ficaremos mais sábios. Mas é impossível saber ao certo. Estamos sendo arrastados ao mar da banalidade. Quando você sofre o excesso de informação, a tendência é voltar à simplicidade. Bater papo no bar ou na praça foi a origem da filosofia na ágora de Atenas. A saturação faz com que a gente queira voltar ao simples. E a tecnologia colabora nessa volta. Por mais que pareça uma contradição, a tecnologia nos ajuda a voltar aos fundamentos, à escolha das fontes de informação. Se, antes, sentíamos o fascínio pela internet, agora vivemos um momento de seleção e concentração da informação. Indo mais fundo, você acaba simplificando. E a simplicidade nos deixará mais sábios.

10 – ÉPOCA – De onde virão os ventos da vL^ mudança política e cultural para o mundo, se é que haverá mudanças?
Coelho -A tecnologia está mudando tudo. As pessoas estão passivas ou ativas de uma maneira errada. Fazem “trolagem”, porque acham que estão colaborando, mas não estão fazendo nada.

11 – ÉPOCA – O senhor vê um mundo unido por uma ideologia, como dizia John Lennon na canção “Imagine”?
Coelho -Não. É o oposto de John Lennon. Acredito num mundo em que as diferenças serão respeitadas. Estamos caminhando para um mundo de minorias. A globalização econômica dissolveu as fronteiras. Isso nos leva a voltar à condição tribal, tendo a tecnologia como ajuda. As minorias terão de ser respeitadas.

12 – ÉPOCA – Devemos temer a intolerância religiosa?
Coelho – O grande problema deste milênio é que ele aponta para a intolerância religiosa. As pessoas, por ausência de fé, precisam provar a elas próprias que têm fé. As agendas políticas são determinadas pelas agendas religiosas.

13 – ÉPOCA – A que pergunta o senhor gostaria de responder, caso um repórter do futuro aparecesse na sua frente?
Coelho – Gostaria de responder a uma só pergunta: “Você viveu com dignidade?” Esperaria responder ao repórter com um sonoro “sim!”.

Often what we call “experience” is nothing more than the sum of our losses. So we look fearfully at those of us who have made enough mistakes in life — and have no courage to take the next step.

At this point it is worth remembering the words of Lord Salisbury, “If you have a total belief in doctors, you will soon find that everything leads to bad health.

If you have a total belief in theologians, you will be convinced that everything is a sin. If you have a total belief in the military, you will conclude that nothing is absolutely safe.”

We must accept the passions, and not abandon the enthusiasm of the achievements; they are a part of life and we should be cheerful to all who participate.

But the Warrior of Light never loses sight of the enduring things in his life and knows that the bonds created with strength over time can distinguish between what is transitory and what’s final.

There is a moment, however, that the passions disappear without warning. Despite all his wisdom, he lets himself be overwhelmed by discouragement; from one moment to another, his faith is not the same as before, things do not happen as he dreamed, tragedies occur unexpectedly and unfairly, and he begins to believe that his prayers are no longer heard. Continue praying and attending religious services, but don’t be deceived, the heart will not respond as before, and words may seem to be meaningless.

Therefore, there is only one possible way: keep practising. Say the prayers through obligation, or fear — but keep praying. Insist, though everything seems useless.

Legend has it that after a morning praying in the monastery of Piedra, a novice asked an abbot, “Do they make God closer to us?”

“I will answer you with another question,” said the Abbot. “All those prayers you pray will they make the sun rise tomorrow?”

“Of course not! The sun rises because it obeys a universal law!”

“So that is the answer to your question. God is near to us, regardless of the prayers we say.”
The novice rebelled, “You want to say that our prayers are useless?”

“No. If you don’t get up early, you will never be able to see the sun rise. If you don’t pray, even though God is always near, you will never be able to notice His presence.”

Pray and watch, this should be the motto of the Warrior of Light. If you just watch, you’ll start seeing ghosts where none exist. If you merely pray, you will not have time to execute the works that the world sorely needs.

I’ll tell another legend, this time from Verba Seniorum, that says that Abbot John had prayed so much that he felt he did not need to worry — his passions had been unsuccessful.

The words of the Abbot reached the ears of one of the wise men of the monastery of Sceta. This drew the attention of the novices after supper.

“You have heard the Abbot say that John has no more temptation to win,” he said, “The lack of struggle weakens the soul. Let us ask the Lord to send a very powerful temptation to Abbot, and if he wins this temptation, we will ask another and another. And when he is again struggling against temptation, we pray he will never say ‘Lord, rid this demon from me.’ Let us pray for his part, ‘Lord, give me strength to confront evil.’”

PORTUGUES AQUI>> O jogral de Nossa Senhora
ESPANOL AQUI>> El malabarista de la Virgen

Christmas Eve came around. And precisely on that day, a special miracle happened in Melk Abbey: Our Lady, carrying the baby Jesus in her arms, decided to descend to Earth to visit the monastery.

All the priests lined up and each of them stood proudly before the Virgin trying to pay homage to the Madonna and her Son. One of them displayed the beautiful paintings that decorated the place, another showed a copy of a Bible that had taken a hundred years to be written and illustrated, while a third recited the names of all the saints.

At the very end of the line, young novice Buckhard anxiously waited his turn. His parents were simple people, and all that they had taught him was to toss balls up in the air and do some juggling.

When it came his turn, the other priests wanted to put an end to all the homage that had been paid, since the ex-juggler had nothing important to add and might even mar the image of the abbey.

Nevertheless, deep in his heart he also felt a great need to give something of himself to Jesus and the Virgin. Feeling very ashamed before the reproachful gaze of his brothers, he took some oranges from his pocket and began to toss them in the air and catch them in his hands, creating a beautiful circle in the air just as he used to do when he and his family traveled to all the fairs in the region.

At that instant, the baby Jesus, lying in Our Lady’s lap, began to clap his hands with joy. And it was to young Buckhard that the Virgin held out her arms to let him hold the smiling child for a few moments.

based in a medieval legend

Instead of a thousand words, better still there were only one, but one which brought Peace.
Instead of a thousand verses, better still there were only one, but one which showed the Beautiful.
Instead of a thousand chants, better still there were only one, but one which spread joy.
Dhammapada (attributed to the Buddha)

Outside, beyond what is right and what is wrong, there is a huge field.
We will meet there. –
Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-73)

Oh Allah! I consult you because You know everything.
If what I am doing is good for me and for my religion, for my life now and after, may the task be easy and blessed.
If what I am doing now is bad for me and my religion, keep me away from that task. –
Prophet Mohammed

Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord so that we may walk with Him.
We will turn our swords into ploughs, and our spears into pruning tools.
May no nation raise their swords against one another, and may we never learn the art of war.
No one should fear their neighbour, for the Lord said so.
- Jewish Prayer for Peace

Ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you will find.
Knock and the door will be opened to you.
Because those who ask, receive; those who seek, find; those who knock, shall have the door opened to them. –
Jesus of Nazareth, Mathew 7; 7-8

If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace among neighbours.
If there is to be peace among neighbours, there must be peace at home.
If there is to be peace at the home, There must be peace in the heart. –
Lao Tzu, China (6th century BCE)

After serving as a samurai for many years, Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659- 1719) decided to share everything he had learned with one of his disciples, Tsuramoto Tashiro.

The outcome of these conversations became the book called Hagakure (Hidden by the Leaves), which withstood the passage of time.

Rereading his text, I realised that the great part of the teachings it holds could be applied to our daily lives.

A samurai, as we know, was a warrior with a code of conduct (known as bushido), based on three important principles: (a) discipline; (b) ethics; (c) courage.

These are the elements that should be present in every decision we make. That way, as we seek for a meaning in our journey on this Earth, we would understand that:

It’s only possible to reach a dream when we have the will for it. It’s not enough to possess enthusiasm, passion, desire – it also requires strength and concentration.

When we set out seeking something that has a true meaning in our existence, there is no need to hurt or step on other people. The more we respect the path of others, the more allies we find, and the more respect we will get.

In addition to discipline, it’s necessary to understand that in spite of our fears we need to carry on. Courage doesn’t mean lack of fear, but the ability not to let it paralyse us.

An old man was selling toys at the market in Bagdad. His buyers, knowing he had weak sight, would sometimes pay him with fake coins.

The old man noticed the trick but didn’t say anything.
In his prayers he asked God to forgive those who had tricked him.

‘Perhaps they don’t have much money and want to buy gifts for their children,’ he would say to himself.

Time passed by and the man died.
Standing before the portal of Paradise, he prayed once again. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘I am a sinner.

‘I did many things wrong, I am no better than the fake coins I was given. Forgive me!’

On that moment the gate opened and a Voice said:
‘What should I forgive? How can I judge someone who has never judged anyone throughout his life?

Beauty exists not in sameness but in difference.

Who could imagine a giraffe without its long neck or a cactus without its spines?
The irregularity of the mountain peaks that surround us is what makes them so imposing. If we tried to make them all the same, they would no longer command our respect.

It is the imperfect that astonishes and attracts us.

When we look at a cedar tree, we don’t think: ‘The branches should be all the same length.’
We think: ‘How strong it is.’

When we see a snake, we never say: ‘He is crawling along the ground, while I am walking with head erect.’
We think: ‘He might be small, but his skin is colourful, his movements elegant, and he is more powerful than me.’

When the camel crosses the desert and takes us to the place we want to reach, we never say: ‘He’s humpbacked and has ugly teeth.’
We think: ‘He deserves my love for his loyalty and help. Without him, I would never be able to explore the world.’

A sunset is always more beautiful when it is covered with irregularly shaped clouds, because only then can it reflect the many colours out of which dreams and poetry are made.

Pity those who think: ‘I am not beautiful. That’s why Love has not knocked at my door.’
In fact, Love did knock, but when they opened the door, they weren’t prepared to welcome Love in.

They were too busy trying to make themselves beautiful first, when, in fact, they were fine as they were.
They were trying to imitate others, when Love was looking for something original.

They were trying to reflect what came from outside, forgetting that the brightest light comes from within.
 
 
taken from MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA

Several times I receive via Internet some texts attributed to me, as the text below. I did not write it, but I made several changes and decided to post it here.
________________________________________

Siempre es preciso saber cuándo se acaba una etapa de la vida. Si insistes en permanecer en ella más allá del tiempo necesario, pierdes laalegría y el sentido del resto. Cerrando círculos, o cerrando puertas, o cerrando capítulos, como quieras llamarlo. Lo importante es poder cerrarlos, y dejar ir momentos de la vida que se van clausurando.

¿Terminó tu trabajo?, ¿Se acabó tu relación?, ¿Ya no vives más en esa casa?, ¿Debes irte de viaje?, ¿La relación se acabó? Puedes pasarte mucho tiempo de tu presente “revolcándote” en los porqués, en devolver el cassette y tratar de entender por qué sucedió tal o cual hecho. El desgaste ya a ser infinito, porque en la vida, tú, yo, tu amigo, tus hijos, tus hermanos, todos y todas estamos encaminados hacia ir cerrando capítulos, ir dando vuelta a la hoja, a terminar con etapas, o con momentos de la vida y seguir adelante.

No podemos estar en el presente añorando el pasado. Ni siquiera preguntándonos porqué. Lo que sucedió, sucedió, y hay que soltarlo, hay que desprenderse.
No podemos ser niños eternos, ni adolescentes tardíos, ni empleados de empresas inexistentes.¡Los hechos pasan y hay que dejarlos ir!

Por eso, a veces es tan importante destruir recuerdos, regalar presentes, cambiar de casa, romper papeles, tirar documentos, y vender o regalar libros.

Dejar ir, soltar, desprenderse. En la vida nadie juega con las cartas marcadas, y hay que aprender a perder y a ganar. Hay que dejar ir, hay que dar vuelta a la hoja, hay que vivir sólo lo que tenemos en el presente…

El pasado ya pasó. No esperes que te lo devuelvan, no esperes que te reconozcan, no esperes que alguna vez se den cuenta de quién eres tú… Suelta el resentimiento. El prender “tu televisor personal” para darle y darle al asunto, lo único que consigue es dañarte lentalmente, envenenarte y amargarte.

La vida está para adelante, nunca para atrás. ¿Noviazgos o amistades que no clausuran?, ¿Posibilidades de regresar? (¿a qué?), ¿Necesidad de aclaraciones?, ¿Palabras que no se dijeron?, ¿Silencios que lo invadieron? Si puedes enfrentarlos ya y ahora, hazlo, si no, déjalos ir, cierra capítulos. Dite a ti mismo que no, que no vuelven. Pero no por orgullo ni soberbia, sino, porque tú ya no encajas allí en ese lugar, en ese corazón, en esa habitación, en esa casa, en esa oficina, en ese oficio.

Tú ya no eres el mismo que fuiste hace dos días, hace tres meses, hace un año. Por lo tanto, no hay nada a qué volver.

Cierra la puerta, da vuelta a la hoja, cierra el círculo.

FELIZ 2011!

A Sultan decided to make a voyage with some of his best courtiers. They embarked at the port of Dubai and set out across the open seas.

As the ship sailed away from the land, one of his subjects, who had never seen the sea and had spent much of his life in the mountains, had a panic attack.

Everyone tried to calm him down, saying that the journey really wasn’t all that dangerous, but although their words reached his ears, they did not touch his heart.
The Sultan was ready to turn the ship around and head back to port, when one of his ministers, known for his wisdom, came over to him:
“Your Highness, with your permission, I will try to calm him down.”

The wise man ordered that the man be thrown into the sea. A group of crew members, pleased that the nightmare was about to end, dragged the struggling man up from the hold and hurled him into the ocean.

The courtier began to thrash about, he went under, swallowed salt water, came back up, shouted louder still, went down again, and again struggled to the surface.
At this point, the minister ordered that he be brought back on board the ship.

From that moment on, no one heard the slightest word of complaint from the man, who spent the rest of the voyage in silence.

Shortly before returning to port, the Sultan asked the minister:
“How did you know that you could calm the poor man down by throwing him into the sea?”

“Because of my own marriage,” replied the minister. “I was terrified of losing my wife, and I was so jealous that, like this man, I spent all my time weeping and wailing. One day, unable to stand it any longer, she left me, and I realised how awful life would be without her.

“She only came back when I promised that I would never again torture her with my fears. In the same way, this man had never tasted salt water and had never understood the agony of a man about to drown. Once he had known that experience, he understood perfectly how marvellous it is to feel the deck of a ship beneath one’s feet.”

“It is written in a book sacred to the Christians, the Bible: ‘Everything I most feared came to pass.’ Some people are only capable of valuing what they have once they have experienced its loss.”

by Lisa Vallejos

Existential themes permeate our society, supporting the notion that no matter how many ways we try to hide, there is no running from what it means to be human. Although our society is quick to assuage the anxiety brought on by existential awareness, the themes are there, and it is up to us as the new existentialists to tease the awareness out and into consciousness.

One of my passions is to make heady philosophical themes accessible to the general public. After all, isn’t that who we are attempting to reach? In many ways, we have limited our reach by remaining in our Ivory Towers discussing themes that one needs extensive education to understand such as “Dasein.” We also limit our reach by discussing philosophers such as Nietzsche, Sartre, and Kierkegaard when many of the people we desire to impact are unfamiliar with philosophy and how it may apply to their life and who simply want to know what help is available.

The world needs what existential psychotherapy has to offer; the culture is crying out for vivification, for enlightenment and to awaken and to transform. In order to meet that need, we as the Modern Existentialists must learn to speak the language of the people and introduce them to the works of existentialism on their terms.

Recently, I was watching a television show entitled “The Vampire Diaries.” In this particular episode, one character was transforming into a werewolf for the first time. His friend, a vampire and fellow high school student, stayed with him during this painful first transformation. Although she (the vampire) knew the risk posed to her if she were to be bitten by the werewolf, she refused to abandon her friend in his time of need. Throughout his transformation from human to vampire, during which he was deeply tormented and ashamed, she stayed with him and retreated only when the situation became dire. When the danger passed, she returned to the friend/werewolf and held him. I was struck by this scene as it reminded me much of what happens in existential psychotherapy: the client struggles to (or against) transformation while the therapist creates a safe place for them to do so. Indeed, the therapist is not interested in moving the client to transform but is tasked with the much more challenging call of bearing witness to another’s pain with what Schneider (2009) calls “effortful nonattachment,” meaning that one is deeply engaged in the present moment without an agenda or desired outcome (p. 169). Trying to describe this process to a person who has never experienced it or something very similar to it is, at best, an exercise in futility. One can, however, point a potential client (or students in training) to scenes similar to the one described above that illustrate the process in a different and perhaps more relatable way.

There are many other existential thinkers in our world who are saying the same things but in different language. Take, for instance, Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian novelist. Coelho has written books such as “Veronika Decides to Die,” which tells the tale of a young woman who attempts suicide, and it isn’t until she is told that she is not going to live that she decides to truly live. Many of Coelho’s books carry deeply existential messages, and because he is such a beloved author, it is easy to introduce existential themes to readers. Indeed, there are many books, movies, television shows, and musicians who are speaking to existential themes if we only have an ear to hear. These newer, more modern existentialists can bridge the gap between past philosophy and present-day need.

to read other Lisa Vallejos posts on Modern Existencialism, CLICK HERE

Enviaré 10 libretas firmadas, como la que ves arriba (edición limitada), para las 10 mejores reseñas de El manuscrito encontrado en Accra.
El libro está publicado en todos los paises de idioma español y en EUA (solamente en español)

Para participar es necesario publicar tu reseña sobre el libro en Facebook, usando los comentarios de aquí abajo
Las 10 reseñas con más “me gusta” serán las seleccionadas.

La fecha límite es el 6 de Enero 2013

¡Gracias por participar! Abajo los ganadores:
1. Karen García · Culiacán, Sinaloa (422)
2. Luli Cattáneo (333)
3. Cesar Farfan Delgado (158)
4. Samuel Carrasco · Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (126)
5. Anna Kreen (121)
6. Yazmin Molina · Mérida, Yucatan (82)
7. Liliana de Gálvez (82)
8. Hill Bill (77)
9. Edna Gutierrez · Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico (62)
10. Pilar Menendez (43)

Por favor envien su email y el link de su pagina en Facebook para pilar_piedra@hotmail.com

I have already told Sufi stories in several of these columns, some of them in which the main character Nasrudin, the fool that always manages to be more intelligent than the wise man, is able to surprise readers with his actions time and again. Today I would like to lay these stories aside and try to write a little about the subject itself.

The encyclopaedic definition of Sufism describes it as an Islamic esoteric tradition and for that reason it has always been badly received in the Muslim world. Sufism originated around the 10th century and its guiding principle holds that its believers are able to have direct connection with God through a series of non-conventional religious practices. The most common of these practices is dancing and the transmission of its philosophy is done through small tales.

In a small apartment in an Arab country, I was invited to attend a ritual with the lights turned off, candles lit and people drumming on percussion instruments. It was possible to see how this spiritual tradition is able to preserve its purity up to this day.

The meeting was at 9 pm. For almost half an hour a man, using a tone of voice that seemed to come from the depth of his soul, sang in a monotonous way. When he stopped singing, the percussion instruments began to pound in a very similar rhythm to the one we are used to hearing at the celebrations of the Afro-Brazilian religions.

That was when, following the same ritual line of these religions we know so well, some men got up and began to turn circles around themselves.

The whole ceremony lasted for an hour, during which the dancers would laugh out loud, say incomprehensible words, and seemed to be in a deep trance. Slowly they stopped turning, the percussion dwindled and the lights in the living room were turned on. I asked one of them what he had felt.

“I have been in contact with the energy of the universe,” he answered. “God went through my soul.”
“Is it necessary to do anything else? To have a special belief, pursue a constant practice?” I asked. “According to one of the most important theologians of Islam, Sufism isn’t a doctrine or a system of beliefs. It is a tradition of enlightenment through everything that is dynamic.”

Abu Muhammad Mutaish says, “A Sufi is one whose thought walks on the same speed as his feet.” That is, his soul is where his body is and vice versa. “Wherever the Sufi is, there is also everything he is: the worker, the mystic, the intellectual, the contemplative, the one who has fun.”

Sufism is universal as it accepts that knowledge has been transmitted to man through great prophets such as Jesus, Moses, Solomon and illuminated beings of other cultures. However, its root stays entirely buried in Islam and in the Muslim conception of the world. The Sufi learning system is similar to the system of the so-called occult orders; it involves a master and disciples, its practices are revealed according to the advancement stage of these practices, special graces (Baraka), etc. The master needs to have what we call “charisma”, that is, a power that is able to connect with the heart of those who find it.

One of today’s great experts on Sufism, known by the initials A.M., says, “The central method of Sufism is the development of our perception to accept love. Love is the only thing that activates intelligence and creativity, something that purifies and frees us. Being a Sufi means being capable of loving and being alert to the needs of those we love (God), and using each gesture to get closer to Him, during the 24 hours of the day.”

© Translated by Mitchelle Aritmez

It’s that time of year for us to take our annual senior citizen test.
Exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles. As we grow older, it’s important to keep mentally alert. If you don’t use it, you lose it!
Below is a very private way to gauge how your memory compares to the last test. Some may think it is too easy but the ones with memory problems may have difficulty.
Take the test presented here to determine if you’re losing it or not.
The spaces below are so you don’t see the answers until you’ve made your answer.
OK, relax, clear your mind and begin.

1. What do you put in a toaster?
 
 
 
 
 
 

Answer: ‘bread.’ If you said ‘toast’ give up now and do something else..
Try not to hurt yourself.
If you said, bread, go to Question 2.

2. Say ‘silk’ five times. Now spell ‘silk.’ What do cows drink?
 
 
 
 
 
 
Answer: Cows drink water. If you said ‘milk,’ don’t attempt the next question. Your brain is over-stressed and may even overheat. Content yourself with reading more appropriate literature such as Auto World.
However, if you said ‘water’, proceed to question 3.

4. Without using a calculator – You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales. In London, 17 people get on the bus.
In Reading, 6 people get off the bus and 9 people get on.
In Swindon, 2 people get off and 4 get on.
In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get on.
In Swansea, 3 people get off and 5 people get on.
In Carmarthen, 6 people get off and 3 get on.
You then arrive at Milford Haven..

Without scrolling back to review, how old is the bus driver?

Answer: Oh, for crying out loud!
Don’t you remember your own age?
It was YOU driving the bus!!

If you pass this along to your friends, pray they do better than you.
PS: 95% of people fail most of the questions!

sent by Keith Parkins

Nadia spent the whole autumn sowing and preparing his garden. In the spring, the flowers opened, and Nadia noticed a few dandelions that he had not planted.

Nadia pulled them up. But the seeds had already spread, and others grew. He tried to find a poison that would kill only dandelions. An expert told him that any poison would end up killing all the other flowers too. In despair, Nadia sought help from a gardener.

‘It’s just like marriage,’ said the gardener. ‘Along with the good things, there are always a few inconveniences.’

‘What should I do, then?

‘Nothing. They may not be the flowers you intended to have, but they are still part of the garden.’

In my book “The Alchemist”, the young shepherd Santiago meets an old man in the town square. He is searching for a treasure, but does not know how to reach it. The old man starts up a conversation with him:
“How many sheep have you got?”
“Enough,” answers Santiago.
“Then we have a problem. I can’t help if you think you have enough sheep.”
Based on this extract, the Peruvian priest Clemente Sobrado wrote an interesting piece, which I transcribe below

One of the biggest problems that we drag around with us all our life is to want to believe we have “enough sheep”. We are surrounded by certainties, and nobody wants someone showing up to propose something new. If we could only suspect that we don’t have everything, and that we aren’t all that we could be!

Maybe we are all faced with a very serious problem, namely that although we have the opportunity to help one another, the truth is that few people let themselves be helped.

Why is that? Because they think they have “enough sheep”. They already know everything, they are always right, they feel comfortable in their lives.

Almost all of us are like that: we have many things but few aspirations. We have many ideas already sorted out, and we don’t want to give them up. Our life scheme is already organized and we don’t need someone trying to make changes.

We’ve done enough praying, practiced charity, read the lives of the saints, gone to Mass, taken communion. A friend of mine once said: “I don’t know why I come to visit you, father. I am already a good Christian.”

On that day I could not help answering:

“Then don’t come to visit me, because there are a lot of people waiting to see me and they are all full of doubts. But one thing you ought to know: You aren’t bad enough to be bad, nor good enough to be good, nor holy enough to work miracles.

“You are just a Christian satisfied with what you have achieved. And all those who are satisfied have in fact renounced the ideal of always improving. Let’s talk about this some other time, all right?”

Ever since then, whenever we speak on the telephone he starts by saying: “this person who is calling hasn’t yet grown up as much as he could”.

Lord, give us always a dissatisfied heart.

Give us a heart where the questions that we never want to ask can be voiced.

Deliver us from our conformism.

Make us able to enjoy what we have, but let us understand that this is not everything.

Let us appreciate that we are good people.

But above all, make us always ask ourselves how we can become better people.

Because if we ask, then it is quite possible that You will come and show us horizons that we couldn’t see before.

This extract from the on-board magazine is attributed to Loren Eisley:

“The journey is difficult, long, sometimes impossible. Even so, I know few people who have let these difficulties stop them. We enter the world without knowing for sure what happened in the past, what consequences this has brought us, and what the future may have in store for us.

“We shall try to travel as far as we can. But looking at the landscape around us, we realize that it won’t be possible to know and learn everything.

”So what remains is for us to remember all about our journey so that we can tell stories.
“To our children and grandchildren, we can tell the marvels that we have seen and the dangers that we have faced.
“They too will be born and will die, they too will tell their stories to their descendants, and still the caravan won’t have reached its destination.”

The animals decided that the king of the group would be elected by the best dancer. At the end of a big feast, the monkey was crowned king.

The jealous fox went for a walk around the neighborhood. There he discovered a trap intact with food inside it. He swiftly picked it up and brought it to the group:

“I found this banquet and felt that I had to bring it to our king, who shall have priority in all things.”

In all innocence, the monkey stretched out his paw to get the food, and was caught in the trap.

“You betrayed me!” he shouted.

“What do you mean? I did not even try to take the food! But at least we have seen that you are not fit for the position; an intelligent animal would never make a decision without first thinking a lot about all the possibilities and dangers involved.

A Japanese legend tells of a certain monk who was so enraptured by the beauty of the Chinese book “Tao Te King” that he decided to raise money to have those verses translated and published into his language. It took him ten years to raise enough funds.

However, a pest swept through the country and the monk decided to use the money to relieve the suffering of the sick. But as soon as the situation became normal, once more he started to gather the amount necessary to publish the Tao.

Another ten years passed by, and when at last he was ready to print the book a seaquake left hundreds of people homeless.

Once more the monk spent all the money on rebuilding the houses of those who had lost everything. Another ten years passed by, he gathered the money again and finally the people of Japan were able to read the “Tao Te King.”

The wise men say that this monk actually made three editions of the Tao: two are invisible and one is in print.
He kept his faith in his objective without ever failing to care for his neighbour.

By Arantza Méndez-Aguirre

MADRID 23 November – Paulo Coelho needs no introduction or whatsoever sort of ceremony, and neither do all his personal achievements and professional rewards in life. A man difficult to define, whose only presence is enough to create a very especial, almost bewitching atmosphere: he speaks, the entire audience just listens…How can he manage to do such thing? May be just because gratefulness and appreciation for every single thing in life are ruling values for Paulo… Over the presentation of his last book, Manuscript found in Accra, Paulo openly shared with us his most sincere, bewildering feedback on trending-topics.

In his own words, ” writers tend nowadays to explore new means to share their work, as they all want their books to be read.” With nearly 500 million readers, he definitely know what he is saying. ” I can only write if I can count on the human contact, that is to say, people who can understand my soul, and if it happens, then we have a starting point, a point of mutual confidence ” .

” The books’ world is changing radically right now, as it did centuries ago. It was nonetheless a technological revolution itself, and now, we are simply living another one. Gutenberg faced similar problems. such as discovering the lead and antimony mix required for types, finding a new ink formula…to set a couple of examples – and deciding what to print. He chose the Bible, of course, which once again proved to be a source of new problems. The printing press caused the of Renaissance, where thinking is suddenly freed out to travel all over…the era of the privileged was over.”

“This is the same now with Social Networks, I love posting and blogging, with which I make zero money but, at the same time, I gain something by far more precious…the contact with the reader.

” I cannot help feeling surprise when contemporary writers complain about Social Networks, and the amount of information, which they deem as data bombing…It is just the possibility to choose, in my opinion, and it only makes us even more free….

“we are living a new Renaissance, if only we could see it…We do not like being romantic, but romanticism is here again….This is nonetheless the Internet Advent, where people start both thinking and share differently for the fist time in many years…”

to read the full post, please CLICK HERE

In the twenty-third year of the reign of Zhao, Lao Tsu realized that the war would end up destroying the place where he lived. As he had spent years meditating on the meaning of life, he was quite aware that at certain moments one has to be practical. He decided to make the simplest decision: move home.

He gathered his few possessions and set out for Han Keou. At the gates of the city he came upon a guard.

– Where can such an important wise man be going? – asked the guard.

– Far from the war.

– You can’t leave just like that. I would very much like to know what you learned in so many years of meditation. I will only let you leave the city if you share with me what you know.

Lao Tsu wrote several pages there and handed the only copy to the man. Then he went on his journey and nobody ever heard of him again.

Lao Tsu’s text was copied and recopied, crossed centuries and millennia and has reached our times. It is called “Tao Te King” translated in nearly every language.

Here are some extracts:

He who knows others is wise.
He who knows himself is illuminated.
He who defeats others is strong.
He who defeats himself is powerful.
He who knows happiness is rich.
He who keeps his path is wilful.

The wise man does not show off, and so he shines.
He does not make himself known, and so he is noticed.
He does not praise himself, and so he has merit.
And because he does not compete,
none in the world can compete with him.

21 Noviembre /Madrid – España

Habla mucho y sus palabras son seductoras. Las trata como el encantador a la serpiente. Tiene don de gentes, tantas como los 17 millones de seguidores que tiene en las redes sociales, como los cerca de quinientos millones de lectores que han pasado por las páginas de los ciento ochenta millones de ejemplares vendidos de sus libros [...]antes de hablar ante los periodistas el propio Coelho tuitea a sus seguidores el inicio de comparecencia ante la Prensa madrileña.

Le gusta hacer preguntas más que ofrecer respuestas y eso es lo que hace en su nuevo libro, «El manuscrito encontrado en Accra» (Ed. Planeta), reflexión sobre los valores, que arranca en una Jerusalén a punto de ser conquistada por los Cruzados. «Los valores de entonces son los mismos de hoy y de siempre», explica. [...]Con sus palabras quedan, amigos lectores.

1. Palabras con plataforma. «El escritor debe descubrir nuevas plataformas para compartir su trabajo. El mundo del libro está viviendo un cambio radical y aún hay gente que no se da cuenta. Me sorprende que tantos escritores sean tan reacios a la comunidad social. Yo, sin embargo, creo que cuanta más información recibimos, mayor es nuestra libertad».

2. Contacto muy íntimos. «Por mucho que se diga lo contrario, se escribe para ser leído. Igual que el vino o un jardín no son para uno mismo, sino para compartir. La idea de un escritor aislado en un torreón de marfil y con sus grandísimas ideas ya no existe. Yo solo puedo escribir a partir del contacto humano, porque quiero compartir mi alma con mis seguidores. Me encanta hacer un tuit, un post, mi blog, no me dan dinero, pero así estoy conectado con la gente. Ninguna promoción supera al boca a oreja».

3. ¿Un nuevo Renacimiento? «Gutenberg llevó a cabo una gran revolución tecnológica con la imprenta, y esa revolución trajo el Renacimiento, porque el conocimiento podía viajar y no era una propiedad de un único grupo de elegidos. No vemos el mundo de manera romántica, pero yo creo que sí vivimos ahora un nuevo Renacimiento, la transmisión del conocimiento ha mejorado y cambiado, se piensa y se comparte de una manera muy diferente a hace diez años».

4. Gibran, profeta y maestro. «Me sorprende que un libro tan sorprendente como “El profeta” sea hoy un libro olvidado, que nadie sepa quién eraGibran. No sé, es lo mismo que me sucede con Jimi Hendrix. Para mí es un icono no entiendo como puede haber gente que no sepa quién es.

5. ¿Felicidad?, no gracias. «No creo en la felicidad que es una invención del siglo XVIII. Me interesa más la alegría que la felicidad, que nunca fue una de mis prioridades. Por supuesto, yo también tengo temor, sufro desesperación, pero tengo alegría. La felicidad es como querer parar el tiempo y el espacio… y entonces te cae un rayo».

6. La Señora de la Guadaña. «Me pregunta usted por la muerte. Tengo que morirme y entonces se lo diré. Aunque sí creo que hay otra vida, pero no sé cuál. Pero vive, lo que pase después no es interesante».

7. Las respuestas no están en el viento. «No hay respuestas, creo que la magia de la vida son las preguntas. El trabajo de un escritor es añadir algo no imponer algo. Si llegamos a tener una respuesta, entonces vuelve a cambiar la pregunta. Y lo que creo es que la gran pregunta es ¿quién soy yo?».

8. Razón e intuición. «Sin la razón no habríamos llegado hasta aquí. Y también por la intuición. Una de las claves de la vida es saber cuando uno debe usar la razón y cuando debe dejarse llevar por la intuición. Porque ambas no es que se lleven siempre mal, pero desde luego no duermen en la misma cama».

9. Ciencia y magia. «Podemos oír un trueno, ver relámpagos y rayos, y pensar que simplemente son hechos meteorológicos, descargas y chispazos eléctricos, pero es mucho más bonito y mágico decir que Dios está furioso».

10. Dichos y parábolas. «Después de Joyce se olvidó la parábola. No quiero saber nada del ego del escritor. La sencillez es la cosa más difícil. Yo siempre intento ser claro y sencillo. Siempre he aprendido de gente muy sencilla. El taxista me enseña más que un sabio. No soy un gurú, soy un peregrino. Muy tarde, muy tarde es no hacer lo que uno sueña. La tradición oral es importantísima para mí. En ella no hay egos, no importa quién narra la historia sino lo que se cuenta.

(trechos de el articulo publicado esta tarde en ABC.es Cultura)

During his whole life, the Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis (Zorba, The Last Temptation of Christ) was an absolutely coherent man. Although he touched on religious themes in many of his books – such as an excellent biography of Saint Francis of Assisi – he always considered himself a confirmed atheist. Well, this confirmed atheist wrote one of the most beautiful definitions of God that I have ever come across:

“We gaze with perplexity at the highest part of the spiral of force that governs the Universe. And we call it God. We could give it any other name: Abyss, Mystery, Absolute Darkness, Total Light, Matter, Spirit, Supreme Hope, Supreme Despair, Silence.
“But we call it God, because only this name – for some mysterious reason – is capable of making our heart tremble with vigor.
“And let there be no doubt that this trembling is absolutely indispensable for us to be in contact with the basic emotions of the human being, emotions that are always beyond any explanation or logic”.

An old legend tells of how a certain city in the Pyrenees mountains used to be a stronghold for drug-traffickers, smugglers and exiles. The worst of them all, an Arab called Ahab, was converted by a local monk, Savin, and decided that things could not continue like that.

As he was feared by all, but did not want to use his fame as a thug to make his point, at no moment did he try to convince anyone. Knowing the nature of men as well as he did, they would only take honesty for weakness and soon his power would be put in doubt.

