Каллист Катафигиот

Chapters by Callistus Katafigiot, on divine unity and the contemplative life 1. Every living creature, from all that is born, due to its best innate activity (ενέργεια), enjoys both peace and pleasure to the same extent, finds pleasure in this and therefore strives for it. Thus, a person, having intelligence and, naturally, reflection on life, feels the greatest pleasure and real peace when he thinks about a better [state] for himself, whether someone wants to call it good or kindness (καλόν). This state actually occurs in someone who, having God in mind, thinks about His properties as a truly Supreme Being, conceivable above the mind, loving man endlessly and beyond reason and preparing high gifts and incomprehensible blessings and beauties for His creatures, and, moreover, mainly in eternity. 2. If every birth likens that which is born to that which gives birth, as the Lord said, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6); and if he who is born of the Spirit is a spirit, then it is obvious that such will also be God according to the Spirit who gave birth, since the Spirit is the true God, from whom by grace the partaker of the Spirit was born. If such [be] a god, then clearly he would, in justice, also become a contemplator (θεωρητικός), for from contemplation (θεωρεί) God is called God (Θεός). So, the one who does not contemplate, either has not yet achieved spiritual birth and communion, or, having achieved it, he, out of ignorance, closes his visual power, ignorantly turns away from the divine mental rays shining around the intelligent Sun of truth and, having become a participant in the divine power (θεωτικῆς), unfortunately, is deprived of its action, even if he strives to holiness. 3. Everything that exists received from its Creator, by [His] word, its own movement and natural property, from which the mind also came in a consistent manner. But the movement of the mind contains [something] permanent. The constant is infinite and limitless. Consequently, finite or limited movement will be contrary to the proper purpose of the mind and the essence of its nature, and this will happen to it if it directs its movement towards [objects] finite and limited. For it is impossible for an object to be finite and limited, while the movement of the mind towards it or around it extends into the infinite. Consequently, the ever-moving mind really requires something infinite and unlimited, towards which it would be directed rationally and in accordance with its nature. But, indeed, there is nothing infinite and truly limitless except God, who is one in nature and essence. Consequently, the mind must strive, look and move towards the one truly infinite, that is, towards God: for this is truly innate to it. 4. What is infinitely and limitlessly contemplated about God, but even this, however, cannot be fully enjoyed by the mind, seeking the Author of its existence. For since each [being] naturally finds satisfaction in what is similar to itself, the mind, being one by nature, although it is many in thoughts, striving and, as it were, moving towards God, one in essence, but many in activity, cannot find complete satisfaction before it begins to dwell in spirit in one naturally limitless, as if having passed from many. Therefore, the mind can find complete satisfaction naturally in God alone. But, of course, each of the creatures is most satisfied with its innate property. Therefore, it is even the most natural property of the mind to move, extend, abide and find joy entirely in God alone, simply and infinitely one. 5. Every movement of any creature and, of course, the mind itself, has in mind and really strenuously strives for a motionless and calm state; the transition to standing (σταθεί) and peace (ηρεμία) in itself is the final goal and equally tranquility for the creature. But, of course, the mind, as one of the creatures, being in motion, cannot achieve motionless and calm standing among creatures. For since everything created, as having begun, receives a corresponding end, then the ever-moving nature inherent in the mind would have to cease, and, consequently, the mind [in such a case] would have to look for where {from what} it should come into motion, and would not at all be in a state of calm or the ability to achieve the final goal inherent in it; or the mind will not have the ever-moving nature in accordance with its purpose if it is enveloped in [things] limited and finite. And this is far from the nature of the mind, which is obviously always mobile. So, it is incredible that the mind becomes calm or stops precisely when it is among creatures. So where can the mind make use of its own property, namely, to stop in the midst of movement and thus remain in calm and peace and unshakably perceive the feeling of rest, if it does not reach the uncreated and unlimited? This is God, truly and supremely one. So, He, the one and unlimited, must be reached through movement by the mind, as if it had found its natural peace, of course, in mental peace. For there is standing in spirit and hospitable rest, the infinite limit of everything, and movement, concentrating on That One, does not cease in any way for any mind that has reached the limitless, infinite, unlimited, formless, ugly, completely simple: for such is He who is called one, that is, God. 6. If God, according to David, creates His angels as spirits (Ps. 104:4) and makes those of people whom the Spirit gives birth to spirit (John 3:6), as the Lord said, then the same angel is, therefore, a person who is born of the Spirit by His obvious participation. But the property of angels is to continually see the face of our heavenly Father (Matthew 18:10), just as the Lord said; therefore, an obvious participant in the Holy Spirit must, as [and] befits, while aspiring to the mountain, contemplate the face of God. Therefore, of course, David teaches, saying: “Seek the Lord and be strong; seek His face always” (Ps. 104:4). Consequently, the one who, having become a partaker of the Holy life-giving, enlightening and loving Spirit and having experienced an indescribable birth from the Spirit, having risen to the dignity of an angel, then, without sufficient reason, due to excessive fear, limits his mental feeling towards God and instills in him a reluctance to reach out to God and the divine, although the Savior commands to abide in Him, does not observe what is proper and appropriate, since He Himself abides in us (John 15:4), and David says: “Come to Him and be enlightened” (Ps.34:6). And, indeed, if we intended to do what is due and proper, then in the Light of God the Father - I’m talking about the Holy Spirit - we will see the light (Ps. 35:10) of God, that is, divine truth, unless we somehow, out of ignorance, refuse to turn to the divine rays. 7. The mind ascends to the contemplation of God in three ways: self-moving, other-moving, and the average between these [methods]. The self-propelled way is accomplished only by the nature of the mind at its own will with the help of imagination; its limit is the contemplation of divine things. The sons of the Hellenes also dreamed about this in some way. The second way is supernatural, arising from the will and enlightenment of God alone; therefore [the mind] in this case is entirely under the divine influence, and admires divine revelations, and tastes the ineffable mysteries of God, and sees the outcomes of the future. The middle method - between these - is partly in contact with both. It is where the action is performed according to one's own desire and imagination that he is consonant with the self-motivated; It has something in common with the other-moving insofar as [the mind] unites with itself under divine illumination and ineffably sees God beyond the boundaries of its own spiritual unity. For then the mind becomes outside all these divine things, visible and spoken, not seeing either goodness or deification, or wisdom or power-creating power, or providence, or any of the divine [phenomena], being filled most of all with spiritual light, as well as with the joy produced by divine fire, dissolved by love {softened by love}. 8. The mind, using its own imagination to contemplate the invisible, is guided by faith; illuminated by grace, he is strengthened by hope; admired by the divine light, he becomes a treasury of human love, and much more of God’s. Thus, the threefold structure of the mind and movement in faith, hope and love becomes perfect and godlike, firm and unyielding. And, reaching this breadth of Vyshnegrad, as one can put it, he is confirmed in the fortress of love. From this follows what Paul says: “Love loves all things, endures all things” for the good of faith and hope; “love,” he says, “never ceases” (1 Cor. 13:8) due to its fiery unity and ineffable contact with God. 9 . The One is not singled out in anything created. The fact that one differs from the other in some way in its natural properties is impossible not to know; and how they are created, in this one does not differ from the other either at the beginning or at the end of its existence, both because it is limited by nature and because it is not a truly simple One. For only one thing is in reality uncreated as simple, as having neither beginning nor end and boundless, and therefore infinite, and this is precisely God. Looking at Him with the participation and assistance of the life-giving Spirit, the mind, united and simplified, being in a god-created dispensation, constantly receives the growth befitting it; and at the same time he very clearly understands that apart from the One and without looking to Him in the spirit, it is impossible for the mind to be better. This is because the mind has dissipated, yielding to the many-part world and passions, and, in accordance with this, needs a premium power and, therefore, a supernatural One to look at, so that, thus abstracted from particulars, it becomes beyond passions and divisions, and so that it can achieve the God-like. That is why the Lord makes a prayer to the Father, so that we, the faithful, may be one (John 17:22) in the Father and in the Son Himself by the Spirit, and thus one, as they themselves are One (not in a poorly understood sense, of course, as Sabellius called the One), so that we would be, as it should be, perfected both by the grace of the unifying Spirit, and by one-like contemplation in the one God. This is where, obviously, we really succeed for the best, and this is the end and the true and only peace. Therefore, the envious and man-hating demonic squad, which squandered the mind on the veneration of many gods, unfortunately scattered the unity of the mind into delusion and did not allow it to have an idea of ​​the One Worldly One, in order to force the mind, contrary to its nature, to concentrate on service, view and division into many [objects of worship], to expose it as prone to all sorts of passions and lies instead of truth and virtue. That is why the Holy Spirit bequeaths through the prophet, saying: “Come to Him,” that is, the One, “and be enlightened” (Ps. 33:6), and in another place: “I am the first God and I am after these, and besides Me there is no other God” (Is. 41:4; 44:6), and again: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4). For the trinity of the One Deity does not share a single dominion, but the Three are indeed exactly Persons, and, on the other hand, they are no less One in being and power, in will and action, and in other essential goods. So, to serve the unity of God, and to look, and, according to strength, to gather towards it from many things is the will of God, and the advancement of the mind, as the discovery of truth and divine love, and, therefore, the fruit of deification. 10. If the lie is many-part, and the truth is one, then, consequently, the mind, extending in the Spirit to the One, the premium, surpassing everything, to the source of [this] many, extends to the truth itself. However, the mind cannot become free from passions unless the truth frees it (John 8:32). Consequently, the mind becomes free from passions, inclining and extending in a unique way towards the One World. Freedom, and not slavery, is most appropriate for the mind for dispassion, God-like dispensation and spiritual sonship, because the “slave,” as [the word of God] says, “does not know what his master is doing” (John 15:15). If ignorance is characteristic of the slave, then it is obvious that the one who received freedom as an inheritance knows the secrets of the Father and thus managed to ascend to the good and beautiful dignity of sonship, for just as ignorance is clearly opposite to knowledge, so, of course, the position of the slave is clearly opposite to filial one. And if the one who does not know is a slave, then the one who knows is not a slave at all, but a free one, or, so to speak, a son. For the Spirit of truth, who truly liberates, Himself makes sons to God those in whom He dwells. “For,” He says, “those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). If looking at the super-essential One can be a property of truth, and truth gives freedom to the mind, and freedom is a clear sign of divine sonhood, then there is no other gift greater or more befitting of rational nature than this gift of sonhood. Consequently, it would be very reasonable and necessary that, to the best of one’s ability, the mind spiritually extends, looks and gathers towards the One Worldly One, that is, towards God. 11. “The Lord your God,” says the Holy Spirit, “there is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4). This is precisely the concern of the deity of the Spirit - to raise the mind to the One, the premium. And, of course, one cannot say that [the Spirit] preaches one thing, but rejects the appeal and outlook of the mind [to Him]. For what the Holy Spirit says, it wants, would be the subject of thought, and the mind would turn to what constitutes the content of thinking. For in the absence of the mind turning to the object of thought, the very thing that it could think is absent; and, of necessity, the sermon about the One will turn out to be delivered in vain, and through this comes faith. If this is incongruous, then, consequently, it is incongruous not to reflect on the One mind, turning and reaching out to Him. 12. If it is natural for caused creatures (τὰ αἰτιατά, lit. “having a cause”), especially rational ones, to stretch out and turn their gaze to the cause [of their being], yet it came from God as its cause, from Whom is the mind, and God is the supreme and simple One, then, therefore, it is natural for the mind, turning to the supreme and simple One, as its cause, to reach out and look to Him. 13. If “all things are from Him, by Him and to Him” (Rom. 11:36), and the mind is also one of everything, then, therefore, from Him, and by Him, even closest to Him, and it is by Him that the mind itself exists due to its likeness to God. Therefore, the mind should look all the more to Him. The expression “towards Him” means that one must look, turning to the manifestation of the One Worldly One. Therefore, the mind must look to the One. 14. From the One many things come, and not from many, the One. But, of course, a creature is many things; therefore, creation obviously comes from the One. But that One is, without a doubt, above creation, as Creator and Creator; Consequently, the one who contemplates the creation as he should, will necessarily have the completion of his contemplation in the One worldly one, precisely because in creatures, indeed, there are very many, as it were, echoes of the cause, with the help of which the One who providentially produced everything, as he willed, with art, wisdom, strength and goodness is known. Therefore, Isaiah says in the Spirit: “Look on high with your eyes and see who created all these things” (Is. 40:26). “All these things” he said in reference to the multitude of caused creatures, and “Who” - raising his mind to their Author, Who simply, by nature, is the One. 15. The creation is also gathered into a single, but complex, multi-part and not without beginning, like the created. The Creator is One, not only One as creating harmonious combinations of many and different into a single agreement and goal of everything, but also the uncreated as the original cause. The mind, ascending sequentially, will necessarily come to something One, initial, arranging the visible order and birth of beings, harmony and agreement in the one, or if not to this, then it will reach the infinite, which is incongruous. For everything that is movable and occurring did not once exist, and what does not exist received a beginning, but if it received a beginning, then it is movable. What should be considered as having moved and brought into being? This will be the motionless, since it is the moving. Otherwise, what is the driving force that is not subject to another principle, since it is beginningless? If it is motionless, then it is immutable; if it is such, then it is also completely simple; and so that, being complex, it does not change, then it is immutable to us. For addition is the beginning of disagreement, while disagreement is the beginning of dissolution, the end of movement. So, it is there that there is no addition, so that there is no discord and no disagreement, so that there is no dissolution and no dissolution, so that change and movement do not appear in the immutable and motionless - in the mover, [but] not in the movable, in the leading to being, [but] not becoming or becoming. So, if it is immutable and immovable, then by necessity it is uncomplicated and therefore completely simple and indissoluble. The mind, stretching towards it, becomes decisively beyond everything due to its inherent gaze towards the beautiful and the desire for what exists above all, and even more so towards the one from whom everything and to which everything naturally extends. When this happens accordingly, in a reasonable way, then the mind is beyond passions. For, stretching and being above even the beautiful, the mind would in no way stop at the shame of passions. Therefore: “He alone you will serve” (Deut. 6:13) - obviously, the One (i.e., the supreme one), says the sacred Law. Consequently, we must reach out to the One Supreme if we want to both fulfill the Law of God and be above passions. 16. “The Lord,” says [the word of God], “one led them, and there was no strange god with them” (Deut. 32:12). Do you see the power of the one and only One, how there was no foreign god with them, because only the Lord led them? But the Lord leads those who follow Him, and not those who turn away [from Him]. What one follows is what one turns to. So, if we want not to have another god with us, a demon or a passion, then we will follow the one and only spiritual appeal [to Him], so that it can be considered that it has been said about us, not without reason: “The Lord alone guides them,” therefore “there is no foreign god with them.” 17. Although many things come from the one, but in different ways, because, of course, the method of formation of beings, according to which they come from the first unit, is different. For some of them received a beginning and were created, while others were uncreated and escaped the condition of a temporary beginning, but for all in all respects the super-essential One serves as the cause, for some creatively, for others naturally. And therefore, one should not immediately attach oneself to all of them in the same way and adhere to them, but what is subject to beginning and creation should be approached not because of it [itself], but for another reason, as one [approaches] a mirror because of what is reflected in it, or shown by it. For in order to achieve the best, one should not approach the creature for reasons other than the fact that the highest One is manifested in it. We approach beginningless and natural creatures not because of anything other than them [themselves] and where they come from, or their Author. For they are those [creatures] that should be approached because of themselves, and to them the One belongs most intimately and naturally: rather, of course, they themselves belong most intimately and, as has been said, naturally to the One high and supreme. So, we should not only begin, but also cleave to them and, with their help, try to imprint on ourselves the likeness of the first and only beautiful thing, in order that, with the assistance and help of grace, we may acquire the dignity of the glory of God in the image and likeness of [God]. As a result of this, it happens that those who reason correctly, on the basis of what has been caused, creatively raise the mind contemplatively to the image of the One, as if reflected, and unite it decisively and simply into a single thought about the One, the supreme, if only the mind looks at these [creations] properly. In creatures, which have their cause by nature, lies the power to unite the mind occupied by them and formed by them, with that truly One. Therefore, of course, from all kinds of creatures, whether they are natural or creative, the mind is accustomed to naturally gather to a different single cause, either actively or contemplatively. And whatever the mind uses - whether one or a greater number of creative or natural creatures - [if] not because of the One and not in order to, having gathered itself, ascend to the first One and generally look at Him with the holy participation and influx of the enlightening Spirit, simply, monotonously and uniformly, [then] all this is imputed to him as a sin, although this use {such attitude towards the creature} will have the appearance of good. For what comes from the One leads naturally to the One those who use it as they should. For “every manifestation of light emanating from the Father,” says the great Dionysius, “beneficently coming to us, again, as a single-creating force, rapidly fills us and turns us to the unity of the Father’s collector and to God-created simplicity, for “from Him and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). If we do not lead to this, then it is inconsistent with nature, and the use [of the gifts of light] becomes beyond the bounds of what should be, if it is not done in exactly this way. 18. There is action that precedes contemplation, and there is action that follows contemplation. The first is done physically, so that, having curbed the impulses of the body and little by little created a harmonious movement [of it], one can thus give the mind the opportunity to move with a free foot into its own area, which is the mental, and there work well in its favor. Another action, starting from the mind and thought in the spirit, comes down to what is above the mind, that is, to God. Approaching it, the mind reaches the One, for the One is God, and the mind itself unites into one and becomes inseparable. For the One associates with unity and, upon contemplation, with God-like simplicity. For it does not happen that the mind, contemplating the One, is not itself a simple One; if he contemplates the divided and complex, then it is necessary [for him] to be divided and to be different. I simply called the One the simple, existing by itself. Namely, since the mind, whatever it is, allows changes in its activity, and it itself is simple, it is necessary that, seeing the One, it should be united in activity. If, suppose, he sees the One, and he himself is divided into at least two parts, then what exactly would the part (literally, “leg from toe to foot”) of him do, separated from the one seeing the One? After all, she either sees something else, or does not see, and in two ways - either unwillingly, or due to weakness of sensation, or, perhaps, being destined by nature itself for another activity, and not for contemplation. But if anyone assumes that [the mind] is also looking at something else, then note that the mind does not simply see one, but, contrary to calculation, two; and seeing two, he cannot be one. For, as has been proven, he is divided into what he contemplates. It is impossible to assume that he does not see if he does not want to, because the thinking mind cannot allow inaction even for the shortest moment. But one cannot think that one part of the mind is dulled and the other is refined; or so that it may not be simple, but complex, consisting of whatever parts happen, [and also] that one part of it sees, and the other is assigned to another type of activity: after all, this also serves as an expression of addition, which is completely impossible to say about the simplicity of the mind. As a result of this, if the unique and simple nature of the mind will, let us assume, look at the simple One, then it itself will be one in activity. And if it is simple and united, then it sees the One simple. Therefore, every action or contemplation must necessarily strive towards the One, which transcends the mind. Otherwise, the mind will not accomplish anything, but will be in vain acting or contemplating, for it will act, subjected to separation from passions, not carried away by the feeling of the soul to a uniform union with the One, superior to the mind, which connection is capable of filtering and purifying the visual principle of the mind, elevated to That One, looking and, moreover, feeling it in the One from Whom everything is, and by Whom and in Whom all things for whom [all things] happen (1 Cor. 8:6; Rom. 11:36; Col. 1:16; Heb. 2:10) exist and exist. 19. The crown of all desires is the union of God with the soul, which transcends the mind. Divine likeness is necessary for divine unity; for divine likeness the activity of the mind, that is, contemplation, is necessary. For such is precisely the deity, which is why He is given the name God. But contemplation immediately rises to the thought of God. For from everywhere and in everything, God imparts, as it were, certain rays to the contemplative mind, and the contemplative mind has God right in front of it, and God is the worldly One. And it is natural for the mind to become, in its activity, what it sees, as the theological language of the divine Gregory proves, saying that [the mind] “saw and felt the lightness of God” (Homily 38, on Epiphany). For what the mind saw, it felt or even became so. For the mind, says Peter of Damascus, takes on a color according to what it contemplates: and just as, looking at the divided and different, it is different and divided, so, having ascended to the contemplation of the superworldly and simply One, it consistently becomes one, as I said before. When he reaches the One, he sees the beginningless, the infinite, the ugly and the simple, for such is the One. As a result of this, of course, he himself becomes beginningless, endless, ugly and simple in activity. In such a position, with such a change, he ascends, as far as possible, to assimilation to something divine. And from here he rises to the end of all desires, to the divine, transcending the mind and ineffable unity, which, precisely, is the ultimate goal according to Bose. That is why the mind should direct all its efforts to be stretched out to grief and to be lifted up in spirit to contemplate and look at the One World. 20. When the mind dwells in many things, or in at least two things, then obviously it does not simply see the One. Therefore, it can be limited, finite and unclear, for this is not something completely simple. When the mind comes into intangible contact with the truly One, invisibly rushing towards Him in the spirit with a mental gaze, then it becomes beginningless, endless, unlimited, ugly and formless, clothed in silence and remains silent in amazement, filled with joy and experiences the inexpressible. But do not say that I claim that the mind becomes beginningless, infinite and unlimited in essence, and not in activity, since precisely by what the mind changes is not its essence, but activity. After all, if he were to change in essence, having seen and perceived deification, being deified by the fact that he sees God, then he would become in essence God. But it is impossible for [anyone] to be essentially God, not even for any of the angels, except for the one and only God above. So, if it is inappropriate to say that the mind is deified in essence, then it remains to say that the mind experiences this by contemplation itself. Consequently, it is natural that he changes not in his essence, but in his activity. In other words, if the mind tends to change, as said, according to what it contemplates, then it does not see the divine essence at all, but only activity; and he himself will change, therefore, not in essence, but in activity. 21. Everything, as if shining from the One Worldly One, was not separated from that from which it received its origin in every possible way, but as it happened, so it is contained and accomplished in it. And there is nothing in everything [that is created] in which there is not an outpouring and, as it were, some fragrance of that creative and real One. And everything that is involved in existence does not emit a voice, pointing not to the premium One (for It is above any kind of contemplation or thought), but to some ray of the premium One. Therefore, since the One is called upon by all [beings], everything inclines towards the One, and the premium One itself manifests itself to the mind in all beings, then the mind needs to be guided, instructed and led to the premium One, both under the influence of conviction on the part of many beings, and because the creating One, about which we are now talking, wants to be visible to the mind thanks to the excess of goodness, so that the mind in He felt life, as the ineffable One Itself says: “I am life” (John 11:25), and: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God” (John 17:3), and in another place: “Seek God, and your soul will live” (Ps. 69:33), - for as a result of seeking comes vision, and from it comes life, so that [the mind] may rejoice, enlightened and rejoiced, as David says, “for in You is the dwelling place of all who rejoice” (Ps. 86:7), and: “In Your light we will see light” (Ps. 35:10). Or why did He create a contemplative mind, and scatter His properties in all beings, in which, as if in some windows, He delights the mind during spiritual illumination, attracting it to Himself during illumination? 22. God, Who is the Trinity Good One, created everything that He created by will. But, of course, what God wants is the highest good, for goodness is His nature; and He created the mind as a contemplator of Himself or His properties, which gives the ability to unite the contemplator with the One. Consequently, it is desirable for God that the mind should be a contemplator of Himself, and this is a high good in itself. God is truly and simply One, to look at Whom and to unite with Whom is, as has been proven, a high good. 23. If universal love is one and collected in itself, as explained by theologians (θεοσόφων), then, obviously, there is one beloved. For if there were at least two beloved [objects], then either there would be two loves, or one love would be divided in half and would not be called one and contained in itself. Now, when they say that universal love is one and contained in itself, then, obviously, one must think that the beloved is one. But, of course, the beloved precedes the love for it, and it is impossible for anyone, before feeling the beloved in any way, to feel love for it. This love is that intense love that both the natural and written Law of God requires us to have for God. The first [requires love of God], convincing the mind, which loves the beautiful to a high degree, to strive for an even better thing, which is God; the last one - saying: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all thy heart, and with all thy mind” (Deut. 6:5); and “The Lord your God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4). This means that there is one beloved, namely the Trinity Unit, which must exist for the mind before love for It. So, the mind should strive to be extended to the premium One, so that as a result of finding and contemplating Him, love for Him would also shine, and so that a person could become a doer of the law and commandments, having loved, as has been said, the Lord his God. 24. It is impossible for the mind, which has ascended to the One, which surpasses the ability to think, to for some reason not love Him. For he encounters unspeakable and inconceivable beauty penetrating from Him (i.e., the supreme One), as from an all-powerful root, when, under divine insights, the mind is like a net, ready to break through the catch and attraction of many fish (Luke 5:7); comes to amazement, contemplating beauty that surpasses reason; he becomes intoxicated, as if from wine, and is beside himself, as if in a frenzy, and experiences surprise that exceeds thought, not being able to accommodate the beautiful spectacle of extraordinary beauty. As a result of this, of course, the mind is also contained by the bonds of love and is, as it were, tormented by thirst. The One, which transcends the faculty of thought, is the One. But everyone proclaims It to be the original cause of everything, the beginning, the end, and the harmonious connection of everything. But, exuding the power that creates the beautiful and the good, It Itself produced the beauty and goodness of all that is beautiful and good, infinitely above all beauty and all goodness, infinitely dwelling [in creations] and being incomparably the One premium, the One by nature desired above all that is beloved, as the Only One truly beautiful and good, surpassing all the beautiful and good, the One truly by the law of nature and order beloved, as the cause of everything, insofar as It surpassed everything beloved and desired by the superiority of beauty and goodness, and the One truly premium, as the only One that truly exists and produces all beings. So, with God's help, as they say, we must turn in spirit to the search and knowledge of only the One, where the beginning of everything is and where the ends of everything are - and, of course, the door of divine love will open by itself (Acts 12:10) to us by the grace of Christ, and we will enter the rest (Heb. 4:3) of our Lord in great joy and joy, we will know the sweetness of the One and we will taste divine pleasure, not scattered and divided into many, but becoming one themselves, in accordance with the Savior’s cry to the Father, who said: “That they may be one, even as We are one” (John 17:22). Then, of course, we will be precise keepers of the commandment that says: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10:27), and we will achieve perfection in man as far as possible. For love is the end of the law (Rom.13:10). On it “are based” not only “all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40), but also all those who have been perfected according to God in Christ. 25. For everything that is naturally inclined to unite with the Spirit, separation is a weakening. As a result of this, precisely, if the mind began to be divided in any way in its activity, it would find itself outside of what is due to it by grace. This happens to him when he looks at some different objects, for it is impossible for [him] to have inseparability with different views. After all, if someone were to suggest it, he would not easily be able to give an account of why the mind in a state of silence is different from a confused mind, and he would thereby assert that the mind of God-bearing people is similar to a mind overwhelmed by outbursts of passions, which is unthinkable. After all, the mind, by its activity becoming what it sees, seeing what is necessarily complex, is itself different, and being deprived of simplicity, it in no way can maintain inseparability. Being subjected to division, he is not at all pure from sin, since division in itself is recognized as a sin by those who themselves have the opportunity to notice such things. But if the spiritual image of the mind, which should, by looking at the highest and most worldly One, taste the supernaturally beautiful uniquely {unified} spiritual feeling, has emerged, let’s say, into an extra-graceful division, then, of course, we should already hold on to the highest and most worldly One and look at Him, and, moreover, exclusively and only with our whole soul, if we want to avoid division and disagreement. Even if, let’s say, the mind looks at the One, but at the created, then still it cannot become undivided. For the one created cannot be called truly simple: it is limited, complex and determined and therefore has no reason to be called even simply one, and, on the other hand, the mind will not have its simple and uniform activity, turning a close look at it. For the view of it will be definite and limited with addition, which is what is contemplated by it, and the mind will deviate from the divine grace that arranges it simple, beginningless, limitless and indefinite, and it will be outside the secret One, surpassing thought, and will be deprived of its glory, which is the taste of the unique property and the infinity of the beginningless, simplicity, becoming formless in one form, and it does not reach the perception of the impression of supernatural and indescribable beauty. So, the mind must look and stretch to the beginningless, simple and unlimited, and, indeed, the One, try to receive its illumination from there and unite with the beginning of the collective Unit and through it with itself in order not only to be loved by the best, becoming like him, as far as possible for him, unlimited and simple, omission of form and image, but so that he himself can love the divine and excellent supernatural beauty, exalted as it is said, to the point of likeness. For just as it is natural for like to have a kind disposition towards like, it is obvious, of course, that the mind will be loved and in turn will love God. For like is like like. And just as similarity has correspondence, so, of course, mutual love [on the part of the other] will relate to the love [of one]. Between God and the soul there is no feeling stronger than this. 26. The mind becomes above its own nature when it completely reaches that which is above the mind, having become formless, ugly and generally divinely inspired, unimaginable, beginningless, infinite and, so to speak, above its own unity. When he has the subject of his own reflection with him, even if he is occupied with the divine and spiritual, then, as they say, he naturally moves and acts, and becomes within the limits of his own nature. The supernatural is significantly superior to what is in accordance with nature and is much higher than [it]. Therefore, one should cherish the desire to become involved in the supernatural as much better, according to the commandment that says to be zealous for the best of talents. But, of course, it is obvious that the mind, while in the supernatural, is in God. For God is truly above all nature, since He is, of course, the most basic and simply the One. So, the mind should stretch, try to look and raise itself to the most basic and simply One, so that, having ascended to the supernatural One, above its natural activity, it becomes in a better position compared to its natural one. 27. Each of the beings finds natural satisfaction and peace in its own [particular] properties, which all, in the original cause, previously had their existence on a single basis. It is then that the mind will naturally come into true joy, have brief joy and be completely calm; having passed over and left everything, he will stretch to that one-origin and primary cause and there, by spiritual conversion, he will reach [that] from which everything and the properties of everything, the beginning, the middle and the end, came; and in it everything consists and is contained, by it everything that happens is brought to its proper end, through it everything that experiences good is enjoyed, by it the mind itself is already created as it is, for in some way the mind can turn to itself when turning to that main cause of everything, which is the true prototype. And since every [being] naturally loves itself, and the mind especially feels this, being a beautiful image of the incomprehensible beauty of the One, surpassing reason, it loves to look at its own cause, turning to it, precisely because, as it is said, looking there, it sees itself and begins to love even more. On the other hand, this is also a kind of love that is naturally manifested in created things towards the Creator, just as, in turn, love for children embraces parents. Therefore, for the one who turns to the One cause of everything, a great, unspeakable pleasure arises, for he turns to the reason [of his being] and to himself, as it is said. For in her, as the cause of everything, everything has its original existence; and of course, the mind, as one of all, is contained in the One, surpassing the mind, as in the causal prototype. 28. Just as every being received its existence from the super-essential, from the supernatural every nature, from the timeless and uncomplicated, the temporal and complex, and also from the uncreated created things, so every species originated from the formless, and from the One supermundane many things that appear. Therefore, the one who does not enter into communication with the formless One and does not strive (μὴ... ἀσχολούμενος) to Him, having Him as his foundation, but to something else from what is contemplated in the image and creation, he prefers the incomparably diminished above the existing and, perhaps, stands close to idolaters. For what one is busy with and what one turns one’s gaze to is what one strives for, and what one strives for is what one is conquered by; by which he is conquered, he is also enslaved (2 Pet. 2:19), and indeed he serves the creature more than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). For the mind of everyone is enslaved by that, serves and loves that, what it looks at and what it is occupied with. If, however, doing anything other than the simple One and formless and besides looking [at Him] produces so many deviations [towards evil], then our effort and knowledge should be directed towards the formless One simple by turning [to Him] and mental aspiration to where exactly the treasures of all knowledge are (Col. 2:3) and where, for those who have reached there, there is peace or cessation of all contemplation, suspension of thinking, silence that surpasses the mind, inexplicable joy amidst great surprise. 29. If all beings strive towards being, and the being of everything, for its own reason, lies in the One, which surpasses being, then, consequently, all [beings], and especially rational beings, moving correctly and as they should towards being, strive towards the One, existing above being. Consequently, the mind that does not reach out to the One, existing above being, and does not strive for Him, has a perverted and sinful movement and loses its dignity, which consists in the knowledge of the One, existing above being, in the most divine, superior to reason, unique union with it and in love [for Him]. 30. Causes contain in abundance the beauties of what comes from them. The cause of everything in general is the essential One. If the mind clings to something that follows from the essential One, for example, to beauty or to that which is perhaps worthy of mental attraction, then its goal is obviously not achieved, since, even having a love for the beautiful, it, out of frivolity or ignorance, is directed not to the first and main thing, from which everything beautiful becomes beautiful, thanks to its participation, not to the essential One, but to that which is from It. borrows its beauty. But the mind, reasoning expediently, extends its mental gaze to the essential One, recognizing clearly that it will more than achieve what it desires, becoming in this mental vision as a cause, and that nothing except the essential One imparts to [the mind] its [properties] or anything beautiful. After all, even if it seemed that there are forces that can impart inherent gifts, then still they do not tend to remain forever in a loving mind, for, as we believe, it is inherent only in the Holy Spirit to do this and act as he wants and wherever, as the Lord and being of the sovereign nature, the Person of the Trinitarian Unit. So, the mind should be directed to the supernatural One, where not only is the source of any benefits, but also the inalienable distribution of gifts. 31. All beings naturally strive for good; in reality, one thing is good, although many [things] are called goods. For among most [things] you will not find anything simply good and, as it were, all-perfect, but only what is called good in some way according to some participation of good, as participating in good from the all-essential One, and not having it at all from itself. For only this One Transubstantial is simply good, and the highest good, and the source of all goodness, and is capable of communicating its properties and naturally turning to itself every being, being, position, force, movement, activity, property and any kind of beauty and goodness. And simply all beings and everything contemplated around beings from there, from the all-essential One, creatively perceived their appearance. That is why the mind, striving for something else, and not for the essential simple One, has an inappropriate movement, since although it strives, perhaps, for good, it does not strive for truly and simply good and not for that which, through an excess of beneficial overflow, makes good and better and others that need to acquire goodness or progress towards the best. 32. The mind of the majority of people, having undergone, through ignorance, division and being, as it were, entertained by many, does not know the good of simply the One: namely, in part it does not seek [it], in part it is not occupied with it. The Spirit speaks about this in David: “Many say: whoever will show us good” (Ps. 4:7), and not “good” - and naturally: caring and fussing about many things, they either did not recognize that “one thing is needed,” passed by the “part” of it, which is called “good” by God’s holy word (Luke 10:42), or lost it through their negligence, not even thinking at all to seek what deserves it most. to be sought after. Those who devoted themselves to the leadership of David as a mentor and recognized the need to follow in his footsteps say: “The light of Your countenance is marked upon us, O Lord” (Ps. 4:7), that is, the knowledge of Your only glory is imprinted on us, as in a mirror. Thus, many ordinary people find pleasure in many blessings, and thus those who live spiritually are illuminated, being enlightened in a worldly manner by the knowledge of a single and simple good. 33. Just as the swiftness of a water current can be greater if it rushes forward in one form, rather than being divided and broken into many branches, so the gaze of the mind, the movement in it and the desire will be stronger if it is directed not in many parts and varied, but in one form and without division. And this naturally happens when striving for the worldly and simply One, when looking and contemplating. For the truly premium and simplest One is collective, and the mind, worthy to see It, cannot, of course, not accept His image according to its appearance, like an image, and not become unique in a uniform position, simple, colorless, formless, qualityless, intangible, limitless, infinite, ugly and simply the One premium, since it is illuminated by the rays of the divine and supermundane. of love, with the revelation of mysterious knowledge, is crowned with silence and peace of thinking beyond words and thoughts, and enjoys spiritual joy and heavenly joy, and, moreover, changes into something more divine, and is clothed in a divine image, in spiritual correspondence with the simple, the ugly, the formless, the one and the other above-mentioned. And if this had not happened to him, and he had not experienced such a divine change, then he would not have achieved the sensation and idea of ​​the supermundane One. For God is the only-created Unit and the Mind above thinking, and the mind then, if possible, represents Him in a worldly manner, when, together with what has been said, it becomes one above thinking, having perceived this [change] as a divine representation. 