Elizabeth finishes her last two months in Italy with more language lessons from her friends and a lot of traveling. She sees Naples, Venice, Sicily, etc. Her sister, aunt, and good friend even visit her. She eats even better food than she has ever had before, and buys new jeans (she has already outgrown her “Second Month in Italy pants” page 110). As she is leaving Italy, she is able to say to herself, “I exist more now than I did four months ago” (Page 116).
Next is India. Here is where she will be practicing her devotion to her Guru through meditation and yoga 18 hours a day, for six weeks! “My Guru always says that only one thing will happen when you come to the Ashram-that you will discover who you really are” (Page 129). Which is perfect for her right now; she is leaving Italy extremely pleased, with all of the pleasure she let herself feel without guilt. Now she wants to completely devote herself to the Ashram life. Her day begins at 3:00 AM and ends at 9:00 PM. It’s both extremely physically and psychologically draining.
In India, I think she will find the next piece of herself she has been looking for. This year long journey through many different places will end up bringing her the balance she is looking for. But for the moment she must be “unbalanced” and seek only the devotion aspect of her life. Yet I am only at the beginning of her Indian journey, she is enthused and motivated. Her time in Italy was beyond words, and now she is prepared to have the complete opposite experience, but just as rewarding.
So, how will Elizabeth find herself in India, just as she found a piece of herself while in Italy? The first step is to assimilate into her Ashram. She uses the analogy of assimilating a new chicken into the already established chicken coop. “You must…slip the new bird into the chicken coop in the middle of the night while the others are asleep” (Page 119). After that she begins to get in the flow of things. She begins her yoga again. Her yoga helps her to “find God through meditation, through scholarly study, through the practice of silence, though devotional service or through mantra-repetition of sacred words in Sanskrit” (Page121).
What does discovering God and devotion to a Guru have to do with discovering one’s self? Faith. Believing is power. Clearing one’s mind through complete and utter silence can only do good. You become unstressed, relaxed, and afterward able to be in peace with yourself and your environment. You may think it sounds easy to do, but it is the contrary. Elizabeth is about to discover what it takes to not think for extensive periods of time.
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