Book by: Kamal Ravikant
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Following my heart to this book
I am not a fiction reader by default. I am usually buried deep in a topic under the non-fiction genre. I like to read about processes and science, things dealing with the human condition and how we navigate through this life. I guess that is why this book was meant for me to read. It dives directly into a lot of the things I enjoy learning about. Although this is a fictitious story I can’t help but wonder where the fiction ends and where the real life narration begins. I know this story is based loosely on Kamal’s own journey when his father died. I know he also took part in the pilgrimage on the Camino in Spain. I can’t help by wonder how true to life this story possibly is. I guess I will leave that up to the conspiracy theorists buried in my imagination and get to the point of telling about the story and how it affected me.
I have just recently started to read Kamal’s books, having just finished “Love Yourself” only a couple weeks prior. That book touched me so deeply that I decided it was time to take the brakes off and grab the newest release. It is an instant hit for me personally because it talks to a not-so-different path I am currently on in my own life. I have not yet walked the Camino but I have taken a couple pilgrimages since the death of my father. Our fathers were completely different but the common threads of the timeline of events send chills down my spine as I read events unfolding. Kamal, or rather Amit, eventually makes his way back to his home country in order to follow out his fathers last wish. In the process he meets relatives he had only talked to on the phone with previously. This trip back to his home land, or rather the home land of his father, propels him on another journey in another foreign land to take part in the Camino De Santiago pilgrimage.
Only expecting to walk for a few days, the main character Amit quickly finds out that the Camino pulls at him to stay almost as strongly as he pulls at it to continue. He meets many people along his travels. Most of which appear throughout the book along the way. One of my favorites comes into the picture closer to the end of the journey.
Finding forgiveness within its pages
I had been reading through the book (I read it in one sitting on Audible) and following the plot. I enjoyed the wisdom sprinkled throughout the book. I was able to relate a bit more than others I think, just because I’ve spent many years living in Europe and I have been to Spain a couple times. When you travel outside of your own country you experience things you will never experience anywhere inside of your home country. You get to experience a place where you probably barely understand what people are saying. They barely understand you when you try to talk to them and it can feel really alone even though you may be surrounded by people. At least on the Camino there are plenty of people from all walks of life all taking the same journey. On a macro scale we are all technically on the same journey headed for the same destination. We will all eventually lay down on our deathbed and say a final parting farewell. I guess we need to understand things on a much smaller scale so that is what makes things like the Camino and the story of it in this book so special. We tend to resonate with a smaller group of people, most having a lot of the same problems as well as being out on the pilgrimage looking for something. Without giving away too much I will say that the story will take you down the path if you allow it to.
Understanding the love
Near the end is where the real lessons, at least for me, came into play. I felt like I was actually the one in the conversation, listening patiently, trying to understand and soak in the message that I knew was so important for me to hear. Although I felt like those conversations were specifically for me (or for Amit), I understood that the greater overall messages are more universal. The humanity in the message is one for all to hear, no matter where you are currently in life.
If you do nothing else but listen, or read, the forward and skim over a couple chapters, I encourage you to perk up your ears for the last few chapters. For me this is where the full impact event happened. I completely enjoyed the entire story and the interactions with all the characters, especially the Frenchman in the beginning, but the last quarter of the book is where it all came together. I have made plenty of notes for this book and I think you will as well. It is certainly not one to miss. I read an enormous amount of books and this is destined to being one of my favorites. This is one of those books you will cherish for a very long time and read more than once if your lucky!
A short quote you will find everywhere if you are searching for this book:
The Secret to Flight:
Don’t flap your wings so hard. It only exhausts you. Close your eyes. Lean into the currents, say yes. Let the wind raise you higher and higher. So easy. That’s what Eagles do. Oh, this is the secret to life as well.
Ravikant, Kamal (2017-01-03). Rebirth: A Fable of Love, Forgiveness, and Following Your Heart (Kindle Locations 60-63). Hachette Books. Kindle Edition.
Thank you so much for stopping and lending me your ear. Feel free to leave comments below.. good or bad.
John!