IT’S NOT YOGA, IT’S YOU!
A Journey of Self-Discovery
Author: Jonquil K. Cooper
Publisher: Locksley Hall
Price: Rs 450 on Amazon
India is a country likened to Kodak on steroids. This is the impression that Westerners often get on their first visit to the country known for its vivid colours and seemingly unmanageable chaos, in addition to loud noises, pungent smells and milling crowds. Can there be any purpose in all of this? Hordes of visitors down the ages have come to India, rediscovered it and even settled down. From the ancient travellers who put it all down in travelogues to the flower children of the heady Sixties, India continues to attract and repel.
Jonquil K. Cooper, producer, writer and well-being coach now settled in Goa, came to India in the 1990’s. Back home in the UK as a 20-year old, she sought answers to questions while she grappled with ways to attaining peace of mind and while she tried to establish herself as an actress. She discovered yoga through a friend and, having lost her father in a motorcycle accident, she felt she had lost her moorings.
Sharing an uneasy relationship with her mother, something Cooper does not elaborate upon, she turns to yoga. And yoga pulls her to India. Cooper enters India via Sri Lanka, a place where her parents had met and fell in love. Her first stop is at an ashram in Kerala in which she makes friends with like-minded fellow travellers, mostly white, and while practicing yoga and travelling through the southern parts of India, she finds her self. Not overtly, but in a subtle way, she mentions certain normative actions which are part of youth, for we must understand that yoga is not always abstaining from the pleasure of life.
The views of a young English woman who discovers a Bangladeshi reading a book on Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose at one of the airports, or the love poems of Rabindranath Tagore along with ancient scriptures and spiritual texts by yogis such as Yogananda Paramhansa, speak volumes for a country so diverse in its offerings. Cooper visits various temples to know more about different gods and goddesses and, for a Catholic, she treats the experiences as a foil against her own religion, to come to a logical and informed conclusion. This is not based on any blind faith but a greater understanding of her own spiritual quest, providing rational analysis of what she encounters.
Jonquil K. Cooper’s book is titled It’s Not Yoga, It’s You! It is a journey of self-discovery, she highlights. As Hindu Sage Ramana Maharishi had said, if one feels that ‘I’ is the ‘Self’ and that ‘I am This’, then you are evoking the Ego in yourself. In the Chandogya Upanishads, we find the phrase, Tat Tvam Asi’, meaning ‘You are That’. You are, therefore, not your position, your wealth or your reputation. You are simply the reflection of a deeper consciousness, essence of the cosmos, the universe. Aristotle called this Eudemonia, often translated as flourishing, living well, or happiness. It is a concept in ancient Greek philosophy referring to a state of being that is not just fleeting pleasure, but a deep and enduring sense of well-being.
This is achieved through virtuous living and the fulfillment of one’s potential. It is considered the highest human good and the ultimate goal of ethical life. The Gita, too, echoes this: “A person not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires attains peace.” The author, Cooper, while searching for such blissful peace beyond all earthly relationships, through her own spiritual yogic experiences, her curiosity and her unnerving spirit, discovers the true calling of her soul through an unexpected and miraculous journey within.
Meditation and pranayam (yogic practice focused on breath control and regulation) helps the author reach a state of blissful joy. Cooper talks about leaving India and returning to her country at the close of the book. However, her soul-searching journey and her spiritual experience by then transforms her into a different human being; a person at peace with her inner being can now accept and overcome all challenges.
Cooper finds delight in the simple joys of life, her little discoveries of the cultural and social life such as wearing a sari, tucking flowers in her hair, enjoying a pancake or dosa with spicy potato filling, and all of this makes the book very readable. Reading the book will set your thoughts on the deeper meaning of life and provide a wider view of living. It may also help you imbibe yoga practices.
(Reviewed by Manjira Majumdar, an independent journalist and writer who lives in Kolkata.)
from Webdoux