Here I continue to transcribe extracts of the notes I took between 1982 and 1986 on my conversations with J., my friend and master in the Regnus Agnus Mundi (RAM) tradition. I remember that I was always asking for advice on any decision I had to take. J. usually remained silent for a while before speaking:
“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 risky to lend advice, if we have a minimum sense of responsibility towards the other person. If they need help, it’s best to see 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 our angel speak the way he is used to, which is at the moment he deems necessary. Advice is just theory; living is always very different.”
Then he told me an interesting story:
Master Kais was walking in the desert with his disciples when he came across a hermit who had lived there for years. The disciples began to shower him with questions on the universe – but they eventually discovered that the man did not have all the wisdom that he seemed to possess. When they mentioned this to Kais, he answered:
“Never consult a worried man, no matter how good an advisor he may be; don’t ask a pride man for help, however intelligent he may seem. Because worries and vanity obscure knowledge. Above all, distrust those who live in solitude; usually they are not there because they have renounced everything but rather because they have never known how to live with others. What wisdom can we expect from that type of person?”
J. left for the airport and I was left to reflect on our conversation. I was in need of help, because I always made the same mistakes over and over again. My life revolved around old problems, and every now and then I was confronted with situations that had crossed my path so many times before. That depressed me. It made me feel that I was incapable of making any progress. I decided to go into a café that I still frequent today, just to sit and observe everything around me. I saw nothing new, absolutely nothing, and began to feel abandoned.
I decided to look at a newspaper that someone had left on a nearby table, and began to leaf through it at random. I discovered a review of an old book by Gurdjieff that had just been republished; the critic used an extract from the book:
Conscious faith is freedom.
Instinctive faith is slavery.
Mechanical faith is madness.
Conscious hope is strength.
Emotional hope is cowardice.
Mechanical hope is sickness.
Conscious love arouses love.
Emotional love arouses the unexpected.
Mechanical love arouses hate.
There lay the answer: the same elements (faith, hope and love) with their nuances, always leading to different consequences. I began to be aware that repeated experiences serve a purpose: they teach you what you have not yet learned. From that day on, I have always sought for a different solution to each repeated struggle – and little by little I found my path.
When we met again, I asked what I should do to organize a little my spiritual quest, which seemed to be leading nowhere. Here is what he answered:
“Don’t try to be coherent all the time; discover the joy of being a surprise to yourself. Being coherent is having always to wear a tie that matches your socks. It means being obliged to keep tomorrow the same opinions you have today. What about the world, which is always in movement? As long as it doesn’t harm anyone, change your opinion now and again, and contradict yourself without feeling ashamed - you have a right to that! It doesn’t matter what the others may think – because they are going to think that way no matter what.”
“But we are talking about faith.”
“Exactly! Go on doing what you do, but try to put love in every gesture: that will be enough to organize your quest. Usually we do not lend value to the things we do every day, but those are the things that change the world around us. We think that faith is a task for giants, but just read a few pages of the biography of any holy man and you will discover an absolutely ordinary person – except for the fact that they were determined to share the very best of themselves with others.
“Many emotions move the human heart when it decides to dedicate itself to the spiritual path. This may be a “noble” reason – like faith, love of our neighbor, or charity. Or it may be just a whim, the fear of loneliness, curiosity, or the fear of death. None of that matters. The true spiritual path is stronger than the reasons that led us to it and little by little it imposes itself with love, discipline and dignity. A moment arrives when we look backwards, remember the beginning of our journey, and laugh at ourselves. We have managed to grow, although we traveled the path for reasons that were very futile.”
“How do I know at least that I am traveling this path with love and dignity?”
“God uses loneliness to teach us about living together. Sometimes he uses anger so that we can understand the infinite value of peace. At other times he uses tedium, when he wants to show us the importance of adventure and leaving things behind.
“God uses silence to teach us about the responsibility of what we say. At times he uses fatigue so that we can understand the value of waking up. At other times he uses sickness to show us the importance of health.
“God uses fire to teach us about water. Sometimes he uses earth so that we can understand the value of air. And at times he uses death when he wants to show us the importance of life.”
“And what do we do about the feeling of guilt that we all share?”
“At one of the most tragic moments of the Crucifixion, one of the thieves noticed that the man dying beside him was the Son of God. ‘Lord, remember me when You are in Heaven’, said the thief. ‘In truth, today you shall be with me in Heaven’, answered Jesus, turning a bandit into the first saint of the Catholic Church: Saint Dimas.
“We don’t know why Dimas was condemned to death. The Bible tells us that he confessed his guilt and that he was crucified for the crimes he had committed. Let us suppose that he did something cruel, awful enough to end his life in that fashion; yet, even so, in his final minutes of life, he was redeemed – and glorified – by an act of faith.
“Remember this example when for some reason you feel unable to continue on your path.”
I was waiting for this release. Yester-night I had a difficult time and I wished if I can receive the new release of the WOL tomorrow morning. I am lucky enough to read and to learn from this edition. It is full with very important –let us say- tips that really can put us back on our track and to continue our life’s path.
Conscious faith is freedom.
Instinctive faith is slavery.
Mechanical faith is madness.
Conscious hope is strength.
Emotional hope is cowardice.
Mechanical hope is sickness.
Conscious love arouses love.
Emotional love arouses the unexpected.
Mechanical love arouses hate.
I read the above extracts 10 times at least trying to understand the wisdom in it. Paulo helped me when he highlighted the three important words: faith, hope, and love… and the wired consequences that we might be unaware a!
Today, I learned the importance of doing everything with conscious dignity. Actually, the magic word that can lead to a balanced social system and to a dignified persons is to do everything with conscious.
May Allah bliss you, the “ocean of wisdom”.
Be Safe,
Suha
Hi Paulo,
Hope you’re well today.
Regarding advice….as I’ve mentioned before, I hate giving advice because, yes, like you say in your posting today, it’s risky to give. I try to only give advice when I feel moved by Spirit to do so, then hope for the best. I still struggle with it, though, and I guess I need to work on the faith part - knowing that I had to say what I said and that it will work according to God’s will. The trusting is the hardest part for me.
I just had a really embarrassing situation recently, regarding feeling compelled to give advice. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, because, as usual, I have a feeling it’s going to be a lonnnnng one!
