There are as many methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters.[9] Ordinary or active mental prayer consists of two operations; one belongs to the thinking faculty which applies the imagination, memory, and understanding to consider some truth or mystery. The other operation is dependent on the will and compels one to love, desire, and ask for the good proposed by the mind, and make resolutions to arrive at it. According to St. Teresa, the soul in this stage is like gardener, who, with much labour, draws the water up from the depths of the well to water his plants and flowers.[10]