Maktub

by Paulo Coelho

  At a luncheon, a person broke his glass. Another person said, "That's a sign of good luck." Everyone at the table knew of the belief. But a rabbi who was there asked: "Why is that a sign of good luck?" "I don't know," said the wanderer's wife. "Perhaps it's an ancient way of preventing the guest from feeling bad."

  "No, that's not the explanation," the rabbi said. "Certain Jewish traditions have it that every man has a certain quota of luck, which he uses up over the course of his life. One can make that quota pay interest if he uses his luck only for things he really needs -or he can use his luck in a wasteful fashion. We Jews also say 'Good luck' when someone breaks a glass. But it means, 'It's good that you didn't use up any of your luck trying to keep the glass from breaking. Now, you can use it for more important things. '"

  Padre Abraham knew that close to the monastery at Sceta lived a hermit reputed to be a wise man. He sought the man out and asked him: "If you were to find a beautiful woman in your bed today, would you be able to convince yourself that it was not a woman?" "No," answered the wise man. "But I would be able to control myself." The padre went on: "And if you found some gold coins in the desert, would you be able to regard the money as stones?" "No," said the wise man. "But I would be able to control myself and leave them there." The padre insisted: "And if you were consulted by two brothers, one of whom hates you and the other of whom loves you, would you be able to regard them as equals?" The hermit answered: "Even though I might suffer inside, I would treat the one who loved me in the same way as the one who hated me." "I will explain to you what a wise man is," the padre later told his disciples. "It is he who, rather than killing his passions, is able to control them."

  W. Frasier, throughout his life, wrote about the American west, and was proud of having written the screenplay for a film that starred Gary Cooper. He said that there were very few times in his life when he became angry. "I learned many things from the pioneers," he said. "They fought the indians, crossed deserts, searched for food and water in remote places. And all that was written during that period shows that they demonstrated a curious trait: the pioneers wrote only about and talked about only good things. Instead of complaining, they composed songs and jokes about their difficulties. That way, they avoided discouragement and depression. And today, at age 88, I try to do the same thing."

  The text is adapted from a poem by John Muir: "I want to free my soul so that it can enjoy all of the gifts that the spirits own. When this is possible, I will not try to know the craters of the moon, nor track the rays of the sun to their source. I will not try to understand the beauty of a star, nor the artificial desolation of a human being. "When I learn how to free my soul, I will follow the dawn, and to return with it through time. When I learn how to free my soul, I will plunge into the magnetic currents that drain into an ocean where all waters meet to form the Soul of the World. "When I learn how to free my soul, I will try to read the splendid page of Creation from the beginning."

  One of the sacred symbols of Christianity is the figure of the pelican. The reason is simple: in the total absence of food to eat, the pelican plunges its beak into its own flesh to feed its young. The master says:

  "We are often incapable of understanding the blessings we have received. Many times we do not perceive what He does to keep us spiritually nourished. There is a story about a pelican who -during a hard winter -sacrificed herself by providing her own flesh to her children. When she finally died of weakness, one of the nestlings said to another: 'Finally! I was getting tired of eating the same old thing every day. '"

  If you are dissatisfied with something -even a good thing that you would like to do, but have not been able to -stop now. If things are not going well, there are only two explanations: either your perseverance is being tested, or you need to change direction. In order to discover which of those options is correct -since they are opposites -make use of silence and prayer. Little by little, things will become strangely clear, until you have sufficient strength to choose. Once you have made your decision, forget completely the other possibility. And go forward, because God is the God of the Valiant. Domingos Sabino said:

  "Everything always turns out for the best. If things are not going well, it is because you have not yet reached the end."

  The Brazilian composer, Nelson Motta, was inBahia , when he decided to pay a visit to Mother Menininha de Gantois. He caught a taxi, and on their way, the driver lost his brakes. The car spun around in the middle of the road, but other than being frightened, nothing serious occurred. When he met with Mother Menininha, the first thing Nelson told her about was the near accident in the middle of the road.

  "There are certain things that are already written, but God finds us a way to get past them without any serious problem. That is, it was a part of your destiny to be in an automobile accident at this point in your life," she said. "But, as you see, everything happened -and nothing."

  "There was something missing from your talk about the Road toSantiago ," said a pilgrim to the wanderer as they were leaving the conference together. "I have noticed that the majority of pilgrims," she said, "whether on the Road toSantiago or on their paths through life, always seek to follow the same pace as the others. At the beginning of my pilgrimage, I tried to walk at the same pace as my group. I got tired, I demanded more of my body than it could deliver, I was tense, and I wound up with problems in the tendons of my left foot. It was impossible for me to walk for two days, and I learned that I would be able to get toSantiago only if I went at my own pace. It took me longer than the others, and I walked alone for many stretches along the road. But it was only because I respected my own pace that I was able to walk the entire road. Since then, I have applied that lesson to everything I do in my life."

  Croesus, the king ofLydia , had made the decision to attack the Persians, but nevertheless wanted to consult with a Greek oracle. "You are fated to destroy a great empire," the oracle said. Happily, Croesus declared war. After two days of battle,Lydia was invaded by the Persians, its capital was sacked, and Croesus was taken prisoner. Revolted, he asked his ambassador toGreece to go back to the oracle and tell him how wrong he had been. "No, it was you who were wrong," said the oracle to the ambassador.

  "You destroyed a great empire:Lydia ." The master says: "The language of signs is there is before us, to teach us the best way to act. But many times we try to distort those signs so that they "agree" with what we wanted to do in the first place.

  Buscaglia tells the story about the fourth of the Magi, who also saw the star shining overBethlehem . But he was always late in arriving at the place where Jesus might be, because along the way, the poor and needy stopped him to ask him for help. After thirty years of following in Jesus's footsteps, throughEgypt , Galilee andBethany , the magus reachedJerusalem , but was again too late. The child Jesus was now a man, and the magus had arrived on the day of the crucifixion. The king had brought pearls to give to Jesus, but had sold everything in order to help those whom he had met along the way. Only one pearl remained, but the Saviour was already dead. "I have failed in the mission of my life," the king thought.

  And then he heard a voice: "Contrary to what you are thinking, you have been with me all your life. I was nude, and you dressed me. I was hungry, and you fed me. I was imprisoned, and you visited me. I was in every poor soul along the way. Thank you for so many presents of love."

  A science fiction story tells of a society where almost everyone is born ready to perform a function: technicians, engineers or mechanics. Only a few are born without any skills: these are sent to an insane asylum, since only crazy people are unable to make a contribution to society. One of the insane rebels. The asylum has a library, where he attempts to learn everything there is to know about the arts and sciences. When he feels that he knows enough, he decides to escape, but he is captured and taken to a research center outside the city. "Welcome," says one of the people in charge of the center. "It is those who have been forced to make their own way that we admire most. From now on,
you may do as you please, since it is thanks to people like you that the world is able to progress."

  Before leaving on a long trip, a businessman was saying good-bye to his wife. "You have never brought me a present that was worthy of me," she said. "You ungrateful woman, everything I have given you cost me years of work," the man answered. "What else can I give you?" "Something that is as beautiful as I am." For two years, the woman awaited her present. Finally, her husband returned. "I was able to find something that is as beautiful as you," he said. "I wept at your ingratitude, but I resolved that I would do as you asked. I thought all this time that there couldn't be a present as beautiful as you, but I found one." And he handed her a mirror.

  The German philosopher, F. Nietzsche, once said: "It's not worthwhile to spend time discussing everything; it is a part of the human condition to err from time to time." The master says: "There are people who insist that they be right about even minor details. They often do not permit themselves to make a mistake. What they accomplish with that attitude is a fear of moving ahead. Fear of making a mistake is the door that locks us into the castle of mediocrity. If we are able to overcome that fear, we have taken an important step in the direction of our freedom."

