As most of you know, I am an avid reader. I love cookbooks, I love love books - I love you Jackie Collins - but most of all, I love great books that make you think! This book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is one of those great books that really makes you think!
I am only on page 48, but already I have come across some amazing words! Yesterday, I found this awesome quote/passage/paragraph (who knows what to call it) that I thought we could all apply to our lives!
How this chapter begins is that she is getting a divorce from her husband, living in NY and (basically) dying to travel. On assignment from her magazine she gets sent to Bali, Indonesia. She is there to do a story on a yoga vacation, and while there she gets the opportunity to speak with a medicine man. The Yoga teacher says they can ask the man one question.
"So when the old man asked me in person what I really wanted, I found other, truer words.
"I want to have a lasting experience of God," I told him. "Sometimes I feel like I understand the divinity of this world, but then I lose it because I get distracted by my petty desires and fears. I want to be with God all the time. But I don't want to be a monk, or totally give up worldly pleasures. I guess what I want to learn is how to live in this world and enjoy its delights but also devote myself to God."
Ketut said he could answer my question with a picture. He showed me a sketch he'd drawn once during a meditation. It was an androgynous human figure, standing up, hands clasped in prayer. But this figure had four legs, and no head. Where the head should have been, there was only a wild foliage of ferns and flowers. There was a small, smiling face drawn over the heart.
"To find the balance you want," Ketut spoke through his translator, "this is what you must become. You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth, that it's like you have four legs, instead of two. That way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart, instead. That way, you will know God."" 
This is how i feel about this book right now!!
To me, that is exactly how I want to live my life! Feet firmly on the ground so that I may appreciate the worldly pleasures, but not look through my head, look through my heart, so that I may always be with God. AMAZING!
9 comments:
That picture is SO cute.
I have heard amazing things about this book. Looking forward to you sharing more of your thoughts.
Oh, and when I was pregnant with my first child, I wanted sex, umm . . . NEVER. Disregard the book. You are completely normal.
CDP: I cannot thank you enough. Normall is all I need!
The book sounds great- like it will definitely contain more insights that speak to everyone.
Thanks for sharing, and do keep doing so!
I love when I discover a new, wonderful, book. Is that your cat? Too cute!
VG: Yes that is my adorable cat, Sammy, who, I think, loves the book as much as me! This book, I think, would assist you on so many levels. It talk about depression, medication and so many things. I say READ THIS ONE! Every page I read further it gets more and more amazing!
I *loved* this book too; still meaning to write a review on my blog (as if everyone hasn't heard of it and/or read it by now!).
And that photo is too adorable :)
this was the most amazing book i have ever read!!! mine is starting to fall apart i've read it so many times! i hope you enjoy it as much as i did!!! it's such an inspiring read. <3
you're about the 5th person to recommend this book on their blog in the last month! i think i need to add it to my reading list!
hi. i want to know what that androgynous figurine is called? my friend is reading this book and read that passage out to me. i want to buy her the figurine. any ideas?
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