Barlaam and Ioasaph 1 part 7/18

In this way, then, having thus for a while plundered the treasures of the darkness of this age, to which you have long been miserably enslaved, you will be well provided from these for the future, and having taken all things away from what is alien, you will store them up beforehand for yourself, purchasing, by means of these fleeting and temporary things, the things that stand firm and remain;

Then, with God working together with you, you will perceive the instability and unevenness of the world, and, having bidden farewell to all things, you will remove to the world to come, passing by the things that pass away, and being joined to the things that are hoped for and stand firm; and having left behind the darkness together with the shadow of death, and having hated the world and the ruler of this world, and having reckoned the perishing flesh as an enemy to yourself, you will run to the unapproachable light, and, having taken up the cross upon your shoulders, you will follow him without turning back, so that you may also be glorified together with him, and be shown to be an heir of the life that no longer changes nor deceives.

'Is, then,' he said, 'this overlooking of all things and taking up so laborious a life, as you have said above, an ancient tradition descending from the teaching of the apostles? Or has it been recently devised by you, through the understanding of your own mind, as though you had chosen this as the better course?' To whom the elder said:

'I am not teaching you a law recently introduced (God forbid), but one given to us long ago;'

for the Lord said to a certain rich man who asked him, 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?' and who boasted that he had kept all the things written in the law, 'One thing you lack,' he said;

'go, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;'

'and come, follow me, taking up the cross.'

But when he heard these things, he became very sorrowful;

and Jesus, seeing that he had become very sorrowful, said:

'How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God!'

'for it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.'

All the saints, therefore, having heard this commandment, took care to separate themselves entirely from this difficulty of wealth;

and having scattered all things, and having laid up for themselves beforehand an eternal wealth through distribution to the poor, they took up the cross and followed Christ, some being made perfect through martyrdom, as I have indeed told you, and others contending in ascetic labor, and falling short of those in nothing as regards the pursuit of this true philosophy.

Know, then, that this is a commandment of Christ our King and God, leading us away from things corruptible, and making us partakers of things eternal.

'If then,' said Ioasaph, 'this philosophy is ancient and so necessary, how is it that not many today emulate this life?' And the elder said:

'Many have emulated it and do emulate it, but the majority hesitate and shrink back;'

'for few, as the Lord says, are the travelers of the narrow and afflicted way, while the many are those of the broad and easy way.'

for those who have once been captured by love of money and the evils of love of pleasure, and who cling to empty and vain glory, hold to these things in a manner difficult to detach from, inasmuch as they have willingly sold themselves as slaves to an alien master, and stand opposed to the God who commands these things, and are held captive, bound to him.

for a soul, having once despaired of its own salvation, and having given over its reins to irrational desires, is carried about in every direction.

For this reason the Prophet, lamenting the folly poured out upon such souls, and bewailing the thickness of the darkness lying upon them, said: 'Sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart? Why do you love vanity and seek'

'falsehood?'—with which one of our wise teachers, too, a most theological man, concurring, and adding certain things of his own, cries out to all, as it were from some far-seeing and most lofty watchtower:

'Sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart? Why do you love vanity and seek falsehood?'—supposing this present life, and its luxury, and its small measure of glory, and its lowly dominion, and its false prosperity, to be something great; things which belong no more to those who possess them than to those who have merely hoped for them, nor to these any more than to those who did not even expect them, being tossed about and flung now to one, now to another, like dust before a whirlwind, or flowing away like smoke, and sporting like a dream, and ungraspable like a shadow—things neither desperate in their absence to those who do not possess them, nor faithful in their presence to those who have them.

Thus, then, while the Savior commands, and the Prophets and Apostles proclaim, and all the saints by deed and word press us onward toward the most unerring path of virtue, even though few are those who journey upon it, and more are those who prefer the broad way leading to destruction, the way of life of this divine philosophy is not thereby diminished; but just as the sun, rising to give light to all, sends forth its rays ungrudgingly, inviting all to be illuminated, so too true philosophy leads its lovers to the light, warms them, and shows them radiant, after the manner of the sun.

But if some, having closed their eyes, are unwilling to behold its light, the sun is not thereby to be blamed, nor is it to be disregarded by the rest, nor indeed shall the glory of its brightness be dishonored by their folly;

but they, having deprived themselves of the light, will grope along the wall like blind men, and will fall into many pits, and will have their eyes pierced by many thorns, while the sun, standing firm in its own brightness, will illuminate those who behold its light with unveiled face.

