Dear reader:
I have been on this journey since 20 March, this being the way I chose to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of my first pilgrimage on the Way to Santiago. This has taken me to three different continents (Europe, Africa and the Far East) and has enabled me to come into direct contact with thousands of readers, since the moment I decided that it was impossible to celebrate anything without their presence.
At Puente de la Reina I held my first autograph afternoon without any “official planning”, and since then I have managed to combine some organized meetings with other absolutely spontaneous ones. All these autograph-afternoons were followed by parties where together we commemorated the meaning that the path holds: encounters. To commemorate, celebrate, discuss, dance, and respect the mystery of life, but at the same time to understand that we are not alone in this mystery and that we need to share our enchantment with other people who understand our way of thinking.
On 19 April I created this blog together with Paula Braconnot, so that all these experiences could reach beyond physical space and enter virtual space as well. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Paula for her professionalism, love and dedication, which overcame all the technical difficulties.
My next stop before going back home will be Germany, where I will attend the World Cup as guest of FIFA. As I don’t think I will be able to say anything new about football, today I am bringing these texts to an end. Any comments will be most welcome, so that we can perfect the idea of having a blog for occasional conversations.
On 22 June, God willing, I shall be returning to my point of departure, the old mill in the Pyrenees, and right after that I go back to Brazil.
Every two weeks I send a newsletter to interested readers. Whoever wants to receive these can register a
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On one of my first stops on this pilgrimage, I found myself in a village in Spain. There I wrote the text below. I believe that, no matter where we come from, we can always reach far beyond what we imagined. This is the example that Francisco gave us, the example we should follow.
I dedicate this path to my readers. Many thanks for the support you have all lent me, and for the nights that I spent reading your messages, which always encouraged me to proceed on my journey. The meaning of the path lies in people, and we always see the world better when we allow the mystery of our encounters to be unveiled. As the last sentence in The Pilgrimage says: “people always turn up when they are expected.”
Paulo Coelho
I am having coffee on the terrace of the hotel looking on to a castle, a gigantic castle in this little village with few houses in the province of Navarra, Spain. Night has fallen but there is no moon. I am repeating by car my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the first time I traveled this road.
The village where I find myself, however, is not part of the route, which passes about 19 kilometers from here. I planned to visit it, and here I am. Five hundred years ago a man called Francisco was born in this place. He must have played a lot in the fields that surround the castle. He must have swum in the river that runs close by. The son of rich parents, he left his village to complete his studies at the famous Sorbonne in Paris. I imagine it was his first long journey.
Francis was athletic, good-looking, intelligent and envied by all the other students – except one, who came from the same distant Spanish province and whose name was Ignatius. Ignatius said to him: “Francis, you think too much about yourself. Why don’t you dedicate yourself to thinking about other things, like God, for instance?” I do not know why, but Francis, the most handsome and bravest student at the Sorbonne, is convinced by Ignatius. They get together with other students and found a society which is the laughing stock of all the others, who even write on the door of the room where they meet: Society of Jesus. Instead of feeling offended, they adopt the name. And from that moment on, Francis begins a journey without return.
He goes to Rome with Ignatius and asks the Pope to recognize the “society”. The Pontiff agrees to meet the students, and in order to stimulate them he gives his consent. Francis – who was deadly afraid of ships and the sea – sets off alone to the Orient, imbued with what he considers to be his mission. In the next ten years he visits Africa, India, Sumatra, the Moluccas and Japan. He learns new languages, visits hospitals, prisons, cities and villages. He writes many letters, but none – absolutely none – makes any reference to “tourist” spots in these places. He comments only on the need to bring a word of encouragement and hope to those who are less privileged.
He dies far from the village where I now sit having my coffee, and he is buried in Goa. At a time when the world was immense, distances were almost insurmountable and people lived at war, Francis thought that he should consider the world as a global village. He overcame his fear of the sea and ships and solitude, because he was aware that his life had a meaning. While traveling through the Orient, he does not know that his steps will never be forgotten and that all he has planted will bear fruit; he is doing all this because this is his personal legend, the way he has chosen to lead his life.
Five hundred years later, in the city of Ahmedabad in India, a teacher asks his pupils for a biography of Francis. One of the boys writes: “he was a great architect, because all over the Orient there are schools he built and that bear his name.”
Antonio Falces, who directs one of these colleges, tells me he heard two people chatting:
“Francis was Portuguese,” said one.
“Of course he wasn’t. He was born and buried here in Goa,” answered the other.
They are both wrong, and they are both right: Francis came from a small village in Navarra, but he was a man of the world, and everyone considered him a part of their own people. Nor was he an architect specialized in building schools, but, as one of his first biographers says, “he was like the sun, which cannot move forward without spreading light and heat wherever it passes.”
I think of Francis: leaving here, traveling the world, making the name of this little village known in so many places that many people believe it is his surname. Facing his fears, giving up everything on behalf of his dreams – may this inspire and serve as an example to me, who studied in one of the colleges of the so-called “society of Jesus”, or S.J., or Jesuit schools, as they are known.
Here I am in the village of Javier. Both Francisco and Ignatius, who hailed from another small village called Loyola, were canonized on the same day - 12 March 1622. on that morning a banner was hung on one of the walls of the Vatican:
“Saint Francis Javier worked many miracles. But the miracle of Saint Ignatius was even greater: Francis Javier.”
Dear Paulo,
I thank you with all my heart for this precious gift you gave me, your reader, who has never dreamt meeting you and touching you, that you made me part of your so personal and so universal journey. I’m forgetting English again, but you know, I’m not a killer any more - at least currently, - and I send you my sincere gratitude and friendship.
And now, boy, sit down and write a new novel, because you have us all waiting - hungry for more!
Blessing to you Paulo, It’s been an honour.
Safe journey home.
Lisa
xx
Oops forgot.
All you wonderful people. You were fantastic!!!
Feel free to drop me a line at my site. You will need an account but it is free.
Blessed Journeys
Lisa
xx
p.s Chantal you are most welcome. Hope you find what you are seeking.
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Today, the 10th of June is a very, very magical day for me.
The day when i passionately realize that each day of our lifes IS the most mysterious and divine pilgrimage. Each day we finish one and start another; the constant process of metamorphoses…”the meaning of the path lies in people” - those are such a true words, dear Magician !
Experiences of each day reveal us our path, the path is - WE. Everything is within and we are ONE with divine source of everything that comes and goes.
Today, on the 10th of June i feel strongly this process of walking as it’s the day when i know the mental journey with all of you, and You, dear Magician, finds its destination.
But it’s the day when i started and made my own pilgrimage as well
.
Today i have spent seven hours in the longest line i have ever seen in my life to touch the little box with the Right Hand of Joahn The Baptist, the hand which (the thought of this makes me tremble) touched the head of Jesus Christ… it still counds like a magical fairy-tale, but touching it i feel the connection of everything - history, time, miracles, God and each of us, each person being in the journey called life and being able to create on our ways whatever wonders we only dream about. i realize that everything is possible….when we believe and act.
I make two steps every 15 minutes and reading the prays i feel the movement and atmosphere put me close to trans, where mind is free and spirit is everywhere and silent.
I meet the phrase in prayering saying that we are all heirs of Kingdom of Heaven and afterwards i feel a great joy of being alive, feeling no fear about anything and incredible freedom.
Returning home many hours later i was fascinated to read this latest text of the pilgrimage, and some of the words reflect exactly what i have felt today :
“no matter where we come from, we can always reveal far beyond what we imagined”…
I realize that it is about movement, about changing and walking, dreaming and realizing ourselves. The path today, after this two pilgrimages of mine - one virtual with You, Paulo, and all the hearts of lights, and the one of today - the physical one of coming to kiss and touch the sacred Hand made me feel that walking the path is easier then we may imagine. In fact the only thing we need is to believe passionately in our dreams, feel the divine sparkle for something in our lifes and dare to DO it…
And when i was more or less close to this formula in my life , God indeed revealed me treasures that i couldn’t even dare to think about.
But they entered my life, and they became my reality.
The path is always mystical and magical, but it’s important to contuine walking. And this i feel today - i know that this pilgrimage inspired by You, dearest Magician, will contuine each day within each heart of everyone who followed.
The moment when i was in front of the greatest and divine relic, i felt absolute light within. I could think of nothing, nor i hardly saw anything, but the moment i put both of my hands on it and kissed, the flame lighted in my heart; the splash of light that let me know that we are one.
We are part of the spring of light, we are sparkles of God’s sun and love and we are the ones to represent , spread and share his love on earth right now. The love and unconditional belief in miracles and wonders - in realization of our most sacred dreams - as they are His dreams too.
The path is thorny, but when the moments of blessing and light bring light to it, you realize that it’s the greatest gift possible.
Those moments happened each day when i read You texts, Paulo.
This i feel today too, and i wish to thank again All who accompany me on this pilgrimage of life, of everyone who by their encounters, virtual or physical changed my life and revealed my way. Nothing is accidental, of course.
And i kneel in front of the mystery and magic concept of my life way that it crossed it with Your light, endless depth of the heart, wisdom and sparkle of Your eyes, dear Magician Paulo.
I believe that who ever we meet is sent to us by Angels and this is all a part of the huge work of art - our life . Every day is a movement of the brush, every person we meet is the new beautiful colour that makes the whole piece amazing !
I can hardly depict all that i feel today - feeling the end of one pilgrimage and start of another, but those emotions make me soar, smile and cry with happiness as i feel i AM ALIVE !!!!
I may write endless again, but dearest Magician Paulo , THANK YOU MILLION TIMES for the wonder gift of being able to share the pilgrimage with all of us and inspire, feel the hearts with strength and love. We are indeed one. One light of God’s love. And we never die, the spirit of ours is always alive in this universe. We are here, there and everywhere to enjoy the pilgrimage or revealing God’s generousity and feel oursleves HOW magical is the process of realizing ourselves, our dreams and make this world even more beautiful.
And i believe, that each of us living will discover his path and find magical spiritual treasures.
I will probably miss the spirit of this journey… but well, i know we need to be like butterflies and let the whirlwind of life take us to the next journey.
It’s all just fantastical and i send my love to everyone and You, dear Paulo !
May God bless You for the light You reach with into EACH heart personally, light of ONE.
I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And i wish You many, many magical pilgrimages yet to discover and pass through
Love,
Dasha B.
Moscow
Yes, and this IS the Hand that touched Jesus while christening him….
I still feel amazed that today i experienced this true wonder- touching it .
Hand that changed so much that it’s hard to depict in words.
Hand that passed divine spirit and blessed Jesus… Jesus who was/is/and will be the son of God and human being. The union of Heaven and Earth.
The spirit of this union is what i feel today within of me.
And we all have hands too… and if we dare, we may probably also try to make them work for beautiful, loving and genuine actions… and by passing our own personal talents and energy through our hands, we may indeed make this world and life more beautiful, and that’s what we are here for, i believe.
With love and endless gratitude to all and You, magical Paulo,
Dasha B.
congratulations and thank you. through this blog, through your writings, people the world over have been touched by your hand without ever picking up one of your books or opening a web page. they have been touched because your words touched me. through them you will continue to touch others and on thorough time.
Dear Paulo,
thank you again for our wonderful journey with you, we will carrying on walking our own private caminos everyday, bye everyone, i will miss reading your stories, and like ships passing in the night we were, and the phrase something like, coming in and out of peoples lives for a reason or a season… take care all of you,
via con dios,
love and best wishes
marian, andalucia, españa
Zdrastwuj, dear Paulo.
Hope now you know this Russian word. And many others. But not words are significant after your great journey.
We, your readers and (I hope) friends, made it with you.
We read your Blog, we followed you in Russia, we saw photoes, read articles. It was very great to see you, to talk with you in Ekaterinburg. You even sang songs with us!
And it was funny to read about your dance (samba) in Nowosibirsk.
Did you like the water of Baikal? ;)I think it was cold.
And now your journey cames to an end… What can I say? Great pity.
But my hope to see you again and to ask you these questions that I know now is strong. I believe that we will meet again.
May be I willn’t see you in life, but on the pages of your new books.
Great respect and love, Marina from Ekaterinburg.
Dear Paulo
I went out this morning and bought two of your books. I’ve bookmarked a few sites of some of the people who have commented here…Lisa, Dashabal, Peter Holmes Sellers (what beautiful photographs!), Debbie Holmes, Marian, and of course this other opportunity you give us, the barnes and noble site, etc.
I can’t promise I’ll write to everybody, but I will every so often take a peek into that part of their lives that they want to share to others.
I suppose it’s just a way to keep the flame of the love we have shared alive.
Thank you Gabriela in particular. I’ll never forget you.
Good luck Chantal (start a blog!!), Enigma, Steve, and everybody else. I read each and every comment posted. You are all in my heart.
And for you Paulo, I say um abraço,
com carinho
Maria
Dear Paulo,
it was a magnificent journey we all made together.
Let everyone come back happy and hold his way.
I’ve read all Paulo’s texts and our comments: your words will sound much longer, than I’ll be writing my last comment.:)
PS. Paulo, you are like the sun!
Love, Marina.
Good luck, DASHA B!!!
Ah……I am back at the beginning!
I return from walking Francis and Ignatius. Paulo, your wonderful gift to spin, weave and share story permeates my imagination and of all the insights of the past weeks, I am back at the beginning, longing to walk the bones of the Earth and collect stories encoded in the streams and fields of memory.
How wonderful that you, one man, who walks his personal path in collective dimensions, can create and hold a Path for many initiates to walk together, for a few weeks that live forever.
Paula, Congratulations and Thank You.
I trust you continue to work with Paulo to deliver future blogs! I know you have heard the saying that behind every powerful man is an equally powerful woman! ?
Until we meet again on Warriors of Light on Line…walk gently
Christine
Hello, Increasingly I question coincidence.
As the blog is closing I decided to look the PC Official site for other informaiton. I am now feeling grateful and holding gentle emotion.
I read that Paulo’s silver ring with the double headed serpent is a symbol of Wisdom of the Moon.
About twenty years ago after a rebirth session I drew a mandala of a double headed serpent.
No one else in the learning community understood what it meant. I felt confused as to why I would draw a symbol which somehow reflected the shaddow of my early, dark days of old Catholic education.
I felt I’d drawn something to be ashamed and while I did not destroy the Mandala I hid it away. TO-day Ive learnt to remember symbols may have more than one meaning and perhaps I misunderstood and missed an opportunity to walk in a new way?
I am not physically young and for the first time I feel a new surge of appreciation and understanding the value of ‘education and knowledge gained through Initiation’.
I close my writing urging myself and others not to waste a moment or let not a moment be wasted. When opportunity comes embrace. If shaddows rise, face it, trusting your integrity and faith that God has a purpose for each of us and it is ultimately good!
Congratultions the renewed Official Fan Club site is wonderful.
Christine
I have been following your journey very closely and all the inputs by the readers. I did not post any comments , although i have much to say but did not feel like writing , partly because i am a bit moody.
Did I enjoy this blog ? I do not know. Sometimes , it takes a while to appreciate things. But this blog was interesting enough for me to read it regulary.
Mr. Coelho , your comment about football and nothing new to say about it. My experience is that one can say so much about anything , even if much has been said on the issue. I’m pretty sure you will have a lot of new things to write about football too.
May God bless you for all the inspiration you bring to people , esp me, and all the readers and people posting thier comments here .
Dear Paulo!
God be with you! Thank you for going the journey with us. I am shure you got many inspirations and kind encounters and you will still have it until going back to the place you can breath the air of that we call home. Of course mother earth can be a lovely place and even though the people do their race at all lovely places on earth. When the time will come, I wish you a your dear family a quiet time to remain all you gave and got the 90 days during the trip.
Good writing
and
Love Hubert
While we all continue our personal pilgrimages and discovering the magic of our paths, enjoying the reading of comments today here, i was very surprised seeing my name mentioned in
Maria’s note who bookmarked my site together with some of the other readers ( i really may only imagine how she found that :))
and Marina, who kindly and surprisingly wished me good luck. ( Thank You very much, and good luck to You too :))
I am really touched, and already many days ago i started to feel amazing union that found birth in this blog. Union of hearts of light, sparkles of which light the universe and create this magical dance of life, pieces of the puzzle or the huge work of art .
It really seems like we (all who followed this blog, left commens and who may be had no idea of this blog but makes his own spiritual journey through each day) are all belong to ONE chain, and this is a fantastical feeling that fills with joy and strength - not seeing or knowing each other we feel the magic of being together and not being alone on this earth.
Paulo, the true Magician created this miracle
I consider this to be a wonder and it was a pure and especial gift to experience this unique journey with all of You, to feel the beauty of Your souls and emotions and to be leaded by You, Magician
It was unforgetable journey, and though we are all in different parts of the universe, it still seems like we will always be somewhere close to each other, and who knows what magical coincidences may happen ?
We all continue to walk this path as one…
Again, i send You all my love and may God guide each of us to find the treasures of our hearts and wonders of the universe.
Paulo, THANK YOU again for the spirit and wisdom of Yours that take us high above and deep within and it is love that consumes everything, unites us all and lives in each of us is what reveals the sense of our lifetime pilgrimage .
The meaning of the path is in people, and on my way and during the precious journey in this blog i met virtually very beautiful ones.
No matter what happens each day, may we all remember that something genuine that is behind all the events is love and aspiration of higer powers to reveal ourselves and find light
I LOVE YOU ALL and it is so inspiring to be with You all here and now
I also believe that we may never die, but our spirits will always be soaring somewhere and pass through new and new enigmatic experiences, so we will probably always be together.
Also, dear Paulo, thank You for the wonderful and meaningful story of Francis. I have been thinking of it and returning to it in my mind and it will always remind me of something important….
And with all my heart, I wish to also thank Paula, whom i met spontaneously and virtually too, and it was a wonderful communication
I also express her my gratitude for making the ray of SUN reach to each heart and through this blog and uniting us all create the circle of light, the rays whose radiance are and will be shining forever.
I have no doubt that this blog - the opportunity of being in touch with Paulo’s wisdom, impressions, experiences and vision and the chance to leave our own comments, notes and feelings and to read others, changed many many lifes; opened doors into unknown and gave enormous belief in the divine sparkles within each of us…. to raise and find our own swords and be brave on the way.
Being brave is probably being yourself. And while we all will be working on our own works of art, i dream of the day when may be we would have an opportunity to talk and share again.
LOVE TO ALL and i will not say goodbye as we are all somewhere close to each other
May be closer than we think, because God’s ways are so very fabulous.
LOVE,
Dasha Balashova
Thankyou very much for your blog! I did recognize here and there
earlier texts from your other e-publication “Warrior of light” but
everything is nevertheless wise words worth to read many times!
And I’ve been wondering since a few weeks how on earth you got
any time to sleep reading all these responses in English , French,
Portugese and Spanish! it’s something around 150 comments
for every blogentry and your readers have been inspired to
write long answers too!
I hope you will come back, maybe on an annual base
with some kind of blog - it is - as you maybe have discovered
a terrific tool not only between you and your readers
but also between us who are reading!
Merci!
Josephine
It’s the last msg that im going to leave here. My girlfriend won’t leave me get on here any more…I don’t know why, she is being a b!”£$. To every one here it was a plesure…I thing that some of you need therapy and to forget that Paulo can help you because he is only a man and men cant rule the world as we know…
Magic is magic and I dont think that you can link it to religion…god is one and magic is his uae…he sees it that man cant use mmagic as it is his or so the scriptures says….Paulo believes in a different god..he may know this or he may not. If he is a mage then it is a different god than the god we all heard about at school…
Anyway, are the guys in the story above the founders of RAM..I would like to know?
Paulo, if you are reading this enjoy your time in Germany… The blog is a nice idea, but all blogs need to be regulated by the right type of person or personal. Cya around…
K
Dear Paulo,
Everyday I fight giving up the new path I am taking in my work. Your words, your knowledge, your inisight and your willingness to share, stops me from doing that. And what happens? Encouragement arrives when I least expect it and rejection too, but I handle it now and I let my self surface in my own way till life shows me something new to try. You are a great teacher.
Thank you and god bless you.
Christine
Flap … for a bird landing !
I don’t know if this blog will be soon closed … but if it’s not the case why don’t we continue our comments here ?
busardly
Dear Paulo,
I would like to begin by saying that you have encouraged me to not be afraid to travel my journey…. I currently got out of a 7 year relationship, so i’m naturally in mourning. However, it was a friendly departure. We had enough understanding that we both needed to let each other grow even if meant being apart. We both had been scared to move on, because we were scared to be alone–even though we weren’t happy with the relationship. So here I find myself, petrified of what the future holds, but anxious at the same time. I’m a dreamer, I have visions of what my heart & soul want me to be. I have gone long enough with repressing it… I haven’t followed my dream because I’ve let myself wilt away at the words and ridicules others have said. I’m making the choice to be me. Even though i know its going to get hard at times like it is now, but I also know that I need to welcome this experience so that I can appreciate the beauty and wonder and love that I and this World have to give. I know you hear these words a lot, but I thank you for your words and experiences. Thank you for giving us your thoughts & your heart. I wish you well on all of your endeavors & that God may be with you always. I would also like to say thank you to all of your readers and this community. Their kind words and inspirations are something that I will treasure and make a part of me.
With love,
Janet G. Garcia
Thank you and God bless you always.
love,
Kelly
Dearest Paulo,
Thank you for sharing your magical journey with us.
You are inspiration.
God Bless,
Homecoming
At the end of the Alchemist the shepherd boy catches the scent of Fatima
the woman he loves - on the wind
Molly Bloom at the end of James Joyce’s Ulysses is remembering the scents
of a time she was in love; the mountain roses, the geraniums, the jessamine (for Jasmin)
and so your journey ends here too with the message from Jessamine above, a happy coincidence /sign
Love and Best Wishes Paulo from
Petrus
Dear reader’s,
hello again, I have to take back my message left above. I was a bit drunk and angry at myself.
You are all so strong to follow Paulo on his journey. He is spreading God’s love back into all our hearts. You should all take a bow and congratulate yourselves on your own personal journey and growth…
Taken from my own book that I am writing here is a small extract…
The world is like a theme park. You have the characters all wandering around. Micky mouse, Mini Mouse, Pluto, Donald duck etc. These are the powerful people in our world. The Bush’s, the Bin Ladens, the Kings and Queens.
We all walk in wide eyed, dieing to go on the first ride and then the next and then the next. Some rides are wonderful, some rides are scary and some rides are amazing..
Around us are the people of the world enjoy the park, going on the rides, being happy, scared indifferent. Children cry over dropping their ice creams. Other children fight over small things. Parents argue.
We have people selling sweats on every corner. These are the drug dealers taking our children away. There are strangers in every bathroom. These are the people who abuse our children. There are people under the masks and behind every ride. These are the people we will never know. We have the one angry Bad Guy in the story, he is the one who kills a loved one.
We have the silly guy, he is the one who car crashes into you. Everyone is here. I sit on a ride and enjoy it greatly, I am dizzy as I get off. I look around and wonder where to go next. The day is almost over and I want to get value for my money. I am paying every day for life and it isn’t easy.
I an scared, amazed, happy, in love and grieving for the world all at once.
(unfinished story, unfinished paragraph!!!)
Cya all around (sorry for being rude)
K
Dear Paulo
I’m a new writer in my home town and i’ve read The Alchemist (suggested by one of my friend), indeed it was superbly done. Geez when can i write that kind of brilliant stuff. Cya.
Quote Paolo Coelho;
“If you want something, first of all you have to show your eyes.” That’s what I have done ever since then and I have had nothing but good results. We can have all the available means of communication in the world, but nothing, absolutely nothing takes the place of the human look.” Unquote Paolo Coelho
Dearest Paolo, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. You are certainly living your personal legend, and by travelling the world and sharing your experiences with us, you have proved something which I personally have always believed, “that not only must we look life in the face, but we must show our eyes, and open our hearts to our fellow time travellers”. If we do this we will overcome the great “Problems” (better word would be challenges) which our world is experiencing. We are united and we have the power to change and even work miracles. Bless you Paolo and and all those who dare to travel and look others in the eye. Your ever faithful Warrior of the Light, Paul Vincent Davey
Dear Paulo and all of you readers,
Thank you so much for your inspiration, wisdom, love and light.
It was so great reading all the stories.
It is so great knowing that there is so much love on this beautiful planet!
Thank you for the encouraging words and all the magic.
Have a great magical journey and see you around.
I wish you Love, Light and Life!
Mirjam, NL
Dear, Paulo Coelho & Braconnot Paula.
Adabz
(Means Hello in Urdu Language)
Thank You very much for all what you have done and made us part of Paulo Coelho ‘ s journey . and Thank You very Much for Your reply to my request which was being posted on 12th of May. Thank You for not taking my Hope away since “Only Hope Has always dominated my life” and I will email you all the details regarding Paulo Coelho ’s visit to my country
“A Visit with a Mission and Vision” and accept my Apology that I was not being able respond to your (Braconnot Paula ) email earlier because i was busy arranging things and doing all my home work for Paulo Coelho ’s visit.
Please Do reply to my email will be waiting.
May Allah always Bless You and Your Team.
And My Teacher and Magician Paulo Coelho just want to share that your words have a made a lot of positive difference in my life and Living with Your words …day in and day out ..Makes me more complete. I feel your soul in mine.. …
These two letter word “Thank You” means a whole world when I say it to you and Hope has always dominated my life … so do not take it away since I am really hopeful to see you here in my part of the world, for the greater good of the society!!!
Yes for sure you are so very right about this
“but he was a man of the world, and everyone considered him a part of their own people”
Yes Indeed for me Paulo Coelho you are that man of the world.
People seem to pass by and so dose the age but sometimes either of them
stop and make you see things from a different angle.
Thank You and Carry on and keep making the difference.
May Allah always Bless You and Your team.
Warmest Regards ,
Fatima Saeed Khan.
P.S : Please do reply to my email will be waiting.
Well hellou 2 u all :)….. i’d just like to point out (with a huge respect to the Brazilian team) that we (Croatian team) would have totally wone yesterday if we had any luck ….which we don’t ….ever….but since God is on our side
….we were -louder ( there were half the number of us compare to at this point very quite brazilians ….guess they were scared …no need …..:) -we were braver-no matter of the results it woz one of us who had the guts to jump into the field an congratulate our boys -as well as the brazlians -an turn the fire torchers …..inspite all treats an check ups of the germany police …..an at the end we showed that its not the size of the country that matters but the size of the nations heart an it our case it beats loud an clear :))))))))))))))) never the less i think it woz a fair match …an well all had fun ..on the stadion an round it ….an would like to thank all the brazilians who stud theyre place fo us who hadn’t gotten the tickets-money or otherwise problems an fo bein a real frends(as ur Jesus is spreding his arms in rio thats how we felt an from the deepest part of my heart i thank u ) …. we won’t forget u ….hope we WON’T meet in the finals but may the best team (us ) win :))))))))))))) …..p.s. Mr.Coelho i didn’t see u all though i did try to find u ….hope we meet at sum point …im sure it’s just a metter of time 
keep the faith ….luce (not only perfect but Croatian too 
Hi dear Paulo and of course everyone who reads this blog!
Once I was on the internet surfing different sites and looking for information which interested me. The next day I got an email notifying me of the arrival of Paulo Coelho to Russia and that he was exepcted to come to Vladivostok on the 30th of May. First I thought “It must be a joke! Paulo Coelho is travelling from Moscow to Vladivostok - I can’t believe it!”
I don’t watch TV much and after several days passed I learned that it was the gospel truth. The first thing that I did was ask my director to give me a one week of vacation by saying “I need to go to Vladivostok. It’s very important to me.”
On the 30th of May I arrived in Vladivostok and when I got off the train and noticed a bunch of people with cameras and such like standing on the railway platform waiting for….. This was the first question which I asked a man “Who is everyone waiting for?” The reply was ” I have no idea.”
It was a little bit strange for me since I couldn’t figure out how someone can stand in a crowd and have not the faintest idea what or whom they are awaiting. I thought to myself “This man must have lost his sense of curiousity”. Anyway I was very luckyand at the same time happy as I witnessed the arrival of Paulo Coelho to city.
That day I had Paulo’s autograph at one of the city bookshops where almost 300 people gathered. And later we headed for the one of the Far East resort where the encounter with readers was to take place. Everything went well. Paulo answered all the questions which readers asked him. Even mine – “What is happiness for you?” I am not likely to forget that moment in my life. I saw Paulo Coelho with my own eyes. I could hear his voice with my own ears. Perhaps it might sound stupid for someone but not for me. I remember him saying before I put my question “ Yes, I can recall you, I signed your book then you left the bookshop and after a few seconds you returned to ask for invitation. You didn’t stop yourself before obstacle and as a result you achieved your goal”. I was surprised as well to notice that during that conversation with readers Paulo practically knew everybody’s name. I want to thank you Paulo for being in out lives, making us realize the value of this life and take a look at it in a different way. We are with you in spite of the distance and time, Paulo! I will treasure the day I met you in Vladivostok! My best regards.
Vitalya
Russian Federation
Vladivostok
hello mr coelho. thanks for your book. i am iranian. i like your book and read all of them. i glad to search your blog. and this is very good if you send a comment for me about your opinion about iranian. thanks. take care and dont forget laugh.((the purpose in live is a live to purpose))
Here I am in tropical Mexico, Palenque. I have found some time to look on internet during my holiday.
A good friend of me has done so much wonderful work showing me the way, making plans, phantastic, I want to thank her here. And of course everyone else on this page, giving their stories.
Kind regards,
John
Paulo,
thank you for making me happy at this very moment, at this week, during which I buried one of the most cheerful colleagues I had. During this month I had also another loss - I lost (not phisically) a very special person, one very special friend, one very special love, one very special soul - my ZAHIR. But I will prove to him and mostly to myself that I am a warrior, I will fight for him, I will fight for me.
And I am happy today, because of you, because you gave me once again the strenght to smile and once again you made me believe in my dreams.
Thank you for the person you are and for the writer you are.
I think this is not the End, Paulo. I am just standing at the begining of my path. And what about you. You were the light for me. And I was blinded. But now I realized that you are simple man. Thank you, for the mistery, knowledges, and love.
Dear Paulo and Friends,
I came to find out about this journey when Paulo has gone halfway through the trip. So I went back to read from the beginning and has followed until the end. Wow what an incredible journey, and what an affect it has given to my life. Its so inspiring that I went and introduced this blog to many of my friends. Hopefully the stories has given answers to their lifes as it has given me.
I also want to say thanks to you Paulo and all the wonderful friends (I feel like you are all my friends) that have shared their stories. I can say mentally and spiritually I am now fully recharged and has more courage to continue with life. I thank Allah for He has given me answers and direction in life.
Hope I can meet you Paulo and some of you friends someday. Take care all of you.
Daniel
dearest paulo,
it is bizarre how your books always seem to surface at the exact right time. not long ago i was lost, i was broken and felt as though this might be it and i was ready to give up. i was afraid i had died along the way. but i set off on a trip. not at all the spiritual trip that perhaps would have been called for, but nevertheless i was taken out of my normal habitat and to accompany me i brought with me your book “the zahir”. i had been keeping it on my bookshelf for quite some time after buying it, not feeling as though the time was right. i had tried starting to read it a couple of times before but had gotten disheartened when i couldn’t manage to get into the story. but on the four hour busride to my destination this time i not only managed to get into the story, i was moved and realized i had waited for the perfect time to read it. i delved in between the lines and tasted the words. it was fantastic, but best is the feeling i have now after finishing it and upon coming home again. this feeling of renewed strength and ability to wait and have patience. what is meant to be, will be.
i want to thank you for giving light when darkens usurps everything. i want to thank you for guiding when feet stumble. i want to thank you for giving your words and what they bring fourth in all your readers. it is magical.
(oh and bless miglena and i pray that her zahir will become not an obsession but a lovecompanion again. i feel i can sympathize with her very well under the similar circumstance i’m in.)
much love,
Anna
Greetings,
Just a few months ago this blog was the only ongoing source of conversation I had on the topics of my passion: exploration into the Path. Now the blog has finished yet I have found people who were not part of the blog but walk with the same passion. We talk of encoded cellular memory, Mary Magadalene and Isis, Rites of Passage, Initiations, music, colour, our personal signature in sound, and all sorts of wonderful topics.
They have all travelled to sacred sites or done the great pilgrimmages of the world and talk about the power and graces of their experiences. I also long to travel yet I have come to realise the power of imagination may allow passage into sacred places without physically being there. I recently heard my shoe move small wet pebbles as I walked through a small park and felt that is exactly how it might be if I were walking up to Rennes de Chartuse. Such is the joy of imagination.
To-day is the Solstice…One half of the world will count as the shortest day, the other half, the longest day and I will be, comfortably, caught between the two.
Presently reading the Lost World of Agharti by Alec Maclellan: The mystery of Vril Power so I’ll probably find myself wandering around caves and very long tunnels.
walk gently
Christine
Dear Paulo
Thank you for everything.
I made good on my promise and went to the monastery at LLuc (in Majorca) and I lt a candle for you and for all those that have participated in this blog - I lit the candle and prayed, I did not ask for anything but simply thanked the world for what we have and for the inspiration that I have picked up from taking part in the blog.
I would be very interested to carry on interacting with anyone who wishes to talk about the topics that have been covered over the last few weeks. I wil check this blog again soon.
Wishing you all the very best.
Always
John Kenny
Dear Paulo and All,
I joined the blog today. I hope I can learn something out of that . I am following the stories. and I am so happy to be here.
With love
Hooman
Dear Paulo!
I hope you read the email I sent to you!
Please send me a short message if you got it!
Thank you!
With all my love to you, Cristina and Monica!
