Manual of The Warrior of Light. Пауло Коэльо
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And then another.
And another, until, to his great joy, all the bells in the drowned temple were ringing.
Years later, when he was a grown man, he returned to the village and to the beach of his childhood. He no longer dreamed of finding treasure at the bottom of the sea; perhaps that had all been a product of his imagination, and he had never really heard the submerged bells ring out on one lost childhood afternoon. Even so, he decided to walk for a while along the beach, to listen to the noise of the wind and to the cries of the seagulls.
Imagine his surprise when, there on the beach, he saw the woman who had first spoken to him about the island and its temple.
‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.
‘I was waiting for you,’ she replied.
He noticed that, despite the passing years, the woman looked exactly the same; the veil hiding her hair had not faded with time.
She handed him a blue notebook full of blank pages.
‘Write: a warrior of light values a child’s eyes because they are able to look at the world without bitterness. When he wants to find out if the person beside him is worthy of his trust, he tries to see him as a child would.’
‘What is a warrior of light?’
‘You already know that,’ she replied with a smile. ‘He is someone capable of understanding the miracle of life, of fighting to the last for something he believes in – and of hearing the bells that the waves sets ringing on the seabed.’
He had never thought of himself as a warrior of light. The woman seemed to read his thoughts. ‘Everyone is capable of these things. And, though no one thinks of themselves as a warrior of light, we all are.’
He looked at the blank pages in the notebook. The woman smiled again.
‘Write about that warrior,’ she said.
A warrior of light knows that he has much to be grateful for.
A warrior of light knows that he has much to be grateful for.
He was helped in his struggle by the angels; celestial forces placed each thing in its place, thus allowing him to give of his best.
His companions say: ‘He’s so lucky!’ And the warrior does sometimes achieve things far beyond his capabilities.
That is why, at sunset, he kneels and gives thanks for the Protective Cloak surrounding him.
His gratitude, however, is not limited to the spiritual world; he never forgets his friends, for their blood mingled with his on the battlefield.
A warrior does not need to be reminded of the help given him by others; he is the first to remember and he makes sure to share with them any rewards he receives.
All the world’s roads lead to the heart of the warrior; he plunges unhesitatingly into the river of passions always flowing through his life.
The warrior knows that he is free to choose his desires, and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment and – sometimes – with just a touch of madness.
He embraces his passions and enjoys them intensely. He knows that there is no need to renounce the pleasures of conquest; they are part of life and bring joy to all those who participate in them.
But he never loses sight of those things that last or of the strong bonds that are forged over time.
A warrior can distinguish between the transient and the enduring.
A warrior of light does not rely on strength alone, he makes use of his opponent’s energy too.
A warrior of light does not rely on strength alone, he makes use of his opponent’s energy too.
When he enters the fight, all he has is his enthusiasm and the moves and strikes that he learned during his training. As the fight progresses, he discovers that enthusiasm and training are not enough to win: what counts is experience.
Then he opens his heart to the Universe and asks God to give him the inspiration he needs to turn every blow from his enemy into a lesson in self-defence.
His companions say: ‘He’s so superstitious. He stopped fighting in order to pray; he even shows respect for his opponent’s tricks.’
The warrior does not respond to these provocations. He knows that without inspiration and experience, no amount of training will help him.
A warrior of light never resorts to trickery, but he knows how to distract his opponent.
A warrior of light never resorts to trickery, but he knows how to distract his opponent.
However anxious he is, he uses every strategy at his disposal to gain his objective. When he sees that his strength is almost gone, he makes his enemy think that he is simply biding his time. When he needs to attack the right flank, he moves his troops to the left. If he intends beginning the battle at once, he pretends that he is tired and prepares for sleep.
His friends say: ‘Look, he’s lost all enthusiasm.’ But he pays no attention to such remarks because his friends do not understand his tactics.
A warrior of light knows what he wants. And he has no need to waste time on explanations.
A wise Chinese man has this to say about the strategies of the warrior of light:
‘Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm.’
‘Do not be ashamed to make a temporary withdrawal from the field if you see that your enemy is stronger than you; it is not winning or losing a single battle that matters, but how the war ends.’
‘Even if you are very strong, never be ashamed to feign weakness; this will make your enemy act imprudently and attack too soon.’
‘In war, the key to victory is the ability to surprise one’s opponent.’
A warrior takes every opportunity to teach himself.
‘It’s odd,’ says the warrior of light to himself. ‘I have met so many people who, at the first opportunity, try to show their very worst qualities. They hide their inner strength behind aggression; they hide their fear of loneliness behind an air of independence. They do not believe in their own abilities, but are constantly trumpeting their virtues.’
The warrior reads these messages in many of the men and women he meets. He is never taken in by appearances and makes a point of remaining silent when people try to impress him. And he uses the occasion to correct his own faults, for other people