So what he did was call some carpenters from a neighboring town, hand them a drawing and tell them to build something on the spot where now stands the cross that dominates the town. Day and night for ten days, the inhabitants of the town heard the noise of hammers and watched men sawing bits of wood, making joints and hammering in nails.

At the end of ten days the gigantic puzzle was erected in the middle of the square, covered with a cloth. Ahab called all the inhabitants together to attend the inauguration of the monument.

Solemnly, and without making any speech, he removed the cloth.

It was a gallows. With a rope, trapdoor and all the rest. Brand-new, covered with bee’s wax to endure all sorts of weather for a long time.

Taking advantage of the multitude joined together in the square, Ahab read a series of laws to protect the farmers, stimulate cattle-raising and awarding whoever brought new business into the region, and added that from that day on they would have to find themselves an honest job or else move to another town. He never once mentioned the “monument” that he had just inaugurated; Ahab was a man who did not believe in threats.

At the end of the meeting, several groups formed, and most of them felt that Ahab had been deceived by the saint, since he lacked the courage he used to have. So he would have to be killed. For the next few days many plans were made to this end. But they were all forced to contemplate the gallows in the middle of the square, and wondered: What is that thing doing there? Was it built to kill those who did not accept the new laws? Who is on Ahab’s side, and who isn’t? Are there spies among us?

The gallows looked down on the men, and the men looked up at the gallows. Little by little the rebels’ initial courage was replaced by fear; they all knew Ahab’s reputation, they all knew he was implacable in his decisions. Some people abandoned the city, others decided to try the new jobs offered them, simply because they had nowhere to go or else because of the shadow of that instrument of death in the middle of the square. Some time later the place was at peace, it had grown into a great business center on the frontier and began to export the best wool and produce top-quality wheat.

The gallows stayed there for ten years. The wood resisted well, but now and again the rope was changed for another. It was never put to use. Ahab never said a single word about it. Its image was enough to change courage to fear, trust to suspicion, stories of bravado to whispers of acceptance. After ten years, when law finally reigned in Viscos, Ahab had it destroyed and replaced by a cross.

As you probably know, internet is an important tool, but nobody is sure about anything.
That includes emails.
Therefore, Suphi and I are changing the way to post comments on this blog. From next week on, you must have a Facebook account to do it (I guess many of you have)
You log in with your Facebook account, and then you can write whatever you feel like writing.
By changing the way comments are posted, you don’t need to put your email here anymore every time you want to express your opinion. Your email will remain secret (to all of us, except Facebook, of course).
Love
Paulo
Addendum: of course you will be able to read any post – and you only need to be logged in on Facebook when posting a comment

Paulo Coelho

The warrior knows that the most important words in all languages are the small words.
Yes. Love. God.
They are words that are easy enough to say and which fill vast empty spaces.
There is, however, one word – another small word – that many people have great difficulty in saying: no.
Someone who never says no, thinks of himself as generous, understanding, polite, because ‘no’ is thought of as being nasty, selfish, unspiritual.
The warrior does not fall into this trap. There are times when, in saying ‘yes’ to others, he is actually saying ‘no’ to himself.
That is why he never says ‘yes’ with his lips if, in his heart, he is saying ‘no’.

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

When winter arrives, the trees must sigh in sadness as they see their leaves falling.

They say: ‘We will never be like we were before.’
Of course.

Or still, what is the meaning of renewing oneself? The next leaves will have their own nature, they pertain to a new summer that approaches and which will never be like the one that passed.
Living means changing – and the seasons repeat these lessons to us every year.

Changing means going through a period of depression: we still don’t know the new and we have to forget everything we used to know.

But if we are a little patient, spring ends up arriving and we forget the winter of our hopelessness.

Change and renewal are the laws of life.
It is best to get used to them and not suffer about things that only exist to bring us joy.

taken from “Manuscript found in Accra”

A man decided to go in search of God.

And he went after the masters who were said to have profound knowledge about the reasons for which the universe had been created and promised to explain what God wanted from humanity.

‘But who taught you that?’ he asked the masters. ‘Was it God Himself?’

The masters would say many beautiful words, but they weren’t able to define exactly who taught them everything they preached to the four winds.

Therefore, after a few days of learning here and there, the man would always move on. In his travels he ended up learning about a valley in which the peasants affirmed that at a nearby mountain, God would speak to those who reached it.

And the man went to the mountain. He waited for three days, fasting and praying, but God didn’t approach him.

On the fourth day, already desperate, he shouted: ‘Where are you?’ Echo answered: ‘Where are you?’

And from that moment on, the man understood that God asked the same question and that He was seeking him too.

There is always something hidden there: the owner of a firm who has still to close the deal he has always dreamed of, the housewife who would like to have more independence or more money, the new graduate who wonders whether he has chosen his career or has had it chosen for him, the dentist who wanted to be a singer, the singer who wanted to be a politician, the politician who wanted to be a writer, and the writer who wanted to be a peasant.

In this street where I am sit writing this post and looking at the people passing by, I bet that everyone is feeling the same thing. That elegant woman who has just walked by spends her days trying to stop time, controlling the bathroom scales, because she thinks love depends on that.
On the other side of the street I see a couple with two children. They live moments of intense happiness when they go out with their kids, but at the same time their subconscious is busy thinking about the job they might not get, the tragedies that might occur, how to get over them, how to protect themselves from the world.

I leaf through magazines filled with famous people: everybody laughing, everybody very happy.
But since this is a segment of society that I am quite familiar with, I know it is not like that: everyone is laughing or enjoying themselves at the moment that photo is taken, but at night, or in the morning, the story is always quite different. “What can I do to keep on appearing in the magazine?”, “how can I disguise not having enough money to afford all this luxury?” or “how can I manage this life of splendor to make it even more luxurious, more expressive than other people’s?”, “the actress whom I am seen with in this photo, laughing and having a great time, she could steal my part tomorrow!”, or “I wonder if my clothes are nicer than hers. Why do we smile so much if we loathe one another?”

There is always something hidden there, but Jorge Luis Borges has the final word:
“I will not be happy, but that doesn’t matter, / there are many other things in this world”.

if you live in USA, you can give away The Alchemist (English and Espanol) for free.
All authors who have their books in the list waived their royalties.
Below a short explanation from Carl, the organizer:

Hello, World Book Night friends:

The fun is beginning: The WBN 2013 book picks are official and the giver applications have opened!
I am really excited about the selection of books for World Book Night 2013, and I know you’ll be pleased with them, too. As I said in our press release today: “This isn’t a best-books-of-all-time list; these are contemporary or classic books that appeal to a wide range of new readers. We looked for diversity and variety in all things: subject matter, age level, gender, as well as ethnic and geographic considerations. Last year’s givers also got to nominate books. This is a beautiful mix with, I hope, some old friends and nice surprises! We believe that the wide range of books being offered will appeal to our volunteer book givers and, in turn, to a half million new readers.”
To see the 2013 books, please visit our Books page.

We’ve also opened the giver applications, and I have good news for you. The application process will be open until January, so you have plenty of time to read up on the books and think about where you want to personally hand out your 20 copies before you apply. I recommend you check out the Application Guidelines in advance as well. It’s a great resource and will help make the whole process a lot easier for you.

If you want to give away books to celebrate the event, follow this link to apply to be a book giver

As you probably know, we are all going to die one day.

As we become aware of that, we should surrender to life with much more joy, making things we always postpone, respecting the precious minutes that are passing by and will never come back, disclosing and discovering horizons that can be interesting or disappointing, but deserve at least a little bit of our effort.

It’s normal that we try to avoid death.

It isn’t only normal, it’s the healthiest attitude we can adopt. It is an aberration however to deny it, as the awareness of it lends us much more courage.

If I were to die today, what would I like to do that I haven’t done yet? This is my thought every morning. I learned, along the Saint James Path, that the Angel of Death is my best counsellor.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo says to his disciple: ‘All of us want to live and that is absolutely natural. However, we should learn from childhood on to choose our best way to die.

‘If we don’t do that, we end up spending our days like a dog, only in search of harbour, food and expressing a blind loyalty to his owner in return. That isn’t enough to make our lives have a meaning.’

It is no use in trying to create a world apparently safe and I can find nothing better to explain that than a little story by John O’Hara:

A man goes to the market to buy fruits, when he sees his own Death walking among the people.

Desperate, he runs back and asks his employer to exempt him that day, as he had seen his Death from close.

His boss lets him go to his village, but starts thinking that all that might have been a lie. He goes to the market and really sees his employee’s Death, sitting in a bank.

He complains: ‘But what are you doing here? My servant was surprised to see you and because of that I had to dismiss him from work!”
‘I was surprised to see him here as well,’ Death answers.

‘I have a date with him at five o’clock, at his village, and as it seems, he will escape me!’

(by Little Rich Girl)

Five years ago, a post I had written in my old blog Soul Work received this comment:

It then led to a series of exchanges with Paulo Coelho’s team, then finally to an email exchange with Mr. Coelho himself.

That experience taught me three important things:

Our idols and heroes are actually within reach.
Never underestimate the power of the Web to make things happen.
Trust your inner wisdom.

I’m revisiting all these now, not just to mark the fifth anniversary of my post being up on my favorite author’s blog, but also to remind myself that everything that I had written then still very much applies to me now. I wrote the original blog post nine years ago while I was in deep discernment over the direction my whole life was about to take, and while it first appears to speak about love it can actually apply to so many different areas of our lives. Now that I once again find myself in a life-changing crossroad, I need to remind myself that everything I need in order to make a decision is already here within me.

If, like me, you find yourself caught in a major crossroad and are in the middle of a deep search for meaning and fulfillment, then this post is for YOU. READ IT HERE

(I found this post by chance, but you are more than welcome to post your experience with this blog, and also to give me some ideas on how to improve it.
Thank you
Paulo Coelho )

I have received three litres of products that substitute milk.

A Norwegian company wants to know if I’m interested in investing in the production of this new type of food, because, according to the opinion of an expert, David Rietz, ‘ALL (the capital letters are his) cow’s milk has 59 active hormones and substantial amount of fat, cholesterol, dioxins, bacteria and viruses.’
I think of calcium, which ever since I was a child, I heard my mother say was good for the bones, but the expert anticipated my thought: ‘Calcium? How are the cows able to acquire sufficient calcium for their voluminous bone structure? From the plants!’

Of course, the new product is made from plants, and milk is condemned based on innumerable studies done at the most diverse institutes spread throughout the world.

And its proteins? David Rietz is implacable: ‘I know that people call milk the liquid meat (I never heard that expression, but he must know what he is talking about) due to its high amount of protein.

But it is the protein that makes calcium not able to be absorbed by the organism. Countries with a rich diet in proteins also show a high index of osteoporosis (lack of calcium in our bones).’

On that same afternoon, I receive a text my wife found on the Internet: ‘Those who are between 40 and 60 years old today drove cars with no seatbelts, head support or airbag. Children sat lose on the back seat, having fun and jumping around.

I, for example, am part of a generation that built the legendary soapbox cars (I don’t know how to explain this to today’s generation – let’s say the ‘roller-skate wheels’ were metal balls fixed between two iron rings) and we would descend the steep streets of Botafogo, using our shoes as brakes, falling, hurting, but proud of the high-speed adventure.

Children were never right, they were always grounded, and that didn’t mean they had psychological problems of rejection or lack of love. In school there were good and bad students: the first went on to the next stage, the latter failed.

Psychotherapists weren’t sought out to study these cases – those who failed would just repeat the year.

And even so we survived despite some scratched knees and a few traumas. We not only survived, but we remember the time when milk wasn’t poison, when children would solve their problems without help, fight when necessary, and spend great part of the day without electronic games, inventing children’s plays with their friends.

But let’s go back to the initial issue of this column: I decided to try the new product that substitutes the killer milk. I couldn’t drink the second sip. I asked my wife and our housemaid to taste it without saying what it was, and both of them said they had never tasted anything so bad in their lives.

I’m concerned about the children of tomorrow, with their electronic games, parents with cell phones, psychotherapists helping out at every defeat, and – over all – having to drink this ‘magic potion’ that will keep them without cholesterol, osteoporosis, 59 active hormones, and toxins.

They’ll live with great health, considerable balance, and when they grow up they will discover milk (at this point, possibly an illegal beverage). Who knows a scientist of 2050 will take upon himself to rescue something that had been consumed since the beginning of times?

Or will milk only be obtained through drug dealers?

Khalil Gibran says that for 20 centuries men have adored the weakness of Jesus, and do not fully understand his power. Jesus did not live as a coward, and he died without complaining and suffering. He lived as a revolutionary, and was crucified as a rebel.

He was not a bird with open wings, but a violent storm that parted wings. He was not a victim of his persecutors, and he didn’t suffer at their hands, but he was free before all of them.

Jesus did not come to earth to destroy our homes, and, in turn, build monasteries with his stones; he came to breathe a new soul into us, to build a temple in every heart, a soul in every altar and a priest in every human being.

Looking carefully at his life, we see that, although he knew that his passion was inevitable, he tried to give us a sense of joy in every one of his gestures. He must have thought long and hard before deciding upon which miracle was to be his first; he must have considered the healing of a paralysed man, the resurrection of the dead, the expulsion of a demon, “a noble gesture”. After all, it would be the first time he would show the world that he was the son of God.

And it is written that his first miracle was turning water into wine to liven up a wedding party. The wisdom of this gesture should inspire us and always be present in our souls; the spiritual quest is compassion, enthusiasm and joy.

Tibetan monk Chogyam Trunpga says, “We do not need to have a mystical experience to discover that the world is good. We should just realise that there are simple things around us, see the raindrops trickling down the window, waking in the morning and finding that the sun still shines, hear someone laughing.”

© Translated by Michelle Artimez

Using the money he earned from peddling trishaw, Mr. Bai Fang Li has contributed to finance more than 300 poor students in their tuition fees and living expenses, helping them to complete their studies.

His daughter recalls “He suffers throughout his life, saving on food and drinks, stitching his torn pants over and over again. When you throw away his old pants and buy new ones for him, not only that he does not want to wear them but he also gets angry.”

When the elder peddles trishaw, his clothes, shoes and hates all do not match, as if he is a beggar.
“I had never bought any clothes before. You see, the clothes that I wear are all picked up from the clothes people threw away. Look at my shoes, they are different, even the socks inside are different! The same applies to my hat; it was also collected from dumpsites.” he said.
His family members who could not resist looking him like that have advised him but to no avail.
In response to that, he simply picked up a bun and said to his children
“What is so hard about this? This bun is the product of the farmers’ hard work. People throw it away; I pick it up and eat it; isn’t this a way to reduce wastage?”

It has been calculated that, over years, Mr. Bai Fang Li has peddled equivalent to going round the Earth’s equator for 18 (times?). Mr. Bai has never thought to be rewarded.

Somebody attempted to find the list of students sponsored by Mr. Bai but he only found a photograph of him with a few children, and that is the only photograph ever taken. When asked about what he expected of the children, his humble reply was “I only want them to study hard, get a good job, be a good person and to give back to the country.”

In 2001, Mr. Bai Fang Li donated the last sum of money. Nearly 90 years old, he was unable to peddle trishaws anymore.
Instead, he looked after people’s car at the station and saved up to 500 yuan before he donated the money.
After giving out his last sum of money, he said “I cannot work anymore, I can no longer donate money to others!” and that was the first time in her life his daughter Bai Jin Feng had ever heard her father saying that.

Mr. Bai passed away on September 23, 2005, in a hospital. Hundreds turned up at his funeral.

Source: Chung Hua Cultural Education Centre

selected from a post By Bill Henderson, Publishers Weekly

“The final blow-up of what was once a remarkable, if minor, talent.”
-The New Yorker, 1936, on Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

“Whitman is as unacquainted with art as a hog is with mathematics.”
-The London Critic, 1855, on Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

“That this book is strong and that Miss Chopin has a keen knowledge of certain phrases of the feminine will not be denied. But it was not necessary for a writer of so great refinement and poetic grace to enter the overworked field of sex fiction.”
-Chicago Times Herald, 1899, on The Awakening by Kate Chopin

“What has never been alive cannot very well go on living. So this is a book of the season only…”
-New York Herald Tribune, 1925, on The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Here all the faults of Jane Eyre (by Charlotte Brontë) are magnified a thousand fold, and the only consolation which we have in reflecting upon it is that it will never be generally read.”
-James Lorimer, North British Review, 1847, on Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

“That a book like this could be written–published here–sold, presumably over the counters, leaves one questioning the ethical and moral standards…there is a place for the exploration of abnormalities that does not lie in the public domain. Any librarian surely will question this for anything but the closed shelves. Any bookseller should be very sure that he knows in advance that he is selling very literate pornography.” -
Kirkus Reviews, 1958, on Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

“Her work is poetry; it must be judged as poetry, and all the weaknesses of poetry are inherent in it.”
-New York Evening Post, 1927, on To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

“An oxymoronic combination of the tough and tender, Of Mice and Men will appeal to sentimental cynics, cynical sentimentalists…Readers less easily thrown off their trolley will still prefer Hans Andersen.”
-Time, 1937, on Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

“Its ethics are frankly pagan.”
-The Independent, 1935, on Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

“At a conservative estimate, one million dollars will be spent by American readers for this book. They will get for their money 34 pages of permanent value. These 34 pages tell of a massacre happening in a little Spanish town in the early days of the Civil War…Mr. Hemingway: please publish the massacre scene separately, and then forget For Whom the Bell Tolls; please leave stories of the Spanish Civil War to Malraux…”
-Commonweal, 1940, on For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

“Monsieur Flaubert is not a writer.”
-Le Figaro, 1857, on Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

An old Arab story goes that two boys – one rich and the other poor – were returning home from the market.