In the same manner, too, the light of Christ shines richly upon all, imparting to us of its radiance;

and each one partakes according to the measure of his longing and eagerness;

for the Sun of righteousness neither deprives anyone who wishes to gaze upon him, nor does he compel those who willingly choose darkness;

but each one is left to his own free choice, as long as he is in the present life.

And when Ioasaph asked, 'What is free will, and what is choice?', the elder said:

'Free will is the will of a rational soul, moving without hindrance toward whatever it might wish, whether virtue or vice, having been made thus by the Creator;'

'again, free will is the self-governing motion of an intellectual soul.'

'Choice is a deliberative desire of things in our power, or a desirous deliberation about things in our power;'

'for we desire, in choosing, that which has been preferred as a result of deliberation.'

'Deliberation is an inquiring desire that arises concerning practical matters in our power;'

'for one deliberates whether he ought to pursue the matter or not.'

'Then he judges the better course, and there arises a judgment.'

'Then he is disposed toward and loves that which has been judged as a result of deliberation, and this is called opinion;'

'for if he judges, but is not disposed toward the thing judged—that is, does not love it—it is not called opinion.'

'Then, after this disposition, there arises choice, that is, selection;'

'for choice is, when two things are set before us, to select the one and prefer it before the other.'

'And this is evident, that choice is deliberation with judgment, even from the etymology itself;'

'for that which is "choosable" is that which is chosen, the one before the other.'

'And no one prefers a thing without having deliberated, nor chooses without having preferred.'

'For since we are not eager to put into action all the things that seem good to us, that which has been preferred as a result of deliberation becomes choice and the object of choice only when it has additionally acquired desire.'

'It follows, therefore, that choice is a deliberative desire of things in our power;'

'for we desire, in choosing, that which has been preferred as a result of deliberation.'

'for every deliberation is for the sake of action, and on account of action;'

'and thus deliberation precedes every choice, and choice precedes every action.'

'For this reason, not only actions, but also the things that pertain to the mind, which represent our choices, procure for us both crowns and punishments.'

'for choice is the origin of sin and righteous action, being derived from the things in our power;'

'for of those things whose activities are in our power, the actions according to that activity are also in our power;'

'and the activities according to virtue are in our power; therefore the virtues also are in our power.'

For strictly speaking, all matters of the soul, and those about which we deliberate, are within our own power.

Since men thus deliberate by their own free will and choose by their own free will, to whatever extent one chooses, to that extent he also partakes of the divine light and advances in the pursuits of philosophy;

for there are differences of choice.

And just as certain springs of water, sent up from the recesses of the earth, some gush forth near the surface of the earth, others somewhat deeper, others very deep; and of these waters, some that gush forth close by are sweet to the taste, while others that come forth from a depth are briny or sulphurous; and some are given forth abundantly, while others trickle out little by little—

so also understand it to be with the choices [of will]: some are swift and exceedingly hot, others sluggish and cold; and some have their inclination wholly toward the good, while others turn away toward the opposite with all their strength.

According, then, to their dispositions, the impulses toward actions also follow.

And Ioasaph says to the elder:

"Are there, then, also certain others now who preach according to these things as you do? Or are you today the only one teaching these things and thus recounting the present life as hateful?" And he, answering, said:

"In this most unfortunate land of yours I know no one [else]."

"For your father's tyranny has beset these people with countless deaths, and has made it his business that the preaching of the knowledge of God should not be heard among you at all."

"But in all the other tongues this is sung and glorified—by some with most upright reasoning, by others perversely, since the enemy of our souls has caused them to turn aside from the straight [path] and has apportioned them among alien opinions, and has taught them to interpret certain sayings of the Scriptures otherwise, and not according to the sense contained therein."

"But there is one truth, which was preached through the glorious apostles and the God-bearing fathers, and which shines forth in the catholic Church—from one end of the world to the other—more brightly than the sun; of this truth I have been sent to you as herald and teacher."

And Ioasaph said to him:

"Has my father, then, learned none of these things?" And the elder says:

"Clearly and properly, he has learned nothing;"

"for, stopping up his senses, he willingly does not receive the good, having acquired of his own free choice an inclination toward evil."

"But I would wish," says Ioasaph, "that he too might be initiated into these things."

