Module Five: Exquisitely Broken
“On the spiritual path, the Beloved asks only two things of us: that we love him and that we love each other.”
-St. Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, p. 140
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
Matthew 3:15
Module Five: Exquisitely Broken
Study:
In preparation for this week's material, please read Fifth Dwelling, Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 (pp 117–151 in the Mirabai Starr translation). Please read the Wisdom for the Way essay titled, “Exquisitely Broken,” found here. Available on March 30, 2022.
After you have completed the above, choose one or more of the the following:
“Dialogue: The Fifth Mansion” from the Turning to the Mystics Podcast
“Teresa of Avila: Session 5” a meditation from the Turning to the Mystics Podcast
“Spiral Dynamics” on the Liturgists Podcast
“Whitehead and Cosmology with Matt Segall” on the Hermitix Podcast
Discussion Questions:
On page 140, St. Teresa says, “On the spiritual path, the Beloved asks only two things of us: that we love him and that we love each other…May it please His Majesty to give us the grace to desire to do whatever is necessary to reach a state that is, in fact, in our power to reach!” How does this open up the idea of “union” for you? Does this phrase open up Matthew 5:48?
How does St. Teresa’s insistence on the importance of, “love for one another; absence of desire to be thought of as someone special; and the impeccable performance of mundane tasks,” (pg 149) influence your idea of spiritual well-being? Does your Concept of God reflect that which would value these things?
On page 133, St. Teresa uses the metaphor of wax being soft to describe spiritual union. How do you reconcile being spiritual soft with healthy boundary setting?