The heat lasted until nightfall, and
all that time he had to carry his jacket. But when he thought to complain about the burden of its weight,
he remembered that, because he had the jacket, he had withstood the cold of the dawn.
We have to be prepared for change, he thought, and he was grateful for the jacket's weight and warmth.
We have to take advantage when luck is on our side, and do as much to help it as it's doing to help us. It's called the principle of favorability. Or beginner's luck."
He still had some doubts about the decision he had made. But he was able to understand one thing:
making a decision was only the beginning of things.
One: When someone makes a decision, he is really diving
into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.
One: When someone makes a decision, one is really diving into a strong current, and will be carried to places never dreamed of when the decision was first made.
The closer one gets to realizing one's destiny, the more that destiny becomes one's true reason for being,
"That's the principle that governs all things," he said. "In alchemy, it's called the Soul of the World. When
you want something with all your heart, that's when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It's always a
positive force."
Meanwhile, the boy thought about his treasure. The closer he got to the realization of his dream, the
more difficult things became. It seemed as if what the old king had called "beginner's luck" were no longer
functioning. In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and
courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see
the signs and omens left by God along his path.
"It's not what enters men's mouths that's evil," said the alchemist. "It's what comes out of their mouths
that is."
***"There is only one way to learn," the alchemist answered. "It's through action. Everything you need to
know you have learned through your journey. ... "The wise understood that this natural world is only an image and a copy of paradise. The existence
of this world is simply a guarantee that there exists a world that is perfect. God created the world so that,
through its visible objects, one could understand one's spiritual teachings and the marvels of one's wisdom.
That's what I mean by action."
"Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that
to you. Because you'll know its dreams and wishes, and will know how to deal with them.
"You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it's better to listen to what it has to say. That way,
you'll never have to fear an unanticipated blow."
"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever
suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter
with God and with eternity."
That night, the boy slept deeply, and, when he awoke, his
heart began to tell him things that came from the Soul of the World. It said that all people who are happy
have God within them. And that happiness could be found in a grain of sand from the desert, as the
alchemist had said. Because a grain of sand is a moment of creation, and the universe has taken millions
of years to create it. "Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him," his heart said.
***"What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul
of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that
we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that
dream. That's the point at which most people give up. It's the point at which, as we say in the language of
the desert, one 'dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'
"To show you one of life's simple lessons," the alchemist answered. "When you possess great treasures
within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed."
With every day that passed, the boy's heart became more and more
silent. It no longer wanted to know about things of the past or future; it was content simply to
contemplate the desert, and to drink with the boy from the Soul of the World. The boy and his heart had
become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.
When his heart spoke to him, it was to provide a stimulus to the boy, and to give him strength, because
the days of silence there in the desert were wearisome. His heart told the boy what his strongest qualities
were:
No one fails to suffer the consequences of everything under the sun."
"Your eyes show the strength of your soul," answered the alchemist.
"And then there were the others, who were interested only in gold. They never found the secret. They
forgot that lead, copper, and iron have their own destinies to fulfill. And anyone who interferes with the destiny of another thing never will discover his own."
"If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that
makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."
"Remember what I told you: the world is only the visible aspect of God. And that what alchemy does is
to bring spiritual perfection into contact with the material plane."
the wind came from no place at all, nor did it go to any place; that's why it
was stronger than the desert. Someone might one day plant trees in the desert, and even raise sheep
there, but never would they harness the wind.
"That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything
around us becomes better, too."
