The starlight from a hundred years ago shines into your daily life now: a complete interpretation of "The Prophet" about caffeine

*▲ Some books are not meant to be “read”, but to be “encountered”. Caffeine’s fully interpreted version of “The Prophet” brings the starlight from a hundred years ago into your daily life now. *

I know that my friend Caffeine recently published a Complete Interpretation of “The Prophet”, but I don’t actually know the whole story. Ha, this is a very interesting but often overlooked thing - the reason is very simple, because what each person understands of the other person is actually a fragment, or it can be said to be a different individual.

You think you know a person, but you probably only know the side of him that he wants you to see. For example, Caffeine has written “All Men Are Fraudsters” and edited “Smile PASTA”. He is a storyteller, a marketing consultant, and a painter. But few people know that Caffeine has always been deeply in love with philosophy (it is said that she also likes Takeshi Kaneshiro and GD). Fascination with ideas and love for idols can coexist in the same person, so there is nothing surprising. It feels weird just because we are so used to stuffing a person into a single grid and then labeling that grid.

Speaking of which, I can’t help but want to talk a few more words.

We all live in a relationship where we “think we know each other”

In our day and age, most people “get to know” each other through Facebook and Instagram. But have you noticed that almost no one writes about their own misfortune on the Internet? Occasionally someone writes something negative, and someone will immediately advise him: “Don’t think like that, think positively!” Every time I see it, I feel puzzled - it’s strange, why can’t I reveal my emotions? Isn’t that a person’s most private place? Does it mean that honestly speaking about how depressed you are at the moment is the same as being emotional?

So, we hang out with a group of people we think we know, but in fact no one really knows each other, or even wants to know each other. Not important anyway. Relationships between people always have to wait until the moment when there is a beneficial exchange, and then they are weighed: How deeply is this relationship worth my investment?

Honestly, I just hate this. So I am never fully socialized as a person. I admit I was a little naive, but I didn’t want to be socialized.

What I like is for people to get along with each other as unreservedly as possible; even if they cannot be completely transparent, at least they should have a sincere heart, rather than seeing the other party as an interest that can be valued, a commodity, or a network of connections that can be cashed in in the future.

So, why does Caffeine want to publish a poetry book?

At this point, it seems that I have gone too far. But what I was going to say was: So, why would Caffeine want to publish a book about a philosopher-poet?

Well, it doesn’t really make sense. As far as I know, The Prophet is a caffeine-loving book. Over the years, she has been deeply fascinated by the insights in the book and wanted to share them with more people. However, she found that almost all of them available on the market were only translations, and there was no real interpretation version. Therefore, Caffeine simply took matters into his own hands and created the first fully interpreted version of “The Prophet” in the Chinese language world.

I especially like the belief conveyed by Caffeine in the book: any knowledge is approachable, and any wisdom can be implemented. The feet of intellectuals are still stepping on the asphalt road. No one is born wiser than anyone else, everyone is on their own path of learning. Gibran never considered himself a teacher, he was just a listener; the value of this interpretation of Caffeine lies in the fact that it does not pretend to preach, but accompanies you to shine the starlight of a hundred years ago into your life at the moment.

So, how to “read” this book? How can it be “used”?

Let’s talk about “reading” first

Caffeine has a sentence in his preface that I like very much: Some books are not meant to be “read”, but to be “encountered”. “The Prophet” is just such a book. So please don’t rush from the first page to the last page. You can open it at will, stop at any sentence that shocks your heart, and then let yourself stop there and sit with it slowly. (I have also talked about this “not rushing” reading method in <A brief discussion of two or three things about reading>.)

The design of this fully interpreted edition just paves the way for this kind of “encounter”. Each chapter begins with the poetry of Kahlil Gibran’s original text; then follows “Walking with the Prophet” written by Caffeine in modern language, connecting the sentences from a hundred years ago to our current situation; and finally, there is a self-exercise section to guide you to implement the philosophy in the poem into your own actions. In other words, you are not only reading Gibran, you are also reading yourself.

Let’s talk about “use”

The first way to use it is to use it as a mirror when life turns a corner. The twenty-eight chapters in the book - love, marriage, children, work, freedom, pain, farewell - cover almost all important levels of life. Any day you get stuck in a certain situation, just turn to the corresponding chapter. Read “Love” when you are heartbroken, “Freedom” when you are hesitant, and “Farewell” when you are facing loss. Let Gibran and caffeine accompany you to re-read the difficult problem.

The second way to use it is to use the self-practice at the end of each chapter as a guide for writing. Instead of journaling aimlessly, let these questions lead the way for you. As you read and write down your own responses, you will be surprised to find that the most profound answers have been hidden in your heart. (If you want to make writing a habit, you can also refer to what I wrote 〈Become a better version of yourself and start by practicing “free writing”〉.)

The third way to use it is as a gift. Caffeine himself said that every time he falls in love, he always gives the other person a copy of “The Prophet”. In this era when everyone is reluctant to express their sincerity, sending a book that can talk about love, pain, and freedom is a rare and precious sincerity in itself. (After all, reading a good book is a way to enjoy life, just like what I wrote in <40, good days begin: Enjoying life starts with reading a good book>.)

But for those of us who teach, write, and speak, this book has a fourth use: as an inexhaustible library of speculative material. Gibran’s way of looking at the world often subverts our intuition - he said that evil is just the distorted reflection of good in hunger and thirst; he asked whether when we pursue freedom, we also become prisoners of freedom. Whether these propositions are put into articles, courses, or speeches, they can instantly expand the depth of thinking among readers and listeners.

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Write at the end

Finally, what I want to say is -

Technology makes the world run faster and faster, but people’s hearts still get lost; communities connect tens of millions of people together, but loneliness never really disappears. Because of this, we need such a map more than ever: it is not in a hurry to give you answers, but quietly helps you find your own direction.

I hope this complete interpretation of “The Prophet” by my friend Caffeine can give you a little light and illuminate those dark places in your life.

After all, all great souls will get lost over and over again, and will eventually be reunited again and again.

📖 Book Purchase Information

Caffeine’s “The Prophet” Full Interpretation Edition (The First Interpretation Edition in the Chinese World)

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