Aleph: There Is No Such Thing As Coincidence

I tweeted my experience after reading Aleph by Paulo Coelho, and lots of people are interested about it. I have no idea why, just a simple thought that the book is so famous, but actually what I tweeted has nothing to do with that.

I just shared my own experience, what I feel, something like that, and I don’t even say the book is great. I don’t see only the book in this thing I am gonna write about, because it is not just about the book. It is about what happened in my life.

The first oddity is that I did not read Aleph straight away after buying it several months ago. I am a book freak, and usually I rip off the cover and read any book I buy even before I get home. But Aleph is different. I did not open the cover till days after, and I just put in my lab desk. I have this special box for books in my lab desk. That was it. I did nothing as what I always do.

Secondly, I was very busy on Tuesday and then I got bored. Usually I watch some TV series or walking out aimlessly nowhere around my campus, but instead, I took Aleph, sat down in a quiet field in my campus, and started reading it. Ha. It was so weird. I don’t usually do that.

I was thunderstruck just after a few pages, because well, I grasped the meaning of the book very well. Very very well. To be honest, I have no idea where I stand on incarnation, but I read books and met a few people who believe in that. That happened a few months ago. Can you see where I’m going to? If, yeah, IF, I read Aleph straight away, I would definitely put it down after a few pages because rationally, I will not believe what’s written in it. All those “fringe” experience, tale about shamans (who were women at the beginning), everything. I am an empirical person, a scientist, but at the same time, I always curious about many things, including fringe science.

I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe that everything has its moment. That why after reading Aleph, I cursed at coincidence. Yeah. It doesn’t exist. How I found the right time to read it, without even planning or knowing. How I closed my eyes and saw something in yellow, red, and a sparkling white in a few moments in between the pages. How I was almost burst into tears because somehow what was written there is my own life.

I was particularly reminded about bad thing happened in my past, not my past life, but when I was still a kid. It was so horrible that I just buried the memory deep down and told nobody about it. And again, I had no idea how, someone just read me, saw me like a clear glass and started touching that scar, encouraging nothing but just listened and accompanied me crying.

I did not finish the Aleph straight away, I went to Starbucks the following day (Wednesday) and sat inside for like 5 hours finishing Aleph. Just chocolate, coffee, Aleph, and me. It was intense. And I cannot describe the feelings. I cannot do it just.

I have these words I jot down in the back of my paper draft, some are from the book, some are what was in my mind, but please don’t ask why. Prize, Turkish, light, Ring of Fire, desire, past, J., doubt, familiar, forgiveness, shamans, women, dream, ecstasy, eagle.

It was an exhilarating experience. I smoked afterwards, on my way back to dormitory, and I felt so relieved.

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