On immortality
How do human beings respond to changes?
Badly. Always very badly. One of the most widespread myths in the whole world – the myth of the vampire – reflects this idea.
What is a vampire? It is someone who at a certain moment in their existence becomes immortal. In other words, after that moment their body will no longer follow the normal course of nature; they will become forever young, and they can live as long as they like without having to deal with problems caused by growing old.
The vampire’s only diet is a little blood every day, and their only care with their skin is to avoid sunlight – but after all, this is a very small price to pay to enjoy all the possibilities of eternal life.
Except for one thing: vampires stop in time, while the world carries on changing. Everything that they were always used to begins to change, and even though they have all the time in the world to adapt to these changes, they desire immortality precisely because they were happy with the world in which they lived. They are not interested in accompanying these changes.
Let us imagine a human being who becomes a vampire right at the finals of the 1986 World Cup. He could smoke on airplanes, did not need to puzzle over picking what channel to watch on the television – the choice was so limited. He had an actress for a sex symbol, understood all about carburetors and fought for his socialist ideal, convinced that the Soviet Union would soon have more capable governors, and the yearnings of the people (called the proletariat) would at last be respected.
One fine day he falls in love with a 22-year-old sociology student. He admires her beauty, her enthusiasm, her idealism. He suggests transforming her into a vampire, but she refuses – she has seen too many horror films. She is in love too and does not want to lose him, but she sets one single condition for going ahead with their relationship: he must never suck her blood. The vampire has no choice but to keep his word. They get married in the registry office to avoid mortal crucifixes.
Twenty years roll by - in fact fly by, because another four World Cups have taken place. The former university student is now 42 years old, working in a bank (unemployment problems) or else writing useless Master’s and Ph.D. theses and dissertations merely to justify her life as a professional student. Carburetors have disappeared from the face of the earth. In horror he leafs through a magazine and sees his old sex-symbol actress transformed into a hybrid product made of plastic, Botox and silicone, her face coated with tons of makeup. He feels guilty for having 200 TV channels and only watches the same ones as long ago.
The Soviet Union has collapsed. He was obliged to abandon his beloved cigarettes (although it did not affect his health, don’t forget that vampires are immortal), because smoking became impossible, either because of laws or because of the way people looked at him in restaurants. And worst of all: everyone is talking about chat, Internet, iPod, rave and so on. The vampire tries to keep up to date, but everything seems absolutely complicated, irritating and senseless. He looks at the computer as if he were looking at a clove of garlic – with a mixture of horror and impotence. He will never be able to manage one of those, although he has tried several times.
His friends are retired, spend their days playing cards – they also do not know how to deal with computers, but they do not mind, the group has grown old together, they all have the same interests and can share experiences.
The vampire stays young. Immortal. Now he is faced with eternal depression. He attempts suicide, going out in the sunlight or looking at crucifixes, only to discover that these were myths created by the Church and cause him no harm at all.
He is left with one consolation: there is still one political figure that he knows all about (because all the other governors across the world have changed).
But Fidel Castro will also pass. And then nothing, absolutely nothing, will remain of the world that the vampire once loved so much.
What a profound and challenging message this one is. Change is all around us and I also am a living, fluid and dynamic being who must constantly review how I am changing. If I remain stagnant I risk becoming staid and jaded, caught in a past time.
Even though my head knows all this sometimes my heart gets caught in the fear of change. I have recently changed jobs and evne though it has been a ’safe’ change I agonised over making the decision. I am so glad that I did and I know that ongoing changes and decisions that I make are becoming easier as I follow my heart and take courage with the next step.
Thank you Paulo for your thought-provoking words. My life has been changed by your words and I know it has been changed for the better.
Mark
Hello Paulo,
Wonderful issue, ha? It itself brings a long list of others possible issues, which would be interesting if you consider to go for it.
I do enjoy reading you.
Be safe,
Marcia
I heard the name of Fidel Castro in my mind as soon as I read the title of your article!! How did that happen?
……….Good luck quitting the cigarettes.
Immortality has NO conditions. Vampires are not immortal because they need ‘blood’ to maintain immortality, much like we need food.
Yes, the world changes…..we grow old/decay/die, but ideas/ideals (”peter pan-like”) or not, can remain. Growth, or hinderance to growth?
Nice one..It reminds me “Change is the only constant thing in the world”..Accept the change and be in the stream..
Hi Paulo,
A vampire, a liberator through blood quite interesting analogy in relation to the Judo Christian belief system .
I think a vampire would become a benfactor over time ,care for the poor and sick because that is the ultimate gift .
Is the wandering Jew a vampire ?
Maurice.
To me it seems like the story is stating the obvious - we need to be open to change, embrace it and love it! (Maybe i’ve been reading too many self-help books…)
But I think to say that people always respond badly to change does them a great dis-service! What about those people who can’t sit still, who are always planning thier next adventure to somewhere where everything is different, for whom the very idea of everything staying as it is is completely depressing?
On the other hand, is addiction to change just as ill-advised as fear of it?
who wants to live forever?
It is hard to leave a reply.
This one grabbed my total attention and I like it very much but I am not able to summarize to myself the message.
But why do we need to change? Is it to remain young or to be able to live life?
Even immortals are unable to enjoy their living. And sometimes, we see people wearing clothes from their early youth! Go to your closet and see how old are the clothes you have… then you will be able to decide upon the degree of your change…
I do not know…
However, in order to, really enjoy life we need to share it and live with people we really love.
Be Safe,
Suha.
Greetings to the Commander General of the WOL,
The only thing constant in life is change. To be immortal in the minds of those you leave behind is true immortality (these words have been shamelessly borrowed by me from somewhere), everything is but a passing mirage. Living life each moment is acheiving immortality in itself. If one cannot adapt to some changes those changes should be let to pass.