34. The Trinity of the all-essential Divinity is reduced prenaturally to the individual, for God is a Tri-hypostatic Unit. Therefore, it is impossible for the soul to be in a similar way the likeness of God unless it itself, being tripartite, supernaturally becomes one in itself. I call the soul tripartite not according to the principles: rational, passionate and desirable - for the soul is tripartite not essentially in this. After all, the rational soul is not particularly prone to desire and irritability, for these principles are borrowed from the unreasonable part of creatures, entering [into the soul] as a result of real animal life as unreasonable and dark in themselves. But the soul is rational, and its nature is full of mental light. And its belonging, mainly, should be considered those principles, without which it cannot manifest its own activity. But it acts without irritability and without desire, and especially then it truly acts when it acts without them. Consequently, in reality these are not its parts, but, as I said, these are the forces of animalistic and base chance that enter into it. After all, a rational soul, mentally contemplating the heavenly, imagining the speculative, reaching above itself and, so to speak, making a leap upward, throws desire and irritability somewhere far away as empty nonsense, not having an object to which to apply them where there is simplicity, the formless, the ugly, without color or outline, and everything else that requires a mind free [from passions] and completely simple. But in accordance with its simplicity, the soul is tripartite, being the mind, using the word and the spirit, which is most characteristic of it and does not at all violate its simplicity, because the trinity of the One-origin Deity, a similar image of which the soul is, does not interfere with its unity and simplicity, but the Divinity is also a completely simple One, essential, and at the same time, nevertheless, just as unshakable - the Trinity. So, the soul, or mind (for it is mind, and in general mind is soul), word and spirit, prenaturally constituting one, represent to us the true likeness of the Trinitarian One Deity. This can be no other way than through looking and contemplating the prenatural Trinity Unit. She created the soul as such. [She] raises it to this [likeness] after falling away, and without looking to Her and contemplating it, it is impossible for the soul to achieve this. If this does not happen, if the likeness is not restored, then we will find ourselves insufficient in this regard, and, moreover, in the contemplative part and in the truth, which deserve the greatest zeal and without which it is impossible for us to achieve a dispassionate dispensation. For it is fitting for us to be active in good, in order to be dispassionate, and contemplative in relation to the truth, in order to be God-like, serving God, who surpasses everything, and striving to become gods by position and to be them in the legal likeness of the archetype. If we need to become one in the likeness of the prototype of the premium One - and this naturally happens to us when looking at the premium One itself, contemplating, stretching out grief, mentally turning and steadily looking at the One itself - then, therefore, we should try in every possible way to look at the premium One, exceeding reason, and we should completely place ourselves towards Him ourselves with all diligence, with all our heart and soul, and to cherish in ourselves the love for the supreme Simplest, the one and only, so that love for Him itself could be instead of holy wings for our mental ascension of grief to Him. And thus, we are always, as it were, “in the air,” in a formless unified dispensation, “we will be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17), truly One, singing the Trinity threefold: mentally, verbally and spiritually, and to Her, as it should be, rushing, and admiring, and united in one way by our own unity in ourselves with the One above all unity. 35. The Unit is the tactile beginning of every numerical plurality, and the premium Unit is the beginning of every manifest and intelligible multitude and all that exists. Therefore, just as every number has its beginning from one, so every being, in whatever way, flows from the premium One for a reason, either natural or creative. But the position of a numerical unit, insofar as it is subject to observation, is consistently determined by its nature, for since the unit is the beginning of everything numerable, then the sense, when counting, puts it first of all. In the premium One, since It is above the mind, something opposite is seen. Namely, the mind places the unit after everything, as primary in nature from everything; for no mind is able to make the supreme One the beginning and from it move on to many things, but, on the contrary, from many things it ascends to Him and gathers. And just as there the feeling needs the numerical one due to its transition into the many, since otherwise it is impossible to count or move forward [the mind] where it wants, so here the mind needs many things as a result of ascending through it to the premium One and, as it were, gathering itself, since from any other side it cannot ascend, as it wants, to the idea of ​​the premium One. In this way, the mind, with the help of the order and path characteristic of it, begins from many things, but makes its ultimate goal the premium and supreme One. For, since by feeling the numerical one is completely understandable and definite, then, naturally, feeling puts it first in position, as its nature requires. The unit sought by the mind, being premium and supernatural, not amenable to intuition, is perhaps too far from the position inherent in its nature for the mind to begin with it, but since it is supernatural, the mind supernaturally rather finds in it not the beginning, but the end after the transition and, so to speak, enumeration of much. For, since the mind by nature has thinking, and the premium One is in itself incomprehensible and inaccessible, the inclination of the mind is directed even involuntarily towards many things. Not being able to remain inactive from thinking and not having the strength to embrace the supreme and worldly One, the mind, nevertheless, looking at many things, in each thing of all the many sees that there is something speculative, not something that exists, but that belongs to something single. And then, collecting from each thing that appears each speculative manifestation and seeing that they agree with one another, and are not contrary, and that all are, as it were, flowers of the same root and growth, the mind successively reaches from the many to the supreme One, from Whom many and everything [came], and naturally gathers from natural beings into the supernatural rank, seeing the prenatural and presubstantial One as if in a mirror, as it is characteristic of the supernatural to be seen by the natural in one form. Then it is the mind, having inexpressibly seen the original and creative origin of the goods and beauties of everything and having enjoyed the essential One, reluctantly turns to many things, although they are beautiful and partake of the “good lot” (Luke 10:42). For, being the greatest lover of beauty, he naturally does not voluntarily deviate from the One who is above all, unless somehow this happened to him due to some circumstance. But since the image of beings is different and has a different mental outlook, and the mind with their help ascends to the pre-mundane One and the supernatural differently, then, in my opinion, it is necessary in a certain sequence to determine [at least] a small direction of the path through many to the pre-mundane One so that the mind, ascending as if on a ladder, makes its movement most steadily and finds out what exactly is missing in this [movement], whether it is in the position in which it should be, and to what extent he is satisfied with it, and what pushes and deviates him from this beauty and ascension or divine feast, and how it would again be possible for him to return to where he fell. From here, precisely, he knows both the darkness of passions and the illumination of a pure heart, he can see, as in a mirror, the knowledge of the truth as it is, he will be a participant in heavenly visions, he will recognize the divine feeling, and for him it will not be a mystery whether he grows or goes to decline: he can achieve many wonderful knowledge and will understand what the purpose of silence and seclusion is. Therefore, let's say this: all beings are divided into creatures comprehensible by the senses, intelligible creatures, uncreated intelligible beings and the uncreated One Transubstantial, transcending the mind. Rotating among them, often looking [at them] and choosing silence in its asceticism, the eye of the soul, that is, the mind, ascends from doing alone what is appropriate, as if by some step, to contemplation and achievement of what truly exists, to tasting the heavenly and, with the help of the rays of truth, to conversion, admiration and enrichment to infinity, to wonderful joy and pleasure, with the assistance of grace, perhaps, to admiration from the earth over time, when the mental light is firmly established, - to an indifferent attitude towards the local due to the possession of things that are above the mind and the idea of \u200b\u200bthat which incomparably surpasses all that is beautiful. Although this sacred ladder is divided into five parts and, as if by steps, ascends to the highest goal, however, step from step does not have a local distance; but the difference and distance separating one from the other is a category, as it were, of a quality or some property, as, for example, beings are equally creatures that are comprehensible by sense and creatures that are intelligible. But the latter far exceed the former, insofar as the mind in its beauty surpasses the feeling. Again, on the other hand, the uncreated intelligible beings are in many ways superior to the intelligible creatures, although both their order is noticeable among creatures, but the uncreated intelligible beings are inferior to the uncreated One, which is superior to the intellect. And from here it becomes clear that if the mind, having passed on from action, stands on what surpasses all beings and exists in that highest secrecy, lying above everything comprehended by feeling and mind, then this is its best view and contemplation, as more accessible among sensually comprehended creatures or, even especially, among activity. After all, since the mind loves the beautiful by nature, it must strive in every possible way for the best, not only in order to taste [it], but also in order to undergo a better and, as befits, change that surpasses the mind. Because, as it is said, what the mind sees and what it enjoys is what it perceives change. However, since changeability, connected with the nature of the mind, will never depart from it as long as the present exists (Heb. 3:13) and, according to someone’s expression, until “the shadows are moved” (Song. 2:17), that is, until we pass from real life, showing the truth “in a mirror and in fortune-telling” (1 Cor. 13:12), as if in the form of a shadow, then, having deviated from contemplation and looking at the uncreated One, which exceeds the mind, we must try to become as close as possible to the intelligible uncreated, so that again we can quickly achieve a return to the uncreated One, which exceeds the mind. When a thick fog attacks, darkening thinking and instilling in the mind a negligence of contemplation, then we should actively encourage ourselves to pray in a humble heart, and when the darkness recedes before the power of prayer and tears, then we should again create, as if with some reason for ourselves, things that are comprehended by the senses, and in the heart, due to the spiritual activity contained in it, the intellectual light still comes to life, and the mind, obviously, very intelligently takes power over activity. Because, indeed, the mind has the ability to ascend, as it were, to some mountain peak or high observation place and contemplate not only what is invisible to many, but also what is unexplored and incomprehensible. And “without this no one will see” either himself or, especially, God (Heb. 12:14). Now, perhaps, it will not be far from the goal to speak in passing about this activity [of the soul]. 