Product Description

In At the Root of This Longing, Flinders identifies the four key points at which the paths of spirituality and feminism seem to collide – vowing silence vs. finding voice, relinquishing ego vs. establishing ‘self’, resisting desire vs. reclaiming the body, and enclosure vs. freedom – and sets out to discover not only the sources of these conflicts, but how they can be reconciled. With a sense of urgency brought on by events in her own life, Flinders deals with the alienation that women have experienced not only from themselves and each other, but from the sacred. She finds inspiration in the story of fourteenth-century mystic Julian of Norwich and her direct experience of God, in India’s legendary Draupadi, who would not allow a brutal physical assault to damage her sense of personal power, as well as in Flinders’s own experiences as a meditation teacher and practitioner. Flinders reveals that spirituality and feminism are not mutually exclusive at all but very much require one another.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76758 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-01
• Released on: 1999-05-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.com Review
Many feminists have been skeptical about traditional spirituality, and their mistrust has not been entirely unfounded. The forms of self-sacrifice often required by the spiritual life--including silence and suppression of desire--are conditions that have been imposed on women for centuries. But, as Carol Lee Flinders makes clear, spirituality and feminism do not have to be diametrically opposed. Drawing on Western and Eastern spiritual traditions, Flinders traces her own developing awareness of the "mutual necessity" of the two disciplines and makes provocative suggestions about the potential of a feminist movement guided by spiritual principles.

From Publishers Weekly
In an intriguing combination of personal and scholarly prose, Flinders (Enduring Grace) works through the details of her attempt to reconcile the conflicts she found between her "commitments to feminism" and her "spiritual path and practices." Living most of her adult life in a "spiritual community" with author and meditation teacher Eknath Easwaran, Flinders has contemplated the works of women mystics including Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila and Clare of Assisi. But how can these women's (and her own) experiences of peace and God jibe with the often angry feminist Flinders finds herself to be? In historical context, she examines today's sexism and violence against women?the legacy of patriarchy that, she says, is not a natural condition at all?and uncovers parallels between Gandhi's Indian revolution against British colonialism and the challenges facing Western women today. Flinders concludes that reclaiming the ancient "sacred feminine" is not at odds with political feminism, but rather necessary for it. In the spirit of Women Who Run with the Wolves and Reviving Ophelia, this book has the potential to change women's lives. $30,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
On turning 50, Letty Cottin Pogrebin observed, "I stood on a fault line, feeling the world rearranging itself beneath my feet." For Flinders (literature, Berkeley), the shifting sands of 50 have less to do with beauty lost or opportunities missed than with as simple (and as nebulous) an issue as reconciling her own tensions between spirituality and feminism. A member of a northern California Hindu spiritual community for more than 20 years, she categorizes Western women as "cultural orphans...barely connected to a living ethnic tradition." Of her own emotional reconstructive work, Flinders claims closure and lobbies hard for American feminism to craft its own meaningful spiritualities and rituals outside the purview of traditional orthodoxies. Although her work is somewhat limited?by her own admission, it is personal and local in scope?spiritual questers and students of meditation will find a kindred spirit within. Recommended where interest is high.?Sandra Collins, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Lib.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

important, compelling and transformative book
Carol Lee Flinders has written a very important book, one that I hope will capture the public's imagination as it has mine. I'm sharing my copy with everybody! I heard Ms. Flinders speak at a conference in July and felt compelled to buy her book, as I failed to see how Catholic women mystics could hold the key to emancipation from our (Western) modern, masculine culture and Judeo-Christian religions. Weaving the personal with the political and then proving that those paradigms are just constructs of the mind, Ms. Flinders shows us all - men and women - how feminism and true spirituality seek the same thing: more humanity, more love, more compassion, more attention and more care of humans for the earth and for each other. I sincerely hope men don't feel excluded by the word "feminism", as this book pertains as much to them as to any woman. My thanks to Carol Lee Flinders.

lots to think about
Carol Lee Flinders has embarked on the difficult task of reconciling feminism and spirituality. She, like several other scholars and writers today, recognizes the conflict between these two concepts and also the attraction each has for women. Flinders does a fine job outlining the tensions between feminism and spirituality, including the tension between finding voice and reveling in silence. Her ideas are cross-cultural and sweeping and lead to interesting and insightful connections; her probing of both Ghandi's ideas and the myths of Christian saints offers wonderful complications to the text. She depends too heavily on restating Gerda Lerner's work--I highly recommend readers read Lerner's The Creation of Patriarchy and The Creation of Feminist Consciousness themselves because these histories are well-written and important--though it becomes integral to Flinders' approach. The end of At the Root of This Longing loses its balance a bit and falls into unchecked essentialism, sentimentality, and optimism. However, overall, Flinders does important and articulate work for today's thinking, searching women and rightly emphasizes a balance between the personal and the political. She also points out the importance of working toward reconciliation for future generations.

At the Root of this Longing
A wonderful and thought-provoking book full of insight. A must read for anyone with intelligent questions about spirituality, feminism and religion. As a Jewish woman, I found I could relate to this book and I would recommend it highly. I was able to use information from this book to find my path in feminism and Judaism. Thank you to Carol Lee Flinders!