Loved the issue. Your story telling is legendary. Keep it up.
Hi Paulo,
Loved the article today! Very funny, yet depressing all at the same time.
You’ve definitely summed up the typical human being’s life - at least in civilized cultures.
I wonder how those in trbal cultures feel about change. I suspect that they also go through similar changes in regards to feeling out of touch with the younger generations, yet I wonder…..
The way I see it, as mortal beings our main purpose in life is survival. Survival in itself takes up a lot of a person’s thoughts and time. Before civilized cultures existed, mankind had only that to focus on, leaving a person feeling fulfilled if they survived yet another day.
Then people began to use their brains to make survival easier. THey came up with all kinds of gadgets and devises to make the work of survival easier for them. THen it gave them time to think - Big mistake!!
Suddenly, they had all this time to fill and began to wonder what they were really here for! ANd they came up with all kinds of ideas about it. ANd in the process, not only did they forget that it’s all about survival, but now they had all these other things to think about…. and where your thoughts go, so goes your spirit. So, people became scattered in their thinking. Scattered in their feelings and energy. And confused and depressed.
If you think about it (no pun intended!), today we could do many things all at once. We can have clothes in the washer, be cooking many different pots of food on the stove and in the oven, talking on the telephone, listening to music, have dishes in the dishwasher , be walking on a treadmill, etc., etc., etc. And our minds would be paying attention to all of these things on some level.
But, our minds aren’t really set up for ‘multi-tasking’. Our minds are set up for doing one thing at a time. So, although we can now do so many different things at once, we’re still operating with our archaic brains, that can’t handle the load and it causes us stress.
When we follow nature’s cycles, which are gradual (except for when MAN gets involved! - Don’t get me started! ha!) life is more peaceful and fulfilling, because this is how we were meant to live - One with Nature. I think that society pushes us to go where we’re not yet ready to go and it causes anxiety within us.
As JWM said above, vampires aren’t immortal, either, though, since they need blood. So, I would expect that maybe as long as they have victims to hunt, that they might actually be OK with change. (?) That is, until they started creating machinery that created bottled blood that they could just go to the store to buy!
Although, again I think the vampire you wrote about is just caught up in the whole society thing which to me, causes nothing but misery! Ugh!
But these are just MY opinions - the antisocial one that I am!! 
On a silly note….When my kids were little, I told them that WE were vampires…they actually believed me for a few minutes until I told them the truth…that we’re really androids (part human, part robot)…it’s so much fun to have kids because you can really mess them up!!
Be well!
With love and peace,
-Deb
The antisocial, yet, loving one.
Indeed, this issue is like a flash! (For our politicians, too.
)
Everyone knows that life and changes come along together; but why are we afraid of changes so often even if any change can make our life better and sometimes save us?
It\’s difficult to make a comment indeed for this issue, cause maybe I have to take sides this time. Though I like vampire fiction, I also enjoy reading Paulo Coelho\’s books very much. When I received the latest issue of Warrior Of the Light, it was a surprise for me to read some vampire fiction from my favorite writer. I added this latest issue to my blog site on vampires to share it with my small coven:).
Yes, the world changes like we people do. Vampires may suffer this change more than anyone else as they have no other choice to remain physically as what they were in the past. But if you admit that they are only physical beings, then this is absolutely true. I think that they have emotions like we all have, they must have a deeper spiritual world, they also dream, fall in love, hope and wait. If love is able to change everything (I believe this is true) and loving is being able to change without any fear or regrets, then it\’s a way for vampires to survive this change. Dont you think so?…:)
Thanks Mr. Coelho for everything you changed in your readers\’ lives. You are also an \”immortal\” writer for us.
StreetPoet
PS. Debbie, I once saw a documentary about a tribe lost in moutains, its progress was the same as 10.000 years ago. They lived in love and peace, place where they lived was full of animals and eatable plants, so their hunters always came back home healthy. But one day a pilot of some airplane (they thought, airplanes were birds) threw out an empty bottle, someone found it and brought to the tribe. That was real disaster for them all: there was only one bottle for almost 40 people. No one knew what to do with it: children played with the bottle, but each wanted to have it only for himself and to play with it alone, children started to fight and they had first damage caused by man, not animal or nature. The chieftains took away the bottle and offered to use it as an idol, for the bottle was a grant of gods as they thought. Other people didn’t agree. It was the first time in their life.
They didn’t reach unanimous decision even in several days. The strange thing wasn’t useful for them, caused a big inconvenience; they threw it away to the edge of the world (a waterfall) and forgot about it. Their life became like before the bottle’s appeared, they lived in love and peace again.
I don’t make any conclusions.
Of course, I look at changes like all people - a little straining. But when our dreams come true, it’s also a change. 
I’m just turning 28 and to many people, I’m still a pup! But I went back to education 2 years ago and found myself surrounded by a peer group of 18 to 20 year olds. It took me a lot of getting used too…computergenerationhiphoprn’bmtvinstantpeople… No time to listen to the fully constructed sentence I would attempt to utter!
Only now have I barely gotten up to speed and I would have prided myself on being open-minded, travelled, curious, interested, on-top of my culture.
Not so.
The parable there Paulo made me chuckle
(P.S. The smiley face symbol above…me of two years ago would have kicked me in the… for being so uncool!)
Dear Paulo,
Your last issue provokes so many thoughts and laughter’s – as usual it is a genuine pleasure to read your shared stories. Now I will share with you another one, which present “How do human beings respond to changes?” and show us that that is not always “Badly. Always very badly.” My friend Iva has been sending me this story before two months. Enjoy : )
Anelia
“There is something I whant to share with you, knowing that you would value this. One day, in my Sunday walk with Petko we met an eldarly lady and start to talk with her. It was amazing conversation and she was amazing person. And she looks amazing as well- very sophisticated in her old fasioned clothes, white elegant cap, silver brooch on the label of the satin shirt. Like Mery Popinz, but 82 years old. At least she seems that age. Sorry about details but this is the part of the whole experience. She asked us whether she could sit on the bench , while waiting for her son to come. Then she start to talk with very silent thsy she was scientist in biology and antropology and that it`so pity that the polutions of the environment are terible for the human kind. But the same time there was no tragedy and panic about the futere of the generations ahead. It seems like she believes there is a hope, besides all of this devastating way of life in our society. What I`m trying to say is that she was absolutelly optimistic and positive person. At this age! Can you believ it?!!!She never complains for anything, all she does was smiling and talking with very nice tone for a things which was not nice at all. Then she told about that she used to live in the centre of Sofia/ on a small cross-street of Ivan asen
II/ , but now there is no place to go, because her son lost the apartament when trying to start some business. But she doesn`t blame him- the friends of her son cheated him. So these day she has to spend her time in the park, while her son is trying to find some shelter for both of them. Last
night she was staying at her friend`s home, but she couldn`t fall asleep, because her son said that probably he will sleep on the bench in the park. And she was worried, of course. While talking about this she was smiling and finaly I said with amazed tone that it is very good that she still have a power to smille, besides all of her misfortune. And she said- Of course, what`s so wrong - life is adventure and we have to take it as it is. That`s all. No comments.”
Hi Marina,
I think you’re referring to that movie called ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy.’ I saw that a long time ago and I wasn’t sure if it was a documentary or a movie spoof of one. I think it was actually just a comedy. But, then again, I thought the ‘Celestine Prophesy’ was a true story (!) and I was telling everyone about it, until I saw it on the fiction list! I felt so silly after that!!
So, who am I to know what’s real and what’s not! Ha!
But, anyhow, the point you were making….and everyone else here was making, (including Paulo!) was in regards to change….and…I think I kind of carried on in a different direction (blah, blah, blah) like I always do.
Just wanted to add that I have a love/hate relationship with change, too. But, it appears that accepting and embracing change is one of the most important skills for the Warrior of Light to have. And vampires, too, I suppose.
I’m sure our favorite author has probably said all of this …everything I EVER say (!) many times over in his books (and much more eloquently!) I knew I’ve heard it all SOMEWHERE before!! 
-Deb
The one who never shuts up!
PS: (see!) Are vampires even real?!
PPS: Before I homeschooled my children, they were at public school and I got really annoyed with the teachers because they were teaching the children that rocks are not alive. (How does anyone really know that?!)
PPPS: Did I mention that I’m insane?
Immortality is in the eye of the beholder
We are human and sometimes we all become vampires in denying the change that is our birthright and our gift. Yes, we can do badly with change in our lives. We resist it sometimes and yet, change is an inherent part of all of us.
The nature of the universe (which gave us life and which we are a fractal of) is change.
In that small infinitesimal amount of time just after the Big Bang, the initial creation of the Universe, it expanded from the size of a walnut to roughly its present size and since then (13.7 billion years ago) it has continued to gradually expand. It has expanded and changed during the time it has taken you to read this post.
Are you aware of the subtle changes that have already taken place inside of you? Are you aware of the cells that have died and dropped off the surface levels of your skin or the millions of cells born in the very minutes of reading this that replaced them? Or the billions of atoms of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide that have entered, danced through your body, and exited again?
I take the “vampire” as a metaphor. It represents many things to me. It represents memory. Memory of what was. Of times when I wanted the world to stop around me to allow me to just enjoy that moment for a bit longer. It also represents stagnation. Of times in my life when I chose not to listen or see the signals coming to me suggesting flow and movement, of times of forcing my body not to move an inch or change.
This story, as the many stories in Paulo’s books, holds an important metaphorical message for all of us.
Oh, Debbie, you’re right about the movie, I just named its genre not exactly, I meant, it was made like a documentary. There was also another line in it about civilized world.
Today in 2 hours after I wrote my last message here, I knew that my pal’s mother Anelya (she knew my mom well) died. It’s strange when someone goes away. Emptiness appears which can’t be filled. And my mom will go away someday…
I can’t understand, I won’t meet Anelya any more, it doesn’t seem to me normally… But her death rushed me out to reality from my brain. To focus on life, on my pal without mother - that’s the best I can do, I want to do it. I thought today, maybe I won’t be crushed when I encounter the same situation, like did my pal today. Maybe we all can do the best without dying together with those who go away from us. John Lennon was right, saying “Let it be”.
Be safe all, good luck.
[quote comment="96"]PS. Debbie, I once saw a documentary about a tribe lost in moutains, its progress was the same as 10.000 years ago. They lived in love and peace, place where they lived was full of animals and eatable plants, so their hunters always came back home healthy. But one day a pilot of some airplane (they thought, airplanes were birds) threw out an empty bottle, someone found it and brought to the tribe. That was real disaster for them all: there was only one bottle for almost 40 people. No one knew what to do with it: children played with the bottle, but each wanted to have it only for himself and to play with it alone, children started to fight and they had first damage caused by man, not animal or nature. The chieftains took away the bottle and offered to use it as an idol, for the bottle was a grant of gods as they thought. Other people didn’t agree. It was the first time in their life.
