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The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism

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With The Hope, Andrew Harvey has given a name to the path that so many of us are now following and to which many are being called: "Sacred Activism". As he explains, "When...the joy of compassionate service is married to a practical and pragmatic drive to transform all existing economic, social and political institutions, a radical and potentially all-transforming holy force is born. This radical holy force I call Sacred Activism.... My deepest prayer for the vision of Sacred Activism is that it will inspire you to harness the energies of love, both in yourself and with others, and to discover, with wonder and hope, the joy and power of...that fiery passion of compassion that, when allied with grounded wise action, will help us change everything."

Not only does this movement--a fusion of the paths of spiritual awakening, social responsibility and selfless service--now have a name, thankfully, but a brilliant, inspiring, passionate and beautifully articulated vision. We are immensely blessed to have The Hope to guide and inspire us on the way, as we face the daunting and overwhelming task of helping to birth a new paradigm of sustainability and heart-centered consciousness on our beloved planet Earth.

This book is rich with many deeply moving and inspirational stories that will touch your heart and linger in your memory--from Andrew Harvey's personal life, from his personal experiences with illumined souls such as Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, as well as from many others. One of the most memorable stories of Sacred Activism is about an ordinary woman who performed an extraordinary and unimaginable act of forgiveness. It was originally told in Towards a Spirituality by Elaine Prevallet, and took place during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission proceedings in post-Apartheid South Africa. The commission brought an elderly black woman face to face with the white policeman who brutally and savagely murdered her husband and son and who had forced her to witness the crime. When the commission asked her how justice should be served, she said that she had forgiven the man and that she wanted to hold him in her arms so he could know that he was truly forgiven. As she was being led across the courtroom to embrace him, he fainted.

As Andrew Harvey concludes, "You might be deeply moved by this story but think that its relevance to the nitty gritty reality of world affairs is marginal. This is a mistake.... The embrace of unconditional forgiveness is essential to the success of all the major activist adventures in our world." All of us who feel passionate about ending wars, pollution, injustice and the ravaging of the Earth by corrupt forces would do well to heed his wise words and the extraordinary example of this elderly South African woman.

How easy it is in our passion for social justice to blame, project anger and hatred, and seek retribution. And yet, as The Hope so beautifully and lovingly explores, this just perpetuates the very problems we seek to resolve, as when we indulge in these behaviors, we are not taking responsibility and not facing our own unconscious "shadow" side.

A thread of light woven throughout The Hope is the important and urgent message of facing our own unconscious shadow. Although not necessarily a popular topic, it is an utterly essential one if we are to succeed in our quest for change. With great humility and accessibility, Andrew Harvey guides us intimately and tenderly through this challenging subject. Using his own candid, personal example of taking responsibility for his role in the "wrecks" in his life, we learn how doing the shadow clearing work results in breakthrough, empowerment and spiritual awakening. Among the many extraordinary aspects of this luminous book, perhaps the most profound for me is Chapter 13, "The Law of Constant, Humble Shadow Work", which is the most beautifully articulated, inspiring, passionate and hopeful description of how and why to do the shadow work that I have ever read.

The Hope is a very easy read, and you will be tempted to move through it quickly, as it grips you from the very first pages with its deeply touching insights, essential humor and grounded practicality. However, there is much to savor in its exquisitely expressed wisdom, and it is best read slowly.

My hope for The Hope is that its urgent, hopeful and vital message reaches multitudes of potential Sacred Activists right away. Ultimately, the ancient and timeless spiritual truths it presents are what we must rely on if we are to live up to the challenges we face at this pivotal moment in humanity's evolution. May the blessing of this book find its way into the hearts and minds of the masses immediately!

Many of us feel that we stand at a critical period in history. We face enormous physical, psychological, social, economic and spiritual challenges. But that is what they are: challenges. We are not impotent passengers on a runaway train; we all have it within our gift to make small changes that will together transform the world. But as Albert Einstein once said, "Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them." We cannot simply hope for an intellectual or technological fix for the problems that we have created for ourselves. We need a change of heart, a radical transformation of ourselves, and that is what this book is about.

Although I have never met him, Andrew Harvey - the author of this wonderful work - is evidently a remarkable individual. A prodigy who became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford when he was only 21 years old, he soon became disillusioned with the academic world and departed for India to begin a spiritual quest that continues to this day. In the course of his quest he must have met and conversed with most of the great spiritual and intellectual figures of our times.

