Tessa Bielecki studied for a career in international relations at Trinity College before entering a monastery in 1967 where she lived for almost 40 years. She currently is a lay hermit in the mountain desert of Crestone, Colorado, and is the founder of the Desert Foundation, a circle of friends exploring the wisdom of the world's deserts to foster peace, understanding, mutual respect, and reconciliation.
On this top-drawer and immensely inspiring audio learning course, Bielecki explores what she calls the radical teachings of the Christian mystics. She begins with a brief overview of her own experiences and shatterings over the years as a Carmelite nun, an abbess of a monastic community, and a leader in Buddhist-Christian dialogue and workshops around the world. She claims that her perspective is that of a happy Catholic who has been buoyed by Christian mysticism, which she defines as "loving experiential awareness of God."
Beliecki believes that the mystic is not a special kind of person but one who lives life to the hilt. Jesus Christ modeled this earthly mysticism at its wildest for us. "Mystical experience is as natural to us as breathing. It erupts spontaneously and graciously when we live on the spot and savor the real." This Christian path makes a place for the polarities of life. This means we don't have to exclude anything but can honor fasting and feasting, masculine and feminine, madness and reason, discipline and wildness, action and contemplation.
The variety of Christian mystics who have spoken to us down through the ages is mind-boggling: monks, nuns, married individuals, scholars, kings and queens, public figures, administrators, poets, virgins, faithful wives, and geniuses. Bielcki shares the teachings of many of them including some of her favorites: St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and Meister Eckhart. What can we learn from these daring holy people? Bielecki discusses eight characteristics and interests: passion, wild about life, suffering and death, passion for people, prayer and service, gracious acceptance of human weakness, resilience, and laughter and hope.
One important aspect of Christian mysticism is the exercise of the spirit that comes through immersion in prayer. She devotes one CD to prayer as a cry of the heart and the psalms as a school of prayer. She also explores rediscovering Christ through art and literature, story and wisdom. Bielecki hits high stride on the last two sections on "Creating Mystical Space in Your Life." Here are spiritual practices for living more naturally, setting intentions, making the most of the rhythms of the day, being present in the moment mindfully, being creative with solitude, and slowing down. The disciplined wildness and personal passionate presence which the author salutes come shining through her final comments on work, on exercising the whole person, poetry and play, and celebrating the Sabbath. Bielecki's own spiritual practice of enthusiasm makes this audio learning course an exceptional teaching tool.
