Слово 68 1

(1) On the three modes of attention and prayer. – (2) About the first image. – (3) About the second. – (4) About the third. 1. There are three forms of attention and prayer by which the soul is elevated and prospers or is cast down and perishes. Whoever uses these three images in due time and properly, succeeds, and whoever uses them foolishly and at the wrong time is overthrown. Attention should be connected and inseparable with prayer, just as the body is connected and inseparable with the soul. Attention must go forward and guard the enemies like a guard; Let it be the first to enter into the fight against sin and resist the evil thoughts entering the soul, and let attention be followed by prayer, which immediately destroys and defeats all those evil thoughts with which attention was previously fighting, for it alone cannot defeat them. On this battle of attention and prayer (with thoughts) hangs the life and death of the soul. If we keep the prayer pure with attention, then we succeed, but if we do not pay attention to keep it pure, but leave it unguarded, and it becomes defiled by evil thoughts, then we become indecent and unsuccessful. So, since there are three types of attention and prayer, we must show the distinctive properties of each image, so that the one who loves salvation chooses the best. 2. About the first way of attention and prayer The distinctive properties of the first image are as follows: when someone, standing in prayer and raising his hands and his eyes and his mind to heaven, holds divine thoughts in his mind, imagines the blessings of heaven, the ranks of Angels and the abodes of saints, and briefly collects everything heard in the Divine Scriptures in his mind, and talks about it then - during prayer, in vain to heaven, and thus moves his soul to lust in the love of God, and sometimes even brings out tears and cries (then this will be the first image of attention and prayer). But with this image (of prayer, if someone stops at it alone, it happens that) little by little (the one praying like this) begins to boast in his heart, without understanding it; It seems to him that what he does is from the grace of God as a consolation to him, and he prays to God to grant him to always remain in such work. And this (that is, thinking about this form of prayer in this way) is a sign of delusion, for good is no longer good when it does not happen in a good way and as it should. Such a person, if he becomes extremely silent (that is, becomes a hesychast, or in our case a recluse), then he can hardly help but lose his mind (he will be in extreme danger of suffering this). But even if it happens that he does not lose his mind, it will still be impossible for him to acquire virtues or dispassion. While standing on this path, those who see light with their bodily eyes, smell incense with their sense of smell, hear voices with their ears, and the like, are also deceived. Some of these became enraged and wandered from place to place in a frenzy. Others were deceived by accepting the devil, who was transformed and appeared to them in the form of an Angel of light, but they did not recognize him and remained incorrigible to the end, not wanting to hear advice from any brother. Some of these took their own lives, having been prompted to do so by the devil, others threw themselves into the abyss, others hanged themselves. And who can retell the various charms with which the devil seduces them, when they are innumerable? From what we have said, every reasonable person can understand what harm comes from this first form of attention and prayer (if we consider it the last limit of perfection in prayer). If it happens that one of those who use this image does not suffer any of those evils that we have spoken about due to cohabitation with brothers (because they are especially exposed to those who live alone), then he will still spend his entire life without success (in spiritual life). 3. About the second way of attention and prayer The second image is this: when someone brings his mind inside himself, distracting it from everything sensual, keeps his feelings, collects all his thoughts so as not to wander about the vain things of this world - and then examines his thoughts, then delves into the words of the prayer being read, then returns his thoughts, if they, having been captured by the devil, are carried away to something vain and bad, then with great difficulty and self-force he strains to come to himself if he was dominated and defeated by any passion. The distinctive feature of this matter is that it happens in the head: thoughts fight with thoughts. Having such a feat and such a struggle with himself, he can never be at peace within himself and does not find time to engage in the practice of virtues in order to receive the crown of righteousness. Such a person is like one who fights with his enemies at night in the dark, who hears the voices of his enemies and receives blows from them, but cannot clearly see who they are, where they came from, how and why they beat him. Because he himself resides in the head, and evil thoughts come from the heart. He does not see them because he does not listen to his heart. The darkness that is in his mind, and the storm that