“The Alchemist” A magical fable about following your dream

-Paulo Coelho

About The Book

The Alchemist is an allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho first published in 1988. The Alchemist was originally written in Portuguese. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history.

What is so special about this book?

• “A modern classic – Publishing phenomenon ------ 43 million copies and translated into 56 languages”

• “Life enhancing impact on millions of people”

• “…beautifully poetic but his message is what counts……he gives one hope and puts a smile on one’s face”

The Experience

“Reading The Alchemist was like getting up at dawn and seeing the sun rise while the rest of the world slept”

What is the book about?

“Teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts and following our

dreams”

The fable is about Santiago, the Shepherd Boy, who is chasing his dream with a single minded

intensity

What is the book about?

It can very well be your and my experiences if we follow our dreams

Personal Calling

Someone asked Paulo Coelho what was the secret behind such a huge success of this book. All I know is that like Santigo, the

shepherd boy, we all need to be aware of our Personal Calling”.

“What is a Personal Calling? It is God’s blessing, it is the path that god chose for you here on

earth”- The Alchemist

Four obstacles to Personal Calling

• Conditioning from childhood that it is impossible - Over time the personal calling gets buried

• Fear of hurting those we love - We do not realize those who genuinely wish us well would like happy and will

be willing to accompany us on those journey

• Fear of defeats - Yes defeats are likely to happen as we fight for our dream

- But the secret of life is to fall seven times but get up eight times!

• Fear of realizing our dream! - If you believe you are worthy of what you fought so hard to get, you understand why

you are here

Why is it so important to live our Personal Calling?

(especially if we are going to suffer more than others)

“Because once we have overcome the defeats we are filled with a greater sense of peace and euphoria…..”-

The Alchemist

Characters• Santiago – a Shepard in search of his

destiny. Santiago’s passion and ambition inspires him to see the world and follow his personal legend of discovering a treasure in Egypt. He gains wisdom throughout his travels and this wisdom allows him to understand the mysteries of the world.

• King Melchizedek – an old wise man who inspires Santiago to sell his sheep and pursue the treasure. Throughout the story he is a symbol of truth and his wisdom surprises and shocks people.

• The Alchemist – understands the language of the world and helps Santiago understand that all people are connected to the soul of the universe. He serves as a guide to Santiago. He has the ability to turn lead into gold.

Santiago

King Melchizedek

The Alchemist

King--- Melchizedek

The Fable

Santiago, a boy from the Andalusia region of Spain, chooses to become a shepherd because he wants to travel far from his land. He has a recurring dream that

tells him to go to Egyptian Pyramids because a treasure awaits him. He follows this dream and comes across various experiences including meeting an old king (God?0 who inspires him to follow his dream and The Alchemist (Guru?) who guides him to treasure. In the process there is a huge transformation in this boy

In the following slides, let me just pick up some key experiences of this shepard boy and

highlight them, along with the lovely learning in each one of them.

The boy leaves his home

His father tries to discourage him from his burning desire to become a sheperd and travel with his

sheep. Finally when he finds him pretty made up in his mind, he gives him money to buy sheep and

blesses him.

While bleesing him on his way the father tells his boy, “Take to the fields and someday you will learn our countryside is the best and our women the most

bueatiful”

(Home sweet Home !)

Spanish Gold Coins

Gypsy’s interpretation of his dream

A gypsy interprets his recurring dream as a sign that he should travel to Egyptian Pyramids and that a treasure

awaits him there.

He does not give much credence to this and is back on his travel itch ...... in fact to see a girl he has taken a

fancy to, during his previous year’s visit.

And then ........ he meets this Old King (God?) It changes the course of his life .....

Sheep

And then he meets this Old King .....

At first the boy is irritated at this Old Man trying to strike a conversation with him. But then he is startled to find that this Old Man knows everything about his past and that he is a King. The boy asks, “Why would a King be willing to speak to a shepherd boy?

”The Old King says ................. “Because you have succeeded in discovering your destiny”

Does the author imply the “Old King”is none other than God???? God communicates with one who succeeds in discovering one’s destiny?

