Spiritual Journeys

Barely two months after her death, Mother Teresa’s “official” life story is already in print. But “Mother Teresa, a Complete Authorized Biography” (Harper San Francisco, 306 pages, $23) is not a speedy cut-and-paste job. Author Kathryn Spink first met her subject 18 years ago and started working on her book in 1991. She agreed to withhold publication during Mother Teresa’s lifetime.

In return, she received access to personal letters, along with the cooperation of Mother Teresa’s longtime friends who supplied new information about a life that continues to fascinate admirers.

She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Serbia in 1910, the youngest of three children in a merchant-class family. At 19 she joined the Loreto Order of missionary sisters. Her struggles to found her own Missionaries of Charity 18 years later are described here in close detail, showing the resistance she met from superiors, resistance that only strengthened her resolve.

Spink takes readers to the Hindu temple in Calcutta where “Mother” opened her first shelter. She describes the ambulance--and the Lincoln--that were gifts from the Vatican. She tells how the saintly nun opened a convent in New York in 1993--one of dozens around the world--but turned down an offer of financial assistance from the local archdiocese. Her reason suggests her daily spiritual practice:

“I don’t want the work to become a business but remain a work of love,” she told her sisters. “I want you to have that complete confidence that God won’t let us down.”

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“The Ecstatic Journey” (Ballantine Books, 320 pages, $25) continues author Sophy Burnham’s spiritual odyssey and supplies a logical follow-up to “A Book of Angels” (Ballantine, 1990), the book that launched her career as a voice for seekers.

Her new book explores mystical encounters, her own and others. Attuned to the presence of angels around us, she now turns her attention to the spark of the divine within.

She blends historic research with down-home spirituality in ways that should broaden her book’s appeal. In one scholarly departure she explains the meaning of “mystical,” a word related to the ancient Greek word for “mystery” and having to do with direct encounters with God. Then she shifts to chatty girl-talk, recalling her own first mystical experience. She was taking a bath at the time.

Brief biographies of the great mystics, from Buddha (who described his mystical experiences in three words: “I am awake”) to Teresa of Avila (a medieval Spanish nun who levitated for hours at a time), add substance to Burnham’s account.

Memoirs of her treks to India for conversations with the Dalai Lama and to Machu Picchu, the Incan ruin in Peru, make the book read at times like a millionaire’s guide to enlightenment. Still, Burnham has a sixth sense about coming trends. And the indications are that spiritual seekers are less interested in old-style religion than they are in exotic journeys that promise direct encounters with the transcendent.

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“The Celestine Vision” (Warner Books, 242 pages, $20) is James Redfield’s latest follow-up to “The Celestine Prophecy” (Warner, 1995), his guide to spiritual awareness that prompted seminars, a workbook and “Celestine Clubs” from coast to coast.

Part psychology lesson and part ethics class, Redfield’s new book advises readers to start the migration toward “a more spiritual culture.” The first steps sound familiar: Forgive your parents, stop trying to control everything, trust the power of positive thinking, and be open to coincidences that lead to good things.

Lessons in ethics come down to a version of “what goes around comes around” as Redfield explains that good things usually come to us through other people, and that we would be wise to pass along the positive vibes. The world-changing results sound like dreams come true. Along the way, Redfield predicts, such religious concepts as “communion with God,” “the kingdom within” and being “born again” will become “more of a lived reality.”

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Mary Rourke reviews books about faith and spirituality every four weeks. Next week: Cathy Curtis on art books.