  A novice asked the Father Superior Nisteros at the monastery at Sceta: "What are the things I should do in order to please God?" Father Nisteros answered: "Abraham accepted strangers, and God was happy. Elijah did not like strangers, and God was happy. David was proud of what he did, and God was happy. The Roman publican, before the altar, was ashamed of what he did, and God was happy. John the Baptist went into the desert, and God was happy. Jonah went to the great city ofNinevah , and God was happy. Ask your soul what it wants to do. When your soul is in agreement with your dreams, it makes God happy."

  A Buddhist master was traveling on foot with his disciples, when he noted that they were discussing among themselves who was the best. "I have practiced meditation for fifteen years," said one. "I have been charitable ever since I left my parents' home," said another. "I have always followed the precepts of Buddha," said a third. At noon, they stopped under an apple tree to rest. The branches of the tree were loaded down with fruit, to the point that its branches reached to the ground. "When a tree is laden with fruit, its branches bend to touch the ground. The truly wise is he who is humble. When a tree bears no fruit, its branches are arrogant and haughty. The foolish man always believes that he is better than others."

  Antonio Machado says: "Blow by blow, step by step, Pathfinder, there is no path, The path is made to be walked. By walking, the path is made, And if you look back, All you will see are the marks Of footsteps that one day Your feet will once again take. Pathfinder, there is no path, The path is made to be walked."

  At the Last Supper, Jesus accused -with the same gravity and using the same phrase -two of his apostles. Both had committed the crimes foreseen by Jesus. Judas Iscariot recovered his senses and condemned himself. Peter also recovered his senses, after denying three times everything he had believed in. But at the decisive moment, Peter understood the true meaning of Jesus' message. He asked forgiveness and went on, humiliated. He could have chosen suicide, but instead he faced the other apostles and must have said: "Okay, speak of my error for as long as the human race exists. But let me correct it." Peter understood that Love forgives. Judas understood nothing.

  A famous writer was walking with a friend when a boy started to cross the street in front of an oncoming truck. The writer, in a fraction of a second, threw himself in front of the truck and was able to save the boy. But, before anyone could praise him for his act of heroism, he slapped the boy across the face.

  "Don't be fooled by appearances, my boy," he said. "I saved you only so that you couldn't evade the problems you will have as an adult." The master says: "Sometimes we are afraid of doing good. Our sense of guilt always tries to tell us that -when we act with generosity -we are merely trying to impress others. It is difficult for us to accept that we are good by nature. We mask our good acts with irony and indifference, as if live were synonymous with weakness."

  Jesus looked at the table before him, wondering what would be the best symbol of his passage on Earth.

  On the table were pomegranates from Galilee, spices from the deserts of the south, dried fruits fromSyria and Egyptian dates. He must have extended His hand to consecrate one of them, when suddenly he recalled the message that he brought was for all men everywhere. And perhaps pomegranates and dates did not exist is some parts of the world. He looked about him, and another thought occurred to him: in the pomegranates and the dates and the fruits, the miracle of Creation manifested itself without any interference by human beings. So he picked up the bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: "Take and eat, all of you, for this is my Body." Because bread was everywhere. And bread, in contrast with the dates, the pomegranates and the fruits ofSyria , was the best symbol of the path toward God. Bread was the fruit of the earth and of man's labors.

  The juggler stops in the middle of the plaza, pulls out three oranges and begins to toss them. People gather round and marvel at the grace and elegance of his movements. "That's what life's like, more or less," someone standing there with the wanderer says. "We always have an orange in each hand, and one in the air. But that one in the air makes all the difference. It was thrown with ability and experience, but it follows its own course. Like the juggler, we throw a dream out into the world, but we don't always have control over it. At times like that, you have to know how to put yourself in God's hands -and ask that, in due time, the dream follows its course correctly and falls, completed, back into your hand."

