Ascetic Works 2-1 part 2/2

I did not bring to you a sheep torn by beasts; from myself I paid back the thefts of the day and the thefts of the night, and I was scorched by the heat of the day and the frost of the night, and sleep departed from my eyes. But if from our labor accidie too should come upon us, running back a little to the rock of knowledge, let us converse with the psaltery, striking the strings of knowledge by means of the virtues, and let us again pasture our sheep under Mount Sinai, so that the God of our fathers may call us also out of the bush, and may grant to us too the words of the signs and the wonders.

A rational nature put to death by evil, Christ raises up through the contemplation of all the ages;

but His Father raises up the soul that has died this death of Christ, through the knowledge of Himself.

And this is what was said by Paul, If we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live together with Him. When the mind, having put off the old man, puts on the one that is from grace, then at the time of prayer it will also see its own state, resembling sapphire or the color of heaven, which Scripture also names the place of God, seen by the elders under Mount Sinai.

When one of the enemies, attacking, wounds you, and you wish to turn his sword, as it is written, against his own heart, do thus, as we say.

Divide for yourself the thought cast in by it, whatever it may be, and of how many things it consists, and which of these especially is the thing that afflicts the mind.

What I mean is this:

a thought (of avarice)—divide this into the mind that received it, and into the concept of the gold, and into the gold itself, and into the passion of avarice;

and then ask which of these is sin: is it the mind? And how? It is the image of God.

But the concept of the gold? And who that has a mind could ever say this? But is the gold itself sin? And for what purpose was it made? It follows then that sin is what is neither a thing subsisting in essence, nor a concept of a thing, nor again an incorporeal mind, but a certain man-hating pleasure, begotten of free will, which compels the mind to use the creatures of God wrongly, and which the law of God is entrusted to circumcise.

And as you examine these things, the thought will be destroyed, being resolved into its own contemplation, and the demon will flee from you, your mind having been lifted to a height by this knowledge.

But if you wish to use his sword, yet long first to overcome him by your own sling,

you too cast a stone from your shepherd's pouch, and seek the contemplation of this:

How is it that angels and demons draw near to our world, while we do not draw near to their worlds;

for we are not able to join the angels more closely to God, nor do we choose to make the unclean demons more unclean.

And how is Lucifer, who rose in the morning, cast down to the earth, and reckons the sea as a vessel of ointment, and Tartarus of the abyss as a captive, and makes the abyss boil up like a cauldron, troubling all things by his wickedness, and wishing to rule over all? For the contemplation of these matters greatly wounds the demon and puts to flight his whole camp.

But these things happen only to those who have been gently purified and who somewhat behold the principles of created things.

The unclean do not know the contemplation of these things, nor, if they learned it from others, would they be heard reciting it as an incantation, since much dust and tumult arise because of the passions during the war.

For the camp of the foreigners must by all means rest a little, so that Goliath alone may go out to meet our David.

In the same way let us use also this division and this kind of warfare against all the unclean thoughts.

Of the unclean demons, some tempt the man as a man, while others trouble the man as an irrational animal; and the first, attacking, cast into us concepts of vainglory, or pride, or envy, or accusation, which touch none of the irrational creatures;

but the second, drawing near, stir up anger or desire contrary to nature.

For these passions are common to us and to the irrational animals, being veiled over by the rational nature.

Therefore the Holy Spirit also says, to those falling into the human thoughts, I said:

You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High;

but you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. But to those moved irrationally, what does He say? Do not be like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding; with bit and bridle you must restrain their jaws, the jaws of those that do not draw near to you. But the soul that sins, it shall die.

It is plain that men dying as men will be buried by men, but those put to death as irrational, that is, falling, will be eaten by vultures or ravens, whose nestlings—some call upon the Lord, while others are befouled in blood.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

When some of the unclean thoughts are quickly put to flight, let us seek the cause, from where this has come about;

...(is it) because of the matter (of the object), the material being hard to obtain, or because of the dispassion present in us, the enemies were not strong against us? For example, if one of the anchorites should be prompted by a demon to be entrusted with the spiritual governance of the foremost city, it is plain that he will not linger fantasizing this thought, and the cause becomes known from what has been said;

but if it concerns even some ordinary city, and he reckons it in the same way (rejecting it), this man is blessed in his dispassion.

And likewise in the case of the other thoughts, such a manner (of examination) will be found upon scrutiny.

