Give us this day, Lord, our daily miracle even if we are incapable of noticing it because our mind is focussed on great deeds and conquests.
And when we open our mouth, may we speak not just the language of men, but the language of angels too and say:
Miracles do not go against the laws of nature; we only think that because we do not know nature’s laws.
— Paulo Coelho
Manuscript found in Accra (Manuscrito encontrado em Accra) by Paulo Coelho, published in UK Spring 2013
Soulmates two hearts entwined within a single rose
Soulmates two hearts entwined within a single rose.
Paulo Coelho has a lovely discussion of soulmates in Brida.
That stillness and vastness that enables the universe to be …
That stillness and vastness that enables the universe to be, is not just out there in space, it is also within you.
— Eckhart Tolle
Aleph in Farsi
Haters are confused admirers waiting for an excuse to say “I love you”. — Paulo Coelho
We hate that which we often fear. — William Shakespeare
It is becoming ludicrous the attacks on Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho by the evil Ayatollahs and Mullahs in Iran.
First they banned his books, then an attack by the Iran Book News Agency, now the promotion of a book, if not actually commissioned, I Hate Paulo Coelho.
A novel in Persian (Farsi): I Hate Paulo Coelho by Hamdreza Omidi Sarvi published by Amout Publications.
IBNA: “I Hate Paulo Coelho” relates a love story in social context. The main character of the novel named Reza is a pessimist writer with a number of failures. Reza-in-love encounters new people and situations that moves the story to new spaces.
The novel is written in a simple and colloquial language mostly related in internal monologues. The writer in this book tries to probe into the minds and lives of different social classes through a romance – social classes that each demand different things and have different dreams.
The story goes as “Qazal had read the ‘Alchemist’ and was influenced by it so much that she believed the book had saved her life in a period of mental crisis. At that moment it had not crossed my mind that ‘You Fool! When someone asks your opinion on something in the very first date, it means that she really cares for that and your opinion does matter….”
“I Hate Paulo Coelho” is published in 400 pages and 1650 copies by Amout Publications.
Hamidreza Omidi Sarvar is a mechanical engineering graduate with publications on film criticism.
It is easy to see why Paulo Coelho is hated by the regime, his books banned. He writes on mysticism, he encourages people to think, he stands up for the rights of women, all of which must be an anathema to the evil regime in Iran. He is also a very strong critic of religious fundamentalism.
The attacks on Paulo Coelho should also been seen within the context of the whipping up of anti-Western hate and hysteria in Iran and the development of nuclear weapons with which to attack the West and Israel and threats to close international shipping lanes through which a large amount of the world’s oil passes.
Paulo Coelho is very popular in Iran, which must upset the corrupt Ayatollahs and Mullahs, religious extremists who bastardise the people of Iran, especially the women. A pity the revolution of a few years ago failed to overthrow them.
The Zahir was first published in Iran. Copies to then be promptly seized by the Thought Police.
It was Paulo Coelho who brought to world attention the brutal killing of Neda, the face of the revolution, during the failed revolution.
Paulo Coelho has made his books available for free download in Farsi. Spread the word to all your Iranian friends.
Less we forget, the Mullahs and Ayatollahs not only shed blood in Iran, they are one of the principle agents of the sectarian violence and shedding of blood in Iraq.
– Coelho’s thought rhyming with false mysticism
– Aleph in Farsi
– Iran denies banning Paulo Coelho’s books
– The persecution of Hoder
– Change in Iran
– Arash Hejazi Interview for BBC
– The Truth as Iraq descends into Hell
Neda - Latuff
Praying doesn’t make you a saint any more than standing in an airport makes you an airplane. — Paulo Coelho
Here they come again. — Paulo Coelho
The following garbage has been posted by Iran Book News Agency:
Hojatoleslam Mazaheri Seif, writer of “The Spiritual World of Paulo Coelho” believes that Coelho follows the trend of false mysticism.
IBNA: According to Hamidreza Mazaheri Seif, a thematic study of Paulo Coelho’s works shows that his writings have the main features of false mysticism and heretic religions.
He continued: “Moreover, last year a book was published containing the names of 100 spiritual leaders of the world. The ideologies of these figures names are in line with that of the publisher and Coelho’s name is mentioned among the first top 20 leaders of the world showing that he has been globally acknowledged as a spiritual master. Many individuals insist that Coelho is their master in spiritual journeys and he was even welcomed by many Iranians during his travel to Iran. Given this situation we conclude that Coelho has consciously stepped into the realm of spirituality. However, whether he is qualified to be called a master should be assessed.”
“If you make a survey of all contemporary quasi-spiritual movements, you will realize that all leaders of them are instructing similar values to the human society. The backbone of Coelho’s thought is in line with all other false theosophical religions such as ‘Fallun Dafa’, ‘Halgheh’ InterUniversal Mysticism (in Iran), or Dialogue with God (in the US). The question that now rises here is that how all these leaders that have emerged in different locations say one word? If we trace them we come up with a single point, and that is Modern Kabbalah (a Jewish mysticism),” he added.
“Isn’t it true that Coelho’s writings are just symbolic manifestation of a universal trend of 290 years old that attempts to come up with a global religion caused by capitalism – that is, a religion concordant with liberal capitalism? The so-called religion is cultivated by spiritual leaders of the world including Paulo Coelho as the most outstanding one since he is more direct in addressing these values so much so that even Shimon Peres appreciated him.”
Mazaheri Seif then stated that in The Alchemist, Coelho has rewritten a tale from Rumi’s Masnavi’s sixth volume. Coelho is basically a master of plagiarism and this has been led to a number of oppositions. His story for Fathers, Sons and Grandsons is a rehabilitation of Golistan and Boustan, but the main problem of these adaptations is altering the plots in order to come up with his intended endings – that is the promotion of Modern Kaballah.
Mazaheri Seif added that banning one or two books would not help spreading these mysticisms as we actually face an ideology that reproduces itself in thousands of publications in millions of copies and this should not be neglected.
According to him, the best way to oppose the movement is to promote right spiritual instruction by the same means of books, fiction, novel and media in simple language.
The mysticism and spiritual insights of Paulo Coelho is a little too much for the evil Ayatollahs and Mullahs of Iran to stomach.
Compared with the vicious personal attacks in the West masquerading as book reviews this garbage published by the Iran Book News Agency is actually quite mild.
Paulo Coelho is very popular in Iran, which must upset the corrupt Ayatollahs and Mullahs, religious extremists who bastardise the people of Iran, especially the women. A pity the revolution of a few years ago failed to overthrow them.
The Zahir was first published in Iran. Copies to then be promptly seized by the Thought Police.
It was Paulo Coelho who brought to world attention the brutal killing of Neda, the face of the revolution, during the failed revolution.
Paulo Coelho is banned in Iran, it would not do for Iranians to be encouraged to think.
Paulo Coelho has made his books available for free download in Farsi. Spread the word to all your Iranian friends.
Less we forget, the Mullahs and Ayatollahs not only shed blood in Iran, they are one of the principle agents of the sectarian violence and shedding of blood in Iraq.
– Aleph in Farsi
– Iran denies banning Paulo Coelho’s books
– The persecution of Hoder
– Change in Iran
– Arash Hejazi Interview for BBC
– The Truth as Iraq descends into Hell
Aleph - Paulo Coelho: A spiritual journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway
A certain nobleman went into a a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom and return. — Luke 19:12
I realised a long time ago that a warrior in search of his dream must take his inspiration from what he actually does and not from what he imagines himself doing. — Paulo Coelho
When faced by loss it’s best to take advantage of the large space that opens up before us and fill it with something new. — Paulo Coelho
An oak tree at least half a millennium old silently watches the follies and foibles and woes of humankind. It fears the axeman and of late man with a chain saw. At least the man wielding the axe puts in some effort.