"The things that are impossible with men," he said, "are all possible with God."

"For how do you know whether you will save your father, and in a wondrous manner become, as it were, the begetter of your own begetter? For I have heard that there was once a certain king who governed his own kingdom very well,"

"[treating] the people under him gently and mildly, but erring in this one thing alone: that he did not possess in abundance the enlightenment of the knowledge of God, but was held fast by the error of idols."

"He had a certain good counselor, adorned in every way both with piety toward God and with all the rest of virtuous wisdom;"

"who, being grieved and vexed at the king's error, and wishing to reprove him concerning it, was checked in his impulse, fearing lest he should become a cause of evils both to himself and to his companions, and should cut short the benefit that was being wrought through him for many."

"Nevertheless, he sought a fitting occasion to draw him toward it."

So, on a certain night, the king says to him:

"Come now, let us go out and walk about the city, in case we may see somewhere something profitable."

And as they were walking about the city, they saw the gleam of a light shining from a certain crevice;

casting their eyes upon it, they see a certain underground, cave-like dwelling, in which there sat a man living together with extreme poverty and clothed with some worthless rags.

And his wife stood by, mixing wine.

And when the man had taken the cup into his hands, she, singing a clear-toned melody, produced delight in him by dancing, and charmed the man with words of praise.

Those with the king, then, observing this for a considerable time, marveled that, though oppressed by such poverty as to have neither a proper house nor clothing, they nevertheless spent their life so cheerfully;

and the king says to his chief counselor:

"O what a wonder, friend, that never has our own life pleased me and you so much—shining as it does with such great glory and luxury—as this worthless and wretched life delights these foolish people; and this harsh and hateful life appears to them smooth and pleasant, and sweetens them."

And the chief counselor, seizing the opportune moment, said:

"But to you, O king, how does their manner of life appear?" "Of all things," says the king, "that I have ever seen, it is the most unpleasant and the most wretched, both loathsome and abominable."

Then the chief counselor says to him: "Thus, then, know well, O king, that our own life also is reckoned far more grievous by those who behold and are initiated into that eternal glory and into the good things that surpass all understanding;"

"both the houses gleaming with gold and these splendid garments, and the rest of the luxury of this life, are, in the eyes of those who know the indescribable beauties of the tabernacles in the heavens not made with hands, more unpleasant than refuse and things dim and dark—of the God-woven robe, that is, and of the incorruptible diadems which God, the Creator and Lord of all, has prepared for those who love him."

"For in the manner that these people were reckoned by us to be foolish, much more are we, who wander about in the world and are self-satisfied in this false glory and foolish luxury, worthy of lamentations and tears in the eyes of those who have tasted the sweetness of those good things."

And the king, having heard these things, and having become as it were speechless, said:

"Who then are those who possess a life better than ours?" "All those," says the chief counselor, "who have preferred the eternal things to the temporal."

So, when the king again sought to learn what the eternal things were, the man says:

"A kingdom without succession, and a life not subject to death, and riches never apprehensive of poverty, and joy and gladness having no share in any grief or vexation, and peace unceasing, free from all enmity and strife."

Those who are deemed worthy to enjoy these things are blessed, and this many times over;

for they shall live a life free from grief and free from toil unto the ages, enjoying without labor all the pleasant and delightful things of the kingdom of God, and reigning together with Christ without end.

And when the king said, "Who is worthy to obtain these things?" he answered:

"All those who have laid hold of the road leading thither;"

"for the entrance is unhindered to those who merely will it."

"And what," says he, "is the path that leads thither?" To whom that man, radiant in soul, said:

"To know the only true God, and Jesus Christ his only-begotten Son, and the Holy and life-giving Spirit."

The king, then, having understanding worthy of his purple robe, said to him:

"And what has hindered you, until now, from making these things known to me? For these things do not seem to me to deserve delay or postponement, if indeed they are true;"

"but if they are doubtful, one must seek diligently until I should find that which is beyond dispute."

"Not out of neglect," says the man, "or indolence,"

"being possessed [by which], I hesitated to make these things known to you—though they are indeed true and altogether beyond dispute—but out of reverence for the surpassing majesty of your glory, lest I should ever appear too troublesome to you;"

"if, then, you command your servant to remind you henceforth concerning these things, I shall be obedient to your command."

"Yes," says the king, "not only each day, but renew the remembrance of these things continually at every hour;"

"for one must attend to these things not negligently, but with great fervor and earnestness."

