Name: The Great Work of Your Life
ISBN: 9780553386073

Stephen Cope

An inspiring meditation on living a purposeful life by the director of the Institute for Extraordinary Living at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health draws on the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita to present the spiritually relevant story of a young warrior in crisis and God in disguise.

A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling

The Great Work of Your Life

Katarzyna Karpinska

Oh, how I've struggled through this one! Started reading it sometime in August and had to force myself to finish before the end of the year. And there was no joy in finishing it. Just an obligation.

The reason I've picked it up is that I'm preparing for a yoga teacher training where it's a required read as it is introducing key concepts of yoga and provides modern commentary to Bhagavad Gita. I was so looking forward to dipping my toes in the philosophies of the East. They've always been just outside my intellectual reach as all the university courses I've taken were centered around western (mostly Hegelian and Kantian) philosophies and only mentioned Indian and Chinese thought systems in regards to XIX century orientalism.

Unfortunately, instead of a riveting intellectual discourse, I've found this book to be a "bible for paupers". If you are familiar with a catholic tradition you probably know of saints. Since Middle Ages and throughout the centuries the Church distributed stories about them, called exemplars or Gesta, which were to illustrate how they lived through their faith and moral principles in order to encourage uneducated and illiterate masses to follow their lead.

Stephen Cope wrote the Gesta for yogis. He used a number of well-known historical personas, most of which had no or very little knowledge of Gita (e.g. Jane Goodall, Camille Corot, Robert Frost) to illustrate the concepts of dharma, Bhakti, and moksha. He appropriated their lives and edited their biographies to make them exemplars of a spiritual, moral, and philosophical system that was most likely foreign to them. It felt like an intellectual abuse to me and honestly made me cringe.

I'm happy to learn, my mind is open, I have a stack of books on the topic waiting to be read. I just wish I had a better introduction than this one.

[I'm also reviewing books on my Instagram account: @slowgram_cph]

An inspiring guide to finding your life’s purpose—what spiritual teachers call dharma—through mindfulness and self-exploration. Stephen Cope says that in order to have a fulfilling life you must discover the deep purpose hidden at the very core of your self. The secret to unlocking this mystery, he asserts, can be found in the pages of a two-thousand-year-old spiritual classic called the Bhagavad Gita—an ancient allegory about the path to dharma, told through a timeless dialogue between the fabled archer, Arjuna, and his divine mentor, Krishna. Cope takes readers on a step-by-step tour of this revered tale and highlights well-known Western lives that embody its central principles—including such luminaries as Jane Goodall, Walt Whitman, Susan B. Anthony, John Keats, and Harriet Tubman, along with stories of ordinary people as well. If you’re feeling lost in your own life’s journey, The Great Work of Your Life may help you to find and to embrace your true calling. Praise for The Great Work of Your Life “Keep a pen and paper handy as you read this remarkable book: It’s like an owner’s manual for the soul.”—Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion “A masterwork . . . You’ll find inspiration in these pages. You’ll gain a better appreciation of divine guidance and perhaps even understand how you might better hear it in your own life.”—Yoga Journal “I am moved and inspired by this book, the clarity and beauty of the lives lived in it, and the timeless dharma it teaches.”—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart “A rich source of contemplation and inspiration [that] encourages readers . . . to discover and fully pursue their inner self’s calling.”—Publishers Weekly “Fabulous . . . If you have ever wondered what your purpose is, this book is a great guide to help you on your path.”—YogaHara

The Great Work of Your Life A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling

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