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.

于是我决定自己必须继续待在道场。这完全不是我的原定计划。我原本计划只待六个星期，体验一点超凡感受，然后周游印度……呃……寻找神。我带了地图、指南书、健行靴、一切东西！我有许多特定的寺院、清真寺、圣者等着去看。我是说——这是印度啊！有这么多东西必须去看、去体验。我有许多里程等着去跋涉，许多寺庙等着去探索，许多大象、骆驼等着去乘坐。错过恒河、拉贾斯坦（Rajasthani）大沙漠、古怪的孟买电影院、喜马拉雅山、旧日的茶园、加尔各答摩肩擦踵的人力车，将使我伤心欲绝。我甚至计划三月去达兰沙拉见达赖喇嘛。我希望他能教我认识神。

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，让自己在荒郊野外一个小村中的一个道场里静止不动——这可不是我的计划。

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，禅师总说，流水看不见倒影，止水才行。因此有什么东西在指引我，现在走掉的话，是一种忽视心灵之举，毕竟就在这与世隔绝、每时每刻都用来进行自我探索和祈祷实践的小地方，发生了这么多事情。我真的需要在此时此刻搭一列火车，染上寄生虫，和背包客们厮混吗？难道不能留待以后？我没办法改天再去见达赖喇嘛吗？达赖喇嘛不会一直在那里吧？（倘若他过世——但愿他不会——他们不会另外找人吧？）我的护照看起来不是已经像是刺青的马戏班女郎？去更多地方旅行真能让我领受更多神启吗？

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。一整天在这件事上举棋不定。一如往常，德州理查最后说了算。

"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，”他说，“别再想游山玩水的事——你还有一辈子的时间呢。你正在从事心灵旅程，孩子。别规避问题，半途放弃你的潜力。神亲自邀你做客——你真要拒绝吗？”

"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?"

“那印度的风光美景怎么办？”我问，“跑了半个地球，从头到尾却待在一个小小的道场，岂不是有点可惜？”

"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

“食品杂货，孩子，听你朋友理查的话吧。未来三个月，每天让你那雪白的屁股坐进禅坐洞，我保证——你会开始看见美得要命的东西，让你想朝泰姬陵扔石头。”