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Teresa of Avila Saint Teresa of Avila Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), born Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a Spanish noblewoman born into a wealthy mercantile family in the Spanish providence of Ávila. At the age of 18, Teresa decided to join the Carmelite Covent of the Incarnation, where she gained prominence as an author and theologian focusing on Christian mysticism and meditation. Among her many distinctions include Doctor of the Church; canonization by Pope Gregory XV; and recognition as a patron saint of Spain. Teresa of Ávila published a number of literary works, including her autobiography The Life of Teresa of Jesus (later extended with the publication of Relationships), The Way of Perfection, and Interior Castle. Because of the breadth of her writings, Teresa of Ávila’s works should peek the interest of everyone within the academy. For example, Philosopher Christia Mercer argues Rene Descates’ Meditations on First Philosophy were likely influenced by Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle.1 According to Mercer, Descartes’ Meditations and Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle have many similarities. First, Descartes’ Meditations and Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle share in the meditative tradition. Spiritual meditations like Interior Castle “involved the need to focus on the meditator’s subjectivity as a means to rethink everything the meditator has previously learned about the world. The point was to learn not to care about the external matters so as to develop new habits and beliefs. For most meditators, the only proper means to do this was through subjective exploration.”2 Second, while the content of the beliefs being meditated on in each of the two works differ in many ways, each employs a common “deceiver strategy” in their attempt to “force truth-seekers into extreme skepticism about their current beliefs, which leads to self-exploration.”3 Of course, this is not to say the importance of Interior Castle depends on its potential influence on Descartes; rather, understanding the ways in which Descartes was “the benefactor of a long tradition, to which women significantly contributed…[allows us to] rethink the role of women and other noncanonical figures in the history of philosophy and begin to create a more accurate story about philosophy’s rich and diverse past.”4 Along with The Way of Perfection, Interior Castle aims to show how a spiritual life of contemplative meditation results in a form spiritual and intellectual enlightenment. According to The Way of Perfection, a prayer-filled life requires mutual love, detachment from created things, and true humility. As the introduction to The Way of Perfection states, “Fraternal love, detachment and humility: these three virtues, if they are sought in the way these chapters direct, will make the soul mistress and sovereign over all created things—a “royal soul”, in the Saint’s happy phrase, the slave of none save of Him Who bought it with His blood.” Thus, like Buddhist and Hindu thinkers before her, Saint Teresa of Ávila is concerned with a form of religious enlightened and what it requires. While staying true to the ideas presented in The Way of Perfection, Interior Castle outlines the rigors of the process of contemplative meditation. The work is split into seven parts, each corresponding to 1 ; David J. Craig, “She Thinks, Therefore I Am” Columbia Magazine (2017) https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/she-thinks-therefore-i-am 2 Christia Mercer (2017), “Descartes is Not Our Father,” New York Times: The Stone https://nyti.ms/2jWWXfr 3 Christia Mercer (2016), “Descartes’ Debt to Teresa of Ávila, or Why We Should Work on Women in the History of Philosophy,” Philosophical Studies 174 (10): 2549. 4 Christina Mercer (2017), “Descartes is Not Our Father,” New York Times: The Stone <https://nyti.ms/2jWWXfr> a stage one reaches along the path of spiritual enlightenment. Using the metaphor of a Castle, St. Teresa explains how the soul progresses through the seven stages of meditative practice she describes—through the seven mansions and rooms of one’s inner castle. St. Teresa claims “[She] 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.” According to St. Teresa, only through humble, self-reflective prayer and meditation can the first mansion be entered, let alone progress from one mansion to the next. St. Teresa describes the meditative journey with vivid metaphoric imagery. For example, outside the walls of the castle are ‘poisonous beasts’ who represent the attractiveness of sin and self- deception.5 In order for one progress through the mansions and its rooms of one’s interior castle, one must stay in the First Mansion to gain humility and self-knowledge. As one progresses from the First Mansion to the Second, one must seek growth by learning from, engaging with, and listening to others. The Third