nts."
     Near the city of  Soria, in Spain, there is an ancient hermitage carved
into the rocks. Some years  ago a man who  abandoned  everything to dedicate
himself  to contemplation lived there.  The wanderer  is  trying to find the
place one autumn  afternoon,  and, when he does, he  is received with  total
cordiality.  After sharing a  piece of bread,  the  hermit  asked  that  the
wanderer  go  with him  to a  small  stream nearby  to collect  some  edible
mushrooms. As they walk, a boy approaches them. "Holy man," he says, "I have
been  told that,  in order to achieve, we should avoid  eating meat. Is that
true?" "Accept with joy everything that life offers you,"  the man answered.
"Do  not commit sins against  the spirit, but do not blaspheme  the  earth's
generosity."
     The master says: "If your journey is difficult,  listen to your  heart.
Try to be  as  honest as possible with  yourself, and  see  whether you  are
really following your path and  paying the price for your  dreams. If you do
this, and nevertheless your life is hard,  the moment comes when it is right
to complain. But do it with respect, as a  child  complains to a parent. But
do not fail  to ask for  more attention and help.  God is Father and Mother,
and  parents always want  the  best  for  their children. It may be that the
learning process is being pushed too hard, and it costs nothing to request a
pause, some  affection. But never exaggerate.  Job  complained at the proper
time, and his belongings were returned  to him. Al Afid complained too much,
and God stopped listening".
     A pious man found himself  suddenly  deprived of  all  of  his  wealth.
Knowing that God  would help him no  matter  what, he began  to pray: "Lord,
please let me win the lottery," he asked. He prayed for years and years, but
was still  poor. One day he  died, and -- since he was a very pious man,  he
went straight to heaven. When he arrived there, he refused to enter. He said
that he had lived his entire life  according to his religious teachings, and
that God had never allowed him  to win the lottery. "Everything You promised
me was  a lie,"  the  man said,  disgusted. "I  was always ready to help you
win,"  the Lord responded. "But, no matter  how much  I wanted to do so, you
never bought a lottery ticket."
     An aged  Chinese wise man was walking through a field  of snow, when he
came  upon  a woman weeping. "Why  are  you crying?" he asked.  "Because I'm
thinking about my life, my youth, the beauty that I  saw  in the  mirror and
the men I loved. God is cruel to have given the ability to remember. He knew
that I would remember the spring  of my life, and  cry." The  wise man stood
there in the field of snow, staring at a fixed point and contemplating. At a
certain point, the woman stopped crying: "What do you see there?" she asked.
"A field of roses," answered the wise man. "God was generous with me when he
gave  me the ability  to  remember. He knew that  in winter, I could  always
remember spring -- and smile."
     The master  says:  "One's personal  destiny  is  not  as simple  as  it
appears. Not at all. It may  even  call  for some sort of dangerous  action.
When we  want  something, we  put into motion some powerful energies, and we
are no longer able to conceal from ourselves the true meaning  of  our life.
When we want something, we make a choice and we pay a price. To follow one's
dream  carries a price. It may demand  that  we  give up  old habits, it may
create problems for us, and it may  bring disappointment. But, no matter how
high the  price, it is never so high as at we pay for not  having  lived out
our personal destiny. Because one day we will look back  and see  everything
we have done,  and hear our own heart say:  'I wasted my life.'  Believe me,
that is the worst phrase you can ever hear."
     A master  had  hundreds  of  disciples.  All  of  them  prayed  at  the
appropriate time -- except one, who was a drunkard. On  the  day that he was
dying, the master called the drunken disciple to his side, and passed on  to
him  all of his occult secrets.  The other disciples were revolted:  "What a
shame! We sacrificed everything  for a master who was unable to perceive our
qualities," they said. The master said: "I had to pass on these secrets to a
man  I knew  well.  Those  who appear to be virtuous generally conceal their
vanity, their pride and their intolerance.  So, I  chose the  only  disciple
whose defects I could see: the drinker."
     The  Cistercian father Marcos Garcia said: "Sometimes  God takes back a
certain blessing in order to help the person understand it better. God knows
up to what point he can test a soul -- and he  never goes beyond that point.
At such times, we never say: 'God has abandoned me.'  If  the Lord imposes a
demanding test upon us, he  always  provides us with a sufficient  number of
graces -- probably more  than sufficient  --  to meet the test. When we feel
far  from  His presence, we should ask ourselves:  'Do we understand  how to
make use of what he has placed in our path?'"