They didn’t reach unanimous decision even in several days. The strange thing wasn’t useful for them, caused a big inconvenience; they threw it away to the edge of the world (a waterfall) and forgot about it. Their life became like before the bottle’s appeared, they lived in love and peace again.
I don’t make any conclusions.
Of course, I look at changes like all people - a little straining. But when our dreams come true, it’s also a change. ;-)[/quote]
The documentary you describe is actually not a documentary, it is a movie called “The Gods Must be Crazy.” It was made in South Africa and is about the tribe of the San people who are nomads and being wiped out by modern advancement. Great movie - rent it if you have a chance.
Hmmm… Pretty interesting… I say that because I’ve always craved for immortality for the reason that I want to be able to see the changes (development or downfall) of the world. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all as human as you all are, sometimes I do hate change. But, don’t we all come to a point when we need that change anyway, once in a while?
I will probably be a little selfish and transform all the people I love into vampires. And since I have all the time in the world literally, I would accumulate the knowledge and experiences as I go, and live, and love and continue to flourish as the seasons pass.
If I get to choose, though, I would like to be some of Anne Rice’s vampires, with all the powers they have, except for the part that they couldn’t enjoy some physical pleasures.
[quote comment="99"]
PPS: Before I homeschooled my children, they were at public school and I got really annoyed with the teachers because they were teaching the children that rocks are not alive. (How does anyone really know that?!)
PPPS: Did I mention that I’m insane? :)[/quote]
jesus, riding “triumphantly” on the back of ass, is “quoted” as saying (paraphrasing here) “if the crowd were not crying out ‘hosanna in the highest’ the very stones would singing out!
Dr. M Scott Peck wrote a book with ancient stones as central topic, also C J Jung had a interest.
Aside, “jesus rode into Jerusalem riding on the back of an ass, and now a bunch of asses are riding on the back of jesus!”
this one was awesome! Got me to thinking i think i might share this one with my friends today over tea and coffee!
Time flies. In a way we all are prisoners of our time. One can understand my idea ( from the vampire aspect )well by reading Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. There is much more unfold with these stories and it is definately not just a vampire story.
We all feel sometimes like Louis. He suffered after noticing Lestat didn’t have anything to teach to him even he was his maker. He couldn’t teach him about who they were, what was the purpose of vampire creatures or their life. What was the meaning of all. Louis left, took this beautiful child vampire Glaudia with him and together they went to search alikes and travelled all around the world. What did they find? Nothing special. Everything was the same everywhere, people remain the same even centuries passed by and new technologies were invented. Finally they found vampires in Paris. It turned out to Luis that most of those vampires from Theatres des Vampires were decayed, prisoners of their time, nothing unique, there was nothing to learn from them. Armand was the only one he felt he could learn something but he realize how much he actually needed Louis to survive to the new begining century. Louis left. Remain optimistic but he always felt this unending sadness and emptiness, he had a human soul yet he was a vampire.
Finaly he went back to New Orleans and found Lestat. He was in awful condition, couldn’t understand this new century with all bright lights and noise around him. he was afraid of artificial light even it couldn’t harm him. He asked Louis to stay with him so he could be like he was before in the 1800 century; handsome cold hearted vampire who seduced innocent victims and didn’t care about anyting else. Louis refused. He left his father again. Lestat hadn’t learn anything and yes, he had to learn all by himself because there wasn’t anybody who could to teach the creature like he was.
These chronicles actually started to look like more and more of a regular family life, relationships, frienships. Of course we all interpret these chronicles in our own way and see the different layers of the story by reflecting our own views of life and experiences. I learned that we humans are always intrested of the meaning of this all, this life, who we are, where we come from, is this all or is there something else to be discovered about this mystery of life? I think we will always doubt and that is why we go forward even there is nothing to be found. Some people get stuck to their time, some people keep learning till the end and keep their hearts and eyes open.
Change is evitable but still we always remain the same.
Immortality is possible to reach if we try to learn about ourselves, study, keep our heart open and try understand something from the meaning of this life. Beauty is something else than botox lips or surgeries. There will always be humans like those vampires in Theatres des Vampire in Paris. But there will always those, like Louis, who are honest for themselves and who goes their own ways and are strong to be themselves.
Vampires do exists. We are Vampires.
( sorry, basic english I am a Finn )
I don’t think that we should embrace every new change,for every new thing you will lose an old one (sometimes very valuable) that can’t be replaced.
not everyone should live the same way
The possibility to live in the oldfashioned ways should exist next to modern living.
Changes aren’t always better
The world is looking more and more the same and all differences and creativeness,naturality is dissapearing when the time comes and artifitial intelligence takes over more and more.
Everything will be calculated for.
Oh Louis Louis…. still so sentimental, romantic, truth seeking and a beautiful Vampire you are. I do miss you. Do you have those answers yet my darling? Yes, one lifetime is so short yet it can feel like centuries long. You can’t run away of your nature. You have to do what is your nature to do and learn we all are passionate animals. We have this everlasting fire in our hearts. You and me are beautiful, uniq, and in this mediocrity where all looks the same, thinks the same, be the same, we live forever and we can be whatever we want. Come my friend, let’s slay the earth together.
Witam! Przeczytałam Pana wszystkie ksiązki i już nie moge doczekać się kolejnych ::) szkoda,ze nie ma tlumaczenia tej strony po polsku chetnie bym poczytala
Pozdrawiam
paulina
“Change is the only constant ” i have hearing it all through my life.
but then change for good or bad, may be future will make us realize what was good and bad. Amazing imagination, Keep it up!
Some on this blog have hypthesized that the “uncivilized” people (tribal-like societies) of the past lived a more “simpler” life than do us “civilized”; the implication that they were subjected to “less change”, and this being a byproduct of their simple lives, couldn’t be more erroneous. Tribal factions lived by no rules (or laws as far as the civilized are concerned); every day meant surviving to the next day… not merely the next paycheck. If anything, we can say they lived exponentially harsher lives than we, but that is not the point I seek to make. Our lives, as compared to the “uncivilized” are for more analogous to eachother than they are not; the pressures to survive are still there, only the setting and the actors are different. Fighting for your life and your family’s life from a neighboring tribal faction in the jungle, and fighting to put a meal on your table at dinner time are more closely related than they are not.
And change is central to every means of our survival, past and present.
Using the Red Queen Principle as a backdrop for my point, the ability to change is the hallmark of any species, small-brained or not; it is the single most important evolutionary survival tool any species has in it arsenal, God-fearing or not. In order for the rabbit not to be the prey of the fox, it must run faster than the fox; if it can’t run faster, it must become smarter than the fox… and this is change. In order to feed oneself, man must learn how to till the fields; in order to feed larger families and populations, man must learn to preserve more of the harvest… etc, etc… and this is change, simply speaking. The underlying principles of surviving are the same today as they were then, and they will be the same tomorrow and beyond… the more things change, the more things stay the same.
The Red Queen Principle: for an evolutionary system, continuing development is needed just in order to maintain its fitness relative to the systems it is co-evolving with.
Great story Anelia, enjoyed that! Reminded me of a friend from a few years back, who had a very philosophical outlook on life. We would take his small boat out around the harbour, cut the outboard, and crack open a couple of beers and set the world to rights. Invariably I would have a big issue that was annoying me and would discuss it with him…I lived in the city, he in the countryside, though he had spent a few years in the city striving for success in a stressed out middle management job. He would always listen to me and then simply say, ” it’s all about perception, Donal…it’s all about perception!”
I always laughed and asked him to explain.
He would point to some distant point on the land and ask me to describe it, and I would. Then he would describe the same scene in a completely different light…”thats the difference between you and me and we’re like-minded people”.
“Donal, I used to get stressed about money and a career and success, until I realised I actually did not find these things important, money is always a worry but, that aside, the only thing I know I like is…floating…I LOVE to float here in my boat and lookabout me!”
“Look about Donal, God is on his throne and all’s right with the world!”
Thats my perception!
…another beer?
Three cheers for growing old! Hurray!
If the vampire was able to live in the now he would not be depressed, it’s not change that causes problems but not being able to let old things go.
Cause i believe we are all immortal come to the earth over and over again, but we do not worry about all the things that are changed we just know that knowing everything about all the lives you’ve lived and all the changes you have been trough does not help to learn new things. So we shake off all the old things come to the world wich just is what it is and build up new shit that we will start to remember wich will make us scared for the future and change.
But i believe you don’t have to die to experience being born again. The art of living is finding your reset button and using it for a good reason.
chantal
We humans are subject to change, whether we like it or not. Change is imposed on us, sometimes in the most heartbreaking ways, and we can argue it’s necessity till kingdom come… but we can not escape from it.
Fear of change is fear of the unknown. Fear is a built-in quality, that serves a purpose: to keep us out of harm’s way. Because life will preserve itself!
In my country people say, that life is dangerous… you can die from it!
We insure ourselves up to the hilt, and make retirement plans when we’re in our twenties, and we get outraged, if anybody challenges our belief in our own safety. Wouldn’t it be lovely, if we were all, not immortal, but granted a guarantee, that we could live our lives in full meassure of years and die in safety and from old age? Such are not the conditions of life, not in my part of the world - and certainly not for the majority of lives on this our Earth.
Those without fear are not brave… they are just fearless, and if you are fearless, you are out of touch with reality. Fear makes us walk with caution in unknown territory, and let’s face it: Life is out to get us, and peril awaits from all angles.
But do not let fear rule you. Make fear work for you as a tool, take your calculated risks, but never be so afraid of losing your life, so that you don’t dare to live it.
Vampires are not real, we humans are!
For my Darling, who dared to live, and taught me this lesson.
hi paulo,
i always receive warrior of light at very crucial junctures of my thought! the same happened this time.for the past week or so i had been thinking on how resistant we all are to change!!! how we adapt ourselves to this false routine of life and get lost and forget t to live life to the fullest!
tthank u for being there in this lonely path of life
luv
nitoo
[quote comment="106"]Beauty is something else than botox lips or surgeries. There will always be humans like those vampires in Theatres des Vampire in Paris. But there will always those, like Louis, who are honest for themselves and who goes their own ways and are strong to be themselves.
Vampires do exists. We are Vampires.
[/quote]
Louis, Lestat, whoever we are, we were people years ago and everyone of us keeps human (our personal) brain, way of thinking, sometimes way of living. We didn’t lose ourselves, we’re just people who got into extraordinary situation, only we can choose what to do. I think, if we live on this Earth, in this Universe, in our space - time, we can only live like all alive creatures here: now, not in the past or in the future. When everyone of us looks back to his life, he sees that he changed, and this frightens him, not stagnation. Maybe he didn’t want to change this way? (Or he considers stagnation as a change?) Anyhow, very much in our lifes depends on us, and also our personal way, whoever we are.
What a story Paolo. Thanks for filling my heart with your words…
Dear Paulo
What a Fantastic issue it was. i really enjoyed.
I’d like to say:
The New is unknown and dangerus, but the Old is
Familiar and known.
the New is unknown, it would be friend or enemy.
but there is no way to find out.
the only possible way is to enterance.
even we are not able to refuse it, becuase the Old
could not help us to achieve anything, it behest but
did not acco,plished.
the old is known but disappointed.
the new may be painful but may be bring us some blessing.
so let the new CHANG our life….
Be Safe
Monamin
“The vampires of Salem” - filmed with Rob Lowe and Rutger Hauer as a perfect vampire (he always play the bad guys excellently- it’s in his eyes…) - he talks with Ben and says to him “authors are also wampires, feeding themselves on other peoples life-stories”… which could have been true for one of Bens earlier books, but this very time, he was back to Salem to write about his own traumatic past.
(The indians of the Canadian west-coast gave long presentations of themselves, not only their name but also what they did, their family-status and what they owned - including one or two good stories! “copyright” in the tribal-culture…)
Vampires… stealing life from the living to stay young themselves? always
connected with a dark egoistic side, somehow very animalic, erotic and survival oriented because without the blood the vampire starves… pure in their one-sideness of only belonging to the moon and the night and therefore inhuman. Fascinating myth, what did CG Jung say about it?
Funny thing ha? This change …. how dull life with be if we would do the same things every day.
I, like many others had to make a choice related to my job recently, to choose between a friendly environment filled with beatiful people I attached so fast and a new unpredictible and far from home environment, far from everything I know and love.
What can be harder than to leave your friends and family and to go to unknown places?
Maybe only the fact that staying the same and not doing anything daring with our lives might prove to ourselves that we do not have the courage to live.
Your words have always been inspiring to me. Thank you Paulo.
John
My husband has a transferable job. Every 3 years or so when it is time to move I find myself dreading all the packing, shifting, finding a house, finding new schools etc and all the accompanying tensions.
Over the years however I have realized that we accumulate a lot of junk physically as well as mentally when we stay put in one place. We get into a physical and mental rut. Everytime we have to shift we are forced to make a decision on whether to throw the accumulated junk or carry it around with us. We are forced to think whether it is really worthwhile to carry certain things or should we give it off to somebody!
Once I have settled in the new place I ALWAYS find that I feel lighter and on a better road to my destiny. I find that once I surrender myself to God I am steered automatically in the right direction. Since we don’t know the Master Plan we dread change but whether for an individual or for society it is mostly for the better.
THANKS Paulo. Your words have always inpired me to trust in the higher power even in moments of great stress.
Hello Paolo and Marina,
what a wonderful coincidence… sharing your birthday on the 24th August
I love you both … Warriors of the Light…..
Ciao Monica
Maybe it’s not important to like change but only to understand when it is necessary. I don’t like water but drink it anyway because it is necessary. I would prefer to fill up on coca cola, but this would be bad for me. Change is the same. To stay in tune with your path and your life , to stay connected to the feeling which allows you to recognise that this is the time for change, and to follow that feeling without fear of the unknown. Because we can’t know the details of our future. We have to trust, without letting logic overpower our instincts. What is the vampire afraid of, and why, and is he happy. I have spent the last three years or so learning to respond to my feelings, learning to recognise my own fears, to embrace life and to see change as an opportunity to learn and experience myself, to challenge myself into unknown situations where I may be required to think, behave, react differently. By doing so I think I am learning to understand so much about other people. I am happy I have made the switch. My concepts on life love fear wisdom have changed so much and in learning to really understand and appreciate others I find that it is easier to love and give love to everyone. this is now so important to me. Thank you for this one. I am currently considering a change in my plans for next year as I am not entirely happy in my work situation. But I think my challenge is to stay and combat the problems and try to teach through my dealings with other peple. Sometimes we have to resist change too, because sometimes it is the easiest option. sometimes it is harder to stay where you are, but it is also necessary.
Seems to be a lot of consensus that change is (1) inevitable, (2) necessary, (for personal growth), and (3) (therefor) GOOD.
Maybe it is, and maybe it is not. Evolution (more or less) is based on these ideas. Change-Adapt-Grow-Repeat.
But this “cycle” must (by virtue of physical creation) take place on a planet where all life forms consume all other life forms for survival and therefor growth(?).
“Store up your treasures (in heaven?) where neither moth consumes, nor rust decays, for where your treasure is there will be your heart” –some New Testament apostle with chapter and verse number—
Even jesus here seems not to be a big fan of change, or at least decay at any rate. Did his “manna from heaven” make him a Vampire too?!!!
I more inclined to intectually believe in the Alchemists idea of actually trying to TRANSFORM the physical world and not necessarily trying to ADAPT to it. For much like myself, the physical world (matter) needs transformation too.
-a ‘master of the obvious’ - once said: No One Here, Gets Out Alive! How’s that for change!!! Here one moment, gone the next!!!! ……….and the absence seems “expotentially” larger that the visit. Good Luck All.
[quote comment="90"]who wants to live forever?[/quote]
I Do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! O.K. sometimes like many current “marketing strategies!!”…………”New and Improved!!!!!!!!!!!” though.
[quote comment="123"]My husband has a transferable job. Every 3 years or so when it is time to move I find myself dreading all the packing, shifting, finding a house, finding new schools etc and all the accompanying tensions.
Over the years however I have realized that we accumulate a lot of junk physically as well as mentally when we stay put in one place. We get into a physical and mental rut. Everytime we have to shift we are forced to make a decision on whether to throw the accumulated junk or carry it around with us. We are forced to think whether it is really worthwhile to carry certain things or should we give it off to somebody!
Once I have settled in the new place I ALWAYS find that I feel lighter and on a better road to my destiny. I find that once I surrender myself to God I am steered automatically in the right direction. Since we don’t know the Master Plan we dread change but whether for an individual or for society it is mostly for the better.
