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Jack Speaks His Mind - Paulo Coelho
1. As a child, which book impressed you most? The Arabian Nights
2. To which literary character do you most relate? All the characters
in my books (as I am a writer), including the female ones.
3. Who is the greatest promise of the 21st century? Developing
the feminine side of humankind - intuition, and a different perception
of reality, which includes the invisible reality
4. Which classic have you tried reading, but you can't seem to finish?
Ulisses, by James Joyce
5. Which book are you reading at the moment? "The sewing
circles of Heart", by Christina Lamb (a war correspondent)
6. Which work of non-fiction has most opened your eyes? "I
will dress you in mourning", Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins
7. How do you treat your books: do you put them away safely every
time you've been reading or do you take them with you everywhere you go?
I keep only 100 books in my personal library, mostly classics. All the
other books I read, I pass either to a public library or to someone else
8. If your life were a novel, who would it be written by? Me.
9. Which book would you love to see as a film? None.
10. Your bestselling novel The Alchemist reads more like a fairytale compared to your latest book Eleven Minutes. It seems you have turned from dream to reality, from symbolised to raw storytelling. Why this change? No changes. They show different aspects of my own reality - as you see, I am more than one person.
South Africa 11/02/04
EG: In the "Dedication" of your latest novel you write:
"I knew that my new novel, Eleven Minutes, dealt with a subject that
was harsh, difficult, shocking." Were you frightened about the possible
reaction from your readers?
PC: I wouldn't say "frightened". First of all, when a
writer finishes a novel, he doesn't know whether he explained his soul
or not. But in the case of Eleven Minutes, talking about such a sensitive
subject as sexuality, I was not sure that I made my case, that I could
explain myself. I do not write to please, I write to express myself.
EG: How has the reaction been from your readers, especially in their
personal correspondence to you?
PC: I was impressed, it's the book that I have had the most outstanding
feedback on, and not only from women, but from men also, which is not
normal, men don't normally go to the internet to write what they think
about books, it's easier for women to share their thoughts. It seems that
the book touches a nerve; the influential newsletter Publishing Trends
recently announced that Eleven Minutes is the best-selling book in the
world at the moment.
EG: Why is it that men are so afraid of women nowadays? I came across
it quite often in Eleven Minutes.
PC: I think we are afraid of each other when it comes to sex, because
we read so much about sex, we talk so openly about sex, we see movies
and we read books; but when we are face to face with someone else, we
forget our individual patterns; that we are unique. So we try to repeat
other people's patterns, according to what we seen and what we heard.
So most of us are very frustrated, because we don't accept our individuality
as far as sex is concerned.
I think that sex is a very important and a strong force of liberation. In Veronika Decides to Die there is a scene of masturbation, and the only bad reaction that I had was from some teachers in England. They said that I was betraying their students, because they're very fond of my books and now I write about masturbation. Then of course I asked them if they don't masturbate themselves in England, and I'm still waiting for them to answer. Of course they do! Sex is an important issue in our life and, of course, it could not be in The Alchemist or some of my other books, because the main topic of those books was not sex.
EG: Is there any topic that you will never write about?
PC: Writing a book depends on your perception of the world at that
very moment. I never refuse to write about something that I feel. But
there is one thing that I will never write about: when I was arrested
in Brazil and experienced pure hatred and torture. There are enough books
on that subject - it will not add anything.
EG: Who would you say is the greatest living author, a fellow author
that you really admire and whose books you enjoy reading?
PC: Normally ... well ... every time I read a new author's book
I either hate or love it ... (pauses)
EG: ... Well, let me ask which books are next to your bed at the moment
...
PC: Right now I'm reading a book by Christina Lamb, a war correspondent
in Afghanistan. She interviewed me for the Sunday Times in England, and
then she sent me her book. I am really enjoying it. It's only published
in English so far, I'd like to recommend it to my publisher. The name
of the book is The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through
Afghanistan. I also have by my bedside a book by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,
who is a French philosopher, and I always have Jorge Luis Borges by my
bedside, who is a writer that I really respect.
