Stalking God

This book was such an eye-opener for me. I'd forgotten what it was like to actively seek after God with so many questions, and the author does an amazing job of taking us inside her mind, her process, and how she responded to opportunities. I'm so glad I read this book and will recommend it to others.

The author, a successful business person and mother, came to the decision that she had to find the answer to THE BIG QUESTIONS in order to explain them rationally to her young daughter. The four big questions of life. Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? What happens when we die? And is there a God? Shouldn't be hard for a rational, driven, very intelligent person to answer, right? One should be able to do it in less that a year. I really like her reasoning on why she had to search. "Religiously and spiritually speaking, nothing I had experienced thus far was a perfect fit. I was walking barefoot, so to speak. Not because I wanted to, but because I had a closet full of uncomfortable shoes."
Kumar gives it her all. She examines SO many different religions and beliefs, traveling all over the world in her search. And it takes longer than she initially thought, years longer.
She tries faith healers, Wiccans, sweat lodges, crazy hallucinogenic drugs, yoga, even the Burning Man festival. And, rather than finding the "right" answer, she finds a little bit of knowledge in each one. To quote her again, "I started thinking about how one of the big product attributes of religion is that it gives us hope. That hope is firmly embedded in the thought that if there is more, then we actually matter." Combining all her findings, she comes to a sense of peace.
In the end, she comes back to one of her original religions, Jainism. Which states that no single person can have ownership or knowledge of absolute truth. You have no choice but to respect differences. And respect for differences leads to greater harmony.
I like that. And until the time we come to the end of our lives and find out what, if anything, is next, that is a good principle to live by.
I received this book from NetGalley, in return for a fair and honest review. This one was easy. Out of a hundred or so books that I have read and reviewed this year, it is absolutely in my top five. And it will be sticking with me for a long, long time!

A Google lawyer writes about her quest to understand religion.  Driven by her desire to have answers for her young daughter, the author embarks on unusual spiritual quests in order to make sense of spirituality.  In the West, more and more people identify as nonreligious.  But interest in spirituality is rising.  This means people are drifting away from organized "labeled" religion and they are looking for their own blend of beliefs.  Subway will make sandwiches "your way" and Americans can fashion their own spirituality "your way."  

The book is written very well.  It is very entertaining.  The author doesn't take herself too seriously, and there is rarely a dull moment in the book.  I think the author is a good picture of the future direction of Western religion.  It looks like we are returning to more and more animism as we get sick of organized religion.  It is not cool to be religious, it is really cool to be spiritual.

The book shows the human quest for significance.  We all are religious even if we pretend we aren't, and we are never satisfied spiritually until our hearts rest in a message that makes it possible to rest.  In this book the author illustrates the restlessness that is in all of us in our search for something greater than ourselves (or even the more tiring search of trying to find meaning in our actual selves).  

I would recommend this book to anyone on the journey.  That includes all of us.

Anjali Kumar is a lawyer who is used to having all the answers. After she had a daughter, Anjali realized she knew very little about the big questions: why are we here? What is it all about? Is there a God?

Anjali went on a quest to find out the answers, not only for the sake of her daughter, but also herself. She touches all the bases - from meditation to faith healing to Burning Man to yoni worship - Anjali leaves no stone unturned in her search to find what is real.

It's a fascinating memoir.

Before each experience, Anjali puts in her research in an effort to find the science behind the beliefs. It's not always as concrete as she would like it to be, but Anjali tries to engage her brain and her heart in her quest.

She finds layers of meaning, even when particular experiences weren't all that she hoped they would be. Anjali also experiences a few surprises along the way.

Recommended for seekers everywhere. Anjali's discoveries may not be earth-shattering, but they're real and worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. While Anjali Kumar is a lawyer, coming from the tech world, married to a doctor, and I'm just a middle aged women who has long wondered the same questions, I felt a kinship with her. I didn't really have the means to strike out to find the answers, and Kumar did that for me. We all wonder, or most do, "is there a God?" Once she had her daughter Kumar felt it upped the stakes. She went on some orthodox and unorthodox searches. This book is funny, touching and I enjoyed it a great deal. I've always "thought" I wanted to go to Burning Man...not so sure now, but I feel like the author did it for me!
"In 2010, when my daughter Zia was born, I decided that I needed to find God." loc 24, ebook.

Anjali went on a quest to find out the answers, not only for the sake of her daughter, but also herself. She touches all the bases - from meditation to faith healing to Burning Man to yoni worship - Anjali leaves no stone unturned in her search to find what is real.

Stalking God is a beautiful book about one woman's search for God and the science behind the beliefs of many different practices and religions. This is a beautiful book for any religious seeker. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.