The Return of the Mother [Paperback]

Andrew Harvey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 1995

Adapted from a series of lectures on the historical basis and current resurgence of the sacred feminine, given by Andrew Harvey at the California Institute of Integral Studies in spring 1994, The Return of the Mother is a profound journey into the heart of the Divine Mother.

In this comprehensive and groundbreaking work, mystical scholar Andrew Harvey unearths traces of the sacred feminine in major world religions–Hinduism, Islam (Sufism), Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity–and in aboriginal and indigenous wisdom traditions. Harvey presents a scathing critique of the patriarchal distortions in religious history and doctrine that have obscured full knowledge of the Divine Mother, and shows how to reintegrate this vital aspect into the spiritual consciousness of humankind.

The Return of the Mother offers a radical new perspective, balancing the historical overemphasis on transcendence by honoring the immanence of the divine in passionate engagement in the world. Only by cultivating a direct, respectful relationship with the transformative power of the sacred feminine can we alter our disastrous attitude of dissociation from nature, the body, sexuality, and the details of human life, and generate the energy and compassion needed to reverse the course of destruction we have set the planet–and all of life–hurtling toward.

In lively question-and-answer sections, Harvey further illuminates these vital issues and takes a strong stand against our dependence on "gurus" and "masters," proposing instead an egalitarian model of spiritual community based on intimate groups of mutually supportive guides and friends.

The Return of the Mother is an eloquent and passionate call for all of us to rediscover and reclaim an authentic and empowering relationship to the divine, and recreate a sacred life-in-the-world.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Harvey, who has studied under Hindu, Tibetan Buddhist, and Christian spiritual teachers and written several translations-interpretations of the Sufi mystical poet Rumi, has been a spokesperson for Mother Meera, an Indian woman whose followers believe she is an avatar (divine manifestation). But Harvey has broken with her and renounced the idea of spiritual gurus. In this book, he discusses manifestations of the Divine Mother or feminine principle in Hindu, Sufi, Buddhist, and Christian teachings. He believes the next 20 years will determine the fate of life on earth and that "a new spiritual age is potentially dawning for humankind...in which the divine could be present intimately, normally, consciously, in all things and activities...through the grace of the Mother." Recommended for those with eclectic spiritual and environmental interests.?Carolyn M. Craft, Longwood Coll., Farmville, Va.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Andrew Harvey is a renowned writer, lecturer, and teacher. An Englishman born in India, Harvey was educated at Oxford, and at twenty-one became the youngest fellow in the history of All Soul’s College. In 1977, he returned to India and began a lifelong spiritual quest, studying and practicing Hindu mysticism at the ashram of Sri Aurobindo, with Tibetan Buddhist teacher Thuksey Rinpoche, and with the Christian mystic Bede Griffiths. Returning to teach and write in Europe and America, Harvey continued his explorations with extensive study in Eastern and Western mystical literature.

Harvey is the author of two spiritual autobiographies, A Journey in Ladakh (1983) and Hidden Journey: A Spiritual Awakening (1991). His interpretation and translations of the work of the twelfth-century Sufi mystical poet Rumi have appeared in Love’s Fire (1988), Speaking Flame (1989), and The Way of Passion: A Celebration of Rumi (Frog, LTD., 1994). He co-edited the bestselling Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche (1991), and is co-author (with Mark Matousek) of Dialogues with a Modern Mystic (1994).

Andrew Harvey lives in San Francisco with his husband, photographer and writer Eryk Hanut, and teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He travels regularly in North America, Europe, and India to study, teach, and write.

