Module Four: Comest Thou to Me

“Dilatasti cor meum, which says that the heart is expanded. But I still don’t think this is an experience of the heart. I think its source is much deeper inside…from the very core of our being.”
-St. Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, p. 98

“Intensity involves a combination of the vertical dimension of vivid awareness—the intensity of feeling vividly alive—and the horizontal dimension of openhearted connection—the intensity of relationship with other living being and even with the cosmos itself in some sense.”
–Wesley Wildman, Effing the Ineffable, p 183

John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Matthew 3:14

Module Four: Comest Thou to Me

Study:

In preparation for this week's material, please read Fourth Dwelling, Chapters 1, 2, and 3 (pp 87–114 in the Mirabai Starr translation). Please read the Wisdom for the Way essay titled, “Comest Thou to Me,” found here. Available on March 23, 2022.

After you have completed the above, choose one or more of the the following:

 
 

Discussion Questions:

  • The Fourth Mansion or Dwelling is a turning point from spirituality being a head space to spirituality being a heart space. Teresa says: “If you want to make progress on the path and ascend to the places you have longed for, the important thing is not to think much but to love much, and so to do whatever best awakens you to love.” (p 91) How does this change your concept of doctrine?

  • What does it mean that intensity (or deep religious experience) can be felt vertically and horizontally? What could happen if one of those axes were missing or underdeveloped? Which is easier for you to cultivate?

  • On page 113, Teresa recommend that if you start to feel overly spiritual, to go “do something for fun.” How might that advice have helped John the Baptist’s feeling of inadequacy?