《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 41 (89):平靜,微笑地念出來
"Seems I just sit down and shut my eyes," she says, "and all I have to do is think of the mantra and I vanish right into heaven."
“我就坐下來，閉上眼睛，”她說，“只須‘想着’咒語，整個人就消失了，直登天際。”
Hearing this, I am nauseated with envy. Then again, Corella has been practicing Yoga for almost as many years as I've been alive. I ask her if she can show me how exactly she uses Om Namah Shivaya in her meditation practice. Does she take one inhale for every syllable? (When I do this, it feels really interminable and annoying.) Or is it one word for every breath?(But the words are all different lengths! So how do you even it out?) Or does she say the whole mantra once on the inhale, then once again on the exhale? (Because when I try to do that, it gets all speeded up and I get anxious.)
聽了這段話，我嫉妒得想吐。再說，科瑞拉已練習多年瑜伽，跟我活着的年歲一樣長。我請她教我如何把“唵南嘛溼婆耶”運用在禪修中。她是否每個音節吸一次氣？（這麼做，老是使我覺得沒完沒了、心煩氣躁。）或者每呼吸一次就念一個字？（但是每個字的長度都不相同！因此如何平均分配？）或者吸氣時念整句咒語，吐氣時再念一次？（這麼做的時候，速度老是加快，使我焦慮起來。）
"I don't know," Corella says. "I just kind of . . . say it."
“我不知道，”科瑞拉說，“我就只是念出來。”
"But do you sing it?" I push, desperate now. "Do you put a beat on it?"
“但你是用吟唱的嗎？ ”現已瀕於絕望的我繼續逼問，“打不打節拍？”
"I just say it."
“我只是念出來。”
"Can you maybe speak aloud for me the way you say it in your head when you're meditating?"
“能不能請你大聲念出來，就像你禪坐時在腦子裏念一般？”
Indulgently, my roommate closes her eyes and starts saying the mantra aloud, the way it appears in her head. And, indeed, she's just . . . saying it. She says it quietly, normally, smiling slightly. She says it a few times, in fact, until I get restless and cut her off.
我的室友寬容地閉上眼睛，開始大聲唸咒語，按照她在腦子裏唸的樣子。沒錯，她只是……念出來。她平靜、正常地念出來，綻放微笑。事實上， 她念了幾次，直到我焦躁起來，打斷她。
"But don't you get bored?" I ask.
“你不感到厭煩嗎？”我問。
"Ah," says Corella and opens her eyes, smiling. She looks at her watch. "Ten seconds have passed, Liz. Bored already, are we?"Eat, Pray, Love
“啊，”科瑞拉睜開眼睛，面帶微笑。她看了看錶。然後說“十秒鐘過去了，小莉。厭煩了，是吧？”