     Sometimes days  or weeks pass without our having received a gesture  of
affection from anyone. Such periods are difficult; when human kindness seems
to have disappeared, and  life seems to be simply a matter  of survival. The
master  says:  "We  must  examine  our own  fireplace.  We  must  place more
kindling, and try to illuminate the dark room that our life has become. When
we hear our fire crackling and the burning wood snapping, and  when  we read
the stories the flames are telling, hope returns to us. If we are capable of
loving, we  will also be  capable of  being  loved.  It is only a  matter of
time."
     At a luncheon, a person broke his glass. Another person said, "That's a
sign of good luck." Everyone at  the table knew  of the belief.  But a rabbi
who was there asked: "Why is that a sign of good luck?" "I don't know," said
the wanderer's wife. "Perhaps  it's an  ancient way of preventing the  guest
from feeling  bad."  "No,  that's  not  the  explanation," the  rabbi  said.
"Certain  Jewish traditions  have it that every man  has a certain quota  of
luck, which he  uses up over the course of his life. One can make that quota
pay interest if he  uses his luck only for  things he really needs --  or he
can use his luck in a  wasteful fashion. We  Jews also say  'Good luck' when
someone breaks a glass. But it means, 'It's good that  you didn't use up any
of your luck trying to keep the glass from breaking. Now, you can use it for
more important things.'"
     Padre Abraham  knew that close to the monastery at Sceta lived a hermit
reputed to be a wise man. He sought the man out and asked him: "If you  were
to  find a beautiful woman in your bed today, would you be able to  convince
yourself that it was not a woman?" "No," answered the wise man. "But I would
be able  to control  myself." The padre went on: "And if you found some gold
coins in the desert, would you be able to regard the money as stones?" "No,"
said  the wise man. "But  I would be able to  control myself and  leave them
there." The padre insisted: "And if  you were consulted by two brothers, one
of whom hates you  and  the  other of whom loves  you, would  you be able to
regard  them as  equals?" The  hermit answered: "Even though I might  suffer
inside,  I would treat the one  who loved me in the same way as  the one who
hated me." "I will explain to you what a wise man is," the padre  later told
his disciples.  "It is he who, rather than killing  his passions, is able to
control them."
     W. Frasier, throughout his life, wrote about the American west, and was
proud of having written the screenplay for  a film that starred Gary Cooper.
He said that there were very few times  in his life when he became angry. "I
learned  many things  from the pioneers," he said. "They fought the indians,
crossed deserts, searched for  food and water in remote places. And all that
was written during that period shows that they demonstrated a curious trait:
the pioneers wrote  only about and talked about only good things. Instead of
complaining,  they composed songs and jokes about their  difficulties.  That
way, they avoided discouragement and depression. And today, at age 88, I try
to do the same thing."
     The  text is adapted from a poem by John  Muir: "I want to free my soul
so  that  it can  enjoy all of  the gifts that the spirits own. When this is
possible, I will not try to know the craters of the moon, nor track the rays
of  the sun to their source. I will  not try to understand the  beauty of  a
star, nor the artificial desolation of a  human  being. "When I learn how to
free my soul, I will follow the dawn, and to return  with  it through  time.
When I learn how to free my  soul, I will plunge into the magnetic  currents
that drain into  an ocean  where  all  waters meet to  form the Soul  of the
World. "When I learn how to free my  soul, I will  try to read the  splendid
page of Creation from the beginning."
     One of the sacred symbols of Christianity is the figure of the pelican.
The  reason  is  simple:  in  the total absence of  food to eat, the pelican
plunges its beak into its own flesh to feed its  young. The master says: "We
are  often incapable of  understanding the blessings we have received.  Many
times  we do  not perceive what He  does to keep  us  spiritually nourished.
There is a  story about a pelican who  -- during a hard winter -- sacrificed
herself by providing her own flesh to her children. When she finally died of
weakness,  one of the nestlings said to  another: 'Finally!  I  was  getting
tired of eating the same old thing every day.'"
     If you  are dissatisfied with something -- even  a good thing  that you
would like to do,  but have not been able to -- stop now.  If things are not
going  well,  there  are only two explanations:  either your perseverance is
being tested, or you need to change direction. In order to discover which of
those options is correct -- since they are  opposites -- make use of silence
and prayer. Little by little, things  will become strangely clear, until you
have sufficient strength to choose. Once you have made your decision, forget
completely the other possibility. And go forward, because  God is the God of
the  Valiant.  Domingos Sabino said: "Everything  always turns out  for  the
best. If things are not going  well, it is because you  have not yet reached
the end."
     The Brazilian composer,  Nelson Motta, was in Bahia, when he decided to
pay a visit to Mother  Menininha de  Gantois. He caught a taxi, and on their
way, the driver lost  his brakes. The car spun  around in  the middle of the
road, but other than being frightened, nothing serious occurred. When he met
with Mother Menininha, the  first thing Nelson  told her about  was the near
accident in  the  middle  of the road.  "There are certain things  that  are
already written, but God finds us a way to get past them without any serious
problem. That is, it was a part of  your  destiny  to  be  in an  automobile
accident at this point in your life," she said. "But, as you see, everything
happened -- and nothing."
     "There  was  something  missing  from  your  talk  about  the  Road  to
Santiago,"  said  a  pilgrim  to  the  wanderer  as  they were  leaving  the
conference together. "I  have  noticed  that the  majority of pilgrims," she
said, "whether  on the  Road to  Santiago or  on  their  paths through life,
always  seek to follow the same pace  as  the others. At the beginning of my
pilgrimage, I tried to  walk at the same pace as my group. I  got  tired,  I
demanded more of my body than it could deliver, I was tense, and  I wound up
with problems in the tendons of my  left foot. It was impossible for  me  to
walk  for two days, and  I learned that I would  be able  to get to Santiago
only  if I  went at  my own  pace. It took me  longer than the others, and I
walked  alone  for many stretches along the road. But  it was only because I
respected my own pace that I was able to walk the entire road. Since then, I
have applied that lesson to everything I do in my life."
     Croesus,  the king  of Lydia,  had  made  the  decision to  attack  the
Persians, but nevertheless wanted to  consult with a  Greek oracle. "You are
fated to destroy a great empire," the oracle said. Happily, Croesus declared
war.  After  two  days  of  battle,  Lydia was  invaded by the Persians, its
capital was sacked, and Croesus was taken prisoner.  Revolted, he asked  his
ambassador to Greece to go back to the oracle and tell  him how wrong he had
been. "No,  it was you  who were wrong," said the oracle  to the ambassador.
"You destroyed a great empire: Lydia."  The  master  says: "The  language of
signs is there is before us, to teach us the best way to act. But many times
we try to distort those signs so that they "agree" with what we wanted to do
in the first place.
     Buscaglia tells the story about the  fourth of  the Magi,  who also saw
the star  shining  over Bethlehem. But he was always late in arriving at the
place  where  Jesus  might be,  because  along the way,  the poor  and needy
stopped him to ask him for help. After  thirty years of following in Jesus's
footsteps, through  Egypt, Galilee and Bethany, the magus reached Jerusalem,
but was again too late.  The  child Jesus was now a  man, and the  magus had
arrived on  the day of the crucifixion. The  king had brought pearls to give
to Jesus,  but had  sold everything in order to help those  whom  he had met
along the way. Only one pearl remained, but the Saviour was already dead. "I
have failed in the mission of my life," the king thought. And then  he heard
a voice: "Contrary to what you are thinking, you have been with me all  your
life. I was nude, and you dressed me. I  was  hungry,  and you fed me. I was
imprisoned, and  you  visited me.  I was in every poor soul  along  the way.
Thank you for so many presents of love."
     A  science fiction story  tells  of a society  where almost everyone is
born  ready to perform a function: technicians, engineers or mechanics. Only
a few are born without any skills: these are sent to an insane asylum, since
only crazy people are unable to  make a contribution  to society. One of the
insane  rebels.  The  asylum  has  a  library,  where  he attempts to  learn
everything there is to know about the arts  and sciences. When he feels that
he knows enough,  he decides to escape, but he is captured  and  taken  to a
research center  outside  the  city. "Welcome," says one of  the  people  in
charge of the center. "It is  those  who have been forced to make  their own
way that we admire most. From now on, you may do as you please, since  it is
thanks to people like you that the world is able to progress."
     Before leaving on a long trip, a businessman was saying good-bye to his
wife. "You have never brought me a present that was worthy of me," she said.
"You ungrateful  woman, everything I have given you  cost me years of work,"
the  man answered.  "What  else  can  I give  you?"  "Something that  is  as
beautiful as I  am." For two  years, the woman awaited her present. Finally,
her husband returned. "I was able to find  something that is as beautiful as
you," he said. "I wept at your ingratitude, but I  resolved that I would  do
as  you asked. I thought all this time that there  couldn't be a present  as
beautiful as you, but I found one." And he handed her a mirror.
