KIRK DOUGLAS KIRK DOUGLAS - Earthstar

y accident—St. Teresa’s great spiritualwork, The Interior Castle. Since Iwas already at the podium, I thought,“It doesn’t matter, I’ll start with her.”As I introduced St. Teresa’s life to theaudience, I felt myself surrounded insilence. I couldn’t hear my audience. Itwas as if I had entered a sound-proofroom. And then I heard the words,“Follow me, daughter.” I knewinstantly that St. Teresa was speakingto me.That was the beginning of our worktogether. We had an extremely subtlerelationship; I knew she was therewhen I was in prayer, silence, andisolation. Her communications werealso extremely subtle and rare. Butlike the most refined perfume, asmall drop was sufficient to directthe outline, structure, and content ofwhat I was writing. I then wove inmy own observations about the contemporaryspiritual struggle. Theresult is my new book, Entering TheCastle.Why are this medieval nun’s life,thoughts, and practices relevant toour lives and spiritual practicestoday?What makes a great spiritual teachergreat? Why does a great spiritualteacher’s work last, and speak to usover the centuries? In Teresa’s case,it’s because she transcends the boundariesand limits of her own traditionand reaches the level of cosmic truth—truth that applies to the universalhuman experience. That is the natureof St. Teresa’s work.For example, she addresses thehuman struggle with power, our needfor recognition, the delicate strugglewith the control one’s family has overus and the need we have to break freein order to discover ourselves, ourindividuality and our own relationshipwith God. I don’t know any other spiritualteacher who articulates that needbut I have met hundreds of people whostruggle with this crisis—of feelingdivided between their desire to exploretheir interior life and still remain a primarynurturing figure for the family.Exploring your interior life, by theway, does not in any way mean thatyou have the desire to leave or abandonyour family. Yet, that is so oftenthe fear about the deeper spiritualexperience: that an individual cannothave both a rich interior life and a richexterior life. That is simply not true.The ideal is to blend the two, and youcan do it. You have to do it consciouslyand deliberately, but you can do it.But when you divide the two, whenyou try keeping the soul separatedfrom your physical life, you are hurtingyourself. A soul divided againstitself creates endless suffering becauseyou are always searching for whereyou belong in this world.In Entering The Castle, you use thesame symbolic image of the castlethat Teresa used to represent the soul.How can St. Teresa’s image of amedieval Castle with many mansionsbe effective today?The Castle was St. Teresa’s metaphorfor the soul. She was from the Spanishtown of Avila, which is a castle town.It is still today surrounded by medievalwalls in the design of a castle. Theimage of a castle is positively seductiveto our imagination. It works andthat’s all that counts. The idea of crossinga drawbridge and closing thatdrawbridge to your outside world andfinally being in an interior place whereno one can find you and you aresafe….finally…..trust me, that is avery useful, effective image. Using themetaphor of a journey into your interiorCastle is very helpful in allowingyou to get deeper into yourself, yourspirit. It helps you set up a sacred placein which to meet God. The Castle representsyour inner soul, your deepersoul, the part of you that requiresprayer, reflection, and the pursuit ofself-knowledge. It’s divinely seductiveinner work.How do Teresa of Ávila’s SevenMansions of prayer relate to thehuman energy system and the sevenchakras that you have described in“Anatomy of the Spirit”?The soul is build upon a template ofseven levels of power and that is whatSt. Teresa’s vision of the soul alsoembraced. Similar to the sevenchakras is her division of the lowerand upper mansions; the lower threemansions are the worker-bee, moreearthbound mansions, and the uppermansions are devoted to more mysticalawakenings. Aside from that, thereare no other direct comparisons.You suggest that people are craving abreakthrough – a means to connect toa grounded, contemporary theologythat they can practice every day. Whatare the means that we should use todo this?Prayer is the best way. You want todevelop a devotion to contemplationand personal reflection. The Westernperson is fond of the God-in-her-mind,a rational concept of God that is accessiblethrough books and seminars anddiscussion and perhaps group worship,such as church. But the type of breakthroughthat I am referring to is a mysticalbreakthrough; that is, to movepast a mental and behavioral relation-32 EARTH STAR APRIL / MAY 2007