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The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

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Enlightening The Alchemist
One day a young Buddhist on his journey home, came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him , he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the teacher "Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river"?
The teacher ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back "My son, you are on the other side" .
-Takahashi
The Alchemist, a novel by Paulo Coelho, about a boy named Santiago who had to go through multiple obstacles to fulfill his Personal Legend. A Personal Legend is the only way one can live their life in satisfaction and happiness. In Buddhism, Enlightenment is the state of inner body peace. In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho does not directly mention what Enlightenment is, nor anything in relevance to Buddhism, and since Enlightenment is non-materialistic and can be pursued and obtained but not given, one can see that there are many parallels between Buddhism and Santiago’s journey.
The Alchemist is an allegoric novel about a shepherd boy, Santiago. The young boy did not follow through with his parents expectations of becoming a priest and instead following his desires to travel and became a shepherd. He went through a tough and long journey to fulfill his own personal Personal Legend, to

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