St. Teresa of Avila | Interior Castle: Introduction

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St. Teresa of Avila was a 16th Century Carmelite nun and contemporary of St. John of the Cross. Her most famous works are her Autobiography, The Way of Perfection, and Interior Castle. In this series, I’d like to look at some quotations from Interior Castle.

This first excerpt is from the Introduction to the DoverThrift edition, written by Allison Peers. In the Introduction, Peers gives on overview of the Seven Mansions of Teresa’s Interior Castle:

“In its language and style, the Interior Castle is more correct, and yet at the same time more natural and flexible, than the Way of Perfection. Its conception, like that of so many works of genius, is extremely simple. After a brief preface, the author comes at once to her subject:

I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.

These mansions are not “arranged in a row one behind another” but variously – “some above, others below, others at each side; and in the centre and midst of them all is the chiefest mansion, where the most secret things pass between God and the soul.”

The figure is used to describe the whole course of the mystical life – the soul’s progress from the First Mansions to the Seventh and its transformation from an imperfect and sinful creature into the Bride of the Spiritual Marriage. The door by which it first enters the castle is prayer and meditation. Once inside, “it must be allowed to roam through these mansions” and “not be compelled to remain for a long time in one single room.” But it must also cultivate self-knowledge and “begin by entering the room where humility is acquired rather than by flying off to the other rooms. For that is the way to progress.”

How St. Teresa applies the figure of the castle to the life of prayer (which is also the life of virtue – with her these two things go together) may best be shown by describing each of the seven stages in turn.

First Mansions: This chapter begins with a meditation on the excellence and dignity of the human soul, made as it is in the image and likeness of God: the author laments that more pains are not taken to perfect it. The souls in the First Mansions are in a state of grace, but are still very much in love with the venomous creatures outside the castle – that is, with occasions of sin – and need a long and searching discipline before they can make any progress. So they stay for a long time in the Mansions of Humility, in which, since the heat and light from within reach them only in a faint and diffused form, all is cold a dim.

Second Mansions: But all the time the soul is anxious to penetrate farther into the castle, so it seeks every opportunity of advancement – sermons, edifying conversations, good company and so on. It is doing its utmost to put its desires into practice: these are the Mansions of the Practice of Prayer. It is not yet completely secure from the attacks of the poisonous reptiles which infest the courtyard of the castle, but its powers of resistance are increasing. There is more warmth and light here than in the First Mansions.

Third Mansions: The description of these Mansions of Exemplary Life begins with stern exhortations on the dangers of trusting to one’s own strength and to the virtues one has already acquired, which must still of necessity be very weak. Yet, although the soul which reaches the Third Mansions may still fall back, it has attained a high standard of virtue. Controlled by discipline and penance and disposed to performing acts of charity toward others, it has acquired prudence and discretion and orders its life well. Its limitations are those of vision: it has not yet experienced to the full the inspiring force of love. It has not made a full self-oblation, a total self-surrender. Its love is still governed by reason, and so its progress is slow. It suffers from aridity, and is given only occasional glimpses into the Mansions beyond.

Fourth Mansions: Here the supernatural element of the mystical life first enters: that is to say, it is no longer by its own efforts that the soul is acquiring what it gains. Henceforward the soul’s part will become increasingly less and God’s part increasingly greater. The graces of the Fourth Mansions, referred to as “spiritual consolations,” are identified with the Prayer of Quiet or the Second Water, in the Life. The soul is like a fountain built near its source and the water of life flows into it, not through an aqueduct, but directly from the spring. Its love is now free from servile fear: it has broken all the bonds which previously hindered its progress; it shrinks from no trials and attaches no importance to anything to do with the world. It can pass rapidly from ordinary to infused prayer and back again. It has not yet, however, received the highest gifts of the Spirit and relapses are still possible.

Fifth Mansions: This is the state described elsewhere as the Third Water, the Spiritual Betrothal, and the Prayer of Union – that is, incipient Union. It marks a new degree of infused contemplation and a very high one. By means of the most celebrated of all her metaphors, that of the silkworm, St. Teresa explains how far the soul can prepare itself to receive what is essentially a gift from God. She also describes the psychological conditions of this state, in which, for the first time, the faculties of the soul are “asleep.” It is of short duration, but, while it lasts, the soul is completely possessed by God.

Sixth Mansions: In the Fifth Mansions the soul is, as it were, betrothed to its future Spouse; in the Sixth, Lover and Beloved see each other for long periods at a time, and as they grow in intimacy the soul receives increasing favours, together with increasing afflictions. The afflictions which give the description of these Mansions its characteristic colour are dealt with in some detail. They may be purely exterior – bodily sickness; misrepresentation, backbiting and persecution; undeserved praise; inexperienced, timid or overscrupulus spiritual direction. Or they may come partly or wholly from within – and the depression which can afflict the soul in the Sixth Mansion, says St. Teresa, is comparable only with the tortures of hell. Yet it has no desire to be freed from them except by entering the innermost Mansions of all.

Seventh Mansions: Here at last the soul reaches the Spiritual Marriage. Here dwells the King – “it may be called another Heaven”: the two lighted candles join and become one; the falling rain becomes merged in the river. There is complete transformation, ineffable and perfect peace; no higher state is conceivable, save that of the Beatific Vision in the life to come.

While each of these seven Mansions is described with the greatest possible clarity, St. Teresa makes it quite plain that she does not regard her description as excluding others. Each of the series of moradas may contain as many as a million rooms; all matters connected with spiritual progress are susceptible of numerous interpretations, for the grace of God knows no limit or measure. Her description is based largely on her own experience; and, though this has been found to correspond very nearly with that of most other great mystics, there are various divergences on points of detail. She never for a moment intended her path to be followed undeviatingly and step by step, and of this she is careful frequently to remind us.”

In Praise of Suffering

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Suffering drives us to spirituality. To the search for something, some meaning, beyond our own little world, our own concerns, our own ego. Sometimes when the suffering is taken away we just go back to that little world.

On Not Turning Back

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In the Catholic Tradition, there is a distinction made between “the active life” and “the contemplative life.” The active life primarily involves a focus on engaging in works of charity in the world. It is a “busy” life full of fruitful work, performed in service to God.

In contrast, the contemplative life involves a focus on spiritual practice and development. It is less “busy” in the exterior sense.

Actives sometimes don’t understand contemplatives, believing that they aren’t “doing anything.” Contemplatives typically see actives as only on the first step of their journey, believing that they will understand the contemplative way in time, when they are ready. In Catholicism, the figures of Mary and Martha are often used to contrast these two ways of life. And of course there are shades in between the two poles.

Although I probably wouldn’t have made the distinction at the time, I spent many years of my life as an “active.” I taught and coached in inner city schools, volunteered in various capacities at night, and completed several graduate programs at the same time. I was busy, and I felt (and still do feel) that the work I was doing in the world was important.

Over the past several years I have taken a step back from many of these activities. I still work, but in a different capacity. Instead of engaging in all the demands of teaching, I work as an educational aide. I don’t volunteer as much. I’m not involved in formal academic studies. I am attempting to spend much more time engaging in contemplative practice. It’s what I feel called to do. It feels like a new vocation.

Sometimes I want to go back. Sometimes I feel like I need the busyness. I need to be distracted from myself. Contemplative practice, and in general a slower pace of life, can tear me apart. I’m face to face with myself.

But this is the path I am on.

Practice


“Disease is not cured by pronouncing the name of medicine, but by taking medicine. Deliverance is not achieved by repeating the word ‘Brahman,’ but by directly experiencing Brahman.”

– Shankara, The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination


“So then, take up the toil of the contemplative work with wholehearted generosity. Beat upon this high cloud of unknowing and spurn the thought of resting.”

– Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing


“Our aim in practicing zazen is to enter the state of samadhi, in which, as we have said, the normal activity of our consciousness is stopped.”

“Zen training continues endlessly. The mean or petty ego, which was thought to have been disposed of, is found once again to be secretly creeping back into one’s mind… the longer we train ourselves, the more we are liberated from the petty ego.”

– Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy


“… there comes a time when his mind becomes inwardly steadied, composed, unified and concentrated. That concentration is then calm and refined; it has attained to full tranquillity and achieved mental unification…”

“Here, friend, by completely transcending the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, I entered and dwelled in the cessation of perception and feeling.”

– Siddhartha Gautama, Discourses from the Pali Canon


Push far enough towards the Void,
Hold fast enough to Quietness,
And of the ten thousand things none but can be worked on by you.
I have beheld them, whither they go back.
See, all things howsoever they flourish
Return to the root from which they grew.
This return to the root is called Quietness.

– Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching


“What you have done so far is to open the window, as it were. You have laid yourself exposed to what God may breathe upon you…”

– Muhammad al-Ghazzali, quoted in The Knowing Heart


“Yoga is the stilling of the changing states of the mind. When that is accomplished, the seer abides in its own true nature.”

“The states of mind are stilled by practice and dispassion.”

– Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali


All of the philosophical systems represented on this site can be thought of as tentative. While some general philosophical or theological beliefs are helpful, possibly even necessary to motivate a spiritual discipline, an hour of practice is better than an hour of thinking about practice.

