Chailwalla: Honest Tea

Today, I want to share some excerpts from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. As I am nearing the finish line of Santiago’s Quest, I have found that the book is so useful in managing one’s life during the good times and not so good times. And the below passages will certainly something that I will keep and adhere to for the rest of my life. I know that it will be completely worth the effort put into keeping them.

Making a decision was the only beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

Everything in life is an omen. There is a universal language, understood by everybody, but already forgotten.

The closer one gets to realizing his Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being.

But the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent.

No matter how many detours and adjustments it made, the caravan moved toward the same compass point. Once obstacles were overcome, it returned to its course, sighting on a star that indicated the location of the oasis.

People need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want.

We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it’s our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.

Once you get into the desert, there’s no going back. And, when you can’t go back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward. The rest is up to Allah, including the danger.

When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It’s always a positive force.

Everything on earth is being continuously transformed, because the earth is alive…and it has a soul. We are part of that soul, so we rarely recognize that it is working for us. But in the Crystal Shop you probably realized that even the glasses were collaborating in your success.

I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things.

Everyone has his or her own way of learning things. His way isn’t the same as mine, nor mine as his. But we’re both in search of our Personal Legends, and I respect him for that.

I’m alive. When I’m eating, that’s all I think about. If I’m on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other. Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.

I don’t know why these things have to be transmitted by word of mouth. It wasn’t exactly that they were secrets; God revealed his secrets easily to all his creatures. He had only one explanation for this fact: things have to be transmitted this way because they were made up from the pure life, and this kind of life cannot be captured in pictures or words. Because people become fascinated with pictures and words, and wind up forgetting the Language of the World.

The closer he got to the realization of his dream, the more difficult things became. It seemed as if what the old king had called “Beginners Luck” were no longer functioning. In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence & courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.

Don’t be impatient. Eat when it’s time to eat. And move along when it’s time to move along.

Go and try.

The battles may last for a long time, perhaps even years. There are powerful forces on both sides, and the war is important to both armies. Its not a battle of good against evil. It’s a war between forces that are fighting for the balance of power, and, when that type of battle begins, it lasts longer than others – because Allah is on both sides.

I make my living forecasting the future for people. When people consult me, it’s not that I’m reading the future; I am guessing at the future. The future belongs to God, and it is only he who reveals it, under extraordinary circumstances. How do I guess at the future? Based on the omens of the present. The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity.

And God only rarely reveals the future. When he does so, it is for only one reason: it’s a future that was written so as to be altered.

Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.

Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense.

Life attracts life.

Well, what if I decide to stay? Let me tell you what will happen. You’ll be the counselor of the oasis. You have enough gold to buy many sheep and many camels. You’ll marry Fatima, and you’ll both be happy for a year. You’ll learn to love the desert, and you’ll get to know every one of the fifty thousand palms. You’ll watch them as they grow, demonstrating how the world is always changing. And you’ll get better and better at understanding omens, because the desert is the best teacher there is. Sometime during the second year, you’ll remember about the treasure. The omens will begin insistently to speak of it, and you’ll try to ignore them. You’ll use your knowledge for the welfare of the oasis and its inhabitants. The tribal chieftains will appreciate what you do. And your camels will bring you wealth and power. During the third year, the omens will continue to speak of your treasure and your Personal Legend. You’ll walk around, night after night, at the oasis, and Fatima will be unhappy because she’ll feel it was she who interrupted your quest. But you will love her, and she’ll return your love. You’ll remember that she never asked you to stay, because a woman of the desert knows that she must await her man. so you won’t blame her. But many times you’ll walk the sands of the desert, thinking that maybe you could have left…that you could have trusted more in your love for Fatima. Because what kept you at the oasis was your own fear that you might never come back. At that point, the omens will tell you that your treasure is buried forever. Then, sometime during the fourth year, the omens will abandon you, because you’ve stopped listening to them. The tribal chieftains will see that, and you’ll be dismissed from your position as counselor. But, by then, you’ll be a rich merchant, with many camels and a great deal of merchandise. You’ll spend the rest of your days knowing that you didn’t pursue your Personal Legend, and that now it’s too late.

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.

If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.