He has come to the realization that any spiritual path worthy of the name must ultimately lead us to do something to bring about positive change in the day-to-day world. It should not simply be source of comfort, but of radical change both in ourselves and in society. We have to evolve beyond navel gazing and worship to become active agents of change, what Andrew calls "Sacred Activism." Andrew has carefully delineated seven "Laws" of Sacred Activism that he believes have the potential to transform each of us and our world. I am absolutely certain that he is correct. Once you really comprehend the inter-connectedness of life and feel compassion, joy, gratitude and forgiveness as real living, breathing entities, you are changed forever.

He is a very fine writer, and it was easy to read the whole book at one sitting. Here is an example of his delightful prose. Amongst the "Laws" that from the structure for the book is the "Law of Sacred Practice." Andrew quotes the Jungian analysts Marion Woodman who said to him, "Continuing to do pioneering sacred work in a world as crazy and painful as ours without constantly grounding yourself in sacred practice would be like running into a forest fire dressed only in a paper tutu."

As with all of Andrew Harvey's books this one is passionate, erudite and well reasoned. I sincerely hope that it is read very widely, and that readers take at least some of the actions that he details.

This is going to be one of my Books of the Year, and I already plan to send out a lot of copies to people ready for this essential Message of Hope.


Very highly recommended.


Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life

"The Hope" captures the very heart and soul of Andrew Harvey's lifelong spiritual journey, and seems to be a synthesis of all the passion and wisdom he acquired along the way. The reader is caught up in a kaleidoscopic swirl of prose, poetry and prayers of saints and mystics against the background of Andrew's extraordinary life experiences. The book can move you to tears one moment and overwhelm you the next with the torrent of prose and erudition, but always Andrew's impassioned desire to share his hard-won wisdom shines through. It is filled with diamonds of inspiration for all agents of change wanting to help birth a world of justice and compassion.

Andrew Harvey, one of today's best-known mystics, lays out his new vision for Sacred Activism - an amalgam of the activist's passion for social change with the inner peace and unity consciousness of the grounded mystic or spiritual seeker. He makes a strong case for the need to merge the two into a symbiotic union - a "third flame" - in order for each aspect to compensate for the shadow side of the other:

"The mystic's shadow of narcissism manifests as an addition to transcendence, as an escapism from responsibility from the real, as a sometimes passive and childish belief that the Divine will take care of everything, and as a subtle but devastating denial of the reality of evil and the heartbreaking misery of the world...
" The activist's shadow of narcissism ...manifests...as a messiah complex, as a dark ego-reinforcing delight in humiliating and destroying one's opponents, and as a depreciation of ordinary life in favor of heroic sacrifice. It also manifests as an addiction to doing for its own sake, with exhaustion, body neglect and burnout seen as signs of authenticity and badges of courage."

He implores activists on the front lines to keep themselves strong in body, mind and spirit to avoid burnout, and gives detailed examples of spiritual and physical practices to help. He warns against being naive about the existence of evil in the world, and points out that what we detest in our adversaries is somehow also present in our own shadow side. Prayer, patience and working through one's shadow issues, however, will make us more understanding of the other side, and more effective, and Divine Grace achieved through earnest spiritual practice is the best protection.

Andrew concludes with a call to action, and calls for readers to set up "Networks of Grace." Using a tactic from terror cells, he suggests turning this sword into a plowshare by coming together in "imaginal cells" of 6 to12 to provide a support system for each other in the challenging work of Sacred Activism.

In the end, the book describes the path we all travel, with all the zigs and zags of a drunkard's walk. The times we live in, however, with our demonstrated and escalating capacity for destruction, lends an undeniable urgency to the need for powerful agents of change. Andrew's impassioned plea is that we heed the call, but that we avail ourselves of all the help and protection the Universe is just waiting to lavish upon us, if we will only ask for it.

Andrew Harvey envisions Sacred Activism as a dynamic engagement with the world rather than a retreat from it, as compared to the caricature of the blissed-out, self-indulgent seeker whose passivity serves neither himself nor society.

The path of Sacred Activism bridges the gulf between selflessness and self-interest -- the source of all personal and global suffering.

The book offers a generous array of practical and simple-but-potent practices on how to cultivate love, compassion, joy, gratitude, and forgiveness. Dedication to these practices heals the cynicism, indifference, and frustration that result from feeling powerless to make a difference in the world.

Mr. Harvey shares his own hard-won wisdom drawn from personal struggles along with inspiration from leaders such as the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela.

Written with a rare eloquence and erudition, THE HOPE is an exhilirating and joyous call to action in our lives.

This book is beautiful and inspirational. It gives loving support for living with love and an open heart in a world that is changing. If we can adopt the attitude that Mr. Harvey suggests, this world will definitely survive these changes and become a better place.

