Liz has now spent about 5 weeks at her Ashram. She has been frustrated with her meditation time, but finally has improved. She is now able to silence her mind or “ego” as her friend from Texas tells her. He also tells her “you got some serious control issues” page 150. He, Richard from Texas, becomes that one person for Liz who she can talk to about all of her spiritual setbacks. He makes her laugh, cry, smile, and most importantly discover that she needs to let go.
As much as she dislikes meditating, she HATES doing the daily chant called the Gurugita. Liz struggles every morning-going through the 182 murderous versus of “sacred” Socratic dialogue. It is a conversation between the goddess Parvati and the almighty god Shiva. Whatever Shiva imagines, Parvati brings to life. Their dance or union (Yoga) is the cause of the universe and its manifestation.
Swamiji, (her Guru’s Guru-once owned this Ashram, until he passed it on to his best student) she believes is kind of “stocking” her. He is so powerful-it scares her. But at the same time all she wants is Swamiji. He is the only one she prays to, only one she sees in her dreams and meditation. He laughs and loves her. When he laughs at her thoughts, it only makes her angrier, which motivates her even more. It is now her last week. She promises she will go to Gurugita everyday this week, no skipping this week! She even overslept on Monday, waking to find out her roommate locked her in their room. Instead taking this as a legitimate excuse, she climbs out the window just in time for Gurugita. This to me truly shows Liz’s determination to discover another aspect of her life.
So back to the question: How and why does exploring a world uncommon to one bring out traits and desires one did not know before? In part two of the book, Liz is discovering her spiritual self. She has her setbacks, like missing David (once again). And she also struggles with meditating and the chanting of Gurugita. But all in all, she learns to silence her mind and the power of god. This was what she wanted from India when she decided to travel there.
Looking back, to the beginning of the book, to the first night she found herself crying and desiring something-anything other than what she had at that moment in time, she began to grow. In India, she begins to let go of her control issues (first of all, admitting them!). She knows now you can’t control the failures of your relationships. Sometimes your soul mate is meant to show you the reflection of yourself, which is not always good. Therefore staying with that person is not always the right choice (aka if you don’t want to feel pain every single day). She has challenged herself to do things she didn’t think were possible. It takes great strength for one to do what she has done in India. I’m excited to read on and see her complete her revolution in full circle!
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