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More wisdom from the great Paulo Coelho:
When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.
No one fails to suffer the consequences of everything under the sun.
There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
When we love, we always strive to become better than we are.
When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.
Throw away holiness and wisdom,
and people will be a hundred times happier.
Throw away morality and justice,
and people will do the right thing.
Throw away industry and profit,
and there won't be any thieves.
If these aren't enough,
just stay at the center of the circle
and let all things take their course.
I've had the good fortune to spend five of the past six weeks in Kazakhstan. You can look at the "Travel Tales" section of this blog for a brief rundown of my first few weeks here. While I was back home for a week, I was searching for a few books to bring back with me. After going through my "to read" pile, I searched a little more on the bookshelves and discovered a real treasure, In Search of Zarathustra by Paul Kriwaczek. Talk about your synchronicity. I'd bought the book a couple years ago and left it unread...now I was traveling back to an area influenced by the great religious leader Zarathustra, also know as Zoroaster.
I love travel books, history books, and books about spirituality. This very interesting and engaging book combines all three topics. In reverse chronlogical order, it traces the influence of Zoroaster and his teachings from his initial impact on the Persian empire more than 2500 years ago to today's modern times.
Zoroaster is considered to be the first monotheist. He taught there was only one true god, that individuals had free choice between good and evil and that all people could follow a righteous path leading to salvation. According to Kriwaczek, "His basic doctrine was rational, anti-ritual and anti-sacrifice, encouraging his followers to come to personal terms with their God." Quite a huge departure from the idol worshiping, animal (or human) sacrificing religious scene of his era.
Zoroaster's teachings became the state religion of the early Persian Empire and influenced the foundations of Judaism and Christianity. Traveling throughout Europe and Central Asia, Kriwaczek traces these events, and subsequent influence on more modern Persian nations that subsequently mingled with Germanic tribes and moved wholesale into Europe during the early Middle Ages, settling in Spain, France and Italy. Zoroaster's teachings were also at the root of a battle between Catholic church orthodoxy and a wide variety of sects known as the "Great Heresy", associated with some of the early inquisitions and the torture and death of many "heretics" throughout Europe. The book also traces further Zoroastrian concepts through modern philosophy, up to the works of Nietzsche.
Finally, the book discusses the continued influence of Zarathustra in the modern world, particularly in what is now Islamic Iran and central Asia. I've witnessed many of these influences and co-mingling just in the short time I've been in Kazakhstan. In fact it appears many of the doctrinal conflicts between Shia and Sunni Islam can be attributed to the continued influence of Zoroastrian ideals on the Persian/Iranian population.
If you're interested in history...travel...or religion and spirituality...I highly recommend this book. I guarantee you'll learn something about life and this world that you didn't know before...always the sign of a great read!
More from Paulo Coelho:
Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World and it will one day return there.
The 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.
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.
Most people see the world as a threatening place, and because they do, the world turns out indeed to be a threatening place.
When the great Tao is forgotten,
goodness and piety appear.
When the body's intelligence declines,
cleverness and knowledge step forth.
When there is no peace in the family,
filial piety begins.
When the country falls into chaos,
patriotism is born.
Boris Yeltsin passed away on 23 April 2007.
I started my career in the US Air Force as a Cold Warrior in 1985...at the tail end of more than 40 years of tension and struggle between the US and USSR. Today, the momentous events of the early 1990s have faded from most people's memories.
The rapid collapse of the Soviet Union was a surprise to most. Mikhail Gorbachev started events in motion, but it was Boris Yeltsin who fought off an initial attempt led by the KGB to restore an authoritarian regime, dissolved an empire, restored lost liberty to hundreds of millions, and became the first Russian leader to voluntarily give up power.
I remember watching the initial footage of Yeltsin climbing aboard a tank in the streets of Moscow in 1991 and leading the fight against a reactionary coup, helping to free a kidnapped Gorbachev...now there's a political leader with some serious balls.
The last time I voted for President of the United States was 1992...I couldn't stomach Bush the Elder or a certain upstart from Arkansas...so I gave Yeltsin my write-in vote. He was a true leader...a man who stood for something and took risks...not someone constantly checking opinion polls to see what way the current political wind was blowing.
Sure he made some mistakes...who wouldn't while presiding over the second most powerful state in the world during such tumultuous times? Yes he drank too much...so what! He led Russia through a bitter but necessary shock to adjust from a failing planned economy into the "real world" of free market capitalism.
Yeltsin believed he had defeated the KGB coup plotters and successfully fought off authoritarianism, then, in 1999, he handed the reins of government to Mr. Vladimir Putin. That could be the costliest mistake Mr. Yeltsin made, as Mr. Putin has led a resurgence of his former KGB cronies into political and economic leadership, and over recent years has been slowly but steadily re-instituting authoritarian control over Russia. Politicians or businessmen who oppose him are jailed. Truth-seeking journalists murdered.
Perhaps that's the real reason Mr. Yeltsin's heart failed. Overwhelmed by sadness as he watched many of the freedoms he struggled for flicker out.
The author at Yeltsin's graveside in September, 2007
My wife was able to attend the funeral of Mary Read, the 19 year-old daughter of a co-worker and friend, who died in the recent senseless tragedy at Virginia Tech.
I'm out of town and we shared tears over the phone as my wife described the beauty and emotion of the service. Mary's friends had been able to sign their names and write messages on her white casket during the visitation session. My wife was able to give Mary's father a big hug...as no words exist able to convey the proper message of love and sadness.
At the service, Mary's father shared a profound message from his daughter. When confronted with this type of tragedy, forgiveness truly is the answer.
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." --Buddha
Nothing can be done to ease the pain for this family, and the many others who were similarly affected. Forgiveness will help them cope.
Even those of us who didn't know her, will always remember Mary.
Life is mystery
Tears of joy, tears of sorrow
We learn from it all
Are meant to share with others
Loving kindess...enjoy each day
More from Paulo Coelho:
Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the language of the world.
Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him.
Wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.
You've got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense.
There is only one way to learn. It's through action.
I've been quite fortunate over the past 25 years to be able to travel to and live in many different parts of the world. Right now, I'm in Kazakhstan. I've been here for about one month and from what I've seen so far, and learned from the people I've talked with...most folks seem happy and have enough money to meet their needs. I've seen lots of school-age kids and university kids who look pretty much like their counterparts in the US, just in slightly different clothes.
The other day I was in a fairly large town, waiting in a car for someone who'd gone into a store. For the first time, I saw a child begging. When I first noticed him he was at my window, and he asked if I had any change for bread. I'll be honest...in my surprise, combined with my slow speed in processing his request (my Russian isn't the greatest) I initially just shrugged my shoulders and he moved on.
He was about 5 years old, blond and serious...he moved quickly from person to person asking for change. As I finally realized what was going on, I was struck by his appearance. Other than lacking my gargantuan head, (I was known as "Cinder Block" as a child) he could have been me at that age.
I reached into my wallet for a bill the equivalent of a couple dollars, caught the boy's eye and handed it to him. His face lit up bright, he carefully rolled it up and ran across the street, I imagine toward home. My only regret now is that I didn't give him more.
How long has it been since we've been truly grateful for what we have? I know it had been a long time for me...and this was a quite personal reminder. I'm sure many of us give money to those less fortunate, whether on a street corner or through a church or charity...but do we also have the right motivation or desire in our heart as we do so? Are we doing all we can?
The same day I encountered my childhood lookalike, I finished reading the book Beyond the House of the False Lama by George Crane. While it's not as good as his earlier effort, Bones of the Master, it did have an excellent section discussing a Buddhist nun named Ani Jinpa, and her struggle to feed 50-60 children daily at a monastery in Outer Mongolia...all on a budget of $5000 per year. The woman is a saint. She had traveled to Mongolia several years earlier, saw the need, and stayed to help. With a rather small amount of money and a great deal of effort on her part, she is making a huge difference.
Right now I have a passel of kids to support...college, weddings...the usual stuff. I'm happy to have them...happy to help them, but I do look forward to the near future when they are independent and grown and I can devote more of my time, money and energy to other good causes. Right now I'm encouraging the kids to make a difference as well, maybe join the Peace Corps after college, or find some other way to give something back, as so many out there are doing.
It may be a simple career choice. I'm proud of our oldest daughter, who will soon graduate with a degree in Social Work...and has already spent a year working in a Middle School helping kids at risk. But there are many other professions (such as medicine or teaching) that are also built around service. And you may not need to travel to somewhere as exotic or faraway as Mongolia to do it.
Open up your heart
Listen to the universe
Give unselfishly
Follow heart's knowing whispers
To fulfill your destiny
To those who are doing so already, I pass along my thanks and encouragement. To those (like myself) who aren't quite there yet, I issue a challenge to work harder toward that goal. Set some personal goals to really make a difference. Give what you can now, and prepare to give more in the future. That's where true happiness will be found.
When the Master governs, the people
are hardly aware that he exists.
Next best is a leader who is loved.
Next, one who is feared.
The worst is one who is despised.
If you don't trust the people,
you make them untrustworthy.
The Master doesn't talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!"
Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
Cornelius G. Hunter: Darwins God: Evolution and the Problem of Evil
Leon Trotsky: My Life: An Attempt at an Autobiography (Dover Value Editions)
Sylvia Cranston & Carey Williams: Reincarnation: A New Horizon in Science, Religion, and Society
Elizabeth Clare Prophet: Reincarnation: The Missing Link in Christianity
Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream
