Eat, Pray, Love up to page 182

Liz has indeed found what she was looking for in India. She begins this next section explaining how she felt like she was praying/meditating wrong because her mind would always wander. Apparently, a wandering mind is an untrained mind that cannot be controlled by the owner of the mind. This prevents the person from meditating properly and listening to what God is saying to you. Praying is talking to God, meditating is listening to what he has to say. If your mind is filled with other thoughts, God will not talk to you and give you guidance. The goal of people who follow Gurus is to have a successful meditation where the mind does not wander and one can interact with God and become enlightened. Liz tries to do this, and only fails. She gets very frustrated, changes the mantra she recites to an easier one, and asks other wise followers of the Guru how the meditate, hoping to get good advice. Then one day in the Ashram while meditating, Liz falls into a deep sleep/ state of meditation and experiences a blue shock, which is described in some beliefs as a visit from God. Liz is thrilled she has finally been enlightened but works to strengthen this connection she has just built with God. Also while at the Ashram, she befriends a man named Richard who is visiting from Texas. He's a lot older than her, but the two become friends quickly, and soon Liz explains her problems, mostly the love life ones, to him. She realizes how much she still misses David, even after sending him the email that he agreed with about how they should never really be in a relationship, except she doesnt know if she can live without him in her life, but really its best for them to never speak again. It was quite a confusing email, but Liz had good intentions. Except, she's struggling to follow through with this email, as she still has strong feelings for David. Her prayers continue though, asking God to help her out every time. Liz also considers the concept of destiny, and how it is a cross between divine grace and willful self- effort. Half of our destiny we can control and the other half is pure luck. This brings her to the topic of how she can control her own thoughts. This concept applies to her meditation and helps her learn how to meditate more successfully. Liz also meets a young teenage girl and tells her all about her life, especially about marriage. In this girl, Tulsi's, culture, she is regarded as a legitimate marriage prospect at the age of eighteen, which she is soon approaching. Tulsi will have an arranged marriage, which she is not too happy about. She claims she would never get married if it were up to her, and says it is commendable of Liz that she was the one to end her marriage and become free to roam the world. This kinda confused me at first, but really when you think about it, it is kinda commendable and courageous of Liz to get herself out of a bad situation and take charge of her own life.