A little mindwork based on Paulo Coelho

I couldn't find an English translation of Coelho's philosophical poem so I had to translate it myself - I hope well enough so you can enjoy it as much as I did!

The master said:
Close your eyes
or leave them open if you like
and imagine a swarm of flying birds

(Do it! Picture a swarm of birds! Then read on)

And now tell me:
How many birds are you seeing?
Five? Eleven? Sixteen?
Whatever your answer may be,
nobody will be able to tell exactly
how many birds they have seen.

This little experiment shows one thing.
You can imagine a swarm of birds
but how many birds you see
is out of your control
even the picture is clear,
detailed and precise.

Another question will give you the answer.
Who determined
how many birds are going to be
in the picture you imagined?
It certainly wasn't you.
:eek:

Dude dont get me in the wrong way but Paulo Coelho sucks imo, once u´ve read one of is books u´ve read them all.....and the translation, its kinda like thinking in Portuguese and then findink the words in a dictionary...just doesnt work, Portuguese is one of the most complex languages and cant surely be understood in a traslation (i think its the same of watching a movie with subs, the subs allways suck)
Peace..

I saw 5 birds, because I decided to see 5 of them. Also, swarm might not be the best word there.
So, is The Alchemist a worthy read? I've been on a Kahil Gibran kick myself lately...

Some of the best mind kicks i read this so far -

The Antichrist
Beyond Good and Evil
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Melmouth Reconciled
The Prophet

Peace..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OmegaVermelho

Some of the best mind kicks i read this so far -

The Antichrist
Beyond Good and Evil
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Melmouth Reconciled
The Prophet

Peace..

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Nietsche is very good, but you forgot one book that you should have read immediately after Beyond Good and Evil: The Genealogy of Morals. In that book he really goes into detail about master and slave morality, and the consequence of the victory of the slave over the master, or the common over the noble. It's one of my favorites...