Theological and Ethical Discourses 1 part 19/27

But since God has ordained, through death and the resurrection, to give us the kingdom and incorruption and all eternal life, we already, from this present life, become, without doubt, soul-wise sharers and partakers of the good things to come — such as being incorruptible and immortal and sons of God and sons of light and sons of day and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, as manifestly carrying that very kingdom about within us (for all these things we already receive from this present life in the perception and knowledge of the soul, unless we are somehow unapproved in faith or deficient in the working of the divine commandments) — but bodily, no longer so, but rather we carry about this body still corruptible, as did Christ and God before the resurrection; and being contained and bound by it in our soul, we cannot now receive the whole of the glory that is being revealed to us, but beholding as in a mirror the ineffable ocean of glory, we consider that we see but a single drop of it, and for this reason we say that we now see 'in a mirror and in an enigma'; yet, as regards the present life, we see ourselves made spiritually like unto Him who is seen by us and who sees us;

just as He himself, transforming it, raised this body from the tomb by divine power, so also shall we all receive this same body made spiritual; and we who were first made like Him in soul shall then be made like Him also bodily together with the soul at once — that is, we shall be like Him: men by nature, gods by grace, just as He himself, God by nature, was styled man by goodness.

But those who know this mystery precisely, how do they not long for and desire death, just as the Apostle says:

'For while we are in this tent we groan, awaiting eagerly the revelation of the sons of God.'

For if this is not so, and we, while still in the body from this present life, do not become partakers and sharers of the eternal good things, nor do we the elect receive the grace, then Christ himself is a prophet and not God;

and moreover, everything that His Gospel says is prophecy concerning things to come, and not the gift of grace;

and likewise the apostles too were entrusted with prophecy, but not with the fulfillment of what was prophesied, nor did they themselves receive anything, nor did they impart anything to others.

But O the ignorance of those who hold such views, and their darkening of mind!

Then, according to them, our faith consists of empty words, devoid of works.

For if the saving grace of God has appeared to all men in word only and not in reality, and we suppose the mystery of our faith to have come about in this way, who is more wretched than we?

If Christ is the light of the world and God, yet we believe that He is not continually seen by any man at all, who then is more unbelieving than we?

If, then, He is light, but we say that those who put Him on do not perceive Him, how do we differ from the dead?

And if He is the vine and we are the branches, then, if we do not at all know our union with Him, we are lifeless and unfruitful and dry wood, mere fuel for unquenchable fire.

And if those who eat His flesh and drink His blood have eternal life, according to His divine word, but we, eating these things, perceive nothing more happening in us than ordinary perceptible food, nor do we receive any other life in knowledge, then we have partaken only of bare bread, and not of God at all.

For if Christ is God and man, and His holy flesh is not flesh alone, but flesh and God inseparably, yet also without confusion — visible in the flesh, that is, in the bread, to the physical eyes, but invisible in His divinity to the physical eyes, yet beheld by the eyes of the soul —

'He who eats my flesh,' He says, 'and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.'

And He did not say, 'it abides in them and they in it,' but 'in me,' that is, in my glory, in my light, in my divinity.

'For I,' He says, 'am in the Father, and the Father in me;'

'and I in you, and you in me.'

If, then, we suppose that all these things come to pass in us without knowledge and without perception, who indeed could adequately lament our insensibility?

But blessed are those who received Christ, who came as light in the darkness, for they have become sons of light and of day.

Blessed are those who have now put on his light, for they have already clothed themselves with the wedding garment;

they shall not be bound hand or foot, nor shall they be cast into the eternal fire.

Blessed are those who have beheld that same Christ in the body, but thrice-blessed are those who have seen him intellectually and spiritually and worshiped him, for they shall never see death forever.

And do not disbelieve this, seeing that it happens even among earthly things;

for condemned men who are deemed worthy to see the king on earth are immediately released from the sentence leading to death.

Blessed are those who eat Christ daily with such contemplation and knowledge, as the prophet Isaiah ate the coal, for they shall be cleansed from every defilement of both soul and body.

Blessed are those who at every hour taste the ineffable with the mouth of their mind, for they shall walk becomingly as in the day, and shall spend all their time in gladness.

Blessed are those who have already come to know the light of the Lord as that very One from here on, for they shall stand before him without shame in the age to come.

Blessed are those who always live in the light of Christ, for both now and forever they are his brothers and fellow heirs, and shall ever remain so.

Blessed are those who have now kindled the light in their own heart and kept it unquenched, for at the departure from this life they shall go forth radiantly to meet the bridegroom, and with lamps burning shall enter with him into the bridal chamber.

Blessed are those who have not reckoned within themselves that men do not receive the full assurance of their own salvation already from this present time, but rather at the departure from this life, or even after that departure, for they shall strive to obtain it now.

Blessed are those who doubt none of the things that have been said, nor suspect that this is false, for even if they possess none of these things -- which I pray may not be so -- they will nonetheless certainly strive to acquire them.

...nor even light -- yet at least perhaps they will depart with good hopes, and shall be in it, however modestly.

Blessed are those who always weep bitterly for their own sins, for the light shall overtake them and shall transform their bitter tears into sweet ones.

Blessed are those who are illumined by the divine light and see their own weakness and perceive the unsightliness of their soul's garment, for they shall weep unceasingly and be washed clean by streams of tears.

Blessed are those who have drawn near to the divine light and entered within it and become wholly light, having been commingled with it, for they have completely stripped off the filthy garment and shall no longer weep bitter tears.

Blessed are those who see their own garment shining like Christ, for they shall be filled every hour with inexpressible joy, and shall weep sweetly in amazement, judging themselves to have already become sons and partakers of the resurrection.

Blessed are those who continually keep the eye of the intellect open, and in every prayer behold the light and speak with him mouth to mouth, for they have become -- and shall be -- equal in honor to the angels, and, if it be bold to say so, even above the angels;

for those [the angels] sing hymns, but these [men] converse with him directly.

But if they have become such, and are always becoming such, while still living in this life and bound fast in the corruption of the flesh, what sort of persons shall they be after the resurrection and after receiving back that spiritual and incorruptible body?

Assuredly, not only equal to the angels, but also like unto the Master of the angels himself, as it is written:

'We know,' it says, 'that when he is revealed, we shall be like him.'

Blessed is that monk who stands before God in prayer and sees him and is seen by him, and perceives himself to have become outside the world, being in God alone, and is unable to know whether he is in the body or out of the body, for he shall hear unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter, and shall see what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of carnal man.

Blessed is he who has beheld the light of the world formed within himself, for having Christ as an embryo within him, he shall be reckoned as his mother, just as that unerring One himself promised:

'Those who hear the word of God and do it' [are my mother and brothers].

Therefore those who do not keep the commandments willingly deprive themselves of such grace, since the thing is possible, and was, and is, and shall be, and has come to pass, and does come to pass, and shall come to pass for all who fulfill his precepts.

But lest, by leaving this without testimony, we be suspected of speaking on our own authority and of dogmatizing things impossible as though they were possible, let us again bring forward for you the blessed Paul himself, the mouth of Christ, setting this forth clearly when he says:

'My little children, for whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you.'

Where, then, does he say he shall be formed, or in what place and part of our body? In the forehead? Or do you suppose it to be in the face or in the breast?

By no means, but within, in our heart.

Have you then supposed that he is formed even bodily?

Far from it; rather, he is formed, but incorporeally, and in a manner befitting God.

But just as a woman clearly knows, when she is pregnant, that the infant leaps within her womb, and could never be ignorant that she has it within herself, so too the one who has Christ formed within himself both knows his movements, that is, his illuminations, and is not at all ignorant of his leapings, that is, his lightning-flashes, and beholds his formation within himself;

he is shown as in a mirror -- not as an unsubstantial phantom, as that would be, but shown in light in a hypostatic and substantial manner, in a formless form, and in a shapeless shape, seen invisibly and comprehended incomprehensibly.

Thus, then, O brothers, the incomprehensibility of our faith is comprehended.

Thus, in whomever the Father and the Son come to be present in the Holy Spirit and truly make their abode, they are beheld and comprehended without doubt, without variation, being known, as we have said, in one single light.