Desert

The Old King .... to the Boy

“.... There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are when you really want something, it is because the desire originated in the soul of the Universe. It is your

mission on earth”

“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation”

“And, when you want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”

The Old King .... to the Boy

The Old King tells Santiago that he will appear whenever one who is chasing his destiny is frustrated and is at the point of giving up.“I always appear in some form or other. Sometimes in the form of a solution or a good idea. At other times, at a crucial moment, I make it easier for things to happen ......

but most of the times people do not realize I have done them”

He relates how a miner had abandoned everything to go mining for emeralds and after five years of single minded back breaking efforts he is at the point of giving it all up. Since the miner had sacrificed everything to his destiny, the Old King decided to get involved. He transformed himself into a stone that rolled up to the miner’s feet. The miner with all his frustration and helpless fury of his five fruitless years picks up this

stone and throws it aside. But he threw it with such a force it fell on another stone and broke it. And there embedded in the broken stone was the most beautiful emerald in the

world.

The Old King .... to the Boy

“In order to find your treasure (destiny) you will have to follow the omens. God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you”

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to the wisest man on the earth to learn the secret of happiness. This wise man lives in a huge palatial place. He asks this boy to carry a spoon filled with some drops of oil, wander around the palace and return, without spilling the oil drops in the spoon. When the boy does so and returns, he asks him what all he saw in the palace. The boy’s abashed reply was he was so focused on the oil drops that he could not see anything. The wise man sends him back asking him to see the wonders of the palace and come back ... the spoon with the drops of oil still in the hand of the boy. This time the boy sees all that the palace had to offer and on his return recounted what all he witnessed. But the wise man asks him why the oil drops in the spoon were missing. Only then the boy realized that he has spilt the oil drops. Then the wise man tells him, “The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world and never to forget the drops of oil in the spoon”.

On goes Santiago ----- Tangiers --- Egypt

The shepherd boy goes on and finds himself in Tangiers. Robbed of his belongings, all alone in a strange country which speaks an unknown language, he feels quite dejected but decides to work, earn enough money and go back home. He starts working in a Crystal Glass shop and gets so involved in it that he makes the shop-owner very successful with his ideas and hard work. In the process he learns ........ “there is a language that everyone understands ...... the

language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired”. Suddenly he realizes Tangiers is no longer a strange

city and just as he had conquered Tangiers he could conquer the world.

He asks himself why he wants to go back to home and his sheep and not go after his dream of a treasure in the Pyramids. He acknowledges to himself the comfort that the familiar life (home & sheep) offers and the fear that the unknown (desert) evokes. And

then he decides to go after his dream and joins a caravan that goes towards Egypt.

“Taking a decision is only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamt of

when he made his decision”

Gnana Yoga vs Karma Yoga !

In the caravan Santiago meets an Englishman who is in search of a particular Alchemist known to live in the desert .... to learn the science of alchemy .... which converts any metal to its highest form of purity

In my opinion this part of the book is where it gets very interesting. Here are two guys, traveling in the unknown, one elderly Englishman in search of The Alchemist, the other a young man from Spain in search of his dream. The Englishman steeped in constant study of the books filled with equations and formulae on Alchemy and Santiago immersing himself in the desert and learning constantly from it. Both are getting enriched in their own ways. At one point they exchange the roles. Santiago tries to read the books on alchemy and the Englishman tries to observe the desert. But both give up, finding it futile. The Englishman expresses that alchemy is a serious discipline requiring every step to be followed exactly as done by the Masters. He feels the boy’s soul is too primitive to understand all these. On the other hand the boy is getting more and more convinced that alchemy can be learnt through one’s own daily life.

The boy tells himself, “Everyone has his or her own way of learning things. Hisway is not same as mine nor mine as his. But we are both in search of our destinies, and I respect

him for that”

Desert s teachings ... to the boy Desert’In the desert not knowing when tribal war might strike, the Camel driver in the

caravan tells the boy, “I am alive. That is all I think about. When we are marching I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, any day to die is

as good as any other day. I do not live in my past or the future. If you concentrate on the present you will be a happy man. Life is the moment we

are living right now”

“Future? The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to it you can improve on it. And if you

improve on the present what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future. Live each day

accordingto the teachings.”

