The Alchemist (Part 1)

'On the seventh day, the alchemist decided to make camp earlier than usual...

'you are almost at the end of your journey,' said the alchemist. 'I congratulate you for have pursued your Personal Legend.'

'And you've told me nothing along the way'" said the boy. "I thought you were going to teach me some of the things you know. A while ago, I rode through the desert with a man who had books on alchemy. But I wasn't able to learn anything from them."

"there is only one way to learn," the alchemist answered. "it's through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey. You need to learn only one thing more."

The boy wanted to know what that was, but the alchemist was searching the horizon, looking for the falcon.
"why are you called the alchemist?"

"And what went wrong when other alchemists tried to make gold and were unable to do so?"

"They were only looking for gold, they were seeking the treasure of their Personal Legend, without wanting to actually live out the Personal Legend."

"I'm an alchemist simply because I'm an alchemist," he said as he prepared the meal. "I learned the science from my grandfather, who learned from his father, and so on, back to the creation of the world. In those times, the Master Work could be written simply on an emerald. Buten began to reject simple things, and to write tracts, interpretations, and philosophical studies. They also began to feel that they knew a better way than others had. Yet the Emerald Tablet is still alive today."

"what was written on the Emerald Tablet?" the boy wanted to know.

The alchemist began to draw in the sand, and completed his drawing in less than five minutes.

The boy tried to read what was written in the sand.

"it's a code," said the boy, a bit disappointed.

"No," the alchemist answered. "it can't be understood by reason alone. The Emerald Tablet is a direct passage to the Soul of the World."

"should I understand the Emerald Tablet?" asked the boy.

"Perhaps, if you are in a laboratory of alchemy, this would be the right time to study the best way to understand the Emerald Tablet. But you are in the desert. So immerse yourself in it. The desert will give you an understanding of the world; in fact, anything on the face of the earth will do that. You don't even have to understand the desert: all you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation."

"How do I immerse myself in the desert?"

"Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there."