The Alchemist

If anyone ever asked me what my philosophy of life is. I would say "Whatever you need in life is present within you; still you have to travel the journey of life to realize that". I could realize this philosophy on reading the book Alchemist by paulo Coelho. I have read this book many times over and every time it appears different to me. Tough the final teaching is always the same the path it takes varies from time to time.

The very first time I had read it was as a kid, say as a 10 year old. I happened to glance through it in the school library. The sole reason i picked up that book was that, it was the thinnest book available on the desk, with a dead line to finish the book you are reading in one week, that too with only an hour long reading period that too just four days a week, I couldn’t think of anything else.

And i started reading, it said about a shepherd, having a huge flock. I immediately related him to DAN in the "Dan the Shepherd" story which we learned in bible school. He used to talk to his shepherd and understand what they speak; he took care of his sheep, fed them and covered them. In short he was a good shepherd like Jesus. Then he started getting strange dreams, dreams of deserts, treasures, wars and pyramids. He was lured by eveil spirit, and sold his sheep to get money to go in search of some hidden treasure. He went through all the hardships in life, just to realize that what he was looking for was in his sheep shed itself.

Wow that was a good bed time story, it even has a moral. The boy didn’t value the treasures he owned, so life put him into hardships to realize the value of the things he owned.

The next time i read it was as a young teenager, Filled with fantasies of prince charming. And I read that it was the story of a young shepherd, who was well read and could speak on many topics, a typical heroic material. He had the courage to sacrifice what he owned, in order to pursue his dream. In the hunt he lost everything he owned, but he gained the most precious thing in life. He found love. He was mistaking the attraction for the merchant’s daughter for love, until he meets fatima - the desert girl. She taught him the most importance lesson of love that is sacrifice. She gave him the freedom in love, which in today’s world we fail to give our partners. She told him, "if i am the girl of your dreams you will come back to me, and if you are the man of my dreams no one will seek me before that". He goes in search of his treasure, which he ultimately finds in his sheep shed itself. God made him go through this long lane for finding his treasure. God had his reasons behind it. Firstly he wanted to make the boy strong enough to face the hardships of life, he wanted to make him worthy of the huge treasure he owned. Secondly he wanted him to realize what true love is.

What a beautiful love story, a perfect story to make a movie on. It has all the romance and action a love story can ask for. Also it has the most perfect end.

Then again I read the book a few months back. I was surprised to know that i had overlooked so many things present in it. The book was much deeper than I had interpreted so far. It spoke about the essence of life. The shepherd was most comfortable with the sheep; he could speak to them as well as understand them. Many times in our life we define our comfort zone and we are in constant fear of loosing it. This is the key reason why people fear to take risk and move further. The writer presents a shepherd, who was too well read and talented for a shepherd. He was given a dream which he aspired to pursue. He decided to move away from him comfort zone, sold his sheep and went in search of the treasure. He gained varied experiences in life, which he could never have gained, had he not moved out. He met a so called him, who gives him two stones, which he considered very precious. It was the presence of these stones that he could move forward in the direction of his dreams. Much later he realizes that the urim and thunnim which were his only treasures were nothing but pebbles found everywhere. It teaches us that we can derive strength from any small, insignificant thing, its the way we look at it that is important. He meets the crystal merchant who is alive, because he has a unfulfilled dream left. But he doesn’t want to fulfill it because he will loose his purpose of living. Most importantly he meets the alchemist, who gives him the ultimate lessons of life. The reason he gave to the boy for why not many people are alchemist, i.e. why many people cant convert lead to gold, explains the essence of life. People wanted to learn alchemy not because they wanted to learn the science, but because they wanted to accumulate gold. This is where we all go wrong in life. We don’t want to learn to live; we want to move ahead in life as fast as we can. By the time we learn to live, there won’t be much life left to live. The hardships and troubles are a part of life. We have to go though them in order to realize what we have in us.

“The ultimate philosophy of life” What can be a better way to understand life?

I may again read the book; say some 10-20 years down the line. I am sure there are many things still left which I have over looked.