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August 12, 2010

India: It's Complicated

By sticking to her ashram, Elizabeth Gilbert misses out – and so do her readers.

Hannah Faith Notess, guest blogger

Eat Pray Love Book Club Discussion: Part 2

800px-Digambar_Jain_Lal_Mandir%2C_Chandni_Chowk%2C_Delhi.jpg

If a young, wealthy woman from India had traveled to the United States because she believed she’d find spiritual enlightenment, stayed for the entire four months of her trip at a retreat center run by a somewhat-controlling new religious movement that had branched off from Christianity, and then returned home to write a book about it, would you believe that she had a good understanding of either Christianity or the United States?

If all you knew about India was what you learned about the country from the book Eat Pray Love, you’d be forgiven for thinking that thinking that the country of India is a sort of spiritual spa where, if you’re rich enough, you get enlightenment the way you might get a facial or a massage.

You might be shocked to learn that it’s the world’s largest democracy, roughly equivalent to the continent of Europe in land mass and the number of languages and cultures. It’s religiously diverse, and the predominant Hinduism, in which Gilbert dabbles, recognizes 330 million deities, none of whom can be located by gazing into Elizabeth Gilbert’s navel.

I found myself wishing she’d gotten out a little more. In her quest to find spiritual enlightenment in India, Elizabeth Gilbert is following a path that is both well-trodden (by the Beatles, no less) and well-satirized (Gita Mehta’s Karma Cola is worth a read). However, it should be mentioned that a lot of times the spiritual path often involves…I don’t know, actually looking at stuff in India.

It’s easy to mock Gilbert’s self-absorbed spiritual quest, but I should probably know better. I’ve been a spiritual tourist in India, too.

For a few months, I schlepped my heavy backpack and battered copy of Lonely Planet India on and off trains, staying at $5-a-night hostels, among other white twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings from wealthy countries. Most of them were from Europe. Some of them had been to ashrams. And for a few I talked with, their spiritual quests seemed genuine, in spite of their preference for tacky, flowy pants printed with the Om symbol. They talked earnestly about the peace they’d experienced in meditation and changes they’d make in their live when they got back to Liverpool or Stockholm.

In the back of my mind, I secretly thought I was better than they were, because I had come to be content in Christianity, the religious tradition I’d been raised in. But when my carefully-planned cross-cultural volunteer experience didn’t go as planned, I found myself aimlessly traveling longer than expected—and doing a bit of soul searching myself.

jain.jpg

I spent time in a lot of holy places. Among them were: the tree under which the Buddha experienced enlightenment, a Jain temple with a hospital for wounded birds, an astonishingly beautiful mosque built emperor Shah Jahan (of Taj Mahal fame), a synagogue with handpainted Chinese floor tiles, the Missionaries of Charity Mother House, which holds the tomb of Mother Teresa.

At the Mother House, I felt like an actual pilgrim. I prayed and worshiped with other Christians. At the other places – I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out what it means to be present in a holy place that belongs to another religious tradition. It’s complicated. But I hope that my struggle to understand those visits will, if nothing else, surprise me.

I’m reminded of Robert Frost’s famous advice—which has become a bit of a cliché itself: “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” Gilbert isn’t looking for a surprise. In fact, she admits she planned to find only one thing in India.

"I wanted to explore one aspect of myself set against the backdrop of each country, in a place that has traditionally done that one thing very well. I wanted to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two," she writes.
But perhaps if Gilbert hadn’t so carefully planned to spend her four months in India on the express train to enlightenment, no stops, her trip would have contained a few surprises for the reader.

Hannah Faith Notess is the editor of Jesus Girls: True Tales of Growing Up Female and Evangelical, a collection of personal essays, and managing editor of Seattle Pacific University’s Response magazine.

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Posted by Laura Leonard on August 12, 2010 1:47 PM

Comments

While you're right that it may have been more interesting for us as readers for Ms. Gilbert to have stepped outside her ashram, I'm remembering that her point in staying there originally was to spend time in community with her adopted Guru/her Guru's community. She opted to stay longer because it took her a longer (than expected) time for her to hit some of the spiritual insights/breakthroughs she was seeking. Those aren't bad values, especially for those of us in the West who like to move on quickly when what we're seeking doesn't seem to happen in our timeframe. Yes, we miss out on all of India, but we get to see what happens to one person as she commits to deepening friendships and serving within the space of a community committed to seeking spiritual insight together (even if we don't agree with the end of the spiritual pursuit).

Posted By: Gretchen | August 13, 2010 12:19 PM

Gretchen,

Yes, you're right, she did decide to stay in the ashram longer to seek her spiritual breakthrough. I guess it's interesting to read about that...

