Conversations with the master - the strategy

(Here I continue to transcribe notes made during conversations with J. between 1982 and 1990)

- Bernard Shaw was right - said J. - He wrote that people take morbid pleasure in complaining all day long about the conditions in which they live. I agree with him: true men and women are those who seek out ideal conditions, and - if they are unable to find them - end up creating them.
- How does one create the conditions needed?
- A Chinese man wrote about this, thousands of years ago: by respecting the five fundamental points. However, before speaking of the five points, it must be said that the starting point is respect for oneself. One can achieve anything, but not everything; so one must know what it is one desires.
- How can we know what we desire?
- When we feel well after carrying out a certain task. Consequently, everything which causes us to lose our enthusiasm and self respect, is harmful; even if it means power, money or success. I have seen so many people suffocated by success, making mistakes which ended up destroying years of work, yielding to heavy drinking, becoming aggressive, tough, bitter. These people are distant from themselves, and distant from others.
- Tell me about the Chinaman.
- He wrote a book about war, but the five points he mentions in it apply to any task carried out by mankind.
“Item one: the law of the will. We just talked about this: one should only do that which truly fills our hearts with enthusiasm. If we brush this aside, if we put off the moment to live that which we dream of, we lose the energy necessary for any important transformation in our lives. Someone once put this most succinctly: “I don’t know the secret of success - but the secret of failure is to always try to follow the will of others.”
“Item two: the law of the seasons. Just as a war fought in winter demands different behavior and equipment from a war in the summer, human beings must learn to respect their own seasons, and not try to act when it is time to wait, not try to wait at a time of action. However, in order to make progress in anything, we must make the first move - from then on, our personal rhythm and intuition will show us how to conserve his energy.
“Item three: the law of geography. A battle in a ravine is different from one fought in a field: in the same way, one can only achieve favorable conditions by paying attention to what is going on around, to the space one is occupying, what must be done to increase it, where there may be an ambush waiting, how to escape if a momentary retreat is necessary.
“Item four: the law of the allies. No one can fight alone; friends are necessary to give us strength when we need it, people who can advise us without being afraid of what we will think. As a poet once said: “no bird can fly high, if it only uses its own wings.”
“Finally, the fifth item: the law of creativity. There is only one way of understanding things - when we try to change them. We do not always succeed, but we do learn, for we seek a path no one has been down - and the world is full of such paths. The problem is, everyone is afraid of virgin forests, uncharted seas. As one enters the unknown, one fears that one may lose oneself.
“But no one gets lost - the hand of the merciful God always lies on the heads of courageous men and women, those who dare to be different because they believe in their dreams.”

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Story - The law and the fruit

In the desert, fruit was scarce. God called one of his prophets and said:
- Each person may only eat one fruit a day.
The custom was obeyed for many generations, and the ecology of the place was preserved. Since the remaining fruit supplied seeds, other trees appeared. Soon, the entire region was turned into fertile soil, which was the envy of other towns.
But the people continued to eat one fruit a day - they remained faithful to what the ancient prophet of their forefathers had told them. However they never allowed the inhabitants of other villages to take advantage of the abundant harvest with which they were rewarded each year.
The result was that fruit rotted on the ground.
God called a new prophet and said:
- Let them eat as much fruit as they like. And ask them to share the abundance with their neighbors.
The prophet came to the town with the new message. But he was stoned - for by now the custom was ingrained in the hearts and minds of each of the inhabitants.
With time, the younger villagers began to question the barbaric old custom. But, since the tradition of the elders was unbending, they decided to abandon the religion. Thus, they could eat as much fruit as they wished, and give the rest to those in need of food.
The only people who remained faithful to the local church, were those who considered themselves saints. But in truth they were unable to see how the world changes, and recognize how one must change with it.

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Reflections of the Warrior of the Light

A warrior of the light often becomes discouraged.
He thinks that nothing contains the emotions he hoped to awaken. Many afternoons and nights he is forced to remain sustaining a position he has conquered, without any new event to bring him back his enthusiasm.
His friends comment: “perhaps the fight is over.”
The warrior feels pain and confusion upon hearing these comments, for he knows he has not yet come as far as he wished. But he is stubborn, and does not abandon that which he set out to do.
Then, when he least expects it, a new door opens.

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The warrior of the light knows: everyone is afraid of each other.
This fear can generally be seen in two forms: through aggression, or through submission. They are two sides of the same problem.
That is why, upon being confronted by a someone who inspires terror, the warrior recalls: the other man is just as insecure. He has overcome similar obstacles, and has lived the same problems.
But he knows how to deal with the situation better. Why? Because he uses fear as a motor, not as a brake.
Thus the warrior learns from his opponent, and acts in the same way.

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“Warrior of the Light, a www.paulocoelho.com.br publication.”