Mansion is for those who have a higher standard of discipline and charity towards others; those who enter the Third Mansion spend their time well and exercise charity. Within the Fourth Mansion, one ceases to be attached to the external world and experiences greater interior freedom. Within The Fifth Mansion, one disposes of oneself, and resigning to the will of God. The Sixth Mansion is where one recognizes the Supreme Truth of Gods will, and humbly submits oneself to said will. Finally, in the Seventh Mansion, one transforms and reaches a higher states of being—i.e. one enters into a spiritual union with God and enters into a state of self-forgetfulness. Important Sections Introduction The First Mansions: Chapters I and II The Second Mansions: Chapter I Further Readings On the Meditative Genre and Descartes’ Influences Charles Bolyard (2009), “Medieval Skepticism”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/skepticism-medieval/ Descartes (1641), Meditations on First Philosophy Christia Mercer (2017), “Descartes’ Debt to Teresa of Ávila, or Why we Should Work on Women in the History of Philosophy,” Philosophical Studies 174 (10): 2539-2555. 5 Her descriptions of these “venomous creatures” and their deceptions is similar to the Evil Demon/Deceiver described by Descartes in his Meditations on First Philosophy. Christia Mercer (2017), “Descartes is Not Our Father,” New York Times: The Stone https://nyti.ms/2jWWXfr Olivia Goldhill (2017), “One of Descartes’ Most Famous Ideas was First Articulated by a Woman,” Quartz https://qz.com/982044/descartes-most-famous-idea-was-first-articulated-by-a-woman/ David J. Craig (2017), “She Thinks, Therefore I Am” Columbia Magazine (2017) https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/she-thinks-therefore-i-am S. Hutton (2015), “Blue-Eyed Philosophers Born on Wednesdays: An Essay on Women and History of Philosophy.” The Monist, 98(1): 7–20. On the Psychology of Religious Experience St. Teresa of Avila, The Life of Teresa of Jesus. Marcella Biro Barton (1982), “Saint Teresa of Ávila: Did She Have Epilepsy?”, The Catholic Historical Review. Vol. LXVII, no. 4; Orrin Devinsky and George Lai (2008), “Spirituality and Religion in Epilepsy” Epilepsy and Behavior. Vol. 12, pp. 636-643. On the Virtues Required for Perfection/Enlightenment St. Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection, Ch. 4-15 Bhagavad Gita, Chapters 5-7 Max Muller (1894), The Vagrakkhedika or Daimond-Cutter, in Buddhist Mahayana Texts (Sacred Books of the East), Oxford University Press. LIBRARY OF WELLESLEY COLLEGE PURCHASED FROM HOHSFORD FUND \ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/interiorcastleorOOtere THE INTERIOR CASTLE NIHIL OBSTAT DOM MICHAEL BARRETT, O.S.B. CENSOR DEPUTATUS IMPRIMATUR ^ EDUARDUS, ADM. APOSTOL. BIRMINGHAMIENSIS OSCOTT. DIE 24 FEBRUARII, 1921. THF INTERIOR CASTLE OR THE MANSIONS TRANSLATED FROM THE AUTOGRAPH OF SAINT TERESA OF JESUS BY THE BENEDICTINES OF STANBROOK Revised and annotated with Introduction by the VERT REV. PRIOR ZIMMERMAN O.CD. THIRD EDITION WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES LONDON: THOMAS BAKER. MCMXXI A// rights reserved u DEDICATED TO THE MARTYRED DAUGHTERS OF SAINT TERESA THE BLESSED MARTYRS OF COMPIEGNE BY THE DESCENDANTS OF THEIR FELLOW-PRISONERS Stanbrook Abbey ^93 'The BenediBines of Stanbrook desire to express their gratitude to the Very Rev. BenediSi Zimmerman for having kindly revised the translation of the ^Interior Castle' and also for the IntroduBion, NoteSy and Index which he has added to the book. 1 NOTE IN this new edition the wording has been revised and condensed, chiefly with a view to rendering the translation more pregnant. Only one passage (VI. Mansion, ch. v. 13) has been substantially changed, in conformity with an explanation received from a high authority. It is admittedly a very dif- ficult passage which appears to have been misunder- stood by nearly all translators; but it is gratifying to notice that the new French translation by the Carmelite nuns of Anderlecht agrees with our interpretation. The editor is under an obligation to that translation for several interesting fadls embodied in the Introduction and in the notes to the text. B.Z. WiNCANTON December 25. 1 9 1 CONTENTS PAGE Introduction ...... 9 THE INTERIOR CASTLE Preface ....... 35 THE FIRST MANSIONS Chapter I. Description of the Castle . 38 „ II. The Human Soul. ... 45 THE SECOND MANSIONS Chapter I. War. .... 59 THE THIRD MANSIONS Chapter I. Fear of God. .... 70 II. Aridity in Prayer. J, ... 78 THE FOURTH MANSIONS Chapter I. Sweetness in Prayer. , 88 „ II. Divine Consolations ... 98 „ III. Prayer of Quiet. 104 vii vm CONTENTS THE FIFTH MANSIONS PAGE Chapter I. Prayer of Union. „ II. Effects of Union. „ III. Cause of Union. „ IV. Spiritual Espousals THE SIXTH MANSIONS Chapter I. Preparation for Spiritual Marriage „ II. The wound of love 165 Introductory Note on Visions, Locu tions, etc.
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