The Pilgrimage
5/13/05
3:41 PM
Page 148
Paulo Coelho
he has forgotten this morning’s defeat. And there are no bandits or criminals around here. You are in a spot that is absolutely safe, with one exception: the danger created by your own fear.’ Petrus pointed out to me that two days earlier, I had experienced a sensation that had been as intense and as violent as death itself – that of the love that consumes. And that at one point I had vacillated and been afraid. He said that I had been afraid because I knew nothing about universal love. He explained to me that although all of us have some idea of death, we do not see that death is only another manifestation of agape. I answered that with all of my years of training in magic, I had practically lost my fear of death. Actually, I was more frightened by the way in which I would die than by death itself. ‘Well, then, tonight take a look at the most frightening way to die.’ And at that point, Petrus taught me the Buried Alive Exercise. ‘You should do this exercise only once,’ he said. I was thinking of an exercise from the theater that was quite similar. ‘It is important that you be as truthful with yourself as possible and that you be as fearful as necessary for the exercise to get at the roots of your soul; it has to strip away the scary mask that hides the gentle face of your death.’ Petrus stood up, and I saw his silhouette against the background of the setting sun. From where I was seated, he seemed to be a gigantic and powerful figure. 148