This book is just like Coelho's another book: The Witch of Portobello.
But this book was more enticing for me because it involved Soul Mate(s) - although a very little bit and not much of eros.
This book reminded me very well that I am here for a reason, and that I should go for the unknown as my heart leads.
As I say again proudly yet humbly, my spirituality have reached a certain level that all the messages that Coelho tries to tell his readers are just a reminder for me - there is no new enlightenment to me.
But I still read all his works, because they guide my soul.
I am not adventurous enough to actually leave all the things behind to join something like the Tradition in his book, despite of how much I want to - and despite of how impulsive I get at times such as flying to cities just to see some person or just to spend a lot on good food only for myself. I know that I might not fit in as much as I fear more social interactions as the Tradition seem to require.
Still, his words are capable of making me weep. I wept for the time my soul was lost... what a waste of time, but a valuable and painful lesson it was.
Here are my favorite excerpts from the book. I wept as I read these words.
Excerpt 1:
"Right now, while we're here eating, ninety-nine percent of the people on this planet are, in their own way, struggling with that very question. Why are we here? Many think you've found the answer in religion or in materialism. Others despair and spend their lives and their money trying to grasp the meaning of it all. A few let the question go unanswered and live for the moment, regardless of the results or the consequences.
"Only the brave and those who understand the Tradition of the Sun and the Moon are aware that the only possible answer to the question is I DON'T KNOW.
"This might, at first, seem frightening, leaving us terribly vulnerable in our dealings with the world, with the things of the world, and with our own sense of our existence. Once we've got over that initial fear, however, we gradually become accustomed to the only possible solution: to follow our dreams. Having the courage to take steps we always wanted to take is the only way of showing that we trust in God."
Excerpt 2:
"Lord, we're all in the world to run the risk of that Dark Night. I'm afraid of death, but even more afraid of wasting my life. I'm afraid of love, because it involves things that are beyond our understanding; it sheds such a brilliant light, but the shadow it casts frightens me."
Excerpt 3:
"People give flowers as presents because flowers contain the true meaning of Love. Anyone who tries to possess a flower will have to watch its beauty fading. But if you simply look at a flower in a field, you will keep it forever, because the flower is part of the evening and the sunset and the small damp earth and the cloud on the horizon."
[...]
"This is what the forest taught me. That you will never be mine, and that is why I will never lose you. You were my hope during my days of loneliness, my anxiety during moments of doubt, my certainty during moments of faith.
[...]
"Knowing that you existed was my one reason for continuing to live."
[...]
"Then you came, and I understood all of this. You came to free me from the slavery I myself had created, to tell me that I was free to return to the world and to the things of the world. I understood everything I needed to know, and I love you more than all the women I have ever known [...] I will always remember now that love is liberty. That was the lesson it took me so many years to learn. That is the lesson that sent me into exile and now sets me free again."
[...]
"I will always remember you, and you will remember me, just as we will remember the evening, the rain on the windows, and all the things we'll always have because we cannot possess them."
[...]
"Go in peace [...] and dry those tears, or tell him that the smoke from the fire got in your eyes. Never forget me."
I wept as I read this book.
I had a chance to review my life.
Coelho's books always make me think - and that's why I love his books... and if the book doesn't make me think, I feel like it's wasting of my time. I don't have all the time in the world to read for fun anymore.
I don't give a damn in his Tradition, but I give a lot of damn to the Supreme Force although I am not religious.
I am just very spiritual - although I never show it.
I wept, because of my life.
I should refocus on my dream and Love in my life again - I think I am ready for all these now.
