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    Saint Teresa of Avila: Passionate Mystic
    Saint Teresa of Avila: Passionate Mystic
    Saint Teresa of Avila: Passionate Mystic
    Ebook115 pages1 hour

    Saint Teresa of Avila: Passionate Mystic

    By Mirabai Starr and Caroline Myss

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    About this ebook

    "The important thing is not to think much, but to love much, and so to do whatever best awakens us to love." —St. Teresa of Avila

    Journey to the 16th century to discover the fiery passion of Saint Teresa of Avila, one of Christianity's most inspiring saints. A tireless reformer and the mentor of Saint John of the Cross, Teresa's greatest legacy is her revelation of ecstatic love for God—a love so powerful that it pierces the heart like a burning sword.

    Through illness, hardship, and persecution by the Inquisition, this courageous mystic lit the way with her unquenchable spirit to an "interior castle," a place of unimaginable beauty and light where no darkness can touch us. Saint Teresa of Avila gives you a direct link to the living presence of this brave and gentle woman, to draw upon her strength in your own times of need.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSounds True
    Release dateNov 1, 2013
    ISBN9781622030743
    Saint Teresa of Avila: Passionate Mystic
    Author

    Mirabai Starr

    Mirabai Starr writes creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. A certified bereavement counselor, Mirabai helps mourners harness the transformational power of loss. She has received critical acclaim for her revolutionary new translations of the mystics, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and Julian of Norwich. She is the award-winning author of God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Caravan of No Despair: A Memoir of Loss and Transformation, and Mother of God Similar to Fire, a collaboration with iconographer, William Hart McNichols. Her latest book, Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce & Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics, was published in Spring 2019. She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico.

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      Book preview

      Saint Teresa of Avila - Mirabai Starr

      2013

      Introduction

      From the Other Side of the Wall

      AFTER A DECADE of translating the sixteenth century mystic Teresa of Avila, I finally managed to travel to Spain and visit her convent. The minute I entered the stone vestibule where visitors have come seeking guidance from the cloistered Carmelite sisters for five centuries, my heart swelled and my eyes filled. I rang the ancient bell that hung from a rope and sat down on the wooden chair placed before the grille, where I was told the nun on duty would appear and address any questions I might have.

      How may I help you? a disembodied voice said from behind the screen.

      My tears overflowed their banks and I could not speak. Where to begin? My work as a translator of the Spanish mystic coincided exactly with the death of my fourteen-year-old daughter, Jenny, in a car accident in 2001. Teresa became my refuge, my source of healing, the container that held me through my heart’s darkest descents. Since then, I had grown strong enough to take the gifts Teresa had given me and share them with a world that urgently needed her timeless wisdom and irreverent devotion. Teresa’s spirit had become interwoven with my own.

      As I described this, my sister on the other side of the wall sat with me in silence, cooing a bit from time to time to assure me that she was there and that she understood my pain, even if she did not know the details. Then we had a conversation about my work as a translator and my desire to make Teresa accessible and relevant to contemporary seekers. We spoke of how difficult it can be to navigate a practice of meditation that is intertwined with a commitment to activism and how Madre Teresa was a master of that dance between transcendence and practicality, between deep quiet and passionate engagement with the world. It was the kind of exchange I might have with a favorite aunt over tea—just as ordinary, just as nourishing—and it changed me forever.

      As you read this book, pretend I—the author—am a cloistered nun, just on the other side of a wall. Though you cannot see me, my voice is clear, and I am not in a hurry. Sit down. We can be quiet together if you need to be, and we can talk when you’re ready. Weep if the urge arises. Smile if something amuses you. I will do my best to lead you into the heart and mind of one of the world’s greatest wisdom figures, whose ecstatic love of God was matched only by her broken-hearted longing to dissolve into union with God, and whose level-headed suggestions for cultivating a contemplative life are as useful today as they were when she wrote them.

      Teresa’s teachings transcend religious dogma. It is not required that you subscribe to Christian theology in order to approach Teresa as your teacher. It isn’t even necessary to believe in God. All you need is an open mind and a thirsty heart, curiosity about the inner life, and willingness to suspend any cynicism about God-intoxicated states and supernatural phenomena. When Teresa hears the voice of God telling her that now she will no longer speak with men but with angels, lean in to listen. When she levitates in the midst of prayer, look up.

      A Mystic for Our Times

      What can Teresa of Avila offer us five hundred years after her death? Teresa models the living balance between action and contemplation, serving others and developing an interior life, engaging in passionate human relationships and surrendering to the divine mystery. She was an ecstatic mystic and a skillful administrator, a fool of God and an insightful psychotherapist, a penitent when she needed to be and an epicurean when she could be.

      Teresa of Avila was fully, deeply, unapologetically herself. If she had written a letter to which her correspondent had not replied, she did not hesitate to write again, demanding, Why haven’t you answered my letter? Don’t you love me? Do you have any idea of the pain your silence is causing me?

      Nor was she reluctant to talk back to God. In the midst of harrowing external trials, Teresa’s first response was to withdraw to a quiet place and go within. There, she would confront her Beloved: What’s going on, here, Lord? One day, the divine voice answered, This is how I treat my friends. To which Teresa responded, "Well then, no wonder you have so

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