It just seems like such a shame to me to go all that way and have such a lack of curiosity about the culture and religious tradition(s) of the country you're visiting. I really felt like she lacked curiosity - especially for a journalist! She came seeking enlightenment, got it, and moved on.

Posted By: Hannah | August 13, 2010 2:19 PM

Hannah,
Thank You! I got mid way through this book and honestly couldn't bring myself to finish it. It seemed trite. After traveling extensively in Bangladesh and India and having both troubling and enlightening experiences that are deeper than I can put into words, I just couldn't relate to this book or the author. Yet it is so wildly popular. Go figure.
Peace,
Cicely

Posted By: Cicely | August 13, 2010 3:32 PM

The first poster said, "However, it should be mentioned that a lot of times the spiritual path often involves…I don’t know, actually looking at stuff in India."

Whether a person's main purpose for traveling in India is for a dissertation, a business trip, hiking in the Himilayas or trekking the spiritual path, you cannot help but take in the culture, which of course involves a lot of "looking at stuff."

From temples to bangles, from free-roaming waterbuffalo and the holy cow walking past when your out to buy a box of sweet burfi or Mysorepak, to bouncing on the hard back seat of government buses on one's way to see Sai Baba or visit another town, or riding in a crowded railroad car for three days to Dehra Dune, from rudraksha beads for mantras to mustard seeds for the evening samosa or sambar, and shopping for saris or souvenir figurines of Nanak or Nataraj...when you are enveloped in a new culture you "look at stuff."

The reasons for travel to any of the lands mentioned might very well be interchangeable. I hear there is more to Italy than pizza and pasta: what about the early saints and Rome? Lots of opportunity for devotion there! St. Padre Pio and St. Francis were not prayerful? The rosary has less appeal than the japa beads for certain aspirants. Don't overlook the Eastern Orthodox prayer rope.

When one goes to India, it is just as easy to become focused on the food as in any other culture! Difficult to separate the cuisine from the spiritual journey, which is ironic given the spiritual practices of fasting and warnings about gluttony.

However, if a person goes with the intention of certain inner experiences, it helps to stay within environments created for that purpose. The ashram atmosphere supports acquiring "knowledge" of that kind, as does a Christian monastery, trying to block out extraneous disturbances from everyday secular life.

Posted By: Charmaine | August 20, 2010 3:03 PM

Posted By: Charmaine | August 20, 2010 1:09 Arizona time

The first poster said, "However, it should be mentioned that a lot of times the spiritual path often involves…I don’t know, actually looking at stuff in India."

Whether a person's main purpose for traveling in India is for a dissertation, a business trip, hiking in the Himilayas or trekking the spiritual path, you cannot help but take in the culture, which of course involves a lot of "looking at stuff."

From temples to bangles, from free-roaming waterbuffalo and the holy cow walking past when your out to buy a box of sweet burfi or Mysorepak, to bouncing on the hard back seat of government buses on one's way to see Sai Baba or visit another town, or riding in a crowded railroad car for three days to Dehra Dune, from rudraksha beads for mantras to mustard seeds for the evening samosa or sambar, and shopping for saris or souvenir figurines of Nanak or Nataraj...when you are enveloped in a new culture you "look at stuff."

The reasons for travel to any of the lands mentioned might very well be interchangeable. I hear there is more to Italy than pizza and pasta: what about the early saints and Rome? Lots of opportunity for devotion there! St. Padre Pio and St. Francis were not prayerful? The rosary has less appeal than the japa beads for certain aspirants. Don't overlook the Eastern Orthodox prayer rope.

When one goes to India, it is just as easy to become focused on the food as in any other culture! Difficult to separate the cuisine from the spiritual journey, which is ironic given the spiritual practices of fasting and warnings about gluttony.

However, if a person goes with the intention of certain inner experiences, it helps to stay within environments created for that purpose. The ashram atmosphere supports acquiring "knowledge" of that kind, as does a Christian monastery, trying to block out extraneous disturbances from everyday secular life.

Posted By: Charmaine | August 20, 2010 3:03 PM

Posted By: Charmaine | August 20, 2010 3:09 PM

If you visit India then keep in mind Hinduism is the only religion which teaches mutual respect ( this is more than tolerance if you can understand), there are so many path to reach the same God. It has given so much to world like zero, numeral system, astronomy, plastic surgery, astrology, binary system, Yoga, kaam-Shastra and what not.

Pay respect and give credit to the oldest living tradition and religion called Hinduism. I am converted to Hinduism after knowing its philosophy, and Vedanta.

Posted By: Richard | July 9, 2011 6:03 PM

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