AUTHOR

Mirabai Starr

Politics & Social Sciences | Biographies & Memoirs | Religion & Spirituality

Mirabai Starr, MA, is an author, translator of the mystics, and a leading voice in the interspiritual movement, using fresh, lyrical language to help make timeless wisdom accessible to a contemporary circle of seekers. She has received critical acclaim for her revolutionary new translations of Dark Night of the Soul, by 16th-century Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross; The Interior Castle and The Book of My Life, by St. Teresa of Avila; and The Showings of Julian of Norwich. Starr is author of the six-volume Sounds True series, Contemplations, Prayers, and Living Wisdom; a poetry collection, Mother of God Similar to Fire, in collaboration with iconographer, William Hart McNichols; God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, winner of the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Religion and one of the Best Books of 2012 by the website Spirituality & Practice & won the 2014 Nautilus Gold Award for Religion and Spirituality in the Western Traditions; Caravan of No Despair: A Memoir of Loss & Transformation, named one of the Best Books of 2015 by Spirituality & Practice; and Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce & Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics, a longstanding Amazon bestseller, & named one of the best books of 2019 by S&P. Starr taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. A certified bereavement counselor, Mirabai helps mourners harness the transformational power of loss. Mirabai is on the 2020 Watkins List of the “100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People of the World.” Daughter of the counter-culture, Mirabai Starr was born in New York in 1961 to secular Jewish parents who challenged institutionalized religion and were active in the anti-war protest movement of the Vietnam era. In 1972, the family embarked on an extended road trip that led them to settle in the mountains of Taos, New Mexico. There, they embraced an alternative, "back-to-the-land" lifestyle, in a communal effort to live simply and sustainably, values that remain important to Starr to this day. As a teenager, Starr lived at the Lama Foundation, an intentional spiritual community in New Mexico that has honored the world's spiritual traditions since its inception in 1968. The foundation's focus has always rested on the mystical heart of each path, and Starr was trained from an early age to recognize and celebrate the interconnections between and among all faiths. She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico.