On the 20th I will host a discussion of the spiritual aspects of the book "Eat, Pray, Love" - a spiritual journey

I heard about this book from the Sandbox list and I immediately bought a copy and read it. I really enjoyed it. What a spiritual journey! Liz Gilbert writing in a revealing and humorous way about her struggles with negative thoughts, if praying is a good idea or  not and difficulties with mediation. For me there are many wonderful  quotes in the book. And so many magical moments. Like when she is  resisting 4am meditation, decides to commit to it and then her roommate  accidentially locks her into her room and she "decides" to jump out of   the (2nd story) window to make it to the mediation that she previously hated.

If you haven't read this book check out this summary and discussion group questions.
    http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/eat_pray_love.html

 Some questions are

  1. In what ways is spiritual success similar to other forms of success? How is it different? Can they be so fundamentally different that they’re not comparable?

     

  2. Do you think people are more open to new experiences when they travel? And why?


  And if you have read this this FAQ from the author is a good follow up.
    http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/faq.htm

Here is a quote from the book on

                      Diligent Joy
“…people universally tend to think that happiness is a
stroke of luck, something that will descend upon you
like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But
that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the
consequence of personal effort. You fight for it,
strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even
travel around the world looking for it. You have to
participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your
own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of
happiness, you must never be lax about maintaining it,
you must take a mighty effort to keep swimming upward
into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of
it. If you don’t, you will leak away your innate
contentment. It’s easy enough to pray when you’re in
distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis
has passed is like a sealing process, helping your
soul hold tight to its good attainments.
p. 260

 This event will be on 2/20/08. More on Wednesday Sandbox Gatherings

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