  One of the most powerful exercises in interior growth consists in paying attention to things we do automatically -like breathing, blinking our eyes, or attending to things around us. When we do this, we allow our brain to work with greater freedom -without the interference of our desires. Certain problems that appeared to be insoluble wind up being resolved, and certain pains that we thought could never be overcome wind up dissipating effortlessly. The master says: "When you have to confront a difficult situation, try to use that technique. It requires a bit of discipline... but the results can be surprising".

  A man is at a fair, selling vases. A woman approaches and examines his merchandise. Some pieces are undecorated, while others have carefully wrought designs. The woman asks the price of the vases. To her surprise, she learns that they all cost the same. "How can the decorated vase cost the same as the simple ones?" she asks. "Why charge the same for a vase that it took more time and effort to make?" "I am an artist," the seller says. "I can charge for the vase I made, but not for its beauty. The beauty is free."

  The wanderer was seated alone at a mass. Suddenly, he was approached by a friend. "I have to talk to you," the friend said. The wanderer saw in the meeting a sign, and began to talk about what he considered to be important. He spoke of God's blessings, of love, and of the fact that he saw his friend's arrival as a signal from his angel, because moments before the wanderer had felt alone, whereas now he had company. The friend listened without saying a word, thanked the wanderer, and left. Rather than happiness, the wanderer fell more alone than ever. Later, he realized that, in his enthusiasm, he had paid no attention to his friends request: that he speak. The wanderer looked down and saw his words thrown to the floor. Because the Universe wanted something different to have happened at that moment.

  Three fairies were invited to the baptism of a prince. The first granted the prince the gift of finding his love. The second granted him enough money to do as he pleased. The third granted him beauty. But, as in all fairy tales, a witch appeared. She was furious at not having been invited, and pronounced a curse:

  "Because you already have everything, I'm going to give you even more. You will be talented at whatever you try to do." The prince grew up handsome, rich and in love. But he was never able to complete his mission on Earth. He was an excellent painter, sculptor, musician, mathematician -but
he was never able to complete a task because he quickly became distracted and wanted to move on to something else. The master says: "All roads lead to the same place. But choose your own, and follow it to the end. Do not try to walk every road."

  An anonymous text from the XVIII century speaks of a Russian monk who was looking for a spiritual adviser. One day, he was told that in a certain village lived a hermit who dedicated himself night and day to the salvation of his soul. Hearing this, the monk went in search of the holy man. "I want you to guide me along the paths of the soul," the monk said when he found the hermit. "The soul has its own path, and your angel will guide you," answered the hermit. "Pray without stopping." "I don't know how to pray like that. Will you teach me?" "If you do not know how to pray incessantly, then pray to God to teach you how to do so." "You are teaching me nothing," said the monk. "There is nothing to be taught, because you cannot transmit faith in the same way that you transmit knowledge about mathematics. Accept the mystery of faith, and the Universe will reveal itself."

  The master says: "Write! Whether it's a letter, a diary or just some notes as you speak on the telephone -but write! In writing, we come closer to God and to others. If you want to understand your role in the world better, write. Try to put your soul in writing, even if no one reads your words -or worse, even if someone winds up reading what you did not want to be read. The simple fact of writing helps us to organize our thoughts and see more clearly what is in our surroundings. A paper and pen perform miracles -they alleviate pain, make dreams come true and summon lost hope. The word has power."

  The monks of the desert affirmed that it was necessary to allow the hand of the angels to act. In order to bring this about, they sometimes did absurd things -such as speaking to the flowers or laughing without cause. The alchemists follow the "signs from God;" clues that sometimes make very little sense but wind up leading somewhere. The master says: "Do not fear being regarded as crazy -do something today that fits not at all with the logic you have learned. Behave is a way that is opposite to the usual serious comportment you were taught. This little thing, no matter how little it is, can open the door to a great adventure -human and spiritual."