The oak tree knew William Shakespeare, was there long before the existence of the United States of America.
Man clearfells old growth forests not even for the timber but for wood pulp. All with the approval of Greenpeace, RAN, WWF. Shed a few crocodile tears, pass the tissues, they have FSC approval.
An all knowing, all powerful God, full of love and grace. Why therefore does he allow suffering? A question most frequently asked and rarely answered.
Why indeed?
Maybe God does intervene. But how would we know? God does not write a sign in the sky.
Were God to intervene, we would have the Law of Unintended Consequences. One bullet, one shot, triggered the start of World War One. We stop one path, we follow another. Were God to regularly intervene, the laws of physics would not work.
We doubt our faith. There is nothing wrong with that. Those who do not doubt are fundamentalists.
It is the Jewish tradition to ask questions, to challenge God. If we have run out of questions, there is something wrong.
Abraham and Job questioned and challenged God. The Book of Lamentations virtually put God on trial. Jesus nearly always responded to a question with a question.
Doubt makes us question our faith. We dig deeper.
When things go wrong in our life, it is a message.
A tragedy can destroy us, it can also open the opportunity for good to enter.
A friend was raped when she was aged nine, her sister aged thirteen. Both were raped by their Mother’s boyfriend. She kept silent, fearing what would happen if she told. Eventually she went off the rails: drink, drugs, sleeping around. Slowly she has pulled herself together. She wants no retribution but cannot forgive.
Collective memory: He who controls the present controls the past, he who controls the past controls the future. We cannot go back and change the past. We can redeem the past in the present and thus change the future.
We live in parallel worlds. Sages, saints, prophets can with ease cross the transition zone. Seemingly so can subatomic particles. Us mere mortals have greater difficulty.
The eyes look into the soul, tears are the blood of the soul.
I looked into the eyes of my lovely friend Sian and time stood still, we had known each other for ever. Sadly she was mad, or at least schizophrenic, her madness grew and destroyed us both.
We sacrifice animals, sometimes people, in order that the sun rises in the morning. We have the proof our rituals work as each morning the sun does indeed rise. We could put this to the test, and not carry out the rituals, but why risk the wrath of the gods, why risk the sun not rising?
We know this to be nonsense. The sun rises due to the laws of physics.
But are we any different? People say their prayers, or at least make demands, they see God as a friendly grandfather with a flowing white beard handing out the sweets to the children.
When I sit on Brighton Pier or the sea wall in Puerto de la Cruz and look at the sunset I am looking at the Divine.
Writing is telling stories. I can always tell when someone has been on a creative writing course. Their writing is so bad. Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, did not need to go on a creative writing course.
What is it about railway journeys and grand stations? I do not mean short commuter hops and stations that are little more than a platfrm with a bus shelter.
I used to travel down to Penzance in Cornwall. I put my cycle on the train, then cycled around Cornwall and walked along the cliff paths. More recently, I travelled down to Swansea in Wales for an International Film Festival. Arrive at Brighton and the station is a work of Victorian art and engineering.
Two of the famous railway trips are the Orient Express and Trans-Siberian Railway.
When in Istanbul I was staying around the corner from the railway station and walked past it everyday. Passengers from the Orient Express were carried from the station, across the river and up to the Pera Palace Hotel in a sedan chair. It was at a press conference on St Joseph’s Day at Pera Palace Hotel that Paulo Coelho discussed his trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
How do you plan an unplanned journey? An oxymoron if ever there was one. Easy if you are a well known writer at the London Bookfair. You speak to the first publisher you meet, who happens to be from Bulgaria. You say arrange for a book signing for the following week. To the next publisher you say arrange a book signing for two weeks hence. And so on. Eventually you have sufficient. Oh and by the way, after the afternoon book signing throw a party in the evening in order that the author may meet his readers. You then go out to dinner that evening and ask your Russian publishers to arrange for trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
At a press conference at the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul to mark St Joseph’s Day, Paulo Coelho said he lost his way. He found himself by going on a journey. Part of that journey was on the Trans-Siberian Railway. It is the story of that journey that he tells in Aleph.
