The Alchemist. 牧羊少年的奇幻之旅


After our first attempt in understanding spirituality, self-consciousness, our ultimate purpose in being ... and all that last week, through reading Osho, Today we turned to one of the all time best-reads - The Alchemist, 牧羊少年的奇幻之旅. by Paulo Coelho. 

It's a wonder, how animatedly translated "the Alchemist" has become through the Chinese language, in addition to its beautiful drawings that accompany the Chinese version, this book does indeed seem to take us along a miraculous journey, 奇幻的. 神奇的. 永不放棄的. 相信的. 堅持夢想的.

We discussed all the various "terms" that are continuously mentioned throughout the story:
天命
夢想
徵兆
預兆
愛情
勇氣
因緣際會

We also added related terms of our own:
初衷
相信
親聽自己
找到
過程

And surprisingly left out the very keyword that made this book the success it is: 渴望. Desire.
The desire to live. The desire to be alive. 


"Paulo Coelho died while he was alive." 

... the epitaph which he wishes to be written upon his tombstone. Whatever our individual 天命, our Personal Legend is, and whether we choose to believe or not, this very "desire" should be what sums it all up for all of us. To be alive.

It became somewhat logical to me, that we may not fully understand what our Personal Legend is, individually. But this is what we should be learning perpetually throughout our life, to understand and interpret the Omens, and which of these signs are rightful to follow, which of them may actually be falsely led distractions or obstacles instead.

From the author's perspective, at this point when he wrote this book, LOVE is one of these very obstacles, (in addition to other three: Denial - that is, prejudice, fear and guilt; Fear of defeat; and Fear or realizing the dream). It seems to me now, however, that for some people, Love may actually be his or her ultimate goal, not an obstacle, but their Personal Legend. If not for Love, what does it mean to be Alive when every single person is "selfishly" fulfilling their Personal Legend without care for the world?

We also discussed the "Logic" of how emotions, feelings, believing, understanding our Personal Legend, fulfilling our dream ... how all of these come together and how all this knowledge should be interpreted and emphasized chronologically. We really were in for an uncontrollably complicated spin. But then I saw, that the reason all of this seems so complicated is because this actually really is just a Chicken and Egg question. No beginning  no end. But a cycle. A flow. Continuous and inextricably linked in an inseparable chain. And once you start to understand even the tiniest bit of this, it will lead you to the next, and take you to another level - a higher level - and become even better of yourself. 

Life doesn't just Become, and End once you've found and fulfilled your "Personal Legend". You go on to something else, you learn something new, you discover a new dream or goal, you move on, you grow, and you expand. This I think, is the very treasure for each and every single one of us. To enjoy the process we're given to experience. To savor the journey we've all embarked on. And to be present in every single moment of it. To live and be Alive.


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