Ordinary Mysticism

Your Life as Sacred Ground

By: Mirabai Starr

Narrated by: 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

So accessible!

I have resonated so much with Mirabai’s other writings and this one is no different. With her ordinary language she reminds us, even gives us permission, to relax into our everyday mystical selves. What others may see as superficial, really makes her “ordinary“ point. It’s through the simple things in our lives that we see the unseeable. Rather than filling the pages with dogma or worn out mystical guidance, she fills them with deep breath reminders to be just who we are. Thank you for the nudges, Mirabai. I’m currently reading through a second time. 🙏

A journey for the soul

This was my introduction to Mirabai Star, I finished her audio book with the feeling I have a new friend. So many deeply powerful moments were captured in the lines, some very sad, all of them left me more humane and willing to go back to my own life to hold space for all of life’s givings. Thank you Mirabai

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. 💞✨

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.

Mirabai has a true gift in reaching my soul

I have read several of your boys books and taking some of her online classes. She never fails to reach me deeply in my soul and make me feel and realize what’s really there. The essence of who I am, which can often get lost in the hustle bustle of life. She reinforces my belief that I am a mystic. Not just somebody who is a deep thinker, quiet, or too sensitive . One who has always recognized and felt that there is more than the obvious.

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.”

Gentle, Profound, and Applicable

Just what my spirit needed to hear. Mirabai Starr, truly authentic and wise, shares heartfelt experiences, soothing hidden wounds of a little girl tucked away long ago.

Soothing and Encouraging

I purchased the Audible version of the book, and I'm really happy that I did. I found myself getting excited to listen to each chapter, to discover the gifts within each and to do both the practice and respond to the journal prompt. Listening to Mirabai's soothing voice and encouraging words not prescribing a practice but inviting the reader to create their own or to try one of her practices. It was refreshing and what I have been looking for as I'm not getting much from traditional religion anymore. I'm so grateful for Mirabai and her voice.

Mirabai speaks directly to your heart ♥️

I love how Mirabai opens our hearts by inviting us to embrace our human spirituality through love, kindness, compassion and grace through our hardships and dark night of the soul. She is such an inspiration. Any one going through a difficult moment can find comfort in her words.