Mirabai Starr – The Mystical Heart

It’s time to evolve a new kind of wholeness and support the great healing of our times. Connecting with the mystical heart can repair the wounds in our hearts, minds and bodies and, thus, help us to address the world’s suffering as well.

It’s time to live as truly empowered, radically alive and deeply reverential mystics who are here to change the world!

What You’ll Discover in These 8 Weeks
Course sessions are on Wednesdays at 5:00pm Pacific.

In this 8-week transformational program, Mirabai will guide you through the fundamental spiritual skills and competencies you’ll need to successfully experience the essential interconnectedness of the great world traditions.

Each weekly, LIVE contemplation and training session will build harmoniously upon the next so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools and principles you’ll need to expand your understanding of humanity’s many spiritual paths.

Module 1: Toward the One
Unity in Diversity (November 2)

From the heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam springs the primordial affirmation of the Oneness of the Divine. While Jews, Christians and Muslims may not always agree on the particular attributes of the One or what our relationship with the Absolute is meant to be, they all recognize that its true nature is love. It is not that the three faiths are all the same, but that their underlying message calls us to Oneness. It is the mystics of each religion who carry the unifying jewels to a troubled world.

In this module, you’ll:

Learn the primary declarations of faith of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Contemplate sacred scriptures affirming the Oneness of the Divine
Chant sacred phrases in Hebrew, Latin and Arabic
Encounter teaching stories from each tradition that illumine divine unity
Module 2: Embodied Spirituality
Social Action & Stewardship of the Earth (November 9)

Judaism, Christianity and Islam urge us to recognize the face of the Creator in the beauty of creation. From this heart space, it is impossible to “otherize” individuals or communities who are different from us or to objectify the earth and its resources. The greatest testimony to our relationship with the Holy One, all three faiths insist, is the way we treat one another and the planet we share.

In this module, you’ll:

Identify key scriptures in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Qur’an and Hadiths that emphasize our charge to be stewards of the earth and servants of the marginalized
Study nature mystics, such as Hildegard of Bingen and Francis of Assisi
Discern the social and/or environmental issue that concerns you most and make a practical decision to contribute to its alleviation
Explore the role of the prophet in our times
Module 3: Radical Wonderment
Holy Awe & Longing for the Beloved (November 16)

The mystical path is characterized by paradox. Mystics throughout the ages and across cultures have borrowed the language of romantic love to evoke the way in which the soul both yearns for and connects with the sacred. In the dazzling light of love, we experience a mixture of intimacy and awe. The experience of mystical union dissolves the separation between lover and Beloved, so that there is, in a sense, no one left to experience the merging. The Holy One simultaneously transcends all form and expression, and permeates all that is.

In this module, you’ll:

Make a plan to participate in a Jewish, a Christian, and a Muslim (or Sufi) religious service or community practice
Engage in contemplative reading of mystical poetry in the three Abrahamic faiths
Create a work of art to convey your experience of the divine
Build an inter-spiritual altar
Module 4: Mercy
Forgiveness & Reconciliation (November 30)

The Hebrew word teshuvah means “return.” It invokes the infinite lovingkindness of the Divine who meets us with open arms the moment we take responsibility for our negative actions and strive to make amends. Jews, Christians and Muslims hold compassion as the highest ideal, not only with regard to how we are meant to treat others but also as a reflection of the unconditional love in which the Holy One enfolds us. When we draw on this quality, we cultivate the courage to forgive and the vulnerability to be forgiven.

In this module, you’ll:

Learn the meaning of desert hospitality and table fellowship
Reconcile with someone with whom you have had a falling out
Practice guided meditations that invoke unconditional love
Study sacred writings from Judaism, Christianity and Islam on the transformational power of mercy and compassion
Module 5: Indwelling Presence
The Feminine Face of the Divine (December 7)

Something in the psyche of the human family yearns now more than ever for the Divine Feminine. She has been shunned, ridiculed, and burned alive for millennia. By revitalizing our relationship with the Holy She, in the form of Mother, of Lover, of most intimate female Friend, we may unfold the treasure map that leads to the resources we need to heal the ravaged planet and all who dwell on her.

In this module, you’ll:

Shift your focus from the transcendent to the immanent nature the Divine
Explore embodied, incarnational spirituality
Compare the ways in which Judaism, Christianity and Islam relate to the sacred feminine
Learn stories from the lives of feminine mystics in the three Abrahamic faiths
Study biblical wisdom literature
Module 6: Still Small Voice
Contemplative Life (December 14)

Many contemporary spiritual seekers abandoned their Judeo-Christian roots in search of Eastern meditation practices only to discover that the religions they grew up with contain a rich contemplative tradition. There has been a contemplative revival among Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders striving to be more relevant to their congregations. Each of the monotheistic faiths teaches us to turn inward and cultivate a direct and personal relationship with the sacred in silence and stillness.

In this module, you’ll:

Commit to a regular meditation practice
Experience Centering Prayer
Engage in zikr (Islamic practice of repetition of the Divine Name)
Explore the teachings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
Module 7: Fire & Wine
Suffering & Exaltation (December 21)

A direct encounter with the sacred – whether a dramatic experience of mystical melding or a fleeting glimpse of the unity of the cosmos and our perfect place within it all – carries a quality of the ecstatic. This is the place from which the poetry of the mystic flows and overflows. Profound pain can also be a gateway to the numinous. Grief strips us of our ordinary preoccupations and lays the heart bare. From this naked space our yearning for the Divine intensifies.

In this module, you’ll:

Engage in contemplative readings of mystical poetry and sacred scripture from Judaism, Christianity and Islam expressing separation from God
Explore the connection between loss and longing for the Beloved
Practice inter-spiritual chanting to open the heart
Identify common themes in Jewish, Christian & Islamic teachings that invoke both the ecstatic and the painful nature of the divine relationship
Module 8: From the Monastery to the Marketplace
Activating the Interspiritual Path (January 4)

The prophetic task is urgent, and we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We must not abdicate our power or postpone our responsibility to repair the broken world. True contemplatives do not gaze serenely from behind a veil of detachment. A distinguishing mark of the adept on the path is that the protective covering around the ego has slipped or been stripped away. She recognizes her interconnectedness with all beings and cannot help but respond to the cries of the world.

In this module, you’ll:

Identify your particular prophetic task
Study the core teachings from Judaism, Christianity and Islam that urge us toward compassionate action
Cultivate a Sabbath practice
Practice self-care to balance your commitment to being of service
The Mystical Heart Bonus Collection
In addition to Mirabai’s transformative 8-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 complement what you’ll discover in the course — and take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.

Dialogues in Spiritual Diversity
Collection of Audio Dialogues With Mirabai Starr and Guests

These two special audio collections include conversations with Mirabai hosting two guests from across spiritual and cultural traditions. They are wonderful illustrations of the unity in diversity Mirabai teaches, not to mention a glimpse into the beautiful relationships forming in the interspiritual community.

Interfaith Dialogue at Its Best
Jamal Rahman & Rami Shapiro (Muslim Imam and Jewish Rabbi)
Matthew Wright & Sean Murphy (Episcopal Priest and Zen Teacher)
Sacred Activism Dialogues
Mona Haydar & Chris Grosso (Muslim Activist-poet and “Indie-Spiritualist”)
Ellen Grace O’Brien & Adam Bucko (Hindu Yogacharya and Interspiritual Sacred Activist)

Ethical Monotheism & the Power of Turning Within
Video From Mirabai Starr

Mirabai shares from her intimate relationship with Teresa of Avila in this video, drawing from Jewish and Muslim teachings to reassure that we are fully equipped to walk the mystical path of our own interior castle.

Personal Suffering & Longing for God
Video From Mirabai Starr

Mirabai’s expertise in St. John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul is solidly framed by her personal experiences of loss, yet she’s careful to differentiate between the two. While tremendous grief and suffering don’t necessarily provide an automatic deepening of spiritual awareness, the burning away of life’s trivial matters can certainly create an environment for that deepening to occur.

Join the Global Community

The Mystical Heart 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

Eight 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 understand the interconnected wisdom at the heart of all religious and spiritual traditions. Course sessions are on Wednesdays at 5:00pm Pacific.

Eight 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.

Eight 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.

Eight 30-Minute Interactive Group Practice Sessions

With live class attendance, there will be a 30-minute optional interactive practice session directly following each class where 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. If you’re unable to attend the calls live, the Online Community group allows you to connect with each other to find alternative times to interact.

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 Mystical Heart Bonus Collection

Dialogues in Spiritual Diversity
Video From Mirabai Starr
Personal Suffering & Longing for God
Video From Mirabai Starr
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join in The Mystical Heart Live Virtual Training
We feel honored that Mirabai Starr has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive LIVE online training. This is a rare opportunity to interact directly with an internationally renowned mystic-scholar and interspiritual teacher whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken the 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!

Among Mirabai’s many gifts are her own interspiritual practices and authentic embodiment of the teachings of the ancient traditions. 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 experiencing the Oneness and deep unconditional love at the core of the great spiritual traditions 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.

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, 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 dialogue. She blogs for The Huffington Post.