EG: You always write at night. Do you always get so-called writer's
block, and if so, how do you cope with it?
PC: First of all, how I cope with it … you need discipline.
I think that writing is a way to allow yourself to go into the mystery
of your soul. For example, writing Eleven Minutes was a way to discover
how I feel about sex. But I don't write all the time. I write once every
two years. So every two years I sit in front of the computer and say to
myself, "Right, now it is time to put all this emotional energy into
a physical plan," which is my computer. There are times that I don't
feel like sitting in front of the computer. It's got more to do with the
psychological aspect than a lack of inspiration. Sometimes you don't want
to write because you don't want to recognise yourself in your writing.
It has nothing to do with a lack of inspiration, because inspiration is
always there.
EG: We often get a lot of young authors visiting our website. What
advice would you give to an aspiring author who wants to break through
into the international arena?
PC: I always get this question asked in public and in private mails.
My only answer is "Write!" They sometimes think that we have
some answers. I don't think I have. I mean, how did I get my books published?
I started knocking on doors for several years. My only advice is for them
to write.
EG: In one of your books you say that if someone follows his own destiny,
the whole universe will conspire to help him.
PC: Right.
EG: But what about those people who live in extreme poverty? What's
their destiny? Has the universe given them a cold shoulder, or are there
some other solutions?
PC: Of course then the situation is much more complicated, when
one deals with politics and economics. You see now, today, there was this
discussion on weapons of mass destruction, whether it's wrong or right.
But if you really strive, you will overcome. Look at me, I'm from Brazil.
I never thought I had the slightest chance to be published out of Brazil,
but here I am. I'm a living example that the universe conspires. And of
course you need to fight for your values, and then you can also start
opening doors for other people. When I first started to really earn money,
one of the first things I did was to start the Institute. We have close
to 430 children that we look after. So I'm trying my best to solve the
problem, but I am not the government. I cannot change my country, or my
state, or my city, or my neighbourhood, but I can change my street.
EG: You have met thousands of people during your travels around the
globe. Is there anybody you would really like to meet?
PC: I don't know if you have had the chance of reading Gurdjieff's
book Encounters with Remarkable Men. It is quite an interesting book,
because when I bought it I thought it would be about important people.
But these encounters are with ordinary people, like someone who fixes
a piano. So every day you meet someone who is remarkable; it's all about
the treasure that each one of us carries within ourselves. So, I told
you I met Madame Mbeki; I meet her every year because we serve on the
same foundation. She's a remarkable person. But everybody is a remarkable
person, provided that he or she is capable of implementing his or her
capability, whether it is to be a waiter or a writer.
EG: Maybe if you come and visit South Africa you could meet former
president Nelson Mandela?
PC: Oh yes, of course. He is the one person on earth that I give
recognition all over the world. I think Nelson Mandela is the most important
living person in the world, because he is someone totally independent,
he cares about the fate of the world, and he is one of the few people
that I would love to meet who I've never met.
EG: You always say that inspiration for a new book is brought about
by the appearance of a white feather. Is there a white feather floating
in your house at the moment? Do you have any ideas for a new novel?
PC: When there's a white feather I think I should shut my mouth
(laughs). Because I'm in the process of writing a book and you need all
the energy, you can't talk about it. Even my wife knows that I'm writing,
she sees me spending hours in front of the computer. But she doesn't dare
to ask me what I'm busy writing (laughs). So there is a white feather;
I've written about 8 000 words, so it's only at the very beginning now.
EG: Do you think the world will become a better place? Will the sense
of magic and mystery return to people's lives, or are we in a bit of a
downward spiral?
PC: We are at a crossroads - I really don't know. A few years ago
I saw the rise in spirituality as something that can be good or bad, as
something that can push us a thousand years ahead or a thousand years
behind. People are much more anxious nowadays, especially with all the
talk of weapons of mass destruction. This affects our mobility; we cannot
go everywhere, which means we are deprived. By the way, my most widely
read text was a
letter to George W Bush that was read by 250 million people, which
was quite impressive - even for me (laughs).
EG: How would you like to be remembered one day?
PC:As someone who died while he was alive. I'm going to be cremated
and my ashes will be spread on the Santiago pilgrim's road. But if I had
an epitaph or something written on a tombstone it would be: "He died
while he was alive." Because I see so many people who die before
death arrives. They consider doing everything, they breathe, they eat,
they make love ... but they've lost their enthusiasm towards life. So
I would like to be remembered as someone who died while he was alive.
EG: Thanks for your time, Mr Coelho, and all the best with that white
feather.
PC: Thank you (laughs).
Harper's Bazaar - Paulo Coelho
It was almost twenty years that I made the pilgrimage on the legendary road across Spain, the Road to Santiago and it would be a major turning point in my life. The journey gave me both the material and the courage to write my first book, The Pilgrimage, which was published in 1987 one year after my return.
At the time I was 38 and living in Rio with my wife Cristina. I had everything: love, money, a house and work, but I wasn't fulfilling my dream of being a writer. I was just flirting with the concept - I'd written lyrics for songs, articles for newspapers and scripts for television, but never dared to write a book. I didn't want to expose myself in that way.
It wasn't my idea to do the pilgrimage. I was studying with the Brotherhood
-
the ancient Catholic RAM order (Rigour, Adoration, Mercy) who study the
meaning of symbols and story telling - and they suggested I went. To be
honest I thought it was a bizarre idea, I said "I'm not going to
do that, I don't have the time to waste." It was Cristina who persuaded
me. She said "Come on, so what if you lose contact - there were no
faxes or emails in those days - the world won't stop without you. You
need time to think."
So in July 1986 I went to France to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to begin the journey that would pass through the Pyrenees and the whole of Northern Spain to end in Santiago De Compostela near the north west Coast of Spanish Galicia. It's a route that Christians have been walking for thousands of years. Just as Muslim tradition requires all members of the faith, at least once in their life, to make the same pilgrimage that Muhammad made from Mecca to Medina, so Christians in the first millennium considered this route sacred. The road led to the mortal remains of the apostle, San Tiago - Saint James in English. He was buried on the Iberian Peninsula in a place where, one night, a shepherd had seen a brilliant star above a field. The site came to be known as Compostela - the star field - and a city grew that drew travellers from every part of the Christian World.
It seemed like a daunting journey - 700 km by foot. You can do it in 30 days, but it took us 56 and it was hard going. At first I was overloaded as I'd taken too much equipment and I kept thinking 'what am I doing here?' Sometimes the terrain was like a desert, hot, dusty and barren, the meals were usually poor, and the long days were exhausting. It helped that my guide, Petrus, who was from the brotherhood, explained the point of a pilgrimage as we walked, keeping me focused: when you travel, you experience, in a very practical way the act of rebirth, he said. You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, and on most journeys you don't even understand the language. So you are like a child just out of the womb. Since all things are new you only see the beauty in them, and you feel happy to be alive. A religious pilgrimage has always been one of the most objective ways of achieving insight, because you are away from the day to day hassles and routine of your life you can see things more clearly.
He advised that when moving towards our objective, whether the goal is Santiago or somewhere else, it is vital to pay attention to the road. It is the road that teaches us the best way to get there and the road that enriches us as we walk its length. You can compare it to a sexual relationship: the caresses of foreplay determine the intensity of the orgasm. It's the same thing when you have an objective in life. It will turn out better or worse depending on the route you choose to reach it and the way you negotiate that route. All these things I learnt as we travelled.
In hindsight, I can now say that when you set out on a pilgrimage, there are four elements to consider. Firstly, you have to learn depend on other people. Second, travel light - don't accumulate. Third, you must stay at your own pace, because if you walk with other pilgrims you either get bored because they are walking too slowly or tired because they are too fast. And finally, keep your goal in mind but enjoy the road. These four points aren't just good for the pilgrimage; they are good metaphors for life and ones I still adhere to. The pilgrimage taught me to keep simplicity in my daily life. For example, when I first moved to my house in the Pyrenees eight months ago, I thought "I'm going to buy all the land around here," but then I thought 'what for? So that people can come and say, "Paulo Coelho is very wealthy"?' I could afford a castle, but I don't need to impress and it's easier to live in a simple house with just a few rooms.