THANKS Paulo. Your words have always inpired me to trust in the higher power even in moments of great stress.[/quote]
I have heard that there is something to be said for the “gypsies”
The buddhist “stress” -all life is impermanence!
the “gnostic” jesus (gospel of thomas) says: “become passersby”
Still find it interesting to know what it is exactly we are leaving, and what it is we are “trying” to become???? any ideas??? Anyone?? Buellar? Buelllar? (only americans have a chance at getting that last bit)
Vampire…
D Vampire Hunter…is the best anime (Jap cartoon).
The story of the second half blood vampire. His father the original and first married a human…
D was born. He spends his life hunting down and destroying the vampires who no longer follow the Code…he is immortal, can walk in the light and withstand crosses.
He is quiet. there are two types of men..”men who have nothing to say and men who have nothing worth while to say.”
The vampire is a symbol of the archives, the blood is significant as are the teeth. His teeth get larger, Freud says that it is a symbol of and erection, the vampire is a symbol of sexual dominance and the wish fulfilment of immortality, powers and life without God..
He is neither God or human, mammal or fish.
He is weak…his life is weak..#
You could saw thousands of years ago that men were cave men…Imagine being a rabbit of cow and next thing a crazy human came running out of the bushes grabs you and eats you raw>>>>> isn’t this vampire like?
We are all vampires in a way.. but only some think of themselves as a vampire.
I just turned 24 in spain…had a great time and am buying a car today..
I prayed for Diana and Steven Irwan..my they find the gates of Paradise open to their hearts.
Donal, such a beautiful story! Yes, I am absolutely agree with this point - ” it’s all about perception” .
By the way, you have another one beer - from me, I LOVE stories : ).
p.s. ……….and please, keeping to be cool!
I love the sunlight too much, so I’d pass on the whole vampire thing without a second thought. Besides, just because my life on earth will end, I’m sticking with my faith that tells me the body dies but the spirit lives on.
The vampires and Mr.Dracula himself in The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova would beg differ as he (dracula) like being immortal and he actually fought to reunite all his body part and continue his quest of collecting worthy historian and precious books/manuscript/writings from all over the world.
I guess that is what you do when you’ve infinity to live life.
Happy Birthday Kealan!!!
Hi, Monica Aulfes!
[quote comment="129"]Vampire…
We are all vampires in a way.. but only some think of themselves as a vampire.
) take life away from themselves, sometimes it takes years or the whole life.
quote]
Some of us (vampires
Let’s live.
PS. Hay, you, computer, get well! (Sorry
)
Kealan wrote: “Vampire…
We are all vampires in a way.. but only some think of themselves as a vampire.”
Change is immortal. Take the smallest particle with which the universe is created, atom. If the electrons are reluctant to change its position, there will be no universe. Hence change is the base of life. You badly respond to change while you are changing every fraction of moment without you knowing it. Here the story telling is legendary.
‘Change story’ will change your perspective of life.
I guess, only the people who could not finish a thing in life want to be immortal. To me, immortalizm is as much related to ‘wanting to change’ as to ‘not to change’.
Some people may think about being immortal when they want their things not to change, versus some of the other, would die to have more time in the world just to be able to finish whatever they started, even worse, to be able to start and finish something in life. And in that, they want a big change, they want to change themselves, the most difficult type of all changes there are…
Latter is the hopeless side of this unbalanced equation.
Because former has not even gone that far as to think what they want, they just live, breath and be content with every breath and all they want is to breath more… those are the blessed and happy minority who are not born nor meant to think. The latter people who could not find their purpose in life yet, growing even more hopeless everyday that they are not going to be able to find anything and die without any are the heart breaking group. This is heart breaking because those people are thinking people so are they aware but yet for some reason they lost their purpose/reason/drive or they did not have any at all… The bitter receipe says that even immortality is not the answer to their paradigm because those are the people who do not know what to do with the time as they never had known in their mortal lifetime.
To me, those are the two type of people who would sell their soul to mephisto in return of some more time…
Plain and clear, as always. Simple truths are often difficult to express in words…you do it beautifully!
Blessings to all,
Hi Paulo,
So sorry I forgot yoru birthday. Just bought your new book. Haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
Your passage on Vampires really intrigued me. I don’t think of Vampires in the mythical sense. Instead I think of psychic vampires. Those that walk in the daylight as well as at night. Those that prey on the sensitive and empathic and twist those valuable gifts to suit there own needs.
It’s not so much change, but it’s the sense of selfishness. The fear of what lies ahead when all familiarity is gone. The laziness to not to strive for better things. Vampires rely on others to make existence managable. But when mankind destroys Mother Earth and there is no way to fix it. What will the Vampire do then? Old saying ‘You attract what you fear the most’.
I am still writing and am now a Reiki Master. So things are moving forward. May be slow but at least I’m going in a forward motion.
Love + Light to all
Lisa
x
Your story reminded me of the Buddhist concept of impermanence. I heard a wise woman once say that the only constant in this life is the “observing self.” It moved me and really got me thinking about what is real, and what is illusion/temporal!! Thanks for the continuous wise words and inspiration!
Hello paulo,
This message comes remind me again of the change thats taking place all the time in our life. Am just adjusting with my college students now after my high school. And i wil adjust with my workplace after 4 years. Whats the case with the vampire?
Immortality! It is a curse with an attractive name. Life is meaningful when it gets adjusted with the happenings around us. Our body and mind must be ready to accept the changes failing which we will be driven to attempt suicide, mostly failures, as is the case with the vampire.
Manoj
September 11: don’t forget.
I belive that you haven’t try to see other side of story. What if vampire thirsts for knowlege and neverending sight of world change. What if he never was interested in small things that make other people happy. You’ve put up human feelings and interessts in such a timless made up creature.
