Remaining Open To Love

There are times when we long to be able to help someone whom we love very much, but we can do nothing. Circumstances will not allow us to approach them, or the person is closed off to any gesture of solidarity and support.

Then all we are left with is love. At such times, when we can do nothing else, we can still love - without expecting any reward or change or gratitude.

If we do this, the energy of love will begin to transform the universe about us. Wherever this energy appears, it always achieves its ends. 'Time does not transform man. Will power does not transform man. Love transforms,' says Henry Drummond.

I read in the newspaper about a little girl in Brasília who was brutally beaten by her parents. As a result, she lost all physical movement, as well as the ability to speak.
Once admitted to hospital, she was cared for by a nurse who said to her every day: 'I love you.' Although the doctors assured her that the child could not hear and that all her efforts were in vain, the nurse continued to say: 'Don't forget, I love you.'

Three weeks later, the child recovered the power of movement. Four weeks later, she could again talk and smile. The nurse never gave any interviews, and the newspaper did not publish her name, but let me set this down here, so that we never forget: love cures.

Love transforms and love cures; but, sometimes, love builds deadly traps and can end up destroying a person who had resolved to give him or herself completely. What is this complex feeling which, deep down, is the only reason we continue to live, struggle and improve?
It would be irresponsible of me to attempt to define it, because I, along with every other human being, can only feel it. Thousands of books have been written on the subject, plays have been put on, films produced, poems composed, sculptures carved out of wood or marble; and yet all any artist can convey is the idea of a feeling, not the feeling itself.

But I have learned that this feeling is present in the small things, and manifests itself in the most insignificant of our actions. It is necessary, therefore, to keep love always in mind, regardless of whether or not we take action.

Picking up the phone and saying the affectionate words we have been postponing. Opening the door to someone who needs our help. Accepting a job. Leaving a job. Taking a decision that we were putting off for later. Asking forgiveness for a mistake we made and which keeps niggling at us. Demanding a right that is ours. Opening an account at the local florist's, which is a far more important shop than the jeweller's. Putting music on really loud when the person you love is far away, and turning the volume down when he or she is near. Knowing when to say 'yes' and 'no', because love works with all our energies. Discovering a sport that can be played by two. Not following any recipe, not even those contained in this paragraph, because love requires creativity.

And when none of this is possible, when all that remains is loneliness, then remember this story that a reader once sent to me.
A rose dreamed day and night about bees, but no bee ever landed on her petals.
The flower, however, continued to dream. During the long nights, she imagined a heaven full of bees, which flew down to bestow fond kisses on her. By doing this, she was able to last until the next day, when she opened again to the light of the sun.

One night, the moon, who knew of the rose's loneliness, asked: 'Aren't you tired of waiting?'
'Possibly, but I have to keep trying.'
'Why?'
'Because if I don't remain open, I will simply fade away.'
At times, when loneliness seems to crush all beauty, the only way to resist is to remain open.

From Like the Flowing River, © 2006 by Paulo Coelho, published by HarperCollins.

A Christmas Story From Paulo Coelho

Jose’s Sandals
‘

A long time ago, so many years ago that we can
no longer remember the exact date, there lived in a
village in the south of Brazil a little seven-year-old boy
called José. He had lost his parents when he was very,
very young and had been adopted by a miserly aunt
who, even though she had lots of money, spent almost
nothing on her nephew. José, having never known the
meaning of love, assumed that this was simply the way
life was and so it didn’t bother him at all.

They lived in an extremely affluent neighbourhood,
but the aunt persuaded the head teacher of the local
school to take on her nephew for only a tenth of the
normal tuition fee, threatening to complain to the
Prefect if he declined her offer. The head teacher had
no option but to agree; however, he instructed the
teachers to take every opportunity to humiliate José in
the hope that he would misbehave and give them a
pretext for expelling him. José, having never known
love, assumed that this was simply the way life was
and so it didn’t bother him at all.

Christmas Eve arrived. The village priest was on holiday
and all the pupils had to go to mass in a church
some distance from the village. The girls and boys
walked along, chatting about what they would find the
next day beside the shoes they left out for Father
Christmas: fashionable clothes, expensive toys, chocolates,
skateboards, and bicycles. Since it was a special
day, they were all well-dressed, all except José, who was
wearing his usual ragged clothes and the same battered
sandals several sizes too small (his aunt had given them
to him when he was four, saying that he would only get
a new pair when he was ten). Some of the children
asked why he was so poor and said they would be
ashamed to have a friend who wore such clothes and
shoes. Since José had never known love, their questions
and comments didn’t bother him at all.

