binuzohy (@binuzohy)

The Pilgrimage by ioijournal Whenever I read Paulo Coelho, I feel I ought to be embarking upon a journey. But every time it seems that the trip merely revisits itself and, in the end, I always feel I am back where I started. Now it is just possible that this might just be the point, if point there be. Surely, then, The Pilgrimage might have taken me somewhere. Obviously it is the story of a journey, and not just any journey. The author becomes a pilgrim and walks - well, almost - the length of the road to Santiago de Compostela. He starts in the French, nay French-Basque Pyrenees. He and his guide - I hesitate to use the word master, with a capital M, that Paulo Coelho employs - spend several days going round in circles. This surely is a premonition of what is to follow. In his eagerness to achieve an end, Paulo doesn't notice the lack of progress. His guide tells him he is too eager to reach his goal, that he should recognise the value of experience along the way. It's the only way to avoid self-deception. Perhaps that's the point. Paulo takes the advice he is offered and eventually spiritual revelations reveal themselves. The book lists several exercises for the reader to follow. You can find your Master, learn how to Breathe, feel your Blue Balls and utilise the Capital Letter, sometimes. And though I may have an idea about what Christianity might be, I declare no understanding whatsoever of what the Tradition might involve, despite the fact that it and the achievement of its apparently all-important Sword dominate the book. I was none the wiser at the end, but the advice offered that one should not sit on one's Sword will be remembered. More in details https://ioijournal.com/