A friend of mine asked me to go with her, to support her, while she went to a private church ceremony for her and a few other women, who were there to acknowledge, in the sight of God, the children that they aborted at one time in their lives. It was the ending part of a Christian-based therapy. They had to stand up and name their child and say that they acknowledged that they were a real soul, who is now with God. Pretty heavy stuff.
When I got off the phone with my friend, after she asked and I agreed to go, I heard in my heart that God wanted me to share with these women the story of my dead cat, which I believe I’ve told you about in one of your other blogs.
Basically, the dead cat story, in case you don’t remember, was about how I adopted a cat from a shelter, then when I got it home, it was mean and I didn’t want it anymore, and let it outside, half hoping that it would run away, but, feeling guilty about it. Then, it did run away, and a month later came back to me in spirit, and allowed me to feel the most unearthly love I’d ever felt. I had felt it was telling me that it was alright that I let it out - that it WANTED to go. I had received a phone call two days later day telling me that someone had found the cat dead, so, I knew that the experience was real - that the cat really did come to me after it died.
Anyhow! So, I heard and felt that I needed to share this with the congregation at the church ceremony. I didn’t even understand the connection at first, and questioned why I should tell them. When I realized the connection and why I was being asked to tell the story, I was way too scared to think of saying anything like this because these people were Christians who held different beliefs than I do. They don’t believe animals have souls and also don’t believe that God would allow a soul to be aborted - that it was the Devil’s work. So, you can imagine the resistance I knew I was up against! Ha!
I didn’t want to say anything at all!
At the service, as I suspected, the people there was very ‘one-track mind’ oriented in their religious beliefs and so I was telling God inside of me…’No WAY will I say anything to these people! Please don’t make me do this!!’
And the feeling persisted.
Normally, I’m so sensitive that I would be crying up a storm as the rest of these people were, as I cry at the sound of music, sad movies, people’s stories, and basically, the drop of a hat!
I was even feeling guilty (of course!) for not crying, as if I seemed like I didn’t care about my friend and the other women and what they were going through. I was sitting there thinking, ‘Cry! Cry! Think of something really really really sad!’ And nothing!
I realized at the time that maybe God was keeping me from being emotional so that I would have the strength to speak. But, I tried to ignore that thought.
I sat there listening to everyone go on about how guilty they felt and should feel because they went against what God wants for us in our life. Even the minister, I felt, was pushing more guilt on top of them. And, I just couldn’t take it. I felt like someone had to say something!
So, at the end, we all gathered around for a final prayer, and when it ended, there was a moment of silence and without even thinking, I suddenly heard my voice say, ‘Wait! I have something I need to say.’
All eyes were on me, and I went on about my silly cat story. I prefaced it by saying that I didn’t mean to make light of their situations by comparing my story with theirs because I know it’s so different. I then concluded by saying that I had felt really guilty, thinking that it was my decision to let the cat go, but later realized that the cat had wanted to go, and that I felt that it was in God’s will for the cat, and maybe they, instead of beating themselves up over this, could look at their situations in the same way. I said, ‘maybe it was in God’s will for you to have an abortion for your spiritual growth, because it has obviously given you more compassion in certain areas of your life.’
When I was done, there was a complete and utter UNCOMFORTABLE silence for a few moments. Noone said anything to me, and the minister said, ‘Welp! There’s food in the other room for us all!’
I was DYING of EMBARRASSMENT!!! I silently said to God, ‘WHY ON EARTH DID YOU MAKE ME SAY THIS STUFF?!!!!’
Ha! 
I crawled with my friend to the other room with everyone and then one of the other women came over to me and thanked me for sharing what I had to say. I could sense and she explained that she had heard me and it had helped her to feel better.
I left there as soon as I could, laughing out loud about what a friggen fool I was. But, at the same time, I felt that even if I was there to help that one person, it was worth it. And, who knows..sometimes all it takes is a little seed planted.
One more thing about advice…I noticed, as I think I’ve mentioned before, too, that it’s all usually just a big mirroring experiment, where everyone around us only mirrors back to us our hopes and fears when they give us advice, and vice versa. So, when people tell us bad things, or say things that we don’t like to hear about us or our lives, that we need to understand that they are just helping us by showing us the thoughts that we are already thinking. They are working with God and through the connection that we have in spirit, in cooperation with our own spirits, to help us grow.
Speaking of which, I just had a funny thing happen a couple of days ago. I have a hard time being physically around people because I can often read their thoughts, and it’s really uncomfortable for me. It took me years to understand what was happening. I have to strengthen my boundaries before I go out of the house, or it’s just utter confusion. I sometimes don’t know where my thoughts begin and end, and it’s embarrassing, as if I am looking at people naked!:(
Anyhow, at the grocery store, I was in a long line and as I approached the cashier, I started hearing this thought telling me that the cashier is stressed out about seeing all this food go by..that she wants to pick it up and eat it all because she really needs to eat. I looked up at her and noticed that she was overweight and began to beat myself up for thinking such a thought about someone! I was thinking, ‘did I think that because she’s overweight? What an awful thing to think!’ I normally don’t think such mean thoughts, and I was judging myself really harshly and telling my brain to just shut up! I didn’t know where this thought was coming from.
When she looked me in the eyes, I had to look away, because I then heard, ‘oh no! She’s heard my thoughts!’ Again, I was thinking this was MY thought. So, I got embarrassed and went to use the debit card machine at the end of the counter. Just then she turned to the person in back of me, who she appeared to know and said, (and I sensed embarrassement on HER part) ‘I am going to pass out! I need food! I haven’t eaten all day and I don’t know if I can make it much longer!’
I then breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that it was just Her thoughts that I was hearing.
Hee hee! 
So, to me, this just showed me again that, yes, we all really are connected in spirit, and that sometimes we think and say things that we don’t understand with our physical brains, but God and our spirits are working for the highest good for all concerned. We just need to trust this.
Thanks, Paulo, for continuing to give us your enlightening words of advise on such a regular basis. I really appreciate it and know everyone else here does, as well. You must get so sick of hearing everyone thanking and praising you!!!
That’s why we have to throw in a nasty comment to you every now and then…to keep you on your toes, and on the ground! 
Hee hee!
Have a wonderful day!
Sincerely,
-Debbie, who is happy today that the Democrats gained control of at least one part of our government! Thanks to everyone who prayed! Hopefully things will get better in our world situation now.
Peace to all.
I have shared the life of many on the journey to self discovery. Some call me the free spirit, some the wolf. But it wasn’t until recently i was given the opportunity to share my path with the path of another. A person i have known for over ten years, but never really known. Short conversations about nothing from time to time. A few weeks ago i had to talk to him about professional issues. As i entered his office i felt like a flower that had just opened it’s petals, like a butterfly that opens its wings and learns to fly. We started discussing hobbies and found out that for ten years we have both been writing poetry. Messages of the heart. a few days later I opened a new page to my life and let go all the pain and the fears that were held within. He then told me he would lend me two books to read to help me on my path to self discovery. I didn’t need him to say anything more. I replied without question “the Alchemist” and “the Zahir”. It was that very moment that we both knew, we were supposed to meet and discover life, all over again.
Our strong bonds and love of life and the world around us, our adoration for the free spirits of the wolf and the eagle bound us further together.
This message is for all those readers who like us all have been granted the greatest gift of all….. love!
The Eagle and the Wolf
The wolf is running wild,
Like the heart of a child,
The eagle soars the skies,
Chanting powerful cries.
Together they venture out and explore,
Together they discover so much more,
Both free, both strong,
Their wait has been long.
The wolf stands still within the trees,
The eagle becomes a silent breeze,
For both have been traveling,
With their past unraveling.
Revelations of secrets, love and pride,
With the moon and the stars to be their guide,
Time has come for their souls to unite,
With the howl of the wolf and the eagle in flight.
May they always succeed to give love and to share
Both silently waiting, they stand, they stare.
S.L. Wolf….complete my world, so I can yours…1.11.2006
When the wolf met the eagle, the true meaning of life became clear……
Both adventurers and rulers of the forest and skies, they both learnt to share and complete each other. The eagle became the howl within the wolf’s heart, and the wolf learnt to be the eagle’s wings and fly….
Dear Paolo,
I was so overwhelmed with love and tears when I read your latest article today - because it summarized my whole life. Seven days ago my 11 years-old cat vanished into the Blue. Being a “meditative painter” - I had painted his “passing over” three times before it really happened… but when it finally came true - the pain I felt was beyond words to describe.
At the same time I knew - something very old - like a carmic rotten root - was being torn out of my cells - to make room for something new.
Thank you for your love and help.
In divine friendship,
yours
Monica
Dear Paolo,
I was so overwhelmed with love and tears when I read your latest article today - because it summarized my whole life. Seven days ago my 11 years-old cat vanished into the Blue. Being a “meditative painter” - I had painted his “passing over” three times before it really happened… but when it finally came true - the pain I felt was beyond words to describe.
At the same time I knew - something very old - like a carmic rotten root - was being torn out of my cells - to make room for something new.
Thank you for your love and help.
In divine friendship,
yours
Monica
I would like to reflect on this part for now on:
“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 is VERY true. Sometimes people talk to us totally \”innocently\” about things which are forecasting things to happen to us maybe many years afterwards the conversation took place.
For 2 weeks I am thinking about a conversation with a person 9 years ago! and those things started to materialize in my life and even in that person\’s life (the things I talked about to this person).
To me the conclusion is that time is not linear, everything is happening at the same time. Past, present, future. In today\’s conversation with someone, there is your past, present and future!
It’s very dangerous to ask for advice. It’s 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 see 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 our angel speak the way he is used to, which is at the moment he deems necessary. Advice is just theory; living is always very different.”
We must follow our dreams as long as they don’t and won’t hurt others.
we cannot know happiness if we have felt no pain, if we have never felt sadness.
”dont try to be coherent all the time.”… one of the bigggest problem we face today…everytime we r around someone we tend to behave as we r supposed to .everyone of us has a pre-conceived notion on how to dress or how to behave in a particular setting. life itself sould be spontaneous and full of joy. we tend to indulge in a monotony which turns out to be a monstrosity of our own creation .. we tend to spiral down in this quagmire of what sould be rather than what is….often losing our true self and let the opinion of others run our lives until without even realizing we have transformed in to a whole new and different person………and.not always a better person.
Hi, Paulo!
Thank you a lot, it’s another greeeat text to read and try to make it work out on our lifes! Sometimes we can stop ourselves just because we think that we did a big mistake, but if we don’t give us our forgiveness, as soon as possible, it can be difficult to continue trying with inner freedom.
And with the St. Dimas example, we know that we can make it!
Thanks to remind me about that again!
Greetings from Brazil to you!
With Love & Light,
Maria
Hello Paulo
Thanks very much, I enjoy your writings and this one is exactly, truthful, you hit my hart.
Above all you are, in time.
When I was in Meco, Portugal, I met this funny lady Vera with the parrot.
The place is beautiful to write. At home in Holland I long to be there, for the silence and the sea.
It is good to remember Gurdjieff. Thanks again for the beautiful words,
obrigado,
with Love,
Sunbula
Perhaps because I just finished reading the Zahir, the phrase “mechanical love arouses hate” jumped out of the page and grabbed hold of me. I am in a hotel room, on a work trip, and with that simple line - I have decided to make a very drastic change. And what was so heavy, seems suddenly very light - so much so that I feel as if I am releasing the problem like a helium balloon from my wrist.
i find when asked advice, silence is the best answer, for i am not one wise enough to offer that which someone can find within themselves if they only choose to hear.
i find when i ask advice, my spirit is in great turmoil, for it is attempting to speak to me that which i am grasping to hear from voices outside of myself and my inner knowing.
“it is not my ignorance which keeps me from the divine, it is my fear”.
“i do not see the light because i choose to remain in the darkness.”
i am learning the greatest amend i can make is to see that within myself which keeps me from the divine and following his path and do whatever is in my capability to not repeat those actions again.
particularly those which have harmed another individual.
my spiritual path was chosen as a result of having turned away from any sense of faith for years. i lived in darkness, with no hope, no soul. it was the most painful time of my life. my motives were not necessarily altruistic when i began my journey, but as a result, my world is becoming larger day by day.
i am seeing life as a chain link fence where all actions, even the smallest, create a ripple effect on life. how we are all joined together, even from the greatest of distances.
do i choose to create beauty in my small corner of this amazing world, or do i choose to create darkness?
it is not a choice which comes easy at times, for the patterns and habits, the pacts and beliefs, which i held for my lifetime sometimes still take hold and sister fear joins in her unwelcome diatribe in my mind.
i venture forward.
it is all i can do.
i venture forward,
and from the soil within my soul, my faith grows, but not by my grace.
not mine at all.