But just as one who pursues a fugitive, even though he thinks himself near him and close upon his heels, and already seems to be touching him and reaching him with his fingertips, is nevertheless unable to lay hold of him, being, as the saying goes, but a hair's breadth away -- so also, if we hold to some small thought or combination of thoughts -- I mean of unbelief, or double-mindedness, or cowardice, or any passion whatsoever -- with negligence and idleness, or if we lay claim at all to some small and least matter, we shall not become partakers of the Godhead, nor shall we be lifted up to the height of this glory.

For as it is with the 'hair's breadth' in that case, so also this small thing operates in spiritual matters.

And if we do not utterly despise even our own soul and body, as though called to martyrdom, and give ourselves and our souls wholly over to every punishment and every death, without even remembering anything pertaining to the life and sustenance of this corruptible body, let alone being anxious about it, we shall not become friends and brothers, nor partakers and fellow heirs, nor shall we come to be in contemplation, knowledge, and experience of the aforesaid mysteries of God.

For this very reason, let the one who has not been deemed worthy to attain to these things and to come into possession of such goods condemn only himself, and let him not say, making excuses for excuses in sins, that the thing is impossible, or that it does indeed happen, but unknowingly;

but let him know, being fully assured from the divine Scriptures, that the thing is indeed possible and true, coming to pass in deed and being wrought knowingly, but that through idleness and neglect of the commandments each one deprives himself, in proportion, of such goods;

May we all attain to these things, tasting them here and knowing that the Lord is good, and there beholding him wholly, and rejoicing together with him unto endless ages of ages;

Concerning the life-giving mortification of Jesus and God, which continually comes to pass perceptibly in the perfect.

And that the acquisition of the virtues is purchased with blood;

and what are the lodging-places of the virtues, and that he who does not ascend to the kingdom of heaven in order, by the first step, shall by no means enter into it.

That in the perfect there is joy and exultation, and no tears, and the streams of theology gush forth.

And toward the end, that one ought not to leap upon positions of authority without the grace that fully assures our hearts, the grace that calls one to shepherd the people of God;

The things concerning the life-giving mortification of Jesus and God, and its wondrous operation which continually takes place in those who are perfect in virtue and knowledge, are not discerned by everyone who merely hears of them -- even if someone should suppose so -- but only by those who have come to know and clearly grasped the most sacred saying of the Apostle, which speaks thus:

'...those who have, as though they had not; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who weep, as though they wept not; and those who rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those who use the world, as though not using it to the full' -- so also those who are anxious, as though not anxious, and those who labor, as though not laboring.

'As dying, and behold, we live; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.'

Do not, then, pass over these things simply, nor suppose that you understand in some vague way the power hidden within them, but consider carefully, beloved, the inward disposition of your soul, and from things that are seen we shall set before you the contemplation of what has been said;

but pay careful attention to what is being said.

He who has already become dead is disposed toward none of the things that are seen by sense-perception;

and he who has nothing is altogether deprived, is in need of everything, and desires everything;

but he who possesses all things -- toward what other thing of this life could he direct his desire, having evidently embraced all things and left nothing which he ought still to desire to acquire?

But blessed is he who has sought these things in deed, who has grasped, seen, and learned them by experience.

For our words are not empty words, but just as houses and cities and palaces exist at various points along roads and in various regions, so too, along that very road which leads to heaven, the commandments of God and the virtues exist at various stages and places.

We, then, speak of those things insofar as speech is capable of making clear those visible structures and their magnitudes and beauties.

But how shall the one who merely reads become, from words alone, a beholder of the things themselves?

For it is possible to see them, or some of them in part, without acquiring them.

For to see, or to hear, and again to tell others what one has heard, is easy and simple for everyone; but to acquire any of these things is bought at a price.

And that which is given as the price for such purchase is not gold, nor even silver, but blood;

for it is with blood that each one of us who so wills purchases these things, one by one.

For in truth, unless one is slaughtered like a sheep for the sake of even a single, ordinary virtue, and pours out his own blood for it, he shall never acquire it;

for it is through death by deliberate resolve that God has ordained that we should receive eternal life.

But let us see what and how many are the dwellings and houses of the virtues, for the sake of which one must pour out his blood in order to acquire them.

The first house, then, is blessed humility;

'Blessed,' it says, 'are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'

Whoever, then, wishes to enter into this house and, together with it, to acquire the kingdom of heaven, unless he first, before its gates, like a ram bound hand and foot, gives himself over for slaughter to all who wish it, and is laid down and utterly put to death, having slain his own will, shall never enter within it, nor shall he possess it;

But if not this one, then not any other among the rest either.

For it is not possible for one who bypasses this one ever to attain to another.

For God has established these in order and in degree.

And just as certain islands in the expanse of the sea, so you should understand with discernment that these virtues likewise exist in the midst of life — set apart from one another in thought, yet joined together as it were by certain bridges, removed and separated from all earthly things, and each securely held by the other.

The beginning of all these, then, is blessed humility, in which he who has entered through repentance by the western gate, and has lingered there a sufficient time, goes out by the eastern door and, walking upon the bridge, thus comes to the abode and house of mourning;

and having lingered there also, having washed and been cleansed and delighted in its beauty, he passes on to the lodging of gentleness;

and having passed beyond this — or rather, having come to be within it — he finds the royal treasury of purity;

and having come to be within it, he beholds the King of glory sitting within, him who is invisible to all creation.

Understand, then, for me the body as a palace, and the soul of each of us human beings as the royal treasury, to which God, being joined through the working of the commandments, renders it wholly of divine light and makes it god through his communion and grace. Into this state befitting God, then, comes everyone who passes through the aforesaid path of the virtues; but to pass through by some other way, bypassing this or that house, and by some device come to be in the other, is altogether impossible.

For thus has the Master Christ ordained the entrance into the kingdom of heaven to be, and it cannot come to pass otherwise.

For if the sea cannot overstep its own bounds, how much more shall these be kept inviolate and unaltered?

In another sense, the ascent of those who press on toward heaven resembles a ladder with rungs.

To be more zealous in purpose than one another, and to ascend it more swiftly, and to outstrip one's neighbor, is within our own power;

but not to begin from the first rung and ascend the ladder in order, but somehow to skip the first rung and arrive at another, is altogether impracticable and impossible for human beings.

For those who step outside this straight path and order go greatly astray.

For just as it is impossible, without a ladder, ever to ascend into a lofty house, or to be found within that very royal bedchamber where the king himself resides, before having been in those same royal forecourts, so also it is impossible for one who has not walked according to the aforesaid order to enter into the kingdom of heaven;

for all such people are outside the royal road — let no one deceive them — and they travel on, unaware of their error.

But O Lord, guide of those who have gone astray, the unerring way of those who come to you, turn us all back and set us beside this your ladder; and, that we may lay hold of it, guide our hands with your own hand, and strengthen us to be lifted up from the earth and to set foot upon the first rung, that we may know that we have somewhere at last laid hold of something and have been raised a little from the earth.

For we must first ascend a little toward you, so that you, the good Master, may in turn descend far, and be united to us.

Show us, Master, the outer gate of your kingdom, that persevering there we may knock upon it, until through the death that comes by our own choice the gate be opened to us; and, having entered within, and knocking on each gate in turn and opening them, may you yourself, hearing our groans and the beating of our breasts, hasten to come down from your lofty upper chambers, O God most compassionate and merciful, so that we may hear the sound of your most pure feet and know that you are opening the inner gates, which have been shut to us sinners, and, coming to us, may say:

And answering, with a cry and with lamentation, let us say to you, with trembling and with joy:

It is we, Master — we the unworthy, the poor, the cast-off and wicked servants of yours, we who until now have been wretchedly wandering among mountains and cliffs and pits;

we are the ones who foolishly defiled your holy baptism, who renounced the covenants made with you;

we are the ones who fled and willingly went over as deserters to your enemy, the plotter against our souls.

Now, therefore, having remembered you and your love for mankind and your goodness, having fled from there and having labored, we have come in great fear and trembling.

Forgive us and be not angry with us, Master, but having pity and mercy on us wretches, open to us, Lord, and remember not our evil deeds;

nor hold our ingratitude against us — for we have stood a long time knocking — nor turn a deaf ear to us your servants, lest, growing weary, we should turn back.

Open to us, you who by nature love mankind, taking pity upon us.

For if, opening little by little, you open to us the door of your mercy, who, seeing you, will not tremble?

Who will not fall down in fear and trembling and beg for mercy?

Who, seeing you — who have myriads of angels and thousands upon thousands of archangels and thrones and dominions — having left the things above and come down to us, and met us, and opened the door, and graciously received us, and fallen upon our necks and kissed us, will not immediately be struck with astonishment and be unstrung as if dead?