Product Details

• Paperback: 493 pages
• Publisher: Frog Books (April 4, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883319072
• ISBN-13: 978-1883319076
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,930,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars passionate, profound, January 7, 2003

By 

M. A. Williams "markadanvaer" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Return of the Mother (Paperback)

In contrast to the first review in this section, I think that Harvey's 'The Return of the Mother' is a truly extraordinary book. It is certainly not just a 'series of excuses' for the author's lifestyle - the whole point of Harvey's vision of the maternal aspect of God is that She passionately combines and unifies the personal, immanent and sexual with the vast stillness and calm of Her transcendent being. She can be felt and apprehended in the most intimate areas of life, working and transforming. If you want a synopsis of the Eternal Feminine in world religions, get Anne Baring's 'The Myth of the Goddess' or (for a Jungian approach) get Erich Neumann's 'The Great Mother.' Harvey's book is a passionate - though deeply deeply learned - description of the need for spiritual awkening through the Feminine, dissolving outworn dualities. I cannot pretend that this book is easy going; every page is crammed with challenging insights, all is Harvey's beautifully lucid prose. Only one whose spiritual journey has taken him from 'tortured aesthete' to religious visionary could come up with the astonishing, extravagant description of the destructive aspect of the Mother as 'Callas-Kali, who runs at the heart of illusion with a knife.'

Furthermore I don't pretend to fully understand this book, but its message is urgent, inspiring and beautiful. And yes, personal.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A 3rd Point of View, June 6, 2003

By 

Heidi M. Hawkins "heidimo" (Bellingham, WA: City of Subdued Excitement) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Return of the Mother (Paperback)

Andrew Harvey took on an ambitious project with this book-an attempt to integrate a variety of religious traditions in their viewpoint of the Divine Mother. Mostly, the book focuses on individual practitioners of various traditions. The tragedy of the loss of the role of the Mother in spiritual traditions is exemplified by the fact that these practitioners are men.

Harvey brings in viewpoints from Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and Taoism with good effect. His attempts at Australian Aboriginal beliefs are less effective, with his sources being too far removed from Aboriginals themselves. His writing on other religious traditions has the immediacy of direct experience and years of study which his writing on Aborigines lacks. Perhaps Harvey could use a field trip to Australia. He also makes numerous references to other indigenous tribal cultures, but fails to explain what it is exactly that he finds so admirable about their way of embracing the Mother.

Harvey's primary argument, that we should all approach the Divine directly rather than through gurus is obviously a backlash against his own experience with a guru-a relationship he has clearly become disenchanted with. His disillusionment with gurus threatens to overshadow the book, but ultimately does not. His point is well taken, though most people need teachers and books to guide them to a direct relationship with the Divine. The irony, of course, is that we don't need books like Harvey's if we approach the Divine directly. If we don't need teachers to show us the way, we don't need books to do so either! Harvey urges us not to deify our teachers, and to learn from his experience.

I feel I must offer a counterpoint to the surprisingly negative review by "Rosa from San Antonio" (below) because I find her criticism to be unjustified and can't imagine how she came to her bitter conclusions. I wonder if she has a personal vendetta against openly gay men (which Harvey is) or takes offense at the casual way Harvey mentions his relationship with Eryk Hanut throughout the book. I find it hard to imagine how Rosa could conclude that this book exists to justify his relationship, though of course we are all entitled to our opinions.

My main criticism of this book is Harvey's tendency to repeat and emphasize passages in a way I find unnecessary and redundant. I think he tends to make the same point too many times. The prose is sometimes crushingly dense. The book, I found, is slow reading, and sometimes wearily academic on a subject where academia is of little use. However, considering the massive undertaking that this book truly is, and how much needed its perspective is, I can easily give this book 4 stars.
~heidimo

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read and a lot like Aesthetic Realism, December 13, 2008

By 

Eric Otto (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Return of the Mother (Paperback)

Great writer and book but in it philosophical notions reads a lot like the teachings of Eli Siegel and Aesthetic Realism. You could change out Eli Siegel's use of the "aesthetic realism" with "divine feminine". Harvey is a smart writer, however, but I am wondering now if the acceptance of the mother is just a renaming of the patriarchy with feminine terms. I'm not saying it is, I am just wondering now. Hierarchy seems like hierarchy.

This is an interesting read from someone from All Souls College, though. Something interesting from All Souls College in itself is radical.