These things it is necessary to know with regard to our own eagerness and power, so that we may know whether we have crossed the Jordan and are near the city of palms, or are still passing time in the wilderness and being struck by the foreigners.

For the demon of avarice seems to me very versatile and ingenious for deception, who often, being straitened by the strictest renunciation, immediately plays the steward and the lover of the poor, and welcomes strangers not yet present more genuinely than (a true host), and sends service to others who are in want, and visits the prisons of the city, and ransoms, as it were, those being sold, and attaches himself to wealthy women, and points out those who ought to be treated well, and again admonishes others who possess a fat purse to renounce, and so, having little by little deceived the soul, he subjects it to the thoughts of avarice and hands it over to the demon of vainglory. CHAPTER.

How it brings in a multitude of those who glorify the Lord for these stewardships, and putting forward certain ones who little by little talk together about the priesthood, it thereafter prophesies the speedy death of the present priest, and adds that he will not escape, having done countless things; and so the wretched mind, bound up in these thoughts, contends with the men who do not accept this, while to those who do accept it, it readily lavishes gifts, and welcomes them for their goodwill;

and certain ones who hesitate, it hands over to the judges and orders to be banished from the city;

and while these thoughts are thereafter within and being turned about, immediately the demon of pride too stands by, stamping continuous lightning-flashes in the air of the cell, and sending winged serpents, and, the final evil, working the loss of reason; but let us, having prayed destruction upon these thoughts, live with thanksgiving in poverty: For we brought nothing into the world, and it is plain that we can carry nothing out;

but having food and covering, with these we shall be content, remembering also Paul, who said that the love of money is the root of all evils.

All the unclean thoughts, lingering in us because of the passions, bring the mind down to ruin and destruction;

for just as the concept of bread lingers in the hungry man because of hunger, and the concept of water in the thirsty man because of thirst, so also the concepts of possessions and money linger because of greed, and the concepts of food and of the shameful thoughts begotten of food linger because of the passions.

But this will be shown likewise also in the case of the thoughts of vainglory, and of the other thoughts.

It is not possible for a mind choked by such thoughts to stand before God and to bind on the crown of righteousness.

For dragged down by these thoughts, even that thrice-wretched mind in the Gospels declined the supper of the knowledge of Christ;

and again, the one bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness had a garment woven from these thoughts, which He who invited declared to be unworthy of such a wedding;

wherefore the wedding garment is the dispassion of a rational soul that has renounced worldly desires.

...but the cause why the concepts of sensible objects, when they linger, destroy knowledge, has been stated in the chapters On Prayer.

Of the demons opposing the practical life, there are three chief leaders in the front rank, whom the whole camp of the foreigners follows, who first take their stand in the war and call the souls toward evil through the unclean thoughts;

those entrusted with the appetites of gluttony, those who suggest the love of money to us, and those who call us toward the esteem of men.

Desiring, then, pure prayer, keep watch over anger; and loving chastity, control the belly, do not give bread to your stomach, and squeeze it with water, be vigilant in prayer, and put grudge-bearing far from you; let the words of the Holy Spirit not fail you, and knock at the doors (of Scripture) with the hands of the virtues.

Then dispassion of heart will dawn upon you, and you will see your mind, star-like, in prayer.

Of the concepts, some stamp and shape our ruling faculty, while others provide only knowledge without stamping or shaping the mind.

For the phrase, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, deposits indeed a certain concept in the heart, yet does not shape it, nor stamp it.

The phrase, Having taken bread, shapes the mind, while the phrase, to break, again stamps the mind.

The phrase, I saw the Lord seated on a throne high and lifted up, stamps the mind, apart from the phrase, I saw the Lord; and the literal expression seems to stamp the mind, but what it signifies does not stamp it.

For he (Isaiah) saw with the prophetic eye the rational nature exalted through the practical life, having received in itself the knowledge of God.

For God is said to sit there where He is known, wherefore a pure mind is also called the throne of God.

And a woman is also called a throne of dishonor, that is, a soul that hates righteousness; and the dishonor of the soul is vice and ignorance.

The concept of God, then, is not among those that stamp the mind, but among the concepts that do not stamp the mind.

Wherefore the one who prays must wholly separate himself from the things that stamp the mind.

