The Road Within is a very different kind of travel book, a venture into the hidden territories of the human spirit and heart. A book of transformation, of lessons learned, maps drawn and burned, and spiritual blessings bestowed by that great and hard teacher: travel. It will show you what the great mystics and saints have always known—that you are closer to yourself, the world, and the divine, than you can possibly imagine, and that wondrous things await you on your journeys. In this book you will discover the Garden of Paradise in the human heart with Natalie Goldberg; get swept up in a dance of dervishes with Paul William Roberts in Cairo; and feel the chill that accompanies Annie Dillard with a long-time Communist Party member in China. You will meet an angel in Paris, have strange sexual encounters on Asian seas, play a vomiting game in an African initiation ceremony, get a taste of satori, and discover the strange and haunting beauty of Mother Meara in Germany. You will go on a worldwide quest at the invitation of a Shinto priest and have your sins forgiven, but most important, you will encounter the ultimate stranger—you.