The Alchemist

Well each of our journeys in life is very different, sometimes long and winding but in the end they are purposeful and rewarding. The journey towards the final destination is not time bound but eternal. We often fail to connect with the Universe, and dreams and the people it plants in our lives. Worried about time and distance we’ve covered, in haste we never make the effort to slow down and look at the rear view mirror, the truth is that "OBJECTS IN THE REAR VIEW ARE ALWAYS CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR". More often the bulb goes on only when dreams end and when messiahs depart my journey of life to their next destination.

The clues that the universe drops, the simple language it speaks, the truth it unravels is very basic and lucid. I look back at my past and pen down my experiences and as I recollect the messiahs who’ve trespassed for a short while and taught me what I need to learn and remember in life, my eyes tear in happiness and my soul inflates in contentment.

Life is all about being in-sync with the universe. The chemistry between mankind and universe is fundamental and deep-rooted. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho engrains and etches the messages from the universe. This neo-classical tell-tale reinforces and re-establishes the connection between every soul and universe.

The book raises a lot of questions and answers them with credibility. A few of them ….
Why do we have desires? Should desires be curtailed? What do they teach us? Why do we have dreams? Should we follow our dreams? Why do messiahs come in our life? Why do they leave? Do dreams make our life interesting and worthwhile? Can we talk the language of universe? Why do only a few souls can understand the language of the universe?

Here are a few excerpts from the book…..

“And dreams are the language of God. When he speaks in our language, I can interpret what he has said. But if he speaks in the language of the soul, it is only you who can decipher.”

“It is the possibility of having a dream come true that make life interesting.”

“It is this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”

“Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their destiny”.

“The Soul of the World is nourished by people’s happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy and jealousy. To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation.”

“And when you want something, all the universe conspires to help you to achieve it.”

“You must always know what is that you want. Never stop dreaming and follow the omens.”

“There is a language in the world that everyone understood, it was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired.”

“I am always nearby, when someone wants to realize their destiny.”

“Everything in life is an omen.”

“The mysterious chain that links one thing to another, the same chain that has caused him to become a shepard, that had caused his recurring dream, that has brought him to a city near Africa, to find a king, and to be robbed in order to meet a crystal merchant, and….
The closer one gets to realize his destiny, the more that destiny becomes his true reason for being.”

“Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of people are connected and we are able to know everything, because it is all written there.”

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

“Sometimes, their caravan met with another. One always had something that the other needed- as if everything were indeed written by one hand.”

“We make a lot of detours, but we’re always heading for the same destination”.

“In alchemy, it is called the Soul of the World. When you want something will all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It is 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 the soul, so we rarely recognize that it is working for us.”

“The alchemist spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals has led to purification of themselves.”

“Everyone has his or her own way of learning things.”

“I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things. I learned that many alchemist realized their destinies, and wound up discovering the Soul of the World, the Philosopher’s stone and the Elixir of Life.”
“Because I don’t live in either mypast or my future. I am interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man.”

“God revealed his secrets easily to all his creatures. Because people become fascinated with pictures and words, and wind up forgetting the Language of the World.”

“When you are in love things make even more sense.”

“It was the pure language of the world. It required no explanation, just as the universe needs none as it travels through endless time.”

“One could open a book to any page, or look at a person’s hand; one could turn a card, or watch the flight of birds….whatever the thing observed, one could find a connection with his experience of the moment.”

“If good things are coming, they will be a pleasant surprise. If bad things are coming you will known in advance and you will suffer greatly before they even occur.”

“The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And if you improve upon 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.”

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

“Life attracts life.”

“You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons that pursuit, it is because it wasn’t true love….the love that speaks the Language of the World.”

“The wise men understood that this natural world is only an image and a copy of paradise. The existence of this world is simple guarantee that there exist a world that is perfect. God created the world so that, through its visible objects, men could understand his spiritual teachings and marvels of his wisdom.”

“People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams because they feel they don’t deserve them, or that they will be unable to achieve them. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or of the moments that could have been but weren’t, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because when these things happen we suffer terribly.”

“Tell your heart that the dear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”

“Before a dream is realized, 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’ve learned as we’ve moved toward the dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It is the point at which, we say in the language of the desert, one ‘does of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.”

“Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor is being severely tested.”

“When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.”

“Your eyes show the strength of your soul.”

“You already know about alchemy. It is about penetrating the Soul of the World and discovering the treasure reserved for you.”

Men have never understood the words of the wise. So gold, instead of being a symbol of evolution has become the basis of conflict.”

Anyone who interferes with the destiny of other things never discovers his own.”

“Everything has its destiny, but one day that destiny will be realized. So each thing has to transform itself into something better, and to acquire a new destiny, until someday, the Soul of the World becomes one thing only.”

“Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World.”

“No matter what he does, every person on the earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn’t know it.”

I have posted a few paragraphs that hit me real hard and that made me look at the rear view mirror and blinds spots that I was never aware of. Our wants, needs, searches and dreams and different, but this books contains simple messages for everyone in this world who is on their quest of search. This is definitely a neo-classical bible in this conflict laden ear where no religions meet in theory and practice. This Alchemist definitely catalyzes the reaction between the human Soul and the Soul of the World.

Get your copy and enjoy every word and every page of wisdom for this century and many more to come.