She intended it for the instruction of her own daughters and of all other souls, who, either in her own day or later, might have the ambition to penetrate either the outer or the inner Mansions. At all times in the history of Christian perfection there has been a death of persons qualified to guide souls to the highest states of prayer: The Interior Castle will both serve as an aid to those there are and to a great extent supply the need for more.
Reading The Interior Castle is like listening to a Mozart composition after playing pop music on the radio en route to Orchestra Hall. After hearing the depth, complexity and beauty of Mozart you comprehend the shallow superficiality of the music to which your ears have become attuned. The music of pop culture is enlarged, the small horizon is expanded to the farthest point, and the limited musical vocabulary of simplistic sound is deepened by the richness of music that has lasted for centuries.
Teresa's musical vocabulary is not the limited lexicon of Christian pop culture. Teresa understood the development of the soul as multilayered and richly textured. The Interior Castle is a passionate work written to instruct her beloved sisters, a work that grew from her own vision of God's desire for the soul, words rich in the music of the soul.
I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of a very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions. . . I can find nothing with which to compare the great beauty of the soul and its great capacity.
The first mansion Teresa describes is where most people live. Although they sense there is more to life, they are busy and focus their energy on the mundane issues of life and death. In this chapter Teresa acknowledges the dignity of the human soul, made in the image and likeness of God, but observes that most people are content to live in the shadow of spiritual depth.
The residents of mansion two have progressed enough to learn a life of prayer and have developed an increased sense of awareness of God through sermons, books and friendships. Those who have moved into mansion two have begun progress toward something more.
In mansion three people are learning daily to become more sensitized to God's presence and show some charity toward others, but they are limited in their acts of benevolence. The residents here exhibit a high standard of virtue, but this virtue has not yet learned self-surrender or selfless love.
Teresa said,"The important thing is not to think much but to love much." Those in mansion four have learned to move beyond thinking about faith or doing religious activities to a deeper understanding of faith motivated by love. They realize their need for the supernatural in their lives. No longer content or able to serve in their own strength, they seek ever increasingly to pay attention to the presence of God's power for life.
In the fifth mansion the soul approaches God. As the silkworm dies within the cocoon and a beautiful white butterfly emerges from death, even so the south is transformed. In this say, Teresa sees the soul preparing to receive the gift of God's presence.
The sixth mansion is a place of much tribulation as the person, like an emerged person, now betrothed to Jesus, prepares for union with him in totality. The person experiences increasing intimacy accompanied by increasing afflictions.
The final mansion is the place of the soul's marriage to Christ, for as Paul said, "For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain" (Philippians 1:21). In this mansion of the King the believer experiences complete transformation.
Teresa's obvious goal was marriage to Christ, union with him, oneness with the Lord. But such union with Christ is not merely a spiritual reality, it is lived in service and labor for the kingdom. Two quotations will suffice.
This, my sisters, I should like us to strive to attain: we should desire and engage in prayer, not for our enjoyment, but for the sake of acquiring this strength which fits us for service.
Fix your eyes on the Crucified and nothing else will be of much importance to you. If His Majesty revealed His love to us by doing and suffering such amazing things, how can you expect to please Him by words alone? Do you know when people really become spiritual? It is when they become the salves of God and are branded with His sign, which is the sign of the Cross, in token that they have given Him their freedom.
Teresa's seven mansions guide us to understand more richly the ways to deepen our responsiveness as mentorees. The allegory describes seven movements of prayer and can be used as a very practical guide to assess spiritual progress toward deeper intimacy with God. There are some very practical uses for this work: The mentor might choose to use Teresa's seven mansions as a guide to assist the mentoree in progressing from superficial prayer to the deepest, most intimate prayer of mystical union with Christ. The mentoree might choose to study Teresa's modes of prayer to learn new ways to deepen responsiveness, ways to advance in spiritual growth. A mentoree will not experience a linear, sequential growth through each of these seven mansions as if they are steps on a ladder for spiritual formation. Rather the mansions form a stable vantage point from which we can stand to view the meandering steps of our pilgrimage. Finally, the mentor might use the seven mansions as a way to invite the mentoree to assess his or her level of spiritual maturity.
(Excerpt from Spiritual Mentoring: A Guide for Seeking and Giving Direction by Keith R. Anderson & Randy D. Reese, pp. 109 - 112)