Hubert
Dear Paulo,
Five years a go I had read Alchemist and since I was a very young disappointed ,sick boy, Everything for me was a absolute darkness and I couldn’t see any light in my heart. I had read Alchemist around 15 times and still I am thirsty for it. This fantastic book changed my life for ever I found my self in the absolute light , Now after five years I am a successful person in my courier and I just graduated from one of the best American Universities on my regions. Everybody is shocked and they are asking me how did you do that? How did you came up from that darkness? and so on.
I wanted to thank you for being a great teacher and guider, You and your books specially Alchemist changed my life for ever. Still my best gift to my friends is Alchemist. I always wanted to see you , even when you came in Iran , my heart was with you all the time.
With Love and Respect
Hooman
United Arab Emirates
Thank you for this blog, reading everyone’s comments gives inspiration. Thank you for reaching out so many of us. I have met you through my daughter who has given me the precious Alchemist autographed by you. It is the most treasured on my shelf.
I am a teacher and I recommend your books to many people, some say ‘yes, I’ve read his book’ and I cannot but help tell them ‘they are not books you close. You never finish with reading his books’.
God Bless.
Greetings again Everyone,
Hope you are all safe and well. Think I have a Zahir. Someone who is older than me and whom I cannot be with. I think it’s mainly to do with loneliness, on my account anyway. I am working to get past it. Writing helps. Worst times are when I’m about to go to sleep and he floats into my mind.
*Sigh* oh well, these things come to test us.
Love & Light
Lis’
xx
Dear, Paulo Coelho & Braconnot Paula.
Adabz (Means Hello in Urdu Language)
I hope you read the email I sent to you!
Please send me a short message if you got it!
Thank you!
Thank You and Carry on and keep making the difference.
May Allah always Bless You and Your team.
Anxiously waiting for your reply ……. so Please Reply Soon
Warmest Regards,
Fatima Saeed Khan
my dearest writter paulo coelho,
i really can’t put in to words what impact you made in my life.i begin to understand every sphere of life after reading your books.everytime when i met with a new person.i recommend your books and to be utterly frank,their experience is not different than mine.i wish you enough and pray god to give you a long life.
rup bahadur sunar,Nepal
I’ve learnt so much from you, Dan Millman & the What the Bleep Do We Know!?
Just read The Alchemist again & it was a totally different experience from the first time.
Thank You!
Alex Chua
Dear Lisa,
sorry for not responding earlier, had to go trough the fase you are talking about. You mentioned your site but i can not find it i would like to leave a reply there. Hope you will read this and there is a possibility for you to let me know!
Love Chantal
Sorry Paulo i forget to thank you for this oppertunity to reach out to eachother, hope you and your wife had a wondereful time in France and have a good trip back to your home base.
Dear, Paulo Coelho & Braconnot Paula.
Adabz (Means Hello in Urdu Language
)
Please Reply to my email soon
and Please Do not take my HOPE away ….. i am waiting …….
Warmest Regards,
Fatima Saeed Khan.
Good evening, Paulo Coelho:
I met Albert Clayton Gaulden at an Inside Edge meeting today in Irvine, CA. Afterwards, I had a private session with him. He said I must write to you and tell you that he said I was a “Warrior of Light” and to tell you about the book I’m writing, Women Rising From the Ashes. I’ve listed the website on this email so you can read about the concept and who the participants and experts are so far.
It’s a “coincidence” that he suggested I write to you because I’m looking for women all over the world to participate. Yesterday before I even had heard of you, I thought that I had no woman from South America, like Brazil, to share her story of “rising and helping other women” or her expertise in helping other women rise.
Albert said I should ask you if you know of any woman who might fit the profile of who I’m seeking. Isn’t that incredible?
And now….What can I do for you?
I’m going to order The Alchemist because Albert strongly suggested I should read it.
I look forward to reading your wonderful book.
Thank you,
Basia
Chantal,
My website is http://p073.ezboard.com/bunofficiallorenzo49584
As I said before you will need an account but it is free. Look forward to seeing you there. Thanks for understanding the problem.
peace and love
Lisa
hi mr paulo again,the best things in life that when u live your life and can’t explain your feelings and your emotions even everything cause we can’t find the words,you found it for us and still,thank u for everywords u wrote and still,the last book i read it for u is veronika decide to die cause i passedsuch a bad days in my life as veronika by seeing the departure of my friends,the illness everywhere and we can’t do anything even asking myself if there’s GOD up there but of course i didn’t think of suicide cause i have hope and of course it’s not solution by killing yourself cause u punish yourself not else and u gave hope for the persons who think of…thank u cause u bring light to our days by your books and ALLAH bless u and i hope to share the path with u and i like the piligrinage but we’re the muslams do it to mekka but feelings are the same and god is one and we are a human being we should love each other without waiting anything to get it back only love is what we need these days,i hope to see u soon in lebanon and still 2 books for u i didnt read it the valkyries and brida,,,a millions thanks and please as u’re sharing your thoughts with us,we’d like to share ours with u..can u bear it
Mr Coelho, I must say that I have never read a greater, more beautiful and magic story then the alchemist. It touched me deeply and, to be honest, you wrote down words to the thoughts I´ve had about life and dreams for long. But you developed them. I´ve read many of your novels, but the alchemist is still my favorite. So thank you for all the work you´ve done. We are alot of people who appreciate it. I have always been a romantic dreamer, and in my world there is no such thing as not following your dreams. My environment do not share thees thoughts with me, so I am happy to see that there are people that dose. Thank you, once again. /Lina
Dear Paulo!
Now I think and hope you are on that place I spoke about last time on the blog! Enjoy it!
There always is a place you are expected with love, and when the time is right I hope to see you, if you want.
Greetings to Christina and Monica!
Hubert
dear mr. paulo coelho
your writings had changed my life and although i’m just 15 years old , lately I have been seeing things from a whole new perspective . you have enriched my life with your wisdom , and for that I shall thank you . your wonderful book “alchemist” which is truly a piece of art is now in the fourth bestselling book in virgin megastore kuwait . May God bless you with strength, peace and health .
Mr. Coelho, I don’t know what else to say. How you have come so far in your beliefs, in your opinions, and in your views is a mystery to me. For years I have fought my own contradictions and battled my hypocrisies to find where I truly stand. But I never imagined, until reading your books, that contradictions are what make us human, and that it is not necessarily a bad thing to have them.
What I loved most, though, about your books is how much I identified with them. For years I thought these ideas I had were something out of order in life, and that I was focusing on things that I shouldn’t have, instead of wanting to go out and get drunk or do drugs like most teens (I’m 17, btw.)
I just finished the Pilgrimage, one of my favorite novels ever, and I have been inspired to walk the Road of Santiago as well, not to, as you say, follow the models. I want to experience something new. I want to experience something otherwordly. I want to understand and truly FEEL agape.
Your writing hasn’t set me on a path. It’s taught me to create my own path through the jungle. Thank you.
Hi Paulo and whoever’s reading this! I just stumbled on the official website, not really that i stumbled. i just put on google “Paulo Coelho” and there i saw the official website, and then this blog. i read each and every message here. i have a lot of work to do, but i just cudnt take off my eyes from here. i have so far read ” the zahor”(the first book i read), “the alchemist”, “eleven minutes” and now on the verge of finishing “the pildrimage”. there’s something about Paulo, that, everytime i saw his books on the shelves of various book stores, i felt the urge to buy, but something stopped me for doing so, may the universe wanted me to read these books, only when the time was “right”. there are a lotof things that i felt while reading, but have not been able to express. but definitely the books have left a mark on me. i am now so addicted to the author, that i come to last few pages of one book, and i rush to the book store for the next. it’s a must for me to read atleast couple of pages before retiring for the day.
However, on this blog, i havent found anyone who has mentioned “eleven minutes”, like everyone else, i loved “the zahir” “the alchemist” and “the pilgrimage” , but was just wondering why no one has talked about “eleven minutes” i thot the book was fantastic. initially my reading dodnt pick up, but soon, i cudnt put it down. my be for me as a person, the kind of thots that run in my head, this book made a lot of sense, about relationships, about love and being in love. i think we have forgotten the basic nature of our souls, to be loving, caring, kind, gentle, and ever forgiving. i also think that our this thing called society has spoiled things for us, more than good us an good. we are all tied down in the name of feelings, sentiments and relationships. let me also say that, i have a lovely parents, a sister, and a beautiful person for my husband. absolutely have no problems, but is it sad that the society has tied us down. i wish we cud be as free as the bird in the sky. anyway, i’ll stop it here. and if anyone wud like to put in your opinion about the book, or about the thot that i have put here, i’d be very happy. i love knowing people, thier feelings, thots, experiences, and opinions.
Love to all
Akshatha.
dearest paulo,
thank you for being God’s instrument and bringing the Love and Light through your words.
Hope you’ve had a safe journey home. I really hope this blog stays…
Hello! Today is cloudy and gentle rain falls. It is a good day for Earth and also a good day to be home. Before closing the net I felt to revisit this blog and I am now smiling as I see the last entry was the 11/7. Warriors of Light simply do not shut down!
So much has happened since that very first day I discovered this site, including THE soccer which certainly captured the attention of Sydney!
I still have the tangible symbols which from the beginning just dropped into my lap or at my feet as my Spirit walked the Camino.
Now to-day I look inside and find the symbol of Renewal has permeated my cells and I am ‘walking in a new way. I began tai chi classes and now each morning my body wakes me to get up and began the exercises and play with the energy. Yesterday, by chance (?) I went to Theosophy Library and found a meditation course was scheduled to begin…I stayed and my Spirit is smiling. My diet has naturally changed, I’ve lost weight and feel ready to begin again!
Perhaps it was natural timing? or not? However walking this Path these past months has nurtured a part of me which felt alien and lonely. A deep inner aspect that so longed to go adventuring with others yet has always been the one left at home alone…now that has passed and I am content.
I have a ‘different timing’ around me and ‘in a new way’ acknowledge and accept parts of me that are ‘unskilled’ …ie judgemental etc.
Essentially I hold a deeper sense of who I am and have patience with who I am becoming. I guess it is a sense of self trust, or confidence.
Paulo you are a ‘real’ Teacher and Mentor, warts and all!
With deep respect Christine.
PS When are you coming DownUnder…Australia and New Zealand are just across the ocean!
Dear Paulo,
My son Mat is off to college, DeVry University, Tinley Park, IL fulfilling his “Personal Legend”. With him he took your books “The Alchemist” and “The Pilgrimage”. I finished the latter just before he left so he could get it read. Thank you for your beautiful and inspiring words in the “Alchemist”, it really made a difference in his life and many others. He and I will continue to read your books and follow your travels.
Bless you always,
Teresa
Flap … for a dodo bird landing … as a dreaming attitude …
*
Poppy love
Love is like poppy
Red and so pretty
You want to catch it
Just a little bit
Love is so funny
But so transitory
You bring it in your mind
Nothing you can find
Love is like a game
Golden flowers fame
You play for winning
Often for crying
Love will be a color
Behind a small door
When heart knocks your soul
In love you may fall
*
busard
Paulo-
would like to say thank you for inspiration from your books and at the same time ask a question:
I am walking the Camino de Santiago and am currently in Sahagun. So far I have followed what the day brings and am open for the signs and have much fun and joy on my way. I met extraordinary people with good energy. What really stunned me was the extreme density of “signs” and incredible coincidences on my way. Also, I have not read your book on the Camino so far. I am reading it while I am on my way and it seems in almost every chapter you describe what I have experienced (attitudes, sentiments, not talking to demon about spiritual things, …). Do you have an explanation for that? Or would you recommend not to search for explanations also in this case?
