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
Some may refer to The Alchemist as a best-selling novel written by Paulo Coelho which explains the ideas of having a dream, or Personal Legend, and going through obstacles to conquer it. The book starts off like any other, introducing and describing the main characters, in this case Santiago is the first to share the interest of peers reading the story. He is said to be a small town shepherd boy who will do anything for his flock of sheep. In the opening scene of the story, Santiago takes his flock to an abandoned church and lies down under a sycamore tree hoping to get some rest. He is soon woken up from a disturbing dream which foreshadows further into the story of his own Personal Legend. Later in the book, Santiago is faced with multiple tests to be successful in finding his treasure. “Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure” (Coelho 15). Paulo continues to add characters in the book that help Santiago throughout his journey.
The book I read is called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist is about a boy from Spain, whose name is Santiago and is a shepherd. The book tells how he gets around countries, and how he deals with his problems and how he solves them. It shows how he follows his dreams, and who helps him along the way.
You can learn so much from going out and experiencing life and new cultures. The Alchemist is about a young man, Santiago and his journey to find treasure at the pyramids. He meets many new people and learns many new things. In the end he was able to grow in his knowledge of the world because he pursued his Personal Legend. In Paulo Coelho’s novel, The Alchemist he portrays literary devices such as symbolism and imagery to develop the theme that critical knowledge comes from life experiences.
When someone has the right motivation, anyone can overcome adversity. In The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a boy named Santiago is on a journey to find his personal legend with the help of many characters. Consequently, he develops into a well-rounded person from the obstacles he overcomes. Coelho explains that if an individual persists in dreaming about a “treasure,” not only should one search for it, but also learn from the journey. This comes into act when Santiago is constantly in search for his desire. The author shows how Santiago defeats the challenges he must face in order to get to his treasure. As well as meeting other characters to help him alongside with his travels.
The book, The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, conveys many messages relating to life and society. The book outlines the story of a boy named Santiago who goes on a journey to the pyramids of Egypt, to find treasure. Along his way he learns about the concept of predetermined destiny, and the soul of the universe. One major moral shown within the book, is the idea that you should always pursue your dreams, despite minor obstacles, as you never know where it may take you.
The profound themes of love, Personal Legend, and the Soul of the World presented throughout The Alchemist render it an auspicious novel because of their meaning and depth. Santiago learns about his Personal Legend, love, fear and the Soul of the World along his journey and becomes a much more knowledgeable individual. Santiago learns the importance of following his Personal Legend and listening to his heart through the alchemist and his feats in the oasis and the desert. He learns about how fear must be overcome, and
The Alchemist is a novel first published in 1988 by Brazilian-born author Paulo Coehlo. It has sold more than 65 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling books of all time, and has been translated in over 60 languages. The book follows an adventurous shepherd boy named Santiago who has recurring dream leads him on a journey to find hidden treasure. The book begins Santiago has the same troubling recurring dream, when sleeping under a sycamore that grows out of the ruins of a church, of a child telling him to seek treasure at the base of the Egyptian pyramids. After a gypsy tells him to go to Egypt once hearing his dream, a strange old man appears, claiming to be the King of Salem, tells him it is his
There are many obstacles in everyday life, but none as detrimental to ones future as fear. Fear can cause people to not only avoid achieving their goals in life but it also forces them to think about it throughout every day. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist shows that those who wallow in fear will never achieve their personal legend, and those who conquer fear will achieve anything they strive for. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a commonly analyzed and criticized piece of literature. One of these articles is Rejendra Kumar Dash’s “Alchemy of the Soul: A Comparative Study of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist”. Dash’s article is a literary criticism of the different parts of the character’s journey in The Alchemist.
The Alchemist is a book written by Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist is a book about Santiago, a young boy who is trying to find his personal legend. Buddhism is a tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development. Buddhists strive for a deep insight into the true nature of life. There are many ways that Santiago’s journey is like the Buddhist’s quest for enlightenment.
There was a time in my life when I rejoiced this subtle, innocent concept from an international bestselling book - “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” I read the book twice and also listened to its audio book. Many students in the class might have also read this simple, inspiring book. It is “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.
Personal Perspective is how an individual view the world around them, different people perceives different things and that could shape their personality. In the novel, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a boy who is a shepherd tries to seek a treasure in which he sees it in his dream. There are many obstacles that he has to overcome, he met numerous individuals along the way and learned valuable life lessons. People may grow differently depends on how they perceive the world, and if the way they comprehend the world changed, they could also change who they are as a
Milarepa’s captivating life story depicts a man willing to commit sins on behalf of his mother’s command to one that decides to leave his family, in order to achieve enlightenment. This autobiography allows him to remain to be a beloved yogin because of his drastic and fulfilling spiritual transformation, thus encouraging Tibetans to seek a similar path to nirvana in their lifetime. However, Milarepa proves that one’s journey to liberation and enlightenment has to be earned and fought for spiritually and psychologically.
The journey “home” that Buddhists refer to as the privilege of enlightenment, the ultimate truth, is called the paramattha. The Paramattha is not the same journey as other faiths profess, because other faiths, like the science known as psychology, emphasize outside influence, in one way or another, in the ancient long search for understanding. Understanding life, afterlife, existence, thought, personality, behavior, and the unknown. These latter truth-seekers have overlapping roads of distinction on their charted course that is not an essential part of the
Alchemist is already explained in the story as it is the ability to purify your soul, listen to your heart and speak the language of the world. The title is, then, to show us, the readers, that anyone can achieve his/her dream by possessing the characteristics of alchemist as exactly as the shepherd boy, Santiago.
The Theme of “The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho is, always follow your dreams and listen to your heart. At the start of the novel Santiago does not know what he should do when he is confronted by his dream. But by the end of the novel Santiago completely trusts his heart to guide him though life. Santiago’s story shows him learning and living out the theme of the novel.