Reading Coelho

'Aleph' is the second novel by Paulo Coelho that I have read. I never looked for him, were never drawn to the titles or descriptions of his books, and to be honest, when I unexpectedly had one of his books placed in front of me, I found him very bothersome to read. I will try to explain why. 

In one of the most famous of Plato's texts-- the symposium-- Socrates and a gathering of other men takes turns keeping a eulogy for love. When it is Socrates turn, he says that the others have not at all done what they said they would do. Instead of keeping a eulogy for love, they gave love qualities and characteristics it does not have. They romanticized and beautified it all, which made it into something else and, in the end, quite pointless.
       I feel that Coelho is doing just that. It is not 'wrong' to be doing so, not at all. But he strays off far from reason and honesty and explains things he does not understand by mixing God and vague spiritual phenomenons in his writings. Had I not known he has the kind of influence he has over people all over the world and that they look to him as to some sort of spiritual leader, I might have enjoyed reading him more. If he had approached the theories he has in a different way, if he had not tried to give them the approach of a global truth, if he had not let his success rise above his head and had he not called himself-- indirectly-- a prophet*, I might have found his work slightly more worthwhile for its mysticism and artificial beauty. Let me try to explain further. Conviction is man's most dangerous weapon. To be convinced is to stand aiming with a loaded gun with the intention to fire. A weapon is to many something used for destruction and  disruption, while according to the Oxford American dictionary it is "a means of gaining an advantage or defending oneself in a conflict or contest". To me, it is something useful if you desire change. But wether it is the first, second or third, it is quite irrelevant when you put a weapon in the hands of someone who does not know how it works; how you load it, how you pull the trigger, where the bullet goes out, what you are supposed to aim at and why you aim at something at all. Someone who does not know all of this, will cause great and pointless pain. The sense of value and conviction must come with reasonable arguments that we can all understand. Saying things such as "love always triumphs over what we call death. {...} If you don't believe it then there's no reason my trying to explain.", puts a weapon in your hands, if you let yourself be convinced by the above (and it is easy because powerful words are used). But it does not give you the wisdom to use it, nor the wisdom not to use it. Letting faith and belief fill in the blanks and answer questions you can't answer yourself with truth and reason is a good way for yourself to deal with the problem on short terms, but not for others to understand the question asked, if you catch my drift... If you don't, I will probably dedicate a post solely to this topic sooner or later.

 And you will not free yourself from guilt by expecting forgiveness from others. Nietzsche wrote, I think in 'The Gay Science', that:

"Although the most acute judges of witches, and even the witches themselves, were convinced of the guilt of witchery, the guilt nevertheless was nonexistent. It is thus with all guilt."

Forgiveness comes from yourself and is about accepting the present and the situation you are in. Sometimes it is easier to do this with an act of kindness, a word of forgiveness from a loved one, but in the end, it comes only from yourself. And remember that by saying "I forgive the world and all its evils", you are also accepting the world and all its evils, which is all well, but best to be remembered to avoid misunderstandings...

But! Not once yet in my life time have I read a book which has had nothing of value to say to me. 'Aleph' brings up the subject of aikido a couple of times and its teachings of the path to peace...:

"The Path to Peace flows like a river and because it resists nothing, it has won even before it has begun. The art of peace is unbeatable because no one is fighting against anyone, only themselves. If you conquer yourself, then you will conquer the world."

"The Path to Peace appears to be a fight, but it isn't. It's the art of filling up what is missing and emptying out what is superfluous."

And my favorite:

"Train your heart. That is the discipline every warrior needs."

Read 'Aleph' with a light heart. Do not read it if you are looking for answers. Read it if you are looking for adventure in an everyday life full of tedious routines. Just make sure you don't find yourself armed after having turned the last page...

* Right after Coelho had finished his journey on the trans-siberian rail road (which is what the book is about), he was summoned to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin who had heard of his adventure. The conversation that was held bothers me a great deal. There was nothing of any value in it. Why was it so important for Coelho to meet Putin if it was only to chit-chat?