Hi Paulo
this is my first entrance in the group. i am a big lover of your words, it inspires me, strengthens me and make me feel that i am not lonely. someone somewhere shares with me the same ordeals the same suffering and the same moments of pain as well. i am wondering about the part u mentioned concerning freedom to fall in the same mistakes. I think it is not shame it is pain that accompanies this, u find that although the growth the experience the knowledge u can never change yourself neither your weaknesses…. i find it so frustrating………….
Dear Paulo
Many thanks for the wonderful article. It is true what you write about relating to the answers to our daily worries lies within nature. I do believe that nature finds a way of delivering hints to you and gives guidance when the mind is anxious. Close friends and people we are strongly bonded to seem to be more receptive to our thoughts. They seem to telepathically sense our concerns. This happens quite frequently with a close friend of mine at uni. Sometimes its quite scary, as I am just about to text her, and I receive her text.
Many thanks for the wonderful article, I am still trying to understand the poem though
Conscious faith is freedom.
Instinctive faith is slavery.
Mechanical faith is madness.
Conscious hope is strength.
Emotional hope is cowardice.
Mechanical hope is sickness.
Conscious love arouses love.
Emotional love arouses the unexpected.
Mechanical love arouses hate.
have a good week ahead
D
Deepal
Wow…I totally loved the part about not trying to be coherent all the time and trying to surprise ourselves…wonderful!!! Thank you very much!
I love how the universe conspires to help me on my spiritual journey, I am in the process of change and I just want to thank you Paulo for allowing yourself to be an instrument!
Thanks
Marie
Hello, Can you hear me smiling?
Last evening I listened to Gurdjieff’s The Struggle of the Magicians / Journey to Inaccessible Places and Hymns from a Great Temple… and dreamed he was speaking to me.
To-day I read some of his writing in your blog.
Co-incidence is also a teacher. walk gently
Dear Paulo,
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
The power of words is just beautiful. Please tell me on a scale of one to ten where would you place yourself in the aspect of following what you write about.
Heres a quote i read somewhere :”When you have reached the edge of your light and/or world and you see the end of every thing, no light in sight, nothing but darkness and an abyss, at such a point faith is knowing that if you jump and/or make the plunge you would find solid ground under you or would be taught to fly.”. (with profound apologies to the person to whom this quote actually belongs).
Have a very good fortnight. Looking forward to your next edition.
Mohammed Imran Khan.
[quote comment="433"]Hi Paulo
this is my first entrance in the group. i am a big lover of your words, it inspires me, strengthens me and make me feel that i am not lonely. someone somewhere shares with me the same ordeals the same suffering and the same moments of pain as well. i am wondering about the part u mentioned concerning freedom to fall in the same mistakes. I think it is not shame it is pain that accompanies this, u find that although the growth the experience the knowledge u can never change yourself neither your weaknesses…. i find it so frustrating………….[/quote]
We should try not to change ourselves, and try to make our weaknesses become our strengths.
It is odd. The story of Saint Dimas comes into every movie I watch, story I read, conversation I have. Then when I read this message yesterday I knew I had to search the meaning that relates to my own life. When I find it I will let you know.
I also knw that as the message indicated, let our angel speak, I feel that many messages were flashing in here. Did you deliver the answers and encouragement I needed? It is amazing!
Dear Paulo!
I’m 16 years old so i don’t speak very well in English but I try.. And I want to say that at the moment I’m finishing read your book. I read 4 yuors books, but I don’t understand it enough.I have a problems with myself,but nobady can help me.maybe I have more to say..but i can’t write it in English.. Goodby
Dear Paulo ! warriors of light !!
So, it all boils down to these three + three words, faith, hope & love + consious, instinctive / emotional and mechanical. Faith can not be emotional, apparently. Either it is conscious or instictive or mechanical. By mechanical faith I understand the rituals without faith, everyone goes to church once in a while so me too, is that what mechanical faith means.
I need to understand the ‘consious’ word more carefully, it seems anything ( done )consciously is fine, be it faith or even fear. By conscious faith do i understand that I choose to have faith even though there is no evidence in my logical mind. I request all of u to elaborate a little more on what is meant by conscious faith, then may be consious hope & consious love too. Let me share a joke with u which will make my confusion more clear.
Father Freddy was trying hard to inculcate the menaing of Christian love in the youth of the town, children from 7 to 15 years. After many sessions when asked about what he understood Little Jimmy replied ” Christian love is about doing something lovable for a person whom u don’t find lovable “. This does not appear to be conscious love, or am I wrong ?
Request all to elaborate a little on the ‘Consious’. It certainly appears to be diffrent from conscience. Respected paulo, help ! ( prefarabely not with your silence ).
regards
aditya
PS : Keep posting these, I am sure u understand what it means to us, that is why u take the trouble, ain’t it. Can’t say May God bless U, for u r already blessed, as u know.
Thank you, Paulo. So when we are going through the same struggles over and over, look to different solutions? I like that. It certainly adds more value to the struggle. The part about God teaching us things through its opposite also struck home.
Dear Sisters & Brothers Of The Light, Thank You For Learnin Together If Not How Could We Possible Evolve(Transcend Whatever Your Taste Of The Flavour Or How You See/Seen It)
Response To Leitor Wolf And Of Conscious Queary
“We should try not try to change ourselves, rather rather do try to make our weaknesses become our strength that way we can Evolve(Permenant Revolution), I found barriers being Lost along with frustation, emotionally(Unexpectedly)I found this Enlightening to the Conscience Freeing me From A Few Chains Expanding light on the many others Bars which Hold Us
Down(Unconsciously)
[quote comment="442"]Dear Paulo!
I’m 16 years old so i don’t speak very well in English but I try.. And I want to say that at the moment I’m finishing read your book. I read 4 yuors books, but I don’t understand it enough.I have a problems with myself,but nobady can help me.maybe I have more to say..but i can’t write it in English.. Goodby[/quote]
Keep On Beliving Yourself Your Desire For Understanding, We Warriors Of Light Feel For Your Desire for furfillment You Are Not Alone,
You are On The Right Track Remember A Close Mouth Don’t Get Fed.
Think of this place as A area for ‘Nurturing Understanding’
We would like Warriors to Draw conclusions From Past Experience
Thank You All
Please mail me the ebook of ‘The Alchemist’, if ANY ONE HAS IT!