However, when they went into the church, and he
heard the organ playing and saw the bright lights and
the congregation in their Christmas finery, saw families
gathered together and parents embracing their
children, José felt he was the most wretched of creatures.
After communion, instead of walking back home
with the others, he sat down on the steps of the church
and began to cry. He may never have known love, but
only at that moment did he understand what it was to
be alone and helpless and abandoned by everyone.
Just then, he noticed another small boy beside him,
barefoot and apparently as poor as he was. He had
never seen the boy before and so assumed that he must
have walked a long way to get there. He thought: ‘His
feet must be really sore. I’ll give him one of my sandals.
That will at least relieve half of his pain.’

Although José had never known love, he knew about
suffering and didn’t want others to experience it too.
He gave one of his sandals to the boy and returned
home with the other one. He wore the sandal first on
his right foot and then on his left, so that he didn’t
bruise the soles of his feet too badly on the stones
along the way. As soon as he reached home, his aunt
noticed that he was wearing only one sandal and told
him that if he didn’t find the other sandal the next day,
he would be harshly punished.

José went to bed feeling very afraid because he
knew what his aunt’s punishments were like. He lay all
night trembling with fear, barely able to sleep at all, and
then, just as he was about to drowse off, he heard voices
in the front room. His aunt rushed in, demanding to
know what was going on. Still groggy from lack of
sleep, José joined their visitors and, in the middle of the
front room, saw the sandal he had given to the little boy.
Now, however, it was surrounded by all kinds of toys,
bicycles, skateboards and clothes. The neighbours were
shouting and screaming, declaring that their children
had been robbed, because when they woke up, they had
found nothing beside their shoes at all.

At this point, the priest from the church where they
had celebrated mass the previous day arrived all out of
breath: on the steps of the church a statue of the Baby
Jesus had appeared, clothed entirely in gold, but wearing
only one sandal. Silence fell, everyone present
praised God and his miracles, and the aunt wept and
begged for forgiveness. And José’s heart was filled
with the energy and the meaning of Love.

(Based on a story written in 1903 by François Coppée)
Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa

Warrior of The Light

In my previous blog, I used to reproduce Paulo Coelho's writings in the Warrior of The Light. And I am going to continue this practice here as his work has influenced me greatly in my life.

Stories about arrogance

The arrogance of power

The master and his disciple were talking at a street corner when an old woman came up to them:
"Get away from my window!" shouted the old lady. "You are disturbing the customers". The master apologized and crossed over to the other sidewalk.
They went on talking until an officer came up to them and said: "We need you to move away from this sidewalk. The count will be passing by here in a few moments".
"Let him use the other side of the street", answered the master, without moving. Then he turned to his disciple and told him: "Don’t forget: never be arrogant to the humble. And never be humble to the arrogant."

The arrogance of sanctity

The Zen monk spent ten years meditating in his cave, trying to find out the path to the Truth. While he was praying one afternoon, a monkey came up to him. The monk tried to concentrate, but the monkey drew closer and seized the monk’s sandal.
“Damned monkey!” said the hermit. “Why have you come to disturb my prayers?”
“I’m hungry,” said the monkey.
“Go away! You are disturbing my communicating with God!”
“How can you talk to God if you cannot manage to communicate with humble creatures like me?” said the monkey.
And the monk apologized, feeling ashamed.

The arrogance of force

The village was threatened by a tribe of barbarians. The inhabitants were abandoning their houses and fleeing to a safer place. At the end of a year they had all left – except a group of Jesuits.
The army of barbarians entered the city without any resistance and held a great feast to commemorate the victory. In the middle of the dinner a priest appeared.
“You came in here and drove out peace. I beg you to leave at once.”
"Why haven’t you fled yet?" shouted the chief of the barbarians. "Don’t you see that I can run you through with my sword without blinking an eye?"
The priest answered calmly:
"Don’t you see that I can be run through by a sword without blinking an eye?"
Surprised by such serenity before death, the chief of the barbarians and his tribe abandoned the place the next day.

The arrogance of envy

In the Syrian desert, Satan told his disciples: "Human beings are always more concerned about wishing evil on others than doing good to themselves".
And to demonstrate what he was saying, he decided to test two men who were resting nearby.
"I have come to make your wishes come true", he said to one of them. "Whatever you want will be given to you. Your friend will receive the same thing – except double".
The man remained in silence for a long while, and then he finally said: "My friend is content because he will have double, no matter what my wish is. But I have prepared a trap for him: my wish is that you make me blind in one eye".

Source: The Warrior of The Light