"We have heard, then," says Barlaam, "that this king lived piously thereafter, and that, having completed the present life without storm, he did not fail to obtain the blessedness that is to come."

"If, then, someone should also remind your father of such things at a fitting time, perhaps he too will understand and come to know by how many evils he has been held fast, and, turning away from these, will choose the good;"

"since, as things now stand, he is blind, being shortsighted, having deprived himself of the true light, and deserting to the darkness of impiety."

And Ioasaph said to him:

"As for the affairs of my father, may the Lord guide them as he commands;"

"for to him, even as you have said, all things that are impossible with men are possible;"

"but I, through your incomparable words, having condemned the vanity of present things, have resolved to depart from them entirely, and to spend the remainder of my life with you, lest, through these temporal and fleeting things, I should fall from the enjoyment of the eternal and incorruptible."

To whom the elder answered:

"If you do this, you will be like a certain most prudent young man, of whom I have heard that he was born of rich and illustrious parents;"

"to whom his father, having betrothed the daughter of one of those distinguished in nobility and wealth—a most beautiful maiden—and having conferred with the youth about the marriage, and having announced to him what he had been planning, that one, upon hearing it, and rejecting the matter as something discordant and improper, went off in flight, leaving his father behind."

"And as he journeyed, he was received as a guest in the house of a certain poor old man, resting himself there from the heat of the day."

"Now the poor man's daughter, being an only child and a virgin, sitting before the doors, was working with her hands, while with her mouth she unceasingly blessed God, giving thanks to him from the depths of her soul;"

And the young man, hearing her hymns, said:

"What, O woman, is your occupation? And for what reason, being so lowly and poor as you are, do you give thanks as though for some great gifts, hymning the giver?" And she answered him:

Do you not know that, just as a small remedy often delivers a person from great illnesses, so too giving thanks to God for small things becomes the source of great things? I, then, being the daughter of a poor old man, give thanks for these small things and bless God, knowing that he who gave these can also give greater things.

And this indeed concerns external things that are not truly our own, from which neither do those who possess many gain any profit (not to say that there is often even loss), nor does harm come upon those who received less, since both travel the same road and hasten toward the same end;

but in the most necessary and most crucial matters I have enjoyed many, and the greatest, gifts of my Master—gifts which indeed have no number, nor fall under estimation.

For I have come into being according to the image of God, and have been deemed worthy of the knowledge of him, and have been adorned with reason above all animals, and have been called back from death to life through the tender mercies of our God, and I have received the authority to partake of his mysteries, and the door of paradise has been opened, granting me unhindered entrance, if only I should wish it.

For so many and such great gifts, then, which rich and poor alike partake of equally, it is altogether impossible for me to give worthy thanks; and if I should not even offer this small hymn of praise to him who bestowed them, what defense will I have?

But the young man, greatly marveling at her great understanding, having summoned her father,

said, 'Give me your daughter;

for I have loved her understanding and her piety.'

'It is not permitted for you to take this poor man's daughter, since you are of rich parents.'

But again the young man said, 'Yes, I will take her, if you do not refuse;

for a daughter of noble and rich [parents] has been betrothed to me, but I have shaken her off and taken to flight;

but having fallen in love with your daughter, because of her piety toward God and her sensible understanding, I have set my heart on being joined to her.'

And the old man said to him:

'I cannot give her to you, to be taken away into your father's house and be parted from my embrace;'

'But I,' said the young man, 'will remain with you, and will take up your way of life.'

Then, having also laid aside his splendid garment, he asked for the old man's [clothing] and put it on.

And he, having tested him much and examined his reasoning in various ways, when he knew that he was of steadfast mind, and that it was not held by a foolish passion that he asked for his daughter, but that out of love of piety he had chosen to live in poverty, preferring this to his own glory and nobility, took him by the hand, led him into his own storeroom, and showed him great wealth laid up there, and an innumerable mass of possessions, such as the young man had never before beheld.

'Child, all these I give to you, in return for your having chosen to become husband of my daughter, and to become also heir of my estate.'

And having obtained this inheritance, he surpassed all the glorious and rich men of the earth.

And Ioasaph said to Barlaam:

'This story too fittingly represents my own case;

wherefore I think these things have been spoken by you also concerning me.'

