Mother Teresa - Everything Starts from Prayer: Mother Teresas Meditations on Spiritual Life for People of All Faiths

Mother Teresas life was a living prayer. Her words remind us of her connection with God and how all of us can reach Him as she did.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, author of Illuminated Prayers

With the publication of Everything Starts from Prayer, Mother Teresa continues to bless us from beyond the grave. These kernels of truth from the nun in Calcutta provide food for the soul. Her messages, though short on words, are deep in wisdom and spiritual insight, and hold meaning for people of all faiths.

MOST REVEREND ANTHONY M. PILLA, Bishop of Cleveland, President, National Conference of Catholic Bishops

Dr. Sterns editorial hand is sure and judicious; the selection of material reveals the mystical realization behind Mother Teresas powerful encomium to prayer in an all-inclusive sense. Thus, the passages are not only spiritually inspiring (as one would, of course, expect), but intellectually compelling as well. Well done.

LOU NORDSTROM, American Zen Teacher, White Plum lineage

Dr. Stern deserves to be congratulated for Everything Starts from Prayer, an inspiring book intended to foster the spiritual life of people of all faiths or none. We hope and pray that many readers will find it an invitation to pray.

FATHER EDWARD LE JOLY, Mother Teresas spiritual advisor

A jewel of a bookEverything Starts from Prayer is a must for believers of all faiths and for seekers everywhere.

MAURICE FRIEDMAN, author of The Wisdom of the Heart: Religion and Human Wholeness

It is wonderful that a psychiatrist whose work is to seek healing as well as understanding of human beings has thought to gather Mother Teresas thoughts on prayer. This small book may be Mother Teresas greatest legacy because it reveals the prayerful orientation that made her lifeand can make oursso fruitful.

POLLY BERRIEN BERENDS, author of Coming to Life: Traveling the Spiritual Path in Everyday Life

Dr. Stern has very sensitively and carefully given us the essence of a truly spiritual person, and in the process helped make prayer in our own lives more rewarding.

RABBI JACK BEMPORAD, Director, The Center for Interreligious Understanding at Ramapo College

With this simple, beautiful book, Dr. Stern has done a wonderful job making Mother Teresas thoughts on mans relationship to God accessible to all.

SWAMI CHETANANANDA, author of Choose to be Happy

Mother Teresa is a holy mother to us all. She always has been an inspiration and reminder to me of what love can do in the world. She is the epitome of a Bodhisattva, the altruistic enlightenment-activist serving those suffering in this world.

LAMA SURYA DAS, Tibetan Buddhist master and author of Awakening the Buddha Within

How do we start praying? Anthony Stern gives us a great gift. In this magnificent collection of Mother Teresas words, we are shown how to cultivate our inner lives and bring forth the prayers that live within us.

PROF. SUSANNAH HESCHEL, author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus

These beautiful prayer instructions transcend all boundaries of time and space. Here Mother Teresa is a universal figure reaching out from soul-to-soul to all those who pray or long to pray. May her words reach many and open hearts.

RABBI ARTHUR GREEN, co-editor of Your Word is Fire: The Hasidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer

This books contents and its title say it all. Whatever you are looking for starts with prayer. Hopefully you will read and learn that true prayer is not about personal desires, needs or religions. Mother Teresa is a role model for each of us. Pray we may became what she was, and heal the world by using prayer to lead us on the path to spirituality and God.

BERNIE SIEGEL, M.D., author of Love, Medicine and Miracles

Everything
Starts
from
Prayer

Mother Teresas Meditations on Spiritual Life for People of All Faiths

Everything
Starts
from
Prayer

SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY ANTHONY STERN, M.D. WITH A FOREWORD BY LARRY DOSSEY, M.D.

Ashland, Oregon

Copyright 2009 by Anthony Stern. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Inquiries should be addressed to:
White Cloud Press
PO Box 3400
Ashland, Oregon 97520
www.whitecloudpress.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First edition: October 1998

Cover design: Confluence Book Services
Cover and interior photos: Magnum Photos, Inc. 1997 Raghu Rai

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Teresa, Mother, 1910-1997.
Everything starts from prayer : Mother Teresas meditations on spiritual life for people of all faiths / selected and arranged by Anthony Stern ; foreword by Larry Dossey.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-9793840-3-5
1. Prayer--Meditations. I. Stern, Anthony. II. Title.

BL560.T47 2009
204.32--dc22

2009029903

S ince the publication of this collections first edition in 1998, letters written by Mother Teresa have revealed that she struggled with severe doubt due to a sense of inner distance from God. This has been a challenging and sobering revelation for people of faith who have idealized her. But ultimately, the revelation of Mother Teresas inner struggle is a blessingit undermines several pervasive myths about the spiritual journey, and it underscores a central and powerful truth about prayer.

First, Mother Teresas doubt subverts the myth that holy people do not encounter crises and impasses. As children, we often put our elders and mentors on pedestals, but as we grow older, we come to see that the parents and leaders we admire all struggle and have a shadow side, no matter how holy, good, or beautiful they are. To discover the complexity of those we look up to is simply a part of growing up and becoming more aware adults.

Second, her struggle with inner doubt and darkness reveals the myth that the spiritual journey is a bed of roses, all sweetness and light. Tell me, Father, Mother Teresa wrote in a letter in 1959 to Reverend Lawrence Picachy, why is there so much pain and darkness in my soul?

Third, her inner state sheds light on the myth that our own feelings are the exclusive or even the primary judge of whether our inner work is going well. It is a common mistake to base the validity of any work, spiritual or otherwise, primarily on how we feel. For example, when we love someone, we do not necessarily feel this love at all times. This has led countless teachers to say, rightly, that love is not a feeling. It includes how we feel, but it is much more than that. More than anything, love is a commitment. Mother Teresas example of fidelity to her beloved God in the face of her perceived abandonment by him is unsurpassed. Similarly, anyone who expects to feel better because of their dedication to the inner quest is going to have trouble sustaining an effort for the long haul. It is very good to listen to ones feelings, and we all need a good outlet to express them, but to put them center-stage misses the spiritual boat.