Issue nº 231

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Between Ekaterinburg and Novosibirsk

My new book, "The Aleph" (released in Brazil in 2010, release to other countries will be in 2011) describes my spiritual journey during my crossing of Asia in 2006. To write it, I had to consult the notes I had taken throughout my journey.

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I arrived at the wagon that will carry me to the Siberian with my arms full of books, thinking I would have plenty of time over the 9228 km of rail travel to read them all. I soon discovered, however, that reading on a wagon is virtually impossible due to the swaying and lack of shock absorbers. The only thing I could do was think, and quickly write down my thoughts once we stopped at the stations.

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One of the people on the train shows me a prayer that she said was found among the personal belongings of a Jew who died in a concentration camp. It read:

"Lord, when you come in Your glory, do not remember only the men of goodwill; also remember the men of ill will. And, on Judgment Day, do not remember only the cruelty, abuse and violence that they carried out, but the fruit produced because of what they did to us. Remember the patience, courage, brotherhood, humility, generosity of spirit and faithfulness that our executioners awoke in our souls. And then, Lord, pray that the fruits that we have produced may serve to save the souls of men of evil."

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I need to live out all the blessings that God has given me today. Blessings cannot be saved for a rainy day. There is no bank with a safe deposit box for them. If I do not enjoy these blessings today, I lose them forever.

God knows that we are artists of life. One day He gives us a chisel, another we may receive brushes and a canvas, and still another day He gives us a pen to write. But we will never use a chisel on canvas, or pens on sculptures. Each day has its own miracle. I must accept the blessings of today, and create what I can with them; if I can do this easily and without guilt, I will receive more blessings tomorrow.

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Life is like a big bike race, with the path to the finish line being your personal path.

At the start, we all ride together - sharing the camaraderie and enthusiasm. But as the race progresses, the initial joy gives way to the real challenges: tiredness, monotony, doubts about our own abilities.

Notice that some friends will give up, they are still going, but only because they do not know how to stop in the middle of a road, they are numerous, pedaling alongside the support car, talking amongst themselves and meeting an obligation.

Eventually we distance ourselves from them and are forced to cope with loneliness and unfamiliar bends in the road, not to mention problems with the bike. After some time, we may begin to wonder if it's worth the effort.

Yes, it's worth it. You just can’t quit.

Furthermore, if you stop pedaling, you begin falling.

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In one of his rare writings, the Sufi sage Hafik comments on the idea of travel;

"Accept with wisdom the fact that the Path is full of contradictions. Many times the Path will contradict itself, just to stimulate the passenger to discover what will happen at the next curve. If two travelers take this journey together, it is almost certain that one of them is on the wrong Path. Each person must run his own risks along his Way, because there are no set formulas to achieving the Truth. Only the ignorant try to imitate the ways of others. The intelligent men don’t waste their time with that, and develop their own set of skills. They know that no two leaves in the forest of a million trees are exactly the same. No two Paths on the Journey of Life are exactly the same.”