This entry was sent to me early in 2006, by a good Brazilian friend of mine.Bearing in mind that many of us are where we are today because of our involvment with those around us, this feels the right time to nudge our memories into some sort of respectful order. (Is there a wrong time to do this?)
As we sit on our pedastals of success, we should get off these pedastals and remember them, that they are a big part of our achievements to-date. Spurning them now will not help anyone, as we are guaranteed to meet and pass them on the way down if we are not careful with our lives today.
The basement secrets by Paulo Coelho
Once a year I go to the Benedictine abbey at Melk in Austria to attend the Waldzell Meetings – an initiative of Gundula Schatz and Andreas Salcher. There we remain in a sort of retreat for a whole weekend together with Nobel prize-winners, scientists, journalists, two dozen young people and some guests. We cook, stroll through the gardens of the monumental setting (which inspired Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”) and talk informally about the present and the future of our civilization. The men sleep in the cloisters of the monastery and the women in hotels nearby.
The 2005 meeting was all that could be expected, especially the impassioned discussions and the moments of joy and confrontation. Almost all the guests went back to their countries on Sunday evening, but because on the next day the organizers and I were to take part in the opening of the Austrian legislation of the Road to Santiago, we had to spend the night in the abbey. Father Martin invited us to have dinner in his “secret place”.
Full of excitement, we went down to the basement of the old building. An old door opened and we found ourselves in a gigantic hall where there was everythingor practically everything that had been gathered over centuries and that Martin refused to throw out. Old type-writers, skis, World War II helmets, old tools, books no longer in circulation, and – bottles of wine! Dozens, hundreds of dust-covered bottles of wine, the best of which were selected by Abbot Burkhard as dinner proceeded. I consider Burkhard to be one of my spiritual mentors, although we have never exchanged more than two phrases (he only speaks German). His eyes express goodness, his smile shows immense compassion. I remember that he was once assigned to introduce me at a lecture, and to the dismay of all he chose a quotation from my book “Eleven Minutes” (which deals with sex and prostitution).
While I ate, I was fully aware that I was experiencing a unique moment in a unique place. All of a sudden I realized something important: everything in that basement was tidily arranged, made sense, was part of the past, yet made up the history of the present.
And I wondered: what in my past is tidily arranged, but I don’t use any more? My experiences are part of each day, they are not in the basement, they are still active and helping me. So to speak of experience would be wrong thinking. What would the right answer be?
My mistakes.
Yes. Looking at the basement at Melk Abbey, and understanding that not everything that is no longer used should be discarded, I realized that in the basement of my own soul lay my mistakes; one day they helped me to find the way, but after I became aware of them, they no longer have any utility. Nevertheless, they need to accompany me so that I don’t forget that because of them I slipped and fell and nearly did not have the strength to rise again.
That night, on returning to my cell in the cloisters, I made a list. Here are two examples:
[A] The arrogance of youth. Whenever I was a rebel, in search of a new path, this was positive. But whenever I was arrogant, thinking that those older than me knew nothing, I missed learning so much.
[B] Forgetting friends. I have had many ups and downs. But on my first “high” I thought that I had changed my life and decided to surround myself with new people. Of course, at the next down, the newcomers all disappeared, and I could not resort to my old companions again. Ever since then I have tried to treasure friendship as something that does not change with time.
The list is enormous, but the space for the column is limited. However, although my mistakes have taught me all that I needed to learn from them, it is important that they remain in the basement of my soul. In that way, when occasionally I go down there to find the wine of wisdom, I can contemplate them and accept that they are part of my history, the foundations of what I am today, and that I need to bear them, however tidily arranged (or resolved) they may be.
Otherwise I run the risk of repeating everything all over again.
by Paulo Coelho - Brazilian writer
A, B, Catch you later dear reader!
boffin1157
No comments:
Post a Comment