-On the control of the tongue-
The greatest necessity of all is to control and curb our tongue. The mover of the tongue is the heart: what fills the heart is poured out through the tongue. And conversely, when feeling is poured out of the heart by the tongue, it becomes strengthened and firmly rooted in the heart. Therefore the tongue is one of the chief factors in building up inner disposition.
Good feelings are silent. The feelings which seek expression in words are mostly egotistical, since they seek to express what flatters our self-ove and can show us, as we imagine, in the best light. Loquacity mostly comes from a certain vainglory, which makes us think that we know a great deal and imagine our opinion on the subject of conversation to be the most satisfactory of all. So we experience an irresistible urge to speak out and in a stream of words, with many repetitions, to impress the same opinion in the hearts of others, thus foisting ourselves upon them as unbidden teachers and sometimes even dreaming of making pupils of men, who understand the subject much better than the teacher.
This refers, however, to cases when the subjects of conversation are more or less worthy of attention. But in most cases loquacity is a synonym of empty talk, and then there are no words to express the many evils, which arise from this ugly habit. In general, loquacity opens the doors of the soul, and the devout warmth of the heart at once escapes. Empty talk does the same, but even more so. Loquacity distracts one’s attention out of oneself, leaving the heart unprotected. Then the usual passionate interests and desires begin to steal into it, at times with such success that at the end of such empty talk the heart has not only consented, but has decided to commit passionate deeds. Empty talk is the door to criticism and slander, the spreader of false rumors and opinions, the sower of discord and strife. It stifles the taste for mental work and practically always serves as a cover for the absence of sound knowledge. When wordy talk is over, and the fog of self-complacency lifts, it always leaves behind a sense of frustration and indolence is it not proof of the fact that, even involuntarily, the soul itself feels robbed?
Do not prolong your conversation with a man, who is not listening to you with a good heart, lest you weary him and make yourself abhorrent. Beware of speaking in a severe or superior manner; for both are highly disagreeable and make people suspect you of great vanity and a high opinion of yourself. Never speak about yourself, about your affairs or your relatives, except when it is necessary, and even the be brief and say as little as possible. When you see that others speak too much of themselves, force yourself not to imitate them, even if their words appear humble and self-reproachful. As regards your neighbor and his affairs, do not refuse to discuss them, but always be as brief as you can, even when you have to speak of such things for his good.
While conversing, remember and try to follow the precept of St. Thalassius who says: ‘of the five attitudes in conversation with others, use three with discrimination and without fear; use the fourth infrequently and refrain from using the fifth altogether.” One writer understands the first three as follows: ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘of course’; by the fourth, he understands doubtful things and by the fifth, things totally unknown. In other words, about things you know for certain to be true or false, or self-evident, speak with conviction, saying that they are true, false, or evident. About doubtful things better say nothing, but when necessary, say that they are doubtful and reserve your judgment. Of what you know nothing, say nothing. Someone else says: we have five forms or modes of speech: the vocative, when we invoke someone; the interrogative, when we ask a question; the desiring or soliciting form, when we express a decisive opinion on something; the commanding, when masterfully and authoritatively we express a command. Of these five, use the first three freely, the fourth, as rarely as possible; the fifth, not at all.
When you have to speak, before expressing what has entered your heart and letting it pass to your tongue, examine it carefully; and you will find many things that are better not let past your lips. Know moreover that many things, which it seems to you good to express, are much better left buried in the tomb of silence. Sometimes you will yourself realize this, and immediately the conversation is over.
Silence is a great power in our unseen warfare and a sure hope of gaining victory. It is the guardian of holy prayer and miraculous helper in the practice of virtues; it is also a sign of spiritual wisdom. If you are just on the very point of preaching, know that silence is more worthy of wonder and glory. Thus, although one man ‘holdeth his tongue because he hath not to answer’, another ‘keepeth silence, knowing his time.’
I shall indicate to you the most direct and simple method to acquire the habit of silence: undertake this practice and the practice itself will teach you how to do it, and help you. To keep up your zeal in this work, reflect as often as you can on the pernicious results of indiscriminate babbling and on the salutary results of wise silence. When you come to taste the good fruit of silence, you will no longer need lessons about it.
Showing posts with label Unseen Warfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unseen Warfare. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Unseen Warfare: Part V
-How to overcome negligence-
To avoid falling into the pernicious evil of negligence, which will stop your progress towards perfection and deliver you into the hands of enemies, you must flee all kinds of inquisitiveness (trying to find out what’s here, or what’s there, idle wandering, empty chatter, gaping around), any kind of cleaving to something earthly, all arbitrary actions or ‘doing what I like’, which is totally out of keeping with your position.
Never delay in undertaking any work you have to do, for the first brief delay with lead to a second, more prolonged one, and the second to a third, still longer, and so on. Thus work begins too late and is not done in its proper time, or else is abandoned altogether, as something too burdensome. Having once tasted the pleasure of inaction, you begin to like and prefer it to action. In satisfying this desire, you will little by little form a habit of inaction and laziness, in which the passion for doing nothing will possess you to such an extent that you will cease even to see how incongruous and criminal it is; except perhaps when you weary of this laziness, and are again eager to take up your work. Then you will see with shame how negligent you have been and how many necessary works you have neglected, for the sake of the empty and useless ‘doing what you like’.
Scarcely perceptible at first, this negligence permeates everything and not only poisons the will, planting in it aversion to all kind of effort and all forms of spiritual doing and obedience, but also blinds the mind, and prevents it from seeing all the folly and falsehood of the arguments which support this disposition of will; for it hinders the mind from presenting to the consciousness the sound reasoning, which would have the power of moving the slothful will to perform the work quickly; each thing has to be done in its proper time, as required by its nature, and needs to be performed with full attention and care, to make it as perfect as possible.
If an evil thought comes to try and cast you into negligence, and suggests that the work necessary to acquire the virtue you love and desire is extremely long and hard, that your enemies are strong and numerous, while you are weak and alone, that you must do much, and perform great deeds to attain your aim; if, I say, the thought of negligence suggests all this to you, do not listen to it. On the contrary, look at the mater this way: of course you must work hard, but not much, you must undertake labors, but they are very small and will not last long; you will meet enemies, but instead of many there will be only one, and, although he strong, you are incomparably stronger. If you have this attitude, negligence will begin to retreat from you and in its place, under the influence of good thoughts and feelings, there will gradually enter into you a diligent zeal in everything, which will finally possess all the powers of your soul and body.
Do the same in relation to manual work and the tasks of your obedience. Sometimes your tasks may seem too many; you become flustered and are ready to give them up. But refrain from thinking of their great number; instead, force yourself, take up the most immediate task and do it with diligence, as though the others did not exist; and you will do it without trouble. Then do the same in relation to the other tasks, and you will finish them all calmly, without fuss and bother.
Behave thus in everything, and know that, if you do not listen to reason and do not thus try to overcome the sense of burden and difficulty, which the enemy presents to you in the tasks which lie before you, then negligence will finally take complete possession of you. Then you will feel as if you were carrying a mountain on your shoulders, not only when you are faced with some immediate task, but even when it is still far ahead; you will be weighed down and tormented by it, like a slave bound in slavery with no hope of release. Then, even at times of rest, you will have no rest, and will feel yourself overburdened with work, even while doing nothing.
Know also, my child, that this disease of laziness and negligence gradually undermines with its poison not only the first small roots out of which virtuous habits may grow, but even those which are already deep rooted and serve as a foundation of the whole order of righteous life. As a worm gradually gnaws at the root of a tree, so negligence, if it persists, insensibly wears away and manages to spread his nets and set the snares of temptations for every man; and exerts particular care and sly cunning in the case of those who are zealous in spiritual life, knowing that a lazy and negligent man easily submits to lusts and falls, as it is written: “the soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing’.
So be ever watchful, and take good care of everything good, as it behooves a courageous warrior: ‘The hands of the courageous are ever diligent’. He who gave you this morning has not bound himself with the promise to give you the evening too. Remember that the time you have in your hands is priceless and if you waste it uselessly, the hour will come when you will seek and not find it. Consider as lost a day when, although performing good deeds, you have not struggled to overcome your bad tendencies and desires. To end my lesson on this subject, I shall repeat the commandment: ‘Fight the good fight’ always. For one hour of diligent work has often gained heaven and one hour of negligence has lost it.
To avoid falling into the pernicious evil of negligence, which will stop your progress towards perfection and deliver you into the hands of enemies, you must flee all kinds of inquisitiveness (trying to find out what’s here, or what’s there, idle wandering, empty chatter, gaping around), any kind of cleaving to something earthly, all arbitrary actions or ‘doing what I like’, which is totally out of keeping with your position.
Never delay in undertaking any work you have to do, for the first brief delay with lead to a second, more prolonged one, and the second to a third, still longer, and so on. Thus work begins too late and is not done in its proper time, or else is abandoned altogether, as something too burdensome. Having once tasted the pleasure of inaction, you begin to like and prefer it to action. In satisfying this desire, you will little by little form a habit of inaction and laziness, in which the passion for doing nothing will possess you to such an extent that you will cease even to see how incongruous and criminal it is; except perhaps when you weary of this laziness, and are again eager to take up your work. Then you will see with shame how negligent you have been and how many necessary works you have neglected, for the sake of the empty and useless ‘doing what you like’.
Scarcely perceptible at first, this negligence permeates everything and not only poisons the will, planting in it aversion to all kind of effort and all forms of spiritual doing and obedience, but also blinds the mind, and prevents it from seeing all the folly and falsehood of the arguments which support this disposition of will; for it hinders the mind from presenting to the consciousness the sound reasoning, which would have the power of moving the slothful will to perform the work quickly; each thing has to be done in its proper time, as required by its nature, and needs to be performed with full attention and care, to make it as perfect as possible.
If an evil thought comes to try and cast you into negligence, and suggests that the work necessary to acquire the virtue you love and desire is extremely long and hard, that your enemies are strong and numerous, while you are weak and alone, that you must do much, and perform great deeds to attain your aim; if, I say, the thought of negligence suggests all this to you, do not listen to it. On the contrary, look at the mater this way: of course you must work hard, but not much, you must undertake labors, but they are very small and will not last long; you will meet enemies, but instead of many there will be only one, and, although he strong, you are incomparably stronger. If you have this attitude, negligence will begin to retreat from you and in its place, under the influence of good thoughts and feelings, there will gradually enter into you a diligent zeal in everything, which will finally possess all the powers of your soul and body.
Do the same in relation to manual work and the tasks of your obedience. Sometimes your tasks may seem too many; you become flustered and are ready to give them up. But refrain from thinking of their great number; instead, force yourself, take up the most immediate task and do it with diligence, as though the others did not exist; and you will do it without trouble. Then do the same in relation to the other tasks, and you will finish them all calmly, without fuss and bother.
Behave thus in everything, and know that, if you do not listen to reason and do not thus try to overcome the sense of burden and difficulty, which the enemy presents to you in the tasks which lie before you, then negligence will finally take complete possession of you. Then you will feel as if you were carrying a mountain on your shoulders, not only when you are faced with some immediate task, but even when it is still far ahead; you will be weighed down and tormented by it, like a slave bound in slavery with no hope of release. Then, even at times of rest, you will have no rest, and will feel yourself overburdened with work, even while doing nothing.
Know also, my child, that this disease of laziness and negligence gradually undermines with its poison not only the first small roots out of which virtuous habits may grow, but even those which are already deep rooted and serve as a foundation of the whole order of righteous life. As a worm gradually gnaws at the root of a tree, so negligence, if it persists, insensibly wears away and manages to spread his nets and set the snares of temptations for every man; and exerts particular care and sly cunning in the case of those who are zealous in spiritual life, knowing that a lazy and negligent man easily submits to lusts and falls, as it is written: “the soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing’.
So be ever watchful, and take good care of everything good, as it behooves a courageous warrior: ‘The hands of the courageous are ever diligent’. He who gave you this morning has not bound himself with the promise to give you the evening too. Remember that the time you have in your hands is priceless and if you waste it uselessly, the hour will come when you will seek and not find it. Consider as lost a day when, although performing good deeds, you have not struggled to overcome your bad tendencies and desires. To end my lesson on this subject, I shall repeat the commandment: ‘Fight the good fight’ always. For one hour of diligent work has often gained heaven and one hour of negligence has lost it.
Unseen Warfare: Part IV
-What to do when the higher, intelligent will seems to be
entirely overcome by the lower will and by the enemies-
If you sometimes feel such a strong uprising of sin that resistance to it will seem impossible and the very zeal to oppose it will appear exhausted, take care, brother, not to give up the struggle, but rouse yourself and stand firm. It is a subterfuge of the enemy, who, with the thought that resistance is hopeless, strives to undermine your firm stand and by making you lay down all your arms to force you to surrender to him. Make your mind see this subterfuge of the enemy more clearly and do not give ground. For so long as your will does not incline towards this passionate urge you are still among the victors, the fighters and slayers of the enemy, even if your sympathy is already ranged on the side of passion. Nothing and nobody can force your will or steal victory from your hands and overthrow you against your will, no matter how bitter the war waged in you by the enemies of your salvation. Our free will is endowed with such power, that even if all a man’s faculties, the whole world and all the demons rose up in arms against him and attacked him, they could not compel it. It is always left free to desire what they offer or demand, if it so wishes, or not to desire it, if it does not wish. On the other hand, for this very reason his will bears the responsibility for everything and is subject to judgment. Remember this well: no matter how weak and exhausted you may feel, you cannot find excuses for inkling towards passionate suggestions. Your conscience will tell you the same. So the stronger the attacks the stronger the resistance you must prepare, and never abandon this resolve.
Thus inspired, do what a warrior in physical warfare foes when he is hard pressed by the enemy; he steps back a little, to find a better point of vantage and see more clearly how best to speed his arrow at the heart of the foe. So you too, collect your thoughts within, and, re-establishing the consciousness and feeling of your nothingness and of your impotence to achieve by yourself what this moment demands. Then, examine carefully your preceding deeds, feelings and thoughts, and you will find that it is they that gave birth to the inner storm, which put you in this dangerous position. The enemy covered up your own shortcomings. You must shed the load of inattention and self-indulgence, repent, can confess your inner sin. After this, when the inner storm has dies down, the struggle should proceed in accordance with the general rules of unseen warfare, which have been mentioned in part already.
-War should be waged ceaselessly and courageously-
If you want to gain a speedy and easy victory over your enemies, brother, you must wage ceaseless and courageous war against all passions, especially and pre-eminently against self-love, or a foolish attachment to yourself, manifested in self-indulgence and self-pity. For it is the basis and source of all passions and cannot be tamed except by constant voluntary self-inflicted suffering and by welcoming afflictions, privations, calumnies, persecutions by the world and by men of the world. Failure to see the need of this pitiless attitude to yourself has always been, is, and will be the cause of our failure to achieve spiritual victories, and of their difficulty, rarity, imperfection and insecurity.
So this spiritual warfare of ours must be constant and never ceasing, and should be conducted with alertness and courage in the soul; this can easily be attained, if you seek these gifts. So advance into battle without hesitation. You must never be afraid, if you are troubled by a flood of thoughts, that the enemy is too strong against you, that his attacks are never ending, that the war will last for your lifetime, and that you cannot avoid incessant downfalls of all kinds. Even if you are wounded in battle, do not lay down your arms and turn to flight. Keep only one thing in your mind and intention-to fight with courage and ardor, since it is unavoidable. No man can escape this warfare, either in life or death. And he who does not fight to overcome his passions and his enemies will inevitably be taken prisoner, either here or yonder, and delivered to death.
-In what order should you fight your passions?-
It would be very useful for you, my brother, to know well the order in which you should fight your passions, so as to do this work as it should be done, instead of simply haphazardly, as some people do, without great success, and at times even with harm to themselves. The order, in which it is necessary to fight your enemies and struggle with your bad desires and passions, is the following: enter with attention into the heart and examine carefully with what thoughts, dispositions, and passionate attachments it is specially occupied, and which passion is most predominant and tyrannically rules there. Then against this passion first of all take up arms and struggle to overcome it. On this one concentrate all your attention and care, except only at the times when some other passions happens to rise in you. In that case you should deal with this one without delay and drive it away, after which you must once more turn your weapons against your chief passion, which constantly manifests its presence and power. For as in every kind of warfare, so in our unseen battle, we must fight first what is actually attacking us at the present moment.
-How to fight sudden impulses of passions-
If, my beloved, you are not yet accustomed to overcome sudden impulses and the excitement of passions, roused, for example by insults or by other clashes, I advise you to do this: make it a rule every morning, while you still sit at home, to review in your mind all the occasions you may meet with in the course of the day, both favorable and unfavorable, and visualize the passionate impulses, lusts and irritations they may provoke; then prepare in yourself beforehand how to stifle them at the very inception, without allowing them to develop. If you do this, you will never be taken unawares by any movements of passions, but will always be ready to resist them, without being troubled with anger or enticed by lust. This review of what may happen should be practiced especially when you have to go out and visit places where you are bound to meet people who can either attract or irritate you. Being prepared, you will easily avoid the one and the other. If a wave of passion arises, it will roll over your head and will break against you as against a rock, instead of carrying you with it like a flimsy boat.
But this preparation is not yet everything. Passion can still be excited, and excited suddenly. In such a case act as follows: as soon as you feel a passionate impulse, whether of lust or irritation, hasten to curb it by an effort of will, descend into your heart with the attention of your mind, and try in every possible way not to let the passion enter the heart. Watch to prevent the heart being irritated by what irritates, or attracted by what attracts. If, however, either the one or the other happens suddenly to be born in your heart, to begin with try to prevent it from coming out; do not express it ether by word, look, or gesture.
The best and most efficient protection against a sudden uprising of passions is getting rid of the causes, which are always giving birth to such movements. These causes are twofold: like and dislike. If you, my beloved, are caught and made captive by a liking for some person, or by attachment to some thing, whether great or small, it is natural that if you meet them and see them insulted or harmed, or someone wished to entice them away or steal them from you, you immediately become indignant, grieve, become agitated and rise up in arms against those who do it. Therefore if you wish to be free of such sudden disturbances, take care to overcome and uproot from your heart this wrong attraction or wrong attachment. And the further it has gone, the more care you should use to have an equable mind and acquire a sensible attitude to things and people.
In the same way, if you feel dislike towards some person or aversion from some thing, it is equally natural for indignation or disgust to rise up suddenly if you meet them, and especially if you hear someone praise them. Therefore if you wish to preserve the peace in your heart in such cases, urge yourself to stifle these bad feelings on this occasion, and later to annihilate them altogether.
entirely overcome by the lower will and by the enemies-
If you sometimes feel such a strong uprising of sin that resistance to it will seem impossible and the very zeal to oppose it will appear exhausted, take care, brother, not to give up the struggle, but rouse yourself and stand firm. It is a subterfuge of the enemy, who, with the thought that resistance is hopeless, strives to undermine your firm stand and by making you lay down all your arms to force you to surrender to him. Make your mind see this subterfuge of the enemy more clearly and do not give ground. For so long as your will does not incline towards this passionate urge you are still among the victors, the fighters and slayers of the enemy, even if your sympathy is already ranged on the side of passion. Nothing and nobody can force your will or steal victory from your hands and overthrow you against your will, no matter how bitter the war waged in you by the enemies of your salvation. Our free will is endowed with such power, that even if all a man’s faculties, the whole world and all the demons rose up in arms against him and attacked him, they could not compel it. It is always left free to desire what they offer or demand, if it so wishes, or not to desire it, if it does not wish. On the other hand, for this very reason his will bears the responsibility for everything and is subject to judgment. Remember this well: no matter how weak and exhausted you may feel, you cannot find excuses for inkling towards passionate suggestions. Your conscience will tell you the same. So the stronger the attacks the stronger the resistance you must prepare, and never abandon this resolve.
Thus inspired, do what a warrior in physical warfare foes when he is hard pressed by the enemy; he steps back a little, to find a better point of vantage and see more clearly how best to speed his arrow at the heart of the foe. So you too, collect your thoughts within, and, re-establishing the consciousness and feeling of your nothingness and of your impotence to achieve by yourself what this moment demands. Then, examine carefully your preceding deeds, feelings and thoughts, and you will find that it is they that gave birth to the inner storm, which put you in this dangerous position. The enemy covered up your own shortcomings. You must shed the load of inattention and self-indulgence, repent, can confess your inner sin. After this, when the inner storm has dies down, the struggle should proceed in accordance with the general rules of unseen warfare, which have been mentioned in part already.
-War should be waged ceaselessly and courageously-
If you want to gain a speedy and easy victory over your enemies, brother, you must wage ceaseless and courageous war against all passions, especially and pre-eminently against self-love, or a foolish attachment to yourself, manifested in self-indulgence and self-pity. For it is the basis and source of all passions and cannot be tamed except by constant voluntary self-inflicted suffering and by welcoming afflictions, privations, calumnies, persecutions by the world and by men of the world. Failure to see the need of this pitiless attitude to yourself has always been, is, and will be the cause of our failure to achieve spiritual victories, and of their difficulty, rarity, imperfection and insecurity.
So this spiritual warfare of ours must be constant and never ceasing, and should be conducted with alertness and courage in the soul; this can easily be attained, if you seek these gifts. So advance into battle without hesitation. You must never be afraid, if you are troubled by a flood of thoughts, that the enemy is too strong against you, that his attacks are never ending, that the war will last for your lifetime, and that you cannot avoid incessant downfalls of all kinds. Even if you are wounded in battle, do not lay down your arms and turn to flight. Keep only one thing in your mind and intention-to fight with courage and ardor, since it is unavoidable. No man can escape this warfare, either in life or death. And he who does not fight to overcome his passions and his enemies will inevitably be taken prisoner, either here or yonder, and delivered to death.
-In what order should you fight your passions?-
It would be very useful for you, my brother, to know well the order in which you should fight your passions, so as to do this work as it should be done, instead of simply haphazardly, as some people do, without great success, and at times even with harm to themselves. The order, in which it is necessary to fight your enemies and struggle with your bad desires and passions, is the following: enter with attention into the heart and examine carefully with what thoughts, dispositions, and passionate attachments it is specially occupied, and which passion is most predominant and tyrannically rules there. Then against this passion first of all take up arms and struggle to overcome it. On this one concentrate all your attention and care, except only at the times when some other passions happens to rise in you. In that case you should deal with this one without delay and drive it away, after which you must once more turn your weapons against your chief passion, which constantly manifests its presence and power. For as in every kind of warfare, so in our unseen battle, we must fight first what is actually attacking us at the present moment.
-How to fight sudden impulses of passions-
If, my beloved, you are not yet accustomed to overcome sudden impulses and the excitement of passions, roused, for example by insults or by other clashes, I advise you to do this: make it a rule every morning, while you still sit at home, to review in your mind all the occasions you may meet with in the course of the day, both favorable and unfavorable, and visualize the passionate impulses, lusts and irritations they may provoke; then prepare in yourself beforehand how to stifle them at the very inception, without allowing them to develop. If you do this, you will never be taken unawares by any movements of passions, but will always be ready to resist them, without being troubled with anger or enticed by lust. This review of what may happen should be practiced especially when you have to go out and visit places where you are bound to meet people who can either attract or irritate you. Being prepared, you will easily avoid the one and the other. If a wave of passion arises, it will roll over your head and will break against you as against a rock, instead of carrying you with it like a flimsy boat.
But this preparation is not yet everything. Passion can still be excited, and excited suddenly. In such a case act as follows: as soon as you feel a passionate impulse, whether of lust or irritation, hasten to curb it by an effort of will, descend into your heart with the attention of your mind, and try in every possible way not to let the passion enter the heart. Watch to prevent the heart being irritated by what irritates, or attracted by what attracts. If, however, either the one or the other happens suddenly to be born in your heart, to begin with try to prevent it from coming out; do not express it ether by word, look, or gesture.
The best and most efficient protection against a sudden uprising of passions is getting rid of the causes, which are always giving birth to such movements. These causes are twofold: like and dislike. If you, my beloved, are caught and made captive by a liking for some person, or by attachment to some thing, whether great or small, it is natural that if you meet them and see them insulted or harmed, or someone wished to entice them away or steal them from you, you immediately become indignant, grieve, become agitated and rise up in arms against those who do it. Therefore if you wish to be free of such sudden disturbances, take care to overcome and uproot from your heart this wrong attraction or wrong attachment. And the further it has gone, the more care you should use to have an equable mind and acquire a sensible attitude to things and people.
In the same way, if you feel dislike towards some person or aversion from some thing, it is equally natural for indignation or disgust to rise up suddenly if you meet them, and especially if you hear someone praise them. Therefore if you wish to preserve the peace in your heart in such cases, urge yourself to stifle these bad feelings on this occasion, and later to annihilate them altogether.
Unseen Warfare: Part III
-On the many desires and tendencies existing
in man and on their struggle with one another-
Know, that in this unseen warfare, two wills existing in us fight against one another: one belongs to intelligent part of our soul and is therefore called the intelligent will, which is higher; the other belongs to the sensory part and is therefore called the sensory will, which is the lower. The latter is more frequently called the dumb, carnal, passionate will. The higher will is always desiring nothing but good, the lower-nothing but evil. Each equally happens by itself; so that neither is a good desire in itself reckoned as good, nor an evil desire as evil. The reckoning depends upon the inclination of our own free will. Therefore, when our will inclines towards a good desire, it is reckoned in our favor; but when we incline towards an evil desire, it is reckoned against us. These desires follow one another: when a good desire comes, and evil desire immediately opposes it; and when an evil desire comes, a good desire at once rises against it. Our will is free to follow the one and the other, and whatever desire our will inclines towards, it becomes victorious on this particular occasion. It is in this that all our unseen spiritual warfare consists. Its aim should be never to let our free will incline towards the desire of the lower, carnal and passionate will, but always to follow only the intelligent, higher will. And this cannot be accomplished without struggling with the flesh.
A particularly great effort and laborious toil must be experienced to start with by those who, before deciding to change their worldly and carnal life to a righteous one and to give themselves up to the practices of love, had enmeshed themselves in evil habits through frequent satisfaction of the desires of their carnal and passionate will. Although the demands of the intelligent will, which they wish to follow, stand on one side of their free will, on the other side there stand the desires of the carnal and passionate will, towards which they still feel a certain sympathy.
For example, there are men who refrain from appropriating other people’s possessions, but are excessively attached to their own, and who, on the one hand, lay too much trust in what they have, and on the other, are slow to bestow alms. Others do not seek honors by evil means, yet do not count them as nothing, and often even welcome them, if those honors can be made to appear to come against their will. Others keep long fasts according to the statutes yet do not refrain from satisfying their desire to eat their fill, and to eat well, which deprives the fast of all value.
I shall add to this the fact that some people disregard the natural defects of their character, which, although, not dependent on self-will, nevertheless make a man guilty if, seeing how much they interfere with spiritual life, he does not trouble not only to destroy them completely, but even to try and keep them within harmless bounds, although this could be achieved with due attention to oneself and zeal. Such defects are, for example: aloofness, hot temper, and excessive sensibility, with the consequent thoughtless hastiness in words, movements and actions, harshness and querulous-ness, obstinacy and argumentativeness, and so on. All these natural imperfections and faults should be corrected, in some by reducing excess, in others by adding what is lacking, and by translating both one and another into corresponding good qualities. For no natural feature, no matter how savage and stubborn it is, can stand up against the will if it resists it with all attention and diligence.
Owing to all this, my beloved brother, I beseech you to love the hard toil and heavy burdens, which inevitably accompany our unseen warfare, if you do not wish always to be overcome. The wise Sirach counsels the same: ‘Hate not laborious work’. For this is the very foundation of the whole of inner warfare. The more you love the hard toil, or this pitiless driving of yourself, the more quick and complete will be your victory over yourself and over that in yourself, which resists the higher good. And through this you will be filled with every virtue and good disposition, and peace will come to dwell in you.
-On how to fight against the dumb sensory will, and on the
training necessary for the will to acquire experience in virtues-
Every time your free will is acted upon and pulled on the one hand by the dumb sensory will and on the other by the intelligent world, voiced through conscience, each of them seeking to conquer it, you must, if you are sincerely to strive for good, use suitable methods on your part to assist in gaining victory. For this purpose, then:
(a) As soon as you feel impulses of the lower, sensory and passionate will, you must immediately use every effort to resist them and not allow your own will to incline towards them, however slightly. Crush them, cut them off, driver them away from yourself by an intense effort of will.
(b) To achieve this more successfully and with a better result, hast to kindle in yourself a wholehearted aversion to such impulses, as to your enemies, who seek to steal and destroy your soul-be angered with them.
(c) If these three inner actions are sincerely practiced in your soul, they will never fail to give you victory over evil impulses. But this would mean only driving the enemies away. If you wish to strike at the very heart, then, if it is feasible, at once do something opposed to the suggestion of passionate impulse and, if possible, resolve to do so always. This latter practice will finally free you completely from the renewal of the attacks you experience
I shall illustrate this by an example. Supposing someone has offended you in something whether great or small, and has aroused in you a movement of displeasure and irritation, accompanied by a suggestion of retaliation. Pay attention to yourself and hasten to realize that these movements are bent on enticing you towards evil. Therefore take up the attitude of a warrior on the defensive: (a) stop these movements, do not let them penetrate any deeper and on no account allow your will to take their part as though they were right. This will mean resisting them. (b) They still remain in sight, however, ready for a renewed attack. So rouse aversion against them, as against your enemies, and be angry with them for self-protection, until you are able to say sincerely: ‘I hate and abhor lying’, or ‘I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. This will be a great blow for them, and they will retreat, but not vanish. (c) Having thus regained peace, do to your offender something which would show your kind and conciliatory disposition towards him, such as a friendly word, some timely flavor, and so on. Such actions lead straight to acquiring the habit of virtue opposed to the passionate movements which had troubled you; and this habit strikes them to the heart and kills them. Try to forestall, or accompany, or conclude these actions with an inner resolve, which would make such passionate impulses forever impossible in the future. For instance, in the forgoing example, consider yourself worthy of every insult and bring yourself to welcome every kind of insult and calumny; welcome them and be ready to receive and accept them with joy as the most salutary remedies. In other cases, try to incite and establish in yourself other corresponding feelings and dispositions. This would mean driving the passion out of your heart and replacing it by the virtue opposed to it, which is the aim of the unseen warfare.
I will give you a general indication, suitable for all occasions. Our soul has three parts or powers-the thinking, the desiring, and the excitable. Owing to their corruptions, these three powers give birth to three corresponding kinds of wrong thoughts and movements. The thinking power gives birth to thoughts of ingratitude and complaints, forgetfulness, ignorance, ill-judgment and all kinds of blasphemous thoughts. The desiring power gives birth to pleasure-loving thoughts, thoughts of vain-glory, love of money and all their numerous ramifications, belonging to the domain of self-indulgence. The excitable power gives birth to thoughts of anger, hatred, envy, revenge, gloating, ill will, and generally to all evil thoughts. You should overcome all such thoughts and impulses by the methods indicated above, trying on every occasion to arouse and establish in your heart good feelings and dispositions opposed to them.
If you do this, then, I assure you, the light of your mind will never be dimmed and wrong thoughts will never find a place in you. If you are active in setting up such good thoughts and dispositions in yourself morning, evening, and at all other hours of the day, invisible foes will never come near you. For then you will be like a general, who constantly reviews his troops and disposes them in battle order; and enemies know that to attack such a general is impracticable.
Pay most attention to the last point, namely, to actions opposed to those dictated by passionate thoughts and to setting up feelings and dispositions contrary to passions. Only by this means can you uproot passions in yourself and achieve a safer position. For so long as the roots of passions remain in you, they will always bring forth their offspring and thus cloud over the face of virtues, and at times completely cover and banish them. In such cased we are in danger of falling once more into our former sins and destroying all the fruits of our labors.
I shall add another thing: stand wakeful and, collecting your attention within yourself, fight with courage. And fight not only the great and strong, but also the small and weak stirrings of your passions. For the small open the way to the great, especially when they have become a habit. Experience has many times confirmed the fact that when a man pays little attention and care to repulsing small passionate desires from the heart, after he has overcome the great, he is subjected to sudden and unexpected attacks of the enemy, so impetuous that he is unable to hold his ground in battle and his downfall is more grievous than those of old.
Moreover I remind you of the fact that you should cut off and kill very passionate attachment to things which, although permissible, are not dispensable, as soon as you notice that they weaken the intensity of your will for good, distract attention away from yourself and disorganize the good order you have established in your life. Some actions you may take to start this process are, for instance, taking walks, even parties, conversations, new acquaintances, meals, sleep and other such things. You will gain much profit from this, but thus training yourself to self-mastery in all other things as well; you will become stronger and more expert in struggling against temptations and will avoid a great many snares, which know how to spread their nets on these inoffensive paths, and I assure you, your actions will win favor.
in man and on their struggle with one another-
Know, that in this unseen warfare, two wills existing in us fight against one another: one belongs to intelligent part of our soul and is therefore called the intelligent will, which is higher; the other belongs to the sensory part and is therefore called the sensory will, which is the lower. The latter is more frequently called the dumb, carnal, passionate will. The higher will is always desiring nothing but good, the lower-nothing but evil. Each equally happens by itself; so that neither is a good desire in itself reckoned as good, nor an evil desire as evil. The reckoning depends upon the inclination of our own free will. Therefore, when our will inclines towards a good desire, it is reckoned in our favor; but when we incline towards an evil desire, it is reckoned against us. These desires follow one another: when a good desire comes, and evil desire immediately opposes it; and when an evil desire comes, a good desire at once rises against it. Our will is free to follow the one and the other, and whatever desire our will inclines towards, it becomes victorious on this particular occasion. It is in this that all our unseen spiritual warfare consists. Its aim should be never to let our free will incline towards the desire of the lower, carnal and passionate will, but always to follow only the intelligent, higher will. And this cannot be accomplished without struggling with the flesh.
