The Return of the Mother Paperback – 28 Dec. 2000

Must Read: The Return of the Mother by Andrew HarveyThis astonishing and prophetic book establishes Andrew Harvey in the forefront of commentators on our fragmented and chaotic world situation.His own bitter and joyful life journey has brought him to a place of deep wisdom and understanding which we do well to heed. His higher consciousness has enabled him to appreciate the universal expansion of human awareness which is now happening, and to recognise the yearning of the Spirit to help us evolve and grow, and basically to learn how to behave properly, as the vital humans that we are. ‘I’m only human’ transcends from being a sorry excuse for ineptitude and lack of compassion, and instead becomes a triumphant statement of love, joy, wisdom and super ability. Andrew’s book traces the presence of ‘mother’ in our lives through the Eastern traditions into the deepest appreciation of Mary, in the Western tradition.He traces the absolute ‘being’ of the feminine as an essential quality of the nurturing of God and the continuous creation of the world in the womb of time.He tells of the great sages of the past, and their profound understanding of the feminine principle, often personified in Hindu spirituality by Shakti and Kali, as told by Ramana Marharshi and Sri Aurobindo.This theme is echoed by the Sufis, and in the Tao. He is especially discerning about Buddhism with some relevant criticism of a tendency to be patriarchal.“The look of the Mother is ‘the gentlest and strongest of all looks and is the only gaze that can be called triumphant, because it has outstared change, outstared all turmoil and evil and even death itself to see the Face of the Tao, the Face of the Mother, streaming through and in the Real at all moments.”

I bought this book as part of a reading list for my studies.It is excellent

Unfortunately I had not realised what it means that this book is taken from lectures. It is clearly an 'insider' book from the start - hardly any special religious expression is ever explained or translated. The uninitiated are left to find their own meaning.Then page after page there is a diarrhea of words in one superlative after another - and it goes on and on and on. But not a lot is ever specific or provable in detail. It is a very tiring read indeed. The book could be cut to half its size without great loss.But what is really unacceptable is the venom of personal vendetta which is obvious throughout the book like a second theme. The author has a lot of very good things to say, but this undermines his credibility right, left and center. And as for the Patriarchy he accuses so vehemently - he himself is doing the very same thing the Patriarchy has always done: Deify the Feminine, worship her as a Goddess, put her on a pedestal for adoration - but despise her as a woman in the flesh. How else could he be in a homosexual marriage otherwise?

I absolutely love this book. Something I've always respected about Andrew Harvey: he's so articulate, so astute, so brilliant.... AND so infused with soulful passion and light. That combination is exceptionally apparent in this book. Not only is there abundant information about the Divine Mother and how she takes form in various religious traditions, but Harvey includes his own lived experiences and observations, as well as poetry he composed in response to a variety of awakenings throughout his life. I'm only halfway done with the book at this point, but I'm purposefully taking my time and reading it as a meditation, reflecting upon the beautiful insights, and integrating the knowledge into my life as best I can. I will be using this book in a college-level course I'm teaching this fall (where we also read Rumi, "Awakening Shakti" by Sally Kempton, and we discuss eco-feminism.) I think this book will be an awesome addition to the syllabus because Harvey discusses Rumi, Shakti, and eco-feminist topics with such ardor and eloquence. Read this book!!!

This book is filled with information about many different paths of the Sacred which Andrew personally experienced first hand that anyone reading the book will have a first class education on the subject. Pope Francis is trying to include Mary and her energies in the Trinity right now at this moment in time. Thank you Andrew for all of your hard work this lifetime for all of us living on the Planet with you.

Before Harvey launched his guru career he was a very brilliant scholar. That shows in this book which is erudite and flavored with well chosen poetry. The problem is that he is still on "the path" and is not a teacher, unless you want to count his failures by example. I read an early book by Harvey, "Hidden Journey" (HJ) and I found it unbelievable; but the kind of evidence I was looking for to convince me of mystically empowered gurus. So I read "The Return of the Mother" to find out how he could consistently repudiate his relationship with Mother Meera. He couldn't. His book HJ was embellished, which is charitable. He mentions problems with sexual relationships from his teen years on, which goes hand in hand with romantic love. Harvey rightly criticizes Rajneesh as incomplete. I think that description fits Harvey also. Harvey is/was rated as in the top 100 spiritual teachers of America. It certainly pays nowadays not to be gullible. Harvey favors being your own guru, which has at least the benefit of being cheaper whilst one explores the many dead ends life serves up for the spiritual seeker. Minus 2 stars because Harvey is not so much honest.

Really good book.

This is exactly what I was looking for in regards to the information I wanted. I love reading his well thought out and researched materials. Customer service was quick and efficient. Item was exactly as it was described.