“Wild Mercy” by Mirabai Starr

Mirabai Starr has been on my radar for awhile (since reading Ram Dass’ autobiography) but this is the first book of hers that I’ve read. “Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics” is a book I’ll gift to so many women in my life and one I’ll turn to again and again. It is heartfelt, inspiring and powerful in a way that reads as if a village elder is whispering her wisdom around a mug of tea. Starr artfully blends pieces of her spiritual journey with her carefully constructed poetry, she shares historical research dotted with anecdotes and she offers exercises to deepen our own experience of the things which she explores.

While I’d recommend this book for every spiritual seeker, I’d especially push it toward those who companion the dying. As a grieving mother herself, Starr was pulled into the work of tending grief and shepherding other grievers, this work led her to sit by the bedside of the dying. With simple intuitive knowledge, Starr speaks beautifully to what it means to offer presence and bear witness.

Here is an excerpt from her chapter on death: “Once we have made our way to the bedside of one dying beloved, however, it gets easier to gain access to the next. Pretty soon, we will find ourselves at ease facing the mystery of the body dissolving back into its source. Because of our experience being with the dying, people around us take comfort when we walk through the door. Our fearlessness reassures the terrified, who may be casting about for some ground to stand on when the whole world seems to be dissolving beneath their feet. Dying is rarely a tidy and predictable process. We need each other.”

As I finish this beautiful book and prepare it to pass on to my next soul sister, I’m so grateful for the words Starr shares with elegance, bravery and vulnerability. I’m deeply appreciative of adding the wisdom of another seeker who helps me find the sacred in the ordinary, encourages me to deepen and expand around my own suffering and points me toward the great mystics and traditions that offer hope to thirsty souls.