A particularly great effort and laborious toil must be experienced to start with by those who, before deciding to change their worldly and carnal life to a righteous one and to give themselves up to the practices of love, had enmeshed themselves in evil habits through frequent satisfaction of the desires of their carnal and passionate will. Although the demands of the intelligent will, which they wish to follow, stand on one side of their free will, on the other side there stand the desires of the carnal and passionate will, towards which they still feel a certain sympathy.
For example, there are men who refrain from appropriating other people’s possessions, but are excessively attached to their own, and who, on the one hand, lay too much trust in what they have, and on the other, are slow to bestow alms. Others do not seek honors by evil means, yet do not count them as nothing, and often even welcome them, if those honors can be made to appear to come against their will. Others keep long fasts according to the statutes yet do not refrain from satisfying their desire to eat their fill, and to eat well, which deprives the fast of all value.
I shall add to this the fact that some people disregard the natural defects of their character, which, although, not dependent on self-will, nevertheless make a man guilty if, seeing how much they interfere with spiritual life, he does not trouble not only to destroy them completely, but even to try and keep them within harmless bounds, although this could be achieved with due attention to oneself and zeal. Such defects are, for example: aloofness, hot temper, and excessive sensibility, with the consequent thoughtless hastiness in words, movements and actions, harshness and querulous-ness, obstinacy and argumentativeness, and so on. All these natural imperfections and faults should be corrected, in some by reducing excess, in others by adding what is lacking, and by translating both one and another into corresponding good qualities. For no natural feature, no matter how savage and stubborn it is, can stand up against the will if it resists it with all attention and diligence.
Owing to all this, my beloved brother, I beseech you to love the hard toil and heavy burdens, which inevitably accompany our unseen warfare, if you do not wish always to be overcome. The wise Sirach counsels the same: ‘Hate not laborious work’. For this is the very foundation of the whole of inner warfare. The more you love the hard toil, or this pitiless driving of yourself, the more quick and complete will be your victory over yourself and over that in yourself, which resists the higher good. And through this you will be filled with every virtue and good disposition, and peace will come to dwell in you.
-On how to fight against the dumb sensory will, and on the
training necessary for the will to acquire experience in virtues-
Every time your free will is acted upon and pulled on the one hand by the dumb sensory will and on the other by the intelligent world, voiced through conscience, each of them seeking to conquer it, you must, if you are sincerely to strive for good, use suitable methods on your part to assist in gaining victory. For this purpose, then:
(a) As soon as you feel impulses of the lower, sensory and passionate will, you must immediately use every effort to resist them and not allow your own will to incline towards them, however slightly. Crush them, cut them off, driver them away from yourself by an intense effort of will.
(b) To achieve this more successfully and with a better result, hast to kindle in yourself a wholehearted aversion to such impulses, as to your enemies, who seek to steal and destroy your soul-be angered with them.
(c) If these three inner actions are sincerely practiced in your soul, they will never fail to give you victory over evil impulses. But this would mean only driving the enemies away. If you wish to strike at the very heart, then, if it is feasible, at once do something opposed to the suggestion of passionate impulse and, if possible, resolve to do so always. This latter practice will finally free you completely from the renewal of the attacks you experience
I shall illustrate this by an example. Supposing someone has offended you in something whether great or small, and has aroused in you a movement of displeasure and irritation, accompanied by a suggestion of retaliation. Pay attention to yourself and hasten to realize that these movements are bent on enticing you towards evil. Therefore take up the attitude of a warrior on the defensive: (a) stop these movements, do not let them penetrate any deeper and on no account allow your will to take their part as though they were right. This will mean resisting them. (b) They still remain in sight, however, ready for a renewed attack. So rouse aversion against them, as against your enemies, and be angry with them for self-protection, until you are able to say sincerely: ‘I hate and abhor lying’, or ‘I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. This will be a great blow for them, and they will retreat, but not vanish. (c) Having thus regained peace, do to your offender something which would show your kind and conciliatory disposition towards him, such as a friendly word, some timely flavor, and so on. Such actions lead straight to acquiring the habit of virtue opposed to the passionate movements which had troubled you; and this habit strikes them to the heart and kills them. Try to forestall, or accompany, or conclude these actions with an inner resolve, which would make such passionate impulses forever impossible in the future. For instance, in the forgoing example, consider yourself worthy of every insult and bring yourself to welcome every kind of insult and calumny; welcome them and be ready to receive and accept them with joy as the most salutary remedies. In other cases, try to incite and establish in yourself other corresponding feelings and dispositions. This would mean driving the passion out of your heart and replacing it by the virtue opposed to it, which is the aim of the unseen warfare.
I will give you a general indication, suitable for all occasions. Our soul has three parts or powers-the thinking, the desiring, and the excitable. Owing to their corruptions, these three powers give birth to three corresponding kinds of wrong thoughts and movements. The thinking power gives birth to thoughts of ingratitude and complaints, forgetfulness, ignorance, ill-judgment and all kinds of blasphemous thoughts. The desiring power gives birth to pleasure-loving thoughts, thoughts of vain-glory, love of money and all their numerous ramifications, belonging to the domain of self-indulgence. The excitable power gives birth to thoughts of anger, hatred, envy, revenge, gloating, ill will, and generally to all evil thoughts. You should overcome all such thoughts and impulses by the methods indicated above, trying on every occasion to arouse and establish in your heart good feelings and dispositions opposed to them.
If you do this, then, I assure you, the light of your mind will never be dimmed and wrong thoughts will never find a place in you. If you are active in setting up such good thoughts and dispositions in yourself morning, evening, and at all other hours of the day, invisible foes will never come near you. For then you will be like a general, who constantly reviews his troops and disposes them in battle order; and enemies know that to attack such a general is impracticable.
Pay most attention to the last point, namely, to actions opposed to those dictated by passionate thoughts and to setting up feelings and dispositions contrary to passions. Only by this means can you uproot passions in yourself and achieve a safer position. For so long as the roots of passions remain in you, they will always bring forth their offspring and thus cloud over the face of virtues, and at times completely cover and banish them. In such cased we are in danger of falling once more into our former sins and destroying all the fruits of our labors.
I shall add another thing: stand wakeful and, collecting your attention within yourself, fight with courage. And fight not only the great and strong, but also the small and weak stirrings of your passions. For the small open the way to the great, especially when they have become a habit. Experience has many times confirmed the fact that when a man pays little attention and care to repulsing small passionate desires from the heart, after he has overcome the great, he is subjected to sudden and unexpected attacks of the enemy, so impetuous that he is unable to hold his ground in battle and his downfall is more grievous than those of old.
Moreover I remind you of the fact that you should cut off and kill very passionate attachment to things which, although permissible, are not dispensable, as soon as you notice that they weaken the intensity of your will for good, distract attention away from yourself and disorganize the good order you have established in your life. Some actions you may take to start this process are, for instance, taking walks, even parties, conversations, new acquaintances, meals, sleep and other such things. You will gain much profit from this, but thus training yourself to self-mastery in all other things as well; you will become stronger and more expert in struggling against temptations and will avoid a great many snares, which know how to spread their nets on these inoffensive paths, and I assure you, your actions will win favor.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Unseen Warfare: Part II
-How to recognize whether a man acts without self-reliance-
It often happens that self-reliant men think that they have no self-reliance whatsoever, but in practice it is not so. They can ascertain it for themselves, if they judge by what is in them and what happens to them if they fall down. If, when they grieve at their downfall, reproaching and abusing themselves for it, they think: ‘I shall do this and that, the consequences of my downfall will be effaced and all will be well once more,’ this is a sure sign that before the downfall they trusted themselves too much. And the more gloomy and disconsolate their grief, the more it shows that they relied too much on themselves; and therefore the grief caused by their downfall is not tempered by any comfort. If a man does not rely on himself, when he falls he is not greatly surprised and is not overcome with excessive grief, for he knows that it is the result of his own impotence.
-On the wrong opinion of those who deem excessive grief a virtue-
It is wrong to regard as virtue the excessive grief, which men feel after committing a sin, not realizing that it is caused by pride and a high opinion of themselves and their own powers. For by thinking they are something important they undertake too much, hoping to deal with it by themselves. When the experience of their downfall shows them how weak they are, they are astounded, like people who meet with something unexpected, and they are cast into turmoil and grow feint-hearted. For they see, fallen and prone on the ground, that graven mage which is themselves, upon which they put all their hopes and expectations. This does not happen to a humble man, who expects nothing good from himself. Therefore, when he falls into some transgression, he also feels the weight of it and grieves, but is not cast into turmoil and is not perplexed, for he knows that it happened through his own impotence, to experience which in downfalls is nothing unexpected or new to him.
-On how we should exercise our mind, lest it be sick with the disease of ignorance-
If disbelieve is oneself, so indispensable in our spiritual warfare, remains alone in us, not only shall we never gain victory, but we shall fall into still greater evil. For in addition and accompanying this we must practice works of a special kind and perform exercises in spiritual instruction. First among these must be exercise of mind and will.
The mind should be freed and guarded from ignorance, which is most harmful, for it darkens the mind and prevents it from knowing the truth, which is its proper object and the aim of its aspirations. For this reason it should be exercised, to make it clear and lucid, able to discern correctly what we need to purify our soul from passions and to adorn it with virtues.
There are two means by which we may acquire such clarity of mind: the first and most necessary is to stay in thought. The second method of exercising the mind is always to examine things and probe deep for knowledge of them, in order to see clearly which of them are good and which bad. We should judge them not as the world and the senses do, but as they are judged by right reason. For if this examination and deepening of knowledge is right and proper, it will quite certainly enable us to understand clearly that we must with all our heart regard as valueless, vain and false, all that the blind and depraved world loves and seeks.
In particular, we shall then see that the honors, pleasures and riches of this world are nothing but vanity and death to the soul; that the slander and abuse, with which the world persecutes us, brings us true glory, and its afflictions-joy; that to forgive our enemies and to do good to them is true magnanimity; that a man who scorns the world shows greater strength and power than a man who rules over the whole world; that willing obedience is an action which shows more courage and strength of spirit than subjugating great kings and ruling over them; that humble self-knowledge should be preferred to all other kinds of knowledge, however high; that to overcome and kill one’s own evil tendencies and lusts, however insignificant, is more worthy of praise than the capture of many fortresses, or the defeat of powerful and well-equipped armies; more even than the power to perform miracles and to raise the dead.
-On reasons for our wrong judgment of things and how to form a right judgment of them-
The reason why we have wrong judgment of the things we mentioned earlier is that we do not look deeply into them to see what they are, but conceive a liking for them or a dislike of them from the very first glance, judging by appearances. These likes and dislikes prejudice our mind and darken it; and so it cannot form a right judgment of things as they really are. So, my brother, if you wish to be free of this in your mind, keep strict attention over yourself; and when you see a thing with your eyes, or visualize it in your mind, keep a firm grip on your desires and do not allow yourself at first glance either to conceive a liking for the thing or a dislike for it, but examine it in a detached way with the mind alone. Unobscured by passion, the mind then remains in a state natural to it, which is free and pure, and has the possibility to know the truth and to penetrate into the depths of a thing, where evil is often concealed under a deceptively attractive exterior and where good is sometimes hidden under a bad appearance.
But if desire comes first and at once either likes a thing or turns away from it, your mind no longer has the possibility to know it rightly as it should. For if this predisposition, or rather this passion precedes every judgment, it enters within, becomes a wall between the mind and the thing and, obscuring the mind, makes it form its judgment from passion. In other words, it sees it not as it really is, which strengthened still more its original predisposition. The further this predisposition runs ahead, or the more it likes or dislikes a thing, the more it obscures the mind in relation to it, until it darkens the mind completely. Then passion in relation to this thing reaches its ultimate limits, and it appears to a man either as the most desirable or the most hateful of all the things he ever liked or disliked. Thus it happens that when the rule I have indicated is not observed, that is, when the desire is not restrained from forming likes and dislikes before a thing is properly examined, then both these powers of the soul, mind and will, always work wrongly, plunging ever deeper and deeper from darkness to darkness.
So watch, my beloved, with all attention and protect yourself from liking or disliking a thing out of passion, before you have had time to examine it properly in the light of reason, otherwise you may win in taking evil for what is truly good, and for good what is truly evil. This mostly happens in the case of certain actions, which are good and holy in themselves, but which according to circumstances, namely that if they are done at the wrong time, or are out of place, or are not done in the right measure, cause considerable harm to those who do them. We know from experience what afflictions are suffered by some through such worthy and holy deeds.
-On protecting the mind from too much useless knowledge and idle curiosity-
Just as it is necessary to guard the mind from ignorance, so is it equally necessary to protect it from the opposite, namely from too much knowledge and curiosity. For if we fill it with a quantity of information, ideas and thoughts, not excluding such as are vain, unsuitable and harmful, we deprive it of force, so that it is no longer able to understand clearly what is useful for our true self-correction and perfection. Therefore in relation to the knowledge of earthly things, which is not indispensable, even if it is permissible, your attitude should be as of one already dead. Always collect your mind within yourself, with all the concentration you can, and keep it free of thoughts of all worldly things.
All other enquiry and investigation is the offspring and root of self-love and pride. They see the strength and firmness of will of those who pay attention to spiritual life, and strives to conquer the mind by means of such curiosity, in order to gain possession of their mind and will. For this purpose, he is wont to suggest to them thoughts that are lofty, subtle and wondrous, especially to those who are sharp-witted and quick to make lofty speculations. Attracted by the pleasure of possessing and examining such lofty thoughts, they forget to watch over their purity of heart and to pay attention to a humble opinion of themselves and to true self-mortification; and so they are enmeshed in the bonds of pride and conceit; they make an idol of their own mind and thus, little by little, without realizing it, they fall into the thought that they no longer need any advise or admonition from others, since they are accustomed in all cases to hasten to the idol of their understanding and judgment.
This is a very dangerous thing and not easily cured; pride of mind is much worse than pride of will. For pride of will, being visible to the mind, can sometimes be easily cured by forcing it to submit to the yoke of what is good. But when the mind is firmly grounded in the self-relying thought that its own judgments are better than all the others, who can cure it in the end? Can it never obey anyone, if it feels certain that the judgments of others are not as good as its own? When this eye of the soul is itself blinded by pride and remains uncured, who will cure the will? Then everything within is so disorganized that there is neither place nor person for applying a healing poultice. This is why you must hasten to oppose this pernicious pride of mind, before it penetrates into the marrow of your bones. Resist it, curb the quickness of your mind and humbly subject your opinion to the opinions of others. Be a fool, for the love of God, if you wish to be wiser than Solomon: ‘if any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise’.
It often happens that self-reliant men think that they have no self-reliance whatsoever, but in practice it is not so. They can ascertain it for themselves, if they judge by what is in them and what happens to them if they fall down. If, when they grieve at their downfall, reproaching and abusing themselves for it, they think: ‘I shall do this and that, the consequences of my downfall will be effaced and all will be well once more,’ this is a sure sign that before the downfall they trusted themselves too much. And the more gloomy and disconsolate their grief, the more it shows that they relied too much on themselves; and therefore the grief caused by their downfall is not tempered by any comfort. If a man does not rely on himself, when he falls he is not greatly surprised and is not overcome with excessive grief, for he knows that it is the result of his own impotence.
-On the wrong opinion of those who deem excessive grief a virtue-
It is wrong to regard as virtue the excessive grief, which men feel after committing a sin, not realizing that it is caused by pride and a high opinion of themselves and their own powers. For by thinking they are something important they undertake too much, hoping to deal with it by themselves. When the experience of their downfall shows them how weak they are, they are astounded, like people who meet with something unexpected, and they are cast into turmoil and grow feint-hearted. For they see, fallen and prone on the ground, that graven mage which is themselves, upon which they put all their hopes and expectations. This does not happen to a humble man, who expects nothing good from himself. Therefore, when he falls into some transgression, he also feels the weight of it and grieves, but is not cast into turmoil and is not perplexed, for he knows that it happened through his own impotence, to experience which in downfalls is nothing unexpected or new to him.
-On how we should exercise our mind, lest it be sick with the disease of ignorance-
If disbelieve is oneself, so indispensable in our spiritual warfare, remains alone in us, not only shall we never gain victory, but we shall fall into still greater evil. For in addition and accompanying this we must practice works of a special kind and perform exercises in spiritual instruction. First among these must be exercise of mind and will.
The mind should be freed and guarded from ignorance, which is most harmful, for it darkens the mind and prevents it from knowing the truth, which is its proper object and the aim of its aspirations. For this reason it should be exercised, to make it clear and lucid, able to discern correctly what we need to purify our soul from passions and to adorn it with virtues.
There are two means by which we may acquire such clarity of mind: the first and most necessary is to stay in thought. The second method of exercising the mind is always to examine things and probe deep for knowledge of them, in order to see clearly which of them are good and which bad. We should judge them not as the world and the senses do, but as they are judged by right reason. For if this examination and deepening of knowledge is right and proper, it will quite certainly enable us to understand clearly that we must with all our heart regard as valueless, vain and false, all that the blind and depraved world loves and seeks.
In particular, we shall then see that the honors, pleasures and riches of this world are nothing but vanity and death to the soul; that the slander and abuse, with which the world persecutes us, brings us true glory, and its afflictions-joy; that to forgive our enemies and to do good to them is true magnanimity; that a man who scorns the world shows greater strength and power than a man who rules over the whole world; that willing obedience is an action which shows more courage and strength of spirit than subjugating great kings and ruling over them; that humble self-knowledge should be preferred to all other kinds of knowledge, however high; that to overcome and kill one’s own evil tendencies and lusts, however insignificant, is more worthy of praise than the capture of many fortresses, or the defeat of powerful and well-equipped armies; more even than the power to perform miracles and to raise the dead.
-On reasons for our wrong judgment of things and how to form a right judgment of them-
The reason why we have wrong judgment of the things we mentioned earlier is that we do not look deeply into them to see what they are, but conceive a liking for them or a dislike of them from the very first glance, judging by appearances. These likes and dislikes prejudice our mind and darken it; and so it cannot form a right judgment of things as they really are. So, my brother, if you wish to be free of this in your mind, keep strict attention over yourself; and when you see a thing with your eyes, or visualize it in your mind, keep a firm grip on your desires and do not allow yourself at first glance either to conceive a liking for the thing or a dislike for it, but examine it in a detached way with the mind alone. Unobscured by passion, the mind then remains in a state natural to it, which is free and pure, and has the possibility to know the truth and to penetrate into the depths of a thing, where evil is often concealed under a deceptively attractive exterior and where good is sometimes hidden under a bad appearance.
But if desire comes first and at once either likes a thing or turns away from it, your mind no longer has the possibility to know it rightly as it should. For if this predisposition, or rather this passion precedes every judgment, it enters within, becomes a wall between the mind and the thing and, obscuring the mind, makes it form its judgment from passion. In other words, it sees it not as it really is, which strengthened still more its original predisposition. The further this predisposition runs ahead, or the more it likes or dislikes a thing, the more it obscures the mind in relation to it, until it darkens the mind completely. Then passion in relation to this thing reaches its ultimate limits, and it appears to a man either as the most desirable or the most hateful of all the things he ever liked or disliked. Thus it happens that when the rule I have indicated is not observed, that is, when the desire is not restrained from forming likes and dislikes before a thing is properly examined, then both these powers of the soul, mind and will, always work wrongly, plunging ever deeper and deeper from darkness to darkness.
So watch, my beloved, with all attention and protect yourself from liking or disliking a thing out of passion, before you have had time to examine it properly in the light of reason, otherwise you may win in taking evil for what is truly good, and for good what is truly evil. This mostly happens in the case of certain actions, which are good and holy in themselves, but which according to circumstances, namely that if they are done at the wrong time, or are out of place, or are not done in the right measure, cause considerable harm to those who do them. We know from experience what afflictions are suffered by some through such worthy and holy deeds.
-On protecting the mind from too much useless knowledge and idle curiosity-
Just as it is necessary to guard the mind from ignorance, so is it equally necessary to protect it from the opposite, namely from too much knowledge and curiosity. For if we fill it with a quantity of information, ideas and thoughts, not excluding such as are vain, unsuitable and harmful, we deprive it of force, so that it is no longer able to understand clearly what is useful for our true self-correction and perfection. Therefore in relation to the knowledge of earthly things, which is not indispensable, even if it is permissible, your attitude should be as of one already dead. Always collect your mind within yourself, with all the concentration you can, and keep it free of thoughts of all worldly things.
All other enquiry and investigation is the offspring and root of self-love and pride. They see the strength and firmness of will of those who pay attention to spiritual life, and strives to conquer the mind by means of such curiosity, in order to gain possession of their mind and will. For this purpose, he is wont to suggest to them thoughts that are lofty, subtle and wondrous, especially to those who are sharp-witted and quick to make lofty speculations. Attracted by the pleasure of possessing and examining such lofty thoughts, they forget to watch over their purity of heart and to pay attention to a humble opinion of themselves and to true self-mortification; and so they are enmeshed in the bonds of pride and conceit; they make an idol of their own mind and thus, little by little, without realizing it, they fall into the thought that they no longer need any advise or admonition from others, since they are accustomed in all cases to hasten to the idol of their understanding and judgment.
This is a very dangerous thing and not easily cured; pride of mind is much worse than pride of will. For pride of will, being visible to the mind, can sometimes be easily cured by forcing it to submit to the yoke of what is good. But when the mind is firmly grounded in the self-relying thought that its own judgments are better than all the others, who can cure it in the end? Can it never obey anyone, if it feels certain that the judgments of others are not as good as its own? When this eye of the soul is itself blinded by pride and remains uncured, who will cure the will? Then everything within is so disorganized that there is neither place nor person for applying a healing poultice. This is why you must hasten to oppose this pernicious pride of mind, before it penetrates into the marrow of your bones. Resist it, curb the quickness of your mind and humbly subject your opinion to the opinions of others. Be a fool, for the love of God, if you wish to be wiser than Solomon: ‘if any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise’.
Unseen Warfare: Part I
Anyone can see clearly how people behave and how far they are from true perfection, if he looks at their life and character. As a rule sinful people always wish to be preferred above others; they love to live according to their own will and are always stubborn in their decisions; they are blind in everything relating to themselves, but are very clear-sighted and officious in examining the words and actions of others. If another man is held by others in the same esteem, which in their opinion they enjoy, they cannot bear it and become manifestly hostile towards him; if anyone interferes with them in their pious occupations and works of asceticism, especially in the presence of others,-God Forbid!-they immediately become indignant, boil over with wrath and becomes quite unlike themselves.
If, desirous of bringing them to self-knowledge and of leading them to the right path of perfection, they receive afflictions and sickness, or if they are persecuted, by which means they are tested, this test immediately shows what is hidden in their hearts, and how deeply they are corrupted by pride. They refuse to be humble, to consider themselves the lowest of all creatures, and to regard their persecutors as their good friends, the tools of the bounty shown to them and helpers in their perfection.
Thus it is clear that they are in great danger. The inner eye, that is their mind, being darkened, they see themselves with this and they see wrongly. Thinking of their external pious works and seeming them good, they imagine that they have already reached perfection and, puffing themselves up, begin to judge others. After this it is impossible for any man to turn such people. An evident sinner will turn towards good more easily than a secret sinner, hiding under the cloak of visible virtues.
Do you now see what this all means, brother? I presume that you express your readiness and are longing to reach the height of such perfection. Blessed be your zeal! But prepare yourself also for labor, sweat and struggle from your first steps on the path. You will meet in yourself as many wills as you have powers and wants, which all clamor for satisfaction. Therefore, to reach your desired aim, it is first of all necessary to stifle your own wills and finally to extinguish and kill them altogether. And in order to succeed in this, you must constantly oppose all evil in yourself and urge yourself towards good. In other words, you must ceaselessly fight against yourself and against everything that panders to your own wills, everything that incites and supports them. So prepare yourself for this struggle and this warfare and know that the crown, attainment of your desired aim, is given to none except to the valiant among warriors and wrestlers.
But if this is the hardest of all wars-since in fighting ourselves we meet the greatest opposition-victory in it is the most glorious of all. For if, inspired by fervor, you overcome and put to death your unruly passions, your lusts and wills, you will proceed steadier, than if you flog yourself till you draw blood or exhaust yourself by fasts more than any ancient hermit of the desert. And whatever effort and sacrifice you may accomplish, it will not lead you to your desired aim, if you leave your passions without attention, giving them freedom to live and act in you.
Finally, after learning what constitutes perfection and realizing that to achieve it you must wage a constant cruel war with yourself, if you really desire to be victorious in this unseen warfare and be rewarded with a crown, you must plant in your heart the following three dispositions and spiritual activities, as it were arming yourself with invisible weapons, the most trustworthy and unconquerable of all, namely: (a) never rely on “yourself” in anything; (b) strive without ceasing and; (c) remain constantly in thought.
-One should never believe in oneself or trust oneself in anything-
Not to rely on oneself is so necessary in our struggle, my beloved brother, that without this, be assured, not only with you fail to gain the desired victory, but you will be unable to resist the smallest attack of the enemy.
Since the time of the transgressions of our forefathers, despite the weakening of our spiritual and moral powers, we are wont to think very highly of ourselves. Although our daily experience very effectively proves to us the falseness of this opinion of ourselves, in our incomprehensible self-deception we do not cease to believe that we are something, and something not unimportant. Yet this spiritual disease of ours, so hard to perceive and acknowledge, is more abhorrent than all else in us, being the first offspring of our selfhood and self-love, and the source, root, and cause of all passions, and of all our downfalls and wrong-doing. It closes the very door of our mind and spirit, through which alone grace can enter, and gives this grace no way to come and dwell in a man. And so it withdraws from him. So how can grace, which comes to help and enlighten us, enter that man, what thinks of himself as something great, that he himself knows everything and needs no outside help? Those who are stricken with this passion of vainglory and self-esteem are reprimanded, saying through the prophet: ‘Woe unto them who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.’
Yet, although expecting no good from ourselves and not relying on ourselves is a good start, we on our side must make every effort to acquire this disposition, doing all we can, all within our power. Accustom yourself to be wary and to fear the innumerable enemies whom you cannot resist even for a short time. Fear their long experience in fighting us, their cunning and ambushes, their power to assume the guise of angels of light, their countless wiles and nets, which they secretly spread on the path of your life of virtues.
If you fall into transgression, quickly turn to the realization of your weakness and be aware of it. For you are allowed to fall for the very purpose of making you more aware of your weakness, so that you may thus not only yourself learn to despise yourself, but because of your great weakness may wish to be despised also by others. Know that without such desire it is impossible for this beneficent self-disbelief to be born and take root in you. This is the foundation and beginning of true humility since it is based on realization, by experience, of your impotence and unreliability.
From this, each of us sees how necessary it is for a man to know himself, and how mercy usually leads the proud and self-reliant to this knowledge through their downfalls, justly allowing them to fall into the very sin from which they think they are strong enough to protect themselves, so as to make them see their weakness and prevent them from relying foolhardily on themselves either in this or in anything else. And I shall add another thing: if a man wants to realize his weakness from the actual experience of his life, let him, I do not say for many days but even for one day, observe his thoughts, words and actions-what he thought, what he said, what he did. He will undoubtedly find that the greater part of his thoughts, words and actions were sinful, wrong, foolish and bad. This experiment will make him understand in practice how inharmonious and weak he is in himself. And if he sincerely wishes himself well, this understanding will make him feel how foolish it is to expect anything good from himself or to rely on himself alone.
Although, as we have said, it is very important not to rely on our own efforts in this unseen warfare, at the same time, if we merely give up all hope of ourselves and despair of ourselves without having found another support, we are certain to flee immediately from the battlefield or to be overcome and taken prisoner by our enemies.
If, desirous of bringing them to self-knowledge and of leading them to the right path of perfection, they receive afflictions and sickness, or if they are persecuted, by which means they are tested, this test immediately shows what is hidden in their hearts, and how deeply they are corrupted by pride. They refuse to be humble, to consider themselves the lowest of all creatures, and to regard their persecutors as their good friends, the tools of the bounty shown to them and helpers in their perfection.
Thus it is clear that they are in great danger. The inner eye, that is their mind, being darkened, they see themselves with this and they see wrongly. Thinking of their external pious works and seeming them good, they imagine that they have already reached perfection and, puffing themselves up, begin to judge others. After this it is impossible for any man to turn such people. An evident sinner will turn towards good more easily than a secret sinner, hiding under the cloak of visible virtues.
Do you now see what this all means, brother? I presume that you express your readiness and are longing to reach the height of such perfection. Blessed be your zeal! But prepare yourself also for labor, sweat and struggle from your first steps on the path. You will meet in yourself as many wills as you have powers and wants, which all clamor for satisfaction. Therefore, to reach your desired aim, it is first of all necessary to stifle your own wills and finally to extinguish and kill them altogether. And in order to succeed in this, you must constantly oppose all evil in yourself and urge yourself towards good. In other words, you must ceaselessly fight against yourself and against everything that panders to your own wills, everything that incites and supports them. So prepare yourself for this struggle and this warfare and know that the crown, attainment of your desired aim, is given to none except to the valiant among warriors and wrestlers.
But if this is the hardest of all wars-since in fighting ourselves we meet the greatest opposition-victory in it is the most glorious of all. For if, inspired by fervor, you overcome and put to death your unruly passions, your lusts and wills, you will proceed steadier, than if you flog yourself till you draw blood or exhaust yourself by fasts more than any ancient hermit of the desert. And whatever effort and sacrifice you may accomplish, it will not lead you to your desired aim, if you leave your passions without attention, giving them freedom to live and act in you.
Finally, after learning what constitutes perfection and realizing that to achieve it you must wage a constant cruel war with yourself, if you really desire to be victorious in this unseen warfare and be rewarded with a crown, you must plant in your heart the following three dispositions and spiritual activities, as it were arming yourself with invisible weapons, the most trustworthy and unconquerable of all, namely: (a) never rely on “yourself” in anything; (b) strive without ceasing and; (c) remain constantly in thought.
-One should never believe in oneself or trust oneself in anything-
Not to rely on oneself is so necessary in our struggle, my beloved brother, that without this, be assured, not only with you fail to gain the desired victory, but you will be unable to resist the smallest attack of the enemy.
Since the time of the transgressions of our forefathers, despite the weakening of our spiritual and moral powers, we are wont to think very highly of ourselves. Although our daily experience very effectively proves to us the falseness of this opinion of ourselves, in our incomprehensible self-deception we do not cease to believe that we are something, and something not unimportant. Yet this spiritual disease of ours, so hard to perceive and acknowledge, is more abhorrent than all else in us, being the first offspring of our selfhood and self-love, and the source, root, and cause of all passions, and of all our downfalls and wrong-doing. It closes the very door of our mind and spirit, through which alone grace can enter, and gives this grace no way to come and dwell in a man. And so it withdraws from him. So how can grace, which comes to help and enlighten us, enter that man, what thinks of himself as something great, that he himself knows everything and needs no outside help? Those who are stricken with this passion of vainglory and self-esteem are reprimanded, saying through the prophet: ‘Woe unto them who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.’
Yet, although expecting no good from ourselves and not relying on ourselves is a good start, we on our side must make every effort to acquire this disposition, doing all we can, all within our power. Accustom yourself to be wary and to fear the innumerable enemies whom you cannot resist even for a short time. Fear their long experience in fighting us, their cunning and ambushes, their power to assume the guise of angels of light, their countless wiles and nets, which they secretly spread on the path of your life of virtues.
If you fall into transgression, quickly turn to the realization of your weakness and be aware of it. For you are allowed to fall for the very purpose of making you more aware of your weakness, so that you may thus not only yourself learn to despise yourself, but because of your great weakness may wish to be despised also by others. Know that without such desire it is impossible for this beneficent self-disbelief to be born and take root in you. This is the foundation and beginning of true humility since it is based on realization, by experience, of your impotence and unreliability.
From this, each of us sees how necessary it is for a man to know himself, and how mercy usually leads the proud and self-reliant to this knowledge through their downfalls, justly allowing them to fall into the very sin from which they think they are strong enough to protect themselves, so as to make them see their weakness and prevent them from relying foolhardily on themselves either in this or in anything else. And I shall add another thing: if a man wants to realize his weakness from the actual experience of his life, let him, I do not say for many days but even for one day, observe his thoughts, words and actions-what he thought, what he said, what he did. He will undoubtedly find that the greater part of his thoughts, words and actions were sinful, wrong, foolish and bad. This experiment will make him understand in practice how inharmonious and weak he is in himself. And if he sincerely wishes himself well, this understanding will make him feel how foolish it is to expect anything good from himself or to rely on himself alone.
Although, as we have said, it is very important not to rely on our own efforts in this unseen warfare, at the same time, if we merely give up all hope of ourselves and despair of ourselves without having found another support, we are certain to flee immediately from the battlefield or to be overcome and taken prisoner by our enemies.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Unseen Warfare: Introduction
I will be releasing excerpts from this book I am reading entitled Unseen Warfare. A friend of mine, who left two months in the middle of the night to go to Arizona to become a Greek Orthodox monk, gave me this book. Not that we didn’t know he was leaving for the monastery, but no one knew when he was leaving, and he didn’t tell anyone he left. But, before he left, I could sense a difference in him, and my other close friends who knew him felt the same. There was an inner peace, and a Zen-like response to the world that wasn’t there before. Since I am an avid book reader, I’m always looking for new material, and one day I was over his house, looking through a large stack of books about saints, the lives of past monks, and other religious texts, and I asked him to give me a book to read. He looked through the stack and instantly picked this one out and handed it to me. Little did I know what I was in for.
I am releasing this in small portions, because it is mind-bending and provocative. As I said, it is a religious text but I have de-God-ed it for your secular reading pleasure. Don’t be close-minded because of its origins, take the amazing knowledge that it offers and be changed.
I am releasing this in small portions, because it is mind-bending and provocative. As I said, it is a religious text but I have de-God-ed it for your secular reading pleasure. Don’t be close-minded because of its origins, take the amazing knowledge that it offers and be changed.
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