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Mirabai Starr
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
A rare opportunity to explore the sacred path of the greatest female mystics — and open to a profound alchemy of your body,
mind and soul....
Some of history’s most sublime mystics have been women who walked a very different path — using their longing for union with the Beloved as a portal to ecstatic devotion and deep compassion and as a vehicle to repair the world.
Much to our great loss, more masculine spiritual traditions have circumvented the profound realizations and teachings of these remarkable women, whose experiences offer essential insights for the next stage in our spiritual evolution.
Have you ever felt that the religious traditions we’ve inherited are deeply imbalanced, or that references to God as a singularly male deity, deprive us of a more liberating and mysterious truth?
And that the divine feminine and the divine masculine are both essential to co-creating a sacred world?
7 Feminine Wisdom Figures, 7 Paths Home to Who You Truly Are
Fortunately, beneath the surface of the institutionalized versions of spiritual life lies a deep wellspring of feminine wisdom, and it is now as accessible to YOU. This course will explore seven feminine mystics whose lives are fuel for your own journey.
Renowned, impassioned mystics like the Christian visionary, Hildegard of Bingen and the Sufi ecstatic, Rabia al Basri are emerging from the shadows of patriarchy to bless us with their treasures. Feminine archetypes such as the bodhisattva Tara in the Tibetan tradition and the Indwelling Feminine Face of the Divine in the Jewish tradition, Shekinah, offer timeless guidance for navigating perennial problems.
Each of these great wisdom figures holds a vital piece of a map to help us navigate a contemporary landscape of spiritual awakening and sacred service.
Discover Full-Spectrum Feminine Mysticism
The “way” of the feminine mystic is simultaneously tender — allowing our heartbreak to guide us into our service — while also untamed — embracing the wildness of our bodies and nature.
A feminine mystic is full-spectrum. She moves from pools of stillness into a whirling dance. She embraces the sweetness of caring for others and the fierce truth-telling that sets her free.
More than anything, the feminine mystic is grounded in love — for herself, the other, the world and the Divine. She envelops the world in her arms and kisses away the tears with the vast love of the Mother.
Feminine mysticism invites you into a new relationship with life in which you see everything with the eyes of reverence and engage in a sacred dance with all that is.
As so many mystics have said, “God IS love,” and when you enter into full communion with God, you experience EVERYTHING as love — without limits or conditions.
Exploring the Feminine Path of Realization
In The Way of the Feminine Mystic, you will be initiated into long-buried aspects of the feminine soul through the stories of the great women mystics. You’ll revel in in their poetry and rejoice in their wisdom. You’ll help the world heal from millennia of religious programming that denies the body and sexuality.
You’ll also enter a holy communion with your Self and engage equally with the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine, complementary sacred forces — both in the world and within you.
You will immerse yourself in practices, prayers, readings and dialogues that can resurrect long-dormant parts of you.
You will remember who you truly are, an expression of LOVE.
Perhaps best of all, you will join global community of practitioners who also yearn to surrender into the arms of the Beloved.
The Way of the Feminine Mystic draws from the evolutionary teachings of female mystics such as St. Teresa of Avila, Mirabai and Hildegard of Bingen — to illuminate a deep reclaiming of the embodied feminine love at the core of global mysticism.
It will also draw inspiration and wisdom from a variety of lesser-known female sages and mystics from across the spectrum of the world’s great wisdom traditions.
The Importance of an Experienced
Interspiritual Guide
Your teacher and guide for this “feminine mystical love immersion” is Mirabai Starr, one of the most respected teachers of the emerging global spirituality.
Mirabai has written and translated many acclaimed books on St. Teresa of Avila and other mystics. Her own spiritual journey is rooted in multiple traditions and includes Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist practices — all woven together in a deeply honoring way. She is one of the most eloquent and passionate voices for the resurgence of the divine feminine in contemporary spirituality.
An “interspiritual” mystic who practices vipassana, observes Shabbat, and honors all spiritual lineages, Mirabai will take you into the heart of a profound healing that the West in particular needs now.
This course is her offering to your heart. It promises a profound shift at the core of your being, in which your feminine mystic qualities are seen, celebrated and empowered — and you are called into sacred service and action in the world.
During this powerful journey, you’ll:
- Gain a new understanding of feminine mysticism — what it is and isn’t.
- Expand your ability to befriend your heartache, pain and longing as allies on the path of ecstatic surrender.
- Open to a vision of God that is masculine-feminine balanced.
- Practice yielding to heartbreak, an opening to the Infinite.
- Learn how to dissolve the separate self and reunite with the Beloved.
- Expand your creativity — and link it with your spiritual practices.
- Create a relationship with the Divine Mother, a resource for mercy, forgiveness and reckless adoration.
- Reclaim your religious heritage through the wonder of long-ignored female mystics.
- Heal religious shame and see yourself as sacred and whole.
- Understand your tendency towards “spiritual bypassing” and how to avoid it.
- Learn to source your service to the world from a place of inner abundance.
It’s time to evolve a new kind of wholeness and join the inspired women mystics who pioneered an earthy, loving, holistic and even wild vision of spiritual life.
This feminine mystical path supports the great healing of our times. It can repair the wounds in our hearts, minds and bodies and address the real suffering in the world.
It’s time to live as truly empowered, radically alive and deeply reverential feminine mystics who are here to change the world!
While this course focuses on the feminine, it was created for everyone, as this reclamation of the sacred feminine is equally important for both women and men.
What You’ll Discover in These 7 Weeks
Each weekly, LIVE contemplation and training session will build harmoniously upon the next, so that you’ll develop a holistic understanding of the practices, tools and principles you’ll need to cultivate more love, healing and transformative power in your life.
The primary focus for each week will be one luminous female mystic and the sacred qualities she embodied as well as practices that allowed her to open to her profound realizations and loving service.
Together, these seven mystical “ways” form a mandala of sacred insights and practices that can bring you into communion with your divine nature.
Course sessions are on Tuesdays at 5:00pm Pacific.
Module 1: Turning Inward & Discovering the Prayer of Quiet: The Gift of Teresa of Avila (March 29)
The 16th century Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila modeled a balance between rapturous adoration of the Divine as Beloved and exceedingly practical and levelheaded action in the world. Between bouts of longing for God with such intensity that she is said to have lifted off the ground in prayer, the middle-aged nun managed to reform an entire order of the Catholic Church, restoring its original contemplative values of silence, stillness, and voluntary simplicity.
Teresa was smart, tough, and funny. In a time when the Inquisition sought to eradicate anyone who deviated in the slightest degree from orthodoxy, this feisty woman with Jewish genes charmed the world and bequeathed us some of the greatest mystical masterpieces ever composed. Teresa teaches us to cultivate the inner life with rigor and courage, and then to offer the fruits of that journey to the world in service.
In this module, you will:
- Learn about the unconventional and intriguing life of St.Teresa of Avila and discover how she can serve as a vital and relevant guide for your own inner journey
- Listen to evocative passages of the Fourth Dwelling of the Interior Castle and experience the shift from an intellectual understanding of the inner life to a felt sense of the presence of the Divine
- Become familiar with different modes of contemplative practice and make a commitment to some form of regular meditation
- Compare St. Teresa’s teaching about the Fourth Dwelling with Hinduism’s understanding of the fourth chakra, the heart cave
Module 2: Radical Forgiveness & the Feminine Face of God: The Blessing of Julian of Norwich (April 5)
During a near-death experience, the medieval English mystic Julian of Norwich experienced a vision of Christ. What she saw has two startling aspects 1. Christ appeared in feminine form, and revealed himself as God-the-Mother, and 2. She informed Julian that there is no such thing as sin and that we are unconditionally adored by the Holy One.
Julian concluded that Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, had to be a woman because who else but a mother would break herself open and pour herself out for her children, and then love them with all her might and forgive them no matter what? Julian is a shining exemplar of embodied spirituality. Dare to believe what Julian tells us, a powerful promise that has resounded through the centuries:All will be well and all will be well and every kind of thing shall be well!
In this module, you will:
- Learn about Julian’s vision of Christ the Mother
- Listen to passages from the Showings where Julian reveals why God could not possibly blame us for our transgressions
- Make an inventory of the ways we have been hurt and the ways we have caused harm and create a ritual for releasing blame and shame
- Compare Julian’s teaching of unconditional love with the feminine wisdom figures of Buddhism.
Module 3: Following the Barefooted Path of Ecstatic Devotion: The Song of Mirabai (April 12)
Like Siddhartha Guatama, who became the Buddha, the North Indian devotional poet Mira Bai (also known as Meera) was born into a life of wealth and privilege and left it all behind to devote the whole of her body and soul to Krishna, the god of love. It was a choiceless choice.
Driven by the fire of desire, Mirabai sang and danced her way through life, composing love poems to the Dark One — filled with an intoxicating blend of sorrowful yearning and ecstatic encounter. Her songs and poetry still resound throughout the world today, touching the strings of devotion in our innermost being. Do not buy into the cold notion that wanting God is a sign of delusion. It is the doorway to union. It’s time to reclaim your longing!
In this module, you will:
- Learn how the young Mirabai fell in love with Krishna and overcame unimaginable odds, including numerous attempts on her life, to devote herself wholeheartedly to Krishna
- Engage in Lectio Divina (sacred reading) with the poems of Mirabai
- Explore the poetry of mystics from other traditions who express the transformational power of love-longing
- Write your own love poem to the Holy One
Module 4: Hearing the Cries of the World & Cultivating Compassion: The Mercy of Kuan Yin (April 19)
In his brilliant book, Becoming Kuan Yin, the late great contemporary sage Stephen Levine, wroe: “Opening the gate of Kuan Yin we discover parts of ourselves almost too beautiful for words.”
Known as “She Who Hears the Cries of the World,” this ancient Buddhist wisdom figure teaches us to let go of false dichotomies between good and evil and right and wrong, and instead embrace the brokenness of the world inside our own broken hearts.
Opening to the suffering of other beings — humans, animals, the air and water — we discover our own vast capacity for compassion. It is from this place that we access the energy and the wisdom to act to alleviate pain in the world.
In this module, you will:
- Learn about Kuan Yin, both as the legendary woman and the spiritual entity who embodies the quality of mercy.
- Open to the pain of the world and allow it to be transmuted by love.
- Practice loving-kindness meditation.
- Become familiar with feminine wisdom figures from multiple spiritual traditions who carry the energy of transformational compassion.
Module 5: Celebrating our Connection with Nature & Reclaiming Stewardship of the Earth: The Call of Hildegard of Bingen
(
April 26)
Viriditas is the word that the 12th century Rhineland visionary, Hildegard of Bingen, coined for t e divine breath that infuses all of life with growth and “greening.” She recognized the Divine Mother is the embodiment of this vitalizing energy and praised Her through masterful choral compositions and ecstatic prose, detailed artistic illuminations and carefully researched herbal healing remedies.
Hildegard was a Renaissance woman long before the Renaissance. She championed stewardship of the Earth and she cherished personal friendships. She is a shining example of the feminine mystics who are not interested in transcending this world, but rather in fully embracing and embodying it, holding sacred our connection with one another, the animal kingdom, and the earth herself.
In this module, you will:
- Explore the multi-faceted ways Hildegard served: as cosmologist, herbal healer, musician, artist and prophet of peace.
- Deepen your intimacy with Mother Earth, galvanizing a living relationship.
- Identify specific methods for activating your stewardship of creation.
- Discover indigenous wisdom to honor the innected web of being.
Module 6: Speaking Our Truth & Transforming Our Shadow: The Fierce Love of Rabia (May 17)
The 8th century Sufi saint, Rabia al-Adawiyya, embodied fierce devotion, and an uncompromising spiritual discipline and all-consuming spiritual fire. She was not afraid to speak truth to power. Nor did she avoid confrontation with obstacles in her own being that separated her from a full encounter with the Holy One.
“Oh Allah!” she wrote. “If I worship You from fear of Hell, burn me in Hell. If I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.” Rabia teaches us that the way of the feminine mystic sometimes means picking up the sword of the spiritual warrior and cutting through illusion to lay the Truth bare.