The rich boy bought honey-covered cookies and the poor one, a piece of old bread. ‘I will let you eat my cookie if you play the dog for me,’ the rich boy said.

The poor boy accepted and, on his fours on the walkway, he began to eat the rich boy’s goodies.
The wise man Fath, who was watching the scene, said: ‘If this poor boy had a little bit of dignity he would find out a way of making money.

‘But he prefers to turn into the rich boy’s dog in order to eat his cookies.
‘Tomorrow, when he is grown up, he will do the same for a public office and will be capable of betraying his country for a bag of gold.’

Following the challenge posted in 3.000.000 Twitter here is the film of our dinner in April this year(each one gives an statement, and I speak in the end),
Now I am going to cross the barrier of 6.000.000 friends. What shall we do together? Please leave you suggestions in the “comments” below

Seguindo o desafio postado em 3.000.000 Twitter, aqui um pequeno filme sobre o jantar em abril deste ano(cada um fala de si mesmo e eu falo no final)
Agora vou cruzar a barreira de 6.000.000 de amigos. O que podemos fazer? Deixe sua sugestão em “comments” abaixo

La cena en abril, com los lectores/amigos seleccionados en el post 3.000.000 Twitter (cada uno habla un poco de si mismo, yo hablo en el final)
Pues caminamos ahora para 6.000.000 amigos. Que debemos hacer? Por favor, deje las sugerencias en “comments” abajo
 

A huge geoglyph in the shape of an elk or deer discovered in Russia may predate Peru’s famous Nazca Lines by thousands of years.
The animal-shaped stone structure, located near Lake Zjuratkul in the Ural Mountains, north of Kazakhstan, has an elongated muzzle, four legs and two antlers. A historical Google Earth satellite image from 2007 shows what may be a tail, but this is less clear in more recent imagery.
Excluding the possible tail, the animal stretches for about 900 feet (275 meters) at its farthest points (northwest to southeast), the researchers estimate, equivalent to two American football fields. The figure faces north and would have been visible from a nearby ridge.

A man named Alexander Shestakov first discovered the glyphs using satellite images. He alerted researchers, who sent out a hydroplane and paraglider to survey the giant structure.

This has since progressed to an on-the-ground excavation by a team led by Grigoriev. They’ve found that the stone architecture of the geoglyph is quite elaborate. When they excavated part of a hind leg the largest stones were on the edges, the smaller ones inside. This past summer they also found the remains of passageways and what appear to be small walls on the hoof and muzzle of the animal.

“The hoof is made of small crushed stones and clay. It seems to me there were very low walls and narrow passages among them. The same situation in the area of a muzzle: crushed stones and clay, four small broad walls and three passages,” Grigorievwrote in an email to LiveScience. He cautioned that his team didn’t excavate all the way down to the bottom of the walls, not wishing to damage the geoglyph.

(read this very interesting article by CLICKING HERE )

Of course it’s difficult to top a box office success like Emmanuelle, so it will always be my most important work. But that’s nothing to be ashamed of.The only thing I was trying to portray was serenity. Also, innocence, vulnerability and elegance.

(AP/ The Hague) – Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel, whose iconic “Emmanuelle” role symbolised the sexual revolution of the 1970s and who spent years fighting drug addiction, has died aged 60 after a battle with cancer.

“She died during the night during her sleep,” agent Marieke Verharen of Features Creative Management told AFP of the 60 year-old actress who had been admitted to an Amsterdam hospital in July following a stroke.

“I was a silent actress, a body. I belonged to dreams, to those that can’t be broken,” Kristel, who for years battled drug and alcohol addiction, wrote in her 2006 autobiography “Naked”.

“When I think of the end of my life, I think mainly: I didn’t do nothing, but I could have done more”, Kristel said in a 2005 interview with Dutch newspaper Volkskrant.

Jean was walking with his grandfather through a public square in Paris.
At a certain point, he saw a shoemaker being mistreated by a client, whose footwear showed a flaw. The shoemaker listened calmly to the complaint and apologized, promising to correct the error.

Jean and his grandfather stopped to have coffee at a bistro.
At the table next to them, the waiter asked a man to move his chair a little in order to make space. That man burst into a torrent of complaints and refused to move.

“Never forget what you have seen today,” Jean’s grandfather said, “the shoemaker accepted the complaint, while this man next to us didn’t want to move.

“Useful men, who do useful things, don’t mind being treated as useless.

“But the useless always judge themselves as being important and hide all their incompetence behind authority.”

Our Lady of Aparecida (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora Aparecida or Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida) is a celebrated 18th-century clay statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the traditional form of the Immaculate Conception. The image is widely venerated by Brazilian Roman Catholics, who consider her as the principal patroness of Brazil.[1] Pious accounts claim that the statue was originally found by fishermen, who miraculously caught many fishes after invoking the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The dark statue is currently housed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Aparecida, São Paulo. The Roman Catholic Church in Brazil celebrates her feast day every October 12. Since the basilica’s consecration 1980 by Pope John Paul II, it has also been a public holiday in Brazil. The Basilica is the fourth most popular Marian shrine in the world,[3] being able to hold up to 45,000 worshippers.[2]

The image has merited the Papal sanction of Pope Pius XI in 1929 by declaring her shrine as a minor Basilica, and by Blessed Pope John Paul II in 1980, who reiterated the patronage of Brazil under the title of the Immaculate Conception.

The statue has also merited worldwide controversy in May 1978, when a Protestant intruder stole the clay statue from its shrine and broke it into pieces, and another in 1995, when a Protestant minister slandered and vandalized a copy of the statue in national Brazilian television.

To read the full story, please CLICK HERE

A friend of mine, Miie T. decided to abandon everything she knew — she was an economist — in order to dedicate herself to painting.

For years she sought an adequate master until she met a woman who lived in Tibet and specialized in miniatures.
Miie left Japan and went to the Tibetan mountains and moved in with the teacher, who was extremely poor, to learn what she needed to learn.

At the end of the first year, Miie returned to Japan for a couple of days and returned to Tibet with suitcases filled with gifts.
When her teacher saw what she had brought, she began to cry and asked Miie not to come back to her home, saying,

“Before your trip, our relation was of equality and love. You had a roof, food and paints.
“Now, as you brought me these gifts, you have established a social difference between us.
“If this difference exists, there can’t be comprehension and surrendering.”
 
 

(excerpts from a post in The Daily Mind)

The Oxford English Dictionary defines cynicism in a very enlightening way: “…a disposition to disbelieve in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions…”

The main thing to notice about the definition is the presence of negativity. A cynical person will almost always choose to doubt, disbelieve or discredit, even when there is no logical reason to do so.

So why do people think and behave like this? There are many schools of thought on the matter – some regard cynicism as a personal defense mechanism whereby people prevent themselves from opening up to love and friendship for fear of being hurt. Others say it comes about due to a traumatic event that occurred in childhood and caused a person to “close up”.

Here are some super simple things you can do to get yourself on the path of positive thinking and away from those habits of cynicism:

1. Recognize the problem
As with all problems the first step is in the recognizing. Some people go their whole lives not realizing that they are horrible people with miserly outlooks and cynical views of the world. Thank yourself lucky that you have had the good fortune to recognize the problem and do something about it. This is the first step.

2. Recognize each cynical thought
Once you have realized that you can be a cynic the task is to start realizing it more often. Think of this as a bit of a mindfulness meditation. The idea is to become attuned to your own mind and thoughts and start to become aware of every cynical thought that you have.

3. Use logic to debate the cynicism
Logic is a wonderful thing. Logic allows you to overcome destructive emotions and other negative things in your life. Why? Because 99% of the time the reason for your depression, anxiety, hatred or other negative feeling is illogical. If you debate the negative feeling using logic you will often find that the negative feeling gets weaker.

4. Make a definitive choice to be positive
Everything good in life comes from a choice. When you make a choice to do something you do everything that you can to make that thing come about.

5. Focus on people’s qualities
The last method I want to give you is the one that has worked the best for me. It is the simple art of choosing to look at people’s qualities instead of their negative attributes.

if you are a cynical person and you find that you have no friends, a bad job, poor social life and are generally unhappy then you could conclude that the results of your cynicism were bad. This is the type to avoid. If, however, you find that your cynicism helps you to avoid trouble then you can conclude that it is a good type.
Make sure you learn the difference.

“According to him [Plato], at the beginning of creation, men and women were not as they are now; there was just one being, who was rather short, with a body and a neck, but his head had two faces, looking in different directions. It was as if two creatures had been glued back to back, with two sets of sex organs, four legs and four arms.

“The Greek gods, however, were jealous, because this creature with four arms work harder; with its two faces, it was always vigilant and could not be taken by surprise; and its four legs meant that it could stand or walk for long periods at a time without tiring. Even more dangerous was the fact that the creature had two different sets of sex organs and so needed no one else in order to continue reproducing.

“Zeus, the supreme lord of Olympus, said: ‘I have a plan to make these mortals lose some of their strength.’

“And he cut the creature in two with a lightning bolt, thus creating man and woman. This greatly increased the population of the world, and, at the same time, disoriented and weakened its inhabitants, because now they had to search for their lost half and embrace it and, in that embrace, regain their former strength, their ability to avoid betrayal and the stamina to walk for long periods of time and to withstand hard work. That embrace in which the two bodies re-fuse to become one again is what we call sex.”

- Ralf Hart (in Eleven Minutes)

A deeply religious Rabbi lived happily with his family, an admirable woman and two dear sons. One time, he had to be away from home for several days due to work. When he was away, a serious car accident killed his two boys.

Alone, the mother suffered in silence. But being a strong woman, backed up by her faith and trust in God, she endured the shock with dignity and bravery. However, she constantly worried how she was going to break this sad news to her husband. Even though he was a man of faith, he had already been admitted to the hospital for cardiac problems in the past and his wife feared that learning about the tragedy would kill him too.

On the eve of her husband’s arrival, she prayed earnestly and was given the grace of an answer.

On the following day, the Rabbi returned home, embraced his wife warmly and asked for their sons.
His wife told him not to worry about that, he should take a shower and rest.

Hours later, both of them sat down to have lunch.
She asked him for details about his journey, he told her about everything he had experienced, spoke of God’s mercy, but asked about the boys again.

His wife, in a quiet embarrassed posture, answered her husband, “Leave them alone, we’ll worry about them later. First I want you to help me solve a problem I consider serious.”

Her husband, already worried, asked, “What happened? I noticed you are worn! Tell me everything that goes through your soul and I am sure we will solve any problem together, with the help of God.”

“While you were away, a friend of ours visited me and left two jewels of incalculable worth for us to save. Those are very precious jewels! I have never seen something so stunning! He is coming to get them back and I don’t want to give them back to him as I have already taken a liking to them. What do you say?”

“Well now, woman! I don’t understand you! Vanities have never appealed to you!”
“It is that I had never seen such jewels! I can’t accept the idea of losing them forever!”

And the Rabbi answered:
“No one loses what he doesn’t own. Keeping them would be like stealing! We are going to return them and I will help you get over them. We will do that together, today.”

“Very well, my dear, as you wish. The treasure will be returned. In truth, that has already been done. The precious jewels were our sons. God trusted us their guard and during your trip he came to get them. They are gone…”

The Rabbi embraced his wife, and together they shed many tears, but he had understood the message and from that day on they fought to overcome the loss together.

After four years of drought in the small north-east village, the priest gathered everyone for a pilgrimage up to the mountain; there they would do a collective prayer, asking for the rain to fall again.

In the group, the priest noticed a boy wearing a raincoat.

‘Are you crazy?’ he asked the boy.

‘It hasn’t rained in this region for five years and the heat from hiking up the mountain will kill you.’

The boy replied: ‘I have a cold, priest. If we are going to ask God for rain, can you imagine our return from the mountain? It will be a spate and I need to be prepared.’

At this moment, they heard a great roar coming from the sky and the first drops began to fall. It sufficed the faith of a boy in a miracle that even the most prepared ones didn’t believe in.

…. I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

“He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.

“In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. ”

by Henry David Thoreau

When Joseph Campbell created the expression “follow your blessing,” he was reflecting an idea that seems to be very appropriate right now. In “The Alchemist,” this same idea is called “Personal Legend.”
Alan Cohen, a therapist who lives in Hawaii, is also working on this theme. He says that in his lectures he asks those who are dissatisfied with their work and seventy-five percent of the audience raise their hands. Cohen has created a system of twelve steps to help people to rediscover their “blessing” (he is a follower of Campbell):

1. Tell yourself the truth
Draw two columns on a sheet of paper and in the left column write down what you would love to do. Then write down on the other side everything you’re doing without any enthusiasm. Write as if nobody were ever going to read what is there, don’t censure or judge your answers.
2. Start slowly, but start
Call your travel agent, look for something that fits your budget; go and see the movie that you’ve been putting off; buy the book that you’ve been wanting to buy. Be generous to yourself and you’ll see that even these small steps will make you feel more alive.
3. Stop slowly, but stop
Some things use up all your energy. Do you really need to go that committee meeting? Do you need to help those who do not want to be helped? Does your boss have the right to demand that in addition to your work you have to go to all the same parties that he goes to? When you stop doing what you’re not interested in doing, you’ll realize that you were making more demands of yourself than others were really asking.
4. Discover your small talents
What do your friends tell you that you do well? What do you do with relish, even if it’s not perfectly well done? These small talents are hidden messages of your large occult talents.
Begin to choose
If something gives you pleasure, don’t hesitate. If you’re in doubt, close your eyes, imagine that you’ve made decision A and see all that it will bring you. Now do the same with decision B. The decision that makes you feel more connected to life is the right one – even if it’s not the easiest to make.
Don’t base your decisions on financial gain

The gain will come if you really do it with enthusiasm. The same vase, made by a potter who loves what he does and by a man who hates his job, has a soul. It will be quickly sold (in the first case) or will stay on the shelves (in the second case).
7. Follow your intuition
The most interesting work is the one where you allow yourself to be creative. Einstein said: “I did not reach my understanding of the Universe using just mathematics.” Descartes, the father of logic, developed his method based on a dream he had.
8. Don’t be afraid to change your mind
If you put a decision aside and this bothers you, think again about what you chose. Don’t struggle against what gives you pleasure.
9. Learn how to rest
One day a week without thinking about work lets the subconscious help you, and many problems (but not all) are solved without any help from reason.
10. Let things show you a happier path
If you are struggling too much for something, without any results appearing, be more flexible and follow the paths that life offers. This does not mean giving up the struggle, growing lazy or leaving things in the hands of others – it means understanding that work with love brings us strength, never despair.
11. Read the signs
This is an individual language joined to intuition that appears at the right moments. Even if the signs point in the opposite direction from what you planned, follow them. Sometimes you can go wrong, but this is the best way to learn this new language.
12. Finally, take risks!
The men who have changed the world set out on their paths through an act of faith. Believe in the force of your dreams. God is fair, He wouldn’t put in your heart a desire that couldn’t come true.

While he was speaking, Terence was transformed into two very different men. The one who was calmly explaining the rules to her and the one who made her feel like the most miserable wretch in the world.
‘Do you know why I am doing this? Because there is no greater pleasure than that of initiating someone into an unknown world. Taking someone’s virginity – the virginity not of their body, but of their soul, you understand.’

She understood.
‘Today you can ask questions, but the next time, when the theatre curtain goes up, the play will begin and cannot be stopped. If it does stop, it is because our souls are incompatible. Remember: it is a play. You must be the person you have never had the courage to be. Gradually, you will discover that you are that person, but until you can see this clearly, you must pretend and invent.’

‘What if I can’t stand the pain?’
‘There is no pain, only something that transforms itself into delight and mystery. It forms part of the play to say: “Don’t treat me like that, you’re really hurting me.”

Maria, kneeling, lowered her head and stared at the floor.
‘…in order to avoid this relationship causing any serious physical harm, we have two code words. If one of us says “yellow”, that means that the violence should be decreased slightly. If one of us says “red”, it must be stopped at once.’
‘You said “one of us”…’
‘We take turns. One cannot exist without the other; no one can know how to humiliate another person if they themselves have not experienced humiliation.’

These were terrible words, from a world she did not know, full of shadow, slime and putrefaction. Nevertheless, she wanted to go on – her body was trembling with fear and excitement.

‘Was tonight worth one thousand francs?’

Terence seemed pleased with this response.
‘I’ve asked myself the same thing. The Marquis de Sade said that the most important experiences a man can have are those that take him to the very limit; that is the only way we learn, because it requires all our courage. When a boss humiliates an employee, or a man humiliates his wife, he is merely being cowardly or taking his revenge on life, they are people who have never dared to look into the depths of their soul, never attempted to know the origin of that desire to unleash the wild beast, or to understand that sex, pain and love are all extreme experiences.
‘Only those who know those frontiers know life; everything else is just passing the time, repeating the same tasks, growing old and dying without ever having discovered what we are doing here.’

in “Eleven Minutes”

 
When her brother was born, Sa-chi Gabriel begged her parents to leave her alone with the baby.

They refused, fearing that, as with many four-year-olds, she was jealous and wanted to mistreat him.

 
But Sa-chi showed no signs of jealousy.
And since she was always extremely affectionate towards her little brother, her parents decided to carry out an experiment.

They left Sa-chi alone with their new-born baby, but kept the bedroom door ajar so that they could watch what she did.

 
Delighted to have her wish granted, little Sa-chi tiptoed over to the cradle, leaned over the baby and said:

 
“Little brother, tell me what God is like. I’m beginning to forget.”
 
 
 

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

Sometimes we keep on waiting – with patience, resignation, courage – and still, things around us don’t move. But since this is the path we chose, it seems impossible that life’s blessings are not working in our favor. It provokes, therefore, a deep reflection about what we call “results:” our destiny is manifesting itself in a way we are not able to fully comprehend .
Jorge Luís Borges wrote a masterly short story about this issue.