Please do at shashi.mukherjee@gmail.com
Hi Aditya,
In response to your request for responses…
I was intriqued by that poem, as well, and was curious as to how to interpret it. The way I interpreted it is to always be aware of your motives and intentions in all that you do…to always be introspecting and finding the truth behind all of your thoughts and actions, and adjusting your life accordingly, when you see that your motives aren’t pure.
That’s just my opinion, of course. Am also curious to hear other’s opinions on it, as well.
To Jenny R., and Paulo, of course, I also loved that part, too, about always looking for different solutions when a situation keeps presenting itself. It’s one of those common sense statements that stares you in the face, yet you just can’t see it because your perception isn’t locked into it, and then when you see it…it’s like the light has finally been turned on.
To me, it’s like the saying…’you always find a lost item in the last place that you look.’ I always heard that and wondered why that statement was so true….but, then I read somewhere that it’s because when you find the item, you stop looking for it. It sounded really profound to me until I realized that it was just common sense!
Don’t get me wrong….I’m not saying that to downplay the profundity of Paulo’s posting! I’m saying it to express how interesting it is that sometimes common sense isn’t as common as we think!!
And that’s why we like having people like Paulo around to point these things out to us. 
-Deb
Who can’t resist someone ASKING for her opinions! Hee hee! 
I re-read the latest posting while writing an article on the boundaries we create in our lives. We are boundary-less beings and yet most of us don’t know this. We create this artificial division between us, the world around us and the Divine, because society or our parents tell us that we must do this to aid our transit through life. To protect us, I suppose. And when we wake up and we become “aware” and truly understand “who” we are beside on the Cross, we discover there are no boundaries in our lives.
What also struck me about this post is Paulo’s excellent description of the unity of opposites – God using silence to teach us about talking; using air to teach about ground; death to teach about life. To know good, to know love, I also must know bad. I also must know indifference. It is not that it is the flip side of coin, with death on one side OR life on the other but rather death AND life as a complete whole. It is about the whole coin. I suspect that is what the Saint discovered in those last moments.
Greetings to all,
“Don’t try to be coherent all the time; discover the joy of being a surprise to yourself. Being coherent is having always to wear a tie that matches your socks. It means being obliged to keep tomorrow the same opinions you have today. What about the world, which is always in movement? As long as it doesn’t harm anyone, change your opinion now and again, and contradict yourself without feeling ashamed - you have a right to that! It doesn’t matter what the others may think – because they are going to think that way no matter what.”
The last few weeks I have been discovering a small part of how nice it is to be a surprise for yourself. Some of you might say ‘Oh again just words and words, I`ve seen that already’. Wanna bet on it ?
Don`t be ashamed when you are not what others expect you to be - it is you that matters. Try doing something you have thought crazy( erm I don`t include hurting people, taking drugs and etc. :P) And I want to quote one of Paulo`s books(’Veronika decides to die’, to be exact) ‘People never really learn any lessons unless they have experienced them’ (or something like that :P). But it these words are so true.
Today I found a new reason for being alive- to get rejected. Sounds kinda mazohistic, doesn`t it ?
Yeah, but it ain`t exactly like that if you think about it - at first I got really angry and my big self-confidence was like screaming ‘ Oh s**t(excuse my language 
), how could have this happened to me! But after the anger came peace. A peace with a desire to live, to make mistakes, to get rejected and to have succes eventually :), to improve! . I got rejected because I decided to change, to do things others might think crazy and stupid. And now I feel alive for maybe the first time in my life! So people, make mistakes, get angry, feel joy, shyness and all those feelings that make us humans. Yeah it hurts at first, but it is worth it!
Deb, I love your ‘lonnnng’ postings
Keep`em coming !
Aditya, I think that everything we do (incliding love) must be what our hearts say filtered with just a little bit thought and some crazyness
Great day, night or whatever it is to you all
-Deyan (copying Deb
) whose huge self-confidence was finally shown the real world 
Thanks Deb !
How to know if our motives are not ‘pure’. U see the conditining of our consience by the society goes so deep that part of what is whispered in our ears originates from the devil ( something like that was written by paulo also ). While deciphering our ‘inner voice’ how to judge whether it is from the devil or the angel within. Thanks for taking the trouble.
About finding new solutions every time, that is possible only if we are consious in the moment, if we can avoid being mechanical. But to stay with the known, even if it’s a sinking ship is so alluring, why !!! why ! oh why ! probably what we have to basically be at war ( as warriors of light ) is against our own lethargy, routine appeals to a non exerting mind.
fello warriors, deb
regards
aditya
All is well in the world, in my heart of hearts, peace/love is the common thread that binds us in our own truths, free will and the will of god however any of us see god in our lives, all is as it should be and then maybe not!?? for this i am grateful for Paulo Coelho the sharing of common good, god bless you P.C.
Dear Paulo,
I have just this to say. In our Hinduism we believe in the Lord Krishna, whose words in Srimad Baghavat Gita states clearly do not worry about anything surrender un to me with full faith I will deliver you and seated in your heart I give the rememberance and forgetfullness too.By the way I just bought two of your books - Like the flowing river and Alchemist which I had given as a present to my beloved daughter who is a voracious reader
I’m very inspired to the extent that saying nothing would be the best thing to do.
Thank you Paulo
Dear Paulo,
What you say about faith in your letter gives me feeling of us sharing this path of learning, this difficult and precious gift. Faith comes from hearing the word, said the apostle Paul… My first encounter with Christ happened about 20+ years ago in a very strange way. My aunt asked me to carry the trash out and accidentally I found old yellow pages from the Gospel there. To say how much I was moved is difficult in words. I was looking for it so long! The thing is I was raised in atheistic country with totalitarian regime (thanks God it has been collapsed in my lifetime), rather dismal time…when the word ‘religion’ scared everyone and the attitude to believers was aggressive. I remember reading the books on sly.
Through hard years of training and discipline, countless failures and mistakes and persistent learning from them I always felt the presence of God and mystery of being led by him. Life is exciting, frustrating but never humdrum.
God bless all of you!
Nona
PS .Dear Debbie, I always read your comments with special interest. Please send me an email and let us dialogue of life.
Yay to Deyan for being rejected! We rejoice with you in being alive!!
To Aditya: Wasn’t sure again what you meant, exactly. Sorry!
Were you rhetorically asking how we know if our motives are pure…and not from the Devil and/or society? If that’s what you were asking…I’d say that in my life, I just look to see if I’m doing things for the right reasons..that’s what I was referring to in regards to being pure.
Um, like, when my husband and I were first together, I remember feeling insecure about him going somewhere without me, so, I’d give him excuses for reasons that he shouldn’t go, without being honest about my real reasons. Then, when I really looked at it, I realized it was only my insecurity and that I was being manipulative. I think we all know when we are really doing something for ulterior motives..I guess that’s what I was referring to. Being honest about everything and the reasons we do the things we do. I even wonder if, perhaps, if we are doing something that’s not a great thing, but if we do it with awareness and honesty, that maybe that’s even alright to do? And that the being dishonest part is the part that messes us up mentally and spiritually. ?? Just throwing out thoughts, here.
To N.R. Govindarajan: Thanks for your words today, I needed to hear them. I had just prayed this morning to the gurus from S.R.F. one of whom is Krishna. I had to bring my son to a doctor in New York state today because we received some very scary news in a routine check-up the other day. I keep ‘hearing’ to have faith and not to worry. My son also keeps telling me the same. But, it wasn’t until I read your posting before we went to the doctor’s this morning, that I felt better, hearing what you said about Krishna saying, ‘Do Not Worry.’ So, thank you again.
To Paulo: I walked into a bookstore in New York after the doctor’s appointment today and I saw a man seated, reading a book, who looked like you from the back. As I approached him, I looked and, obviously, it wasn’t you…and what was he reading? The Alchemist, of course! :)Ha!
I laughed and thought, well, if it WAS Paulo, I don’t know if he’d be sitting there reading his own book. 
And you’d probably have throngs of people clamoring for your autograph. 
I’m sure it’s just wishful thinking on my part. I’ve had too much ‘Paulo on the brain’ these days. Someday they’ll find a cure for it, I hope. 
And, lastly, to Nona Jabanashvili ( I love all these difficult names!) I’d love to chat, but don’t know your address. I wrote mine above somewhere…on one of these blog postings, if interested, feel free to write - as long as you’re not going to accuse me of being a heathen.
Ha! 
One more thing….it’s about Jesus. A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning my stove and there was a stain on it from a spill. And, I swear it looked like the face of Jesus!
I see his face a lot in different places. Again, we all know I’m nuts and all. 
But, the funny part…I told my husband, ‘Hey! The face of Jesus is on our stove! Come and see it!’
He said, ‘That’s not Jesus, that’s a parrot!’
I argued with him about it saying that it IS Jesus and I’m never going to clean it off!’
He said, ‘You’re just trying to get out of cleaning, again.’
So, I cleaned it and probably missed out on a fortune…I think about all those Irish people that might have come to see it!
Ha! 
Where is that Peter from Ireland, anyhow? Did he leave us?
Thanks Paulo for giving us this place to chat about life and stuff. Hope you are well.
Sincerely,
Deb
Who is trying remain upbeat through this ordeal with her son and who is open for prayer donations! 
God bless us everyone. 
With lots of health above all else. Ok. I’m done. 
Dear Paulo, thank you
I have finished reading the Alchemist, and it has touched my heart just like the peacefull Warrior
Leaving with words passed onto me through a friend
” Take time to think
It’s the source of power
Take time to play
It’s the secret of perpetual youth
Take time to laugh
it is the music of the soul
Take time to pray
It is the greatest power on earth
Have Faith” ~ author unknown
It is beautifull to know that there are people out there trying to understand their personal Legends, trying to see the light and in the end realizing the simplicity of true happiness
With Love
Hi to all the Guerriers de lumiere, warriors of light,
Have been re reading all comments as I always surprise myself by having thought to have completely read something and taken the majority in, just to find out that depending on what my thoughts and feelings are for that particular day, does the understanding of your comments and letters change.
I have drawn a conclusion, never to be the final conclusion but only todays conclusion, that we are all Guerriers, or warriors, not only of light…. but of enlightment. We are all capable of immense love and understanding, or we are at least willing to try and make the effort to understand others in order to find ourselves.
May i share with you something that came to mind last night as i were supposed to be sleeping, your comments are always interesting and being a guerrier has given me a sense of belonging…thank you Paulo
JIGSAW PUZZLE
Life is like a jigsaw puzzle, we can either find all the pieces and make it complete or give up the search and have empty spaces.
Usually whilst doing a puzzle we start with the borders or edges. The Outline.
The edges are easy to find don’t take too much effort, all we have to do is search for the pieces that have the least complicated shape and have at least one flat edge. The corners are the easiest we know they are only four and we equally know that they have two flat edges, or sides.
But just like life, the outline, the borders of a puzzle are only superficial, they display no real difficulties in finding them and piecing them together. But they will never hold any real depth to them, they will usually give us no indication of the completed picture.
So we have found the superficial outline of our puzzle, now we must move on to build the complete picture. We must patiently piece every single complicated piece together and discover within the depths a picture coming to life, or life coming to picture.
I we don’t have the patience it will take to complete the puzzle, if we don’t give it the love and concentration it needs then the puzzle will never transform into a picture. It will always remain just a puzzle, an incomplete puzzle with missing pieces. And even if we leave only the most complicated pieces behind it will always have a least one empty space.
But if we are patient, if we work hard and concentrate on the task at hand, if we devote our time to making sure we can complete and will complete the puzzle, however complicated the pieces they all have their rightful place. They each have an exact position to take up that no other piece can replace. Once all the pieces are in place, then no matter how you look at you puzzle you will always see a picture. Whether it be up-side down or side on, you will always have a complete picture without gaps to fill.
I believe to have found the missing pieces to my puzzle, the only task that remains is making sure that that I fit them in their exact destination at the exact right time for me to be able to sit back and enjoy the picture I have created, and to share the pleasure of that picture with others.
The final piece to my picture had been in front of my eyes all the time. Just when I thought I had lost it, and would never find it, just when I thought I would remain with the outline of my puzzle but no real picture, a single missing piece just sprang out at me and as if pleading with me to put it in that single empty space. It took me a while to recognize it, it took patience, love and devotion. Sometimes we have to piece the puzzle together in a certain order to create the final picture. But one thing is for sure. We must never give up trying.
yours faithfully may you all never give up trying….stella…wolf
really lovely…..
im still discovering the beauty of alchemist and this has made me understand it better..
yes small things make a world to change(the universe itself is created from sub-atomic particles)..
the extract showed the thing and reason why idol worship exsits-when ppl follow things blindly they dont understand anything,they love blindly,hate blindly-animosity creeps in to occupy their heart in a tender age.
A good example of this asking a person why he/she worships or who do u feel u r??
the answer i got from a person was i dont have time for all these.Your book flowing like the river is inspiring.
another thing abt the above story was your reference to bieng scilent-it shows the need of a man to be in diff forms as shakespear says our robe reflects us
There is one question that keeps pondering in my mind,
Did Dimas feel any remorse and/or guilt for the crimes he had done?
(and does it matter anything in this context?)
DIMAS - not much is known about him yet “Let us suppose that he did something cruel, awful enough to end his life in that fashion”. Jesus too had his life ended in the same fashion, DO WE ASSUME THAT THE SON OF GOD TOO DID SOMETHING CRUEL ?
Then again, maybe he did, awakening people is a cruel deed seen from the eyes of the people who are being awakened. Just like us, do we not feel a rage for the person who tries to wake us up ( from the sleep we know of ), even though we ourselves may have asked him / her to awaken us. OK, after we are fully ‘awake’ we probably thank that chap, but for an instant his / her act does appear ‘cruel’ to our sleepy mind.
DEB ! is it dishonest to be human !
aditya
This time I am not ready to talk of this new release.
I have tried to understand your messagge and at the moment I can just continue to live my life.
It’s no simple to leave under the skin everything but I ‘ll try to know this last passage.
It’s true when you say that the rules are important in the life!
Thank you.
[quote comment="458"]Yay to Deyan for being rejected! We rejoice with you in being alive!!
To Aditya: Wasn’t sure again what you meant, exactly. Sorry!
Were you rhetorically asking how we know if our motives are pure…and not from the Devil and/or society? If that’s what you were asking…I’d say that in my life, I just look to see if I’m doing things for the right reasons..that’s what I was referring to in regards to being pure.
Um, like, when my husband and I were first together, I remember feeling insecure about him going somewhere without me, so, I’d give him excuses for reasons that he shouldn’t go, without being honest about my real reasons. Then, when I really looked at it, I realized it was only my insecurity and that I was being manipulative. I think we all know when we are really doing something for ulterior motives..I guess that’s what I was referring to. Being honest about everything and the reasons we do the things we do. I even wonder if, perhaps, if we are doing something that’s not a great thing, but if we do it with awareness and honesty, that maybe that’s even alright to do? And that the being dishonest part is the part that messes us up mentally and spiritually. ?? Just throwing out thoughts, here.
To N.R. Govindarajan: Thanks for your words today, I needed to hear them. I had just prayed this morning to the gurus from S.R.F. one of whom is Krishna. I had to bring my son to a doctor in New York state today because we received some very scary news in a routine check-up the other day. I keep ‘hearing’ to have faith and not to worry. My son also keeps telling me the same. But, it wasn’t until I read your posting before we went to the doctor’s this morning, that I felt better, hearing what you said about Krishna saying, ‘Do Not Worry.’ So, thank you again.
To Paulo: I walked into a bookstore in New York after the doctor’s appointment today and I saw a man seated, reading a book, who looked like you from the back. As I approached him, I looked and, obviously, it wasn’t you…and what was he reading? The Alchemist, of course! :)Ha!
I laughed and thought, well, if it WAS Paulo, I don’t know if he’d be sitting there reading his own book. 
And you’d probably have throngs of people clamoring for your autograph. 
I’m sure it’s just wishful thinking on my part. I’ve had too much ‘Paulo on the brain’ these days. Someday they’ll find a cure for it, I hope. 
And, lastly, to Nona Jabanashvili ( I love all these difficult names!) I’d love to chat, but don’t know your address. I wrote mine above somewhere…on one of these blog postings, if interested, feel free to write - as long as you’re not going to accuse me of being a heathen.
Ha! 
One more thing….it’s about Jesus. A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning my stove and there was a stain on it from a spill. And, I swear it looked like the face of Jesus!
I see his face a lot in different places. Again, we all know I’m nuts and all. 
But, the funny part…I told my husband, ‘Hey! The face of Jesus is on our stove! Come and see it!’
He said, ‘That’s not Jesus, that’s a parrot!’
I argued with him about it saying that it IS Jesus and I’m never going to clean it off!’
He said, ‘You’re just trying to get out of cleaning, again.’
So, I cleaned it and probably missed out on a fortune…I think about all those Irish people that might have come to see it!
Ha! 
Where is that Peter from Ireland, anyhow? Did he leave us?
Thanks Paulo for giving us this place to chat about life and stuff. Hope you are well.
Sincerely,
Deb
Who is trying remain upbeat through this ordeal with her son and who is open for prayer donations! 
God bless us everyone. 
With lots of health above all else. Ok. I’m done. :)[/quote]
Hi Debbie, I just read that you are also a memeber of SRF… I shall include you into my prayers and meditations.
Jai Guru
hhhmmm…I want to feel the love toward these quotes, but I can’t.
I also want to learn to love other human beings (strangers), and it is turning out really hard…I can only love those close to me like family,friends, co-workers… Is this normal?
I am really trying, for example in the bus…I look at people’s faces, and instead of love, I think… she should loose weight, that man looks like a criminal, why is she staring at me? that lady is full of hair cat, yuk ! ect..
is it only me? Do I have to?
the part that stood out for me was the story about the solitary man.
i am frightened of people and i always thought that i would get some wisdom from being alone.
but gradually i am coming back.
i dreampt about paulo last night. he was a priest in a church. he was explaining the difference between catholics and another religion.. the guys who dress in white, they see god in one way and the catholics see him in another way. i cant remember what the differences were.
i asked some questions and when i left i was shy and paulo smiled at me nicely. then i went back in the church cos my brother had left his coat there. i went around a part of the church towards small areas of light on the floor. paulo follwed me putting pieces of paper or writing onto the light parts.
thats why i came here to read today. anyway when i looked back as i was leaving paulo didnt look happy. he was kind of frowning, not at me but generally frowning.
thanks v much for writing things, it is very helpful.
Hi Paulo and fellow WOL’s
To Debbie, ‘Peter from ireland’ hasn’t gone away (:-), I’m just doing what Noha said in an earlier blog, I’m remaining silent and simply absorbing all this wonderful wisdom. Or as my Dad always said, ‘Better to keep one’s mouth closed, and be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and confirm it’…:-) !!!!
I also laughed loudly at your husband’s (very wise) take on your excuses to stop cleaning!!