'But what is the test by which you seek to know the steadfastness of my mind?' And the old man said:

'I have indeed already tested you and known what a sensible and steadfast mind, and truly upright soul, you possess;

but the outcome of your undertaking will confirm these things.'

'For this reason I bend my knees to our God who is glorified in the Trinity, the maker of all things visible and invisible, the one who truly is and always is, who never had a beginning of his glorious existence, nor has an end, the fearful and all-powerful, good and merciful, that he may enlighten the eyes of your heart, and give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, that you may no longer be a stranger and a sojourner, but a fellow citizen with the saints and a member of God's household, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, our Lord Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.'

And Ioasaph, deeply pierced in his heart, said:

'All these things I too desire to know, and I entreat you;

make known to me the riches of the glory of God, and the surpassing greatness of his power.'

And Barlaam said to him:

'I pray God to teach you these things, and to instill the knowledge of such things into your soul;

since among men it is altogether impossible for his glory and power to be spoken, even if all the tongues of men, both those now living and all who have ever lived, should become one.'

'For God,' says the evangelist and theologian, 'no one has ever seen;'

'the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.'

'But of him who is invisible and infinitely beyond, who among those born of earth would be able to comprehend his glory and majesty, except the one to whom he himself should reveal it, as much as he wills, just as he revealed it to his prophets and apostles? But we—'

'—from their proclamation, and from the very nature of things, we learn according to what is possible for us.'

'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands;'

and, 'His invisible attributes, from the creation of the world, are perceived and seen through the things that have been made, both his eternal power and divinity.'

'For just as someone, upon seeing a house splendidly and skillfully constructed, or a vessel well and fittingly joined together, would immediately think of and marvel at the builder or craftsman, so I too, having been fashioned out of things that were not and brought into being, even though I have not been able to behold the one who fashioned and provided me, yet from my well-fitted and most wonderful constitution I have come to know his wisdom—not as to what he is, but as far as I have been able to understand—that I was not produced of myself, nor did I come into being from myself, but he himself fashioned me as he willed, having ordained me to have precedence over all creatures, yet also having lessened me in certain respects, and having, when I was broken, refashioned me again through a better renewal, and then leading me away from here by his divine command and transferring me to another life, unending and eternal—in none of these things am I able to withstand the strength of his providence, neither to add anything to myself nor to take anything away, whether in age or in the form of my shape, nor am I able to renew what has grown old in me, nor to set right what has been corrupted.'

'For none of these men has ever been able to accomplish any of this—neither king, nor wise man, nor rich man, nor ruler, nor anyone else engaged in human pursuits;'

'for, it says, none of kings or those in positions of eminence had a different origin of birth; but there is one entrance for all into life, and a like departure.'

'From these things, then, concerning myself, I am led by the hand to the knowledge of the Creator's great work;'

'and together with these, also considering the well-fitted constitution and preservation of all creation—that these things, in themselves, are all subject to change and alteration: the intelligible beings according to free choice, both the progress in the good and the departure from the good; the sensible things according to generation and corruption, increase and decrease, change in quality, and motion from place to place—and from these things they proclaim, with voices unspoken, that they came into being by the uncreated, unchangeable, and unalterable God, and that they are held together, and preserved, and always provided for.'

'For how could opposing natures have come together for the completion of one world, and remained indissoluble, unless some all-powerful power had brought them together and always kept them indissoluble? For how would anything have remained, if he himself had not willed it? Or how could what was not called forth by him have been preserved?' says the Scripture.

'For if a rudderless ship does not hold together, but is easily sunk, and even a small house would not stand without someone caring for it, how could the world have stood for so long a time—so great a work, and so beautiful and wonderful—without some glorious, great, and wonderful governance, and all-wise providence? For behold, how much time the heaven has had, and it has not grown dim;'

'the power of the earth has not weakened, though bringing forth fruit for so long a time;'

'the springs have not ceased to gush forth since the time they came into being;'

'the sea, receiving so many rivers, has not overstepped its bounds;'

'the courses of the sun and the moon have not been altered;'

'the orderings of day and night have not been reversed.'

'From all these things the ineffable power and majesty of God is made manifest to us, testified to by the prophets and apostles;'

'yet no one will be able worthily to conceive or to praise his glory.'

'For, having considered all things, both the intelligible and whatever falls under sense-perception, the divine Apostle, who had Christ speaking within himself, said:'

'We know in part, and we prophesy in part;'