And you will inquire whether it is, as in the case of bodies and their thoughts, so also in the case of incorporeal beings and their principles, and whether the mind will be stamped in one way when it sees a (created) mind, and disposed in another way when it sees the principle of it. From this we know how spiritual knowledge withdraws the mind from the concepts that stamp it, and presents it unstamped to God, because the concept of God is not among those that stamp;

for God is not a body, but rather is among the things that do not stamp.

Again, of the contemplations that do not stamp the mind, some signify the essence of incorporeal beings, while others signify their principles;

and it does not happen with incorporeal beings as it does with bodies;

for in the case of bodies, some stamped the mind, while others did not stamp it;

but here neither concept stamps the mind.

When the demon of gluttony, having striven much and often, is not strong enough to corrupt the ascetic self-control that has been formed, then it casts the mind into a desire for the most extreme asceticism, from which it also brings forward into the midst the things concerning Daniel, that frugal life and the seeds (pulse), and it makes mention of certain other anchorites who have lived thus continually, or who began so, and it compels (the monk) to become an imitator of these;

so that, pursuing immoderate self-control, he may also fail of due measure, the body not holding out because of its own weakness—truly blessing with the body while cursing with the heart;

to which (demon) I think it right that these men should not yield, nor abstain from bread, oil, and water.

For this regimen the brethren have proved most excellent, and that not to satiety, and once a day.

...(so as) to receive the crown of dispassion.

By dispassion I mean not the cessation of sin in act—for this is called self-control—but the cutting off, in the mind, of the passionate thoughts, which holy Paul also named the spiritual circumcision of the hidden Jew.

But if anyone is despondent over the things said, let him remember the chosen vessel, the Apostle, who finished his course in hunger and thirst.

And the adversary of truth, the demon of accidie, imitates this demon, suggesting the most extreme withdrawal to the enduring one, calling him to zeal for John the Baptist and for Antony, the first-fruits of the anchorites, so that, not bearing the prolonged and inhuman withdrawal, he may flee with shame, leaving the place, and he himself thereafter, boasting, may say, I prevailed against him. CHAPTER.

The unclean thoughts receive materials for growth, and extend themselves along with many objects;

for they cross great seas in thought, and do not refuse to travel long roads, because of the great heat of the passion;

but those who have been somewhat purified are narrower than these, unable to extend themselves along with objects because of the weakness of the passion; whence they are moved rather contrary to nature, and, according to the wise Solomon, wandering outside for some time, they gather even stubble for the unlawful brick-making, so that they may be saved like a gazelle from the snares, and like a bird from the trap.

For it is easier to purify an unclean soul than to recall to health a soul once purified and again wounded, since the demon of sadness does not permit it, but always presents to the pupils of the eyes, at the time of prayer, the image of sin.

The demons do not know our hearts, as some men suppose;

for He alone is the knower of hearts who understands the mind of men and who fashioned their hearts each one separately;

but from the spoken word, and from such movements of the body, they come to know most of the movements in the heart.

These things I now wished to make clear, but the holy priest restrained me, saying it was unworthy that such things be made public and cast into the ears of the profane;

for, he said, even the one who associates with a woman in her impurity becomes liable, according to the law.

But (it suffices to know) that from such tokens they recognize the things hidden in the heart, and take occasions from these against us; for instance, we have often reproved certain ones who spoke evil, not being disposed lovingly toward them, wherefore we also fell into the demon of grudge-bearing, and immediately received evil thoughts against them, the very ones we had earlier known to have befallen us.

Wherefore the Holy Spirit also rightly brings charge against us:

Sitting, you spoke against your brother, and against your mother's son you laid a stumbling-block, and you opened the door to the thoughts of grudge-bearing, and at the time of prayer you troubled the mind, always fantasizing the face of your enemy and making this into a god;

for whatever the mind looks at while praying, this it must by all means confess to be a god.

But let us flee, beloved, the sickness of evil-speaking, let us never remember anyone with evil, nor distort our looks at the remembrance of our neighbor.

For the wicked demons examine all our postures, and leave nothing of ours unscrutinized—not a reclining, not a sitting, not a standing, not a word, not a passing by, not a glance; they examine everything, they set everything in motion, all day long they devise treachery against us, so that at the time of prayer they may slander the humble mind and quench its blessed light.

And what does holy Paul say to Titus? In your teaching, (show) incorrupt speech, sound, beyond reproach, so that he who is of the opposing side may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. And the blessed David also prays, saying:

Deliver me from the slander of men, calling even the demons men because of the rational quality of their nature;

but the Savior also in the Gospels called the one who sowed in us the tares of evil an enemy man.

From whom may we also be delivered by the grace of Christ and our God, to whom belong honor and glory unto the ages.

There are certain demons among the unclean ones who always sit before those who read, and attempt to snatch away their mind, often taking occasions even from the divine Scriptures themselves, and ending up in evil thoughts;

and there are times when they compel one to yawn beyond his custom, and cast on a very heavy sleep, far different from the usual;

as some of the brethren imagined, by some unspeakable natural opposition;

but I, having observed it often, learned thus:

they touch the eyelids and the whole head, and chill it with their own body;

for the bodies of the demons are exceedingly cold, and resemble ice;

whence we also feel the head being drawn, as if by a cupping-glass, with a grinding (of the teeth).

This they do in order that, drawing to themselves the heat stored in the skull, the eyelids, thereafter slackened by the moisture and cold, may slide down over the pupils of the eyes.

At any rate, having often felt them, I found the eyelids frozen stiff like ice, and the whole face deadened and shuddering.

And yet natural sleep by its nature warms the bodies,

and makes the faces of the healthy fresh, as can be learned even from experience itself;

but those (yawns) that are contrary to nature and prolonged, they (the demons) produce by making themselves thin and touching the inner parts of the mouth.

But this I did not understand until today, though I have often suffered it;

yet I heard holy Macarius speaking this to me, and bringing as proof the practice of those who yawn sealing the mouth, according to an unspeakable ancient tradition.

All these things we suffer because we do not attend soberly to our reading, nor remember that we are reading the holy oracles of the living God.

And since there are also successions of the demons, when the first has grown weak in the war and is unable to stir its favorite passion, having observed these successions, we find them thus:

When for a long time the thoughts of some passion have grown scarce, and there comes a sudden boiling and stirring of it, while we have given no occasion through negligence, then we know that a more grievous demon than the former has succeeded us, and, keeping the place of the one that fled, has filled it up with its own wickedness.

But this one too understands our soul very well, being warred against far more violently than usual, and having suddenly fallen out from the thoughts of yesterday and the day before, with no pretext having intruded from outside.

Let the mind, therefore, beholding these things, flee to the Lord, having received the helmet of salvation, and put on the breastplate of righteousness, and drawn the sword of the spirit, and lifted the shield of faith, and let it say, looking up with tears to its own heaven:

Lord Christ, power of my salvation, incline Your ear to me, hasten to deliver me.

Be to me a protecting God, and a place of refuge to save me. But especially by fasting and vigils let it polish the sword.

...on the seventh (day) he will know it (the demon) to have become little by little like the one it was taught (by), and thereafter remaining for a whole year, being for the most part wounded rather than wounding, until the one who succeeds it also arrives;

if indeed for a time, like the things concerning Job, we fall under them, and our houses are plundered by the lawless.

Unclean thoughts often receive materials for growth, and extend themselves along with many objects.

For they cross great seas in thought, and do not refuse to travel long roads, because of the great heat of the passion.

But those who have been somewhat purified are narrower than these, unable to extend themselves along with many objects, because of the weakness of the passion;

whence they are moved rather contrary to nature, and, according to the wise Solomon, they wander outside for some time, and gather stubble for the unlawful brick-making, no longer receiving straw.

One must therefore guard the heart with all watchfulness, so that it may be saved like a gazelle from the snares, and like a bird from the trap.

For it is easier to purify an unclean soul than to recall to health a soul once purified and again wounded, since the demon of sadness does not permit it, but always leaps upon the pupils of the eyes, and at the time of prayer presents the image of sin.

A rational nature put to death by evil, Christ raises up through the contemplation of all the ages;

but His Father raises up the soul that has died this death of Christ, through the knowledge of Himself.

And this is what was said by the Apostle, If we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live together with Him. (70)

When the mind, having put off the old man, puts on over itself the one that is from grace, then at the time of prayer it will also see its own state, resembling sapphire or the color of heaven, which Scripture also names the place of God, seen by the elders upon Mount Sinai.

The mind would not see the place of God within itself unless it had become higher than all the things that are in objects;

but it will not become higher unless it has stripped off the passions that bind it, through the concepts, to sensible objects;

and it will lay aside the passions through the virtues, and the bare thoughts through spiritual contemplation;

and this in turn, when there appears to it that light which at the time of prayer outlines (figures forth) the place of God.