---
product_id: 11087625
title: "The Essential Mystics : Selections from the World's Great Wisdom Traditions"
brand: "andrew harvey"
price: "$44"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/11087625-the-essential-mystics-selections-from-the-worlds-great-wisdom-traditions
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# The Essential Mystics : Selections from the World's Great Wisdom Traditions

**Brand:** andrew harvey
**Price:** $44
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Essential Mystics : Selections from the World's Great Wisdom Traditions by andrew harvey
- **How much does it cost?** $44 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/11087625-the-essential-mystics-selections-from-the-worlds-great-wisdom-traditions)

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## Description

The Essential Mystics : Selections from the World's Great Wisdom Traditions

## Images

![The Essential Mystics : Selections from the World's Great Wisdom Traditions - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Vx5yJhJpL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Why did I read this book? Because my professor ...
  

*by N***E on Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2015*

Why did I read this book?  Because my professor told me to.  That being said, it was interesting material presented in an engaging way.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    yearning to understand more
  

*by B***7 on Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2013*

if I know more about all of the wisdom traditions, it probably have helped me more to understand some of it

### ⭐ 







  
  
    A book of little value
  

*by G***H on Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2011*

I have been reading a lot about mysticism over the past year or two.  Living in Thailand, it's hard to avoid the Buddhist tradition of attaining Nirvana through meditation.But, surprisingly, that "old tradition" has been recently brought into question by the well-known Thai forest monk, Buddhadasa, who points out that in the original stories of the Buddha, many people broke through to Enlightenment simply through hearing the truth.In any case, it seems clear to me that there is a world-wide tradition of religious contemplation or meditation which may lead to an ecstatic union with God.  Except for Buddhism, where it does NOT lead to any such thing, but to a rather undefined state called "Nirvana."From this presumed fact, the editor of this anthology makes a Great Leap --- and he's not the first one to do it --- and claims that this proves that all religions are the same.I would suggest that this anthology only demonstrates that, for a very small number of people, intense contemplation results in a feeling of ecstasy.  Whether this is, in fact, a "union with God" is something that involves a leap of faith.  It is reported, for example, that many epileptics have such religious experiences just before they fall into a fit.This is very far from demonstrating that all religions are the same.And here the editor fails, sometimes egregiously.  His very brief introduction to Islamic mysticism manages to introduce a Muhammad who (somehow) was not a murderer and a brigand, and who did not marry a great number of wives, one of whom was under ten years old.  The Muhammad in this book is a peaceful, profoundly religious man.  To which I can only reply: read the Qur'an.The author's biases are also clearly on display in his introduction, where some decent scholarly summary suddenly gives way to preaching right out of Savanarola: if there is not a universal human religious revolution very soon, we will die from environmental disaster. (!) Putting aside the extremely unlikely revolution in religious consciousness, and the equally unlikely environmental disaster, this tirade has absolutely nothing to do with the texts selected by the editor.For example, Saint Francis' beautiful prayer which invokes the beauty of the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, etc.  says nothing about the need for a grand "revolution" to protect them; it speaks only of adoring them.------- updated review --------The more time I spend with this book, the more I dislike it.  Why?In the section on Buddhism, the editor frankly admits that he does not like some of the key tenets of Buddhism, and so he selectively edits the Buddhist passages based on his own jejune prejudices.The section on the Greeks, which is badly titled "The Way of Beauty" --- "The Way of The Good" would have been much better --- he includes some weird "Hymn to Gaia" which is attributed to a book written by contemporary feminists who imagine they are poets.  PLEASE, could we limit the selections to things written by actual Greeks?  Or do we see the editor again bending the Greek reality to suit his own jejune tastes, just as he bent the Buddhist reality to suit himself?I'm afraid this book is going in the trash.

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*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-02-09*