Annotated Excerpts
THE ALCHEMIST
In Greek mythology Chaos was considered the seminal state of creation. It is through the flux of upheaval and destruction that the contours of future emerge. Call it creative destruction, or vagaries of fate it is in moments of unforeseen adversity that transformations precipitate out of universal entropy.
Over the weekend, I revisited Paulo Coelho’s THE ALCHEMIST and discovered in it, a rare epitome of lucid profundity. It is not just a fictional trope about a boy’s mystical quest for his dreams but a rubric of existence, a magical source of succor and inspiration.
A painter paints for all to recognize while an artist creates for each one to interpret. God created this montage of time and space for each of us to interpret in our own unique ways. That individual interpretation is what we call our consciousness, our dreams. The story exhorts us to resist the mob psychosis, the never-ending rat race and claim the life of our dreams. Here are a few of my recollections from the story.
In Greek mythology Chaos was considered the seminal state of creation. It is through the flux of upheaval and destruction that the contours of future emerge. Call it creative destruction, or vagaries of fate it is in moments of unforeseen adversity that transformations precipitate out of universal entropy.
Over the weekend, I revisited Paulo Coelho’s THE ALCHEMIST and discovered in it, a rare epitome of lucid profundity. It is not just a fictional trope about a boy’s mystical quest for his dreams but a rubric of existence, a magical source of succor and inspiration.
A painter paints for all to recognize while an artist creates for each one to interpret. God created this montage of time and space for each of us to interpret in our own unique ways. That individual interpretation is what we call our consciousness, our dreams. The story exhorts us to resist the mob psychosis, the never-ending rat race and claim the life of our dreams. Here are a few of my recollections from the story.
"Every search begins with beginners luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested."
"Besides pursuing a dream and listening to our heart, what you still need to know is this: Before a dream is reached, the soul of the world tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we have learned as we have moved towards that dream. That's the point at which most people give up. Its the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one "dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon".
“If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve, the fear of failure.”
“Every blessing ignored becomes a curse. Intuition is the sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, when the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it is all written there.”
Never fear failure. Never subdue that congenital wanderlust.
And this all pervading and quixotic idealism is occasionally tempered with candor and pragmatism.
“Everything that happens once can never happen again but everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”
“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, you can improve upon it. And if you improve upon the present, what comes later would 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.”
“When a person truly desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream. It is called the principle of favorability, beginner’s luck. Life wants you to achieve your destiny.”
“Rest well tonight, as if you are a warrior preparing for combat. Remember wherever your heart is there you will find your treasure. You have got to find your treasure so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense.”
The tribulations of one’s life are perhaps for the lack of a dream rather than the failure to realize it. The journey to realize your dreams is your destiny so dream, understand the universal language, the language of omens.
Till that time I envision my dream, I shall continue to assay this quest between human frailty and divinity, mortality and eternity…
Maqtub…
“Every blessing ignored becomes a curse. Intuition is the sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, when the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it is all written there.”
Never fear failure. Never subdue that congenital wanderlust.
And this all pervading and quixotic idealism is occasionally tempered with candor and pragmatism.
“Everything that happens once can never happen again but everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”
“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, you can improve upon it. And if you improve upon the present, what comes later would 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.”
“When a person truly desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream. It is called the principle of favorability, beginner’s luck. Life wants you to achieve your destiny.”
“Rest well tonight, as if you are a warrior preparing for combat. Remember wherever your heart is there you will find your treasure. You have got to find your treasure so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense.”
The tribulations of one’s life are perhaps for the lack of a dream rather than the failure to realize it. The journey to realize your dreams is your destiny so dream, understand the universal language, the language of omens.
Till that time I envision my dream, I shall continue to assay this quest between human frailty and divinity, mortality and eternity…
Maqtub…
posted by Prashant at 6:06 PM
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