But then, magically, he's always there when you need him. Surely he could not have meant Brother Phillip - he's too passive. Or could he have meant Brother Elrod, who is so crotchety? But then Elrod is very wise. On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas, who is certainly a holy man. "The Messiah is one of us? One of us, here at the monastery? Do you suppose he meant the Abbot? Of course - it must be the Abbot, who has been our leader for so long. When the other monks heard the Rabbi's words, they wondered what possible significance they might have. The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you." Have you no piece of advice that might save the monastery?" "No, I am sorry," the Rabbi responded, "I have no advice to give. "It has been wonderful being with you," said the Abbot, "but I have failed in my purpose for coming. The time came when the Abbot had to leave. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore." So the old Rabbi and the old Abbot wept together, and they read parts of the Torah and spoke quietly of deep things. "I know how it is," he said, "the spirit has gone out of people. The Rabbi welcomed the Abbot and commiserated.
One day, it occurred to the Abbot to visit the hermitage to see if the Rabbi could offer any advice that might save the monastery.
Clearly it was a dying order.ĭeep in the woods surrounding the monastery was a little hut that the Rabbi from a nearby town occasionally used for a hermitage. It was decimated to the extent that there were only five monks left in the mother house: the Abbot and four others, all of whom were over seventy. It was once part of a great order which, as a result of religious persecution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, lost all its branches. If you have other stories you'd like to share, use this folder!)Ī monastery has fallen on hard times. And I'll probably revisit it from time to time.(I loved this story from the Art of Possibility - it somehow feels like the story of our little group here - an authentic community of light and love. I also appreciated the appendix about the metaphysics of yoga. I was surprised that he included the stories about the falling apart of Kripalu amidst the scandals of its leader, and then how the community came together to rebuild it again. It's a satisfying journey to be part of, from the moment he decides to step into Kripalu Yoga Center, to how he integrates the different teachings into an understanding of his own in the end.
It's a well-written, well-researched book, but with none of the pedantic clinginess to theory - which is difficult to avoid when the author's trying to deal with a 4,000 year old philosophy, that has evolved and morphed over all those years.īut Stephen Cope brings a delightful fresh eye to yoga by bringing the reader along on his journey as a student of yoga. I loved this book! I didn't quite know what to expect when I picked it up, but yoga has been dear to me all my life, and of course, the quest for the true self is central to yoga philosophy, so I had to read it.