In this module, you will:
- Contemplate the fragments of legend and poetry that remain of the enigmatic life of Rabia.
- Learn the “Rabia Song” (by Zuleikha).
- Become familiar with your own subtle tendencies to engage in “spiritual bypassing.”
- Explore the imagery of fire across spiritual traditions.
Module 7: Rising to the Prophetic Call & Finding the Courage to Love Unconditionally: The Benediction of Mother Mary (May 24)
While Mary is traditionally depicted as “meek and mild,” she is anything but. Mary was a prophet. From the moment she had the vision of the angel Gabriel informing her that she, a poor Jewish teenager, was to give birth to the Prince of Peace, Mary rose to the prophetic call and dedicated her life to being an instrument of unconditional love.
In bearing witness to the execution of her beloved son and gathering his lifeless body in her arms, Mary models the sacred power of grief and loss, which break our hsearts open to greater love. People of all faiths and none turn to Mother Mary for strength, solace, and reconciliation. Two thousand years after her death, Mary of Nazareth speaks more directly to our lives than ever before.
In this module, you will:
- Learn about Mary in the Bible and the Qur’an.
- Contemplate icons of Mary.
- Engage in a guided meditation to deepen your connection to the Divine Feminine.
- Explore feminine wisdom figures across the spiritual traditions.
Let these short introductions serve as doorways that lead you into a deeper relationship with these great wisdom beings. Explore their timeless teachings and drink deeply from their well of sacred energy, allowing them to infuse and transform your life.
– Mirabai Starr
The Way of the Feminine Mystic
Bonus Collection
In addition to Mirabai’s transformative 7-week live online training, you’ll receive these powerful program sessions with some of the world’s leading visionaries and teachers. These bonus sessions are being offered to further complement what you’ll learn in the course — and take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.
Holy Women & Holy Girls:
The Face
of the Divine
Audio Dialogue with Mirabai and Father William
Hart McNichols
In this conversation between Mirabai and iconographer-priest Father Bill McNichols, the two old friends explore their collaboration in art and poetry, the power of feminine voices in the realms of compassionate action and environmental advocacy, and saints such as Teresa of Avila and Hildegard of Bingen who have radically changed the way humanity sees the Divine.
William Hart McNichols was a member of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) from 1968 to 2002. He studied philosophy, theology and art at St. Louis University, Boston College, Boston University and Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Father Bill furthered his art studies at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California in 1977. In 1983, he received a Master of Fine Arts in landscape painting from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Since 1999 he has assisted with sacramental ministry in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in Taos and Northern New Mexico. He continues to assist in Albuquerque after returning there in the fall of 2013.
Islam & Poetry
Audio Dialogue with Mirabai and Mona Haydar
In this special session, Mirabai will be joined by Islamic slam poet and peace activist, Mona Haydar, who will share some of her powerful poetry along with teachings from the essence of Islam. Mona, a Syrian-American woman, is only in her twenties and already renowned for her poetry and teachings on the mystical heart of Islam.
Mona Haydar is a poet, performer, artist and activist currently living and working at The Lama Foundation in Northern New Mexico. She’s passionate about words, both written and spoken, saying “The good word is like a good tree...like humanity — with our feet firmly rooted in Earth while our spirits and minds float about somewhere above us into the heavens. It’s vertical. A good word connects us to our Creator, most Merciful.”
Breaking the Rules & Calling Her God
Mirabai Reading from Her Book God of Love
In this warm and evocative piece Mirabai shares her spirited and unorthodox view of the feminine face of the Divine, inviting us into an intimate relationship with Love itself.
What Graduates of Mirabai’s Courses
are Saying...
...I wanted some deepening experience with Mirabai... Given the distance (I am writing this from Europe) the only possibility... was an online course. Three major benefits: 1. Thanks to Mirabai’s courageous and unrestrained testimony of her own way, I found some confirmation of my own intuitions about the divine with a new way of relating to... the mystery of the One and Beloved. 2. My own journey happens to pass right now through a natural integration of “animus” and “anima” — thanks to the course I could befriend my anima at a deeper level. 3. I am a spiritual guide in my own faith tradition — thanks to Mirabai I received an unprecedented insight into the feminine perspective which will assist me in accompanying women seeking spiritual guidance. Thank you so much Mirabai!