My discipline is Centering Prayer and I conceptualize what happens there as opening myself to the “experience of God.” Even if it were purely psychological, something good – something positive for myself and the world – is happening during this time. Of that I have no more doubt.

Find your discipline, most likely from within a tradition you have some familiarity with, and just practice.

“Go sit in your cell and your cell will teach you all things.”

Purity of Heart | Final Thoughts

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Kierkegaard isn’t a “contemplative” writer, but Purity of Heart as he conceptualizes it is, at the very least, a side effect of the contemplative journey. It is spoken of in various ways by all of the contemplative traditions. The traditions encourage seekers to practice as a means of transformation into someone who wills and completes the Good in a completely unforced way – naturally – from the center of one’s being.

Purity of Heart Reflections | The Higher Self as a Mode of Being

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The contemplative traditions each have some way of talking about a “higher self” – an egoless ego, the selfless self, our Buddha nature, Atman, the Divine Indwelling.  The primary characteristic of this higher self is that it operates with a lack of concern for chasing self-interested desires. It is at peace and no longer seeks satisfaction from the world.  It lives purely to do the will of God, simply to serve the Good. 

These ideas of a higher self sometimes become confusing because they are discussed in terms of ontology.  Because each tradition has very different models of the self, they will likewise have different models of what constitutes a “higher self.”  

Perhaps an easier way of thinking about these concepts is in terms of the Higher Self as a Mode of Being.  The Higher Self spoken of in various ways by various traditions is simply a human being who has achieved and operates with Purity of Heart.  However one conceptualizes it, it is a way of being in the world. 

Contemplative practice is a, perhaps the, way through which one allows themselves to be transformed into that kind of person.

Purity of Heart | Conclusion: Man and The Eternal

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“Father in Heaven! What is a man without Thee! What is all that he knows, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if he does not know Thee! What is all his striving, could it even encompass a world, but a half-finished work if he does not know Thee: Thee the One, who art one thing and who art all! So may Thou give to the intellect, wisdom to comprehend that one thing; to the heart, sincerity to receive this understanding; to the will, purity that wills only one thing. In prosperity may Thou grant perseverance to will one thing; amid distractions, collectedness to will one thing; in suffering, patience to will one thing. Oh, Thou that giveth both the beginning and the completion, may Thou early, at the dawn of day, give to the young man the resolution to will one thing. As the day wanes, may Thou give to the old man a renewed remembrance of his first resolution, that the first may be like the last, the last like the first, in possession of a life that has willed only one thing. Alas, but this has indeed not come to pass. Something has come in between. The separation of sin lies in between. Each day, and day after day something is being placed in between: delay, blockage, interruption, delusion, corruption. So in this time of repentance may Thou give the courage once again to will one thing. True, it is an interruption of our ordinary tasks; we do lay down our work as though it were a day of rest, when the penitent (and it is only in a time of repentance that the heavy-laden worker may be quiet in the confession of sin) is alone before Thee in self-accusation. This is indeed an interruption. But it is an interruption that searches back into its very beginnings that it might bind up anew that which sin has separated, that in its grief it might atone for lost time, that in its anxiety it might bring to completion that which lies before it. Oh, Thou that givest both the beginning and the completion, give Thou victory in the day of need so that what neither a man’s burning wish nor his determined resolution may attain to, may be granted unto him in the sorrowing of repentance: to will only one thing.”

Purity of Heart | What Then Must I Do? Live As An Individual

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At this point the reader may ask, What Then Must I Do?  What is the Good that I must be ready to suffer all for?  And how do I complete it?  To which Kierkegaard returns the following responses:

“… at each man’s birth there comes into being an eternal vocation for him, expressly for him.  To be true to himself in relation to this eternal vocation is the highest thing a man can practice… ”

“The talk asks you, then, whether you live in such a way that you are conscious of being an ‘individual.’  The question is not of the inquisitive sort; as if one asked about that ‘individual’ in some special sense, about the one whom admiration and envy unite in pointing out.  No, it is the serious question, of what each man really is according to his eternal vocation, so that he himself shall be conscious that he is following it; and what is even more serious, to ask it as if he were considering his life before God… Indeed it is precisely this consciousness that must be asked for.  Just as if the talk could not ask in generalities, but rather asks you as an individual.”

“You do not carry the responsibility for your wife, nor for other men, nor by any comparative standard with other men, but only as an individual, before God, where it is not asked whether your marriage was in accordance with others, with the common practice, or better than others, but where you as an individual will be asked only whether it was in accordance with your responsibility as an individual.”

“For as only one thing is necessary, and as the theme of the talk is the willing of only one thing; hence the consciousness before God of one’s eternal responsibility to be an individual is that one thing necessary.”