The Hope is a guide for anyone who wants to find deeper meaning in their lives. Andrew Harvey's message is clean and clear. He gives the reader practical tools to guide the activist towards a grounding spiritual practice and guides those on an inner journey to manifest their passion in the world, where it is so needed now.
Harvey's voice is fierce and tender as he shares his vision for a world filled with activists consumed by sacred passion .
I have purchased over 7 copies of this book to date. It's too good not to share.

What Andrew Harvey gives us is a deeply personal account of his own transformation and evolution from a mystic to a mystic on fire with a message of a hope that comes with much dedication and deep inner examination. The reader is driven to dive into the difficult death and birth process as Harvey lays out our current situation in simple, digestible descriptions that lead to the eventual birth, but it's not an easy fix-it, but involves an inner journey into the dark night which we all must take to become of true service in the world on a transformative level.

He provides us with seven Laws of Sacred Activism which act as practical tools in this journey of healing ourselves and the world. This is Andrew Harvey as I've never read before. Though accounts of his life are familiar, but they are now seen through naked honesty and transparency that Andrew gives us about his own journey, including his recent emotional and spiritual insights.

Read The Hope with new eyes and new ears. You will not be devastated to the point of in-action and despair--that is the practicality of this book. Harvey takes us from Death to Birth. Networks of Grace, in addition to the other Laws of Activism that Andrew outlines give us something to sink our teeth into. Be ready to be re-energized and renewed by the wisdom...and hope that is imparted.

A call for active agents of change

I am always interested in books that call for urgent change in our troubled world and particularly if the proposals are spiritually based and support practical actions that are accessible to us all, so that we can all become "active agents of change." But as a Christian I came to this book by modern mystic and visionary Andrew Harvey with some suspicion and caution, particularly as I have recently completed reading Truth and Tolerance by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, (now Pope Benedict XVI) a detailed theological and philosophical treatise written from a very different and traditional Christian perspective.
However I warmed to Harvey's theme as I saw the respect he holds for the faiths and religious beliefs held by others, for the wisdom of elders and his love for Jesus Christ, the greatest love of his heart throughout his life, he claims. But this is the Jesus Christ of the Gospel of Thomas, and many may be unable to reconcile the Gnostic teachings of Christ with their own faith.
Nonetheless "hope for our survival lies in massive spiritual transformation and radical action," he writes, and I cannot disagree with that. After many years of study and immersing himself in different mystical traditions and their sacred texts, which he uses generously throughout this book, he is well qualified to write of these things and to form a vision of a new mystic spirituality. It is hard to disagree with the aims of any mysticism that calls for love and compassion in all we do, for unconditional forgiveness, and that understands our innate need to live in joy and peace, with total respect and love for all sentient beings. And although some of his ideas for spiritual transformation clash with my own faith and belief system, there is much that I can wholeheartedly agree with and indeed many of his proposals, described collectively as Spiritual Activism, are already put into practice in churches up and down the land; the prayer, bible study and other church based groups I belong to are his "Networks of Grace" by another name. In fact I am not sure that the world needs a new mysticism when most of his ideas can be found, albeit perhaps expressed differently, across all the great faiths, in the teachings of the mystics and in ancient wisdom.
He makes ten suggestions in Chapter One for us all to take immediate action - exercises to nourish our spirit and express the awakened compassion and joy - and these will be very familiar to diligent spiritual followers of most faiths, (although there should be no complacency, we can all strive to do more). I would have preferred these at the end of the book -I found them an unwelcome distraction at the start.
This is a book for those of all faiths or none who are open minded to exploring different spiritualities and can relate to the spiritual activism theme, even if they cannot agree with all that Harvey has written and his own particular brand of Divine Transformative Power and evolutionary mysticism. We should all be able to take something worthwhile and purposeful away with us from Harvey's visions of the world's Death and Rebirth, his perceptive description of what he calls our five inner saboteurs, the five interlinked forms of divine service he calls us to commit to, the seven kinds of sacred joy he tries to live by and his practical descriptions of sacred practices that could enrich our own spirituality. After all, this world will not be saved by angry atheists and by intolerance of others' spiritual beliefs.

I have a small niggle - there are quite a few typo errors that I found a little irritating, particularly as the first one is on the first page! But these I am sure can be put right in later editions.

Somewhere I got the impression that Andrew Harvey was a bit airy-fairy. This book could hardly be further from that. It is essential reading for all who want to engage in co-creating a better world.

Andrew Harvey's Hope gifts the reader tools, which helps to awaken one's own ability, to follow heartfelt action with courage and clarity.