– Greg, Poland
The course was enriched me very much. It is heartwarming to know the fact that we are all called to union with the Divine no matter what our faith tradition is. We are just one. This is a celebration of unity among us, God’s children. We participate in the unity of the Godhead. And it is happening in the ordinary events of our life and to every ordinary person.
– Maria Eulalia Banawis, Quezon City, Philippines
Mirabai chose to focus on familiar feminine mystics and added dimensions to their lives that I was unfamiliar with. Her love of her subjects and her loving manner in all her stories and interactions embodied the characteristics in a profound way.
– Jackie Solem. Bogey, MN
I learned about an aspect of spirituality, the feminine mystics, which important to my life. I gained hope and strength.
– Bernice Martinez, Albuquerque, NM
Mirabai embodies her work both as a Mystic herself and as a teacher of the mystics. Being in her presence on the call caused internal shifts both on and off the call. For example, I wept at her readings and quotes as if they were being spoken to me directly by the mystic herself. My attunement to myself is more keen and loving. I am more peaceful and trusting that there is indeed divine intervention in our third world realities. I look forward to any courses Mirabai will teach.
– Michelle Jurika, PIedmont, CA
The scholarship of Mirabai Starr coupled with her deep, loving compassion for all made for a quite wonderful experience.
– Lorna, Gold River, CA
Breathtaking! (read awestruck). The Spirit moved me to register for Reclaiming the Feminine Christ. At the time, I had never heard of Mirabai Starr. What I learned is to trust what I know experientially to the core of my being where the divine animates me. I am here to Be – Love – Belong in service and heal our world... even if that service morphs into a form I never envisioned. I feel grounded and incredibly grateful to be part of an inclusive, worldwide interspiritual community. To be at home with the divine in me: Priceless!
– Kathleen Gibbons Schuck, Blue Bell, PA
I loved this course and didn’t even realize how much I needed it until after we started. Mirabai Starr has the unique ability to create and hold sacred space for others no matter what aspect of the journey they were on. The timing of each module was perfectly orchestrated and the journey we took together was incredible. I leave it feeling blessed to have had such a rich experience of myself and and grateful for having Mirabai as a guide.
– Laura, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
This course draws on a variety of cultural and spiritual traditions. Mirabai is a rich resource on the feminine stories that underpin our understanding about ourselves as women. It deepened my conscious connection to the power of the feminine source.
– Laura, Australia
I truly believe that I am loved and lovable and can hold my head up high for I am a child of the divine feminine and my gifts are needed in the world today.
– Marita Hoffart, Minot, ND
Mirabai has the soul of a poet, the mind of an intellectual and a voice that opens one’s heart.
– Lisa, New Jersey
Mirabai is open, honest, transparent and willing to share deeply from her experience and her heart.
– Patience, Mt. Rainier, Maryland
Join the Global Community
The Way of the Feminine Mystic offers some of the most advanced online teachings currently available, in a thriving global community of learning and practice.
Join your fellow students and practitioners from across the world in the live interactive conference calls — or in the custom online community — to support and learn from each other, while you expand your paradigm of reality and open your mind.
This international community is also at the leading edge of a movement committed to manifesting a better world for all beings, rooted in an open heart, it stands for the principles of mutual support, cooperation, harmony and reverence for life.
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Seven 90-Minute Class Sessions with Mirabai Starr
Experience a rare opportunity to be mentored and learn with mystic-scholar and interspiritual teacher Mirabai Starr — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session helps you create the specific skills and abilities to awaken your feminine mystic within. Course sessions are on Tuesdays at 5:00pm Pacific.
Seven Audio Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the audio will be available for you to download in high-quality MP3 format. This way, you’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can listen anytime and anywhere — on your iPod, in your car and at your convenience.
Seven PDF Transcripts of
Class Sessions
In addition to the high-quality MP3 audios, you’ll also receive the entire class transcription in PDF format after each session. This way you can review, print and highlight the most important insights and practices.
