Caravan Of No Despair: A Memoir Of Loss And Transformation [Paperback]

On the day her first book came outa new translation of Dark Night of the Soul by Saint John of the CrossMirabai Starrs daughter, Jenny, was killed in a car accident. My spiritual life began the day my daughter died, writes Mirabai. Even with decades of spiritual practice and a deep immersion in the greatest mystical texts, she found herself utterly unprepared for my most powerful catalyst for transformation, my fiercest and most compassionate teacher.
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WithCaravan of No Despair, Mirabai shares an irreverent, uplifting, and intimate memoir of her extraordinary life journey.? Through the many twists and turns of her lifeincluding a tangled relationship with a charlatan-guru, her unexpected connection with the great Christian mystics, and the loss of her daughterMirabai finds the courage to remain open and defenseless before the mystery of the divine. Tragedy and trauma are not guarantees for a transformational spiritual experience, writes Mirabai Starr, but they are opportunities. They are invitations to sit in the fire and allow it to transfigure us.

Mirabai Starr
Mirabai Starrteaches philosophy and world religions at the University of New Mexico, and is the author of new translations ofDark Night of the Soulby John of the Cross andThe Interior CastleandThe Book of My Lifeby Teresa of Avila. She lives in Taos.

A memoir about writing through a devastating loss. Years of work on a book, especially your first, make the day of publication a special occasion. You can't put such effort into a project without feeling a deep satisfaction when it comes to fruition; some writers compare it to welcoming a new child. Starr's (God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, 2012, etc.) first book, a translation of Dark Night of the Soul, came into the world in 2002 on the same day a police officer showed up to tell her that her daughter had died the night before in a car accidelS1