By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho

Try and visit the geography of these places when visiting Spain in the future:
Soria - the small town where Pilar, the main female character that speaks in first person in the book is from.
Zaragoza - where she listens to the lecture
Madrid - Plaza Cybel there is a fountain

Pilar was only 17 when they had first met.

Perhaps love makes us old before our time - or young if youth has passed. But how can i not recall those moments? That is why i write - to try to turn sadness into longing, solitude into remembrance. So that when i finish telling myself the story, I can toss it into the Piedra. That's what the woman who has givem shelter told me to do. Only the - in the words of the one of the saints - will the water extinguish what the flames have written. All love stories are the same. p 2

Men lived through movement, while we remained close to the womb of the Mother. This allowed us to see that seeds are turned into plants, and we told this to the men. We made the first bread, into plants and we fed our people. We shaped the first cup so that we could drink. And we came to understand the cycle of creation, because our bodies repeat the rhythm of the moon. p 14

Somehow I was sensing - although I couldn't quite understand it - that the moon was a reflection of my womanhood. - 15

No one can lie, no one can hide anything, when he looks directly into someone's eyes. And any woman with the least bit of sensitivity can read the eyes of a man in love. - 20

We have to listen to the child we once were, the child who still exists inside us. That child understands magic moments. We can stifle its cries, but we cannot silence its voice.
The child we once were is still there. Blessed are the children, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
If we are not reborn - if we cannot learn to look at life with the innocence and the enthusiasm of childhood - it makes no sense to go on living.
There are many ways to commit suicide. Those who try to kill the body violate God's law. Those who try to kill the soul also violate Gods law, even though their crime is less visible to others.
We have to pay attention to what the child in our heart tells us. We should not be embarrassed by this child. We must not allow this child to be scared because the child is alone and is almost never heard.
We must allow the child to take the reins of our lives. The child knows that each day is different from every other day.
We have to allow it to feel loved again. We must please this child - even if this means that we act in ways we are not used to, in ways that may seem foolish to others.
Remember that human wisdom is madness in the eyes of God. but if we listen to the child who lives in our soul, our eyes will grow bright. If we do not lose contact with that child, we will not lose contact with life. p 24

But love is much like a dam: if you all a tiny crack to form through which only a trickle of water can pass, that trickle will quickly bring down the whole structure, and soon no one will be able to control the force of the current.
For when those walls come down, then love takes over, and it no longer matters what is possible or impossible; it doesn't even matter whether we can keep the loved one at our side. To love is to lose control.
No, no, I cannot allow such a crack to form. No matter how small. p 31

"Never mind", he said.
But I knew what he was talking about.
"Don't kid yourself", I said. "We can talk about it if you like. You're mistaken about my feelings."
He stopped fooling with this glass and looked at me. "No I'm not mistaken. I know you don't love me"
This confused me even more.
"But I'm going to fight for your love", he continued. "There are some things in life that are worth fighting for to the end."
I was speechless.
"You are worth it", he said.

Las tardecitas de Buenos Aires tienen este no se...
Que se yo?
Viste, sali de tu casa, por Arenales....
OR Why sing the nights of Beunos Aires, when we were in Bilbao? I didn't live on a street called Arenales. What had gotten into him? p 43

"Because i don't think that's important anymore. There was a time when religion was a part of my life, but that time has passed." p 47

Man Runs into an old friend who had somehow never been able to make it in life. "I should give him some money," he things. But instead he learns that his old friend has grown rich and is actually seeking him out to repay the debts he head run up over the years.
They go to a bar they used to frequent together, and the friend buys drinks for everyone there. When they ask him how he became so successful, he answers that until only a few days ago, he had been living the role of the "Other"
"What is the Other?" they ask.
"The Other is the one who taught me what I should be like, be not what I am. The Other believes that it is our obligation to spend our entire life thinking about how to get our hands on as much money as possible so that we will not die of hunger when we are old. So we think so much about money and our plans for acquiring it that we discover we are alive only when our days on earth are practically done. And then its too late."
"And you? Who are you?"
"I am just like everyone else who listens to their heart: a person who is enchanted by the mystery of life. Who is open to miracles, who experiences joy and enthusiasm for what they do. It's just that the Other, afraid of disappointment, kept me from taking action."
"But there is suffering in life," one of the listeners said.
"And there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggle for your dreams than to be defeated without ever even knowing what you're fighting for."
"That's it?" another listener asked.
"Yes, that's it. When I learned this, I resolved to become the person I had always wanted to be. The Other stood there in the corner of my room, watching me, but i will never let the Other into myself again - even though it has already tried to frighten me, warning me that it's risky not to think about the future.
"From the moment that I ousted the Other from my life, the Divine Energy began to perform its miracles."
p 51

Mary, the Schechinah, the Great Mother, Isis, Sofia, slave and mistress - is present in every religion on the face of the earth. She has been forgotten, prohibited, and disguised, but Her cult has continued from millennium to millennium and continues to survive today. p 60

"Why is water the symbol of the feminine face of God?"
"I don't know. But She normally chooses that medium to manifest Herself. Maybe because She is the source of life: we are generated in water, and for nine months we live in it. Water is the symbol of the power of woman, the power that no man - no matter how enlightened or perfect he may be - can capture."
He paused for a moment and then began again.
"In every religion and in every tradition, She manifests Herself in one form or another - She always manifests Herself. Since I am a Catholic, I perceive Her as the Virgin Mary." p 60

He went straight to sleep, but I was awake for a long time, thinking about the fog, the wine, and our conversation. I read the manuscript he gave me, and what was in it thrilled me: God - if God really existed - was both Father and Mother.
Later, I turned out the light and lay there thinking. When we were quiet with each other, I was able to see how close I felt to him.
Neither of us had said anything. Love doesn't need to be discussed; it has its own voice and speaks for itself. That night, by the well, the silence had allowed our hearts to approach each other and get to know each other better. My heart had listened closely to what his said, and now it was content. p 68

But love is always new. Regardless of whether we love once, twice, or a dozen times in our life, we always face a brand-new situation. Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere. We simply have to accept it, because it is what nourishes our existence. If we reject it, we die of hunger, because we lack the courage to stretch out a hand and pluck the fruit from the branches of the tree of life. We have to take love where we find it, even if that means hours, days, weeks of disappointment and sadness.
The moment we begin to seek love, love begins to seek us.
And save us.
p 70

I also knew that from this moment on i was going to experience heaven and hell, joy and pain, dreams and hopelessness; that I would no longer be capable of containing the winds that blew from the hidden corners of my soul. I knew that from this moment on love would be my guide - and that it had waited to lead me ever since childhood, when I had felt love for the first time. The truth is, I had never forgotten love, even when it had deemed me unworthy of fighting for it. But love had been difficult, and I had been reluctant to cross its frontiers.
p 72

"And God created man and woman," he quoted from Genesis, "because that was his image and simulacrum: man and woman."
p 74

"About vampires. Those creatures of the night, locked inside themselves, desperately seeking company. Incapable of loving."
"That's why legend has it that only a stake through the heart can kill them; when that happens, the heart bursts, freeing the energy of love and destroying evil."
p 75

"I had already lived some pretty wild years," he said, not guessing my thoughts this time. "I got to see other peoples and other lands. I had already looked for God in the four corners of the earth. I had fallen in love with other women and worked in a number of different jobs."
Another stab. I would have to be careful that the Other didn't return. I kept my gaze on the Virgin's smile.
"The mysteries of life fascinated me, and I wanted to understand them better. I looked for signs that would tell me that someone knew something. I went to India and to Egypt. I sat with the masters of magic and of meditation. And finally I discovered what I was looking for: that truth resides where there is faith."
p 79

For the first time since I had abandoned the path of faith, I felt a strong desire to pray. Although I was seated in a pew, my soul was kneeling at the feet of the Lady before me, the women who had said,

"Yes,"

when She could have said "no". The angel would have sought out someone else, and there would have been no sin in the eyes of the Lord, because God knows His children's weakness.
But She had said,

"Thy will be done,"

even though She sense that She was receiving, along with the words of the angel, all the pain and suffering of Her destiny; even though Her heart's eyes could see Her beloved son leaving the house, could see the people who would follow Him and then deny Him; but

"Thy will be done,"

even when, at the sacred moment in a woman's life, She had to lie down with the animals in a stable to give birth, because that was what the Scriptures required'

"Thy will be done,"

even when, in agony, She looked through the streets for Her son and found Him at the temple. And He asked that She not interfere because He had other obligations and tasks to perform;

"Thy will be done",

even when She knew that She would search for Him for the rest of Her days, Her heart filled with pain, fearing every moment for His life, knowing that He was being persecuted and threatened;

"Thy will be done,"

even when finding Him in the crowd, She was unable to draw near Him;

"Thy will be done,"

even when She asked someone to tell Him that She was there and the son sent back the response, "My mother and my brothers are those who are here with me";

"Thy will be done,"

even when at the end, after everyone had fled, only She, another woman, and one of them stood at the foot of the cross, bearing the laughter of His enemies and the cowardice of His friends;

"Thy will be done."

p 86


"You already know. I entered the seminary. During the first year, I asked that God help me to transform my love for you into a love for all people. In the second year, I sense that God had heard me. By the third year, even though my longing for you was still strong, I became certain that my love was turning toward charity, prayer, and helping the needy."
p 90


I went on singing mechanically - but little by little, i began to feel the music taking hold of me, as if it had a life of its own. It was hypnotizing. The cold seemed less bitter, and the rain no longer bothered me. The music made me feel better. It transported me back to a time when God had felt closer to me and had helped me.
p 98

"Yes I did. And I found happiness again. Fate is strange; almost no one I know married the first love of their lives. Those who did are always telling me that they missed something important, that they didn't experience all that they might have."
p112

The padre laughed. "You've had an excellent Catholic education," he said. "But I'm not asking you about Catholicism. I'm asking about the spiritual life."
I didn't respond for a moment. "I'm not sure. There are people who leave everything behind and go in search of God."
"And do they find Him?"
"Well, you would know the answer to that , Padre. I have no idea."
The padre notice that I was beginning to gasp with exertion and he slowed his pace.
"You had that wrong," he said. "A person who goes in search of God is wasting his time. He can walk a thousand roads and join many religion and sects - but he'll never find God that way. God is here, right now, at our side. We can see Him in this mist, in the ground we're walking on, even in my shoes. His angels keep watch while we sleep and help us in our work. In order to find God, you have only to look around. But meeting him is not easy. The more God asks us to participate in His mysteries, the more disoriented we become, because He asks us constantly to follow our dreams and our hearts. And that's difficult to do when we're used to living in a different way. Finally we discover to our surprise, that God wants us to be happy, because He is the father."
p 120

"Because God came to earth to demonstrate His power to us. We are a part of His dream, and He wants His dream to be a happy one. Thus, if we acknowledge that God created us for happiness, then we have to assume that everything that leads to sadness and defeat is our own doing. That's the reason we always kill God, whether on the cross, by fire, through exile, or simply in our hearts."
p121

"We all perform miracles," he said. "Jesus said, 'If our faith is the size of a mustard seed, we will say to the mountain, "Move!" And it will move."
p 128

"And the, one day, when a certain number of monkeys had learned to wash their bananas, the monkeys on all the other islands in the archipelago to do the same thing. What was most surprising, though, was that the other monkeys learned to do so without having had any contact with the island where the experiment had been conducted."
He stopped. "Do you understand?"
"No," I answered.
"There are several similar scientific studies. The most common explanation is that when a certain number of people evolve, the entire human race begins to evolve. We don't know how many people are needed - but we know that's how it works."
p 128

"In the visitations at Lourdes, the phrases uttered by Our Lady wouldn't fill half a page of a notebook, but one of the things the Virgin said clearly to the girl was 'I do not promise you happiness in this world'. Why ddi she warn Bernadette? Because she knew the pain that awaited Bernadette if she accepted her mission."
p 133

"Well, can't it?"
"Yes, it can. But it conquers at the right time - after the celestial battles have ended."
"But I love him. I don't have to wait for the celestial battles to end for my love to win out."
He gazed into the distance.
"On the banks of the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and wept," he said, as if talking to himself. "On the willows there, we hung up our harps".
"How sad," I answered.
"Those are the first lines of one of the psalms. It tells of exile and of those who want to return to the promised land but cannot. And that exile is still going to last for a long time. What can I do to try to prevent the suffering of someone who wants to return to paradise before it is time to do so?"
"Nothing, Padre. Absolutely nothing."
p135

"Christ learned about his mission while he was cutting wood and making chairs, beds and cabinets. He came as a carpenter to show us that - no matter what we do - everything can lead us to the experience of God's love."
p 145
DK - reminded me of the Gospel of Thomas the split of piece of wood verse. Likely why Christ used this analogy.