Seven 30-Minute Interactive Group Practice Sessions
Following each class session there will be a live 30-minute interactive practice session. You will be placed in an intimate group with several other participants on the conference call to interact, share and do additional practices to help further integrate the weekly lessons.
Interactive Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
After each lesson, you will have the option to do related exercises, practice new tools and answer questions in order to accelerate your learning and integrate each week’s lesson.
Online Community
Our exclusive Facebook online community is the perfect place to continue your learning after each class. Here, you can ask additional questions, interact with your fellow students and get access to additional resources to take your learning experience to an even deeper level.
The Way of the Feminine Mystic
Bonus Collection
- Holy Women & Holy Girls: The Face of the Divine
Audio Dialogue with Mirabai and Father William Hart McNichols
- Islam & Poetry
Audio Dialogue with Mirabai and Mona Haydar
- Breaking the Rules & Calling Her God
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join in The Way of the Feminine Mystic Live Virtual Training
We at The Shift Network are deeply honored that Mirabai Starr has chosen to partner with us on this exclusive, LIVE online training. This is a rare opportunity to learn directly from an internationally renowned mystic-scholar and interspiritual teacher whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken the feminine Divine within us — and our world.
Through this powerful online format, you’ll not only save time and money on workshop costs (plus travel, accommodations and meals — which would cost thousands of dollars), you’ll be able to benefit from Mirabai’s incredible teachings and exercises from the comfort of your home — at your own pace!
One of Mirabai’s gifts is her own authentic embodiment of her feminine mystic qualities. She lives a life grounded in love and creates a teaching environment in which you will feel truly held in a safe and compassionate container as you experience this profound inner journey.
If you are serious about reclaiming the feminine Divine within and opening to a life of wholeness, service and sacred balance, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones — and our world — to take this one-of-a-kind training.
If you’re ready to take the next step in evolving yourself, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
More Praise for Mirabai Starr...
Mirabai is an authentic mystic, a true teacher and a wonderful soul. Anyone who comes to her will find their cup will be filled. I recommend her as a person and as a teacher with great confidence and joy.
– Andrew Harvey, Spiritual Teacher and Director
It is with great pleasure and delight that I endorse the work of Mirabai Starr, who I find to be a soul companion as well as a professional colleague. In addition to being a gifted author, Mirabai is blessed with the capacity to inspire others with her wisdom and understanding of mystical theology. I referred to her translations of Teresa of Avila’s great masterpiece, The Interior Castle, while writing my own book, Entering the Castle, because of the excellence of her work. Mirabai is a rare jewel.
– Caroline Myss, Author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Entering the Castle
Mirabai Starr possesses passionate eloquence when speaking about mysticism, making the ineffable tangible and real as eating delicious food that’s good for you.
– Jenny Bird, Singer-songwriter
Mirabai Starr is an extraordinary teacher not because she is so well versed in spiritual teaching — though she is. What makes her teaching so powerful is that her vast spiritual knowledge is rooted in the real experience of being human. Her genius lies in the profoundly humble way she opens her life as a guide to ours. In making this connection she shows us the deep and mysterious spiritual truths that hold all our lives together. A truly gifted teacher, she points us at once to and beyond ourselves. She does all of this with a spirit so light that all who share her presence are also lifted. Oh, did I say that she is also a lot of fun?
– Rev. Bob Thompson, Senior Pastor, Lake Street Church, Evanston, IL
I have been present during Mirabai Starr’s classes at the University of New Mexico in Taos, on both Philosophy and the theologies of the major world religions... One would expect from such a background that she has gathered and synthesized a dazzling amount of knowledge, but she also brings understanding, and especially compassionate wisdom. These are God-sent gifts that are simply given to her. Her life experiences of suffering and love pour into the cup of different levels of understanding which she offers so generously as a teacher, lecturer, writer and guest speaker. I am enriched and honored by her friendship.
– Fr. William Hart McNichols, Iconographer and Roman Catholic Priest
I think the most powerful aspect of being with Mirabai is this: She is keenly respectful of the deep internal beauty that each person brings into a circle or a room or a workshop. She has a way of gently bringing it out into the open so that it is clearly visible to its owner, as well as to the rest of the group.
