Rabbi Nahum of Chernobyl was the object of constant insults from a shopkeeper. One day, the man’s business began to go downhill.
‘It must be the rabbi, asking for vengeance from God,’ he thought. And he went to apologise to the rabbi.
‘I forgive you in the same spirit in which you forgive me,’ replied the rabbi.
Yet the man continued to lose money hand over fist until, finally, he was reduced to abject poverty. Nahum’s disciples were horrified and went to ask the rabbi what had happened.
‘I forgave him, but deep down in his heart, he still hated me,’ said the rabbi. ‘His hatred contaminated everything he did, and so God’s punishment proved even more severe.’
(c) Paulo Coelho
read more
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The moving monument
I have visited many monuments in this world that try to immortalize the cities that erect them in prominent places. Imposing men whose names have already been forgotten but who still pose mounted on their beautiful horses. Women who hold crowns or swords to the sky, symbols of victories that no longer even appear in school books. Solitary, nameless children engraved in stone, their innocence for ever lost during the hours and days they were obliged to pose for some sculptor that history has also forgotten.
And when all is said and done, with very rare exceptions (Rio de Janeiro is one of them with its statue of Christ the Redeemer), it is not the statues that mark the city, but the least expected things. When Eiffel built a steel tower for an exposition, he could not have dreamed that this would end up being the symbol of Paris, despite the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and the impressive gardens. An apple represents New York. A not much visited bridge is the symbol of San Francisco. A bridge over the Tagus is also on the postcards of Lisbon. Barcelona, a city full of unresolved things, has an unfinished cathedral (The Holy Family) as its most emblematic monument. In Moscow, a square surrounded by buildings and a name that no longer represents the present (Red Square, in memory of communism) is the main reference. And so on and so forth.
Perhaps thinking about this, a city decided to create a monument that would never remain the same, one that could disappear every night and re-appear the next morning and would change at each and every moment of the day, depending on the strength of the wind and the rays of the sun. Legend has it that a child had the idea just as he was … taking a pee. When he finished his business, he told his father that the place where they lived would be protected from invaders if it had a sculpture capable of vanishing before they drew near. His father went to talk to the town councilors, who, even though they had adopted Protestantism as the official religion and considered everything that escaped logic as superstition, decided to follow the advice.
(c) Paulo Coelho
read more: warriorofthelight.com
And when all is said and done, with very rare exceptions (Rio de Janeiro is one of them with its statue of Christ the Redeemer), it is not the statues that mark the city, but the least expected things. When Eiffel built a steel tower for an exposition, he could not have dreamed that this would end up being the symbol of Paris, despite the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and the impressive gardens. An apple represents New York. A not much visited bridge is the symbol of San Francisco. A bridge over the Tagus is also on the postcards of Lisbon. Barcelona, a city full of unresolved things, has an unfinished cathedral (The Holy Family) as its most emblematic monument. In Moscow, a square surrounded by buildings and a name that no longer represents the present (Red Square, in memory of communism) is the main reference. And so on and so forth.
Perhaps thinking about this, a city decided to create a monument that would never remain the same, one that could disappear every night and re-appear the next morning and would change at each and every moment of the day, depending on the strength of the wind and the rays of the sun. Legend has it that a child had the idea just as he was … taking a pee. When he finished his business, he told his father that the place where they lived would be protected from invaders if it had a sculpture capable of vanishing before they drew near. His father went to talk to the town councilors, who, even though they had adopted Protestantism as the official religion and considered everything that escaped logic as superstition, decided to follow the advice.
(c) Paulo Coelho
read more: warriorofthelight.com
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Paulo Coelho's Experimental Witch Film Competition Trailer
Calling all film directors!! Paulo Coelho's Film Competition looks amazing and the special affects in this trailer are incredible!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Returning to the world after death
I've always thought about what happens when we scatter a little of ourselves across the Earth. I have had my hair cut in Tokyo, have clipped my nails in Norway, watched my blood flow from a wound halfway up a mountain in France. In my first book, The Archives of Hell (which has never been reprinted), I speculated about this, as if we felt we had to sow a little of our own body in various parts of the world, so that in a future life, something would be familiar to us. I recently read in the French newspaper Le Figaro, an article by Guy Barret about a true story which took place in 2001, when someone took this idea to its final conclusion.
It was about the American Vera Anderson, who spent her entire life in the town of Medford, Oregon. In old age, she was the victim of a cardiovascular accident made worse by emphysema of the lungs, forcing her to spend years in her room connected to a balloon of oxygen. As if all this wasn't enough of a burden, Vera's case was even more cruel, because she had always dreamed of going round the world, and had saved up in order to do so in retirement.
Vera managed to be transferred to Colorado, so that she might spend her remaining days in the company of her son, Ross. There, before making her final journey - the one none of us return from - she took a decision. Since she would never get to know even her own country, she would travel after she died.
Ross went to the local notary office and registered her mother's will: when she died, she wished to be cremated. So far, nothing unusual. But the will went on: her ashes were to be placed in 241 little bags, which were to be sent to the chiefs of the mail services in 50 American states, and each of the 191 countries in the world - so that at least part of her body would end up visiting the places she always dreamed about.
As soon as Vera departed, Ross fulfilled her last wish with the dignity one would expect of a son. Each parcel carried an accompanying letter asking for a laying to rest worthy of her mother.
All the people who received Vera Anderson's ashes respectfully obeyed Ross's wish. On the four corners of the Earth, a silent chain of solidarity was formed, along which unknown well-wishers organized diverse ceremonies and rites, always taking into consideration the place the deceased woman would liked to have known.
Thus, Vera's ashes were scattered on Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia, following the ancient traditions of the Aymara Indians; on the river outside the royal palace in Stockholm; on the banks of Choo Praya, in Thailand; at a Shinto temple in Japan; on the icecaps of Antarctica; in the Sahara desert. The brothers of a charitable orphanage in South America (the article doesn't say which country) prayed for a week before casting the ashes in the garden - and they then decided that Vera Anderson should be considered a type of guardian angel of that place.
Ross Anderson received photos from the five continents, from all races and cultures, showing men and women honoring his mother's last wish. When we see such a divided world as today's, and think no one could care less about each other, this last journey of Vera Anderson fills us with hope, knowing that respect, love and generosity still dwell in the souls of our fellow men and women, however distant they may be.
(c) Paulo Coelho
from Coelho's Myspace Blog
It was about the American Vera Anderson, who spent her entire life in the town of Medford, Oregon. In old age, she was the victim of a cardiovascular accident made worse by emphysema of the lungs, forcing her to spend years in her room connected to a balloon of oxygen. As if all this wasn't enough of a burden, Vera's case was even more cruel, because she had always dreamed of going round the world, and had saved up in order to do so in retirement.
Vera managed to be transferred to Colorado, so that she might spend her remaining days in the company of her son, Ross. There, before making her final journey - the one none of us return from - she took a decision. Since she would never get to know even her own country, she would travel after she died.
Ross went to the local notary office and registered her mother's will: when she died, she wished to be cremated. So far, nothing unusual. But the will went on: her ashes were to be placed in 241 little bags, which were to be sent to the chiefs of the mail services in 50 American states, and each of the 191 countries in the world - so that at least part of her body would end up visiting the places she always dreamed about.
As soon as Vera departed, Ross fulfilled her last wish with the dignity one would expect of a son. Each parcel carried an accompanying letter asking for a laying to rest worthy of her mother.
All the people who received Vera Anderson's ashes respectfully obeyed Ross's wish. On the four corners of the Earth, a silent chain of solidarity was formed, along which unknown well-wishers organized diverse ceremonies and rites, always taking into consideration the place the deceased woman would liked to have known.
Thus, Vera's ashes were scattered on Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia, following the ancient traditions of the Aymara Indians; on the river outside the royal palace in Stockholm; on the banks of Choo Praya, in Thailand; at a Shinto temple in Japan; on the icecaps of Antarctica; in the Sahara desert. The brothers of a charitable orphanage in South America (the article doesn't say which country) prayed for a week before casting the ashes in the garden - and they then decided that Vera Anderson should be considered a type of guardian angel of that place.
Ross Anderson received photos from the five continents, from all races and cultures, showing men and women honoring his mother's last wish. When we see such a divided world as today's, and think no one could care less about each other, this last journey of Vera Anderson fills us with hope, knowing that respect, love and generosity still dwell in the souls of our fellow men and women, however distant they may be.
(c) Paulo Coelho
from Coelho's Myspace Blog
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Negative desires
A disciple said to his teacher:
‘I have spent a large part of my day thinking things I should not think, desiring things I should not desire, and making plans I should not make.’
The teacher invited his disciple to go for a walk with him in a forest near his house. On the way, he pointed to a plant and asked if the disciple knew what it was.
‘It’s deadly nightshade,’ said the disciple. ‘The leaves can kill you if you eat them.’
‘But they cannot kill you if you merely look at them. In exactly the same way, negative desires are entirely harmless unless you give in to them.’
(c) Paulo Coelho
from Paulo Coelho's Blog
‘I have spent a large part of my day thinking things I should not think, desiring things I should not desire, and making plans I should not make.’
The teacher invited his disciple to go for a walk with him in a forest near his house. On the way, he pointed to a plant and asked if the disciple knew what it was.
‘It’s deadly nightshade,’ said the disciple. ‘The leaves can kill you if you eat them.’
‘But they cannot kill you if you merely look at them. In exactly the same way, negative desires are entirely harmless unless you give in to them.’
(c) Paulo Coelho
from Paulo Coelho's Blog
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The Experimental Witch
Beautiful website that HP did for Experimental Witch, please follow this link : http://www.hp.com/united-states/coelho/2007/witch/index.html
***
Please Digg for the video about The Experimental Witch:
http://digg.com/arts_culture/Experimental_Witch_Film_Competition
Feel free to share a fantastic video!
Why God left man until the sixth day
A group of wise men met together in a castle in Akbar to discuss God’s works; they wanted to know why he had left creating man until the sixth day.
‘He wanted to get the Universe sorted out first so that we could have all its marvels at our disposal,’ said one.
‘He wanted to experiment with animals first so that he wouldn’t make the same mistakes when he created us,’ argued another.
A wise Jew turned up at the meeting. He was told the subject of discussion: ‘In your opinion why did God create man only on the final day?’
‘Very simple,’ said the wise man. ‘So that whenever we were afflicted by pride, we could reflect that, in the Divine scheme, even a mere mosquito had priority over us.’
from Paulo Coelho's Blog
‘He wanted to get the Universe sorted out first so that we could have all its marvels at our disposal,’ said one.
‘He wanted to experiment with animals first so that he wouldn’t make the same mistakes when he created us,’ argued another.
A wise Jew turned up at the meeting. He was told the subject of discussion: ‘In your opinion why did God create man only on the final day?’
‘Very simple,’ said the wise man. ‘So that whenever we were afflicted by pride, we could reflect that, in the Divine scheme, even a mere mosquito had priority over us.’
from Paulo Coelho's Blog
Monday, January 14, 2008
Men’s Rules of Engagement ...
I am going to spend the next two weeks on the road, but this blog will continue to be updated, comments and friends approved. However, for any personal message, please put "Personal" in the subject, and I will read/answer when I return.
You probably remember a blog posted some months ago, "Why women love men", written by one of my friends, Julia (she is now in the top friends for a while). That lead to other posts on the same subject. Today I am listing here Men's rules for a relationship. I am not the author, I just compiled them from lists in internet.
But I must confess: I agree with many of them. For example, I never understood why women need so many shoes!
Let's go to the list. Seeing you soon, love
Paulo
IF YOU WANT US TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH YOU…
1- Don't cut your hair. Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then we are stuck with her.
2- Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again!
3- Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.
4- Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
5- We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.
6- Women who claim they 'love to watch sports' must be treated as spies until they demonstrate knowledge of the game and the hability to drink as much beer as the other sports watchers. You may always ask the score of the game in progress, but you may never ask who's playing.
7- Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints don't do it!
8- Most guys own three pairs of shoes - tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?
9- Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
10- If you think you are fat, don't ask us. We refuse to answer.
11- On a road trip, the strongest bladder determines pit stops, not the weakest.
12- Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is for your girlfriends. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
13- If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing is wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
14- When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.
15- If a man's zipper is down, that's his problem---you didn't see nothing.
16- Please check the oil. Please don't forget to put some gasoline. You also can do these simple things, so none of us will be stuck on the road.
17- Thou shalt not buy a car in the colours of brown, pink, lime, green, orange or sky blue.
18- Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as soccer teams, the offside rule, investments or cars.
19- Pretend that you don't know we dye our hair.
20- Gadgets are as exciting for us as handbags are for you.
