A Teacher
Andrew Harvey
Sacred Activism
The transmission
Andrew Harvey was born on 9 June 1952 in south India. A British author and religious scholar, he studied at Oxford University and in 1973 became, at the age of twenty-one, one of the youngest people ever awarded a fellowship at All Souls College.
He subsequently devoted his life to the study of the world’s mystical traditions, undertaking intensive engagement with Hindu, Buddhist, and Sufi mysticism, and has written more than forty books on mysticism, sacred poetry, and spiritual transformation.
Harvey is best known for articulating “Sacred Activism,” a synthesis of deep mystical practice with passionate, practical engagement in the world’s social and ecological crises. He delivered this vision as the culmination of his life’s work and founded the Institute for Sacred Activism to invite others to become, in his words, inspired and effective agents of systemic change grounded in spiritual realisation.
His book The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism (2009) set out this path and received a Nautilus Award for its influence on social change. His teaching holds that authentic mystical awakening, far from withdrawing the seeker from the world, naturally expresses itself as compassionate, courageous action, uniting the contemplative recognition of underlying oneness with committed service.
What they gave
Sacred Activism: Fused mystical realisation with engaged action, insisting that inner awakening must flower as practical service in the world.
- Synthesis of traditions: Drew across Sufi, Hindu, and Buddhist mysticism to present a broadly nondual vision of underlying unity.
- Mysticism as transformation: Framed the recognition of the deeper Self and the oneness of reality as the source of moral and social energy.
- Institution and literature: Founded the Institute for Sacred Activism and produced an extensive body of accessible mystical writing and sacred-poetry translation.
In their words
A spirituality that is only private and self-absorbed, one devoid of an authentic political and social consciousness, does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history. On the other hand, an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions.
I found my mind falling silent, becoming as large and as empty as the spaces between the mountain faces, as wide as the skies above the peaks of the mountains.
The line they stand in
Taught by / Influenced by: Rumi and the Sufi tradition, Hindu and Buddhist mysticism, and the broad sweep of the world’s mystical literature.
- Taught / Influenced: the Sacred Activism movement and the wider current of contemporary engaged, socially committed spirituality.
Revelations they taught
Essential Works
- The Way of Passion1994
- Son of Man1998
- The Direct Path2000
- The Hope2009