– Judy Langford , Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Social Policy, Washington DC
The Ark Bookstore always enjoys Mirabai Starr’s book signing appearances and talks, not only because of her professionalism and gifted speaking ability, but also, (and primarily), because Mirabai’s presence is a manifestation and transmission of her very deep understanding of the spiritual teachings she translates.
– Karin Arielle, The Ark Bookstore, Santa Fe, NM
...Mirabai has a profound respect for our deepest, most ordinary humanity as seekers of Truth. Her presence leaves a residual of joy in the hearts of those she works with, no matter how difficult their lives might be.
– Anne Scott, A uthor and Spiritual Guide
Mirabai’s words point toward the Ineffable. She has an outstanding gift for language, plus penetrating insight, married to a heart of authentic compassion. Combined, the result is a gentle dynamite for opening and awakening.
– Sara Morgan, Psychotherapist and Spiritual Guide
About Mirabai Starr
Author, translator of the mystics, and leading voice in the emerging Interspiritual Movement, Mirabai Starr uses 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. She is author of the six-volume Sounds True series, Contemplations, Prayers and Living Wisdom. Her poetry collection, Mother of God Similar to Fire, is a 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 named one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2012 by Spirituality & Practice — positions Mirabai at the forefront of the emerging Interspiritual Movement.
Mirabai taught philosophy and religious studies for 20 years at the University of New Mexico-Taos, and now speaks and teaches nationally and internationally on the teachings of the mystics, contemplative practice and grief as a spiritual path. Her talks and retreats incorporate silent meditation, interspiritual chanting, sacred poetry and deep dialog. She blogs for The Huffington Post.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is a virtual course?
A: It’s a great way to engage live teachings and each other from the comfort of your home! All you need is a phone line (or an equivalent voice service). If there is more than one person in your household taking the course, you will each need your own line. We use MaestroConference to make it just like an in-person event, where you can ask questions, participate in groups and deepen your exploration of the course themes.
Please note that dialing MaestroConference from your phone is a regular toll call to California; your telephone service provider will charge you according to your existing long-distance calling plan. You can also use Skype credit/subscription or Google Voice to dial in to MaestroConference; and you’ll need to use your virtual keypad to enter your PIN and to indicate that you want to ask a question. Other options include calling cards and discount long-distance carriers; and we also have a webcast which is free to use from anywhere in the world.
I have never participated before in an online course. The packaging, presentation, inclusion and Facebook postings created a wonderful, safe cocoon to participate. I haven’t seen a course so well put together ever — not in all the years of taking college classes — and I had my doubts about doing an online course. The wealth of organization and ease of learning materials and support made this fun as well.
– Claudia F., Medford, MA
Q: Can I get benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
A: Absolutely! You can download the recordings and transcripts of all course sessions from our online media archive, so you never need to worry about missing live calls. You can also engage the full community and leaders on our private community website.
Q: Can you tell me about the Private Course Group?
A: We will have a private community group for all course participants on Facebook that will support you in making connections with others, sharing insights, engaging in discussions, completing homework assignments and exchanging information about events and other activities that can supplement your transformational journey. You’ll have the ability to share your experiences, projects and growth throughout the Course.
Q: Are there scholarships available for this Training?
A: Yes, we always make a certain percentage of spaces available for partial scholarships, giving preference to those in developing countries or doing important but underpaid work to which they can apply the training material immediately. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please review our guidelines, which include a link to our online application form.
Q: What is your refund policy?
A: Your satisfaction with The Shift Network and this course is our highest priority! We offer a satisfaction guarantee so that you can sample the course risk-free. The deadline to receive a full refund is April 12, 2016. To request a refund, please click on this refund request form and submit your request. Your refund will be processed within five business days and we'll send you an email confirming your refund. However, we'd love to have a chance to address and resolve your concerns first. If there is something we can assist you with, please email us at support@theshiftnetwork.com and we'll be happy to help! (No refund requests accepted after the above date or with scholarship awards.)
Q: How can I reach Customer Support?
A: Please visit our Customer Support Center, where you should be able to find the answer to your question or the solution to a problem. And if you can’t, you can submit an online request form and we’ll get right back to you.
