In her classic, The Interior Castle, Teresa of Avila lays out a brilliant description of how one experiences God. She does this in seven levels called dwelling places. This journey has a clear goal: union with God.The first three dwelling places center on the basic call and conversion to begin the journey. The key in these levels is human effort and cooperation with God. In the fourth dwelling places God acts in a new and truly different way. This is the beginning of contemplation. John of the Cross defines it thus: “Contemplation is none other than a secret, peaceful and loving infusion of God which, if the soul allows it to happen, infuses a spirit of love.” (Dark Night 1.10.6)
The action of God in the fifth dwelling places is totally different. This involves touches of union in prayer. In this union the soul grows in its surrender to God in all of life. Surrender is not an abstract concept. It usually involves letting go of some self-justification or attachment. It also involves becoming more secure in God’s love. This abandonment to God expands dramatically compared to the initial stages of the fourth dwelling places. With God’s intervention the passion for control of one’s life so dominant in the third dwelling places fades away. God continues to ask more from us.
Teresa states that the fifth, sixth and seventh dwelling places are really one but she then goes on to delineate very clear differences. Her description of the final three dwelling places consumes almost two thirds of her book. The fifth and sixth are an accelerating process of purification and transformation leading to the union with God that is described in the seventh dwelling places.
In all of these dwelling places Teresa has a special emphasis on self-knowledge. In her view we need a growing awareness of our distance from what is truly real, the call to be one with God. The basic obstacle to self-knowledge is that one tends to make oneself the center and not God. The distortion flowing from our lack of true self-knowledge is the great hindrance on this journey. The passage to the true center of the Interior Castle, which is a symbol for the human person, is possible in the slow and painful process of getting to know oneself. At the heart of the journey is growth in the insight of the fundamental reality: God is God and we are creatures. Humility is the acceptance of this truth in the depth of one’s heart. The value of self-knowledge is that it helps us to see our sinfulness which is a caricature of reality. This leads to recognition of the wonder of God’s mercy. We come to see that God is a loving and merciful Creator and we are loved and forgiven creatures.
The passage to the center is possible only in the progression of self-knowledge that comes from God’s action of purification and transformation. There is a new intensity in the fifth dwelling places. It concludes in the heavy drama of the sixth dwelling places. The union of the seventh dwelling places completes the journey.
The person moves steadily away from the self-centered life to one of centering on God. “One has to strive to go forward in service of the Lord and in self-knowledge (V,1.1)True union can very well be reached with God’s help if we make the effort to obtain it by keeping our will fixed only on that which is God’s will.” (V.3.3)
Growth in self-knowledge in the fifth dwelling places facilitates surrender to God. This discloses new and pervasive patterns of self-love. There are still deep roots of selfishness that resist the call to absolute love of God and neighbor. The Gospel stories open up with fresh awareness and clarity. They reveal the ego inflation and self-absorption that have been hidden in the flow of ordinary life. It is frightening to see. Much that appeared good and virtuous has been, in fact, permeated with an ego agenda. These new insights from growing self-knowledge are the consequence of the touches of union. This is the prayer distinctive to the fifth dwelling places.
In the fifth dwelling places love ascends to a place of prominence. The gifts of union in prayer enlarge one’s capacity for love of God and all others. One begins to grow in the capacity to share God’s love for others. Teresa’s summary of these dwelling places states: “All their desires are directed toward pleasing God.’ (V.1.1)
God assists a recollected heart to grow in awareness of God’s presence in all persons and things at all times. God has absolute claim on one’s attention. The movement is from seeing God as part of one’s schedule to God becoming one’s schedule. This is a radical step in one’s transformation.
Teresa uses the example of the silkworm building a cocoon and evolving into a butterfly to explain the changes that transpire in the fifth dwelling places. For her this shows the transforming power of the prayer of union in the fifth dwelling places.
This building of the cocoon involves getting rid of the self-love and self-will along with attachments. Teresa says: “Therefore, take courage my daughters! Let’s be quick about to do this work and weave this little cocoon by getting rid of our self-love and self-will, our attachment to any earthly thing.” (V.2.6) On the positive side, the cocoon weaving includes growing in love for God and our brothers and sisters. The main activity, however, is God transforming the silkworm into the butterfly, symbolizing the new person living in faithful surrender to God.
Teresa describes it thus: “O the greatness of God. How transparent the soul is when it comes out of this prayer…Truly, the soul does not recognize itself. Look at the difference between the ugly worm and the little white butterfly.” (V.2.7)
Teresa uses another comparison to enlighten us about the fifth dwelling places. She expands upon the often used theme of human love in The Song of Songs. Teresa hones in on the three steps of marriage in her time: meetings, engagement and marriage. These are fitting for the final three dwelling places.
In the meetings, the couple gets to know each other by discovering common ground and interests. In the fifth dwelling places, however, this communication is a one way avenue. Christ reveals himself to the soul. Here again it is the prayer of union that unveils secrets not accessible in any other medium.
In the prayer of union there is a silencing, a kind of sleeping of the faculties and senses. The mind and the senses lose contact with the normal interaction with reality. The soul receives loving knowledge directly from God. God is communicating God’s self to the soul.
This prayer, always at God’s initiative, lasts only a short while, never more than a half hour. It takes place at one’s center where admittance is only possible at the invitation of God. One knows it happens only by the absolute conviction that it was a true experience of God.
Teresa often repeats that the prayer of union is related to one’s personal union with God’s will in daily life. Getting rid of self-love is moving away from always satisfying one’s self, exaggerating one’s needs and affirming one’s importance. This struggle becomes starkly clear in the fifth dwelling places.
This is the experience of the Pascal Mystery. Death leads to life. There must be death to all previous attachments, all expressions of sin, all distorted self-love and the dead weight of evil that pervades the human experience. This passage through death only is possible by the special gifts of God’s action, an unprecedented presence to God.
Teresa is clear that the passage to the deepest center is only possible with loving relationship with God. Self-preoccupation gives way to love for God and one’s increasing ability to participate in God’s love for others.
The sixth dwelling places are waiting. Theywill reveal, amazingly, there is still much to be done before the final passage to union with God.