Maby he became vampire to see world changing forevermore…
Best regards,
Denijel.
Hi…
This is the first time I’ve ever been to this site and have ever read the articles herein.
I believe each one of us has a different view of what vampires really are. They are immortal, yes, until now, when they continue living within the confines of our hearts and minds. They may be real in truth, who knows? For no one really knows the truth in this world.
But it is not the vampire we are talking about here, it is the human being who refuses to see the changes in the world. That is how humans, in general, view the changes in the world. People fear change as much as their gravest fears, subconsciously or in their realities.
Let us not get caught up in the analogies used, for they are merely analogies. What we should see is the tangible truths behind the lines.
Thank you, Paulo.
Always,
Lychie
[quote comment="134"]PS. Hay, you, computer, get well! (Sorry
)
Kealan wrote: “Vampire…
We are all vampires in a way.. but only some think of themselves as a vampire.”[/quote]
It is life immortal that we all wish to have…we already have it!! Where paradise crosses over the gates of hell we are to fly in the night to our next life. We will come back in the bodies of our great grandchildren and so the bloodline continues. We never die, we create life. Life immortal.
And so we are reborn every few hundred years!! What we leave now is what we will receive. Paulo has left his books so we can always find our way home..to right here.
I will sent you a picture of my car Marina when I get a chance. I have to quit my job first!!
Death is the greatest illusion of all…but we must all begin from the beginning eve
How can one fear change when to be alive is to change from moment to moment. To fear change is to fear life.
I view change as I view water. Water flows in a stream and adapts to the course it follows. It fills crevices, narrows in the narrow part of the stream and spreads out in the wide areas. If it faces a block in the stream, either it will overcome it if it’s a minor block, or it will find itself another path if the block is too strong for it to overcome. It maintains its same composition although it might pick up a flower petal here, or a little twig there. But esentially it stays the same and it must keep moving and it must keep adapting. We have a lot to learn from water.
Thank you Paulo for being an inspiration.
Noha
i can’t leave such an article without a reply…
actually i had such thoughts about what if i would be immortal..
i even tried to make a list of what to do..
the problem is that we really can’t accept changes,both the changes within our life or within the people we know..
and to take it from the view point of a vampire..
creepy..
we have a word in arabic (shagann) it means when you like sadness ,when it feels good to be sad…this article is (shagann)..
thanks for such beautifull writings..
and thanks for reading my reply till the end..
Beautiful story. This came to mind when I read it - “The grass is always greener on the other side, but that’s because there’s probably a sceptic tank under them”. I think Erma Bombeck said that. Poor vampire. The worst I could wish on someone is to be immortal.
Hello Everyone;
This is quite the quandary is it not.
A vampire is immortal, yet requires Blood to live.
It is not that the Vampire is going to die, he is immortal. If he stops taking blood he will starve.
On any level magickal, spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, etc. If one is in a starvation mode, nothing happens. This is really the crux of the matter.
Is the Vampire real, well yes he is. Just look at any severe addict and tell me they do not hunger in this way. Is the vampire fiction or a myth. Yes, and for the most part a very sexy myth at that.
If a vampire needs blood to live then he needs blood to live and plays these cards out the best he can (regardless if he plays with the best intent or not).
The same could be said for food, air to breath, water to drink, touch and affection from another, the list continues.
Perhaps someone has a medical problem and needs medicine to survive. So you take the medicine to help keep on living.
Perhaps there are some bad laws, by not changing them will take away from how he lives and so need to make a choice if he fights for a change, accept the law, or if he needs to move to a different place to live.
This I believe is one part of the Good Fight (as Paulo refers to). What is the choice that is being made in service to.
Is it in service purely to an ego.
Or is it in service to the work one is involved with.
There are no judgments in this world, Vampire or not. I do not believe there is any one who does not have to deal with a vampire some where in their lives regardless if blood is involved or not.
If the Vampire is in service of something bigger than its self (and yes a little ego is a good thing here) then I would say there is the possibility of making some clear choices being you can see how that choice affects your self and the world around you. You can learn from this even if it is a seemingly repeated circle, immortal or not.
If the Vampire is in service of its own ego, then it becomes an endless loop always staying the same. In this way, why change, it is comfortable nice and cozy. A beautiful dream and fantasy. But do try to hold out a pint of blood to a starving vampire and see how fast the dream and fantasy stays around.
Thoughts from here.
Thank you for your books Paulo – they are a wonderful part of my journey in ways I had not imagined.
BTW: Then there is this issue of sunlight.
I wonder if the Vampire would have a problem with a full spectrum light bulb.
- David
“Ever thus to the spirit of the Dance”
And that’s why I always felt sorry for vampires… and fallen angels. Immortality is really, really tough…
[quote comment="123"]My husband has a transferable job. Every 3 years or so when it is time to move I find myself dreading all the packing, shifting, finding a house, finding new schools etc and all the accompanying tensions.
Over the years however I have realized that we accumulate a lot of junk physically as well as mentally when we stay put in one place. We get into a physical and mental rut. Everytime we have to shift we are forced to make a decision on whether to throw the accumulated junk or carry it around with us. We are forced to think whether it is really worthwhile to carry certain things or should we give it off to somebody!
Once I have settled in the new place I ALWAYS find that I feel lighter and on a better road to my destiny. I find that once I surrender myself to God I am steered automatically in the right direction. Since we don’t know the Master Plan we dread change but whether for an individual or for society it is mostly for the better.
THANKS Paulo. Your words have always inpired me to trust in the higher power even in moments of great stress.[/quote]
I know exactly what you mean. I moved around every 3 to 4 years w