He describes the birth of a tiger that spends great part of its life in the African wildness but ends up being captured and taken to a zoo in Italy. From then on, the animal thinks his life has lost sense and there is nothing left to do but wait for the day he dies.

One fine day, poet Dante Alighieri passes by this zoo, looks at the tiger, and the animal inspires a verse – in the midst of thousands of verses – of “The Divine Comedy.”

“The entire battle for survival that tiger went through was only so that it could be at the zoo on that morning and inspire an immortal verse,” says Borges.

Just like this tiger, we all have a reason – a very important reason – to be here, at this moment, this morning.

So relax. And pay attention.

In an interesting and diminutive book called “The Breviary of Medieval Knights,” there are some passages that have to be remembered in these moments of waiting:

“The Path’s spiritual energy uses justice and patience to prepare your spirit.”

“This is the Knight’s Path. An easy and hard path at the same time, as it urges us to let aside useless things and relative friendships.

“That is why, at the beginning, we hesitate so much to follow it.”

“This is a Knight’s first teaching: you will erase everything you wrote up to now on your life’s notebook: turmoil, insecurities, lies.

“And in place of all that, you will write the word courage.

Beginning the journey with this word and going on with faith in God, you will arrive where you need to arrive.

Melchizedek (holding the cup), Chartres Cathedral, France

from Keithpp’s Blog

Who is or was Melchizedek, King of Salem?

Melchizedek appears in “The Alchemist” as a wise old man, who knows the past and appears to know the future. He gives advice to the shepherd boy Santiago re a dream Santiago has had of finding treasure, but he always wakes before the dreams ends. Advice does not come cheap, everything in life has a price, and the old man charges Santiago a tenth of his flock of sheep. But he wishes him well and points him in the right direction of the Pyramids should he wish to find his treasure.

Melchizedek reveals himself to Santiago as the King of Salem. He also gives him two stones Urim and Thummim which will help him to make a decision should he be unable to make a decision himself. He also teaches him how to read the Soul of the World by understanding signs and omens.

Who therefore is or was Melchizedek?

He pops up in Genesis in his encounter with Abraham.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. [Genesis 14:18-20 NIV]

Whilst unknown to us, he must be known to Abraham, else why hand over ten per cent?

Hebrews sheds a little more light on who Melchizedek might be:

Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. [Hebrews 7:3 KJV]

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace. [Hebrews 7:1-2]

Some say he is God, others that he is Jesus. Maybe an avatar of God.

You can read more about Melchizedek in Keith’s Blog

A group of wise men gathered to discuss the work of God; they wanted to know why he had left it to the sixth day to create man.

“He thought about first organizing the Universe well, so that we could have all the marvels available to us,” said one of them.

“First of all He wanted to run some tests on animals, so that He would not make the same mistakes with us,” argued another.

One wise Jew showed up at the meeting. They told him the theme of the discussion: “in your opinion, why did God leave it to the last day to create man?”

“Very simple,” commented the wise man. “So that when we were moved by pride, we would remember that even a simple mosquito enjoyed priority in the work of the Divine.”

Having written a book about madness (Veronika decides to die) , I was forced to wonder how many things we do are imposed on us by necessity, or by the absurd. Why wear a tie? Why do clocks run “clockwise”? If we live in a decimal system, why does the day have 24 hours of 60 minutes?
The fact is, many of the rules we obey nowadays have no real foundation. Nevertheless, if we wish to act differently, we are considered “crazy” or “immature”.
Meanwhile, society continues to create some systems which, in the fullness of time, lose their reason for existence, but continue to impose their rules. An interesting Japanese story illustrates what I mean by this:

A great Zen Buddhist master, who was in charge of the Mayu Kagi monastery, had a cat which was his true passion in life. So, during meditation classes, he kept the cat by his side – in order to make the most of his company.
One morning, the master – who was already quite old – passed away. His best disciple took his place.
– What shall we do with the cat? – asked the other monks.
As a tribute to the memory of their old instructor, the new master decided to allow the cat to continue attending the Zen Buddhist classes.

Some disciples from the neighboring monasteries, traveling through those parts, discovered that, in one of the region’s most renowned temples, a cat took part in the meditation sessions. The story began to spread.
Many years passed. The cat died, but as the students at the monastery were so used to its presence, they soon found another cat. Meanwhile, the other temples began introducing cats in their meditation sessions: they believed the cat was truly responsible for the fame and excellence of Mayu Kagi’s teaching.

A generation passed, and technical treatises began to appear about the importance of the cat in Zen meditation. A university professor developed a thesis – which was accepted by the academic community – that felines have the ability to increase human concentration, and eliminate negative energy.
And so, for a whole century, the cat was considered an essential part of Zen Buddhist studies in that region.

Until a master appeared who was allergic to animal hair, and decided to remove the cat from his daily exercises with the students.

There was a fierce negative reaction – but the master insisted. Since he was an excellent instructor, the students continued to make the same progress, in spite of the absence of the cat.
Little by little, the monasteries – always in search of new ideas, and already tired of having to feed so many cats – began eliminating the animals from the classes. In twenty years new revolutionary theories began to appear – with very convincing titles such as “The Importance of Meditating Without a Cat”, or “Balancing the Zen Universe by Will Power Alone, Without the Help of Animals”.

Another century passed, and the cat withdrew completely from the meditation rituals in that region. But two hundred years were necessary for everything to return to normal – because during all this time, no one asked why the cat was there.


in my book “Like a flowing river”

When the moment of combat draws near, the Warrior of Light is prepared for any circumstance. He analyzes each possibility and asks himself: “What would I do if I had to fight against myself?”

This is how he discovers his weak points.

At this moment the adversary approaches, carrying a bag filled with promises, agreements and negotiations. He has tempting proposals and easy alternatives to offer.

The warrior analyzes each of these proposals; he also seeks an agreement, but without losing his dignity. If he avoids combat, it is not because he was seduced – but rather because he decided that this was the best strategy.

A Warrior of Light does not accept presents from the enemy.

On the defense and on the attack

The warrior is careful with people who think they can control the world, determine their own steps, and are certain that they know the right path. They are always so confident in their own capacity of decision that they do not realize the irony with which fate writes everyone’s life.

The Warrior of Light has dreams. His dreams carry him forward. But he never commits the mistake of thinking that the road is easy and the door wide.

He knows that the Universe works like alchemy: solve et coagula, say the masters. ”Concentrate and disperse your energy according to the situation.”

There are moments to act and moments to accept.

In the face of defeat

The Warrior of Light knows how to lose. He does not hold defeat as something indifferent, using phrases like “well, it wasn’t all that important”, or “to tell the truth, I did not really want that”.

He accepts defeat as a defeat; he does not try to change it into a victory or an experience. He suffers the pain of his wounds, the indifference of his friends and the loneliness of loss. At such moments he says to himself: “I fought for something, and I failed to get it. I lost the first battle.”

This phrase will give him strength. He is aware that nobody wins all the time – but the courageous always win in the end.

A sword can last a short time, but the warrior has to last a long time. That is why he must not let himself be fooled by his own capacity and so be taken by surprise. To each thing he gives the true value that it deserves.

Often, when he is faced with serious matters, the devil whispers in his ear: “Do not bother about that, that’s not serious.”

Other times, when he is faced with trivial matters, the devil whispers: “You need to spend all your energy on solving this situation.”

The warrior does not listen to what the devil is saying. He is the master of his sword.

Pay attention to your allies

A warrior does not associate with anyone who wishes him harm. Nor is he seen in the company of those who want to “console” him.

He avoids whoever is only at his side in moments of defeat. These false friends want to prove that weakness has its rewards. They always bear bad news. They always try to destroy the warrior’s trust, under the disguise of “solidarity”.

When they see him injured they break into tears, but deep in their hearts they are happy because the warrior has lost a battle. They fail to understand that this is a part of combat.

A warrior’s true companions are at his side at each and every moment, in times both difficult and easy.

a gift by Sylvia Fodor

by Deepak Chopra

What is meditation?
Meditation is an expansion of self-awareness.

Why should someone meditate?
Meditation has several benefits, physical, and emotional, and spiritual. On the physical level, it is effective as an anti-stress process. It quiets the body, improves cardiovascular function, modulates the immune system and enhances self-repair mechanisms.
On the mental level, meditation enhances emotional wellbeing and is associated with a restfully alert mind.
On the spiritual level, by expanding self-awareness, meditation gives us access to the qualities of our consciousness such as insight, intuition, imagination, creativity, and freedom of choice. It also reveals to us the inseparability of everything in the universe and therefore shifts our identity to transpersonal to universal.

Are there different types of meditation?
Yes, there are several types of meditation:
Transcending meditations, which usually involve the use of a mantra or sound. However transcendence can also be achieved through any of the five senses and there are techniques for all the five senses.
Contemplative meditations that involve self-reflection and self-inquiry.
Mindfulness meditations (also referred to as vipasana) that make practitioners aware of various aspects of their experience. These include awareness of the environment; awareness of the body, including internal organs; experience of mental space, including sensations, images, feelings, and thoughts; and awareness of relationships. Mindfulness brings insight spontaneously and therefore mindfulness meditation is also referred to as insight meditation.
There are also meditations for enhancing specific aspects of emotional and physical wellbeing and for increasing the experience of love, abundance, joy, equanimity, compassion, and empathy.
In addition, there are meditations that enhance mind-body coordination, use breathing techniques, and specific gestures and interoception. These procedures — frequently known as mudras and bandhas — give us the ability to influence our internal organs including heart rate variability and blood pressure.

How often should I meditate?
A daily practice is best, and should be included as part of a normal routine that includes slicing up our time in various areas of life: sleep time, exercise time, focused work time, relationship time, mindful eating time, play and creative time.

(To read the full article, CLICK HERE )

A farmer knocked heavily at a convent’s door. When the brother doorkeeper opened the door, the farmer stretched out a magnificent bunch of grapes to him.

“Dear brother doorkeeper, these are the most beautiful grapes produced in my vineyard. And I come here to give them to you as a gift,” said the farmer.

“Thank you. I will take them immediately to the Abbot, who will be happy about your offer,” said the doorkeeper happily.

“No. I brought them for you,” said the farmer.

“For me?” The doorkeeper turned red because he thought he didn’t deserve such beautiful gift of nature.

“Yes!” the farmer insisted, “Because whenever I knock at this door, you open it. Whenever I needed your help because of the harvest being destroyed by drought, you gave me a piece of bread and a cup of wine. I want this bunch of grapes to bring you a little of the sun’s love, of the rain’s beauty and of God’s miracle, as He made it grow so beautifully.”

The doorkeeper placed the bunch of grapes in front of him and spent the morning admiring it. As the bunch of grapes was really gorgeous, he decided to give it to the Abbot as a gift, who had always stimulated him with words of wisdom.

The Abbot was very happy about the grapes, but remembered that there was a brother who was sick at the convent, and thought, “I will give him the grape bunch. Who knows, it might bring some joy to his life.”

And so he did. However, the grapes didn’t stay very long with the sick brother, because he thought, “Brother cook has been taking care of me for so long, nourishing me with the best there is. I am sure he will appreciate it.”

When brother cook brought his meal at the lunch time, he gave him the grapes.

“They are yours,” said the sick brother, “as you are always in contact with the produce that nature offers; you will know what to do with this work of God.”

Brother cook was fascinated by the beauty of the bunch. So perfect, he thought, that there is no one better to prize them as brother sacristan; as he was responsible for the guard of the Blessed Sacrament and many at the monastery saw him as a holy man; he would be able to value the marvel of nature.

The brother, on his turn, gave the grapes as a gift to the youngest novice, so that he could understand that God’s work is found in the smallest details of creation.

When the novice received it, his heart filled with the glory of the Lord, because he had never seen such a beautiful bunch of grapes. At the same moment, he remembered the first time he came to the monastery and the person who opened the door to him; it was this gesture that allowed him to be in that community of people who knew how to value miracles today.

Before the nightfall, he took the grape bunch to brother doorkeeper.

“Eat it and enjoy it,” he said. “Because you spend most of your time here alone and these grapes will make you very happy.”

The doorkeeper understood that the gift had really been destined to be with him, so he savoured each grape of that bunch and slept happily.

The circle was closed — the circle of happiness and joy, which always stretches out around the generous people.

by Serdar Ozkan

‘Tree, oh, tree, with what should I bless you?

“Should I bless you that your fruit be sweet? Your fruit is already sweet.

“Should I bless you that your shade be plentiful? Your shade is plentiful. That a spring of water should run beneath you? A spring of water runs beneath you.

“There is one thing with which I can bless you:
‘May it be God’s will that all the trees planted from your seed should be like you…”

Serdar Ozkan is the author of the extraordinary book “The missing rose”

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess, admired by everyone, but whom no one dared to propose to.

Desperate, the king consulted the god Apollo, who said that Psyche should be left alone, in a mourning dress, at the top of a mountain. Before daybreak, a serpent would come to her and marry her.

The king obeyed, and throughout the night the princess waited, terrified and freezing, for the arrival of her husband. She ended up falling asleep.

As she awoke, she was in a beautiful palace, transformed into a queen.

Every night her husband would come to her, they made love, and he had just one condition: Psyche could have anything she desired, but she should trust him completely and never see his face.

The young woman lived happily for a very long time; she had comfort, affection, joy, she was in love with the man who came to her every night.

Once in a while, however, she was afraid of being married to a horrible serpent. One night, while her husband slept, she illuminated their bed with a lantern and found Eros (or Cupid), a man of incredible beauty, beside her.

The light woke him up and he found out that the woman he loved wasn’t able to fulfil his only desire, and disappeared.

Every time I read this story, I asked myself: Will we never be allowed to discover the face of love? It was necessary that many years passed below the bridge of my life, until I could understand that love is an act of faith in another person, and her face shall stay covered in mystery.

Each moment shall be lived and enjoyed, but whenever we try to understand it, the magic disappears.

After I accepted this, I also allowed my life to be guided by a strange language, which I call ‘signs’. I know the world is talking to me, and I need to listen to it, and if I do that, I will always be guided toward what there is of the most intense, passionate and beautiful.

Of course it isn’t easy, and sometimes I feel like Psyche at the cliff, cold and terrified; but if I am able to overcome that night and surrender to mystery and to the faith in life, I always end up waking up in a palace. All I need is to trust in Love, even running the risk of erring.

Concluding the Greek myth: Desperate to have her love back, Psyche submits herself to a series of tasks imposed by Aphrodite (or Venus), Cupid’s (or Eros’s) mother, who was envious of her beauty.

One of these tasks was to give Aphrodite some of her beauty. Psyche becomes curious about the box that should contain the beauty of the goddess, and again, she isn’t able to deal with Mystery and decides to open it.

She didn’t find anything of beauty in the box, but an infernal sleepiness that left her inert, and without movement.

Eros/Cupid is in love as well, regretting not having been more tolerant toward his wife. He is able to enter the castle and wake her up from this profound sleep with the tip of his arrow and tells her once again: ‘You almost died due to your curiosity.’

This is the great contradiction: Psyche who sought to find safety in knowledge, found insecurity. Both of them went to Jupiter, the supreme God, to implore for this union never to be undone. Jupiter strongly advocated for the cause of the lovers and got Venus to agree. From that day on, Psyche (the essence of the human being) and Eros (love) are forever united.

Those who don’t accept it and always seek an explanation for the magic and mysterious, human relations will lose the best of what life has to offer.

(there are several versions of the Myyth of Psyche. You can find another one BY CLICKING HERE

Postado no Youtube por alguém que não conheço. Mas gostei do resultado, embora pareça mais trailer de livro que de filme

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger.
Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement. Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts.
There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
Your freedom and mine cannot be separated. There is no such thing as part freedom

When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, born 18 July 1918

_________________________________

Nada mais importante que voltar a um lugar onde nada mudou, para descobrir o que você conseguiu transformar.
Educação é a arma mais poderosa para transformar o mundo. Liberdade não é apenas retirar as correntes dos outros, mas também viver com respeito pelos direitos daqueles que agora estão livres.
Se você conversar com alguém em uma linguagem que esta pessoa possa compreender, ele pensará no que você disse. Se você utilizar a língua desta pessoa, neste caso tocará seu coração.
Se pretende estar em paz com seu inimigo, convide-o para trabalharem juntos. A partir daí, ele será seu companheiro.
A melhor liderança é aquela que permite aos outros caminharem diante de você no momento de uma vitória. Caminhe na frente só em momentos de perigo.
Que a liberdade possa reinar. O sol nunca se põe quando conseguimos algo importante. Só homens livres podem negociar; prisioneiros não conseguem.
Não existe qualquer paixão quando se pensa pequeno, escolhendo uma vida menos interessante do que aquela que poderia ser vivida.
A sua liberdade e a minha liberdade estão unidas. Não existe algo chamado “meio livre”.

Quando a água começa a ferver, é meio idiota desligar o fogo.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, nasceu no dia 18 de julho de 1918

Although I enjoy my work a lot (once I tweeted: “if you do what you love, every day is a holiday”) I need to stop being in front of the computer – and this is the main reason for taking vacations.

I will be back by the end of August. Suphi, my webmaster, will be moderating comments. Comments in Portuguese will take longer to be moderated, as I will access the blog only once a day.
As “Manuscrito encontrado em Accra” will be released on the 25th of July, its page will be constantly updated.
But the main page of the blog will not.

If it happens you are visiting this blog for the first time, please check the ARCHIVES

Love

Paulo

An old hermit was once invited to visit the court of the most powerful king of the day.

“I envy a holy man, who is content with so little,” commented the sovereign.

“I envy Your Majesty, who is content with less than I.
“I have the music of the celestial spheres,
“I have the rivers and mountains of the whole wide world,
“I have the moon and the sun, because I have God in my soul.

“Your Majesty, however, has only this kingdom.”

by Gary Zugav

The benefits of spiritual partnership are the highest goals that you can reach for, such as freedom from fear, and also the most grounded, pragmatic, and useful tools that you can develop, such as how to use power struggles to grow spiritually. All the benefits of spiritual partnership are interconnected, and each leads to others. Here are some.

Love for Yourself. Love is a state of being. It is not an emotion or response. You cannot create Love, but you can experience it, and when you do it envelopes you. You cannot love one person or one thing more than another. Love makes all things precious, including you. It eliminates all constraints. Love is without limits, conditions, judgments, and hidden agendas.

Meaning and Purpose. Traveling in the direction that your soul wants to go fills you with meaning. Traveling in other directions diminishes meaning in your life. Traveling in the opposite direction empties your life of meaning. The intentions of harmony, cooperation, sharing, and reverence for Life take you exactly where your soul wants to go—toward people, Life, health, fulfillment instead of satisfaction, and joy instead of happiness.

Real Courage. Courage enables action when a frightened part of your personality is active. Some courageous actions are noble, such as risking injury to save another, and some are not, such as attempting to impress others (pursue external power) by doing something dangerous. Fear generates courage when you challenge frightened parts of your personality in order to be accepted, admired, or successful. Love generates courage when you challenge a frightened part of your personality in order to benefi t another or to create authentic power. That is real courage.

Ability to Use Dramas and Tragedies to Grow Spiritually. “Dramas” and “tragedies” are experiences of frightened parts of the personality. When you say, “What a tragedy this is!” you can more accurately say, “What a fear this is!” When you are immersed in a drama around you or within you, you can detach from it and recognize it as an experience of fear.

Compassion for Yourself and Others. If you are unable to distinguish between frightened and loving parts of your personality, you will not be able to distinguish between frightened and loving parts of other personalities either. A “passion to protect the environment,” for example, may come from love or from fear. When I stood in clearcuts that extended as far as I could see and hated the timber industry, my passion came from fear (powerlessness). When I am grateful for Mother Earth, my life, and awed by the exquisitely beautiful and delicate ecology around me, my passion comes from love.

(Condensed from “Spiritual Partnership”. To read more about each item, please CLICK HERE)

Whenever you have time, and if you believe in miracles, I encourage you to visit the Rosa Mystica shrine, in Montechiari, Italy
To find more information about the apparitions, please CLICK HERE

“A river never passes the same place twice,” says a philosopher. “Life is like a river,” says another philosopher, and we draw the conclusion that this is the metaphor that comes closest to the meaning of life. Consequently, it is always good to remember::

A] We are always doing things for the first time.While we move between our source (birth) to our destination (death), the landscape will always be new. We should face these novelties with joy, not with fear – because it is useless to fear what cannot be avoided. A river never stops running.

B] In a valley we walk slower. When everything around us becomes easier, the waters grow calm, we become more open, fuller and more generous.

C] Our banks are always fertile. Vegetation only grows where there is water. Whoever comes into contact with us needs to understand that we are there to give the thirsty something to drink.

D] Stones should be avoided. It is obvious that water is stronger than granite, but it takes time for this to happen. It is no good letting yourself be overcome by stronger obstacles, or trying to fight against them – that is a useless waste of energy. It is best to understand where the way out is, and then move forward.

E] Hollows call for patience. All of a sudden the river enters a sort of hole and stops running as joyfully as before. At such moments the only way out is to count on the help of time. When the right moment comes the hollow fills up and the water can flow ahead. In the place of the ugly, lifeless hole there now stands a lake that others can contemplate with joy.

F] We are one. We were born in a place that was meant for us, which will always keep us supplied with enough water so that when confronted with obstacles or depression we have the necessary patience or strength to move forward. We begin our course in a soft and fragile manner, where even a simple leaf can stop us. Nevertheless, as we respect the mystery of the source that gave us life, and trust in His eternal wisdom, little by little we gain all that we need to pursue our path.

G] Although we are one, soon we shall be many. As we travel on, the waters of other springs come closer, because that is the best path to follow. Then we are no longer just one, but many – and there comes a moment when we feel lost. However, as the Bible says, “all rivers flow to the sea.” It is impossible to remain in our solitude, no matter how romantic that may seem. When we accept the inevitable encounter with other springs, we eventually understand that this makes us much stronger, we get around obstacles or fill in the hollows in far less time and with greater ease.

H] We are a means of transportation. Of leaves, boats, ideas. May our waters always be generous, may be always be able to carry ahead everything or everyone that needs our help.

I] We are a source of inspiration. And so, let us leave the final words to the Brazilian poet, Manuel Bandeira:

“To be like a river that flows
silent through the night,
not fearing the darkness and
reflecting any stars high in the sky.

And if the sky is filled with clouds,
the clouds are water like the river, so
without remorse reflect them too”

by Dennis Merritt Jones

Have you ever had others criticize you for the path in life you have been called to walk, be it spiritual, career, lifestyle, and so on?
Often those who tend to have the greatest opposition to the pathway we walk are family and friends. Of course this can be extended to include religious institutions, political parties, and cultural traditionalists as well — many of which make no bones about it, priding themselves on believing that their way is the only way.

It can be incredibly difficult to separate from the “herd” and go our own way when it goes against the grain of the herd mentality (or majority) and yet, if we don’t, we know there is a part of us that will slowly begin to die.
Call it spirit, soul, life force, or what you may, there is that within us that knows who it is we’ve come here to be and what it is we’ve come here to do and if we don’t listen to its call, it begins to wane.
This is when life becomes more about enduring until we die rather than thriving while we are here.

Perhaps what our critics don’t understand is that beneath the layer of what they may refer to as “choice,” there lies another layer where lives the authentic self, and its voice perpetually whispers ever so softly in our inner ear, “Be who you are and you’ll find freedom, fullness of expression, joy, peace, purpose and meaning in this precious life you have been given.”
This voice beckons us to be true to ourselves; when we hear and listen to that voice, it’s not so much that we are then guided to choose a certain path in life but, in truth, realize that our path has chosen us.

The voice to which I refer is incapable of guiding us in a direction that is self-destructive or harmful to others or that in any way dishonors the sacredness of life, because it is life itself that beckons us.

To read the full article, please CLICK HERE

A friend came to wait on our table – at a café in San Diego, California.

I had met Cláudia in Brazil four years previously, and tell my friends about her life in the USA: she only sleeps for three hours, since she works in this café till late, and is a babysitter throughout the day.

"I don’t know how she can stand it," one of them says.

"There’s a Buddhist story about a turtle," replies an Argentinian woman at our table.

"The turtle was crossing a swamp, covered in mud, when it passed a temple. There it saw the shell of another turtle – all adorned with gold and precious stones.

"I don’t envy you, ancient friend," thought the turtle. "You’re covered in jewels, but I’m doing what I want."

Tips by Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Review

Human beings aren’t meant to operate like computers — at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time. We’re designed to be rhythmic, and to intermittently renew. Here are the six strategies we’ve found work best:

1. Make sufficient sleep your highest priority.
Far too many of us buy into the myth that one hour less of sleep allows us one more of productivity. In fact, even very small amounts of sleep deprivation significantly undermine capacity for focus, analytic thinking and creativity. The research is clear: more than 95 per cent of usrequire seven to eight hours of sleep in order to be fully rested, and for our brains to optimally embed new learning. Great performers, ranging from musicians to athletes, often get even more than 8 hours.

2. Take a renewal break at least every ninety minutes
It’s now how long you work that determines the value you produce, but rather the energy you bring to whatever hours you work.
The first key is to intermittently quiet your physiology. You can dramatically lower your heart rate, your blood pressure and your muscle tension in as little as 30 to 60 second seconds with regular practice.
With your eyes closed, try breathing in through your nose to a count of three, and out through your mouth slowly to a count of six. In this way, you’re extending you’re recovery. As your body quiets down, your thinking mind will also get quieter and you’ll feel more relaxed.

3. Keep a running list of everything — literally everything — that you want or need to do.
The more fully and frequently you download what’s on your mind, the less energy you’ll squander in fruitless thinking about undone tasks, and the more energy you’ll have to be fully present in whatever you’re doing.

4. Run up your heart rate or take a nap in the early afternoon.
If taking a run or going to a gym is too time consuming, how about taking a brisk 15 to 30 minute walk outside? Or if you’re in an office building, how about walking up and down the stairs?
Alternatively, take a 20 to 30 minute nap between 1 and 4 p.m, when most of us feel a wave of fatigue. Researcher Sara Mednick has found that a short nap is not just powerfully restorative, but also prompts significantly higher performance on cognitive tasks in the subsequent several hours, compared to non-nappers.

5. Practice appreciation — and savoring.
One of the least recognized ways we squander energy is in negative emotions. We’re far quicker to notice what’s wrong in our lives than what’s right.
Look for opportunities to appreciate someone in your life, and share what you’re feeling — directly, or in a note. You’ll be giving the other person a shot of positive energy, but sharing positive energy will also make you feel better.

6. Develop a transition ritual between work and home.
When we leave the office, many of us carry work with us. The result is that even when we get home, we’re still not truly present. Consider establishing a very specific way to disengage from work so you can leave it behind.
The most powerful ritual we’ve seen clients build is to stop somewhere along the route home, such as a public park, and take a few minutes to let the day go, and to focus on the evening ahead. Turn home back into a place where you’re truly getting renewal.

( To read the full article, please CLICK HERE)

The abbot asked his favorite pupil how his spiritual progress was coming along. The pupil answered that he was managing to dedicate to God each and every moment of the day.

“Then all that’s left now is to forgive your enemies.”

The young man was shocked:

“But I’m not angry at my enemies!”

“Do you think God is angry at you?”

“Of course not!”

“And even so you ask Him to forgive you, don’t you? Do the same with your enemies, even though you don’t feel hatred for them.
“Those who practice forgiveness wash and perfume their own hearts.”

At the age of seventeen, Milton Hyland Erickson was a victim of polio. Ten months after he contracted the disease, he heard a doctor tell his parents: “your son won’t live through the night.”

Ericksson heard his mother crying. “Maybe she won’t suffer so much if I get through tonight,” he thought to himself. And he decided not to sleep till dawn.
In the morning he shouted out: “Hey mother! I’m still alive!”

There was so much joy in the house that from then on he resolved to resist always one more night in order to postpone his parents’ suffering.

He died in 1990 at the age of 75, leaving behind a series of important books on the enormous capacity that man has to overcome his own limitations.

ESPANOL CLICAR AQUI: El hombre y su sombra

Many years ago, there lived a man who was capable of loving and forgiving everyone he came across. Because of this, God sent an angel to talk to him.

‘God asked me to come and visit you and tell you that he wishes to reward you for your goodness,’ said the angel. ‘You may have any gift you wish for. Would you like the gift of healing?’

‘Certainly not,’ said the man. ‘I would prefer God to choose those who should be healed.’

‘And what about leading sinners back to the path of Truth?’

‘That’s a job for angels like you. I don’t want to be venerated by anyone or to serve as a permanent example.’

‘Look, I can’t go back to Heaven without having given you a miracle. If you don’t choose, I’ll have to choose one for you.’

The man thought for a moment and then said:

‘All right, I would like good to be done through me, but without anyone noticing, not even me, in case I should commit the sin of vanity.’

So the angel arranged for the man’s shadow to have the power of healing, but only when the sun was shining on the man’s face. In this way, wherever he went, the sick were healed, the earth grew fertile again, and sad people rediscovered happiness.

The man traveled the Earth for many years, oblivious of the miracles he was working because when he was facing the sun, his shadow was always behind him. In this way, he was able to live and die unaware of his own holiness.

A Filipino blogger, Jerome, collected a series of my comments on writing – and I found his page by chance.

On Confidence: You cannot sell your next book by underrating your book that was just published. Be proud of what you have.

On Trust: Trust your reader, don’t try to describe things. Give a hint and they will fulfill this hint with their own imagination.

On Expertise: You cannot take something out of nothing. When you write a book, use your experience.

On Critics: Writers want to please their peers, they want to be recognized. Forget about this. Who cares? You should care to share your soul and not to please other writers.

On Notetaking: If you want to capture ideas, you are lost. You are going to be detached from emotions and forget to live your life. You will be an observer and not a human being living his or her life. Forget taking notes, what important remains what is not important goes away.

On Research: If you overload your book with a lot of research, you are going to be very boring to yourself and to your reader. Books are not there to show how intelligent you are. Books are there to show your soul.

On Writing: I write the book that wants to be written. Behind the first sentence is a thread that takes you to the last.

On Style: Don’t try to innovate storytelling, tell a good story and it is magical. I see people trying to work so much in style, finding different ways to tell the same thing. It’s like fashion. Style is the dress, but the dress does not dictate what is inside the dress.

If you want to read what Jerome thinks about each one of the items above, CLICK HERE

During a journey, Buddha came across a yogi with only one leg.

“I burn all my past mistakes”, explained the man.

“And how many mistakes have you burned?

“I have no idea.”

“And how many are left to burn?” enquired Buddha.

“I have no idea.”

“Then it is time to stop. Stop asking God for forgiveness, and go and ask those you wounded for forgiveness.”

In New York I am going to have late-afternoon tea with a rather unusual artist. She works in a bank on Wall Street, but one day she had a dream: she had to go to twelve places in the world and in each place make a painting or a sculpture using material from nature.
So far she has managed to complete four of these works. She shows me photos of one of them: an Indian sculpted inside a cave in California. While she awaits the signs from her dreams, she goes on working at the bank – in that way she saves up the money to travel and fulfill her task.
I ask her why she does this.
“It’s to keep the world in equilibrium,” she answers.

“It may seem silly, but there is something tenuous that joins us all and we can make it better or worse according to how we act. We can save or destroy so much with a simple gesture that at times seems utterly useless.

“It may even be that my dreams are a lot of nonsense, but I don’t want to run the risk of not following them. For me, people are related just like a huge, fragile spider’s web. I am trying through my work to mend a part of that web.”
 
 

Terry Dobson was traveling on the Tokyo subway when a drunk got on and began to insult all the passengers.

Dobson, who had studied martial arts for some years, challenged the man.

"What do you want?" asked the drunk.

Dobson got ready to attack him. Just then, an old man sitting on one of the seats shouted: "Hey!"

"I’ll beat the foreigner, then I’ll beat you!" said the drunk.

"I like to drink, too," said the old man. "I sit every afternoon with my wife, and we drink sake. Are you married?"

The drunk was confused, and replied: "I have no wife, I have no one. I’m just so terribly ashamed."

The old man asked the drunk to sit beside him. By the time Dobson got off, the man was in tears.

In 1961, the digital future was just starting to come to fruition. And the Bell System had a number of products that had either just come onto the market, or were incipient, that implemented these new computer technologies. In December 1960, AT&T had just announced an investment of $250 billion dollars for satellite communications and improving the network for data services and computer communication.

In 1958, AT&T had just announced its first modem. Springing from technologies used for the computerized navigation of missiles, the modem, i.e. the Data-Phone, was rolled out in a few markets in the midwest. It would be made commercially available throughout the network by 1960. The Data-Phone could transmit at up to a bit-rate of 110 bits per second.

This film breaks into approximately two parts — part I: the problems of the present, and part II: the way those problems could be solved by the technology of the future. This film not only serves as almost the birth of the information age, it also projects that technology far into the future.

The commercial products that would allow this connected, computer-communicating network? They’re basic, but at the time seemed radical:

* The wireless Bellboy Pager, which was introduced commercially in 1962
* The Data-phone, which was supposed to revolutionize business communications
* The videophone—shown as a credit-card-reading vertical two-way television
* The card-reading phone or automatic dialer, which would dial a number from small plastic punch cards, introduced in 1961

Once, in the winter of 1981, I was walking with my wife through the streets of Prague when we came across a young man drawing the buildings around him.

Although I dread carrying things with me when I travel (and there was still more traveling ahead), I was taken by one of the drawings and decided to buy it.
When I handed him the money I noticed that he was not wearing gloves, despite the cold weather (it was 5 degrees below zero).

“Why aren’t you wearing gloves?” I asked.
“So I can hold the pencil.” And he began to tell me how he loved Prague in the winter, that was the best season to draw the city. He was so happy with his sale that he decided to do a portrait of my wife without charging anything.

While I was waiting for him to finish the drawing, I realized that something odd had happened: we had chatted for almost five minutes without being able to speak one another’s language.

We made ourselves understood only by gestures, laughter, facial expressions and the desire to share something.

The simple desire to share something had enabled us to enter into the world of language without words, where everything is always clear and there is not the slightest risk of being misunderstood.

“Hitler may have lost the war on the battlefield, but he ended up winning something,” says M. Halter. “Because in the 20th century, men created the concentration camp, resuscitated torture, and taught their fellow men that it is possible to close one’s eyes to the misfortunes of others.”

The most important words in any language are small words. “Yes,” for example. Love. God. These are words that are easy to utter, and they fill in empty spaces in our world.
However, there is one word – also a small one – that we find difficult to say:
“No”.

And we see ourselves as generous, understanding, and polite. Because “no” is considered to be cursed, egoistic, not at all spiritual.

We have to be careful here. There are moments when we say “yes” to others and in fact are saying “no” to ourselves.

All the great men and women in the world have been people who, rather than say “yes”, said a very big NO to everything that did not fit their ideal of solidarity and growth.

We may often be called intolerant, but it is important to open up and fight against everything and all circumstances if we see injustice, manipulation or cruelty. No-one can admit that, after all is said and done, Hitler set a pattern that can be repeated because people are incapable of protesting.

So scars are necessary when we fight against Absolute Evil, or when we have to say “no” to all those who, sometimes with the best of intentions, try to impede our journey towards dreams.
 
 

In my later years I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back.Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I’ve worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior.

Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.

I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true – hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.

If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we’d be cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.

If you dream the proper dreams, and share the myths with people, they will want to grow up to be like you.

If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder.

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.

Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.

Love is easy, and I love writing. You can’t resist love. You get an idea, someone says something, and you’re in love.

Love is the answer to everything. It’s the only reason to do anything. If you don’t write stories you love, you’ll never make it. If you don’t write stories that other people love, you’ll never make it.

Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.

Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.

The best scientist is open to experience and begins with romance – the idea that anything is possible.

Touch a scientist and you touch a child.

In one of my books (The Zahir), I try to understand why people are so afraid of changing. When I was right in the middle of writing the text, I came across an odd interview with a woman who had just written a book on – guess what? – love.

The journalist asks whether the only way a human being can become happy is to find their beloved. The woman says no:

“Love changes, and nobody understands that. The idea that love leads to happiness is a modern invention, dating from the late 17th century. From that time on, people have learned to believe that love should last for ever and that marriage is the best way to exercise love. In the past there was not so much optimism about the longevity of passion.

“Romeo and Juliet isn’t a happy story, it’s a tragedy. In the last few decades, expectation has grown a lot regarding marriage being the path towards personal accomplishment. Disappointment and dissatisfaction have also grown at the same time.”

According to the magical practices of the witchdoctors in the North of Mexico, there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for our having stopped making progress. A trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, disappointment in love, even a victory that we fail to quite understand, ends up making us act cowardly and incapable of moving ahead. The witchdoctor finds and gets rid of this “accommodating point”. To do so, he has to review our life and discover where this point lies.

Why?

Because, according to the story that we were told, at a certain moment in our lives “we reach our limit”. There are no more changes to be made. We won’t grow any more. Both professionally and in love, we have reached the ideal point, and it’s best to leave things as they are. But the truth is that we can always go further. Love more, live more, risk more.

Immobility is never the best solution. Because everything around us changes (including love) and we must accompany that rhythm.

I have been married to the same person for 33 years, but methaphorically speaking, the same marriage contains several “new marriages” during our relationship. Our bodies and souls changed, and we are still togeher. If we wanted to keep on as we were in 1979, I don’t think we would have come so far.

Tribute to Escher in Barcelona

Some quotes by M.C. Escher

” I believe that producing pictures, as I do, is almost solely a question of wanting so very much to do it well”

” I could fill an entire second life with working on my prints”

” To have peace with this peculiar life; to accept what we do not understand; to wait calmly for what awaits us, you have to be wiser than I am”

” At moments of great enthusiasm it seems to me that no one in the world has ever made something this beautiful and important”

” I am always wandering around in enigmas. There are young people who constantly come to tell me: you, too, are making Op Art. I haven’t the slightest idea what that is, Op Art. I’ve been doing this work for thirty years now”

” I don’t grow up. In me is the small child of my early days”

” I play a tiresome game”

” I walk around in mysteries. Each time, youngsters say: you make Op-art too. I don’t know what that is, Op-art. This work I have been making for the past thirty years”

” The things I want to express are so beautiful and pure”

” So let us then try to climb the mountain, not by stepping on what is below us, but to pull us up at what is above us, for my part at the stars; amen”

(sent by Jane Stewart)

(I used the text below as the foreword of my book “Eleven Minutes”)

For I am the first and the last

I am the venerated and the despised

I am the prostitute and the saint

I am the wife and the virgin

I am the mother and the daughter

I am the arms of my mother

I am barren and my children are many

I am the married woman and the spinster

I am the woman who gives birth and she who never procreated

I am the consolation for the pain of birth

I am the wife and the husband

And it was my man who created me

I am the mother of my father

I am the sister of my husband

And he is my rejected son

Always respect me

For I am the shameful and the magnificent one

discovered in Nag Hammadi, 1947

( one hour after I posted this text here, Methaper wrote me: “Sorry Paulo, but this original koptic text Nag Hammadi Codex NHC VI,2 is 3rd-4th century “AD”, not “BC”. It has the greek-koptic Titel βροντη “bronté” and is NOT explicitely an hymn to goddess Isis, even if some historians regard it as “not impossible”.Kindest regards Metapher”)
(thank you, already corrected)

.

A very wealthy man asked a Zen master for a text which would always remind him how happy he was with his family.

The Zen master took some parchment and, in beautiful calligraphy, wrote:

– The father dies. The son dies. The grandson dies.

– What? – said the furious rich man. – I asked you for something to inspire me, some teaching which might be respectfully contemplated by future generations, and you give me something as depressing and gloomy as these words?

– You asked me for something which would remind you of the happiness of living together with your family. If your son dies first, everyone will be devastated by the pain. If your grandson dies, it would be an unbearable experience.

“However, if your family disappears in the order which I placed on the paper, this is the natural course of life. Thus, although we all endure moments of pain, the generations will continue, and your legacy will be long-lasting.”

As soon as he arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco, a missionary decided he would stroll through the desert at the city’s boundary every morning. On his first stroll he noticed a man lying on the sand, caressing the ground with his hands and leaning his ears towards the earth.

“He is mad,” the missionary said to himself. But he saw the man every morning during his walks and after a month, intrigued by that strange behaviour, he decided to approach the stranger.

He knelt beside him and asked, in broken Arabic, “What are you doing?”
“I keep the desert company and offer solace for its loneliness and its tears.”
“I didn’t know the desert was capable of crying.”
“It cries every day, because it dreams of being useful to mankind and turning into a huge garden where people could cultivate, flowers and sheep.”

“Well, then, tell the desert it accomplishes its mission very well,” said the missionary. “Every time I walk here, I am able to understand the true dimension of the human being, as its open space allows me to see how small we are before God. When I look at its sands, I imagine the millions of people in the world who were raised alike although the world isn’t always fair towards everyone. Its mountains help me meditate. As I see the sun rising on the horizon, my soul fills with joy and I get closer to the Creator.”

The missionary left the man and went back to his daily chores. To his surprise, he found him the next morning at the same place, in the same position.

“Did you tell the desert everything I told you?” he asked.
The man nodded.
“And even so it keeps crying?”
“I can hear each of its sobs,” answered the man, his head tilted towards the ground.
“Now it is crying because it spent thousands of years thinking it was completely useless and wasted all this time blaspheming God and its own destiny.”

“Well, then tell the desert that despite having a short lifespan, we human beings spend much of our days thinking we are useless. We rarely find the reason for our destiny and think God has been unfair to us. When a moment finally arrives in which we are shown the reason why we were born, we think it is too late to change and keep on suffering. And as the desert, we blame ourselves for the time we have wasted.”
“I am not sure the desert will bother to hear it,” said the man.
“It is used to suffering and it can’t see things differently.”
“So then let us do what I always do when I feel people have lost faith. Let us pray.”

Both of them went down on their knees and prayed; one turned to Mecca as he was a Muslim and the other joined his hands in prayer, as he was Catholic. They prayed, each one to his own God.

The next day when the missionary resumed his daily walk, the man was no longer there. The ground where he used to embrace the sand seemed to be wet as if a small spring had formed. During the following months that spring grew and the city’s residents built a well around it.

The place is now called “The Well of the Desert’s Tears”. It is said that those who drink its water will be able to transform the reason of their suffering into the reason of their joy and will end up finding their true destiny.

Joseph Campbell is another proof that if we are following our dreams, things will come to us in the exact timing. Even so, we do not always have the courage to choose our destiny.
Below, some of his thoughts:

When you attend college, you don’t do what you desire, but you only seek to learn what is necessary to get the diploma. And this is not always the best option.

‘In my case, I was granted a scholarship and went to the University of Paris. As I arrived in Europe, I discovered James Joyce, Picasso, Mondrian – all that modern art group. Then, I went to Germany and started to study Sanskrit and got involved with Hinduism. Right after that came Jung; everything was opening up, from all sides.

‘I returned to the University and said: “Look, I don’t want to spend my life trying to learn only what you want to teach me.”

‘I had taken all the necessary classes for the title; I just had to write the damned thesis. If I didn’t write it, they wouldn’t let me study further and so it was time to say: go to hell.

‘I moved to the countryside and spent five years reading. I never got my doctor title. I learned to live with the minimum possible, that gave me freedom and a wonderful time.

‘Courage is necessary to do what we desire, once others always have a plan for us. Being aware of that, I decided to follow my dream: I didn’t know how I spent these five years, but I knew I would survive another five, if it was necessary.

‘I recall an occasion in which I had a one-dollar bill in a dresser’s drawer and I knew that as long as it was there, I could still count on my resources. It was great. My only responsibility was toward my own life and toward my choices.

‘In truth, there was a moment in which I thought: “Gee, I would like someone to tell me what to do.”

‘Being free implies choosing your path, and each step can change our destiny – what’s very frightening sometimes. But today, looking back, I see that my days were perfect: whatever I needed came exactly when I needed it. At the time, all I needed was to read for five years. I did it and that was essential for me.

‘As Schopenhauer says, when you see what you have overcome, you have the impression that you have followed a plot that had already been written. However, at the moment of action, you seem to be lost in a storm: surprise after surprise, and many times with no time to breathe, having to take decisions all the time. Only later will you understand that each surprise, each decision, made sense.’

Today, we see signs of society reverting to this sense of ‘oneness’ – but rather spontaneously.

And the example of Greek (Athenian) democracy comes to mind because it showed how society is responsible for each individual and vice versa. But than an important change happened with the Punic wars at the beginning of the Roman empire.
And from the moment the Romans won the war, a new ‘society’ was born and Rome became the city that started ruling the world.
At that time, there were other cities that also had an incredibly rich culture, but they were never able to progress as Rome did.

What is my point? We started as individuals, responsible for who we are today (with our family being a microcosm of our responsibilities). But in society, we go beyond the family; we cannot control everything.
So we started off as being ‘one and everything’ at the same time — and I hope that we can move towards this again.

I started talking about this because people say the old society was based on the individual – but I disagree. I think that old society was based on the combination of the individual and the collective. There was a perfect communion.

I am always struggling with myself, but I am very optimistic in this sense.
People are realizing more and more that happiness is freedom, and freedom is to be able to “travel light”, not possessing a lot of things, because at the end of the day, the things start to possess you.
I remember that I considered to buy a castle here in France: I went to see some.
One day I realized that if I buy a castle, I cannot think about anything but taking care of it. Therefore, I bought a small watermill, so to keep it is very easy, and I have time to go to the mountains, to walk, do spend my life in the way that I would like. In short: the less you have to keep, the more you have in freedom.

If I look back at my life I see many occasions where society tried to make me conform to “normality”. This resulted in three hospitalizations in an asylum when I was a teenager (which I describe in my book Veronika decides to die), torture when I was a young adult by the hands of the paramilitaries, and many defeats.
You could look at these experiences and say “Paulo’s life is tragic” but I don’t see it that way.
What I do see is someone trying to remain true to oneself. Yes there is a price but I believe that life tends to be very generous to those that are brave enough to take these risks.
In a word, I’ve always had faith in life, even when I thought “God forgot me”.
Be happy with your contradictions.

Following the challenge posted in 3.000.000 Twitter here is the film of our dinner (each one gives an statement, and I speak in the end)
Seguindo o desafio postado em 3.000.000 Twitter, aqui um pequeno filme sobre o jantar (cada um fala de si mesmo e eu falo no final)
La cena com los lectores/amigos seleccionados en el post 3.000.000 Twitter (cada uno habla un poco de si mismo, yo hablo en el final)
 

When I wrote The Zahir, the main character says: writing is getting lost at sea. It’s discovering your own untold story and trying to share it with others. It’s realizing, when you show it to people you have never seen, what is in your own soul. In the book, a famous writer on spiritual matters, who believes he has everything, loses the thing that is most precious to him: love. I have always wondered what would happen to a man if he had no one to dream about, and now I am answering that question for myself.

When I used to read biographies of writers, I always thought that when they said: “The book writes itself, the writer is just the typist”, they were simply trying to make their profession seem more interesting. I know now that this is absolutely true, no one knows why the current took them to that particular island and not to the one they wanted to reach. Then the obsessive re-drafting and editing begins, and when I can no longer bear to re-read the same words one more time, I send it to my publisher, where it is edited again, and then published.

And it is a constant source of surprise to me to discover that other people were also in search of that very island and that they find it in my book. One person tells another person about it, the mysterious chain grows, and what the writer thought of as a solitary exercise becomes a bridge, a boat, a means by which souls can travel and communicate.

From then on, I am no longer the man lost in the storm: I find myself through my readers, I understand what I wrote when I see that others understand it too, but never before. On a few rare occasions, like the one that is about to take place, I manage to look those people in the eye and then I understand that my soul is not alone.

Once I heard an interviewer ask Paul McCartney: “Could you sum up the Beatles’ message in one sentence?” Tired of hearing the same question myself, I assumed McCartney would give some ironic response, after all, given the complexity of human beings, how can anyone possibly sum up a whole body of work in a few words?

But Paul said: “Yes, I can.” And he went on: “All you need is love. Do you want me to say more?”

No, said the interviewer, he didn’t. There was nothing more to be said. The Zahir could be summed up in the same way.
 
 

by Chandresh Bhardwaj

The origin of fear lies in the unknown. Be it the darkness, ghosts, weather calamities or whatever is unknown to the man is feared the most. If you are walking in darkness, you are afraid to go ahead, fearing what will come next. However, as the light appears, the fear tends to settle down. Fear, thus, is just a manifestation of your imagination ruled by cowardliness. When we get certain information on our fears, we get relaxed. However, it’s not going to be possible that we will always get the information on the unknown. Then what can we really do to manage our fears?

1. Accept your fears: There’s no need to fight your fears. The more you fight, the more they will haunt you. If you accept them the way they are, they will bring a shift in your consciousness necessary to move beyond the fear.

2. Fear is normal: There’s nothing to be embarrassed about in being afraid. If you are afraid, then you are. Society has connected fear with the sign of weakness and that is one of the reasons why we hate to accept that we are afraid. When you accept fear as a normal emotion, it doesn’t bother you anymore.

3. Explore the unknown: Every year, make a list of things that you fear the most. Then, do something everyday that gets you closer to the unknown factor residing in your fear. Gradually, you will overcome all your fears one by one.

4. Know the roots: Go into the source of your fear. Some fears are based on past conditioning. Having a good understanding of the roots from where it all started will help in moving toward state of fearlessness.

Moving on, death seems to be the second issue bothering everyone if the world ends. There’s nothing one can do to avoid death. You can avoid the possibility of birth by using pills, protection and so on, but man hasn’t been able to interfere in the business of death. What you can do is accept it with open arms. If the world ends, it ends. It will release all of us from a life where we yearn for things that are useless to show off to the people who don’t matter. When the world ends, it will end for everyone. Why we are giving it so much attention?!

(I found this very interesting text by chance, and decided to post it here. To read the full article, please CLICK HERE )

EM PORTUGUES Y ESPANOL AQUI > O empregado inteligente / el empleado inteligente

When he was staying at an air base in Africa, author Saint-Exupéry passed the hat among his friends because a Moroccan servant wanted to return to his home town. He managed to collect a thousand francs.

One of the pilots flew the servant as far as Casablanca and told the following when he came back:

- As soon as he arrived he went to have dinner in the very best restaurant, handed out generous tips, paid for drinks all round and bought dolls for the children in his village. This man hadn’t the slightest notion of economy.

- Quite the opposite – answered Saint-Exupéry.

“He knew that the best investment in the world is people. Spending in that way, he managed to win all over again the respect of his countrymen, and they will offer him a job. After all, only a winner can be so generous.”

And then he told us:

We have to take risks.
We can only truly understand the miracle of life when we let the unexpected manifest itself.
Every day – together with the sun – God gives us a moment in which it is possible to change everything that makes us unhappy.
Every day we try to pretend that we don’t realize that moment, that it doesn’t exist, that today is just the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if you pay attention, you can discover the magic instant.

It may be hiding at the moment when we put the key in the door in the morning, in the silence right after dinner, in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us. This moment exists – a moment when all the strength of the stars passes through us and lets us work miracles.

Happiness is at times a blessing – but usually it’s a conquest. The magic instant helps us to change, drives us forward to seek our dreams. We shall suffer and go through quite a few difficult moments and face many a disappointment – but this is all transitory and inevitable, and eventually we shall feel proud of the marks left behind by the obstacles. In the future we will be able to look back with pride and faith.

Poor are those who are afraid of taking risks. Because maybe they are never disappointed, never disillusioned, never suffer like those who have a dream to pursue.
But when they look back – for we always look back – they will hear their heart saying: “What did you do with the miracles that God sowed for your days? What did you do with the talent that your Master entrusted to you? You buried it deep in a grave because you were afraid to lose it. So this is your inheritance: the certainty that you have wasted your life.”

Poor are those who hear these words. For then they will believe in miracles, but the magic instants of life will have already passed.

in “By the River Piedra I sat down and wept” (read Goodreads comments)

On Children (by Kahlil Gibran)

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Sus hijos ( por Kahlil Gibran)

Sus hijos no son suyos.
Son los hijos del anhelo de la Vida de sí misma.
Vienen por Uds. pero no de Uds.,
Y aunque están con Uds., Uds. no los poseen a ellos.
Pueden darles su amor pero no sus pensamientos.
Porque ellos tienen sus propios pensamientos.
Uds. pueden alojar sus cuerpos pero no sus almas.
Porque sus almas viven en la casa del día que viene, la cual Uds. no pueden visitar, ni siquiera en los sueños.
Uds. pueden esforzarse por ser como ellos, pero no se esfuercen para que ellos sean como Uds.
Porque la vida no va atrás ni se demora con el ayer.
Uds. son los arcos de los cuales sus hijos como flechas vivas son enviados.
El arquero ve el blanco en el paso del infinito, y Él los dobla a Uds. con Su fuerza para que Sus flechas vayan rápidamente y lejos.
Que su torción en la mano del arquero sea por alegría;
Porque mientras Él ama a la flecha que vuela, también ama el arco que es estable.

