The Great Work of Your Life

by COPE, STEPHEN

• ISBN13: 9780553807516
• ISBN10: 055380751X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-09-25
• Publisher: Bantam

Summary

From the director of the Institute for Extraordinary Living at the famed Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health comes an incisive and inspiring meditation on living the life you were born to live. In this fast-paced age, the often overwhelming realities of daily life may leave you feeling uncertain about how to realize your life's true purpose-what spiritual teachers call dharma. But yoga master Stephen Cope says that in order to have a fulfilling life you must, in fact, discover the deep purpose hidden at the very core of your self. In The Great Work of Your Life,Cope describes the process of unlocking the unique possibility harbored within every human soul. The secret, 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 in order to make it relevant to contemporary readers, he highlights well-known Western lives that embody its central principles-including such luminaries as Jane Goodall, whose life trajectory shows us the power of honoring The Gift; Walt Whitman, who listened for the call of the × Susan B. Anthony, whose example demonstrates the power of focused energy; John Keats, who was able to let his desire give birth to aspiration; and Harriet Tubman, whose life was nothing if not a lesson in learning to walk by faith. This essential guide also includes everyday stories about following the path to dharma, which illustrate the astonishingly contemporary relevance and practicality of this classic yogic story. If you're feeling lost in your own life's journey, The Great Work of Your Lifemay provide you with answers to the questions you most urgently need addressed-and may help you to find and to embrace your true calling.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xv
Krishna's Counsel on the Field of Battle	p. 1
The Four Pillars of Dharma	p. 7
The First Pillar: "Look to your Dharma"	p. 19
Trust in the Gift	p. 25
Think of the Small as the Large	p. 39
Listen for the Call of the Times	p. 52
The Second Pillar: "Do it Full Out!"	p. 65
Find out Who you are and do it on Purpose	p. 72
Unify!	p. 89
Practice Deliberately	p. 106
The Third Pillar: "Let Go of the Fruits"	p. 125
Let Desire Give Birth to Aspiration	p. 134
When Difficulties Arise, See Them as Dharma	p. 157
Turn the Wound into Light	p. 179
The Fourth Pillar: "Turn it Over to God"	p. 201
Walk by Faith	p. 213
Take Yourself to Zero	p. 232
Epilogue	p. 250
Notes	p. 257
Permissions	p. 271
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