     The German philosopher, F. Nietzsche, once said:  "It's not  worthwhile
to spend time discussing everything; it is a part of  the human condition to
err from time to  time." The master says:  "There are people who insist that
they be right about even minor  details. They often do not permit themselves
to make  a mistake. What they  accomplish with that  attitude is  a  fear of
moving  ahead. Fear of making a mistake is the door that  locks us  into the
castle of mediocrity. If we are able to overcome that fear, we have taken an
important step in the direction of our freedom."
     A novice asked  the Father Superior Nisteros at the monastery at Sceta:
"What are the things I should  do in  order to  please God?" Father Nisteros
answered:  "Abraham  accepted strangers, and  God was  happy. Elijah did not
like strangers, and God was  happy. David was proud of what he did,  and God
was happy. The Roman publican, before the altar, was ashamed of what he did,
and God was happy. John the Baptist went into the desert, and God was happy.
Jonah went  to the great city of Ninevah, and God was  happy. Ask your  soul
what it wants to  do. When your soul is  in  agreement with your  dreams, it
makes God happy."
     A Buddhist master was traveling  on  foot with his  disciples,  when he
noted that they  were discussing among themselves who  was the best. "I have
practiced  meditation for fifteen years," said one. "I  have been charitable
ever since I left my  parents' home,"  said another. "I have always followed
the precepts of Buddha," said a third. At noon, they stopped  under an apple
tree to  rest. The branches of the tree were loaded down  with fruit, to the
point that its branches  reached to the ground. "When a  tree  is laden with
fruit, its  branches bend to  touch the ground. The truly wise is  he who is
humble. When  a tree bears no fruit, its branches are  arrogant and haughty.
The foolish man always believes that he is better than others."
     Antonio Machado says: "Blow by blow, step by step, Pathfinder, there is
no path, The path is made to be walked. By walking, the path is made, And if
you look back, All you will see are the marks Of footsteps that one day Your
feet will once again take. Pathfinder, there is no path, The path is made to
be walked."
     At the Last Supper, Jesus accused --  with  the same  gravity and using
the  same  phrase --  two  of  his apostles. Both  had  committed the crimes
foreseen by  Jesus.  Judas  Iscariot  recovered  his  senses  and  condemned
himself.  Peter  also  recovered  his  senses,  after  denying  three  times
everything he had believed  in. But at the decisive moment, Peter understood
the true meaning  of  Jesus'  message.  He asked  forgiveness  and went  on,
humiliated. He  could have chosen suicide,  but  instead  he faced the other
apostles and  must have said:  "Okay, speak of  my error for as long  as the
human  race exists.  But  let  me correct it."  Peter understood  that  Love
forgives. Judas understood nothing.
     A famous writer was walking with a friend when a  boy  started to cross
the street in front  of an oncoming truck. The writer,  in a  fraction of  a
second, threw himself in front of the  truck and  was able to  save the boy.
But, before anyone could praise  him for his act of heroism,  he slapped the
boy across the face. "Don't be  fooled by appearances, my  boy," he said. "I
saved  you only so that you  couldn't evade the problems you will have as an
adult." The master says: "Sometimes we are afraid  of doing good.  Our sense
of guilt always  tries  to tell us that -- when we act with generosity -- we
are merely trying to impress others. It is difficult for us  to accept  that
we are good by nature. We mask our good acts with irony and indifference, as
if live were synonymous with weakness."
     Jesus looked at the table  before him, wondering what would be the best
symbol of his passage on Earth. On the table were pomegranates from Galilee,
spices  from the deserts of the south, dried fruits from  Syria and Egyptian
dates. He must  have  extended  His  hand to consecrate  one of  them,  when
suddenly he recalled the message that he brought was for all men everywhere.
And perhaps pomegranates and dates did not exist is some parts of the world.
He  looked   about  him,  and  another  thought  occurred  to  him:  in  the
pomegranates  and  the  dates  and  the  fruits,  the  miracle  of  Creation
manifested  itself without any interference by human beings. So he picked up
the bread, gave thanks,  and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
"Take  and  eat,  all  of  you,  for  this is my Body."  Because  bread  was
everywhere. And bread, in contrast with the dates,  the pomegranates and the
fruits of  Syria, was the best symbol  of the path toward God. Bread was the
fruit of the earth and of man's labors.
