The moment that he begins to walk along it, the warrior of light
recognizes the Path. In order to have faith in his own path, he does not
need to prove that someone else’s path is wrong.
The warrior of light has the qualities of a rock. A warrior of light
thinks both about war and peace and knows how to act in accordance with
circumstance.
A warrior of light knows that in the silence of his heart he will hear a
order that will guide him.
A warrior of light knows that his best teachers are the people with whom
he shares the battlefield. It is the experience of battle that
strengthens the warrior of light.
A warrior of light is not someone who takes the weight of the world on
his shoulders, but someone who has learned to deal with the challenges
of the moment.
A warrior of light is as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove.
Every warrior of light has, at least once, believed that he was not a
warrior of light.
After reading so much about The Warrior of Light one must be
wondering as to who actually is this warrior of light. For explaining this the author has come up with a very short story in the beginning of this book which is the prologue. In this story a boy meets a woman on a beach who tells him that beneath the waters is buried a temple and one can still hear the temple bells ringing when the ocean sets them swinging down below. The boy spends lots of time trying to hear the bells.
Many months pass away & he still lingers on the beach trying to hear the sound. The woman never returns. His friends think he has changed. But he persists. Finally 6 months later on a lonely afternoon
when he decides to quit he starts hearing the sound. He is delighted. He knew he hadn’t wasted his time, for he had learned to contemplate nature.Years later when he returns as a grown up man he meets the same woman who gives him a book & tells him to write about The Warrior of Light.
Finally he questions as to who is this warrior. The woman replies
that a warrior is someone capable of understanding miracle of
life, of fighting to the last for something he believes in- and of
hearing the bells that waves sets ringing on the seabed. Everyone is
capable of these things. And, though no one thinks of themselves as a
warrior of light, we all are.
What follows next is a collection of philosophical thoughts and stories (many have a reference to another masterpiece -The Art Of War by Sun Tzu a 2500 year old literature). This is not a novel. It is a manual.
You won’t get a long story like Paulo’s other novels. On every page you will find a different passage on the right hand side & its summary on the left hand side. It consists of a total 262 passages with each
passage carrying a subtle message. Some passages you will find in Coelho’s other novels. It is a summary of Coelho’s works. The book is an invitation to each of us to live our dream, to embrace the uncertainty of life, and to rise to meet our own unique destiny. With inspiring short passages, we are invited to embark upon the way of warrior: the one who appreciates the miracle of being alive, the one who accepts failure and the one whose quest leads him to become the person he wants to be. In his own unique style Coelho helps us to discover the warrior of light within each of us.
With the exception of the prologue and the epilogue, the passages in the book were first published in column entitled ’Maktub’ which appeared in various newspapers in Brazil & elsewhere. The English translation of this columns was much awaited & is finally here in the form of this book.
Coelho fans would certainly like the book.