Wish you a good time
Frank
I am from IRAN.I became interested in you when Iwas 14 years old. all of my friend know me with you.I dont know what to say. but know , one of my big dream is meeting u.& about myself: girl.18 . now my heart is shaking.think to me. it is the best gift for me in the big world. I often send you good wave with my though.my personal wish is to be scientic. I LOVE U FOREVER send me your good though.i wait for them.
Can some one please tell me how to recognize a “sign”? how to distinguish between ones imagination and a real “sign”? please tell me if anyone has any experience with “signs”.
Dying to know…
Akshatha.
With all my heart, I thank you for all the wonderful writings.
Have a safe journey.
God Bless.
Maoee
Philippines
one man.
thousands feelings and impressions…
Thanks!
Merce
Greetings all!
It has been a while since I have been on here. I am working hard at trying to get through each day. But I cannot lie, my Soul is weary and I am not happy. I am lonely in my current situation and I have feelings towards a man I can never be with. All of this and trying to write a new book is taking it’s toll on my health.
How do I continue to be strong?
I am hoping to hear from some of you at the board.
Blessings
Lisa
x
I think that it’s difficult to find other big man like you in the life. Your simple way to speak about life it’s the way because i read your books. I can learn much from your life, and i’m really sure that i want to realize my dream to became an autor. Two years ago i left my work as computer programmers to find myself and my loosed life, now i’m sure to be really live, and i can’t think that the only way to work for me it’s under the monitor of a pc. I like to walk and see the life in nature, and learn from each thing more bigger than me, like wind, rocks, sea and sky. Today maybe i loose the love of my life because she asked me to find a work to make a family. I’m crying for my love, but i can’t come back to die in a stupid work and loose my dream again. Non all can have a luck to became author, so i want to ask you, what do you think is the right way, with love and stupid work or with dream without my love of life…?
[quote comment="1081"]Can some one please tell me how to recognize a “sign”? how to distinguish between ones imagination and a real “sign”? please tell me if anyone has any experience with “signs”.
Dying to know…
Akshatha.[/quote]
A real sing it’s often the same, like a temporal in a august days or similar, but everytime we ask for a sign we are not ready to trust in it, so we ignore it…
Mario Aprea
I forgot to say a thing, i like very much to make photo of beautyful places, but i’m not able to come near your country to see and make picture of you beautyful wind-mill home, so if you want to present at all of us a picture of it, we will be happy to see, because in your words this place it’s beautiful like nonone places in the world.
Sorry for my english, i’m italian…
oh my gosh ……
I think I’m in love. You are a blessed present to the world, Paulo.
Having your inspiring beautiful works, I encounter to a journey without return.
From Indonesia, so very much, I thank you.
dear mer coeleho tanx for your books.
Thanks for bringing worlds together, I appreciate your direct contact to fans, even thogh I didn’t reached the possibiltiy of personal contact yet.
Respectfully
Karoline
Signs, hm?!
Since many years I felt like experiencing sings all the time, often, rarely, they came in a mass, and other times just no signs.
I felt like crazy, so alone, but I had the fun of it on my own, I really enjoy it. I think signs have many names, some call them imaginations - ‘hokuspkus’, for me I realized they are visions, maybe I can read of it some time more easy. And I try to listen to them now carefull.
Everybody a huge kiss!
Karoline
oh!
i have no words to say
I thank you for all the wonderful writings.
Have a safe journey.
i become come to life after reading ur books
thanks
anvar kerala india
My Teacher and Magician Paulo Coelho
Happy Birthday
Many Many Happy Returns of the day
May Allah always Bless you.
FSK
I believe it is your birthday today , Paulo . Happy Happy New Year !
May the long time sun bless you and gently shine on you as you flow with your river.
Thank you for all your words , all your stories , your generosity of spirit and simply being YOU.
Namasté !
( My birthday year starts every year on 10th June ; ) )
I was very moved with the messages readers sent me for my birthday. You can’t imagine how much you are important to me. Every day I read the emails, the comments and this gives me strength to move ahead. Thank you so much and I wish that we, warriors of light, might always be together.
Sir,
Today is the fourth day of my future, I became aware of you through a friend from India, he read your book in english several years ago. He moved to Texas USA five years ago. and referred to me of your secret. thank you, for making me realize my dream.
In progress, Robert Ochoa
Im in cairo, egypt and just wanted to make sure u know that ppl here luv ur books and are fascinated by u as they r in all other parts of the world.
although going thru difficult times, our country is nevertheless rooted in ancient culture and soil, and we appreciate truth when we see it, or in this case, read it.
I also saw u speak when u came to egypt a couple of years back but i wasn’t as big a fan of u and ur books as i am now, i hope u ll be coming again soon. i am currently reading Like a river flowing and after that i will have only the valkyries left to complete reading all ur books. Im taking it as slow as i can because i dont want to run out of paulo coelho books! i want to have something to read all the time. i also read maktub and was hoping u would translate to english brida and any other books that havent made the language.. anyway. god bless and thanks.
Hi Paul
I discovered you and your book Alchemist in a book stall at Calcutta Book Fair last february, while visiting home after 6 years. I was drwan by the book and knew why after i read it. Because I am like you has given up worldly pursuits to follow my bliss. I am now very encouraged to share my stories like you are doing here. Plan to read more and stay enhanted with life. much gratitude, love and blessings.
Mita
Could you tell me the greeting that the travellers call to each other in Santiago de Compostela?
A good friend of mine has also completed this journey. She is considering returning and I wish to give her some support.
u r the best
i die for u my great writter..i love all what u gave me .. new feelings..new hope ..new tears..and new way to see the world ..
[quote comment="1143"]u r the best
i die for u my great writter..i love all what u gave me .. new feelings..new hope ..new tears..and new way to see the world ..[/quote]
God bless u
Hola,
Soy una persona muy emaradado de mi teirra y mi sangre, aunque ahora viva lejos de ella.
Soy un admirador de aquel que ve el mundo con ojos humildes que presta atencion a todas esas cosas pequeñas que pasan a nuestro alrededor que son tan grandes y que muy poca gente le presta atencion. pero admiro aun mas a la persona que es capay de transmitirla con palabras.
Gracias por todo Paulo.
PS. esto que pido no es para mi, sino para una persona a la que has influido mucho con tus libros. Podrias mandarla una dedicatoria aunque sea por emial.
Sir,
I strongly believe that if GOD was a writer he would write like you.
Love Hemant
Buen Camino!
This is a greeting you can hear-say-greet-bless everyone on the road. I’ve done the Camino in 2004. Since than my life has changed so much… do not want to start to write ‘coz difficult to stop. Instead would recommend to everyone go and walk the Road.
A hungarian (ex)pilgrim
dear pilgrim observer,
Everywhere people are the same.Having similar affections,affectations but different expressions.Your thoughts take us away from the mundane but with our feet firmly on the ground.Love reading your musings on your WAY,so much of truth that’s unseen.
I almost finished The Pilgrimage….I feel strange…as there was the right moment for me to read it….
Hi there
I have read a few of the comments that were left and wow.
I’m on this journey and it’s just so beautiful to live.
I have left the comfort of my life and home in South Africa. Taken this trip to London to experience more , to learn , to enjoy and to endure.
Paulo I haven’t read even half of your books but your words make me feel normal. This is beautiful.
Peace Love Joy
Keep living
Alexandria
Dear Paolo!
I have readed (and bought) all your books that is translated on Croatiam language. The Piligrim an Zahir are my favorites. You know how to change point of wiew. I treasure those like a paerl. I read Zahir after I give brith to mu third child. It was nice to know that man can love woman that much. After reading a Zahir, I ask myself: Am I happy?. Thank Good, the answer is YES. Yor books are part of my happines. I hope that you going to give me a new pleasure soon. Till then I will read Zahir again (and again).
Thanks! I love you deeply!
Sanja
Dear Paolo,
Where shall I begin…I am on a journey myself, journey to finding myself since my soul is a prisoner in my body. Only time I get a glimpse of me is when I write letters to mey dearest friends.
When I discovered you and one of the greatest books I read so far it was enlightment for me. I am talking about 11 minutes.
and now as I walk my path alone, I have Maria in my thoughts
I just read “The Alchemist” and am entranced at Paulo’s wisdom and simplicity. I would like to give this book to all my nieces and nephews. Something may resonate as life teaches them lessons so they will know they are not alone on this path to glory. My church is called St James and we read the book in our book club so how serendipitous will it be for us to read “The Pilgrimage” as well. And now, I would like to give you all a little prayer which I think will resonate with Paulo’s fans: [Dr. Bruce Wilkinson wrote a little book on this:]
I Chronicles 4: 9-10 - The Prayer of Jabez
Oh, that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast
And that Thine Hand would be with me
And that Thou wouldest keep me from evil that it may not grieve me.
[And God granted Jabez his request.]
Thank you for all your inspiration which continues to serving children and knowing that the most important thing we can do is nurture dreams and open doors of opportunity.
I am working in the mountains of Peru at 14,000 in a community called, Mayumbamba. 60 or so Indian families are living in isolation. The wonder of Machu Puccha doesn’t warm my heart as the beautiul people of this little community.
No soul is a prisoner of one’s body, when he/she learns to see the world through the eyes of another………especially a child. When we find ways to serve children and our elders living in gross poverty…..a new world opens. When one gives from the heart, there is no difference between the giver and the receiver. Hearts connect and the soul sees beyond the physical body.
Blessings and love………we are all on our own path, it is the right path as long as it has heart. Eloise
I was on an airplane enroute to Kazakhstan on a business trip. In the pocket in front of me, I found the Airline magazine and in it was an article that I read about Paulo and his visit to the steppe as well as a bit about The Zahir. When I returned to Europe I saw the book at a bookstore at Schiphol in AMS. The book travelled with me to San Francisco and laid on my bookshelf for weeks until my next trip back to Kazakhstan when I brought it with me and read it.
It made me think about things I already knew about and things that I had clues but did not know much about and things that I had no clue and no knowledge which were enlightening. One of the clues that I had was that like Paulo, I’ve been an adventurer since abandoning the life path that was a “good plan” during the Hippie era and setting off on my own path which like Paulo’s has taken so many turns and twists. It made me think about my life as a journey (I think I am a born nomad, and perhaps why I’m attracted to Kazakhstan), it made me search my heart and soul for whether I was happy or sad ( a little of both and a lot in the middle) whether I truly loved my wife (yes I do but can love other women too).
And it made me rekindle a dream that I would like to write a book about my insights using adventures which I’ve had and which not so coincidentally are similar to Paulo’s which are in reality universal. And like his character in Zahir, maybe just one day, I will start and not stop.
Anyway, the one criterion of great stories is whether they’re real (even if they’re fiction or in the case of the Alchemist, a fairy tale). I think the answer is obvious from all the blogposts here.
Robert
For so long I wanted to be a part of this blog but never knew what to say. I still don’t know what to say but simply had to express how much I treasure each word in each one of your books Mr. Coelho. My words can never express the way in which your words have touched my heart and soul. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart, a heart full of joy, for enhancing my life.
I tried the SPEED EXERCISE (the pilgrimage) while walking back to my apartment and it proved to be one of the most exhilirating experiences in my life. I tried to write my whole experience and it goes like this:
“The light from my Moon gently touched everything that surrounded me making everything live like a plethora of vivid abstractions of all that were, once again, wonderful. I walked homeward slowly, as if in a dream, and breathed the air in complete unison with my pace, looking everywhere and seeing everything for the first time. Air breezed with the perfect humidity making the leaves of the yellow-green tree glow, whispering serenades with an accent of a french poet. The world is a beautiful place, I said to myself, and then I floated. And while on mid-air I saw the street-people sleeping on unused benches and the drunkards with their prostitutes and then I glowed more and became one with a familiar yellow-green tree that I passed by. I floated more and walked even slower as I reached my destination with the emotions of a child seeing his first ice. Then before reaching home I stopped and cried for my uncle with the full acceptance that he is dead and then saw children running about the light-post like a moving chiaroscuro. I offered my uncle and my children tears for moving on and then entered home with so much happiness on the assertion that I am alive: Homeostasis has been attained. And after such a long time I am finally contented with everything that surrounded me, as the electric fan beside me hummed without repose.”
Thank you for sharing a wondrous experience, I am forever thankful.
Hi
I see and I read,and there are so many facts from peoples lifes that are simmilar,and I see facts from mine too.But still,they are only facts,we cant say to somebody I know how you feal,nobody can feal for somebody else.Nobody. I belived in one love,I belived it was possible to love in different ways,different people,but I also belived that it was possible to love only one person,to feel only that person touching the bottom of your heart.And it happened that I finished loving somebody who I had nothing in common ,but I saw something deep inside of him,I felted it there in his beeing.And I didnt know some things then,that I know now,I had a different perception of love,I was selfish and realized that I was mostly thinking about my needs and what I wonted.Still,I wondered so many times why do I love him,because even though my actions were wrong at that time,still I knew it was love what I felted.I know,you dont express love in a way I did it,it was just the best I knew at the time..
Now,it seams so easy,so simple.I asked myself,we both asked ourselves sometimes,why is it that we got together,the two of us,we didnt see the reason.Silly,ha? We were searching for a reason!I feal I was still always one step in front of him,I wanted always to go deep into things,into feelings.I knew it was like that for no reason at all,it was our hearts who had chosen us,and they didnt need any stupid reason for it.
Still,I belived even thoug it was OUR actions ,our decisions that brought us to be together,that it was Gods will to be like that.We didnt know what we were supposed to learn from it,it was so much pain in it,so much hurting,I can see now clearly,I feel free,completly free,finally.
We couldn`t continue,so we broke up a year ago.
Today,I m sitting here writing this,I managed to give my life a sence,I managed to find the strenght inside,and I have so much will to live life,to live every single moment that God gives me,cause we dont know how much time we`re left..
I met other people,that I liked more or less,and we do have things in common,common points of view regarding some aspects in life,but my heart remains in silence,not even a bip.
When,on the other side,when I see,when I read just one of his messages,I feel something I cant describe,I feel him.I just feel.
People say,it will pass,you will fall in love again,they dont understand I didnt fell in love with him,that is also the main problem,that people tent to think that they know what love is and who I would be best with,and usually it is based on some stupidities like where somedbody works,where`s he from,what he posseses,what hes parents do etc.So,it`s useless for me to try and talk to them.They just see love trough their filtred minds,something like I used to do also,before.That is,I thought love has to have some rules,but it is reationships with people that perhaps need to have some rules.Even though I think everybody is free to act the way they choose,just as long as they dony harm anybody.
Now,I can finally say,I LOVE HIM,now I do,he doesnt have to be next to me,I just want for him to follow his dreams,to follow his heart,I hope he`ll manage,I know he could do it,I`m just not sure how much he wants it.
People think,and I used to think too,that it is not possible for people to change,but in fact it`s not people who change,it`s mostly their actions,their thinking,and when that changes,yeah,I suppose we could say that they`ve changed too.One is sure,they will definitly not be the same as they used to be once.
So,to finish,I started abot love,and loving one man.I dont know what future will bring,I dont think about it really,it`s nice not to know,and live the moment.But,I say now,I think,I feal that I `ll never love somebody so high,so deep,eventhough love cannot be mesured,I dont find other words to describe it,I think I`ll never feel somebody again,the way I felted him: Yeah,I know,I`ll feel perhaps in a different way,I`ll care in a different way,but,he`ll always be there,his heart will always be next to mine,no matter where we are,and whom we are with.
Love IS giving,
I now realize that,and I would like to give him,even now,everything,I`d give him everything,still,I don`t have nothing,but my love to warm his heart whenever he thinks of me.
I have so many dreams,things I`d like to do,places I`d like to see,and you say follow your dreams,but you know what `s wird? It`s the fact that whenever I tried to follow my dreams I would finished elsewhere,yeah,it could be just a phase on my road.But,I`m also trying to be realistic about things,I know I wont be able to do all the things I wont,it takes money to do everything,to be alive it takes for one to eat,I have always dreamt of going to Africa,and living there,try to live there,but how?Is`s always some practical things that put a brake on my plans,wishes,dreams..
So you say;follow your dreams,I had a dream,and it used to include another human,so it seems like it`s not really possible to have a dream that includes somebody else because we can only decide for ourselves.
There is one thing though,that I`ll always belive in,and that is that if we ask God for help,he`ll help us,if we just ask him,even though the help might not come in a way we thought it`s suppose to come,it will come.
When you love,you just love,and that it.You just love somebody.
And there is nothing more to say about love,I think you cant really put it in words,these are all just tries to get it closer to people understanding it ,but really to understand it,you have to have it.
You have to be it.
thank you
I just popped on and noticed (and was surprised to see!) that this blog was still up and running! Was wondering if anyone here knew about Paulo’s Warrior of Light blog, and if not, wanted to extend the invitation to join us there!
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/warrioroflight/
-Deb
l`amore e`vita
tutto qua
what do you think Paulo?
God is working trough us,yet still we wait for him
can you divide actiond done by Him and the ones done by us? are his good,and ours bad?
what do you think?
Still in a pink cloud from completing the Camino I was meandering around the Madrid airport looking for a book to read that might be in English. I came across Paulo’s, “Like a Flowing River.” It was the light I needed for the journey home…it was the source I needed to melt back into reality…it was a gift from the Universe. Thank you.
I am currently reading the pilgrimage. I just finished reading the Zahir in a five day period. I also have read the Alchemist. I sense that all your books speak of a journey. I keep hoping everyday that I will also discover more of my own journey. I find that you are able to apply to a variety of personalities and a variable age group. Of course all who live find themselves at some stage of their journey and through your books can identify with it. I also have started to believe that the reason for life is to travel a journey, to learn and to complete certain tasks. When the lesson is over we receive our grade. Some of my days are also a disappointment. While discovering my own journey I can not neglect to see the innocent born and suffering death without the option to journey, learn and grow. The innocent child or baby who dies from cancer or abuse by the parent…What is the meaning in that? What lesson is there to learn for that life itself? Is it that the innocent and young are to die only to become a lesson to the rest of us? How can children who have not developed our degree of intellectual thought, complete their journey and understand their reason for existence before their journey ends at an early stage. The days that I witness the imbalance of the world, those days are the ones when I mostly question my own purpose for existence.
Hi Paulo,
I am feeling elated for just wrting this to you.. Your writings are wonderful… you have touched my life in many ways.. have made me think beyond… you writings.. always remind me to think beyond the horizons & gives me hope to dream.. may be some day I will find my destiny & purpose of existence..
I have read Alchemist several times.. every time I read I am inspired several times more than i was when i read it first time..i have read all of your english transalated books except for eleven minutes & Veronica decides to die.. i would read them too …
You words move me everytime i read them.. this blog is just a boon for me for a fan of yours some where in a distant land India to write to you.. and tell you are a teacher to me .. though i have never seen you in person… I keep wishing all time that some day I would get to see you in person.. talk to you.. ask question and just feel your presence ..
Waiting to meet you someday .. please come to India …
Hi Paulo,
I always wonder why you wrote Alchemist. About a non-muslim boy who falls in love with Muslim girl. It makes me feel good being a muslim girl though…..
I got friends who don’t like your book. Just because you write a feel good story. But I know millions of people need your book. If not all at least one of them.
Thanks from all my heart.
Suraya
Every time I am troubled your words seem to find me… I never go in search of your books, they just seem to appear! The help me find my way, and in my first experience with reading your books I believe it saved my life. After reading the Alchemist, I remebered most the boy handing all of his goods to someone who offered to help him cross the desert. I was faced with a similar situation weeks after reading this book, and only at the last moment remembered the boy and decided not to proceed. It later turned out the ‘other’ person had very bad intentions for me and it was only the sign that I received from this book that saved my life! Thank you Paolo…
Keep sending me these messages please…
is there any difference with readers’ name printed in black and blue ?
[quote comment="1299"]is there any difference with readers’ name printed in black and blue ?[/quote]
dear Jo,
yes there is a difference:
when people leave their comments, they have to write their name and mail address.
They also have the possibility to leave their website - for those who have website, blogs, their name becomes blue.
The blue color means that there is a link.
best
i like the website..
The comments are marvellous…
Well,i’ve read all Paulo’s books,and they’ve all taught me how to face obstacles in life..Paulo’s words touches my soul and take me away from the world i live..It let me see life amazing and fanatastic!!How i wish i’ll meet you oneday and discuss with you thoughts about this cruel life which you’ve let me see it beautiful…i’m reading “like the flowing river”which reached Lebanon before a month,and i feel revealed by each word i read!Whenever i feel lost,and everytime i’m furious,dismayed,i remember your deep words which let me feel overwhelmed,and let me struggle inorder to find myself and reach to my”personal legend”
Thank you…
Sevana
Ever since I read The Alchemist, I finally had the desire to pursue my dreams. I mean, I always ignored what I wanted to do in life.. but your words, Mr. Coehlo, have a way of reaching into my soul and makes me realize things I’ve never thought of before and things that I’ve always denied. Thanks for opening my eyes and my heart for the endless possibilities a man can achieve. Thanks for making me realize that I have a gift that I denied for too long..
God bless you.
Aubrey
We don’t give ourselves enough credit for what we have experienced while on our journey through life, or prehaps do not spend enough time thinking about what we are experiencing.
I have only just discovered your writings and feel that I was led to them by a desire to find something fruitful with much meaning. Thank you for being there to fill that void.
Alex
Saya menyukai tulisan-tulisan Anda. Saya sudah membaca “The Alchemist”, “Gunung kelima” (Fifth Mountain), “Di tepi sungai Piedra saya duduk dan menangis”, dan saya sedang membaca “Zahir”. awalnya saya blm mengenal anda, namun, ada seorang teman yang pernah memberitahu kepada saya bahwa “The Alchemist” adalah buku yang harus dibaca. lalu saya pun membelinya. tak terasa lembar demi selembar terbaca. padahal saya agak susah sekali membaca tulisan panjang. karena menurut saya membosankan. namun, setelah saya membaca buku tersebut, tak terasa saya bisa menghabiskannya dalam waktu hanya beberapa jam. Tulisan anda yang mengalir itulah yang membuat saya mampu membacanya sampai tuntas. dan anda menggunakan kata dan kalimat yang sederhana.
saya menyukai alur ceritanya. sangat sederhana namun mendalam.
BIla anda berkunjung ke Indonesia, bisakah saya bertemu Anda? saya sangat suka menulis, dan saya ingin belajar dari Anda.
Saya menginginkan agar surat saya ini dibalas oleh Mr. Paulo Coelho. dan benar-benar ditujukan untuk saya.
teriring hormat saya,
Yenny Hardiyanti
I know there is a reason your works, Paulo (may I call you Paulo), are making their way into my life right now. I read the Alchemist and mailed it to a friend. I’ve read Eleven Minutes. That’s all.
But the other day I found the Warrior of the Light poem on a blog called Now is Wow. That took me to another site, more comments, another blog.
That poem is shaking me by the shoulders. Wake up!
I am not living my life in full alignment with my dreams. I am a spontaneous person. I do shine and smile and love each moment, reach out to strangers, follow my heart. But I see now that in spite of all this, I am still shrinking back from a huge section of MY DREAM and the life I could live…were I to find a bit more courage.
You are giving me courage, dear Paulo. And so are all the warriors leaving comments on your blog. Kelly, Ontario Canada
Hello Mr. Coelho
I have been reading u since i was 17…5yrs have gone by…
Thank you so much for helping me not forgetting my dreams..
Everyone talks about your book “The Alchemist…” i havent read it till now( and i still love the way you write…without actually knowing the measures by which i should measure you)…. May be the time has not come yet.. because everytime i set out to buy it.. something stops me..
May be i have yet to realise the right moment…
But i did read “down the river piedra…” it was your first book i read and it has been with me till now… (I stole it actually because i had started reading few pages and i had to finish it… but i didnt have the money….but i don’t regret it…)i have shifted so many places..because i do not have a home.. my belongings packed, opened, repacked.. thus it is torn and the last page is completely gone…
but this has made it more important to me….
everytime i read you.. it gives me hope….
that i should not quit my dreams….
I always wanted to become a writer…
I dont know whether i will succeed or not…
but that is all i want… because words are all i have…
and i feel i have so much to say…
not for the sake of saying.. but… speak of love and hate, speak of dreams and visions, war and peace, of demons and gods…..
Thank you for coming into my life when i needed you the most….
I dunno whether this all is making sense….
But i hope to see you some day…
I live in nepal… a small country landlocked and poor( improvished by the decade long war going on here between the Maoists and the government.. there is a ceasefire now and they have agreed to form a united government now but things are not good still)… and dreams are hard to take care of here… where one has to think of how to survive and take each day as it comes…
But i keep saying to myself… if there is destiny, if there is god…Which i think is… inside all of us…(i have no religion) and if in time we cross eachothers path… i from my hearts of hearts want to see you and talk to you….
I believe each of us… who has posted here and also those who have not.. we all are our own legacy… we all carry our own lights… and thank you for being one such light which rekindles those which are about to extinguish…
And I hope to see your new posts too…
Take care my dear writer….
Do u need me to translate this mail into English?
[quote comment="1326"]Saya menyukai tulisan-tulisan Anda. Saya sudah membaca “The Alchemist”, “Gunung kelima” (Fifth Mountain), “Di tepi sungai Piedra saya duduk dan menangis”, dan saya sedang membaca “Zahir”. awalnya saya blm mengenal anda, namun, ada seorang teman yang pernah memberitahu kepada saya bahwa “The Alchemist” adalah buku yang harus dibaca. lalu saya pun membelinya. tak terasa lembar demi selembar terbaca. padahal saya agak susah sekali membaca tulisan panjang. karena menurut saya membosankan. namun, setelah saya membaca buku tersebut, tak terasa saya bisa menghabiskannya dalam waktu hanya beberapa jam. Tulisan anda yang mengalir itulah yang membuat saya mampu membacanya sampai tuntas. dan anda menggunakan kata dan kalimat yang sederhana.
saya menyukai alur ceritanya. sangat sederhana namun mendalam.
BIla anda berkunjung ke Indonesia, bisakah saya bertemu Anda? saya sangat suka menulis, dan saya ingin belajar dari Anda.
Saya menginginkan agar surat saya ini dibalas oleh Mr. Paulo Coelho. dan benar-benar ditujukan untuk saya.
teriring hormat saya,
Yenny Hardiyanti[/quote]
[quote comment="1582"]Do u need me to translate this mail into English?
[quote comment="1326"]Saya menyukai tulisan-tulisan Anda. Saya sudah membaca “The Alchemist”, “Gunung kelima” (Fifth Mountain), “Di tepi sungai Piedra saya duduk dan menangis”, dan saya sedang membaca “Zahir”. awalnya saya blm mengenal anda, namun, ada seorang teman yang pernah memberitahu kepada saya bahwa “The Alchemist” adalah buku yang harus dibaca. lalu saya pun membelinya. tak terasa lembar demi selembar terbaca. padahal saya agak susah sekali membaca tulisan panjang. karena menurut saya membosankan. namun, setelah saya membaca buku tersebut, tak terasa saya bisa menghabiskannya dalam waktu hanya beberapa jam. Tulisan anda yang mengalir itulah yang membuat saya mampu membacanya sampai tuntas. dan anda menggunakan kata dan kalimat yang sederhana.
saya menyukai alur ceritanya. sangat sederhana namun mendalam.
BIla anda berkunjung ke Indonesia, bisakah saya bertemu Anda? saya sangat suka menulis, dan saya ingin belajar dari Anda.
Saya menginginkan agar surat saya ini dibalas oleh Mr. Paulo Coelho. dan benar-benar ditujukan untuk saya.
teriring hormat saya,
Yenny Hardiyanti[/quote][/quote]
It would be really nice of you…
I’d like to say THANK YOU.
My life is beautiful and I’ve learnt to appreciate it much because of your work. Thanks a lot for your courage, insight and devotion to love, life and mankind. I’m truly glad for your existence.
hi mr. coelho,
would there be a chance for you to come and visit the Philippines?
Kaye
Dear Mr. Coelho,
First I would like to thank the Great Spirit for creating a person like you, who is able to inspire so many people to understand that we are all created by the one hand and that we should all work hard in making the world a better place not just for ourselves but our brothers and sisters all around and for those that will come after us.
The Alchemist has inspired me to understand that we can all make our dreams come true.
I am now reading the pilgrimage and that has inspired me to make the pilgrimage to Spain. I want to read all your books because there are many messages and things to learn in life.
Mr. Coelho you have become one of the greatest writers of our time. I hope people from all over the world will read your books and understand the we were all created with Love and that we all need to Love one another just as the creator Love us. Thank you.
Anthony
Dear Mr Paulo,
I have read “The Alchemist” and now I am reading “The Zahir”.
I would appreciate your vision on the readers and make themselves so confidence about the real world through their dreams. I will be a great fan reader of yours in near future as I found myself in both the books.
I wish you may have many more inspirations to fabricate many more genuine writings to our pleasure and thought provoking.
Good Luck!
Dawson P
Dear Paulo Coelho,
Sometimes I would want to give up.
Because, although I’m learning, giving and receiving so much
on this path, I’m still often so tired. OK, so there’s still work to do. Yes, I know. And then I read you, and it becomes softer in me. I feel there’s time, there’s support, and that I can (could) accept whatever…
But there’s a lot of disappointment. A lot. In me.
Why am I writing this? And to you? Maybe to feel that you also know disappointment. And that still you, I, we live. I guess I’m encouraging myself by writing this to you.
Thank you.
And, believe.
C.
Paulo Coelho,
10 years ago I was blessed with a gift, The Alchemist. Today I am reading La Bruja de Portobello. Its as if you know exactly when to publish a new title. You have been such a great influence in my life, in fact it is because of you and your remarkable literary work, that I have been blessed with the courage and stamina to progress and continue walking my path. I am one of your biggest fans, which I am certain you have millions. I dont know where I would be in my life without you and your work! I would like to take this opportunity to Thank You, and most of all to wish you God’s blessings, love, light peace and happiness.
I have read all of your books and I have read the alchemist at least 50 times. Can not wait to see what is in store next!
Que dios te bendiga..
hoy y siempre.
Diamelin lopez
Orlando, Florida
Dear Mr. Paulo Coelho,
I am Bessie Cecil, hail from a small village in India.
Your books reflect me…..
I want to meet you
Bessie Cecil.
Dear Paulo,
First of all thank you so much for existing! One day i decided to leave my small city in Rio Grande do Sul and travel to London which had been my dream for as long as i can remember and i am just glad i got to do make it true.
During my journey i got to see you. It was a hot summer afternoon at Bookers bookshop in London during one of your autograph meetings in 2003. I was astonished by seeing how many people and from so many different countries were there waiting to see you just like me. We spent hours just talking about this beatiful person which inspired us all.
I cannot remember right now how many people were there but i remember there was a queue which started at the entrance and followed the next three or four floors (maybe five?!)
Thank you for writing so beatifuly and for inspiring people from all over the world.
Your stories make the world a better place because they bring people together.
Dream girl
dear mr. paolo coelho
yer works are very inspiring makes me want to write stories lol…
i was fascinated about yer life..i salute u,,can u plz pay a visit for yer fans here in philippines??it would be a great privilege and experience to have chance to mee you…
we’ll be waiting here lol…take care always…
Hi Mr. Coelho,
I hope you could visit us here in the Philippines. You have numerous fans here and I’m sure you’d find lots of interesting people and things here. Please don’t ever give up writing coz your books have been an inspiration to a lot of people. More power and God Bless!
Angel
Dear Mr. Coelho,
I have read every book that you have published and everything of yours on ipod, i love listening to your works while i am working. The Warrior of the Light has become a way of life for me. I have read many books in my life but none that hit that certain part of me, that part that brought chills, I realized that there are others out here that feel the same way. I try to live my life in an honorable way, its hard sometimes especially as a business owner, you can be lead astray so easily in these times, but i always remember THE WARRIOR, that lives in me. Thank you for awakeing my sleeping warrior. I would love to meet you, who knows what lays before me. be safe sandra brownlee
dear mr. coelho,
greetings from the philippines! just bought your book: the warrior of the light yesterday 04.09.07. hope to bring this tome in my future photographic pilgrimages and spiritual journeys. hope to meet warriors of the light along the way too.
peace and more peace…
filipino pilgrim
Hi mr.coelho;
I live in Iran.I love writing & I always think you’re the best in that.You know I love you’re writings & the way you think about the world & people.Write & write for us…thanks
“Wish you luck”
You’re friend:
Farnaz
Hi Paolo, you have inspired me as you have inspired countless others. I am walking the way of St. James at the end of this month. I will walk for nine days with my best friend. We have known each other for more than twenty years and I hope we don’t kill each other along the way as we love each other dearly. I saw you speak at the London Book Fair and I was amazed to discover you did write your first book until 40. You began writing after you completed the Camino. I have already begun writing my book but being human I am filled with self-doubt and procrastinate regularly. In doing so I do myself nor humanity any favours. I believe the pilgrimage will help me be me. That’s all I want - to truly be me (You’d think it would be easy). Anyway I just wanted to say hello. I am currently reading the Valkyries which is fascinating. So far 11 minutes has been my favourite but I plan to read many more of your books. Like so many others I am grateful for your presence and thank you for your continued inspiration. Thanks, besos, tasla xx
Dear Paulo, Dear friends,
I don’t have all of your books and the ones I have are at home in my native country. Here with me is the Valkyries. I also had the Pilgrimage, but I lent it to my ‘special friend’ who hasn’t given it back and hasn’t called me for some time now. I haven’t read/seen all your interviews and I don’t read you on daily basis..
But I do have times when I random read parts of your books. I have days like this when I read what you have written recently or maybe ages ago, get inspired, calmed down or involved in a process or deep meditation over the human woes, traps and happiness … Whenever I have a doubt you happen to write about it in the following Issue of the Warrior. Or somewhere else. I’m even not surprised any more. I guess I’ve learnt sth from you
I really don’t know why I’m writing today. I have told you all these things and I’m sure you are a bit tired of listening to the same apprisals. They could also affect your modesty. You are human, after all…
It may be because it’s not nice to be just the reader on the blog. It’s here to share words and energy…
I could also be writing in order to discover what my next ‘station’ is. I set off on a journey as Santiago did, but I still haven’t realised what my treasue is. I only have this feeling I’m doing the right thing.
I’m especially grateful for the Manual of the Warrior of the Light. It taught me, pardon, is teaching me, about my human nature, my personal strengths and weaknesses, and what I especially appreciate – I’m learning to pardon myself when I make a mistake and go on fighting, whereas earlier I’d just give up the first time I fail to follow the plan and feel miserable for not being perfect. I’ve also learnt that my plan might not be the best one but also to pay attention to the surrounding and let the things take their natural flow.
I was brought up as Orthodox Christian and my personal values were set up by my grandmother, cultivated later on by my parents and the society I was living in. And they haven’t changed much since. I am very happy with myself. Sometimes I think who I would be now if I had been born in another culture. A question with no answer…
Being Orthodox Christian means not believing in dreams, or to make it clear, not in the dreams you have when you sleep. I had a dream of Paulo asking me to go on along my road although the road appeared to be 90˚upright! Even in the dream it looked impossible to me and I said ‘N0’. I woke up, remembered the dream and tried to forget it. Years were passing by and it would flash my mind now and then. I didn’t believe the dream. I just set off on a journey…
I have my ups and downs, traps and magical hands to help, laughs and tears, I do well and I fail, I’m sociable and isolated, understanding and impatient. I am alive and I know it. And I’m not alone.
Have a nice day, Paulo! Have a nice day friends!
God bless you!
Violeta
Paulo,
it’s the first time I see the Portobello’s cover in English. Just for curiosity, do you choose your covers?
I am a brazilian living in the US. Unfortunately, all my collection of your books are in Brazil, I couldn’t bring them. But since the alchemist (I got from my father’s desk, when I was 13), your soul is always with me… that’s why I am here today, following my path…
I liked the A Bruxa de Portobello, but after The Zahir, I don’t know if I will like a book better. There is something in that book that makes me whole connected…
Just wanna say: thank you
Hello Paulo,
I would like you to have this copy of an e-mail I sent to Oprah Winfrey. -My heart goes out to all sinners, especially those born to parents without Parenting Skills.
Hello Oprah,
I’ve just seen a repeat of your interview on Larry King. In it, you talked about your desire to change the laws protecting children. Here are a few of my suggestions:
1. All children throughout the world should be taught, beginning asap, “self-respect”. Most children raised with dignity grow up to be mature adults, have respect for themselves and all living creatures around them. They are aware of their responsibilities to themselves and others too. They do not have a sense of entitlement, nor do they lay the blame for their mistakes at the feet of others.
2. All potential parents must be required to pass a test, receive a licence to prove they are capable of bringing up children; before they can proceed in bringing forth children into the world, people must be taught their skills. . -No parent can then feign ignorance, or pass their responsibilities onto their partners, parents, social aid, society in general, or the state.
-All children should be guaranteed the right to a safe and healthy womb, the right to freedom from pain and suffering, and the right to have childhood, to be free to use their imagination.
-All children should be nurtured.
-All young people should be taught the skill of nurturing.
-All children should be fed properly.
-All children should be classified as children until the age of twelve; they should be considered youths until the age of sixteen; teenagers should be recognised as adults at the age of eighteen.
- the age for Sexual Consent should be raised, around the world, to age eighteen.
3. All parents must be held accountable for the care of their young up until the age of 18, the age the brain is fully matured. It is also the age at which the young person joins society, is able to vote.
-If the parents are deemed unfit, the grandparents, on both sides, should be held accountable for their grandchildren. They must step in and be held accountable for the child/children’s care.
-Adults must be held accountable for their actions whenever it involves children. (Social Aid should be a tool of support, not a crutch to lean on, nor a net waiting to catch the fallen. )
4. Parents, grandparents, teachers and religious teachers should all be held responsible for the care and welfare of children.
-The state should pay mothers to stay home and raise their own children. Big business, who needs a continuous flow of consumers to buy their products, must help pay society’s cost.
-It is only since big business realised taking the mother out of the home was good for profit, increased all sorts of bottom line profits, opened up all of those windows of opportunity to extract more money from the pockets of the ordinary worker, that children became a commodity and are, for the most part, as much a throw-away-item, as is an out-dated computer.
-The wrong in the world has a name; its name is: CONSUMERISM!
- If there is a Demon influencing the world, its name is Advertisment
-The biggest killer of every thing living has a name too; it is GREED!
5. Every child should be taught to know ‘right from wrong’, not ‘good’ verus ‘bad’ or ‘good’ verus ‘evil.’
-Only food goes bad.
-People can get sick in the brain.
-Mental diseases can cause heartache for everyone.
-Every child must be taught to like everyone else
-Every child should also be taught to trust few
-Every child should learn never do harm to anyone, or any living creature.
6. Parenting skills must be taught in school, beginning in kindergarten, going on up through high-school and throughout their college years too.
-Throughout the school years, parenting skills should be an acquired course credit.
Lastly, being “civilised” has nothing to do with money, power, place, or birthright. Being CIVILISED has much more to do with how a person thinks.
-Children should be taught how to think, to use their minds.
-Civilised children do not grow up to Hate, nor do they disown or disrespect their own bodies, parents, place or planet
-Civilised children do not grow up to attack each other, or do they disrespect the young, or do they become PREDATORS.
Lastly, Loneliness has become an invasive disease of many men, some women too. Over the past fifty years or so, it has caused social and moral decay.
These men, when they were young children, had no one to run to, no one to nurture them, no one to give them comfort; and so they turned to their own bodies, found comfort in sexual gratification. This led to other forms of sexual stimulation, which in turn led to sexual degradation. To satisfy a deep need, a hunger for comfort, for affection, for stimulation that told them they were alive and part of a family, were bonded to another human being.
Lack of nurturing has led to the increase of sexual predators in the world today. There is of course another reason: Greed. Many men, again men who were not nurtured or fed properly see children as objects. He is predator who hunts children for the sake of money.
How one regards one’s self plays an important role in how one see the world. Teaching children to have dignity when they are young will change the world.
WE are the only species that gives away our young to be raised by strangers. (The very rich always had people to care for their children. Look at what came of that!)
If you start to change things in the schools now, you will change the world for children in the future.
May the Holy Spirit, the Creator of all, guide your loving heart and mind. Sincerely,
Maggie
it had always been my dream for you to pass by and comment on my blog. i was thinking maybe i could invite you to it…=)
Dear Paulo,
Hi! I had written to you last probably about 6 months back teling u about my dream to come and see you. I dreamt hard and believed in it and prayed as well and here i am in your beautiful country. I have travelled al the way fromNorth-East part of India to get a feel of what you have always talked about; spent my entire savings to be in this country. My husband is here on an official trip and I just decided to follow.this is my first trip abroad and i am so glad that i have made it to your country i am so happy to be here. Its my pilgrimage de compostela to come to Brazil.
yesteday I watched the football match between Botafogo vs. figuigense at maracana. I cheered for botafogo but they lost. It was overwhelming to be with about 65000 brazilians singing and dancing in the rain and watching the match swearing valia da puta and screaming at the one woman referee ‘paria’ as she diidnt give a goal in favour of botafogo.
this is my 3rd day in Rio. will travel to Friburgo tomorrow. I met a fan of yours Sergio who has done the santiago de compostella.
my nest vision that i see is you signing on “flowing like the river’. will you ever come to my country india?
keep writing and be happy.
will u have time to write a line to me. it would make my day.
I thank thee above for this wonderful opportunity.
god less
love you
maushumi
Dear Mr.Coelho
I have read all your books printed in the USA.From the Alchemist to Kahir. I have been on my spiritual path since 1987, and not until 2003 when my neice told to to read the Alchemist, did my path start making sense.I could not get anyone to understand the questions I had, until you.I guess God knew how determined I was and he sent me you.It’s still uneasy at times, but not as hard as it was all those years.I am now at the point of knowing who I am and just what path God is leading me on, here another stumbling block. But low and behold again my neice emails me about you latest book in the USA,,The Witch of Portobello,which if I read it right, will once again help me in my path, and I thank you as God has used you to play a big part in my life. I must admit after reading and re-reading all your books, like so many others, I feel a special connection with you. As I read The Kahir,the first half of the book, I felt your frustration,matter of fact it was getting me frustrated,but when I got to a certain point, I went “AHAaaaa”, and totally understood were you were coming from. Funny thing, that was a point in my life also, frustration.Mine worked out well as did yours..I am excited to start your next book, as I know it will help me move forward and take me where the universe desires for me to be happy and contented. Being and doing what I am suppose to be doing to make the world a better place to live.
Thank you for all the knowledge you have provided me with to aid me in my path….Lynda A.
It’s nice post. I like your writng style
شادمانی بی سبب من و رضا
I’ve read non-fiction books about how following the Road to Santiago has transformed people, yet Coelho’s was the first one I read in the form of a kind of fable. Each person who chooses this road seems to do so as a way to come to terms with inner challenges and to feel closer to the Creator, as well as to souls who have passed through before. Since we’re all on a search for something, we realize sacrifices are par for the course. We also realize our view of time changes. Thanks for reminding readers about the power of our imagination to create the life we desire to lead.
Dear Paulo,
Like many you have inspired, energised and reminded me of things I knew but had forgotten and opened my mind and heart to things I never knew.
Thankyou for bringing me closer to God again.
Love & Light, Rosie
Dear Paulo
Amazing time we live in - I can fast as anything send you my visable confirmation that I hear your message and can thank you for sharing with the Souls of the Univers that which makes us feel together in our travells towards the fullfieldment of our search.
Thank you Paulo for reaching out and touching so many people through your books and now also through your blog.
Have red all your books except the last - The Witch of Portobello, which I am about to read.
I am member of the Quakers - the religious sosiety of friends - always in search and in need of spiritual comunion.
We need each others hereness. I like to think of myself as a Warrior of Light - and my heart reaches out now and wants to make itself visable on the blog - telling I have been part of the spiritual force a long time.
The ordinary day to day realty in the palace-yard of our home - is the place where angels tends the gardning of our seads.
Here I am - Anne-May in Norway
with love to all of us - thank you for yours.
Dear Paulo,
Words can not describe the ways your books have touched my life. I started off with the Alchemist which one day I chanced among the rubble created by my room mate. As I had nothing else to do, I started reading it. It was journey which started about three years ago and has not stopped till date.
How truly and beautifully your word describe human intricacies, the inner struggle, the urhe within everybosy to become The Alchemsit, to go on a pilgrimage and to surrender to one’s Zahir. I ahve found my pillar of strength from the golden word woven by you and will continue to draw strength from it.
Thank you so much for giving meaning to life and its pursuit for me and other millions like you. Thank You!