     The juggler stops  in the middle of the plaza,  pulls out three oranges
and  begins to toss them.  People gather round  and marvel  at the grace and
elegance of his movements. "That's what life's  like, more or less," someone
standing there with the  wanderer says.  "We always have  an  orange in each
hand, and one in the air. But that one in the air makes all the  difference.
It  was thrown  with ability and experience,  but it follows its own course.
Like the juggler, we throw a dream out  into the world, but we  don't always
have control  over it. At times  like  that,  you have to  know how  to  put
yourself in God's hands -- and ask  that, in due time, the dream follows its
course correctly and falls, completed, back into your hand."
     One  of  the most  powerful exercises  in interior  growth  consists in
paying  attention to  things we do automatically -- like breathing, blinking
our eyes, or  attending to  things around us. When we do this, we allow  our
brain to work  with greater  freedom  -- without  the  interference  of  our
desires. Certain  problems  that  appeared  to be  insoluble  wind up  being
resolved, and certain pains that we thought could  never be overcome wind up
dissipating effortlessly.  The  master says:  "When you have  to  confront a
difficult situation,  try  to use  that  technique.  It  requires  a bit  of
discipline...but the results can be surprising".
     A man is at a fair, selling vases. A  woman approaches and examines his
merchandise.  Some  pieces  are undecorated,  while  others  have  carefully
wrought designs. The woman asks the price of the vases. To her surprise, she
learns that  they all cost the  same. "How can  the decorated vase  cost the
same as the simple ones?" she  asks. "Why charge the same for a vase that it
took more time and effort to  make?" "I  am an artist," the seller says.  "I
can charge for the vase I made, but not for its beauty. The beauty is free."
     The wanderer was seated alone at a mass. Suddenly, he was approached by
a friend. "I have to talk to you," the friend said. The wanderer saw in  the
meeting a sign, and began  to talk about what he considered to be important.
He  spoke  of  God's  blessings, of love, and  of the  fact that he  saw his
friend's arrival  as  a signal from his angel,  because  moments before  the
wanderer  had felt alone, whereas  now he  had company.  The friend listened
without  saying  a  word,  thanked  the  wanderer,  and  left.  Rather  than
happiness, the wanderer fell more alone  than ever. Later, he realized that,
in his enthusiasm, he had paid  no attention to his friends request: that he
speak.  The wanderer  looked down  and saw  his  words thrown to  the floor.
Because  the Universe wanted something different  to have  happened  at that
moment.
     Three fairies  were  invited  to  the baptism of  a  prince.  The first
granted  the  prince the gift  of finding his  love. The second granted  him
enough  money to do as he pleased. The third granted him  beauty. But, as in
all  fairy  tales,  a witch  appeared. She was furious at  not  having  been
invited, and pronounced a  curse: "Because you already  have everything, I'm
going  to give you  even more. You will be talented at  whatever  you try to
do." The prince grew up handsome, rich and in love. But he was never able to
complete  his  mission  on  Earth.  He was  an excellent  painter, sculptor,
musician, mathematician -- but he was never able to  complete a task because
he  quickly became distracted and wanted to  move  on to something else. The
master says: "All roads  lead to  the same  place.  But choose your own, and
follow it to the end. Do not try to walk every road."
     An anonymous text from the XVIII  century  speaks of a Russian monk who
was looking for a spiritual adviser. One day, he was told that in a  certain
village lived a hermit who dedicated himself night and day to the  salvation
of his soul. Hearing this, the monk  went in search of the holy man. "I want
you to guide me along the  paths of the soul," the monk said when  he  found
the  hermit. "The soul has its own path,  and your  angel will  guide  you,"
answered the hermit. "Pray without stopping." "I don't know how to pray like
that. Will  you teach me?" "If you do not know how to pray incessantly, then
pray to God to teach you how to do so." "You  are teaching me nothing," said
the  monk. "There is nothing to be taught, because you cannot transmit faith
in  the same way  that you transmit knowledge about mathematics.  Accept the
mystery of faith, and the Universe will reveal itself."
     The master  says:  "Write! Whether it's a letter,  a diary or just some
notes as you speak on the telephone -- but write! In writing, we come closer
to God and to  others. If you want  to  understand  your  role in the  world
better, write. Try  to put your soul  in  writing, even if no one reads your
words -- or worse, even if someone winds up reading what you did not want to
be  read. The simple  fact of  writing helps us to organize our thoughts and
see  more clearly  what  is  in our surroundings. A  paper and  pen  perform
miracles -- they alleviate pain, make dreams come true and summon lost hope.