he has in his thoughts, cause him this damage (that is, they do not allow him to see it), and there is no way for him to escape from the enemies of his demons so that they do not strike him. He labors in vain, the unfortunate one, and even completely loses his reward, if at the same time, without even noticing it, he overcomes vanity, imagining that he is paying proper attention to himself. In his pride, he despises others and condemns them, but praises himself, dreaming that he is worthy to be a shepherd of verbal sheep and to lead others, and he is like a blind man who undertakes to lead other blind people. This is the second image (of attention and prayer). And everyone who desires salvation for himself must know the damage he causes to the soul and take good care of himself. However, it is better than the first, just as a moonlit night is better than a dark night on which the moon does not shine. 4. About the third way of attention and prayer The third image is truly marvelous and difficult to explain, and for those who do not know it experimentally, it is not only incomprehensible, but even seems incredible; and they do not believe that such a thing would happen in reality. And in fact, in our times this image of attention and prayer is found not among the greatest number, but among very few, and, as I think, this goodness has escaped from us along with obedience. Obedience, if someone takes it to his spiritual father in perfection, makes him careless about everything, since he once forever cast all his sadness on his spiritual father; why, being far from any worldly addiction, he is capable of being a very zealous and non-slothful practitioner of this third type of prayer, if, however, he attacks the true spiritual father, who himself is not delusional. For whoever has dedicated himself to God and casts all his sorrow on Him and on his spiritual father, so that, out of true obedience, he ceases to live his own life and do his own will, but dies to every worldly passion and to his body - by what temporary thing can he be defeated and enslaved? Or what kind of care and what kind of care can he have? As a result of this, with this third, which occurs together with obedience, the form of attention and prayer, all the intrigues and tricks that demons use to entice his mind to many and varied thoughts are destroyed and dispelled, for then the mind of such a person, being free from everything, has the time, without any hindrance, to examine the thoughts caused by demons and with great convenience to drive them away, and with a pure heart to offer his prayers to God. This is the beginning of true life (spiritual)! And those who do not make such a beginning work in vain, without knowing it. The beginning of this third image is not to look at the sky, to raise your hands to grief, to have your mind in what is in heaven - this, as we said, belongs to the first image and is not far from delusion - and it is not to keep feelings with your mind and pay all your attention to this, but not to look at the internal spiritual battles caused by enemies (they look and fight, but everything is in the head, and are not afraid of them) - this belongs to the second image, and who uses this, falls into slavery to demons and cannot take revenge on his enslavers, but his enemies constantly fight him openly and secretly, and make him vain and proud. But you, beloved, if you want to be saved, begin the matter in this way: after (establishing in your heart) perfect obedience, which, as we said, you should have to your spiritual father, and do all your other affairs with a clear conscience, as if you were before the face of God, for without obedience it is impossible to have a clear conscience. You must keep your conscience clear in three respects: in relation to God, in relation to your spiritual father and in relation to other people, as well as to things and objects of the world (everyday). In relation to God, you have a duty to keep your conscience clear, not allowing yourself to do anything that you know does not give peace to God and is unpleasant to Him. In relation to your spiritual father, do only what he commands you, and do not allow yourself to do anything more or less than that, but walk according to his intention and according to his will. In relation to other people, you keep your conscience clear, not allowing yourself to do anything to them that you yourself hate and that you do not want them to do to you. And in relation to things, you have a duty to keep your conscience clear, always using them as they should, namely food, drink, clothing. And in short, do everything as if you were before the face of God, and in no matter allow yourself to be convicted and wounded by your conscience for not doing it well. By acting in this way, you level for yourself a true and unforgettable path to the third way of attention and prayer, which is the following: let the mind (being in the heart is a distinctive feature of this third way of prayer) guard the heart while it is praying, and let it constantly turn inside it, and from there, from the depths of the heart, send up prayers to God. (That's all; work until you taste the Lord.) When the mind finally tastes there, inside the heart, and senses that the