Слово 4. О душе, о страстях и о чистоте ума, в вопросах и ответах

Question. What is the natural state of the soul? What is an unnatural state? What is a supernatural state? Answer. The natural state of the soul is the knowledge of God's creatures, sensory and mental. The supernatural state is an arousal to the contemplation of the All-Essential Deity. An unnatural state is the movement of the soul in troubled passions, as the divine and great Basil said, that the soul, when it turns out to be in accordance with nature, remains in grief, and when it turns out to be outside its nature, it appears down on earth; when there is grief, it turns out to be impassive; and when nature descends from its inherent rank, then passions are revealed in it. So, it finally becomes clear that spiritual passions are not spiritual by nature. If the soul in the condemned bodily passions comes into the same movement as in hunger and thirst, then, since in the reasoning of these latter there is no law laid down for it, it is not so much worthy of blame as in other passions that deserve censure. It happens that sometimes God allows someone else to do something that is apparently inappropriate, and instead of censure and reproach, he is given good reward. So it was with the prophet Hosea, who married a harlot, with the prophet Elijah, who, out of God’s jealousy, committed murder, and with those who, at the command of Moses, killed their parents with the sword. However, it is said that in the soul, even without bodily nature, there is naturally lust and irritability, and these are the essence of the passions of the soul. Question. Is it in accordance with nature, when the lust of the soul is inflamed by the Divine, or when it is directed towards the earthly and bodily? And why does the spiritual nature reveal its jealousy with irritability? And in what case is irritation called natural? Is it then that the soul is irritated by some carnal lust, or by envy, or by vanity, or something similar, or when something contrary to this irritates it? Let him answer who has the word, and we will follow him. Answer. Divine Scripture says a lot and often uses names not in the proper sense. Something different is characteristic of the body, but it affects the soul. And vice versa, what is characteristic of the soul affects the body. And Scripture does not share this; but intelligent people understand this. So, from what is characteristic of the Divinity of the Lord, other things that are not applicable to human nature are said in Scripture about His All-Holy Body; and vice versa, derogatory things characteristic of His humanity are said about His Divinity. And many, not understanding the purpose of the Divine words, crawled into this, sinning incorrigibly. Thus, in Scripture there is no strict distinction between what is proper to the soul and what is proper to the body. Therefore, if virtue is naturally the health of the soul, then the illness of the soul will be passions, something accidental that has entered the nature of the soul and leads it out of its own health. And from this it is clear that health precedes accidental illness in nature. If this is really so (which is true), then it already means that virtue is a natural state of the soul, and an accidental one outside the nature of the soul. Question. Are bodily passions naturally or accidentally attributed to the body? And are the spiritual passions that belong to the soul, due to its connection with the body, naturally or in an improper sense attributed to it? Answer. No one dares to say about bodily passions that they are taken in an improper sense. And about spiritual passions, since it is quickly recognized and recognized by everyone that purity is natural to the soul, we must boldly say that passions are not at all natural to the soul; because illness comes later than health. But it is impossible for one and the same nature to be both good and evil. Therefore one thing necessarily precedes the other; Naturally, something is preceded by something else; because about everything accidental it is said that it is not from nature, but came from outside; and to all those who are accidental and emergent, change follows, but nature does not change or change. Every passion that serves for benefit is given from God, bodily passions are invested in the body for its benefit and growth; such are the passions of the soul. But when the body, by deprivation of what is characteristic of it, is forced to stand outside its well-being and follow the soul, then it becomes weak and suffers harm. When the soul, leaving what belongs to it, follows the body, then it too suffers harm, according to the word of the divine Apostle, who says: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: but these are opposed to one another” (Gal. 5:17) 73. Therefore, let no one blaspheme God, as if He put passions and sin into our nature. God has invested in each of the natures that which serves for its growth. But when one nature comes into agreement with another, then it is found not in what is its own, but in the opposite of that. And if passions were natural in the soul, then why would the soul suffer harm from them? What is natural does not harm him. Question. Why do bodily passions, which nurture and strengthen the body, harm the soul if they are not characteristic of it? 74 And why does virtue oppress the body, but nurture the soul? Answer. Don't you notice how what is outside nature harms it? For every nature is filled with joy when it approaches what is proper to it. But do you want to know what is characteristic of each of these natures? Note: what helps nature is characteristic of it; and what harms is alien and came from outside. So, since it is known that the passions of the body and soul are one opposite to the other, then everything that in any way helps the body and gives it rest is characteristic of it 75 . But when the soul has become friends with this, it cannot be said that it is natural to it; for what is characteristic of the nature of the soul is death for the body. However, in an improper sense, what was said above is attributed to the soul; and the soul, due to the weakness of the body, while it carries it on itself, cannot free itself from it; because she naturally entered into communication with what is sorrowful for the body, due to the unity that the incomprehensible Wisdom established between the movement of the soul and the movement of the body. But although they are in such mutual communication, movement is still different from movement, and will from will, and also body from spirit. However, nature does not change; on the contrary, each of the natures, although it deviates extremely, either into sin or into virtue, is nevertheless set in motion by its own will. And when the soul rises above the care of the body, then the entire spirit blossoms in its movements and rushes through the sky in the incomprehensible. However, even in this state it does not prevent the body from remembering what is characteristic of it. And also, if the body finds itself in sins, spiritual thoughts do not cease to flow into the mind. Question. What is purity of mind? Answer. A pure mind is not one who does not know evil (for such a person will be bestial), not one who is by nature in an infantile state, not one who assumes the appearance of purity. But purity of mind is enlightenment by the Divine, through active exercise in virtues. And we do not dare say that anyone should acquire this without being tempted by thoughts, because otherwise he would not be endowed with a body. For we do not dare to say that our nature will not be fought and harmed until death. I call temptation of thoughts not only to obey them, but to begin the fight against them. Enumeration of movements of thoughts The movement of thoughts in a person comes from four reasons: firstly, from natural carnal lust; secondly, from the sensory representation of worldly objects, which a person hears about and which he sees; thirdly, from pre-occupied concepts 76 and from the spiritual inclination that a person has in his mind; fourthly, from the attack of demons who fight with us, involving us in all passions, for the reasons mentioned above. Therefore, a person, even before death, while he is in the life of this flesh, cannot help but have thoughts and battles. For, judge for yourself, is it possible that before a person’s departure from the world and before death, one or one of these four causes should become inactive? Or is it possible for the body not to covet necessities and not be forced to desire anything worldly? If it is inappropriate to imagine something like this, because nature has a need for such things, then it already means that passions act in everyone who wears a body, whether he wants it or not. Therefore, every person, as someone who carries a body, needs to protect himself not from one passion that is clearly and incessantly active in him, and not from two, but from many passions. Those who have conquered the passions within themselves through virtues, although they are disturbed by thoughts and the attack of four reasons, nevertheless do not yield to victory over themselves, because they have strength, and their mind is delighted with good and Divine remembrances. Question. What is the difference between purity of mind and purity of heart? Answer. One is purity of mind, and another is purity of heart. For the mind is one of the spiritual feelings, and the heart embraces and holds in its power the inner feelings. It is the root, and if the root is holy, then the branches are holy, that is, if the heart is brought to purity, then it is clear that all feelings are purified. If the mind applies diligence to reading the Divine Scriptures or labors a little in fasting, in vigils, in silence, then it will forget its previous way of thinking and achieve purity as soon as it moves away from bad life; however, it will not have constant purity; because as soon as it is cleansed, just as quickly it becomes defiled. The heart achieves purity through many sorrows, deprivations, removal from communication with everything that is worldly in the world, and self-mortification for all this. If it has achieved purity, then its purity will not be defiled by anything small, it is not afraid of great, obvious battles, I mean terrible battles; because it has acquired a strong stomach, which can quickly digest any food that is indigestible in weak people. For doctors say that all meat food is indigestible, but it imparts much strength to healthy bodies when a strong stomach accepts it. Thus, any purity acquired quickly, in a short time and with little difficulty, is soon lost and desecrated. Purity, achieved through many sorrows and acquired over a long period of time, is not afraid of any attack that does not exceed the measure of any part of the soul, because God strengthens the soul. Glory to him forever and ever! Amen. According to the ancient Slavic translation: “passions are outside the nature of the soul.” That is, “the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh; they oppose each other.” According to the Syriac text, the meaning is this: “Why does satisfying the passions of the body give it growth and strength, while satisfying the passions of the soul harms it, although they supposedly should be characteristic of it?” The words “peculiar to him” are not in the Greek edition; they were supplemented from an ancient Slavic manuscript. In the Syriac text this passage reads like this (after the word “opposite”): “everything that brings benefit and joy to the body should be considered as alien to the nature of the soul and imposed on it only through borrowing, if it acquires it for itself; for that which belongs to the nature of the soul is deadly to the body.” You might be interested in: