The Alchemist

If you are into philosophy or you have found books of Jostein Gaarder and Mitch Albom interesting reads, it will be difficult not to be drawn to The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Santiago was a young shepherd who had given up everything to be a shepherd because he wished to travel. Though travel, books and his sheep, he found that he had learnt more than a formal education. One day, while he was resting in a church, he had a recurring dream of finding treasure at the pyramid.

He went to a gypsy lady for an interpretation of this dream and was told it was a good omen to pursue his dream. Soon, he met an old King who knew about his dream and encouraged him to pursue his dream. From then, he set forth a journey from Spain to Egypt and back to Spain where he learnt about life and the Soul of the World. During his journey, he met an Alchemist, and Englishman, a Crystal Merchant, a thief, a monk, tribal chiefs and the love of his life – Fatima.

Despite encountering fear, pride, despondency, enthusiasm and love, he had also learnt different lessons from his travel mates. Finally, he found his treasure.

The plot sounded similar to the Little Prince who had also set forth on a journey and met with different friends in his journey. The Little Prince has a sad ending. The Alchemist has a happy ending. However, the Alchemist provided a stark reminder of the basic lessons in life that one remembers less and less as we are burdened with the trivialities of living.

Here is sharing of some of the lessons and ironies that we should be mindful of.

1) Everyone has a personal agenda. It is the dream of our life or the meaning of our living.

The personal agenda is known since we are children and in our hearts but they are gradually forgotten. Sometimes, we wish to pursue it but hold back because we fear of failure or we fear losing what we have achieved so far. Sometimes, we hold back because we want to be with our loved ones.

In an anecdote that the old king shared with the young shepherd before he set off, the king shared that of a young boy who went to a wise man to seek knowledge on what was happiness. The wise man gave the young boy a teaspoon of oil and asked him to tour his beautiful castle for 2 hours without spilling the oil. The young boy was so busy ‘looking after’ the oil that he failed to notice all the beautiful sights. When the wise man asked whether he had noticed his beautiful castle when the boy returned, the boy replied in the negative and was asked to tour the castle again for 2 more hours and to take note of the beautiful sights. The boy did what the wise man had told. However, when he returned 2 hours later, the oil has disappeared. He was too preoccupied with the beautiful sights that he had forgotten about the oil.
We might meet ‘distractions’ long our treasure quest, we should still remember the ultimate personal agenda. However, we should also take time during this journey to observe and to learn. The process is as important as the outcome.

2) Pursuing one’s dreams mean giving up what one has achieved so far.

This was a constant weight on the young shepherd’s mind every time he wanted to move on to a different place after settling down so as to continue his treasure quest. The alchemist shed enlightenment on life’s decision based on the theories of alchemy. If what you have left behind is of pure matter, they will remain as they are when you return. If they are not, you also will not need to stay for their sakes.

3) Follow your heart and the omen as they speak the language of the World.

With civilization and the development of culture, we tend to rely more and more elaborate languages and pictures as instructions and information. We have ceased to notice the signs given by our heart and by omen. Listen to what your heart has to say and observe the omen that comes your way, they are signs given to tell you what you should do next when we are at crossroads.

4) The success one gets when one first starts is the Beginners’ Luck. However, to be successful eventually, one needs to be strong and to overcome tests of severity.

The Beginners’ Luck is a way of nature to whet our appetites on what lies ahead if we were to succeed in pursuing our personal agenda. It serves both as an encouragement and a temptation.

The crystal merchant whom the young shepherd had met had the personal agenda to go to Mecca – the land of pilgrimage. He set up a crystal business so that he could save enough for the trip. However, over the years as the business dwindled, he lost hope and he became contented with the peaceful lifestyle. Gradually, he forgot about his personal agenda until the young shepherd came along and helped him improve his business. When the young shepherd was living, the business was bustling. The crystal merchant’s dream of going to Mecca was reignited as he saw the opportunities that his business could bring. He could no longer ignore his dream and be contented.

However, to succeed, one would need to overcome numerous tests of severity so that when we obtained our ‘treasure’, we would have learnt the lessons of the World.


It was a book abundant with the lessons of life. When I turned to the last page of the book, it was with guilt and regrets.
Do I have the courage of the young shepherd?
Do I still know what my personal agenda is?
How long ago when my heart last spoke to me?

Perhaps the book is an omen sent to me to remind me of the need to look for my personal agenda.