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Author of critically acclaimed new translations of the Spanish mystics, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, Mirabai Starr uses fresh, lyrical language to help make timeless wisdom accessible to a contemporary circle of seekers.
Daughter of the counter-culture, Mirabai was born in New York in 1961 to secular Jewish parents who rejected the patriarchy of institutionalized religion. Intellectual artists and social justice activists, they were active in the anti-war protest movement of the Vietnam era. In 1972, Mirabai’s mother, father, and her younger brother and sister uprooted from their suburban life and embarked on an extended road trip that led them through the jungles of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where they lived for many months on an isolated Caribbean beach, and ended in the mountains of Taos, New Mexico. There, the family embraced an alternative, “back-to-the-land” lifestyle, in a communal effort to live simply and sustainably, values that remain important to Mirabai to this day. As a teenager, Mirabai lived at the Lama Foundation, an intentional spiritual community that has honored all the world’s faith traditions since its inception in 1967. This ecumenical experience became formative in the universal quality that has infused Mirabai’s work ever since.
Mirabai has been an adjunct professor of Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos since 1993. Her emphasis is on making connections between the perennial teachings found at the heart of all the world’s spiritual paths, in an effort to promote peace and justice. She is also a certified bereavement counselor, who helps mourners harness the power of grief and loss for healing and transformation.
Mirabai speaks and teaches nationally and internationally on the teachings of the mystics and contemplative practice. She is available for interviews, speaking engagements, workshops and contemplative retreats. She officiates personalized weddings and memorial services.
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COMING (again!)
January 8-15, 2009
Women's Gathering
in the Yucatan
at Rancho Encantado
2008 Gathering
For the past two winters we have gathered with a group of women at Rancho Encantado, Mirabai's family’s eco-retreat in the Yucatan for a very special week of relaxation and inspiration.
This a loosely scheduled retreat, led by Tessa Bielecki and Mirabai Starr with the lightest of touches. The women who join us are diverse, yet what we all have in common is a willingness to lay down our burdens and our busyness, our responsibilities and our leadership, for a week of radical renewal in one of the most beautiful and restful places on the planet. There is a rich array of wellness treatments available at the legendary Rancho spa, as well as excursions on the lake and in the jungle. Often, women find themselves spontaneously organizing group activities, such as singing, writing, painting, and practicing Yoga and meditation together. We also encourage plenty of unstructured time for swinging in the hammock with a good book and swimming in the crystal waters of the sacred Laguna Bacalar.
Rancho Encantado is once again making this retreat available to us at a reduced rate, with various optional upgrades. The cost for the week is $1,100 for a garden casita (lake-view) and $1,200 for a laguna (right on the water). If you pay in full by September 1, you will receive a $100 discount. This includes double occupancy in a luxurious waterfront cottage, three healthy gourmet meals a day, and a guided journey to a spectacular Mayan temple site nearby, with a special ceremony, and lunch with an indigenous family at their sustainable farm.
You can visit the website and start dreaming: www.encantado.com. We hope you will join us for this very special gathering.
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