The word has power."
     The monks  of  the  desert affirmed that it was necessary  to allow the
hand of the angels to act. In order to bring  this about, they sometimes did
absurd things -- such as speaking  to the flowers or laughing without cause.
The alchemists follow the "signs from  God;" clues that  sometimes make very
little sense  but wind  up leading somewhere. The master says: "Do  not fear
being regarded  as crazy -- do something today that fits not at all with the
logic  you  have learned. Behave  is a  way  that is  opposite to the  usual
serious comportment you were taught. This little thing, no matter how little
it is, can open the door to a great adventure -- human and spiritual."
     A fellow is  driving a luxurious Mercedes Benz when he blows a tire. As
he tries  to change it, he  realizes that  he has no jack. "Well, I'll go to
the nearest  house and ask if I can borrow  one,"  he thinks, as he goes  in
search of  help. "Maybe the person  I ask, seeing my car, will charge me for
finding me his jack," he says to himself. "With a car like this, and with me
asking for help, he'll probably charge me ten dollars. No, maybe even fifty,
because he knows I really need the jack. He  might  take advantage of me and
charge me  as much  as a  hundred dollars."  And the  further he walks,  the
higher goes the price.  "When he  reaches the nearest house, and  the  owner
opens  the door, the man  shouts: "You're a thief! A  jack isn't  worth that
much! Keep it!" Who of us can say that he has never acted that way?
     Milton Ericsson  is the  author  of  a  new therapy  that has won  over
thousands of  practitioners in the United States.  When he  was  twelve,  he
contracted polio. Ten months later, he  heard a physician  tell his parents:
"Your  son will not make  it through the night."  Ericsson  heard his mother
crying. "Who knows, if I make it through the night, perhaps she won't suffer
so," he thought. And he decided not to sleep  until the  next day dawned. As
the sun rose, he shouted to his mother: "Hey, I'm  still alive!"  The joy in
the house  was  so great that he decided that he would always try to make it
through one more night to put off  his  family's suffering. He died at 75 in
1990, leaving  a number of important books  about  the enormous capacity man
has to overcome his own limitations.
     "Holy man," said a novice to the Father  Superior, "my heart  is filled
with  love for the world, and my heart is cleansed of the temptations of the
devil.  What is the next step?" The padre asked the disciple to go  with him
to visit an ill person who was in need  of extreme unction. After comforting
the  family, the father noticed a  trunk in one  of the corners. "What is in
that  trunk?" he asked. "The clothing  that my  uncle never  wore," said his
niece.  "He always  thought  that  there would be some occasion for  wearing
them, but they wound up  rotting  in  the trunk." "Don't forget that trunk,"
the  father  said  to the  disciple  as they  left. "If you  have  spiritual
treasures in your heart, put them into practice now. Or they will still."
     Mystics say that when  we  begin  our  spiritual path, we want to speak
often with God -- and we wind up not listening to what He has  to say to us.
The master says: "Relax a bit. It is not easy. We have a natural need always
to do the right thing,  and we  think we can do that if we work unceasingly.
It is important to try, to fall, to get up and  try again. But  let us allow
God to help.  In the middle  of a  great effort,  let us  look at ourselves,
allow Him to reveal himself and guide us. Let us sometimes allow Him to take
us onto his lap."
     A  padre at the monastery  at Sceta  was sought out by  a young man who
wanted to follow the  spiritual path. "For a period of a year, pay money  to
whoever attacks you," said the  padre. For twelve months, the young man made
payment  whenever  he  was attacked. At the end of the year, he went back to
the padre to learn  what the next step was. "Go  into the city and buy  food
for me,"  the  padre  said. As soon  as the  man left, the  padre  disguised
himself as a beggar, and using a short cut that  he knew, went to  the gates
of  the city. When the man approached, the padre began to insult him.  "This
is great!" said the man to the false beggar. "For an  entire year,  I had to
pay anyone who  insulted me,  and now I can  be  attacked  for free, without
spending  a cent." Hearing that, the  padre took off  his disguise. "You are
ready for the next step, because you have  learned  to laugh in  the face of
your problems," he said.
     The wanderer was walking with two of his friends through the streets of
New  York. Suddenly, in the midst  of a  casual conversation, the  other two
began to argue, almost attacking each other. Later -- when things had calmed
down  -- they  were sitting in  a bar. One  of them apologized to the other.
"I've noticed that it's very easy to be hurtful to those you know," he said.