Lord is good, and delights in that (our work; this tasting is the action of grace in a humble heart), then it will no longer want to move away from the place of the heart (then it will say the same words that the Apostle Peter said: it is good for us to be here...) and will always look there, inside the heart, and there it will endlessly rotate, driving away all thoughts inspired by the devil (this is the third way of attention and prayer, as it should be!). For those who have no information about this matter and do not know it, it for the most part seems difficult and oppressive, but those who have tasted the sweetness that it has and enjoyed it in the depths of their hearts - these cry out to the divine Paul and say: who will separate us from the love of Christ? and so on (Rom.8:35). Why did our holy fathers, hearing the Lord say that from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy, and that these are the things that defile a person (Matthew 15:19-20), - also hearing that in another place in the Gospel we are commanded to cleanse the inside of the glass, so that the outside may also be clean ( Matthew 23:26), - they abandoned every other spiritual work and began to strive entirely in this one work, that is, in guarding the heart, being confident that along with this work they would conveniently acquire every other virtue, and without it they could not establish themselves in any virtue. Some of the fathers called this activity heart silence, others called it attention, others called it sobriety and contradiction (of thoughts), others also called it consideration of thoughts and guarding the mind. They all practiced it predominantly and were honored to receive divine gifts. Ecclesiastes also understands this when he says: rejoice, O young man, in your youth... and walk in the ways of your heart blameless (Eccl. 11:9) and pure, removing your heart from evil thoughts. He speaks about the same thing in another place - that if the devil comes against you, then do not allow him to enter your place, meaning by place the heart (Eccl. 10:4). And the Lord tells us in the Holy Gospel: do not be exalted (μη μετεωριζεσθε - do not rush around like meteors; Luke 12:29), that is, do not rush here and there with your mind. And in another place He says: blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), that is, blessed are those who have not acquired in their hearts any attachment to the world, but are poor in every worldly thought. And all the holy fathers wrote a lot about this. Whoever wants, let him read their writings and see; let him read what Mark the Ascetic wrote, what Saint John the Climacus, Saint Hesychius, Philotheus of Sinai, Abba Isaiah, Barsanuphius the Great and many others said. In a word, whoever does not pay attention to himself and does not guard his mind cannot become pure in heart in order to be worthy to see God. He who does not pay attention to himself cannot be poor in spirit, cannot mourn and cry, nor be quiet and meek, nor hunger and thirst for righteousness, nor be merciful or a peacemaker, nor endure persecution for the sake of righteousness. And generally speaking, there is no way to acquire virtue in any other way than this attention. Why, more than anything else, you should make an effort about him in order to experience with your own experience what I am telling you. “If you want to learn how to do it, I’ll tell you about it.” You must observe three things above all else: care for everything, even the blessed, and not just the unblessed and vain, or, in other words, mortify everything - a clear conscience in everything, so that it does not convict you of anything - and perfect impartiality, so that your thoughts do not lean towards any worldly thing. Stay focused within yourself (not in your head, but in your heart) ******. Keep your mind there, trying in every possible way to find the place where your heart is, so that, having found it, your mind will reside there entirely. The mind, struggling in this, will take the place of the heart. This will happen when grace gives the sweetness and warmth of prayer. From this very moment and then, no matter from which side any thought arises or appears, before it enters inside and is thought or imagined, the mind immediately drives it out of there and destroys it in the name of Jesus, that is, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me! From this time also, the human mind begins to have malice and hatred towards demons, raises an incessant war against them and defeats them. The rest that usually follows this work, with God’s help, you yourself will learn from experience, through the attention of your mind and holding Jesus in your heart, that is, His prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me! And one of the fathers says: “Sit in your cell, and it will teach you everything.” Question: but why can’t the first and second forms of attention and prayer achieve this? Answer. Because we don't use them the way we should. Saint John Climacus, likening these images to a kind of ladder with four steps, says: others tame passions and humble themselves; others sing, that is, pray with their lips; others practice mental prayer; others ascend into contemplation. Those who undertake to ascend