The Zahir...

I was reading this book called The Zahir- Paulo Coelho. I started reading it as a desperate attempt to read something and also since this was the only option available then. As usual, this book is too philosophical, full of preachings or may be that was my presumption. As I continued reading, I was surprised. The thoughts put down in this very book have shaken me completely. The book has churned out some of my deepest fears, addressed some basic questions about life and love. I completely love it and don't want to forget the thoughts so I have jotted them down here. Here are some of the beautiful thoughts quoted straight from the book.

Zahir, in Arabic means Obsession, a thing, which completely fills your mind, and you cant think of anything but that thing..!!

- In this book, Zahir is the author's wife who goes missing and only when she goes away, he realizes that her thoughts fill up his mind completely.

A few more:

· There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure
· When everyone dreams but only a few realize their dreams that make cowards of us all.
· Live. If you live, God will live with you. If you refuse to run his risks, he’ll retreat to that distant heaven and be merely a subject for philosophical speculation. Everyone knows this, but no one takes the first step, perhaps for fear of being called insane.
· You’re someone who’s different, but who wants to be the same as everyone else. And that, in my view, is a serious illness
· When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
· Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose--and commit myself to--what is best for me
· We all have the ability…we just don't all have the courage to follow our dreams and to follow the signs
· We wouldn't worry nearly as much about what others thought of us if we recognize how seldom they do
· I don’t know what to do. I only know that it’s taken me years to understand that life was pushing me in a direction I didn’t want to go in.
· I don't regret the painful times; I bare my scars as if they were medals
· We are heading towards a point where things are becoming too comfortable, where love stops creating problems and confrontations and becomes instead merely a solution
· Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering
· The universe speaks its own language, the language of signs scattered all around us. We all have the power to read these signs if we look with an open eye and a clear conscience
· That's how love got lost," he said. "When we started laying down rules for when love should or shouldn't appear
· No one is alone during tribulations – there’s always someone else thinking, rejoicing or suffering in the same way. This thought gives us strength to face the challenge that lies in front of us
· We need to forget what we think we are, so that we can really become what we are


About railway tracks:

The author wonders about the distance between the railway tracks and why has it been so... why 143.5? And not some round no. like 150? He comes to know that it has been so since the Romans first made it so coz the distance between the two horses in a carriage was that. .It hasn't changed since!!!
After explaining the reason for the railway tracks to be exactly 143.5 cms apart:

‘..At some point in history, someone turned up and said: when two people get married, they must stay frozen like that for the rest of their lives. You will move along side by side like two tracks, keeping always that same distance apart. Even if sometimes one of you needs to be a little further away or a little closer, that is against the rules. The rules say: be sensible, think of the future, think of your children. You can’t change; you must be like two railway tracks that remain the same distance apart all the way from their point of departure of their destination. The rules don’t allow for love to change, or to grow at the start and diminish halfway through – it’s too dangerous. And so, after the enthusiasm of the first few years, they maintain the same distance, the same solidity, and the same functional nature. Your purpose is to allow the train bearing the survival of the species to head off into the future: your children will only apart. If you’re not happy with something that never changes, think of them, think of the children you brought into the world’

About the question: ‘Why am I unhappy?’:
No one should ever ask themselves that: why am I unhappy? The question carries within it the virus that will destroy everything. If we ask that question, it means we want to find out what makes us happy. If what makes us happy is different from what we have now, then we must either change once and for all or stay as we are, feeling even unhappy.

Why people are sad?
“That’s simple,” says the old man. “They are the prisoners of their personal history. Everyone believes that the main aim in life is to follow a plan. They never ask if that plan is theirs or if it was created by another person. They accumulate experiences, memories, things other people’s ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they have their dreams.”

The accommodator:
The accommodator or giving-up point: there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for us failing to progress: a trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, a disappearance in love, even a victory that we did not quite understand, can make cowards of us and prevent us from moving on. As part of the process of increasing his hidden powers, the shaman must first free himself from that giving-up point and, to do so, he must review his whole life and find out where it occurred.

About loneliness:
Needless to say, I had been alone on other occasions during the year. Needless to say, my girlfriend was only two hours away by plane. Needless to say, after a busy day, what could be better than a stroll through the narrow streets and lanes of the old city, without having to talk to anyone, simply enjoying the beauty around me? And yet the feeling that surfaced was one of oppressive, distressing loneliness – not having someone with whom I could share the city, the walk, and the things I’d like to say.
..there is nothing worse than the feeling that no one cares whether we exist or not, that no one is interested in what we have to say about life, and that the world can continue turning without our awkward presence.

About Love:
Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.
This force on earth to make us happy, to bring us closer to God and to our neighbors and yet, given the way that we love now, we enjoy one hour of anxiety for every minute of peace

About friends:
Our true friends are those who are with us when the good things happen. They cheer us on and are pleased by our triumphs. False friends only appear at difficult times, with their sad, supportive faces, when, in fact, our suffering is serving to console them for their miserable lives.