Of Coelho, mistakes and other entrapments of your own wisdom.

I am reading Paulo Coelho´s Aleph. The latest book. The one, that is supposed to be semi autobiographical. I have not yet finished it. To be precise, I have just started, not even 30 pages turned, but I got annoyed so many times already, that I have sincere doubts I will ever finish it. I guess I will, because I rarely let things go after I decided to do them. However, after those few pages reading it, my mind got stirred and a flow of thoughts ran through it preventing me to stay focused at all. I took an honest look to what was going on.

Once I have been writing here about change explaining my point of view. I found support in psychology and pure observation of life´s actions. I said that people do not change. The only thing subject to a change is deteriorating, ever decaying, ever rearranging, ever expanding and always interacting world of Nature ruled by Entropy. So yes, people do change in that sense, but psychologically? No. In their core, people stay the same. What changes, are adopted behavioral patterns. Things we learn along the way. But now, I suddenly found myself in a place, where I cannot but use this term. It describes well what happened to me.  I have simply changed. I am no longer the same Dejan I was 10 years ago, when I devoured Coelho´s books for breakfast.  That will sound really terrible, but I have to ask myself, did I simply outgrow Coelho?

Let me explain. Coelho´s books are bible to many people. They certainly were mine for some time. They are full of beautiful sentences that hide life´s revelations hidden well enough, that it sometimes take time to fully grasp their magnitude. Those revelations work miracles. They are observations made by other people long ago. They are a conglomerate of different religion´s perspectives and mythology. They certainly quote a lot of New Age movement, which is based on Buddhism and Druid practice. But most of all, they all talk about love´s intra- and inter-actions. Storylines are usually simple. The protagonist is set on a spiritual journey going through necessary rough time. He usually ends up where he started. Quite elegantly telling us we carry the answers within, but journey is needed to realize that.

Now, if every story has a similar plot device and all of them provide us with a certain revelation with many wise thoughts in between, I then ask myself, what is the purpose? Is the purpose reading the book or learning from it? It is quite obvious that Coelho is giving us deep lessons in there. Kind of what I am doing with sharing my observations and thoughts in here. But I do not know better and I am sure he is not arrogant enough to think of himself he does either. However, people (and I include myself with that) think different. Everyone I have met so far, talks about Coelho´s books as books of aspiration and great knowledge. They quote him, they feel wiser and they feel equipped with knowledge how to escape from that knot of life´s troubles. I know I did. I still remember Alchemist´s great revelation and Fifth mountain´s hope. To this very day I find myself silently thanking for the kick I got to escape my knot. They say answers come when needed in any form. One of mine came in shape of his book. But now I live differently, I know better, I found myself in his protagonists or only situation and I realized he was talking sense. It was the answer I was looking for and then I acted on it accordingly. Now I do not find myself in those situations anymore, or I´ve became cautious enough to realize in time when one is approaching. I thought everyone did that. But lately, with all the talks I have with my dear friends, I realized, people look for answers, but they do not look for solutions. They look for comfort they find in suffering of another human being. They know then they are not alone. So I still ask myself, what is the purpose of his books?

If reading the story because of the story would be the point, then I must say, he is doing a great job in making up those sweet compelling stories. But he is far from a master storyteller. I doubt his success is due to his ability to come up with a great storyline. Rather, I believe, he finds something he wants to share and then finds a story to properly unveil it. Reading the story is not the point, in my view. The point is the lesson. But to get to the lesson one must read the story first. Ok, that is logic. But what does it say about the faithful reader of his? What would a faithful reader be like?   

In that matter, Paulo Coelho´s readers (or of any similar author) are specialties.  If learning the lesson is the point, then I would imagine a reader growing up and eventually not having that kind of troubles anymore. He would get the great insight that would work as a handy tool to explain reality to himself and so he would not feel the need to buy another book. He would feel strong enough to survive on his own. A faithful reader would take a bow and leave. That would then show itself in book sale growing fewer in numbers not greater. That is not the case. So I am asking myself again, what does that say about the readers? I imagine new generations buying books, new generations mean same troubles emerging. Ok. That is fine. But what of the people who are repeatedly reading the same book over and over again. And I know of quite a few myself. Sri Sri, I talked about in my last entry says:  “Wise is who learns from mistakes of others. Less wise the one who learns only from his own. Stupid one repeats them over and over again and never learns from them.” Are Coelho´s readers stupid?    

In his book Aleph Coelho talks in the first person. In those 30 pages I read he admits to have never learned. In that 27 years long relationship he had with a “magic/wise” person he is still unhappy. What does that say about Coelho? Is he the one that suffers from barefoot smith´s horse syndrome (literal translation from Slovene)? Is he the only one who cannot follow his own revelations? Or does he simply stay on the same subject in order to sell, because people always need encouragement and lessons?  Does he want his readers never to learn? (Again I am reminding you, I believe the stories are not the point)

I know I say all my little prayers everyday to that moment when I first received my very own revelation.  And I learned from it. I meditated on it and I recognized the traps on my life´s path. I give a great thank you to Coelho. But then I changed. Not so much changed as I grew. And I looked for other answers that brought me to very core of nature, Physics. There I found my god. Not a benevolent creature, but rather aimless and purposeless great Reason that prefers no one and is more of a victim to its powers than their master. I am not saying that is the way, I am saying that was my way. And that way brought me to this point when reading about fate, destiny, God´s will, magic, love´s ideals and lessons make me giddy and nervous at the same time. I find it naïve, but necessary nevertheless - for a healthy start. If I could sum a great lesson from mistakes, then it would be that there are no mistakes. There are actions and their consequences. Mistakes are only our emotional interpretation. Sri Sri says: “When you do a new mistake, that is not a mistake, it is a priceless moral. If you repeat the same mistake, than this is the mistake. Mistake means you did not fully understood the moral that came your way. Do not weep over mistakes. Learn from them. You will not be judged based on your mistakes, but on the base of your virtues. Mistakes are of earth, virtues are divine.”  

I am still a seeker of truth. I still want to understand how things are. I still have the need to dismantle that clod of life´s mysterious clockwork orange.  So I am not changed, but I feel closer to myself. So now I am off to bed and read Aleph. After all, how can I say no to a book that is about author who is wise enough to show me he is not wise at all? Who knows, there might be even a lesson for me in there. If this blog isn´t one already?

And there is that. (Takes a bow and leaves)