EAT PRAY LOVE

I read this book call “EAT PRAY LOVE” by Elizabeth Gilbert a few days ago and I was profound to buy it after she was interviewed by Oprah on how amazingly her life had changed and how good the book was (as recommended by Oprah) .

I have only read the book halfway but something made me to think that I should summarize this book as I read along and put them in the blog as a part of a research. Yes, the research part of it is that her story and her thoughts are almost alike to me.. ( I feel)

Well the book,

The book is about her life and her journey to the 3”I’s” Italy for EAT, India for PRAY and Indonesia for LOVE. She talks about her marriage dispute’s and how she ended up coming to and idea of traveling to this 3 countries with 4 months in each and how the travel had shaped her live and that she found “LOVE” at the end.. or so can say at the beginning of her new life now.

Coming to the point, I only read a few chapters actually and what really captured me is the part from the book where she say’s,

“Saving for later the argument about whether God exist at all (no-here’s a better idea: Let’s skip that argument completely), let me first explain why I use the word God, when I could just as easily use the word Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu or Zeus. Alternatively, I could call GOD “That”,” which is how the ancient Sanskrit scriptures say it, and which I think comes close to the all inclusive and unspeakable entity I have sometimes experienced. But that “That” feel impersonal to me-a thing, not a being-and I myself cannot pray to That. I need a proper name, in order to fully sense a personal attendance. For this same reason, when I pray, I do not address my prayers to The Universe, The Great Void, The Force.. or even the most poetic manifestation of God’s name, taken, I believe, from the Gnostic gospels: “The Shadow of Turning.”

I have nothing against any of these terms. I feel they are all equal because they are all equally adequate and inadequate descriptions of the indescribable.


Another para of her has attracted me as well, which was amazingly described as below,

“I was born a Protestant of the white Anglo-Saxon persuasion. And while I do love the great teacher of peace who was called Jesus, and while I indeed He would do, I can’t swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God. Strictly speaking, then, I cannot call myself a Christian. Most of the Christians I know accept my feelings on this with grace and open mindedness. Then again, most of the Christians I know don’t speak very strictly. To those who do speak (and think) strictly, all I can do here is offer my regrets for any hurt feelings and now excuse myself from their business”

Ref :- Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Well this is what my next Para is going to be about ...

“GOD”

As some of all of us would say… “The divine”, “The one” and so on, well this is surely not the same to one and for all, as there any so many god’s and goddess out there that causes confusion to some on which to believe and which is to not.

Before I go on I would want to clarify here that this topic is of my own personal thoughts, which I don’t want any one who think,they have better or less knowledge about this topic to comment on. I don’t want any opinion about your version of “GOD” because it will surely be different than mine which will be less important to me.

This matter has always been running in my mind. What are rituals? How do they change a person’s lifestyle, till some live and die for it. Some just can’t pass a day without it. Why? Why cage yourself for it? Is it because you’re walking on your 1 leg and need all the other support to walk? What happened to other one? It’s still with you right?

The rituals that I am talking about are not just about a particular religion but also in general. For example; what we are doing at home or at our current country will not be the same when you travel to another country. Which means the rituals do not have a global effect.

I would like to talk about the Hindu rituals here to quote as an example as this is the religion I was born into (not chosen). I am a devoted Hindu but I disagree to most of the Hindu rituals. Rituals are they to guide but not to decide on how your life will be. Belief’s and superstitions such as breaking a coconut and lighting the oil lamp and buying fruits and flowers for the goddess and over spending lots of money unnecessarily for items to the fire is purely a blind folded way of spending money which at the end of the day goes to waste.

Don’t get me wrong here, but let's say you are so used to doing this rituals with the assurance from the priest that your life will be better (with payment) and one day you move to another country where there is no temple or priest. Here is my question “WILL YOU SURVIVE?” or sit and complain each day that you can’t go to the temple to spend your money and to bribe GOD for all the good you need. What would you do?

Well let me guess, you will probably make an alter at home and pray or plan to build a temple somewhere there? Perhaps rite, well so where is GOD? Did you just decided to tell GOD” Dear LORD, there is no temple in this country so would you mind coming to my house, if you can’t it’s ok, I will try to build a temple for you”. What just happened there? You bend the rules of the rituals to allow your self centered self to mould your very own GOD!

Okey… now I dint say temple’s are not necessary. They were built for a community purpose thousands of years ago to gather people with the idea of, “With the presence of GOD” all will act obediently and respectfully, and magically that idea is still well maintained in most temple’s but other than then where did the rituals come from and why did they? To run a temple you will need people to manage and to clean. To do that, no government will pay the priest like a day job, so the temple survives thru donation. Donations come thru the donation box and of course (RITUALS!). Now, if we are visiting a temple and gaining knowledge and utilizing the temple then we should provide a certain amount of token for acknowledgement or to thank the temple and the priest for their service (Isn’t that what they teach us in all the religion – to be thankful) but instead some say “don’t have to give them any money cause they are misusing it” well to bad some don’t know how to appreciate what’s given, but the worst kind’s are some who are the total opposite's. They spend so so much recklessly with their eyes blinded thinking they will attain perfection in life with the more rituals they attend and the big money given to the temple and priest! But, well that’s your loss cause no GOD who created you wants your money for you to learn and live your life properly. The money or ”archanai’s” you are buying is a part of a donation to the temple, and the temple thanks you for your donation by providing you a “coconut with flower and more as a token of appreciation to your kindness”. You can’t just go to the counter at a temple and buy a note for 2.00 to get blessed. You can’t get blessing from 2.00 or thousands or what so ever.. Rituals are there to help the temple and the priest and member of a temple NOT to bring you to GOD!!

HE gave you to this world to do your duty not search and find for HIM back!! Why must he create you to find HIM?

So please decide and think wisely before spending unnecessarily for lame rituals that most temple’s and priest these days mistreat. They are over empowering your weaknesses and so-called giving you the strength and confidence which you already have been gifted by GOD since birth.

What's above is not only for Hindu's.. but its happening for all, everywhere..


More about God..
To be continued…