By Mirabai Starr
HarperOne, 215 pages
Published September 17, 2024
Once in a while, a book comes along that just feels good in your hands. The hardback edition of Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life as Sacred Ground, with its textured and subtly metallic-embellished cover, is that book. An ordinary dust jacket that might otherwise be tossed aside signals a willingness to complicate preconceived notions of the mundane and the mystical. Mirabai Starr believes that sacred encounters are not the rare stuff of saints and desert wanderers, but can be found in the feel of crisp, cool sheets at the end of a long day, dog-eared and wrinkly experiences of life, profound grief and loss, or even a rock that fits perfectly in the palm of your hand.
Each chapter unfolds with an illustration, practice and writing prompt to center the experience of the divine in the messy complexity of everyday life. Starr reaches deep into sacred traditions of mystic experience, adapting perspectives from a broad repertoire that includes Hinduism, Sufism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and secular social justice activism.
Part instruction manual and part “hall pass” for irreverence, Ordinary Mysticism includes thought-provoking chapters on intention, attention, surrender, transmission, connection, feeling, and unfolding as milestones on the journey to become an ordinary mystic. She makes the holy accessible by inviting us to participate in ordinary life more closely, without fancy equipment, expensive plane tickets, limited diets, calloused knees or scratchy robes.
Everywhere from the grocery line to the boardroom to the vast expanse of nature becomes an opportunity for thoughtful contemplation that may lead to divine encounters. Starr sees mysticism as “about communion with ultimate reality.” She writes, “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.”
For those steeped in a particular religious tradition, practicing ordinary mysticism can challenge assumptions that limit access to the divine to a particular time, place, ritual or doctrine. Those who identify as “spiritual but not religious” are affirmed in their search for meaning and purpose outside the trappings of institutional religion. For religious and spiritual alike, the book provides a smorgasbord of resources for listening to life to hear the voice of divine presence in the ordinary. Ordinary Mysticism is worth keeping to yourself at first, to self-indulgently listen for the holiness and wonder that can be revealed in your unique, personal experience of the world. Like those ancient mystics who saw visions, though, you may find it difficult to keep your experience of the divine contained. The more fully the divine is recognized in individual experiences of the ordinary, the more fully the world becomes a place of loving kindness and welcome. Shared in community, Ordinary Mysticism becomes a balm in a world too often plagued by skepticism, cynicism, disenchantment, and despair, and it has the potential to illuminate the dark, mundane and overlooked moments of daily life. Take a page from Starr’s book, and re-envision life as holy — and see what happens when the school pickup line becomes sacred, or a dreaded conference call is approached as an opportunity for the divine to show up.
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