Regardless of if a modern reader agrees that an “eternal vocation” is given to him at birth, life will call us to something which we are responsible to fulfill.  This is very, very similar to Viktor Frankl’s thought:

"In an age in which the Ten Commandments seem to lose their unconditional validity, man must learn more than ever to listen to the ten thousand commandments arising from the ten thousand unique situations of which his life consists."

“To be sure, man is free to answer the questions he is asked by life.  But this freedom must not be confounded with arbitrariness.  It must be interpreted in terms of responsibleness.  Man is responsible for giving the right answer to a question, for finding the true meaning of a situation.  And meaning is something to be found rather than to be given, discovered rather than invented.”


In Kierkegaard’s terminology we must “live as Individuals.”  We must take personal responsibility for our lives and responsibilities before God.  We must ask, What is my life calling me to? and take responsibility for completing that calling. In Frankl’s terms, we must listen to the ten thousand commandments.

As the philosophers attest, you can’t definitively answer “What is the Good?” in the abstract.  The Good is concrete, embodied in each particular situation in each Individual’s life.  It is up to us to find it and complete it.  

Purity of Heart is a one-pointed focus on finding and fulfilling the Good we are uniquely called to do, in each individual moment, without any ulterior motives.

Purity of Heart | The Price of Willing One Thing and the Exposure of Evasions

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After discussing the barriers to willing the Good authentically and in simplicity, Kierkegaard tells his reader that “if a man shall will the Good in truth, then he must be willing to do all for the Good or be willing to suffer all for the Good.”

Willing the Good authentically demands complete commitment.  Kierkegaard will go on to encourage his reader to “use his cleverness to expose evasions” – to examine all the ways he cleverly avoids doing the Good he knows he should do.

Thus far Purity of Heart has been fairly abstract.  In the final portion of this work, things get more concrete for the reader as Kierkegaard turns his attention to the question What Then Must I Do?

The New Cosmic Story | The Story is Not Over

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“In all this debunking of religion, a persistent background assumption is that the physical universe is pointless because nothing of lasting importance seems to be going on there. As it turns out, however, something has been going on in the universe, something undeniably and dramatically important. The drama began long before humans came along, and it is still in play. During the past two centuries, science has gradually presented the universe for all to see as a grand adventure, full of twists and turns we never knew about until recently. And today science allows ample room for even more surprises up ahead. As the cosmos has developed over billions of years, entirely new kinds of being—most notably life and thought—have emerged. These are two cosmic developments that none of us could have predicted had we been around to witness the inauspicious elemental state of the early universe. Since even more surprising developments may be waiting to take place farther along on the cosmic journey, therefore, the contemporary secularist verdict that the universe is manifestly pointless, that evolution is a meaningless experiment, and that religion is illusory, may be premature. The story of the universe, after all, is not over.”

– John F. Haught, The New Cosmic Story

The New Cosmic Story | Religious Inclination

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”Religion, however, has to do not only with the need for consolation and healing in the face of perishing and suffering but also with the overflowing sense of wonder at the fact that anything exists at all. In this respect religion has its origin in a sense of grateful surprise at the mystery of being. At some level, all conscious beings, including those who call themselves irreligious, experience the shock that anything exists at all. We humans, however, have devised countless ways to avoid acknowledging the mystery of it all, today perhaps more than ever. In most eras of human history, nevertheless, responsiveness to the gift of existence has manifested itself in an instinct to worship a hidden and indestructible source of all being. This religious inclination has come to expression in symbols, analogies, metaphors, rituals, myths, and theologies. These obscure modes of communication point allegedly to an indestructible and transcendent dimension of being from which we came, toward which we are destined, and in whose ambience we find both moral guidance and a meaning for our lives.”

– John F. Haught, The New Cosmic Story

Beginner's Mind

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Beginner’s Mind – a sense of the newness of each moment and an openness to all possibilities in the ever-new-present-moment – is another effect of practice emphasized in the Zen tradition.

One-Pointedness

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The “effects” of various types of meditation are often discussed as reasons for having a practice. One effect that has stood out to me recently is that of One-Pointedness – the ability to focus completely on the task at hand.

When I am more consistent with my meditation, I notice this ability in myself more often.

One-Pointedness is often emphasized in the Zen tradition.

Establish a Relationship with the Highest Thing You Can Conceive Of


I continue to find Jordan B. Peterson’s thought to be a fantastic bridge between “spirituality” and psychology, especially for those who may identify as agnostic.

https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/podcast/s3-e10-biblical-series-abraham-a-father-of-nations (17:00ff)

“Establish a relationship with the highest thing you can conceive of.”

“We can argue forever about what God might or might not be but we can at least say that the concept of God is an embodiment of humanity’s highest ideal.”