# Intellect ## The Interior Castle Study Edition Glossary A spiritual power by which we come to know truths, either by the gift of faith or by drawing them out from other truths we already know from our experience of the senses. For Teresa the intellect is the thinking power; it is also called “**reason**” because it is the power by which we draw conclusions from other judgments. It is the power by which we ask questions about the what, the why, and the wherefore of things. “God didn’t give me talent for discursive thought or for a profitable use of the imagination” ([L](app://obsidian.md/tj-life) 4.7). Teresa did not think she had good reasoning powers or a good imagination by which she could practice discursive meditation. ## The Way of Perfection INTELLECT (MIND; INTELLIGENCE). The power of understanding and reasoning. Many speak well but understand poorly ([[tj-way-ccel-14|14.2]]). Many are unable to reason with the intellect in prayer ([[tj-way-ccel-19|19.1]]). Some minds can concentrate and work methodically; others are scattered ([[tj-way-ccel-19|19.1]]–[[tj-way-ccel-19|2]]; [[tj-way-ccel-30|30.7]]). The prayer of recollection helps the intellect to be recollected ([[tj-way-ccel-28|28.4]]). In contemplation, in a way very different from the way it understands through the exterior senses, the soul understands that it is close to its God ([[tj-way-ccel-31|31.2]]).