Women’s Book Discussion Group: ‘ORDINARY MYSTICISM‘
Begins August 28th for 5 weeks.
The Book Group will meet weekly on Thursdays from 6-7:30pm
Facilitated by Deb King
Book: Ordinary Mysticism: Your Life As Sacred Ground by Mirabai Star
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REGISTRATION: $85 (+Book if needed available in the Unity Gift Shop)
OR
In Person at our Gift Shop (OM Books & Gifts) To register by phone call 303-442-1411.
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ABOUT OUR BOOK GROUPS:
Unity Book Study Groups are a great way to take a deep dive into your spiritual growth and open your heart to new ways of approaching your spirituality, while participating in a guided journey through some of the most insight filled mystical and metaphysical books by today’s leading authors on the path of enlightenment.
Deb King has a rich background in facilitating many book groups and loves to bring her own open hearted approach to sharing everyone’s perspective in her discussions. Each week, she will prompt you with questions about that week’s reading and encourage you to share your stories that have been inspired by your own personal journey on the spiritual path of awakening.
There is a syllabus and an assigned reading for the first group meeting so be sure to register soon and pick up or request your syllabus when you register.
BOOK SYNOPSIS: (from Goodreads.com)
Dive into Mirabai Starr’s stunning exploration of finding the extraordinary in the everyday. In Ordinary Mysticism, she helps readers 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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author, internationally acclaimed speaker, and interspiritual teacher. In 2020, she was honored on Watkins’ list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Drawing from 20 years of teaching Philosophy and World Religions and a lifetime of practice, Mirabai shares her wisdom worldwide on contemplative living, writing as a spiritual practice, and the transformational power of grief and loss. She has authored over a dozen books including Wild Mercy, Caravan of No Despair, and renowned translations of sacred literature. Her most recent book, Ordinary Mysticism, has been praised by Anne Lamott as “a 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”. She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico. For more, visit www.mirabaistarr.com.