Os filhos (por Khalil Gibran)

Teus filhos não são teus filhos
São os filhos e as filhas da ânsia da vida por si mesma.
Vêm através de ti, mas não de ti.
E embora vivam contigo, não te pertencem.
Podes dar teu amor, mas não teus pensamentos.
Porque eles têm seus próprios pensamentos.
Podes abrigar seus corpos, mas não suas almas;
Pois suas almas moram na mansão do amanhã, que não podes visitar nem mesmo em sonho
Podes tentar ser como eles, mas não tente fazê-los como és,
Porque a vida não anda para trás e não se demora com os dias passados.

Tu és o arco do qual teus filhos são arremessados como flechas vivas.
O Arqueiro mira o alvo na senda do infinito e estica com toda a sua força
Para que suas flechas se projetem rápido e para longe
Que teu encurvamento na mão do Arqueiro seja tua alegria;
Pois assim como Ele ama a flecha que voa, ama também o arco que permanece estável.

Warriors of light are never predictable.

They might dance down the street on their way to work, gaze into the eyes of a complete stranger and speak of love at first sight, or else defend an apparently absurd idea.

Warriors of light allow themselves days like these. They are not afraid to weep over ancient sorrows or to feel joy at new discoveries.

When they believe that the moment has arrived, they drop everything and go off on some long-dreamed-of adventure.
When they realize that they can do no more, they never blame themselves for having committed a few unexpected acts of folly. Warriors do not spend a single days trying to play the role that others have chosen for them.

They talk out loud to themselves. Someone told them that this is the best way of communicating with the angels, and so they take a chance and try to make contact.

They say things which they do not agree, they talk utter nonsense.
One day, they notice a change in their voice.
They are acting as a channel for some higher wisdom.

The warriors may look mad, but this is just a disguise.

from “The manual of the warrior of light”
E-book edition for 0,99 USD (USA & Canada) > Kindle +Nook +iBookstore

Needing to adapt to the new times, Satan decided to get rid of a whole lot of his stock of temptations. He placed an ad in the newspaper and attended his customers all day in his workshop.
It was a fantastic stock: stones for the virtuous to stumble over, mirrors for increasing one’s self-importance, and spectacles that reduced the importance of others. Some objects hanging on the wall drew a lot of attention: a dagger with a curved blade to be used on someone’s back, and tape-recorders that registered only gossip and lies.

- Don’t worry about the price! – shouted old Satan to the potential customers. – Take it home today and pay for it whenever you can!

One of the visitors noticed three tools lying in a corner that seemed to be quite worn and attracted little attention. But they were very expensive. Curious, he wanted to know the reason for that apparent discrepancy.
- They are worn because they are the ones that I use most of all – answered Satan with a laugh. – If they drew a lot of attention, people would know how to protect themselves.

- However, they are both worth the price I am asking for them: one is Doubt, the other is the Inferiority Complex, the third is Bitterness. All the other temptations can sometimes fail, but these three always work.

No one will realistically think that you can make a living out of literature in Brazil. I faced many difficulties. When I was young, my parents in a desperate act of love, as they cared for me, sent me to a mental institution. They thought I was mad, as I wanted to be a writer. However, I was absolutely convinced about what I wanted to be.

The fact that you know your dreams is not enough. It is not good, living with the fact that you have it in you. You have to think of measures to manifest your dreams and be brave enough to pay the price of it. In a way, I postponed my dreams, and I was almost 40 when I dare to write my first book, The Pilgrimage.

And my second book, The Alchemist, was first published and then put out of print by my first publisher. “This title will never sell more than 900 copies”, he said. Today “The Alchemist is among the best selling books of all times.

If you are hurt about something that is meaningless to you, you can blame anybody else for it. But it is quite complicated to be hurt about something that is meaningful to you.
Then you get confused, as you know the dream is there. And the dream is not going to leave you as long as you live.
But besides the pain, there is also a great joy. You are fighting for something meaningful. Defeats are part of life, IF you don’t decide to quit.
And at the end of your life, you will understand: the journey was fantastic.
 
 

Como é sabido, sempre fui a favor do conteúdo livre na internet. Mas a primeira vez que falei disso, em 2007, foi um Deus-nos-acuda. Como? E de que os autores vão viver?
Penso que os escritores que tiverem inteligência suficiente, entenderão que a Web é uma porta de entrada para seus trabalhos. Uma vez lidas algumas páginas em um site de P2P, e gostando do trabalho, nada mais incomodo que terminar de ler o texto na tela de computador. O próximo passo será comprar o exemplar físico.
E no que se refere a livos eletrônicos? Neste caso, eu sinceramente acho os preços absurdos. Não há custos de impressão, transporte, estocagem, espaço na livraria, etc.
Exceto por algumas experiências isoladas, nunca havia tido a oportunidade de testar isso em grande escala. A oportunidade chegou em um encontro de minha agente, Monica Antunes, com o representante da Harper Collins USA, durante a Feira do LIvro de Londres 16 de março 2012). Foi discutido o tema do livro eletrônico, cujo preço variava entre USD 7 e USD 9 no meu caso.
Dois dias atrás, recebemos um email que iriam colocar quase todos os meus livros eletrônicos no Kindle, no Nook e na iBoostore. Imediatamente entrei em ação: fiz um post e coloquei no Twitter, Facebook, e este blog.
O resultado foi surpreendente. Como poderão ver clicando AQUI, os livros deram um salto de 4.000% a 6.000%. O tema se tornou um dos mais comentados do mercado editorial, e a Publishers Weekly, a bíblia dos editores em todo mundo, escreveu um artigo a respeito, que hoje a tarde era o segundo mais lido do seu portal. Tornou-se o tópico “quente” da briga atual entre o Departamento de Justiça americano e a Apple, onde a segunda é acusada de fixar artificialmente os preços.
Volta-se a tocar na mesma tecla: posso fazer isso porque fiquei rico. Sim, fiquei rico com literatura, mas não foi isso que me levou a escrever. Meus pais me diziam que ia morrer de fome. Não aconteceu…
Enfim, embora o Brasil ainda não tenha suportes eletrônicos em grande escala, cedo ou tarde isso acontecerá.
E quando esse dia chegar, é importante dizer aos escritores de agora: não existe nada de errado em ganhar dinheiro com livros, mas lute para levar seu trabalho a um custo razoável a todos – mesmo que tenha que termine encontrando muita resistência.

Nota: o preço dos meus livros eletrônicos a 0,99 USD são validos apenas para os EUA e Canada. Mas visto o excelente resultado da promoção, é possivel que seja extendido a todos os países do mundo.

by Publishers Weekly

May 2, 2012

Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist and recent supporter of piracy, has come to an agreement with his publisher HarperCollins to drop the prices of 11 of his books (not including The Alchemist) to $0.99. On his blog, Coelho stated: “This is a crucial decision for me. For years I have been advocating that free content is not a threat to the book business. In lowering the price of a book and equaling it to the price of a song in iTunes, the reader will be encouraged to pay for it, instead of downloading it for free.”

The promotion, which Coelho said is for an undetermined period of time, is paying off, and all of the reduced price books are in the top 300 of Amazon’s Kindle Store, the highest being By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept at #86. Twenty-four hours ago, the book was ranked #14,277.
The promotion is also availabe for Nook books.
 
Read and comment the article in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY page
 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: PROMOTION IS VALID FOR USA & CANADA ONLY. If you click in the links outside these territories, the browser will show a different price
Em breve faremos isso com Portugues e Espanol. Editores já estão de acordo
_______________________________

One of my US publishers, Harper Collins, following a conversation with my agent Monica Antunes at the London Book Fair 2012, have decided to reduce the price of all my ebook titles (except the Alchemist) to 0,99 USD.
Which means a book now costs less than a cup of coffee!

This is a crucial decision for me. For years I have been advocating that free content is not a threat to the book business. In lowering the price of a book and equaling it to the price of a song in iTunes, the reader will be encouraged to pay for it, instead of downloading it for free.

The email sent by Harper does not specify for how long the promotion will last. If you are familiar with my presence in social communities but you never read any of my books, I strongly encourage you to act now.
If you download all the titles priced 0,99, you will spend USD 10,89 for 11 books (instead of USD  74,19, the normal price).

Here is the link to
Paulo Coelho Kindle Books
Paulo Coelho Nook Books
Paulo Coelho iBookstore Books

However, if you decide to download only one title, below you will find the list in best selling order (sales worldwide). Please click on the link on the right side of the title:
1] The Alchemist (not in the promotion!) ( Kindle + Nook + iBookstore )
2] Eleven Minutes Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
3] The Pilgrimage Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
4] The Manual of the Warrior of Light Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
5] By the River Piedra I sat down and wept Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
6] The Zahir Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
7] Veronika decides to die Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
8] The Witch of Portobello Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
9] Brida Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
10] The devil and Miss Prym Kindle + Nook + iBookstore
11] The winner stands alone Kindle + Nook + iBookstore

It is my (open) secret wish that pricing for ebooks will follow this trend.
And I count on you to help me to propagate this post. This may create a new paradigm. As I tweeted not so long ago: “life is changed by examples, not by opinions”.

People who are part of our daily life can give us important hints on decisions we need to take.

But for this purpose all that is needed is a sharp eye and an attentive ear, because those who have ready solutions are usually suspect.
It’s very dangerous to ask for advice. It’s very easy, but also very risky to lend advice, if we have a minimum sense of responsibility towards the other person.

If they need help, it’s best to show them some examples, seeing how others resolve – or don’t resolve – their problems.
Our angel often uses someone’s lips to tell us something, but this answer comes casually, usually at a moment when we do not let our worries overshadow the miracle of life.
Let the angels speak the way they are used to, which is at the moment they deem necessary.

Advice is just theory; living is always very different.
 
 

__________________________________
EN ESPANOL AQUI>>> Alicia
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I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!

If it had grown up, it would have made a dreadfully ugly child; but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think. Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin.

If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.

You are old, Father William, your hair has become very white. And yet you incessantly stand on your head – do you think, at your age, it is right?

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.

The adventures first… explanations take such a dreadful time.

We are all mad here ( The Cat)

Alice is a magistral character, created by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a.k.a. Lewis Carroll

What’s Aleph about?
My experience on the Trans-Siberian Railway. I was thinking: ‘I’m already a very successful author, I don’t need to do anything,’ and was feeling something was wrong. I travelled for three months. I started in London in 2006 and ended up in Vladivostok – just to get in contact with my soul.

Did you learn anything about yourself?
You’re always learning. The problem is, sometimes you stop and think you understand the world. This is not correct. The world is always moving. You never reach the point you can stop making an effort.

Were there any revelations along the way?
Of course. Just from meeting people – a taxi driver, for example – or finding a book. I’m open to life and during this period I was open to new experiences. When you don’t follow the rule your parents impose – ‘don’t talk to strangers’ – you learn.

People seem to experience spiritual revelations in exotic locations – can you have one on the way to work?
Of course. I don’t take the Trans-Siberian every day but I try to give every day the opportunity for these experiences. If you’re open to people on your way to work, it can happen. Or you can choose to be totally inwards and think only of yourself. You have to live in the moment.

What do your readers expect from your books?
I don’t know. I never write books with this question in mind. I only write to understand myself better. I talk to my readers on social networking sites but I never tell them what the book is about. Writing is lonely, so from time to time I talk to them on the internet. It’s like chatting at a bar without leaving your office. I talk with them about a lot of things other than my books.

Do you have any writing habits?

It’s as Lewis Carroll said: start at the beginning, go to the end, then stop. That’s how I write. I write quickly. I don’t try to show how intelligent or how cultivated I am, I just try to share my soul. Sharing is part of life.

Read more: 60 Seconds with Coelho

A group of monks from the monastery of Sceta – among them the great Abbot Nicerius – were walking in the Egyptian desert when a lion appeared before them.
Terrified, they all began to run.

Years later, when Nicerius was on his death bed, one of the monks remarked:

“Abbot, do you remember the day we met the lion? That was the only time I saw you afraid.”

“But I was not afraid of the lion.”

“Then why did you run like all the rest of us?”

“I thought it better to run away from a lion one afternoon than to spend the rest of my life running away from vanity.”

It is likely that Saint George was born to a Christian noble family in Lod, Syria Palaestina during the late third century between about 275 AD and 285 AD, and he died in Nicomedia. His father, Gerontius, was a Roman army official from Cappadocia and his mother, Polychronia, was from Palestine. They were both Christians and from noble families of Anici, so by this the child was raised with Christian beliefs. They decided to call him Georgius (Latin) or Geōrgios (Greek), meaning “worker of the land”. At the age of 14, George lost his father; a few years later, George’s mother, Polychronia, died.Eastern accounts give the names of his parents as Anastasius and Theobaste.

Then George decided to go to Nicomedia, the imperial city of that time, and present himself to Emperor Diocletian to apply for a career as a soldier. Diocletian welcomed him with open arms, as he had known his father, Gerontius — one of his finest soldiers. By his late 20s, George was promoted to the rank of Tribunus and stationed as an imperial guard of the Emperor at Nicomedia.

In the year AD 302, Diocletian (influenced by Galerius) issued an edict that every Christian soldier in the army should be arrested and every other soldier should offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods of the time. However George objected and with the courage of his faith approached the Emperor and ruler. Diocletian was upset, not wanting to lose his best tribune and the son of his best official, Gerontius. George loudly renounced the Emperor’s edict, and in front of his fellow soldiers and Tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian and declared his worship of Jesus Christ. Diocletian attempted to convert George, even offering gifts of land, money and slaves if he made a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor made many offers, but George never accepted.

Recognizing the futility of his efforts, Diocletian was left with no choice but to have him executed for his refusal. Before the execution George gave his wealth to the poor and prepared himself. After various torture sessions, including laceration on a wheel of swords in which he was resuscitated three times, George was executed by decapitation before Nicomedia’s city wall, on April 23, 303.

Saint George’s tomb in Lod, Israel

Source: Wikipedia

Like the libido – the sexual liquid that Dr. Freud had recognized, but no laboratory had ever been able to isolate – vitriol is distilled by the organisms of human beings who are in a state of fear. Most of the people affected identify its taste, which is neither sweet nor salty, but bitter. That’s why depressions are intrinsically associated to the word Bitterness.

All beings have Bitterness in their organism – to a greater or lesser degree – in the same way that almost all of us have the tuberculosis bacillus. However, these two diseases only attack when the patient is debilitated; in the case of Bitterness, the terrain for the disease to arise appears when we are afraid of the so-called “reality”.

Certain people, in their anxiety to build a world where no outside threat could penetrate, increase exaggeratedly their defenses against the outside – strangers, new places, different experiences – and leave the inside unprotected. It is then that Bitterness begins to cause irreversible harm.

The main target of Bitterness (or Vitriol, as the doctor of my book preferred) is desire. People attacked by this evil begin losing their desire for everything and in a few years are unable to go outside their world – because they have used up enormous energy reserves building high walls for the reality to be what they wanted it to be.

When avoiding outside attack, they also limit internal growth. They continue going to work, watching television, complaining about the traffic and having children, but all that happens automatically, without really understanding why they are behaving like that – after all, everything is under control.

The great problem of poisoning by Bitterness lies in the fact that passions – hate, love, despair, enthusiasm and curiosity – also don’t appear any more. After some time, the bitter person has no more desire. They had no more will even to live, or to die; that was the problem.

For that reason, for bitter people, heroes and madmen are always fascinating: they are not afraid to live or die. Both heroes and madmen are indifferent in the face of danger and go on ahead in spite of everyone saying not to do so. The madman commits suicide, the hero offers himself up to martyrdom for a cause – but both die, and bitter people spend many nights and days talking about the absurdness and glory of the two types. That is the only moment when the bitter person has the strength to reach the top of his defensive wall and look outside a little; but soon his hands and feet tire and he returns to daily life.

The chronically bitter person only notices his disease once a week: on Sunday afternoons.
Then, as he has no work or routine to relieve the symptoms, he realizes that something is very wrong.

Standing above the little town of Tarifa is an old fort built by the Moors. I remember sitting here with my wife, Christina, in 1982, and for the first time looking at a continent from across a narrow stretch of water: Africa. At that time I could not dream that such a lazy moment in the late afternoon would inspire a scene in my best-known book, “The Alchemist”. Nor could I have dreamed that the story that follows, heard in the car, would serve as an excellent example for all of us who are searching for some balance between discipline and compassion.

A merchant sent his son to learn the Secret of Happiness from the wisest of men. The young man wandered through the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. There lived the sage that the young man was looking for.

However, instead of finding a holy man, our hero entered a room and saw a great deal of activity; merchants coming and going, people chatting in the corners, a small orchestra playing sweet melodies, and there was a table laden with the most delectable dishes of that part of the world.

The wise man talked to everybody, and the young man had to wait for two hours until it was time for his audience.

With considerable patience, he listened attentively to the reason for the boy’s visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have the time to explain to him the Secret of Happiness.

He suggested that the young man take a stroll around his palace and come back in two hours’ time.

“However, I want to ask you a favor,” he added, handing the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. “While you walk, carry this spoon and don’t let the oil spill.”

The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases, always keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. At the end of two hours he returned to the presence of the wise man.

“So,” asked the sage, “did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see the garden that the Master of Gardeners took ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?”

Embarrassed, the young man confessed that he had seen nothing. His only concern was not to spill the drops of oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“So, go back and see the wonders of my world,” said the wise man. “You can’t trust a man if you don’t know his house.”

Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and strolled again through the palace, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceiling and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, the delicacy of the flowers, the taste with which each work of art was placed in its niche. Returning to the sage, he reported in detail all that he had seen.

“But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?” asked the sage.

Looking down at the spoon, the young man realized that he had spilled the oil.

“Well, that is the only advice I have to give you,” said the sage of sages. “The Secret of Happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon.”