Refresh Your Soul

When I go to the bookshop that I usually go to, I always glance at the bookshelf where Paulo Coelho's books are, hoping that there will be a new one. And a couple of weeks ago, there was! :) It was called "Like the Flowing River" and I grabbed it, bought it and came home!

There were so many other books in my "to be read" queue, yet I jumped this book ahead of everything else so that I can have a wonderful book which I know will be definitely worth the read.

It is a book which has the sub title "Thoughts and reflections", a collection of Coelho's stories and articles which have been published in newspapers and put together at the request of all his readers. There are excerpts that I would like to share, that has sunk in me deeply.


The Story of the Pencil

This is a story told by a grandmother to her grandson about how much she wants him to be like a pencil. The young boy is at first flabbergasted, because to him the pencil his grandmother is holding is the same as any other pencil and therefore lacks any special qualities. But the grandmother goes on the explain the five qualities that a pencil have, and those are qualities that will make anyone happy is he/she is to hang on to them. They are:

1) Even though you are capable of great things, there is always a hand guiding you. Be it your god, or your destiny

2) You will have to sharpen the pencil once in awhile. Although this may hurt the pencil, afterwards it will be sharper. Similarly, you will have to go through suffering and pain during your life, but it will make you a better person.

3)The pencil always has a eraser to wipe out the mistakes. You are sometimes given the opportunity to correct your mistakes, this is not a bad thing

4) What matters most is not its wooden exterior but the graphite inside. Always pay attention to what is happening inside you

5) The pencil always leaves a mark. So be conscious in everything that you do, because you will leave a mark.


Genghis Khan and his Falcon

The story is about the great Mongol warrior Genghis Khan and his favourite falcon. At a time when Genghis Khan's army could not find water, he ventured alone with his falcon to find water. In his journey, he discovered a thread of water running down from a rock in front of him. Three times he filled his cup and tried to drink the water but all times his falcon hit the cup so that he could not drink it. The next time Khan filled his cup and the falcon took flight to hit it, Khan pierced the bird's breast with much sadness. Although the falcon was his favourite he cannot allow such disrespect in front of his troops. In the meantime, the thread of water had dried up and Genghis Khan went forward to find the spring that fed the water. He found a pool in front of him and a poisonous snake dead in the middle of it. He understood that his faithful falcon, his friend, had saved his life. He brought the dead bird back to camp and ordered his men to build a gold figurine resembling the falcon. On one wing he wrote:

"Even when a friend does something you do not like, he continues to be your friend"

And on the other wing he had these words engraved:

"Any action committed in anger is an action doomed for failure"


How One Thing Can Contain Everything

Paulo Coelho was trying to explain the alchemical idea that each of us contain the whole universe within us and that we are, therefore, responsible to its well-being, to his friends. He was failing to find the right words when a friend, who was a painter, asks everyone to look outside the window.

He asks what they see. They all reply saying that they see a street. The painter sticks a paper over the window so that the street cannot be seen anymore, and he uses his penknife to cut a small square in the paper and asks what they can see if they looked through the square. They all reply that they would be able to see the same street that they saw earlier. He cuts several more squares in the paper and says:

"Just as each of these holes contain within it the whole view of the street, so each one of us contains in our soul the same universe"


Meeting in the Dentsu Gallery

A poem by a Japanese poet and calligrapher, Mitsuo Aida (1924-91)

Because it has lived its life intensely
the parched grass still attracts the gaze of passers-by.
The flowers merely flower,
and they do this as well as they can.
The white lily, blooming unseen in the valley,
Does not need to explain itself to anyone;
It lives merely for beauty.
Men, however, cannot accept that 'merely'.

If tomatoes wanted to be melons,
they would look completely ridiculous.
I am always amazed
that so many people are concerned
with wanting to be what they are not;
what's the point of making yourself look ridiculous?

You don't always have to pretend to be strong,
there's no need to prove all the time that everything is going well,
you shouldn't be concerned about what other people are thinking,
cry if you need to,
it's good to cry out all your tears
(because only then will you be able to smile again)


This book is filled with much more wonderful stories. It is Coelho's opinion that a miracle is something that fills the soul with peace. This book is a miracle!