And his bones will be poured out upon the ground like water, and he will weep night and day, pondering the sea of your compassion and goodness, and beholding, as in a mirror, the glory and splendor of your face.

Glory to you, who have ordered all things thus.

Glory to you, who were well pleased to be seen by us and to be united to us.

Glory to you, who through great compassion are revealed and seen by us — you who by nature are invisible even to the very heavenly powers.

Glory to you, who have ineffable mercy toward us, and who through repentance deign to dwell and walk about within us.

O the greatness of ineffable glory! O the excess of love!

He who holds all things together dwells within a corruptible and mortal man, he by whose indwelling power all things are sustained; and man becomes, as it were, a woman with child.

O ecstatic wonder, and incomprehensible works and mysteries of the incomprehensible God!

A man knowingly bears within himself God as light — him who made all things, including the very one who bears him, and who brought him forth and created him;

he bears him within as an ineffable, unutterable treasure — without quality, without quantity, without shape, immaterial, without form, fashioned in inexpressible beauty, wholly simple like light, the one above all light; and, clasping his hands together outwardly, he walks about in our midst, unrecognized by all who are with him.

Who, then, will worthily recount the joy of such a man?

For what else would such a one desire?

Of what visible world, or of how many visible worlds, will he not be richer?

And of what, then, will such a man ever be in want?

Truly, of none of the good things of God whatsoever.

But take heed — you who have been deemed worthy to become such a one (that I may now direct my word to you), you who have gained God dwelling wholly within yourself as an indweller — lest you ever do or utter from your lips anything unworthy of his will, and immediately lose the treasure hidden within you, as he rises up and departs from you.

Honor him as much as is in your power, and bring nothing that does not please him, nor anything not naturally proper to him, into his house; otherwise he will abandon you and depart, angered against you.

Do not speak many words to him, nor prostrate yourself before him, shamelessly reasoning within yourself and saying, 'I will display exceeding fervor and great zeal of love toward him, so that he may accept my intention and know that I love and honor him.'

Know, then, that before you even think these thoughts, he already knows all your reasonings, and nothing is hidden from him.

But indeed, do not even attempt to lay hold of him with the hands of the mind;

for being joy itself, he does not deign to enter the house of those who are afflicted and grieving, just as the industrious bee will not enter a smoke-filled house;

but when you have been made ready in freedom from care and in exultation, he will again be found within you; and then let the Master rest undisturbed upon your soul, as upon a couch.

And do not again begin to say within yourself that, if I do not weep before him, he will turn away from me as from one who despises him.

For if he wished you, having advanced to perfection, still to weep as one still repenting, whether being seen by you from afar rather than hidden, or indeed illuminating you, he would grant you this for the purification and the love of the beauty of your house;

Stand, then — I do not mean upright in body alone, but in the movements of your soul and its impulses.

Grant him stillness, since the King of those who reign has come to your house.

Say sternly to all the doorkeepers of your house — that is, to the senses themselves:

'The King,' say to them, 'stand well at the doors;'

'stand in stillness and in much fear.'

Let no one who comes to the door knock; let no cry of anyone, near or far, enter within; let no one steal in unnoticed, leaping in stealthily;

otherwise the King will at once abandon us and depart again.

Having said these things, therefore, stand in exultation of soul and radiance of countenance, beholding your uncircumscribed Master circumscribed within you in an uncircumscribed manner, and studying his ineffable beauty, comprehending incomprehensibly his all-holy face — which is inaccessible even to angels and archangels and all the heavenly powers.

Be astonished, rejoice, and, leaping spiritually, be glad and exult, attending with reverence to whatever he may bid you say or do.

For not like earthly kings — who, being themselves in need of those under their hand, would seek something for their own service or need —

for he is without need, and unless he first enriches his own servants, he does not come into their house.

Since he, then, as has been said, is without need, and has enriched you and made you free of need by his presence, pay heed to what he will speak within you — he who, from so great a height, went forth inseparably from the blessed bosom of the Father, and descended from the heavens all the way down to your lowliness.

For you will never find that he did this carelessly; rather, our good and man-loving Master always does this also for the salvation of many others as well.