Entering the Castle
Description
As her main template for this extraordinary, modern spiritual journey, Myss uses the beloved, revered writings of The Interior Castle by Teresa of Ávila. Adapting Teresa's vision of the soul as a beautiful crystal castle with many floors, or mansions, and many rooms within those mansions, Myss guides us from room to room, helping us meet different aspects of our self, our soul, and our spirit -- preparing us for the ultimate encounter with God and our own divinity. Through intense practices and methods of spiritual inquiry adapted for contemporary life, she helps us to develop our personal powers of prayer, contemplation, and intuition and to ascend the seven levels of soul knowledge that build an ever stronger interior castle of our own -- a soul of strength and stamina.
As in all her books, Myss also recounts stories of profoundly moving real-life experiences -- of her own, as well as of her students and of renowned spiritual figures -- that bring home the universal truth of her insights. Presiding over the entire book and journey are the great mystics, ancient and contemporary, of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism with their inspiring lives and discerning spirits. And over all, the benevolence, truth, and gentle and tough love of Teresa of Ávila shine through.
Doubtless Myss's most deeply personal, revealing, compassionate, and transforming book yet, Entering the Castle is a comprehensive guidebook for the journey of your life -- a journey into the center of your soul. There, peace, God, and a fearless bliss wait for you to discover them...and claim them for your own.
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Content
Foreword by Ken Wilber
A Far Too Personal Preface
Introduction: The Call
1: Mystics without Monasteries
Contemporary Mystics
Teresa of Ávila's Significance
Why Now?
2: Approaching the Castle: Readying the Soul Recognizing Your Soul's Voice
Soul Qualities
The Deeper Path: Self-Examination and Contemplation
Unveiling God: The Four Veils of God
3: Crossing the Drawbridge: The Key to the Castle
Spiritual Detachment
And Then There Are the Reptiles
Transitioning between Worlds
Shall You Cross the Drawbridge?
The First Mansion: The Power of Prayer, Humility, Chaos, and Divine Seduction
Prayers for the Castle
The Stages of Prayer
The Power of Humility
Rooms for Refining Humility
The Pull of Two Worlds: Divine Guidance and Divine Chaos
Exploring Chaos in Your Soul
Divine Seduction
Rooms for Finding God
Leaving the Castle
The Second Mansion: God In The Details: Inner Vision and Soul Companions
The Practice of Illumination
Rooms of Inner Vision and Purification
Soul Companions
Exploring Spiritual Companionships
Commitment to God
Exploring Your Commitment to the Divine
The Third Mansion: Surrender: The Defeat of Reason/The Presence of God
The Defeat of Reason
The Rooms of Reason
The Archetypal Desert in the Soul
Contemplations in the Desert
The Fourth Mansion: The Mystical Heart
Into the Heart of the Sacred
Prepare to Receive God
The Power of Your Cosmic Soul
Rooms for Receiving God
The Prayer of Recollection: Soul Flight
The Fifth Mansion: Dissolving Into Holiness: From Silkworm to Butterfly
Living in a Higher State
Dissolving Into Your Soul
Rooms to Practice Dissolving into the Soul
Characteristics of a Mystical Experience
Rooms with a Mystical View
Into Flight: The Silkworm Becomes the Butterfly
Mystical Marriage
The Sixth Mansion: Essential Wisdoms and the Final Fire
Five Essential Wisdoms about Praise and Criticism
Rooms of Gifts
On Suffering
Rooms of Secrets
Be Mindful of Evil
Characteristics of Mystical Experiences
Rooms with Divine Communications
The Experience of Holy Rapture
Authentic Contemplation
The Seventh Mansion: Divine Marriage, Healing, and Reentering the World
The Mystical Trinity Revealed
The Mystical Roots of Healing
Healing Rooms
The Tranquil Soul
A Return to the World
Taking Leave
Essential Guidance for Mystics Outside the Castle Walls
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
About The Author
