Log #4

Eat Pray Love  

P146~P250

Before I read this book, I imagined that there must be some interesting guidances of different countries in this novel. I have read many tour guides in the past, so I considered Eat Pray Love must be very similar to a tour guide. It does meet my expectation; furthermore, the depth of her travel reviews beyond my expectation. For example, except for the common trips. The author describes a spiritual journey this time. At the beginning, Liz sets out for Sicily. As usual, she introduces what happens to her. But I think what makes her different is that she does not only depicts her own experience but also introduces the culture and her personal comments. For example, when she travels in Sicily, she talks about the corruptive history in Italy and some features like Mafia. If you think that is what I mean “depth”, of course not, the answer is wrong. Further on, the Italy journey is an appetizer to cure her body. The following India journey is truly a spiritual journey for the author and also for me.

    I didn’t know what meditation is until I read this novel. The author talks about meditation in different chapters. She uses an interesting analogy: “There’s a difference between meditation and prayer, though both practice s seek communion with divine. I’ve heard it said that prayer is the act of talking to God, while meditation is the act of listening.” She has ever asked to herself which one is easier to do. Of course : pray. Also, she adds some medication techniques like one-pointedness. In my opinion, Meditation is a way to find inner peace. Sometimes we have to spend sometimes for ourselves to deal with our sad or angry emotions. I think Liz adopts a very wise way to cure herself.  Seeing that some people suggest her to start another romance to forget the failure experience very soon, but I think that is not the best way to treat a wound. Liz reminds me of my experience. I believe that many people have their own trauma. In my opinion, in order to be rescued, we have to face our error and changed our thought by ourselves. Not only simply by the external help, like another romance or drug abusing. I think meditation is good because it gives us a chance to cultivate a better thinking habit by ourselves not by other people.

    Apart from meditation, there are some Buddhism rituals have been mentioned in the story, and they are also very helpful to find inner peace . For example, chanting, Yoga and doing chores. As Liz said:” Yoga is to find union-between mind and body, between the individual and her God,etc. “This is the first time I know the meaning of Yoga. Besides, the setting of chanting also very special, it’s also very helpful to be calm down and has already been proved by some scientific evidence. It’s a good choice for me or for many people to read this book because the author said that it’s not easy to access Ashram. I feel satisfied because I acquire the knowledge of Yoga, chanting ,and the deeper meaning of doing chores.My favorite part is the motto from Liz's Guru- Instructions for freedom .