21- When we say "I love you" we really mean it. Because we know the danger on pronouncing these three magical words – they will lead us to a lasting relationship.
22- Threfore, for this relationship to last, please read these rules again!
from Coelho's Myspace Blog
You probably remember a blog posted some months ago, "Why women love men", written by one of my friends, Julia (she is now in the top friends for a while). That lead to other posts on the same subject. Today I am listing here Men's rules for a relationship. I am not the author, I just compiled them from lists in internet.
But I must confess: I agree with many of them. For example, I never understood why women need so many shoes!
Let's go to the list. Seeing you soon, love
Paulo
IF YOU WANT US TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH YOU…
1- Don't cut your hair. Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then we are stuck with her.
2- Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again!
3- Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.
4- Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
5- We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.
6- Women who claim they 'love to watch sports' must be treated as spies until they demonstrate knowledge of the game and the hability to drink as much beer as the other sports watchers. You may always ask the score of the game in progress, but you may never ask who's playing.
7- Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints don't do it!
8- Most guys own three pairs of shoes - tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?
9- Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
10- If you think you are fat, don't ask us. We refuse to answer.
11- On a road trip, the strongest bladder determines pit stops, not the weakest.
12- Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is for your girlfriends. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
13- If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing is wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
14- When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.
15- If a man's zipper is down, that's his problem---you didn't see nothing.
16- Please check the oil. Please don't forget to put some gasoline. You also can do these simple things, so none of us will be stuck on the road.
17- Thou shalt not buy a car in the colours of brown, pink, lime, green, orange or sky blue.
18- Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as soccer teams, the offside rule, investments or cars.
19- Pretend that you don't know we dye our hair.
20- Gadgets are as exciting for us as handbags are for you.
21- When we say "I love you" we really mean it. Because we know the danger on pronouncing these three magical words – they will lead us to a lasting relationship.
22- Threfore, for this relationship to last, please read these rules again!
from Coelho's Myspace Blog
Friday, January 11, 2008
Experimental Witch Film Competition
Paulo Coelho is launching a new project based on his latest book The Witch of Portobello.
If you want to know more about the project of register, please visit this site : http://www.paulocoelhoblog.com
please vote for this video!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Knowing how to wait
The Warrior of Light needs time to himself. And he uses this time to rest and contemplate and contact the Soul of the World. He manages to meditate even in the middle of a combat. On some occasions the warrior sits down, relaxes and lets everything that is happening around him go on happening. He looks around him as if he were a spectator, does not try to grow or diminish, just commits himself unresistingly to the movement of life.
Little by little everything that seemed so complicated becomes simple. And the warrior becomes happy.
Copyright @ 2007 by Paulo Coelho
read more www.warriorofthelight.com
Little by little everything that seemed so complicated becomes simple. And the warrior becomes happy.
Copyright @ 2007 by Paulo Coelho
read more www.warriorofthelight.com
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Apollo and Daphne
The god Apollo pursues the nymph Daphne into the woods. He is in love with her, but Daphne - who is always being courted by everyone - can no longer bear her own splendour and calls on the gods to help her, saying:
‘Destroy this beauty that never allows me any peace.’
The gods hear Daphne’s plea and transform her into a tree. Apollo cannot find her, for she is now merely part of the vegetation.
Daphne behaved in a way that is familiar to us all: we often destroy our own talents because we do not know what to do with them.
The mediocrity of being ‘just another person’ is more comfortable than the struggle to reveal everything we are capable of, using the gifts that God gave us.
(c) Paulo Coelho
from Coelho's blog
‘Destroy this beauty that never allows me any peace.’
The gods hear Daphne’s plea and transform her into a tree. Apollo cannot find her, for she is now merely part of the vegetation.
Daphne behaved in a way that is familiar to us all: we often destroy our own talents because we do not know what to do with them.
The mediocrity of being ‘just another person’ is more comfortable than the struggle to reveal everything we are capable of, using the gifts that God gave us.
(c) Paulo Coelho
from Coelho's blog
Monday, January 7, 2008
The exorcism
A man called in a priest to perform an exorcism in his house. He then went to stay in a hotel and left the priest to his work.
The priest spent a few days sleeping in the haunted house. He sprinkled holy water in all the rooms, said prayers, and, when he judged his task to be done, he summoned the owner, saying that the results had been fantastic.