I love your stories Debbie, always told from the heart
And to Leitor Wolf - thank you for your jigsaw puzzle analogy - quite brilliant yet so simple, as the best things in life often tend to be…
Anyway, I’ll disappear again for a while, but thank you Paulo for being the inspiration to so many of us in our quest to examine our lives and to ‘fight the good fight’
Peter
I am almost thirdy years old and still I am a stranger to my self. I claim to know myself very well but today and yesterday I have realized that I am just on the beginning of a jounrey of me.
The big difference between now and then is that I have been blessed with humbleness. I can’t name the day but the event.
As I am to get married in Febuary I have frequently visited a certain homepage and met ladies with the same event comming in their life. One day we decided to meet and compare and share our weddingplans. As I can be very clumsy with comments and shuffle strong oppinions around I decided to be more laid back and really listen to what people are saying.
Easier said than done. I somehow managed to leave all of my predjudiuces and suspisions in the car and walk towards this meeting with new people as a blanc sheet. Reminended myself that I have two ears and one mouth for a reason. However, I listened and listened to all that they had to tell and share. After a couple of weeks and more get togethers I found pure love and a great friendship. This girl Jenny, she is filled with pure love and she is not aware of how much she gives. We have become good friends and talk about life, books, dreams and everyday stuff.
On her weddingday she had a close friend to acompany her all day as was I (as a photographer during the day) Her friend made sure everything was perfect and that Jenny had somethjing to drink, to eat and not to worry about anything other than enjoy your weddingday. Linda, her friend really took care of all needs and worries for Jenny and I admired all the effort and love. Some days after the wedding I spoke to Jenny and commented her great friend Linda. And she replied that Linda gives so much and does stuff and is her cruch in life. I said that yes you really have a pure friendship in her as Jenny continued that it feels that she does not give enough in return.
That moment I realized and told her; Jenny, you have a “gift” or a blessing that you’re not aware off but you give 24 hours a day. You are like a fuelstation of love. It’s kind of unscibeble what you are or what you do but it’s magicly divine. Not all things we give are of value in time or money or even commitment. I am blessed to be able to listen and hear you.
After said that it was quiet for a while and she said thank you.
Jenny taught me something that a book that I recently read, the Zahir of course, that love is greater than your mind and heart will ever comprehend and also love is something that comes in diffrent shapes, forms and all lover is not to be used for the same purpose.
As I am to be married I have gotten cold feet reagrding is he the love of my life. I know that I have had and have many loves especially one person that I am to wine and dine with tomorrow. I have been very much in love with this man and still am and not until today while writing a letter to God I understood the kind of love I have for this man. It’s not the love I have for mu husband to be with desire, passion, friend, lust and familiar kind of love. This love for this man is more of the love I carry for my life or life itself. It’s all about openminded free love. Unfortunately my English is not good enough to explain…but this love keeps the world go around, no strings, no fights, no obligations and just pure and simple.
to wondering why, hello, i hope u dont mind if i reply. ?
the thing is i used to feel very similar to what you wrote there.
i still struggle with it a bit.
see because you wonder why you dont feel love for strangers- thats like a good thing, to wonder why. : )
i think you are really brave and smart for trying to love strangers. many good things come from trying to do something good i think : )
o dear i feel really shy haha. : P
7 years ago, when I was in university, I had an abortion. Since then I have felt depressed and guilty about it. I attended a Chirstian retreat for women who have had abortions and I did find some measure of closure. But sometimes, I feel sad and ask myself, why did this happen? and I wish that this had never happened!
It was one of those days when I read Paolo’s words on St Dimas and Debbie’s entry. Thank you, both of you. You are my angels telling me what I needed to hear.
Dear Paulo and all of u out thr who hav restored their faith thru paulo…
One of my frnds presented me wid Alchemist three years bak,and the book kept lying at my shelf for a year..i guess it was waiting for the right time…i was widout a job,cmpletely lost….widout faith and love…and then i read Alchemist..it took me another year to restore my faith after reading Alchemist and your other books eventually…plus life threw lots of ups and downs and ofcourse signs frm the lord himself to choose a path for myself……………………….so it was paulo,life and lord who conspired to make thngs work for me……to make me fall in love wid life ….to hate it wid passion at times and then the stubborness to fight it bak….the light will never go now…i knw…i hav faith
thank u paulo…god bless u….
and now when i read wht all the people associated wid this blog write……my faith multiplies wid them each day…..
hav faith and be in love….forever….
charu.
FINNALY, I am going to Munich; for Christmas week, I am five months late for a meeting with my Master. I will have to enjoy drinking mulled wine and eating all the Whruse myself, with fresh beer and bread. I will enjoy smoking in doors (as in Ireland you cannot!).
I can walk in his footsteps instead, they will make a trail in the deep snow, as I make my way around the Medieval Town, the Gargoyles can spit snow onto my head from Das Rathaus, and I will not care as I am in one of my favourite places in the world.
In a few months I learned,
1) There are many roads, not just one!
2) When everything fails, stop, think and demand a new beginning, cut your personal ledged away, free yourself from guilt, shame and neurosis.
3) Follow the code, how ever crazy it may seem, keep going and do not look back.
PS my web page is now open, but i need to up date is next week!!
I really enjoyed visiting your site, just now, for the first time. You are my favorite author. When I first attempted to read The Alchemist, I was perhaps only twelve or thirteen years of age. My mother, an avid reader, had read it and encouraged me to read it as well. I was, forgive me for admitting so, bored by the first several pages. I put the book down and did not attempt to re-read it again until I was a young adult; nineteen or twenty years of age it must have been. I must tell you that it put me to tears. I had gotten chills from the messages that engolfed nearly every page. So must meaning and so much truth contained within each page.
After another year or so I picked up another copy of the book, as I had given the first copy to a friend, and reread the book. Again I found new meaning and more defined truth to the words. My admiration for you being able to surrender to your inner-Self to find and extract such truth, and then share it with the world, is beyond my appreciation. You have inspired me so much with your books and helped me along my Personal Legend.
Just yesterday I read your book, “the Zahir” and found it so surreal since you yourself are a writer with many of the experiences as the narrator. I loved the way that your character, the narrator, tells how he writes; the long process that begins with laziness or busyness or not being in the mood, to the feeling of guilt that finally wins resulting in a wild and extreme writing session (perhaps even an obsession) ending arround 2am because of eye fatigue. I found it very similar to