“The dunes are changed by the winds but the desert never changes”

“The closer he got to the realization of his dream more difficult things became. He

was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. He could not

be hasty or impatient.”

Desert s teachings ... to the boy Desert’

Realization of dream

The boy meets The Alchemist (the Guru?)

It is the Englishman with his books and formulae who is searching for The Alchemist in the desert but The Alchemist identifies the

boy as his student that God has sent to him.

When the boy asks The Alchemist whether he is going to help him towards his destiny, The Alchemist says, “No. You already know what you need to know. I

am only going to point you in the direction of your treasure”.

“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You have got to find that treasure,so

that everything you have learned along the way can make sense”–The Alchemist

The boy s dialogue with The Alchemist (the Guru?)

To whoever reads the book, I would suggest pay a lot of attention to Pages # 114 &115. Here The Alchemist tells the boy the

consequences of not following your dream. And the vacuum that gradually ensues.

The boy asks The Alchemist why he could not understand about alchemy from the Englishman’s books. And whether he should be understanding those codes.

TheAlchemist says, “Perhaps, if you were in a lab of alchemy ... but you are in the desert. Immerse yourself in it. The desert will give you an understanding of the world (Karma Yoga?). In fact anything on the face of the earth will do that. You

don’t even have to understand the desert. All you have to do is contemplate on a single grain of sand and you will see in it all the marvels of creation”.“How do I immerse myself in the desert?”“Just listen to your heart. It knows all the things

because it came from the Soul of the World (Brahmam?), and one day it will return there”

“What kind of things the author is referring to here in these dialogues? Aren’t they all sounding very very familiar!

Great quotes from The Alchemist

“Before a dream is realized the Soul of the World tests everything learned along the way. It does not do this because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, also master the lessons we have learned as we moved towards that dream. That is the point at which most people give up. In the language of the desert, one dies of thirst just as the first of

the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.”

“Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And everysearch ends with the victor being severely tested”

“The world is only the visible aspect of God. What the alchemy does is to bring spiritual perfection into contact with material plane”

Great quotes from The Alchemist

“Before a dream is realized the Soul of the World tests everything learned along the way. It does not do this because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, also master the lessons we have learned as we moved towards that dream. That is the point at which most people give up. In the language of the desert, one dies of thirst just as the first of the palm trees have appeared on the

horizon.”

“Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And everysearch ends with the victor being severely tested”

“The world is only the visible aspect of God. What the alchemy does is to bring spiritual perfection into contact with material

plane”

“And there was a smile on the face of The Alchemist”

The Alchemist the Grand Finale – The boy s transformation boy’

The boy turned to the hand that wrote it all. As he did so he realized the universe fell silent. The boy reached to the Soul of the World. He saw that it was part of the Soul of

God. And he saw that the Soul of God washis own soul. And that he a boy could do miracles. In fact he transforms himself into a wind.

The Epilogue The boy s treasure - boy’

The book goes on to show that the boy reaches the Pyramids and searches for the treasure. He listens intently to his heart to find

where thetreasure is.

The heart whispers, “Be aware of the place where you are brought to tears. That is where I am and that is where your treasure is”........

Want to know how the book ends this fable? Does the boy find his treasure? In the Pyramids? ....There is a twist in the tail! Just look at slide 11 and read what the boy’s father had said when the boy was itching to commence his journey. Therein lies the beautiful end to this beautiful fable!

As I read through it .... the boy’s chasing his dream, his learning from everything he comes across, the helping

hand from the Old King, the guidance from The Alchemist and his remarkable transformation ...... all

together make this book look like a tribute by the author to .... “Karma Yoga, the Guru in one’s life and

God’s constant kind presence nearby”!

What this book means to us?

Each human being was given two qualities: Power and the Gift. Power directs us

towards our destiny; the gift obliges us to share with others what is best in us

-Paulo Coelho

ThemeThis book has a central theme that if you do not follow your dreams then you will be wasting your life afraid of taking a chance, when you could be encountering an emotional, spiritual, and life changing experience.

Paulo Coelho on the Road to Santiago

Thank you!