‘How many demons did you exorcise?’ the owner asked.
‘None.’
‘And how many did you see in my house?’
‘None.’
‘Then how can you say that the results were fantastic?’
‘When one is fighting the forces of evil, then none is more than enough.’
(c) Paulo Coelho
from Paulo Coelho's blog
The priest spent a few days sleeping in the haunted house. He sprinkled holy water in all the rooms, said prayers, and, when he judged his task to be done, he summoned the owner, saying that the results had been fantastic.
‘How many demons did you exorcise?’ the owner asked.
‘None.’
‘And how many did you see in my house?’
‘None.’
‘Then how can you say that the results were fantastic?’
‘When one is fighting the forces of evil, then none is more than enough.’
(c) Paulo Coelho
from Paulo Coelho's blog
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Ithaca and 2008
One of the great classics of all literature, Homer's "Odyssey," tells of the return of the hero Ulysses to the island of Ithaca, where his wife Penelope has been waiting for him for over ten years. Ulysses undergoes all sorts of challenges but eventually returns home.
Many centuries later, another Greek poet, Konstantinos Kavafis, dealt with this homecoming in a different manner, creating one of the most beautiful metaphors of this journey in search of our dreams. While the drama of the "Odyssey" centres on the difficulties in arriving and in the suffering of the beloved wife, in Kavafis' poetry exactly the opposite is asked of Ulysses: he should enjoy the journey and experience all that needs to be lived.
As we now are getting ready to 2008, please keep in mind that the journey is the real thing. I wish you all a wonderful 2008. Focus your attention in your dreams, but enjoying the beauties of the path. Below, the poem by Kavafis:
When you leave for Ithaca,
may your journey be long
and full of adventures and knowledge
Do not be afraid of Laestrigones, Cyclopes
or furious Poseidon;
you won't come across them on your way
if you don't carry them in your soul,
if your soul does not put them in front of your steps.
I hope your road is long.
May there be many a summer morning,
and may the pleasure of seeing the first ports
bring you great joy.
Try to visit the markets of Phoenicia
and buy the very best.
Go to the cities of Egypt
and learn from a people with so much to teach.
Don't lose sight of Ithaca,
for that's your destination.
But take your time;
better that the journey lasts many a year
and that your boat only drops anchor on the island
when you have grown rich
with what you learned on the way.
Don't expect Ithaca to give you many riches.
Ithaca has already given you the voyage;
without Ithaca you would never have parted.
Ithaca gave you everything and can give you no more.
If in the end you think that Ithaca is poor,
don't think that she has cheated you.
Because you have grown wise and lived an intense life,
and that's the meaning of Ithaca.
(c) Paulo Coelho
Many centuries later, another Greek poet, Konstantinos Kavafis, dealt with this homecoming in a different manner, creating one of the most beautiful metaphors of this journey in search of our dreams. While the drama of the "Odyssey" centres on the difficulties in arriving and in the suffering of the beloved wife, in Kavafis' poetry exactly the opposite is asked of Ulysses: he should enjoy the journey and experience all that needs to be lived.
As we now are getting ready to 2008, please keep in mind that the journey is the real thing. I wish you all a wonderful 2008. Focus your attention in your dreams, but enjoying the beauties of the path. Below, the poem by Kavafis:
When you leave for Ithaca,
may your journey be long
and full of adventures and knowledge
Do not be afraid of Laestrigones, Cyclopes
or furious Poseidon;
you won't come across them on your way
if you don't carry them in your soul,
if your soul does not put them in front of your steps.
I hope your road is long.
May there be many a summer morning,
and may the pleasure of seeing the first ports
bring you great joy.
Try to visit the markets of Phoenicia
and buy the very best.
Go to the cities of Egypt
and learn from a people with so much to teach.
Don't lose sight of Ithaca,
for that's your destination.
But take your time;
better that the journey lasts many a year
and that your boat only drops anchor on the island
when you have grown rich
with what you learned on the way.
Don't expect Ithaca to give you many riches.
Ithaca has already given you the voyage;
without Ithaca you would never have parted.
Ithaca gave you everything and can give you no more.
If in the end you think that Ithaca is poor,
don't think that she has cheated you.
Because you have grown wise and lived an intense life,
and that's the meaning of Ithaca.
(c) Paulo Coelho
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
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