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It was then I decided I needed to stay here at the Ashram. This was so totally not my origin-al plan. My original plan had been to stay here for just six weeks, have a bit of transcendental experience, then continue traveling all over India . . . um . . . looking for God. I had maps and guidebooks and hiking boots and everything! I had specific temples and mosques and holy men I was all lined up to meet. I mean—it's India! There's so much to see and experience here. I've got a lot of mileage to cover, temples to explore, elephants and camels to ride. And I'd be devastated to miss the Ganges, the great Rajasthani desert, the nutty Mumbai movie houses, the Himalayas, the old tea plantations, the Calcutta rickshaws racing against each other like the chariot scene from Ben-Hur. And I was even planning on meeting the Dalai Lama in March, up in Daramsala. I was hoping he could teach me about God.
于是我決定自己必須繼續待在道場。這完全不是我的原定計劃。我原本計劃只待六個星期，體驗一點超凡感受，然后周游印度……呃……尋找神。我帶了地圖、指南書、健行靴、一切東西！我有許多特定的寺院、清真寺、圣者等著去看。我是說——這是印度啊！有這么多東西必須去看、去體驗。我有許多里程等著去跋涉，許多寺廟等著去探索，許多大象、駱駝等著去乘坐。錯過恒河、拉賈斯坦（Rajasthani）大沙漠、古怪的孟買電影院、喜馬拉雅山、舊日的茶園、加爾各答摩肩擦踵的人力車，將使我傷心欲絕。我甚至計劃三月去達蘭沙拉見達賴喇嘛。我希望他能教我認識神。
But to stay put, to immobilize myself in a small Ashram in a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere—no, this was not my plan.
可是待在原地，讓自己在荒郊野外一個小村中的一個道場里靜止不動——這可不是我的計劃。
On the other hand, the Zen masters always say that you cannot see your reflection in run-ning water, only in still water. So something was telling me it would be spiritually negligent to run off now, when so much was happening right here in this small, cloistered place where every minute of the day is organized to facilitate self-exploration and devotional practice. Did I really need to get on a bunch of trains and pick up intestinal parasites and hang around back-packers right now? Couldn't I do that later? Couldn't I meet the Dalai Lama some other time? Won't the Dalai Lama always be there?(And, if he should die, heaven forbid, won't they just find another one?) Don't I already have a passport that looks like a tattooed circus lady? Is more travel really going to bring me any closer to revelatory contact with divinity?
另一方面，禪師總說，流水看不見倒影，止水才行。因此有什么東西在指引我，現在走掉的話，是一種忽視心靈之舉，畢竟就在這與世隔絕、每時每刻都用來進行自我探索和祈禱實踐的小地方，發生了這么多事情。我真的需要在此時此刻搭一列火車，染上寄生蟲，和背包客們廝混嗎？難道不能留待以后？我沒辦法改天再去見達賴喇嘛嗎？達賴喇嘛不會一直在那里吧？（倘若他過世——但愿他不會——他們不會另外找人吧？）我的護照看起來不是已經像是刺青的馬戲班女郎？去更多地方旅行真能讓我領受更多神啟嗎？
I didn't know what to do. I spent a day wavering over the decision. As usual, Richard from Texas had the last word.
我不知如何是好。一整天在這件事上舉棋不定。一如往常，德州理查最后說了算。
"Stay put, Groceries," he said. "Forget about sightseeing—you got the rest of your life for that. You're on a spiritual journey, baby. Don't cop out and only go halfway to your potential. You got a personal invitation from God here—you really gonna turn that away?"
“待在原地吧，”他說，“別再想游山玩水的事——你還有一輩子的時間呢。你正在從事心靈旅程，孩子。別規避問題，半途放棄你的潛力。神親自邀你做客——你真要拒絕嗎？”
"But what about all those beautiful things to see in India?" I asked. "Isn't it kind of a pity to travel halfway around the world just to stay in a little Ashram the whole time?"
“那印度的風光美景怎么辦？”我問，“跑了半個地球，從頭到尾卻待在一個小小的道場，豈不是有點可惜？”
"Groceries, baby, listen your friend Richard. You go set your lily-white ass down in that meditation cave every day for the next three months and I promise you this—you're gonna start seeing some stuff that's so damn beautiful it'll make you wanna throw rocks at the Taj Mahal." Eat, Pray, Love
“食品雜貨，孩子，聽你朋友理查的話吧。未來三個月，每天讓你那雪白的屁股坐進禪坐洞，我保證——你會開始看見美得要命的東西，讓你想朝泰姬陵扔石頭。”
