Editor Carla Geerdes
Eric Weiner, renowned US-American journalist and writer (The Geography of Bliss) arrived on Friday, 4th December 2009 in the middle of a gloomy day in Berlin. We sensed that we welcome a friend. He came directly from San Francisco. A few days ago, he had given Author’s Talk at the University of California for an audience of 1200 students who enthusiastically had devoured his book and wanted direct experience with the writer who had given such humorous as well as deep research on happiness.
Although he suffered a bit from jetlag, Eric Weiner directly jumped into a discussion on our spiritual path into Jainism. He is about to write his second book. It will be on the subject of World Religions. One of its aspects is focussing on people who converted to / adopted a spiritual path they were not born into. People like us.
During a visit to India in 2009 Eric Weiner met our friends Sanjeev Bothra & Shivani Bothra in Jaipur. They told him that there is a couple of German Jains in Berlin he should meet. He kept it in his mind, wondering about German Jains.
Some weeks ago he was planning his actual Europe trip and contacted us. Several emails later he accepted our invitation to come and stay with us. Berlin is no new destination to him. Several times he had visited it, first at the age of 21. Since then, he due to his media profession had visited about 55 countries.
Having a houseguest like him was a real inspiration. We talked on many subjects focussing on the Jain view of life, mainly non-violence in thoughts, speech, and action. Not only talking - even though he undoubtedly is a man who knows how to apply the power of language - but also experiencing is in his nature. So we practiced a session of Preksha Meditation. Hopefully this will be repeated.
Actually he is continuing his Europe trip to Copenhagen, where he was requested to talk about his book. Then Warsaw, where his book will be presented in Polish language in an event hosted by the US-American embassy. Then he will head to Turkey, Istanbul and Konia, where he will participate in a Sufi meeting. At the end of the year he will be back home in Washington D.C. to be present at the birthday celebration of his 5 years old daughter.
Thank you Eric for visiting & inspiring us.
Interview with Eric Weiner
Karuna Jain, HereNow4U Berlin, talks with american journalist & writer Eric Weimer about Jainism and his book "The Geography Of Bliss".