Aleph is a point in time and space.
Aleph, a point in space and time.
Jorge Luis Borges describes it:
The Aleph was about two to three centimetres in diameter, but all of cosmic space was there, with no diminution in size. Each thing was infinite, because I could clearly see it from every point on the universe.
Paulo Coelho describes Aleph:
The small Aleph always appears by chance. You’re walking down a street or you sit down somewhere and suddenly the whole Universe is there.
The great Aleph occurs when two or more people with a strong affinity happens to be in the small Aleph. Their two different energies compete with each other and provoke a chain reaction.
What is reality?
I take pictures with my camera. I transfer to my laptop. I upload to the internet to share with friends. It is all an illusion. What I have uploaded is sequence of binary digits.
As a child I used to think our eyes projected onto the world. When I studied optics and light I became confused. I then learnt we process what we see, our eyes are pinpoint light detectors arranged in a matrix, which send electrical signals to our brain. We construct our image of the world.
Why travel? Whey did millions of medieval pilgrims travel El Camino de Santiago? Why did Paulo Coelho in the mid-1980s? Why do many modern-day pilgrims today.
There are things we cannot teach or preach or read about. That is why Jesus conversed with the Devil in the desert.
I didn’t make this journey in order to find the words missing from my life but to be king of my own world again. And it’s here that that I’m back in touch with myself and with the magical universe around me.
Aleph is a journey in time and space. A journey to a lake, a journey to the Spanish Inquisition, a visit to a shaman, a journey from Moscow to Vladivostok.
It was on this journey that Paulo Coelho met Hilal, a young Turkish violinist.
Our environment talks to our genes. The subatomic is influenced by the universe
The Trans-Siberian Railway is 9,288 km, it crosses seven time zones. It was constructed under the direction of Alexander III.
Paulo Coelho is criticised by the critics in their bile drenched reviews. No doubt Aleph will get the same treatment.
Aleph is a work of literature, a literary masterpiece. Destined to become a modern classic.
Published as O Aleph in Brazil (August 2010). Elif in Turkey (March 2011). Aleph in UK and UK (September 2011). in the first six countries of release, Aleph shot to No One within days of publication.
At the press conference in Istanbul, Paulo Coelho was asked was Elif a true account of what took place. He responded that apart from small changes for narrative flow, yes, it was a true account of what had taken place.
Synchronicity: I thought of my friend who was raped. I read why Hilal learnt the violin. I listened to the music of Hildegard von Bingen. I read of Hilal playing the violin.
– Aleph quotes on Paulo quotes
– Tears are words that need to be written
– the fire of friendship
– Aleph in Farsi
– The Aleph Video
– The Pilgimage
– Love Wins
– The Shack
– What’s So Amazing About Grace
– The Tao of Physics
– The Dancing Wu Lee Masters
You are a volume in the divine book.
A mirror to the power that created the universe.
Whatever you want, ask it of yourself.
Whatever you’re looking for can only
be found inside of you.
— Rumi
When the universe fits inside a dewdrop - nagualero
Enlightenment is like
the moon reflected on the water.
The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide and great,
The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.
The whole moon and the entire sky
Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
— Dogen
Knowing others is Wisdom
Knowing the Self is Enlightenment…
Mastering others requires force…
Mastering the Self requires Strength.
— Lao Tzu
Before Enlightenment
Chop wood, carry water…
After enlightenment,
Chop wood, carry water…
— Zen Proverb
There is No Enlightenment
outside of daily Life…
— Thich Nhat Hanh
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
— William Blake
Silence is the language of God,
all else is poor translation.
— Rumi
How will you know the difficulties of being human,
if you are always flying off to blue perfection?
Where will you plant your grief seeds?
Workers need ground to scrape and hoe,
not the sky of unspecified desire.
— Rumi
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