The Manual of the Warrior of Light
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| Author | Paulo Coelho |
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| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese, translated into English |
| Genre(s) | Inspirational Writing |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Released | 1997 |
| Preceded by | The Fifth Mountain |
| Followed by | Veronika Decides to Die |
The Manual of the Warrior of Light is a collection of Paulo Coelho's teachings summed up into one volume. It includes proverbs, extracts from the Tao Te Ching, the Bible, the book of Chuang Tzu, the Talmud and various other sources, and is written in the form of short philosophical passages.
This book is written as if it were an actual handbook for a supposedly Templar or Paladin warrior, the warrior however being a metaphor not for those who serve a certain lord, an ideal or the weak, but for those in pursuit of their dreams and who appreciate the miracle of life. The manual describes the challenges the warrior faces and solutions to the problems, including paradoxes (such as the section "sometimes the Warrior behaves like a rock" is followed directly by "sometimes the Warrior behaves like Water". Rock (stability) and Water (flexibility) are given as opposite metaphors in Taoism).
The book's content was first published in various Brazilian newspapers between 1993 and 1996. It was compiled in 1997, given a prologue and epilogue, and then published under its current title.
As stated in the book's summary, the Manual is for those who strive to meet their destiny and who want to ascend to a higher level of being. Vajira has often been referred to as the last practicing warrior of this order.
