Ordinary Mysticism

Your Life as Sacred Ground

De: Mirabai Starr

Narrado por: Mirabai Starr

“This gorgeous, transformative, welcoming book is for anyone who longs to feel more present, more alive, more joyful and aware of the holiness of daily life.”—Anne Lamott, author of Dusk, Night, Dawn and Help, Thanks, Wow

Welcome to the temple of your regular life.

So begins beloved spiritual guide Mirabai Starr’s stunning exploration of finding the extraordinary in the everyday. In Ordinary Mysticism, she helps listeners discover their own inner mystic and let go of the limiting belief that spiritual life exists only in traditional places of worship. Mysticism, she explains, is a direct experience of the sacred—no church or clergy required. Our everyday life can be an encounter with the sacred if we pay attention. Starr explores the magic of mundane life, from weeding in our humble gardens to a slow evening walk with a friend to a full kitchen table surrounded by family. Embracing mysticism in our everyday is a way of being more alive in the world, an awakening to the interconnectedness between all things.

You can visit an ashram in the Himalayas or kneel in a church pew to connect to the spirit or examine life’s big questions—but these aren’t the only opportunities to discover the sacred. Life, Starr reminds us, is holy ground. Lyrical and tender, filled with profound wisdom and mind-opening insights, Ordinary Mysticism is about finding wonder in regular life, grounded in lessons from spiritual teachers across the centuries—from Julian of Norwich to Ram Dass. Starr combines their ancient wisdom with the story of her own personal and spiritual journey—from surviving the heartbreak of her fourteen-year-old daughter’s death to growing up amid the 1960s counterculture that introduced her to mysticism to her self-made spiritual practice of today. Alongside storytelling and age-old teachings, Starr offers practices and writing prompts for help our souls seek holy ground.

When you decide to walk the path of the mystic, the mundane shows up as miraculous, the boring becomes fascinating, and your own shortcomings turn out to be your greatest gifts. May we all find meaning and wonder in our most ordinary moments.

©2024 Mirabai Starr (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

This book was very authentic.

This book was very authentic and filled with compassion and love for all beings. It was also very heavy.

Starr is Stellar

I’m so glad Mirabai decided to create this experience for all of us… She and this book is simply Extraordinary. Mirabai, thank you for sharing your truth and gift and for any one who doesn’t align and love your work, there are countless ones of us out here bathing in your light and loving you and each and every word. 💞✨

A gentle wake up

I loved it all so much. I feel like I’ve made a new friend in Mirabai.

We are all mystics

The affirmation that everyone is a mystic. We just need to stay awake and aware and focus on compassion and love.

Life Altering, Life Confirming

This was/is the culmination of my own mystical journey. Every step confirmed the last step after devouring the words of the many, many mystics who have gone before me. They, and most beautifully now by Maribai in her own passionate voice, merely confirmed the divine wisdom and truth waiting to be fully embraced all around me. Heaven is now, the quiet prayer.

Uplifting Read

As usual Mirabai has a way of inspiring one and making all feel good about themselves.
A reminder of how we are all human, not Saints.

Stunning, a Revolutionary Book of Exquisite Beauty

This book is nothing short of revolutionary. Yes it is “ordinary,” but it is not simplistic… it is a masterpiece of stunning brilliance.

I read a LOT of books, and this is hands-down one of the best books I have ever read. It brought me to tears exactly five times.

It’s exquisitely accessible to anyone of any background (especially those who don’t consider themselves spiritual or religious, as well as those who do). No matter where your life path has taken you, you will find yourself relating to the stories she shares from her own life and others’.

Yet being accessible doesn’t in any way detract from the depth of its wisdom. In fact, I believe what Starr teaches about finding the sacred in the ground of ordinary life to be one of the most important and revolutionary teachings of our time. She is inviting us to reclaim our direct connection with the divine, in the midst of our ordinary human lives.

I expected this book to be about things like opening to the sacred in daily life while watching the sun rise or chopping vegetables. That’s certainly a part of it. But what I didn’t expect was it to so thoroughly embrace the messy, imperfect, deeply-human side of life. Hearing her say that she would sometimes get angry at her kids, that she had a poor sense of direction, that she’s sensitive to criticism, and that she has a pattern of being too busy all hit me straight in the heart because I also share these foibles. Hearing her bless those qualities as part of her/our sacred humanness helped me bless my own wild, messy, imperfect self.

Ordinary Mysticism is also incredibly funny. I laughed out loud in every chapter, sometimes to my own detriment (I woke up the baby once or twice).

I want to order copies for all my friends and read it a second and third time. It is such a beautiful gift to the world at this critical time in our history.

Heartfelt and authentic journey

With deep compassion and humility Mirabai Starr weaves together stories from her lifelong journey on the spiritual path.
Colorful and intriguing she pulls at one’s heartstrings yet offers hope in our ever changing world.

An Ordinary Mystic

Loved listening to this book with Mirabai as the narrator. It felt like sitting with a wise friend. Her book affirmed what I have been living. It was like, Yes, I see you. I am you.” I know her friend, Anne Lamott, told her to keep it simple and write like she was explaining things to a fifth grader, and I feel that she hit the mark (wink, wink). Not in a condescending way. Mirabai still sounds like her poetic, romantic, lofty self, but I did sense a more “earthy”/relatable quality. Mirabai is one of our shining lights. Grateful for this beautiful book and her openness of heart to share her life, love and divinity with us.

Authenticity

I liked how Mirabai made mysticism a normal phenomenon and not something that one should be ashamed of. I saw in this book myself and people in my life who affirmed me, and told me, “Don’t be afraid, what is…is and all will be well.”