I'd also advise those planning a pilgrimage to walk alone, don't take your microcosm with you. If you want to go with your husband ask him to set off three hours before you and meet up at night. It's better to spend the day by yourself or with other pilgrims - a pilgrimage takes you away from all your usual supports systems and that is part of the benefit. You are forced to be more aware, your emotions feel exposed - sometimes I felt very sad and sometimes I felt very much alive.
During my pilgrimage it became increasingly apparent that I wasn't happy and I had to do something about it - stop making excuses. I realised that you don't have jump through a series of complicated hoops to achieve a goal. You can just look at a mountain and get a connection with God, you don't have understand the mountain to feel that. But when I first got back from the trip it was an anti-climax. I found it hard to acclimatise to my normal life and I was impatient to change my life immediately. But changes happen when you're ready. It took a few months (check) to realise that I must solely concentrate on writing a book, rather than trying to fill various roles as I had before. The pilgrimage was to be my subject and as I started I took my first step towards my dream. Now I have sold close to 60 million books and I write a book every three years - seven in all - and my work is translated into 56 languages.
I don't know why my books are so popular; each deals with a completely different aspect of me. My second book the Alchemist is about following your heart. Deep in your soul you know your dream. You might have thought, 'Oh that was a stupid childish dream', but if you don't follow your heart you become bitter. You start to blame your children, your husband or your father. My own parents were shocked at my desire to write. As their son they thought my role was to please them. Aged 38 - an age when most people say you are too old to begin again - I finally said, "No I'm going to start a new life, that's my dream." You have to face some realities, you have to earn money, but it's better to be poor than live a miserable life not being who you are.
Going on a pilgrimage reawakens that awareness, but you don't need to walk the Road to Santiago to get the benefits. Life itself is a pilgrimage. Every day is different, every day can have a magic moment, but we don't see the opportunity, because we think: 'Oh this is boring I'm just commuting to work.' But we are all on a pilgrimage whether we like it or not and the target, or goal, the real Santiago, if you like, is death. You must get as much as you can from the journey, because - in the end - the journey is all you have. It doesn't matter what you accumulate in terms of material wealth, because you are going to die anyway, so why not live? When you realise that you can be brave and that is the first tenant of any spiritual quest - to take risks.
'We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey
that no one can take for us or spare us' Marcel Proust 1871-1922.
Beliefnet
In "The Alchemist," you refer to Soul of the World. What
exactly is this? How is it tied to religion or spirituality?
Well, let's distinguish religion from spirituality. I am Catholic,
so religion for me is a way of having discipline and collective worship
with persons who share the same mystery.
But in the end all religions tend to point to the same light. In between the light and us, sometimes there are too many rules. The light is here and there are no rules to follow this light.
The Alchemist character says that 'everything has a soul'--including
inanimate objects like rocks and water. Do you believe that?
I do believe that everything we see, everything that is in front of us
is just the visible part of reality. We have the invisible part of reality,
like emotions for example, like feelings. This is our perception of the
world, but God is--as William Blake said--in a grain of sand and in a
flower. This energy is everywhere.
Are all souls the same? Or are human souls in any way different?
I believe everything is one thing only. That said, there are some questions
in my life that I don't know...I've stopped asking. At the very beginning
of my life, I wanted to have answers for everything. And now I respect
the fact that I can't have answers for everything.
So for this question I go to the mystery of it and say I don't know. I only know that I am alive and there is something that manifests in my life, that it is God and one day I am going to understand my life, probably in the day that I die, or afterwards. But I try to find good questions and not good answers.
You say we might know more "afterwards." You're saying you
think certain things might happen in the afterlife?
We cannot know anything for sure. But I don't believe in time either.
You say "when we die," but time is another of these things that
we need to help ourselves to go through life, but it does not exist. I
am talking to you, but the moment that I am talking to you, the universe
is being created and destroyed. I am living out my past and future lives.
