The Pilgrimage

by Paulo Coelho

cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

pilgrimage along the Road to Santiago was going to help me to find myself.

“The ship is safest when it’s in port, but that’s not what ships were built for,”

“The first RAM practice will help you to achieve rebirth. You will have to do the exercise for seven consecutive days, each time trying to experience in some different way your first contact with the world.

first RAM practice: the Seed Exercise. “Do it now for the first time,” he said. I lowered my head between my knees, breathed deeply, and began to relax. My body obeyed without question, perhaps because we had walked so far during the day and I was exhausted. I began to listen to the sound of the earth, muffled and harsh, and bit by bit I transformed myself into a seed.

Seed exercise

The “something up there” was the field. I sensed the heat of the sun, the hum of the mosquitoes, the sound of a river that ran in the distance.

The Seed Exercise Kneel on the ground. Then seat yourself on your heels and bend forward so that your head touches your knees. Stretch your arms behind you. You are now in a fetal position. Relax, releasing all of your tensions. Breathe calmly and deeply. Little by little you will perceive that you are a tiny seed, cradled in the comfort of the earth. Everything around you is warm and delicious. You are in a deep, restful sleep.

Seed exercise

I could always be reborn, as many times as I wanted, until my arms were long enough to embrace the earth from which I had come.

“When you travel, you experience, in a very practical way, the act of rebirth.

“So why would you think that I might be worried about a half-dozen projects that I left behind in order to be here with you?”

am very glad to be here,” said Petrus, “because the work I did not finish is not important and the work I will be able to do after I get back will be so much better.”

“When you are moving toward an objective,” said Petrus, “it is very important to pay attention to the road. It is the road that teaches us the best way to get there, and the road enriches us as we walk its length.

second RAM practice is so important; it extracts from what we are used to seeing every day the secrets that because of our routine, we never see.”

Speed Exercise. “In the city, amid all the things we have to do every day, this exercise should be done for twenty minutes. But since we are on the Strange Road to Santiago, we should wait an hour before getting to the village.” The Speed Exercise Walk for twenty minutes at half the speed at which you normally walk. Pay attention to the details, people, and surroundings. The best time to do this is after lunch.

Speed exercise

Changing the way you do routine things allows a new person to grow inside of you. But

it is we who determine the pace of time:

“The Jacobean route is only one of four roads. It is the Road of the Spades, and it may give you power, but that is not enough.”

Road to Jerusalem, which is the Road of the Hearts, or of the Grail, and which endows you with the ability to perform miracles;

Road to Rome, which is the Road of the Clubs; it allows you to communicate with other worlds.”

“Wherever your treasure is, there will be your heart.”

Treasure .. Heart

law of retribution was similar to that of karma, or of the concept that as one sows, so shall they reap.

guiding concept along the Road to Santiago was its simplicity.

Wherever it is that you want to see the face of God, there you will see it.

She became God’s manifestation by becoming wiser and by living a simpler life—in other words, through love.

“God is not vengeance, God is love.

“God is in everything around us. He has to be felt and lived.

Peak of Forgiveness.

My worries about business and about the things I had left undone had practically disappeared.

I was happy to be there, walking the Road to Santiago.

“The Road you are traveling is the Road of power, and only the exercises having to do with power will be taught to you. The journey, which prior to this was torture because all you wanted to do was get there, is now beginning to become a pleasure. It is the pleasure of searching and the pleasure of an adventure. You are nourishing something that’s very important—your dreams.

Road of power

“We must never stop dreaming. Dreams provide nourishment for the soul, just as a meal does for the body.

Dream

“The good fight is the one we fight because our heart asks it of us.

“The good fight is the one that’s fought in the name of our dreams.

first symptom of the process of our killing our dreams is the lack of time,”

“The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything.

second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties.

we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those who are engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are fighting the good fight.

the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace.

the same thing happens to everyone every day: we always know which is the best road to follow, but we follow only the road that we have become accustomed to.”

The Cruelty Exercise Every time a thought comes to mind that makes you feel bad about yourself—jealousy, self-pity, envy, hatred, and so on—do the following: • Dig the nail of your index finger into the cuticle of the thumb of the same hand until it becomes quite painful. Concentrate on the pain: it is a physical reflection of the suffering you are going through spiritually. Ease the pressure only when the cruel thought has gone.

Cruelty exercise

“Of all the ways we have found to hurt ourselves, the worst has been through love. We are always suffering because of someone who doesn’t love us, or someone who has left us, or someone who won’t leave us. If we are alone, it is because no one wants us; if we are married, we transform the marriage into slavery. What a terrible thing!”

Love

the only way to deal with our messenger is to accept him as a friend—by listening to his advice and asking for his help when necessary, but never allowing him to dictate the rules of the game.

“If I had to use a metaphor, I would say that your angel is your armor, and your messenger is your sword.

The Arousal of Intuition (The Water Exercise) Make a puddle of water on a smooth, nonabsorbent surface. Look into the puddle for a while. Then, begin to play with it, without any particular commitment or objective. Make designs that mean absolutely nothing. • Do this exercise for a week, allowing at least ten minutes each time. • Don’t look for practical results from this exercise; it is simply calling up your intuition, little by little. When this intuition begins to manifest itself at other times of the day, always trust in it.

Water exercise

Every star—and every person—has their own space and their own special characteristics.

“Which kind of love are you talking about: eros, philos, or agape?”

“There are three Greek words that mean love,” he began. “Today, you are seeing a manifestation of eros, the feeling of love that exists between two people.”

The Water Exercise had awakened the language of my heart, and I was seeing people in a different way.

“Philos is love in the form of friendship.

All of us seek eros, and then when eros wants to turn itself into philos, we think that love is worthless. We don’t see that it is philos that leads us to the highest form of love, agape.

Eros philos agape .. Love