“We’re only at the beginning of dedicating our efforts to studying and disseminating Veda,” says Mila. She advises students to recite Veda while keeping their intentions, hearts and minds in the right place.
By Sophia AnnFrench
The second Indica Veda Studies Teacher Training programme ended in November 2024, and we spent the last few weeks reciting select sūktam-s and prārthanā-s to celebrate the end of our course. We were each given 10 minutes to recite. Mila Cooper-Bozhkova used those 10 minutes to recite all the sūktam-s and prārthanā-s that were short-listed for the exam, and she managed to find the time to learn extra verses of the Venkateśvara Suprabhātam. Our teacher called her recital a “treat.” If you tune into Mila’s Soundcloud account and listen to her recite Veda, you’ll understand why every time Mila recites Veda or chants a prārthanā, it is an aural treat. The finesse of her recitation is further enhanced by her disarming smile and a high empathy quotient. When I hear most people talk about their ‘dream job,’ the ‘dream’ is usually self-serving. In contrast, Mila excitedly talks about her dream job, which is administrative work at the Hansen’s Disease Settlement in Kalaupapa (Hawaii). “It’s an incredibly special and moving place. There are only a few patients left now. The settlement is at the bottom of the world’s tallest sea cliffs and very remote,” says Mila. While she is looking forward to making herself more available as a Veda recitation teacher, her spiritual practices include yoga (she is a teacher), and she is a trained kathak dancer [Lucknow/Jaipur gharānā with Naina Roy (Pittsburgh) and in more recent years, Nahid Siddiqui (Pakistan, UK)]. She has also published poetry in her native Bulgarian and says she loves to find “Sanskritness in my native Bulgarian. I grew up writing poetry, and I have books published in Bulgaria. I have an amazing teacher who’s like my second mom, and she’s trained me on metres, understanding the rhythm of language and how to use the flexibility and plasticity of language. I studied in a German High school and had extensive language training. The more Sanskrit I study and delve into new vocabulary, the more I see how much of it exists in my native language. I’ve been working with language my entire life, which made it easy for me to adapt to Sanskrit phonetics and understand the grammar. I enjoy Sanskrit because you pronounce each syllable, vowel and conjunct the way they’re written. In many other languages, like English, the vowels are unreliable and can vary, as seen in British to American English. So I love the clarity of the pronunciation of each sound in Sanskrit,” explains Mila.
Finding Veda Studies
Mila’s first experience of Indic knowledge came from a banned book. She was born in 1991 in Bulgaria, just two years after the fall of communism. Her father had a collection of what was then considered black-market books, and one had a gallery of yoga poses. Mila was only three then but recalls trying to shape her body into the poses she saw in those photos. “When I think about it, yoga kept showing up for me in small ways. When I turned 16 or 17, I started participating in various meditation practices. I’ve been an Aṣṭāṅga Vinyāsa practitioner for many years. I first heard about Veda Studies when several of my teachers mentioned it. I signed up for the Foundation Course and was simultaneously studying sūktam-s. I have been studying Veda with Veda Studies for about two years, and it is a transformative process. It is like the transformation you’ve been awaiting for a long time. Shantalaji has made all this knowledge so accessible to people worldwide. I remember conversing with a fellow student, and we wondered why we kept learning so many mantras. The first reason that came to my mind was that learning meant we could reconnect. One of the most rewarding things has been meeting all these people who share an interest in learning and reciting Veda.”
The Foundations of Teaching Veda
Speak to any student of the Indica Veda Studies Teacher Training Programme (batch of 2024), and you’ll find that we’re united in our love and support of each other’s recitation journey. Mila reiterates this sentiment: “We have an incredible synergy among us. We put so much effort into helping our classmates by sharing resources or answering each other’s doubts.” She also considers her education during the Indica Veda Studies Teacher Training Programme foundational to learning the nuances of Veda recitation. “I would call the teacher training the foundation programme (laughs). This intensive study is a deep dive into the Indian language system. We’re only at the beginning of dedicating our efforts to studying and disseminating Veda. Indian classical disciplines require at least seven years just to learn the basics. The Veda Studies Teacher Training is amazingly designed for people like us who want to spend more years studying and sharing Veda. My classmates’ hearts are so deeply invested in Veda. I can see a future where we are all involved in our sādhanā and know how to share it in a way that touches people’s lives — while staying faithful to our paramparā. I’ve been waiting for this education to learn to carry the mantras as a devotional offering. I approach this as a devotee. There are so many elements to our studies that it is easy to be in a student’s mindset. Whenever I practice independently, I put this at the core of my practice and offer it to the divine.”
Trust the Teaching
To new students, Mila says, “Welcome to the Veda Studies family. I’m so happy you found Shantalaji. Follow her instructions and trust her judgment. You will blossom if you keep your intentions, heart and mind in the right place. It happens naturally as long as the focus is in the right place. We are blessed to have a teacher who carries the continuation of this lineage with us so gracefully, and I’m thrilled that we all get to enjoy this cosmic poetry.”
Find Mila’s work at www.vedahawaii.com
Love this, Mila! Beautifully said.