This past week I received news from Andrew Harvey, a good friend and co-worker of mine in the field of a renewed spirituality, one that brings service, “sacred activism,” and healthy mysticism together. He and I have taught together on many occasions, including a series on “The Christ Path” at several locations in the country, as well as classes together at the University of Creation Spirituality.
Andrew is English and retains his charming accent, sports a genuine love of learning, and a profound knowledge and appreciation of the mystics. He is also a champion of the Divine Feminine. One of his many powerful books I especially appreciate is his rich volume on The Return of the Mother. Andrew grew up in India and absorbed a great love of the culture there, steeped as it is in the riches of Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions of antiquity. As a young man he attended Oxford University in England, but was not satisfied by western academia’s approach to spirituality. He set out to find paths that worked for him and many others.
Our paths crossed on numerous occasions. His special charisma for friendship and bountiful sense of humor rendered him countless friends with movers, shakers, activists and wisdom keepers around the globe. He has spent serious time befriending white lions in Africa, as well as rednecks in Arkansas, where he chose to live for several years.
His deepest mentor has been Benedictine monk Father Bede Griffiths, also an Englishman and Oxford graduate, who left the university an atheist, but soon encountered Thomas Aquinas and became a Christian under the mentorship of C.S. Lewis. Andrew is deeply indebted to Fr. Bede who lived in an ashram in India for 50 years, and was with him during the last months of his life. (Which followed on Bede’s final trip to the Bay Area where, among other things, he and I engaged in a rich public dialogue. He wrote an Afterword for my book, Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, and assisted in improving my translations of Aquinas so they more clearly matched the queen’s English.)
In an earlier DM, I shared the rupture Andrew underwent last year when his apartment burned down, he lost his beloved cat companion, and all his books.
He tells us in the letter below of the newest stage of his vocational journey. I very much recommend you read it and listen to his video full of wisdom as well.
My Dear Friend,
As many of you know my home base is now in Kashmir.
Kashmir for me, is the home of my soul and I have come here not to retreat, but to go forward in my own realization so as to be able to pour myself out to be of the deepest help I can in our excruciatingly dangerous world.
I have just been given a Lifetime Achievement Award by Broughton Hall in England and was asked to do a one-minute video to crystalize my vision of the future, which will be played at the British Film Society in London on May 20th.
This is the first transmission I have done from the heart of my new life, and I am deeply honored to share it with you in the hopes that it inspires you to keep embodying hope in inner and outer sacred action in these exploding times.
May the Divine blessing of the sublime beauty of Kashmir penetrate your whole being as it is beginning to penetrate mine.
Please share this video with everyone you know if you want and know that it comes to you with my deepest love.
Always your friend,
Andrew
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video meditation, click HERE.
Banner Image: Andrew Harvey in the Valley of Saints, Kashmir, India. Used with permission.
Queries for Contemplation
Have you crossed paths spirituality or intellectually with Andrew Harvey? How has he assisted you in your spiritual journey?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations.
Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint For Our Times.
Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen.
Passion For Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart.
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Times.
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality.
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times.
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond.
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.
The Beloved Will Guide You: John of the Cross & The Triple Dark Night of Our Times.
