The Interior Castle by Mirabai Starr & Teresa of Avila

Author:Mirabai Starr & Teresa of Avila [Starr, Mirabai]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2004-07-05T22:00:00+00:00

.2.

It may seem like we have left our little butterfly behind, but we haven’t. Uplifted by these trials, she flies higher and higher.

So now let’s start looking at how the Beloved is dealing with the soul during this time. Before fully uniting himself with her, he fills her with burning desire for him. He does this in such a delicate way that the soul doesn’t understand where her longing comes from, nor could I successfully explain it except to those of you who already know from experience what I’m saying. These impulses rise from so deep inside the soul and are so subtle and refined that I can’t find a fitting metaphor to describe them.

This experience is far different from anything we can taste in the world. It is even different from the spiritual delights we have talked about so far. Often when a seeker is distracted and forgets about God, he will awaken her. His gesture is as swift as a shooting star and as resounding as a thunderbolt. Although his call is soundless, the soul is left with no doubt that he is calling her. This is so clear to her that sometimes, especially at the beginning, she may tremble and whimper without any obvious cause for her pain. She feels that she has been wounded in the sweetest way, but she can’t figure out how it happened or who inflicted it. All she knows is that the wound is something precious and she doesn’t ever want to recover!

The soul cannot restrain herself from lamenting to her Spouse with words of love. She may even cry out loud. She knows that he is with her, but he refuses to reveal himself in such a way that she can actually enjoy him. The pain is intense, but it is exquisite and delightful. Even if the soul chose not to go through this, there is nothing she could do to avoid it. But she would never wish for the wound to go away. This kind of agony is much more satisfying to the soul than the sweet and painless absorption of the Prayer of Quiet.

I am struggling, friends, to explain this movement of love to you. I don’t know how. It seems like a contradiction to say that the Beloved makes it clear to the soul that he is with her and at the same time gives her an equally clear sign that he is calling her. His whistle is so penetrating that she can’t help but hear it. The Spouse, who is in the seventh dwelling, summons the soul wordlessly. The inhabitants of the other dwellings, which are the faculties of sense and reason and the imagination, do not dare to stir.

Oh, my powerful God! How great are your secrets and how different they are from anything we are used to seeing or thinking about in the mundane world! These favors are ineffable, though they don’t even compare with the most exalted blessings you bestow on souls.

This action of love is so potent that the soul melts with desire.

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