Stephen Cope - Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

PRAISE FOR

YOGA AND THE QUEST FOR THE TRUE SELF

This book provides a comprehensiveand blessedly comprehensibleintroduction to yoga metaphysics.In a market thats fairly glutted with books about the how of hatha yoga, Cope provides valuable insight into the profound why of this ancient sciencealong with a totally great read.

Los Angeles Times

Few other accessible books provide as good an overview of the spirituality of yoga. As a result, this will be in demand wherever yoga is popular.

Library Journal

Copelights up a notoriously arcane subject for Western readers.

Publishers Weekly

Amid the torrent of how-to-do-asanas titles flooding the market, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self is a patch of high ground where one can dry out and achieve a little perspective. [Cope is] a crisp writer and gifted storyteller.[Yoga and the Quest for the True Self] is an authoritative yet heartfelt volume, refreshingly free of jargon, pleasing to read, full of sage advice and encouragement.

Yoga Journal

Cope shares his experiences, observations, and revelations in a highly readable blend of personal anecdotes, classic Hindu and yogic teaching stories, and in-depth considerations of the physiological and psychological benefits associated with the regular practice of asanas, yoga postures, and pranayama, the control of the breath.

Booklist

Beyond the feel-good hypeand authentic benefitsthat have driven contemporary interest in this ancient art, there lies another reality that has far deeper roots in yogas history. Copeexplores the psychological and spiritual dimensions of this path to liberation while insightfully bringing its practice down to earth.

NAPRA ReView

Intellectually precise, profoundly moving, and gratifyingly accessibleStephen Cope has written a book that offers hope that the fruits of spiritual practice and the attainment of wisdom are not for some more enlightened person, but for you and me.

Donna Farhi, international yoga teacher and author of The Breathing Book

With rare clarity and wit, Stephen Cope shows us how yoga can guide us through the maze of our psycheand home to our own soul.

Anne Cushman, former senior editor, Yoga Journal, and co-author of From Here to Nirvana

Yoga and the Quest for the True Self is a splendid bridge between traditional yoga and the concerns and needs of contemporary Western seekers. Stephen Cope takes you straight to the heart of yoga.

Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., founder-president of the Yoga Research and Education Center; author of The Yoga Tradition and The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga

Stephen Copes wonderful new book captures the essential magic of yogabrilliantly helping us to connect muscle, bone, and sinew with spirit, soul, and consciousness. An inspiring guide for anyone interested in the deepest possibilities of human existence.

John Welwood, author of Journey of the Heart

Stephen Cope dances on the spiritual path with practical feet and enticing insight.

Marion Woodman, author of Coming Home to Myself

A superb account of what it means to make yoga a part of ones lifeaccessible, engaging, and refreshingly free of pretentiousness and jargon.

Michael Washburn, author of The Ego and the Dynamic Ground and Transpersonal Psychology in Psychoanalytic Perspective

A wonderful journey of discovery. Stephen Cope writes with simplicity, clarity, and revealing honesty. This book will help illuminate many paths.

Joseph Goldstein, author of Insight Meditation:

The Practice of Freedom

A brilliant and often moving perspective on the transformational aspects of yogic practices. Stephen Copes skill as a therapist is supported by his genuine compassion, and his insights into the innate wisdom of the body resonate for me in my own practice of Zen Buddhism.

Mu Soeng, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, author of Heart Sutra: Traditional Buddhist Wisdom in the Light of Quantum Reality

Wonderfully bridges Western psychotherapy and yogic philosophy and clearly brings to light the nurturing and relational aspects of yoga. Copes loving nature and psychological wisdom breathe through the vignettes in the book.

Seymour Boorstein, M.D., author of Clinical Studies in Transpersonal Psychotherapy; associate clinical professor of psychiatry, University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine

What a wonderful book! Intellectually sound, intensely personal, spiritually awakening, technically precise. Stephen Copes book is in the very best tradition of East/West studies, solidly grounded in the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of both traditions, personally experienced by the author. Highly recommended.

Stephen M. Johnson, Ph.D., author of Characterological Transformation and Humanizing the Narcissistic Style

An exquisite affirmation of all that yoga has to offer us as Western seekers and an enjoyable read from beginning to end.

Richard C. Miller, Ph.D., director of education, The Yoga Research and Education Center

This book grabs your attention in a compelling and loving way, and addresses complex, interesting material in a smooth, easy-to-understand fashion. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Erich Schiffmann, author of Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness

By Stephen Cope

The Great Work of Your Life

The Wisdom of Yoga

Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

This edition contains the complete text

of the original hardcover edition.

NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.

YOGA AND THE QUEST FOR THE TRUE SELF

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Bantam hardcover edition published October 1999

Bantam trade paperback edition / September 2000

All rights reserved.

Copyright 1999 by Stephen Cope.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-33236.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

For information address: Bantam Books.

ISBN9780553378351

Ebook ISBN9781984800060

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words Bantam Books and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, New York, New York.

v5.2

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For my first teachers:

Robert Samuel Cope, Barbara Crothers Cope,

Oliver Frisbie Crothers, and Armeda Van Demark Crothers