Whatever I do now, even in this conversation, can affect all my past and
future lives.
I do believe in life after death, but I also don't think that it's that important. What is important is to understand that we are also living this life after death now.
So we have to get rid of the notion of time?
We have to try to get rid of the notion of time. And when you have an
intense contact of love with nature or another human being, like a spark,
then you understand that there is no time and that everything is eternal.
It sounds like this idea probably helped you overcome your fear of
not existing, which you describe in the introduction to "The Alchemist."
Yes, of course there was this fear of death. And one day when I was made
a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, I had to go through an exercise
and I had to face my death.
Since then, I realize that death is not the end of life, but it is also my best friend. She is always sitting by my side, even while I am talking to you, looking to the mountains here with snow.
Your death is always sitting by your side?
By my side, sitting in the chair right in front of me. I see death as
a beautiful woman.
What is she saying?
She is saying "I am going to kiss you," and I say to her, "Not
now, please." But she says, "OK, not now--but pay attention
and try to get the best of every moment because I am going to take you."
And I say, "OK, thank you for giving me the most important advice
in life-to live your moment fully
You mentioned that you're Catholic, but you've said elsewhere that
your Jesuit upbringing was painful in some ways. What do you see as the
value of, and problems with, organized religion?
The value is that they give you discipline and they give you collective
worship and they give you humbleness towards the mysteries. The dangers
is that every religion, including the Catholic one, says "I have
the ultimate truth." Then you start to rely on the priest, the mullah,
the rabbi, or whoever, to be responsible for your acts. In fact, you are
the only one who is responsible.
In your book "Veronika Decides to Die," Veronika is bored
with the sameness of every day. How can people break out of the sameness?
Once someone asked me, "What do you want to be your epitaph?"
[on your tombstone] So I said, "Paul Coehlo died while he was alive."
The person said "Why this epitaph? Everybody dies when he or she
is alive." I said, "No, this is not true." The same pattern
repeating and over again, you are not alive anymore.
To die alive is to take risks. To pay your price. To do something that sometimes scares you but you should do because you may like or you may not like.
You also say people should watch for omens. Can you describe what
you mean by omens?
Omens are the individual language in which God talks to you. My omens
are not your omens.
They are this strange, but very individual language that guides you towards your own destiny. They are not logical. They talk to your heart directly.
The only way that you can learn any language is by making mistakes. I made my mistakes, but then I started to connect with the signs that guide me. This silent voice of God that leads me to the places where I should be.
"The Alchemist" talks about the principle of favorability,
which is sort of like "beginner's luck." What would you say
to people who feel they have never experienced beginner's luck? People
who feel that every time they try to move toward a dream, they're blocked?
Try again. [laughs] Because when you're really close to what God meant
to you to be here, you are going to experience beginner's luck.
Are there any thoughts for a film production of your books?
Lawrence Fishburne is now going to be producing "The Alchemist"
for Warner Brothers. It is the only book that I sold the rights and I
have no intention to sell [more]. It was the very beginning of my international
career and of course, you think that it's so important to have a book
as a movie. But then I realized that this is not very important. What
is very important is that the reader is the director and the person who
does the casting and everything.
The book is a film that takes place in the mind of the reader. That's why we go to movies and say, "Oh, the book is better." So since then I forbade the selling of the rights. No books of mine. Unless, of course, I fall in love with an idea.
Your latest book, Eleven Minutes, wants to bring sexuality and spirituality
to a healthier place. How can this happen?
Well, by accepting that sex is a physical manifestation of God, and that
is not a sin-it is a blessing. And then by understanding that except for
two things that I consider to be really sick--rape and pedophilia--you
are free to be creative. It's up to you, how you do this.
Sex was always surrounded by taboos, and I don't see it necessarily as a manifestation of evil. I think that sexuality is first and foremost the way that God chooses for us to be here on earth, to enjoy this energy of love in the physical plane.
So with a healthy understanding of sexuality you're helping God manifest
himself in the world?
Absolutely. Not only understanding, but practicing.