Will Yoga & Meditation Really Change My Life?

October 15, 2003
Cope, a scholar-in-residence and teacher at the Kripalu Center, examines the widespread growth of Eastern spiritual practices in America through personal interviews with 25 prominent teachers of Buddhism, yoga, and meditation responsible, in part, for this proliferation, including Sylvia Boorstein, Lama Surya Das, Judith Lasater, Larry Rosenberg, and Patricia Walden. Cope asked contributors to write about what they have experienced while conducting their contemplative practice, what fruit the practice has borne in their life, and what the source is of their deepest inspiration. While some spent significant time in traditional Indian ashrams or Zen monasteries, most developed a long-standing contemplative practice in the midst of ordinary American life, and one surprising common thread is how solitary practices positively transformed relationships within the individual's family. Stories of dramatic mystical experiences are few, rather most teachers note that contemplative practice gradually helped them to become kinder, less fearful, and more authentic. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)