these steps do not start from the upper ones in order to descend to the lower ones, but go from the lower ones to the upper ones - they step on the first, then on the second, then on the third and finally on the fourth. And this is how anyone who wishes can rise from the earth and ascend to heaven: firstly, one must strive with the mind and tame the passions, secondly, practice psalmody, that is, pray with the lips, because when the passions diminish, then prayer naturally brings pleasure and sweetness even to the tongue and is considered acceptable before God, thirdly, pray intelligently, and fourthly, ascend into contemplation. The first is characteristic of beginners, the second - of successful ones, the third - of those approaching the last degrees of success, and the fourth - of perfect ones. So, the beginning is no other than the diminution and taming of passions, and they are diminished in no other way in the soul than by guarding the heart and attention, for, as our Lord says, from the heart come evil thoughts that defile a person; This is where attention and storage are needed. When the passions, through the resistance of the heart to them, are completely pacified, then the mind comes to the desire of God and seeks to become friends with Him, for which it increases prayer and mainly spends time in it. From this desire for God and prayer, the mind becomes strong and drives away all thoughts that revolve around in order to enter the heart, striking them with prayer. And then there is warfare: evil demons rise with great noise and, through passions, create rebellion and a storm in the heart, but in the name of Jesus Christ all this is consumed and poured out like wax in the fire. However, having been expelled and leaving the heart, they do not calm down, but again attempt to disturb the mind from the outside through feelings; however, even here the mind very soon restores and begins to feel the silence that usually occurs in it, because they do not have the power to disturb the very depths of the mind, but only disturb its surface. But the mind still cannot completely get rid of abuse and not be fought by evil demons. This is the property of the perfect, those who completely renounce everything and constantly remain in the attention of the heart. So, whoever goes through all this in order, each in its own time, can, after his heart has been cleansed of passions, completely indulge in psalmody, and resist thoughts, and look at heaven with sensual eyes or contemplate it with the eyes of the soul, and pray purely in truth, as it should be. However, we must look at the sky with sensual eyes, as much as possible, less often, out of fear for the sake of the evil demons in the air, which are therefore called air spirits, producing various charms in the air - and we must be attentive. God requires one thing from us, that our heart be cleansed through attention. And then it will be, according to the words of the Apostle: “if the root is holy, then the branches and the fruit are clearly holy” (Rom. 11:16). If someone, not in the order we said, begins to raise his eyes and his mind to heaven and imagine something mental, then he will see dreams, something false, and not true, for the reason that his heart is unclean. So the first and second forms of attention and prayer, as we have said more than once, do not lead a person to prosperity. Why is it that when we want to build a house, we don’t first lay the roof, and then lay the foundation, because that’s impossible, but first we lay the foundation, then we build the house, and then we lay the roof; We must do the same in relation to the spiritual: first we will lay the foundation, that is, we will begin to guard the heart and drive passions out of it, then we will build a spiritual house, that is, we will drive away the rebellion raised in us by evil spirits through external feelings, and we will learn to put an end to this warfare as soon as possible, and then we will also lay the roof, that is, complete renunciation from everything, in order to completely surrender to God - and thus we will complete our spiritual house in Christ God, to whom be glory forever. Amen. care, care. – Ed. At the same time, Saint Simeon points out certain external techniques, which tempt some and discourage them from doing something, while for others they distort the doing itself. Since these methods, due to a lack of leaders, may not be accompanied by good consequences, and yet are nothing more than an external adaptation to internal work, which does not give anything significant, we skip them. The essence of the matter is to acquire the skill of standing with the mind in the heart, in this sensual heart, but insensibly. It is necessary to bring the mind from the head into the heart and seat it there, or, as one of the elders said, to combine the mind with the heart. How to achieve this? Seek and you will find. It is more convenient to achieve this by walking before God and prayerful work, especially by going to church. – But we must remember that ours is only work, and the work itself, that is, the combination of the mind with the heart, is a gift of grace, given when and how the Lord wants. The best example is Maxim Kapsokalivit. You might be interested in: