Pilgrimage. Spiritual voyage. Quest. Hadj. Walkabout. So many names for the spiritual journey, which is not only a metaphor for awakening, but actually forms its heart and core. It is the spiritual adventure that encourages us to see our experiences as a movement towards transformation, wholeness, and eventually, holiness. Every step, every thought, every breath. Therefore, a spiritual journey is a quest for a greater awareness of what is sacred in life, by expanding ourselves and to marvel in the beauty of people, vistas and new cultures. Or as writer Henry Miller once put it: "Our destination is never a place but a new way of looking at things."

We can see the popularity of spiritual journey today, in Elizabeth Gilbert's wildly successful spiritual memoir Eat, Pray, Love, which was published in 2006, endorsed by Oprah's Book Club, and spent three years comfortably perched on The New York Times bestseller list. Now Ryan Murphy (of TV's Glee) has directed an emotionally cathartic movie version of the book, that challenges us to participate in the journey by opening our hearts and minds to the author’s call to adventure, her encounter with spiritual teachers, and the breakthroughs as well as the breakdowns.

Starring Julia Roberts in a subtly nuanced performance, the viewer is lulled into joining her in a year abroad spending four months each in Italy, India, and Bali. She decides she needs to go someplace where she can "marvel at something" – something powerful and magical enough to transform her life. In Italy, she learns not only how to eat, but to do so in an Italian way – savoring food is the same as savoring life. Americans just aren’t that good at it. In the next scene, she’s in India, seeking a guru who’s left for New York – and engages in the ancient art of scrubbing the temple floors as a part of her seva (service). And finally, she travels to the tiny Hindu island of Bali to find soul mates and teachers who can help her in the process of letting go of her worry, guilt, and inability to accept peace in her heart.