Aemma
08-27-2010, 04:52 AM
Ok. I can hear the sighs and grumblings already and the heads shaking and the eyes rolling. But please bear with me for a bit.
Although this work has now spawned such a huge commercial machine what with eat-pray-love tours popping up here and there, merchandise from the movie and well, the Hollywood rendition itself, it's no wonder that some of you might not take the book itself too seriously. But, in all honesty this is a pretty good book in terms of appearing to be the true (enough) story of one woman's successful journey towards experiencing the divine.
Now I'm not urging everyone to rush out and read this book (nobody would listen to me anyway!) but for some of you out there, if you set some preconceived notions aside (esp. those having to do with commercialism and/or Julia Roberts!), you might find the honest and heartfelt recounting of this person's ride to be a fascinating one, well perhaps something that makes you think at least.
Here's her short recounting of her experience (p. 199):
So now I have found out. And I don't want to say that what I experienced that Thursday afternoon in India was indescribable, even though it was. I'll try to explain anyway. Simply put, I got pulled through the wormhole of the Absolute, and in that rush I suddenly understood the workings of the universe completely. I left my body, I left the room, I left the planet, I stepped through time and I entered the void. I was inside the void, but I also was the void and I was looking at the void, all at the same time. The void was a place of limitless peace and wisdom. The void was conscious and it was intelligent. The void was God, which means that I was inside God. But not in a gross physical way--not like I was Liz Gilbert stuck inside a chunk of God's thigh muscle. I just was part of God. In addition to being God. I was both a tiny piece of the universe and exactly the same size as the universe. ("All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop," wrote the sage Kabir--and I can personally attest now that this is true.)
It wasn't hallucinogenic, what I was feeling. It was the most basic of events. It was heaven, yes. It was the deepest love I'd ever experienced, beyond anything I could have previously imagined, but it wasn't euphoric. It wasn't exciting. There wasn't enough ego or passion left in me to create euphoria and excitement. It was just obvious. Like when you've been looking at an optical illusion for a long time, straining your eyes to decode the trick, and suddenly your cognizance shifts and there--now you can clearly see it!--the two vases are actually two faces. And once you've seen through the optical illusion, you can never not see it again.
Anyway, it's all made me want to ask those of you who would like to share: Have you ever had an encounter with the divine?
Although this work has now spawned such a huge commercial machine what with eat-pray-love tours popping up here and there, merchandise from the movie and well, the Hollywood rendition itself, it's no wonder that some of you might not take the book itself too seriously. But, in all honesty this is a pretty good book in terms of appearing to be the true (enough) story of one woman's successful journey towards experiencing the divine.
Now I'm not urging everyone to rush out and read this book (nobody would listen to me anyway!) but for some of you out there, if you set some preconceived notions aside (esp. those having to do with commercialism and/or Julia Roberts!), you might find the honest and heartfelt recounting of this person's ride to be a fascinating one, well perhaps something that makes you think at least.
Here's her short recounting of her experience (p. 199):
So now I have found out. And I don't want to say that what I experienced that Thursday afternoon in India was indescribable, even though it was. I'll try to explain anyway. Simply put, I got pulled through the wormhole of the Absolute, and in that rush I suddenly understood the workings of the universe completely. I left my body, I left the room, I left the planet, I stepped through time and I entered the void. I was inside the void, but I also was the void and I was looking at the void, all at the same time. The void was a place of limitless peace and wisdom. The void was conscious and it was intelligent. The void was God, which means that I was inside God. But not in a gross physical way--not like I was Liz Gilbert stuck inside a chunk of God's thigh muscle. I just was part of God. In addition to being God. I was both a tiny piece of the universe and exactly the same size as the universe. ("All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop," wrote the sage Kabir--and I can personally attest now that this is true.)
It wasn't hallucinogenic, what I was feeling. It was the most basic of events. It was heaven, yes. It was the deepest love I'd ever experienced, beyond anything I could have previously imagined, but it wasn't euphoric. It wasn't exciting. There wasn't enough ego or passion left in me to create euphoria and excitement. It was just obvious. Like when you've been looking at an optical illusion for a long time, straining your eyes to decode the trick, and suddenly your cognizance shifts and there--now you can clearly see it!--the two vases are actually two faces. And once you've seen through the optical illusion, you can never not see it again.
Anyway, it's all made me want to ask those of you who would like to share: Have you ever had an encounter with the divine?