"If  you were a  stranger, I  would  have  controlled myself  much more. But
because we are friends -- and you know me better than anyone does -- I wound
up  being  much  more  aggressive.  That's human nature."  Maybe it is human
nature. But we should fight against it.
     There  are moments  when  we would very much like to help someone,  but
there is nothing  we can do.  Either the circumstances  do not  allow us  to
offer help,  or the person is not receptive to any expression of relatedness
and support. The master says:  "There is always  love. Even at  those  times
when we  feel  most useless, we  can  still  love --  without expectation of
reward, change or thanks. If  we are able to act in that way, the energy  of
love begins to transform the Universe  around  us. When this energy appears,
it is always able to do its work".
     Fifteen years ago, during a period of profound rejection of  faith, the
wanderer  was with his wife and a  friend in Rio de  Janeiro. As  they  were
having a drink together, an old buddy with whom  the wanderer had shared the
craziness of  the 60s and 70s came into  the bar. "What are you doing  now?"
the wanderer asked. "I'm a priest", his friend said. As they left the place,
the wanderer pointed at a child sleeping on the sidewalk. "See how concerned
Jesus is with  the world?" he said. "Of  course I see," said the priest. "He
placed that child right in front of  you to  make  sure that you saw him, so
that you could do something."
     A group of Jewish  wise men met in order to try to create  the shortest
Constitution in the world.  The rule  for the meeting was that if --  within
the time span that he could balance himself on one foot -- one of them could
define the laws  that should govern  man, he would be regarded as the wisest
of them. "May God punish the criminals," said one.  The  others argued  that
this wasn't a law, but a threat. The phrase wasn't accepted. At  this point,
the rabbi Hillel  joined the meeting. Placing himself on one foot,  he said:
"Do not do unto others anything you would not want him to do unto you.  This
is the Law. All the  rest is judicial commentary." So  the rabbi  Hillel was
considered the wisest of them.
     The  writer,  George Bernard  Shaw noticed  a huge block of one in  the
living room of a friend, the sculptor, J. Epstein. "What are you going to do
with that stone?"  Shaw asked. "I don't know yet.  I'm  thinking about  it,"
Epstein  answered.  Shaw  was  surprised:  "You   mean  you  plan  your  own
inspiration? Don't you  think an  artist  has  to be free to change his mind
when he wants to?" "That only  works when -- after changing your mind -- all
you have to do ball up a piece of paper that weights  five  grams. But, when
you are dealing  with  four tons, you  have  to think  differently," Epstein
said. The master says: "Each of us knows the best way  to  do his work. Only
the person confronted with the task knows what problems are involved."
     Brother John was thinking: "I  need  to be  like the  angels.  They  do
nothing  but contemplate the  glory  of  God."  And that  night, he left the
monastery at Sceta and went into the desert. A week later he returned to the
monastery. The brother at  the gate  heard  him knock, and asked who it was.
"It's Brother  John.  I'm  hungry."  "That  cannot  be,"  said the  brother.
"Brother John is in the desert, transforming  himself into  an angel. He  no
longer feels hunger, and no longer has to work to support himself." "Forgive
my pride,"  said  Brother John.  "Angels are helpful  to man. That is  their
work, and  that is why they contemplate the glory of God.  I can contemplate
the  same  glory in doing my daily work."  With those words of humility, the
brother opened the gate.
     Of  all  the powerful  arms of destruction that man has  been  able  to
invent, the most terrible  --  and  most cowardly -- is the word. Fists  and
firearms at  least  leave  some  blood remaining. Bombs  destroy  houses and
streets. Poisons can be  detected. The master  says:  "The word  can destroy
without leaving a clue. Children are conditioned for years by their parents,
men  are impiously criticized,  women are systematically  massacred  by  the
words of  their  husbands. The faithful are  kept far away from religion  by
those who regard themselves as the interpreters of  the voice of God. Verify
whether you are making use of this weapon. See whether others are using this
weapon on you. And prevent either of those from continuing."
     A legend of the desert  tells the story of a man who wanted to move  to
another oasis, and  began  to  load up his camel. He piled on his rugs,  his
cooking utensils,  his trunks of clothes -- and the animal accepted  it all.
As they were leaving, the man remembered a beautiful blue feather his father
had given him. He retrieved it and placed it on the camel's back. With that,
the animal  collapsed of  the weight  and died. "My camel couldn't even bear
the weight of a  feather," the man must have thought. Sometimes we think the
same of others -- without  understanding that our  little joke may have been
the drop that caused the goblet of suffering to overflow.
     "Sometimes people get used  to what  they see  in  films and forget the
real story," someone says to the wanderer. "Do  you remember the film,  'The
Ten  Commandments?'" "Of course.  Moses  --  Charlton  Heston -- raises  his
staff, the waters  open, and the people  of Israel are able to cross the Red
Sea." "In the Bible,  that's  not  how it was," says the person. "There, God
gives  an order to Moses:  'Tell the children of Israel to march.' And it is
only after they begin  to move  forward that  Moses raises his staff and the
waters part. Because only courage  in walking the path makes the path reveal
itself."
     This was written  by  the  cellist,  Pablo Casals: "I  am always  being
reborn. Every  morning  is a time  to  begin life again. Eighty  years ago I
began my day in the same  way  -- but this doesn't  mean it is  a mechanical
routine. It is essential  to my happiness. I awaken, and  I go  to the piano
and play two  preludes  and  a  fugue  from Bach. These pieces function as a
blessing upon  my house. But this  practice is also a  way of reestablishing
contact with  the mystery of life and  with the  miracle  of  being a  human
being. Even though I've  done this for eighty years, the music is  never the
same -- it always teaches me something new fantastic, unbelievable."
     The master says: "On the one hand, we know that it is important to seek
God. On the  other,  life creates a  distance  between  us and  Him. We feel
ignored  by the Divinity, or  we are preoccupied with our  daily tasks. This
creates a feeling of guilt: either we are renouncing life to too  much of an
extent because of God, or we feel  we are renouncing God too much because of
life. This  apparent conflict  is a fantasy:  God is in life  and life is in
God. One has only to be aware of this in order to understand fate better. If
we are able to penetrate into  the holy harmony of our daily  round, we will
always be on the right path, and we will complete our task."
     The phrase is from  Pablo Picasso: "God is an  artist. He  invented the
giraffe, the elephant and the  ant. Actually, he never sought for a style --
he was simply doing everything that he wanted to do." The master says: "When
we begin  along our  path,  a great fear  arises.  We  feel obligated to  do
everything right. In the  end, since we have only  one life to live, who was
it that invented the standard of "Everything  right?" God  made the giraffe,
the elephant and the ant --  why do we have to follow a standard? A standard
serves only to show us how others define their own reality.  Often we admire
the models of  others, and many times  we can  avoid the errors committed by
others.  But  as for  living  well  --  only  we  know  how to  do  that for
ourselves."
     Several  devout Jews  were praying at  the  synagogue when, during  the
prayer,  they  heard a child's voice  saying:  "A,  B, C, D." They tried  to
concentrate on the scripture, but  the  voice repeated,  "A, B, C,  D." They
interrupted  the  service,  and,  when they  looked  around, saw  a boy  who
continued with the  same chant.  The rabbi spoke  to  the  boy: "Why are you
doing that?" "Because I don't know the holy verses," the boy said. "So I was
hoping that if I recited the alphabet, God would use the letters to form the
right  words." "Thank you for this lesson," said the rabbi. "And may  I give
to God my days on this  Earth in  the same way that you have  given him your
letters."
     The  master  says:  "The spirit of God  that is  present  in  us can be
described as  being the screen in  a movie  theater. On the screen,  various
situations  occur --  people  love,  people separate,  treasures are  found,
distant countries  are discovered. It  is not important  which film is being
shown.  The screen is always the same.  It is not important if tears fall or
blood runs -- because nothing can stain the whiteness of the screen. Just as
with  the movie screen, God  is  there -- behind every one of life's agonies
and ecstasies. We will see them all when our film ends."
     An archer was walking in the woods near a Hindu monastery known for the
severity of its teachings, when he saw the monks in the garden, drinking and
enjoying themselves. "How cynical are those who seek  the path to God," said
the archer aloud. "They say that discipline is important, but there they are
getting drunk!" "If  you shoot one hundred arrows in a row, what will happen
to your bow?" asked the  eldest of the monks. "My bow would break," answered
the archer. "If someone exceeds his limits, their will is also broken," said
the monk.  "He  who is unable  to balance  work  with relaxation  loses  his
enthusiasm, and cannot go far."
     A king sent a  messenger to a distant country  with  a  peace agreement
that  was  to be  signed.  Wanting  to take  advantage  of the  journey, the
messenger informed some of his friends that  had important business dealings
in that country. They asked that he postpone his trip,  and -- since a peace
agreement was  to  be signed -- they  wrote new orders,  and  changed