36. The soul contains three [principles] that require activity: rational, desirable and irritable, and three outside itself: the desire for glory, for pleasure and for possessing more. These two trinities the soul, looking intelligently at the life of Jesus Christ in the flesh, with its four cardinal virtues, that is, wisdom, truth, chastity and courage, the grace of the Lord Jesus heals and gives the mind the opportunity to rise unclouded, consider the divine and contemplate God. For when the Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness in order to overcome the devil through struggle (Matthew 4:1 et seq.), then by fasting He healed the desirable principle, and by vigil and silent prayer [healed] the rational, irritable - by contradiction; voluptuousness, love of glory and love of money [He healed] by the fact that, being hungry, he did not wish, as the devil suggested, that the stones become bread, did not throw himself down from the wing of the church so that he would glorify His people for the fact that He suffered nothing from the fall, did not agree to bow for the promise of receiving the wealth of all kingdoms, but with irritable contradiction, reasonable and fair, chaste and courageous, he repelled Satan, teaching us this too defeat him in every invasion. Everyone will see and know this same thing on the cross of the Savior. For whether the Savior prays at that time, having withdrawn from the disciples (Matthew 26:36), is the healing of the rational principle. Is He awake, vigilant and endures thirst on the cross (John 19:28) - this is the healing of the desired beginning. He does not contradict, does not argue or does not raise his voice (Matthew 12:19 { Isa. 42:2}), although they slander Him, and prays for those who offend (Luke 23:34) - this is a sign of the well-being of the irritable principle: to defeat the devil with contradiction, and to repay the people who offend (like those who themselves suffer the violence of Satan) with silence, long-suffering and prayer for them. Whether he is subjected to spitting, whether he accepts being strangled, whether he endures ridicule and mockery (Mark 14:65) - this is the healing of love of glory. Whether one drinks vinegar, eats bile, is crucified, or is pierced by a spear (Matthew 27:34, 48; John 19:29, 30, 34) - this is healing from voluptuousness. Whether he hangs himself naked on a cross in the open air, homeless, despised by everyone, as if he were some kind of beggar and needy - this is the abolition of the money-loving mood. So, the Savior twice demonstrated the healing of internal and external passions: when he began to appear to the world in the flesh and when he intended to leave the world. Therefore, one who looks at Him, at His teaching and the cross and makes himself, as far as possible, in His likeness, rationally, righteously, chastely and courageously, like Him, will abolish the evil effect of these passions and through them all [others]; He will use them as he should and after them, all of them, and will truly be a man, active in contemplation and most prepared to reach out to God and indulge in mental contemplation [of Him]. And thus, consequently, his mind, having begun from many creatures comprehended by the senses, and having seen the well-being of their beautiful creation, and having comprehended the intelligible creatures with the mind, and moving on to the uncreated intelligible, has already passed, as it were, four steps on a ladder. After this, it is followed by a divine and transcendental silence, silence and amazement - and, in short, the gaze and contemplation of the supreme One and the unity that exceeds thinking, which is the height of calm, the highest and perfect object of desires that is only possible in this life, the limit of truth, the offspring of faith, the bright radiance of the expected glory, the basis of love, the rule of the mind, the stopping of its ever-moving, unthinkable peace and a uniform dispensation, as if in pledge of the activity of the future age, the guilt (reason) of unimaginable joy, the treasury of the world, the extinction of the wisdom of the flesh, deviation from the present age, aspiration to the future, the dissolution of a passionate life, a close connection with dispassion, the joyful delight of the soul and assembly, peace and protection of its own movements and forces - and, generally speaking, divine understanding and dispassion. So, the mind, obsessed by its carelessness or some external situation, should set as its goal a return to its inherent beauty of contemplation through the rejection of the passion that hinders it and keeps it from its characteristic goal, [it should pay attention to] how far it is from the edge of its desires and why; whether his contemplative principle is among the creatures comprehensible by sense, or intelligible, or among the uncreated intelligible; whether he is torn away by vain thoughts or due to some need from the present and only one in reality, the One premium, exceeding all the one, and, thus, the mind should eliminate intervening obstacles in order to return again in one form, as the order itself requires, to contemplation and looking at the One premium. For the mind, being somewhere outside the supermundane uncreated One, superior to the mind, is subject to division and not for the beautiful in essence, even if it moves beautifully, because the supreme beauty is the super-essential, uncreated and simple One that exceeds the mind, and this is really the final, opposite limit of the mind. And therefore the mind, moving sensibly, finds itself ascending there in the indicated way and feels unity above the mind. So, as much as we have the strength, we should strive for the infinite, explore what exceeds the mind, contemplate the formless One and directly comprehend the incomprehensible, in order to be able to receive the only inheritance of the one highest God, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the life-giving Spirit, through whom, illuminated, we are granted contemplative grace and, deified in our position, become gods by the gift of God. 37. The mind, having ascended to the region of divine secrecy, naturally surrenders to silence, united by simplicity and, therefore, with the participation of the Spirit, uniquely illuminated by the One who is superior to thought. And what can he say, having reached beyond his spiritual comprehension, having become beyond all thought and completely naked, as having surpassed thought? After all, if the meaning, so to speak, still remains in him, then it is clear that he thinks. For all meaning comes after thought, and if it thinks something, then how does it stand in the realm of secrecy? For what is truly secret is not what the mind itself sees if another does not see. Since in this case much could be called secret, because very much, or, so to speak, everything that the mind sees, it sees without the knowledge of the other. Consequently, with such an assumption, the secret will be even close to the limitless, which is incongruous. For one thing is truly the secret One, to which the mind ascends as to the source from which everything, both manifest and intuited. Without a doubt, the mind itself, as having ascended to that which is above everything, both manifest, verbally expressed, and conceivable, becomes beyond the ability to think, see, speak, and it has not yet ascended so [in height] and is not in divine secrecy as long as it can speak; for he thinks. But the secret is unthinkable and, therefore, beyond understanding; This means that the mind, having ascended to the region of divine secrecy and united, surrenders to silence due to its position, not voluntarily, but naturally, illuminated by the only image of the One, transcending thoughts. 38. If words have the ability to force the mind to go forward and make progress, then, consequently, they take it with success where the word does not reach, that is, to the deed accomplished by silence. If, let’s say, words can always be inherent in the mind and the soul always needs them, then I don’t see what kind of mental success comes from the use of speech. For the use of speech is not useful not only for doing, but to the same extent for contemplation insofar as the mind ascends from words representing the image of beings to simply and beyond the word the imageless and exclusively, and truly One, since every word is not the main object, or, more accurately, is an obstacle. Since these words, in general, are used in the transition, if necessary, from [one] thought to another, then how will the simple, independent, unlimited, ugly and completely One, which is truly and above words, need words in order to move somewhere? Or how could It be embraced by a word? After all, the word, as a rule, contains in itself in some way the scope of the concept, but this [the One Worldly One] is unencompassable as unlimited and ugly. If the word cannot correspond to the One secret, which surpasses the mind as incomprehensible and ugly, then only silence will be consistent with the One. So, those who have succeeded in silence should stop using the word, because they have previously reached simple contemplation without the help of outlines and images. 39. If words are characteristic of what is known, but the secret is unknown, then, consequently, the secret is outside the word. For if ignorance of the secret is higher than knowledge, and higher knowledge does not require any knowledge, then it will need much less words. So, the mind, having ascended to the secret, simply One, naturally surrenders to silence; and if he is not silent naturally and naturally, then [in his] ascent he has not yet reached the secret and simplified One. 40. Just as people who indulge in silence sometimes leave their cells and by experience themselves recognize the difference between sitting [in it] and going out, so, of course, those who experience silence and again turn to speech, sitting contemplatively on the glory of God, know about themselves, in what dispensation their silence finds them by nature, and not by choice, and what they are like, feeling an inclination to speak, whether they pray when silence comes upon them, or even in general Is it sometimes impossible to open your mouth in such a dispensation? For they are the same angels on earth, uniformly, formlessly, dishonestly, ugly and simply in contact with the truth in the eternal views of the mind, only feeling amazement and surprise within themselves, not thinking anything, but rather, dishonestly rushing towards the beginningless and divine illuminations. When the mind, as subject to change, descends from there, then they gain the opportunity to speak and mentally move on to many and varied changes. And in order for the structure of silence to return to them again as much better than speech, they willingly indulge in silence, and guard their feelings along with their impressions, and try in every possible way to avoid thinking itself along with conversation, so that they too can speak with David: “I was dumb, and humbled, and became silent, deprived of good things” (Ps. 39:3). For even good speech is lower than reasonable silence. 41. The Deity is neither fully revealed nor secret, on the other hand. But what It is is open and, moreover, very clear, but what It is in essence is secret. There is a huge difference between knowing what It is and knowing that It exists. For the latter is revealed from activity, and the first - what It is - depends on the essence, and even the angels are denied knowledge of this regarding God. For God is an infinite number of times infinitely higher than all being, higher than all mind and thought, therefore, when the mind reaches the proof of the existence of God, then it can speak a lot and philosophize the best, can be called wise and theological. When, having risen and surpassed the thought that the Divine exists, embraced by divine hiddenness, set in motion by the idea of what It is, he, as a natural thing, through the action of grace, becomes completely formless, intangible, dishonorable, then every word that can say something about God remains ineffective and the mind, united and immersed in the unthought, remains without movement, and then, having become [part of] that which is outside of everything {and then everything becomes transcendental to the whole world}, where no word, no thought, no thought appears in motley images, but simplicity, incomprehensibility, silence and amazement, the ugly, infinite, unlimited, dominate - he sees in a strange way a vision of the invisible and a formless appearance, and he himself becomes detached, formless in his correctness and imprints on himself (ἀναχρωννύμενος – lit. “colored”) corresponding to what is invisibly contemplated by him and what is shamelessly visible (καὶ ἀνομμάτως ἐπιβεβλημένα), in short, divine and supernatural beauty, and glorifies God, who created him as such. 42. God, Who is above all combination, is called One not only because He is simple, but because He alone truly exists and exists in all that, as they say, exists and has its being from Him. For what is not true and not simply existing is not, also, true and simply the One. And as existing in the same way everywhere incomprehensibly, and as the One, unlike everything else, He is completely outside of everything. As eternal, He has neither the beginning nor the end of His existence, and in everything equally He shines most pure with the divine ray of His providence, although not everything perceives Him equally. In addition, as unhinderedly cognizable by all [creatures], in order to be visible everywhere, uniformly above mental unity, He requires a mind that is whole, formless, ugly, colorless, inviolable for any beings, completely detached, ascending grief into the infinity of infinity, time, place, nature and what belongs to it. 43. When there is a spiritual contact that occurs above thinking between God and the mind, then, as they say, the mind, by mental feeling, completely takes on the image of the supernatural secret One, exceeding the own nature of the mind. However, what the mind itself experiences happens in accordance with its nature, purified by grace, for thinking for the mind means the same as seeing for the eye. So, just as someone looking inside in the darkness sees nothing except what he sees, as if this darkness alone, and feels that he does not see, for if he had closed his eyes, then perhaps he would have thought that there was light and some of the objects around him. Now, seeing, he clearly sees that he does not see, and for the visual power to penetrate into the darkness and know the hidden, this is beyond the nature of the eye, but this does not mean that the eye does not notice behind itself what it does not see, in the same way, of course, it happens with the mind: having ascended to the divine hiddenness and becoming above thinking, it really does not contemplate anything - and how is this possible? - however, he sees that he does not see and that What he does not see is the One, as if hidden by some darkness, from Which flows everything that exists in any way, either visible or conceivable, whether it be considered a creature or an eternal uncreated thing. And if he did not contemplate, he would not see how he himself extends above himself. Now, contemplating, he very clearly contemplates that he does not contemplate, being above contemplation, and that it is impossible for that which he does not contemplate to be contemplated. And above the nature of the mind - to go inside and see the divine and above the mind, the One Intimacy. And only a very pure mind, contemplating in the Spirit, is capable of looking into the divine darkness of this hiddenness and imagining the ineffable Unit that lies above all in the unspeakable mystery, and seeing that it contemplates nothing within the divine darkness. For the mind has a non-closed, not closed and not inactive mental gaze when it sees that it does not contemplate anything other than the divine and simply in the hiddenness of the One. And this is a sign of ignorance. But when he begins to contemplate more clearly, then he ascends to that which exceeds the mind and then contemplates his own blindness, contemplating in the secrecy of the simplest One. And although he even sees very clearly that the One is the One from Whom everything comes, and that It is secret, he does not see what It is. That is why they say that the mind is directed into that which exceeds its own nature when it looks into the simplest hiddenness of God. And the possibility of such a state by nature happens to him in the case when he becomes pure, and, one might say, to be so by nature means for him - to come to a supernatural state, dishonestly, that is, unthinkable, rushing towards the divine and simplest from above the mind, the Only Intimacy. For in this case the mind has no cognitive perception other than the thought of the unmanifested One. But, having reached there with the movement characteristic of him, he ends it with stop and rest. I don’t say “stopping from contemplation,” for that would be a morbid state of madness, but I’m talking about “stopping and resting” from moving from thought to thought or [from contemplation] to contemplation. For the mind, having risen there, falling into the depths of infinity and boundlessness, in mental light having reached the incomprehensible in this divine boundless intimacy, is eclipsed, so to speak, and stops, feeling nothing other than amazement in the midst of mental luminosity. But although [in this case] the mind does not move [from thought to thought], it is nevertheless brought into action by the mental light, looking motionless into the essential secrecy, uniquely and uniformly plunging into bewilderment and adorned with the impregnable interiority of unmanifested illumination. And if he were inactive from contemplation, then how would he experience amazement and enlightenment? But it is said that the mind, having reached there, stops in the sense that it does not move [from one thought to another], contemplating the One and experiencing moreover the beauty of the One, admiring and enlightened by it, it stops without moving, but not in such a way that it reduces its own pleasure in contemplation - for this would be a weakness that should be avoided, uncommendable and full of darkness of ignorance - not to contemplate in any way and anywhere - but so the so-called cessation of the mind occurs after the impregnable illumination of light. And contemplation does not strive for a transition [from one thought to another], but for a cessation and stop [of the movement of the mind], for this supernatural and secretly secret all-essential One is infinite and incomprehensible to any mind and does not allow the mind during contemplation, since it is involved in the purification and divine help appropriate to it, to contemplate It in any other direction; and from this divine contemplation, from excellent beauty and infinity, he does not deviate otherwise than as soon as he is distracted by something in the case of partiality or acceptance [of an outsider] or as a result of some natural variability to which he is exposed. 44. The nature of the mind is thinking. Thinking consists of movement and transition [of thoughts]. And since the mind, becoming in God, is above thinking and movement, then it can be rightly said that the mind, completely imagining God, becomes above its own nature. For every thought obviously comes, by its very nature, from an object. And where an object is not contemplated, thoughts are not born, and do not exist at all. But God, who cannot in any way be materially visible, naturally gives to the mind images from the objects surrounding him, among which he apparently acts, and which take the place of a force emanating from someone strong. So, since the mind is accustomed to seeing forces together with the strong in everything else, it strives to observe this in relation to God. And not being really able [to do this] - for this is beyond the nature of every created mind - he contemplates the surroundings of God and invisibly imagines God to himself, as they say, with a simple and collected thought. Having felt the peaceful air and achieved divine favor, [the mind], with the action of the divine and worshiped Spirit in it, from thoughts more often delights in a formless, qualityless and simple dispensation, entering very quickly into the heart with the supernatural power of the spirit, remaining in the idea of ​​God and not thinking anything, but becoming above thinking. From which, that is, from the contemplation of what exists around God, the mind rises to the idea of ​​the deity, becoming, as said, simple, [which is why] it is said that it is in a state that exceeds its own nature, since it is above thinking. 45. It is necessary that everything called secret must have something manifest, from which it would be clear that it is secret. Otherwise, it most closely resembles non-existence. For in general, everything that does not represent a manifestation of its essence, accessible in any way to knowledge, can be equal to something that does not exist anywhere and in any way. Without a doubt, of course, some manifestations of it are inherent in the mystery of God. Following them, the mind receives a sense of divine hiddenness, ascending from the comprehensible in God to the incomprehensible. Having achieved the latter, he understands that there is something authentically eluding his own natural comprehension, surpassing any mental and even angelic ability to comprehend, as something higher than light, the cause, the beginning and end of every nature, being and every essence, being itself supernatural and super-essential, being infinitely above any essence, unborn, beginningless, unlimited, simply incomprehensible nature, place, time; and this is the secret One above the mind, and from It naturally flows the ability to comprehend the divine, which, of course, is very great and again extends grief to us, as if surrounding us with mental guidance, appeals and aspirations to the initial secret prenatural One, connecting us with It to the extent that we can understand that It exists, that It is One, and also that which is in any case inaccessible to thought to know what it is in essence there is a secret One. But how could the word penetrate into that which is beyond the mind and beyond thought? The Word cannot penetrate this intelligible [One], but the mind is able to silently, ineffably, in silence above the understanding, single-mindedly look as at the secret, and rejoice in It as the causal and providential [beginning of being], and quite consistently for the rational nature of the mind to be amazed [before the all-essential One] as before the one who is above light and above goodness, above wisdom and above strength, and from this, enjoy divine joy - be amazed at everything in general, in which the essential secret One is manifested, as before the infinite and boundless. But it would be inconsistent for the mind, being in such [conditions], to use words and look for a way out, moving [from thought to thought]. So, the one who uses not silence, but speech, is far from a high structure of the mind, for this high structure of his mind, as people who do not prefer anything to the truth can confirm, consists in achieving the highest in his activity. The highest thing [in it] is his looking to the highest, which is accomplished, as they say, invisible: therefore, much less often and silently. 46. When the mind dishonestly (ἀνομμάτως) looks to the most divine, unique super-primary and most supreme hiddenness (κορυφαιοτάτῃ ἀποκρυφιότητι), then the impression [of contemplation] also invisibly disappears from there to the mind one-formed and unique {the only one}, filled with excellent, radiant and ineffable beauty, captivating the mind amidst silence into the depths of surprise and amazement. First occupying the heart with spiritual activity and sweet joy, it becomes for the mind mental light, illumination and, in proportion, divine love and bright joy; it has its source in God, from where every good gift comes through purity of mind, and its substance, as someone else might put it, it receives either from the divine instructions of the Scriptures, or from the rational and correct contemplation of beings in the midst of silence and prayer. For the secret inner One of the deity, higher than thought, is visible not somehow by chance, but in a uniform light emanating from there, filling mental vision and contemplation. But whoever has not experienced this, intelligently and consciously ascends from the outside (that is, through external philosophy) to the prenatural, secret, simple One, without being either heartily touched or illuminated, of course, mentally. 47. The clearest uniform and unique contemplation of the mind in God, rushing towards the only divine hiddenness and the light shining from it, having received divine illumination from the beginningless and endless illumination, requires silence not only of the lips, but also of the mind. For it is possible that even when the lips are silent, the mind settles within itself, passes into thoughts and thoughts and diversifies its impressions. This would be the expression of an inner mood, beyond which the mind ascends to the simplest unimagined intimacy of the divine Unit. For another [matter] is the contemplative [disposition] of the mind, and another is disposition and reflection, which relates to the expression of the inner mood of the mind. Therefore, the mind, revolving among created and complex objects or different in some other respect, first contemplates them and then in this state thinks [about them], already diversifying its impressions. If, perhaps, the mind can often find many thoughts about one subject, then [when turning] to that unique, uniform, innermost divine hiddenness, it, however, strains and stretches its contemplative eye and is illuminated by the simplicity of the divine light, but cannot reflect at all, being in such a disposition. For simplicity alone evades any mental transition or varied mood, and intimacy does not allow the one who has thought about what it is to express it with an internal idea or with his lips. It is precisely as a result of this that man, having risen mentally to the only most glorious divine hiddenness, naturally maintains silence with both lips and mind. 48. When the mind in its turn is directed entirely towards God, and its contemplative power is exhausted by the brightest rays of divine beauty and ugly rises to the simplicity and boundlessness of the secret One formless, and it becomes one for itself as a result of its own desire for the One and looking with the inspiration of the Spirit, then it is clearly in an infantilely silent dispensation by the very way of thinking and tastes the ineffable and supernatural Kingdom of God according to the word of the Lord, who says: “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). For then the mind becomes independent and in all respects unconstrained, surpassing the boundaries of all knowledge, all possible thinking, all combination and diversity, rushing towards the inexpressible and unknowable, which is above the mind. As a result of this, of course, the mind naturally remains silent due to its structure, which is not only above words, but also mental activity, and, together with the secret and formless, contains the supernatural, pleasant and sweet to the extent necessary for mental pleasure. 49. Contemplative minds, seeing God in a formless form, in the most supernatural {most luminous}, immaterial and uncomplicated beauty, in the simplest face as a uniform One, crowned with infinite blessings, adorned with innumerable beauties, illuminating every mind, as if with rays, light-like [streams] of beauty, [see in Him] the unspeakable and inexplicable bliss, an abundant source of good and beautiful, endlessly flowing and inexhaustible, inexhaustible, endless, inexhaustible treasure of glory, filling the invisible minds (ἀνομμάτους νόας - “unclean minds”) of the greatest pleasure, joy, heartfelt sweetness, pure joy, mysteriously occurring in an ever-flowing stream from That divine and supernatural Unit Which lies in inaccessible secrecy. [Contemplative minds see] also what and how great an unsearchable and immense sea pours out from that unspeakable goodness and inexplicable love, incomprehensible providence, in unlimited power and inexpressible wisdom, they see what is unthinkable for the angels and the seraphim themselves as existing above all understanding. They even see that which from now on seems to be arising in us in an indescribable way, but in the future will come into a renewed dispensation and, as it were, will be reborn and perfected; which amazes the cherubic mind if it even just slightly decides to think about it. Oh, the goodness and counsel of God, and love, and mercy! Oh, the strength, and wisdom, and providence of God! Indeed, “blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered” (Ps. 32:1) and “blessed is the man whom the Lord guides and teaches him from His law and the Spirit” (Ps. 93:12)! 50. In the Spirit and truth the invisible is revealed to those living in the world who cannot receive the Holy Spirit, as the Lord said (John 4:23; 14:17). And the heart eyes of those for whom it is preferable to retire and settle away from the world and what is in the world, are overshadowed with divine grace by the mental light, “from on high the rising” (Luke 1:78) of the intelligent sun, and help for them from God, so that “they set their ascensions in their hearts” (Ps. 83:6) and are illuminated by the divine illuminations, as befits to them, and in them very clearly one sees very much that is divine and mental, and worthy of a spiritual view, and, moreover, also the future eternal and inevitable dispensation of renewal of those who have lived righteously, not only in the form in which it will not be accessible to the senses, but already beyond the mind. For then those who have become the property of that which is above the mind, and who have become partakers of that life and pleasure above all thought, will be completely changed, becoming, as it were, gods by position, enjoying and rejoicing before the supernatural blessings of God who exists by nature, coming from the highest and one nature of God, standing around Him, and all-sacredly celebrating the divine and above-the-mind holiday with the greatest possible purity, and forming one very joyful heart. enjoying this blessed amusement and celebrating with all the intelligent ranks of angels. This is some kind of great and unimagined flow of pure delight from the highly beautiful. After all, if beauty accessible to the senses, being perceived by the mind through the senses, despite the fact that it is limited and fleeting, not simple and not uncreated, still usually gives the soul a pleasant pleasure, not unpleasant, then for people who have intelligence and think rationally, it is not difficult to notice and understand what they can become by achieving the mental, but moreover, something that is unlimited from above the mind and is not fleeting, is not created and has not received a beginning, but stems from God, from Whom everything beautiful and good comes, and, moreover, for joy, and delight, and divine life, worthy of that {future} age and dispensation. 51. Having renounced temporary and local extensions, distances and the limiting properties of natures (φύσεων) and hastily passed through them, the mind becomes truly naked due to the uniform simplicity and complex and formless life, since without any cover or barrier due to the peace of thoughts and silence it supernaturally achieves beginninglessness, incomprehensibility, boundlessness and limitlessness in the spiritually moving divine power and the radiance of the heart, which, it seems, together with the very contemplation of the mind, extends into infinity. Then the peace of God rises in the soul, and inexpressible joy and inexpressible delight from the Holy Spirit are poured out on it, and amazement that surpasses reason takes possession of it in the midst of its secret chant. It will not be revealed, but “the God of gods is already seen in Zion” (Ps. 83:8), in a mind soaring and turned to grief. “O Lord, God of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You” (Ps. 83:13). 52. When the mind, having been enlightened, is plunged into amazement from unthinkable silence, seeing itself between God and the divine, then it tastes, as far as possible, the true fruits of spiritual understanding, is deified, rejoices, succeeds in divine love, without saying anything at all, without in any way penetrating either deep within itself or outside {inside} in its disposition, without even thinking, but mentally seeing in the only way in the light of truth and spirit and making yourself lasting pleasure from the visible. 53. When the gaze of the mind, leaning inside the heart, sees the radiance of the Spirit flowing from it without drying up, then it is precisely the “time of silence” (Eccl. 3:7). 54. When the whole mental gaze sees God, or rather, when the whole mind is in God, or, so to speak, when God is in the whole mind, then especially and more naturally there is a “time of silence” (Eccl. 3:7). 55. When the mind, in communion with the Spirit, contemplatively standing before God in reality, properly enjoys the glory and splendor of the face of God, then it is quite natural to remain silent and look calmly and silently. If, in any way, some kind of gloomy darkness happens between the mind and God, then one must now throw against the darkness, as it were, some kind of fire, naturally light-like and flaming, a word, although brief, but distinguished by the divine power of expression, so that, thus quickly destroying the darkness with light and warmth, the darkness and in the same way enlightening the mind and warming it with this same thing, he can again, as before, be with God, and contemplate His beauty, and as one should enjoy it, be adorned and feel it - speaking in general, [experience] everything that happens after mental aspiration through the acceptance of the life-giving Spirit from God, and, of course, at the same time become simple {stretch} and, therefore, renounce with truth and spirit in God from everything, and even that very thing that is around God. The contemplative mind comes to such a state of justice and decentness. But the one who devotes himself exclusively to one activity is still very far from such a dispensation, since he has not yet obviously united with himself and through himself with God. So, it is not surprising that he sings as best he can and speaks a lot and often about the divine, completely frightening and repelling, as if by continuous attacks from this side, who is strongly hostile and fiercely fighting against us. For the time will come for him, under the influence, of course, of spiritual inspiration, when, as it were, the sparkling illumination of many divine songs, singing and words will merge into one light, when he will strike the enemy more easily, and even with a fatal blow, that is, burning and destroying or, rather, destroying the darkness of the ero, and enlightening himself with a fiery radiance, warming and inspiring as much as possible to divine love, lifting up to To God Himself in silence, heartfelt song and amazement and imagining to yourself the most wondrous miracles of the mysteries. It is not without reason that those who endure the Lord are blessed, but, of course, because with the passage of time they will inherit, like the meek, the spiritual land of promise in Christ our Lord. 56. When the mind, illuminated by each of the light outpourings of the Spirit, comes into confusion and bewilderment and notices that it itself extends to the infinite and boundless and changes, then it is “a time of silence” (Eccl. 3:7). 57. When the mind feels that it is, as it were, tired of the clearest of contemplations and wants to leave [this state] in order, having eased the tension, to somehow achieve [in the interim] rest, then, naturally, “it is time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7), however, to put it briefly and characteristic of divine illumination. 58. When the mind, among the waters, avoiding the mental Pharaoh, passes its night under the illumination of fire and its day under the cover of a cloud (Ex. 13:21), then, following rational silence, a time of rest begins and, indeed, the beginning of purification for the soul. When the terrible mental Amalek comes against him and the hordes that follow him, blocking passage into the land of promise, then the right “time to speak” comes for him (Eccl. 3:7), and, however, he ascends to God in mental action and proper contemplation, just as Moses of old raised his hands with the help of Aaron and Hur (Ex. 17:12). 59. When spiritual power flows abundantly from the abyss of the divine source and from the mental gaze of the heart, then the “time of silence” naturally comes (Eccl. 3:7). For then service is inexpressibly accomplished, namely, worship of God with the mind “in truth and in spirit” (John 4:24), and, moreover, with true spiritual feeling. 60. When, as a result of mental gaze towards God, the rational part of the soul is completely filled with divine amazement, and the speculative part is filled with vision, and the soul is also filled with delight, then, without a doubt, “a time of silence” (Eccl. 3:7). For in the Spirit the mind very tangibly perceives the truth in its collected form and, worshiping in amazement, honors God shining in it. 61. Those who worship God appropriately “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) and serve Him as it becomes, worship and serve not only not in a certain place, but no less also not with verbal pronunciation. For, just as the spiritual feeling, having risen as a result of righteousness, does not at all dare to worship in place the Indescribable, Who has no “place of rest” (Is. 66:1), so, of course, connected with the truth, it, naturally, observing what is due, does not at all allow to worship and, therefore, serve by the variety of words and the limitation of pronunciation of the infinite and limitless, beginningless, and formless, and completely simple, and, in general speaking, above the mind, whenever, of course, the time comes for the mind to be enlightened in one way, as a result of the influence and influx of the Spirit, with the knowledge of divine truth (1 Tim. 2:4). At this very time, the mind, having become completely free from everything in general and even having in some way left itself, quite understandably, already becomes beyond the ability not only to speak, but even to think, since with joy and amazement, with the help of spiritual light, it directs its attention and contemplation to what is higher than both words and reason, and in a unity that surpasses itself, it becomes in some way immovable and imperishable simply as a result of an invisible aspiration. 62. The mind, which listens to itself, should, in justice, manage its own spiritual structure prudently, wisely and wisely, and when it notices that it is contemplating the simple and unimaginative mysteries of theology, then [it should] immediately calmly stand in silence, not without surprise and, moreover, not far from its heart, which acts in the spirit and, of course, is illuminated by it. For then is a time not only of calmness of feelings from everything available to them in general, but also of silence, no matter what word seeks to come out [of the mouth]. Therefore, for those who understand, there is then a more convenient opportunity to remain mentally calm and not seeing, even if something needs to be said. For then one must completely surrender to stillness in feelings, in words, in thoughts, so that the mind, directly and properly, being completely unified, can, in a single and unique view, freely [and] permissibly see the infinity and anarchy that exceeds thought, as well as incomprehensibility and, generally speaking, other divine, immutable and perfect properties of the one and only Trinitarian God, and unite, changing with contemplation, becoming simpler and generally becoming God-like by divine grace with joy and surprise. And since the mind would like to adhere to such a structure, if it were possible, but, of course, it cannot at all, being changeable and living with the changeable and being united in some way with the body and surrounding objects, then, for reasonable reasons, it should not separate, deviating far from a single view, and be verbose, but speak a little, and, moreover, from divine insights, so that not only can it quickly turn again to unity with God, which exceeds the mind, but also to feel a clearer unity and, moreover, no less and more lasting. For, since the mind remains in any way collected and undistracted, its turn to divine unity occurs more quickly, and it is united, with clearer and, moreover, of course, with more effective manifestations of light due to completely continuous communication with the divine. 63. When the mind changes under the influence of the divine uniform manifestation as a result of mental vision, and is illuminated by the misunderstood, surpassing all knowledge, and becomes undivided, simple, unlimited, as if uniquely illuminated in the darkness, contemplating unlimited beauty due to its superiority over simplicity, formless due to its superiority over every form, beginningless due to its position above any beginning in all respects - [a beauty that is] itself immense, but contains in itself the boundaries of everything and all the contents in it, fills everything as [everything] full, while itself is infinite; in short, when, as a result of contempt for everything that exists, the mind, when looking at the One, sees everything in an ineffable way of mental power above thinking, then “it is time to remain silent” (Eccl. 3:7) and mysteriously and supremely, or, so to speak, invisible or inexpressibly, to taste the unique pleasure in the most divine secret teaching of truth. When what has been said is not in the mind and division is noticed around it, then “it is time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7), but to say something that can lead to silence. For timely silence, which is superior to words, can quite rightly be called incomparably superior to any word. Therefore, the wondrous Solomon, who placed this very silence very highly, says: “A time to be silent and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). The best thing and, of course, the most important thing is to maintain appropriate silence. If, for some reason, it has not yet arrived and the mind has not yet reached the same level of what is higher than words, then at least let the timely conversation be a secondary matter. And in order for speech to be akin to and close to silence, let both silence and, of course, conversation be done in good time, and let it be strengthened to come to a cessation of speech by speaking and meditating unceasingly on the divine, by examining the creature and contemplating in it, as in a mirror, its Creator (Rom. 1:20), when, as much as possible, it speaks about Him. This is what it means to speak in good time. So, it is necessary to express it in accordance with how I understood it. 64. When the mind, having gone through everything here and having naturally ascended to grief, is joyfully silent, then it is precisely the time to enjoy the worldly and inexpressible, the time of illumination and mental light, the unity of the mind and the contemplation of simplicity, boundlessness, infinity, luminous knowledge and, in short, the time of perception and assimilation of spiritual wisdom, through which the mind is perfected in detachment from everything and in silence, feeling in the midst of the frenzy an inexpressible delight. 65. When the soul notices that it is “drunk” with the feeling of truth, as if a “cup overflowing” (Ps. 23:5) of grace, and becomes beside itself, then, obviously, there is a “time of silence” (Eccl. 3:7). 66. When the disposition of the inner man wants to exclaim: “Lord, how my persecutors have multiplied! Many rise up against me” (Ps. 3:2), - then “it’s time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7), to speak as it should be, not empty, but against enemies expedient and appropriate as it should be. 67. When “the light of the face of the Lord” (Ps. 4:7) appears over the soul in such a way that as a result it begins to be adorned, enlightened, and the outpouring of divine joy rushes upon it, then, of course, “a time of silence” (Eccl. 3:7). 68. When she sees “unjust witnesses” (Ps. 34:11) “rising up” against her, questioning her about what she does not know, and confusing her, then, indeed, “it is time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7) and even to object. 69. In everything that exists and is intelligible, the most supreme and, so to speak, the highest or even the highest beauty, as well as goodness, is God. In all things visible, man is the best [creature], by his very nature separated [from creatures] by an enormous distance, and, without any doubt, he is incomparably superior [to them], and in grace he, indeed, surpasses even the angels. Namely, the contemplative mind, among so much that is between God and people, approaches that which is above thought, becomes frantic when it has not yet experienced the abundance of enlightening grace. Having tasted it with an active spiritual force in the heart, I could perhaps say, he ascends to the highest beauty and goodness, that is, to God, enters Him by a more divine gift and looks and is amazed with one kind, settling in silence in a depth that exceeds reason. And this, indeed, is - as perhaps someone would call it - the guarantee of the first celebration of the Sabbath {rest}, the image of which is the rest of God from the creation of creatures (Gen. 2:2, 3). Another, greater and somewhat different kind, celebration of rest, a true example of which is the remaining “Sabbath for the people of God” (Heb. 4:9), is clearly enjoyed by the one who turns to himself from God and knows himself as an image according to the archetype and in general, what is the mediation between God and people, when he penetrates accordingly not only into what is above the mind and thought, into the amazing amazement, but also filled with joy, inaccessible to expression, and spiritual delight, truly admiring in silence the divine illuminations and divine actions above him and beyond himself, and uniting in Christ Jesus with this Unit of divine and supernatural divinity. 70. When the mind is conditionally separated from everything that exists, as if the existing does not exist, then it inexpressibly imagines the truly existing above mental activity and unity, contemplating it “in truth and spirit” (John 14:17) through the infinite excess of divine properties surrounding the existing and visible in any way. And he becomes uniform or one, so to speak, is inexpressibly possessed by silence, becomes full of love, full of joy, and yet not simple, but such that comes from the action of the Spirit, [and] is likened to the pleasure of angels. 71. Just as in absolutely no way You, Lord, are at all incomprehensible to anyone in essence, not to any rational, mental nature, or even to the created mind in general, even to the cherubic one, but you stand an infinite number of times infinitely above all reason: so, Master, and what surrounds You is completely infinite and limitless. For example, You commanded by Your incomparable care the legislator of the Old Testament, Moses, to declare that You really exist and speak Yourself, but again, at the same time, You, the Most Unfalse and the only highest Truth, said about some of Your chosen ones that, although You appeared to them, you did not reveal Your name to them. For it is incomparably above every name (Phil. 2:9), not only those who are on earth, but also those who are in heaven. After all, those who are full of Your light represent You as a being, but without any [indication] of the essence lying in You (χωρὶς τοῦ ἐνυποκειμένου); of course, so that in a consistent manner You appear as the Transubstantial and the object of thought, not having any essence at all (ὑποκείμενον) in order for You to be known clearly, above thought and above everything, having the opportunity to be recognized as the Infinitely Misunderstood and Supreme. You are completely beyond time, beginningless, being self-life and infinite. You are not entirely subject to the concept of place, being present everywhere at once and above all, as the Creator of everything in the aggregate, and, moreover, the only one, being, however, both a container and an impenetrable abode of intelligent natures. You surpass the quickness of the mind and anticipate its thinking, since You are above all and in an inexplicable way the all-powerful hand of everything and, moreover, do not obey, even by chance, even the boundaries of nature. For You are limitless, being immense, not only by nature, as if beyond nature, but also by the natural properties surrounding You, such as all-wise wisdom, overwhelming power, love and goodness above any concept of love and goodness. What should we call you? Whether you call it light, it is not unapproachable: it means that You are above the light. Is it a judge? But does he know everything, and even before birth? Where is the judge? So, therefore, You are incomparably higher than the judge. How can we call You the Creator, when You create many and varied material things only by a wave of the will, and that alone? Among the immaterial - oh, the depth of superiority! “You, with one, so to speak, wave of the Spirit, create beings of the same nature, for they are spiritual, many, and, moreover, very many, with differences in locations, and, if you want, also in persons - an absolutely wonderful creation. But that which, by virtue of its superiority, exceeds every concept of the thinker—is this the work of the builder? Not at all! So You are therefore greater than the builder. Should we call You a founder and proclaim You an artist? But what kind of founder, without a foundation {foundation} on any foundations, creates even the slightest something, like You, Master, who founded such a great earth on nothing (Job.26:7; Ps.101:26) with so many mountains and its stones, with various plants, and, moreover, so unshakably (Ps.92:1)? Or what artist, out of nowhere and in no way existing, produces in an instant, according to a word, such artistic creations as You produce them? Is the one who calls Your creations the work of a creator or artist really speaking correctly? Not true at all. So, by great infinity, You, God, are the creator and the artist. Could anyone ever know, or hear, or at least somehow imagine this kind of love that Your all-wonderful goodness with very strong dispositions showed us in accepting what is characteristic of us (in Your Incarnation approx.) very humanely above all hopes? Of course, those who, by grace, are given the opportunity to contemplate this, enter directly into the vast abyss of love and wonderful providence, and under the influence of the most ardent impulses of love, on their part, become truly outside themselves, and do not know how to essentially appropriately name the actions of this creative providence. For the highest superiority exceeds the mind, and the word, and every hearing, and the thought of the disposition of Your incarnation, most good God! Father of all You are called by him. But You are indescribably superior to any patronymic in reason, power, providence, edification, generosity, and patience. They call you the King. But as much in relation to the present as in relation to the future, and no less, however, in relation to the past. So how? Surprising, detached and simple. After all, “Thy kingdom is the kingdom of all ages” together, equally present, past and future, “and Thy dominion is in every generation and generation” (Ps. 144:13). Thus, in everything, absolutely in everything, You are simply and decisively infinitely above all wisdom, being exalted, to put it briefly, equally high and infinite, and You, the incomprehensible Lord, and everything that is around You! The mind, imagining this in any way, is carried away by the attainability of Your vision and, completely uniting with the inspiration of the Spirit, plunges, as it were, into mysterious darkness, not being able to completely see You by the infinity and inaccessibility of [Your] glory. It is in this way that, through supreme peace, You revive those who indescribably contemplate and, moreover, wonderfully love You. On the other hand, the mind does not improve without seeing You. And after that you calm them again with divine and supernatural rest, You, Ineffable, Inconceivable, Limitless, Vast and, in short, All-Infinite in essence, of course, and in activity. Amen. 72. When the mind, having removed itself from multiplicity of thoughts, having shaken off varieties and many-part thoughts, finds itself above mental distraction with the inspiration and communion of the Holy Spirit, uniting it and constantly and incessantly breathing on the heart, and will constantly willingly dwell in divine places, as if reveling in ideas about God, so that with one mental gaze it will immediately see, as in a mirror, everything that is around God, - and, moreover, with unspeakable love - then he clearly achieves divine peace, enjoying, as usual, deep and divine peace, heartfelt, holy, serene rest in Christ Jesus our Lord. 73. When the mind talks with God, like some son with the most loving father, prays with his spiritual feelings, and, seeing the light of Jesus, rejoices unspeakably, is amazed with strong love, clearly feels in his heart divine love and the supernatural action of the Holy Spirit, and wants to soar mysteriously and peacefully above divine phenomena and perfections - then the mind truly rests from all its affairs, becoming after thinking above thinking, feeling wonderful pleasures and really resting in the peace of the life-giving Spirit of Christ. 74. “God rested from all the works that he began to do” (Gen. 2:3), but after the fulfillment of what was created in the Word and the Spirit. In the same way, the god-like mind rests from all its works, which it first began to create in co-fulfillment of the mental world according to its properties, but after sufficient consideration and, as it were, reproduction in the Word of God and the life-giving Spirit of the whole world in totality with those mental objects that are in it, and after ascending from these latter again in the Word and Spirit to what some call “post-natural” (μετὰ τὰ φυσικά) and elevation into simple and independent mysterious spectacles of theology. For then, in the midst of rest, he enjoys the greatest rest and peace in speculative truth and is deified in the light of knowledge and in the participation of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus our Lord. 75. Just as God, having fallen asleep, did not rest from all His works, but only from those that He began to create (Gen. 2:3), - He did not rest, however, from works that are beginningless, and uncreated, and as if akin to Him - so equally God-like the mind, having passed through and experienced all visible creation with the help of the divine Word and the life-giving Spirit, and having penetrated through it, does not at all rest from deeds that are akin to it, and least of all from those who have neither beginning nor end, but he rests from visible works, beginning and ending. As a result of this, while bodily rest for those who have completed work comes after immobility, something opposite occurs as a consequence of the structure of the mind. For if he had not become ever-moving from the life-giving, continuous breath of the Spirit in a cognitive look at the visible, then he would not even know whether there is spiritual peace, ever-moving and uniformly existing only around God and deifying its partaker in the midst of the inexpressible and ineffable rest in Christ. 76. “Do not be hasty,” says Solomon, “to utter a word before the face of the Lord: for God is in heaven, but you are down on earth” (Eccl. 5:1 et seq.). So he very clearly and aptly defines and makes clear what the “time of silence” is (Eccl. 3:7). For he says directly: since you are down on earth in the presence of the Lord, who is in heaven, and have been rewarded with such grace that, being down low, you can think and view the things above (Col. 3:2) and, rushing mentally, stand before the face of the Lord, “then do not be quick to utter a word” (Eccl. 5:1), for [this is] “a time of silence” (Eccl. 3:7). Do not desire this (i.e., “wear out the word”), being spiritually under the influence of the truth, both uniformly and Godlike. For this is what it means to be before the face of the Lord, when the mind single-mindedly contemplates many things around God in a simple and unique aspiration towards God. So, when you experience this and stand before the face of the Lord, do not rush to pronounce the word, or in this case you will voluntarily and in an ignorant manner hasten to descend and descend. Or those explaining the meaning of this saying could express it this way. Human nature was once intact and, as a result, rightly, was removed from disasters, close to God, contemplated God and enjoyed with joy the beauty of His face in the forefather Adam, with wonder [experiencing] immaterial, spiritual, heavenly, incorruptible pleasure. At the same time, great grace was poured out on the soul of the first man, while his God-like mind was surrounded by many cognitive contemplations and aspirations towards God, while in paradise, comprehensible by the senses, he enjoyed the spiritual paradise, the so-called blessed life, truly uniting in himself and God, being in himself and, as befits, in God, adhering to a unique and truly God-like dispensation - and [this] quite rightly, since he was created “in the image of God” (Gen. 1:27). But, to put it briefly, everywhere {thus} around us were these blessings from God. For the evil demon, at enmity because of our good lot and glory, wounded by envy, this was unbearable. How can this be seen? Many times already this all-destroyer turned out to be a deceiver, exaggerating the subject of our hopes with seemingly blessed advice, arousing the desire for a higher deification than what we had, and he was the first culprit of vice, slandering the rightness of the commandment of God (Gen. 3: 4, 5). So, since we have miserably experienced the destruction of deception, we have become far from God and divine pleasure (Gen. 3:23, 24), we have fallen miserably from the unique intelligent spiritual life and the possibility of contemplating the face of God and the glory that shines upon us when changed by the ray of divine beauty - and we have found ourselves, unfortunately, divided and torn as if into many parts, finding, as it should not, satisfaction in various forms and the diversity of life, so that instead of the One Trinitarian Deity, we honor many gods, and, moreover, separated by distances, therefore, not really gods, but crafty demons, corrupting and hostile; we destroyed the true one, the only life and its structure and were torn into many different parts, and our mental strength and tension, or, rather, more accurately, the aspiration of grief, disappeared not without reason, we reached the “depth of evil” (Prov. 18:3), completely immeasurable, and foolishly chose to think base (Col. 3:2-6), we, the images of God ( Gen.1:27), worthy of the highest and heavenly life. But since our position is not irrevocable and indeed not inflexible, it is quite possible, and, moreover, for good reasons, just as we pitifully crawled from that great glory to the lowest infamy, so to return again, to strive for grief and again see the most honorable face of God, of course not in such closeness as before, but at a greater distance, and see and feel the brilliance of His beauty. Therefore, the most divine Moses, and the entire host of prophets, no matter how many of them there are, and their predecessors, for example, Abraham and those like him [contemporaries], even saw [this] very clearly, as far as possible, and fully enjoyed the light of the beauty of the face of God; and at the same time, struck by His unapproachable glory, some cursed themselves (Is. 6:5), others considered and called themselves earth and ashes (Gen. 18:27), and still others were unable to even open their lips from the excess of the glory of Him Whom they saw. It was then, of course, that they recognized the “poverty of speech” and the “inertness of the tongue” (Ex. 4:10) of theirs and ... with glory they experienced a lot of other blissful feelings. Therefore, of course, the divinely prophesied David, rushing towards the light of the beauty of the face of the Lord, exclaims to God in a prayerful cry: “When will I come and appear to the face of my God?” (Ps. 41:3) - and somewhere else, wanting to indicate the dispensation of the soul in which the face of the Lord was seen, he says: “The upright will dwell with Your face” (Ps. 139:14). Reasonably pointing out what strength the contemplation of the face of God brings to the soul, he says: “You turned away the face of Ceoe, and I was confused” (Ps. 29:8). If, following the aversion of God’s face, confusion occurs, then, of course, the consequence of His presence and gaze is spiritual peace for the soul, the greatest gift - to such an extent that behind divine love and joy the actions of the Spirit appear, whether we should call them gifts or His fruits. And David shows that those who live holy and piously walk in the light of the face of the Lord, saying: “Lord, in the light of Your face they will walk and rejoice in Your name all day long” (Ps. 89:16, 17) - of course, that spiritual day, while the intelligent and ineffable sun scatters its most pure and life-giving rays on the inner man and the feeling is enlightened by the worldly mind. At this time, every memory of the soul is taken up from the earth and transferred to heaven, and a person, enlightened and amused by the lightness of the face of the Lord, rejoices, rejoices {jumps} (Luke 6:23), sings, as naturally, [songs of praise], rejoices in delight among the pleasure and heartfelt pleasure that no one can express. Therefore, in another place he prays to God, saying: “Do not turn away Your face from me, and I will be like those who go down into the pit” (Ps. 142:7). For the cause of darkness is the aversion of the face of the Lord, but conversion is the cause of all mental light, and therefore, of course, spiritual joy, just as he says about himself: “The light of Your countenance was visible on me,” and adds: “He gave joy to my heart” (Ps. 4:7, 8). Again testifying that after enlightenment from the face of the Lord, the gift of divine grace was sent down to him, and about what kind of people stand before the face of the Lord and pray to Him, David says that these are only the mentally rich of the people of God (Ps. 44:13). For, of course, there are many saints and people of God, but for everyone to contemplate the face of God and lead an angelic life while they are still living on earth is still a long way off. For this is the lot of only those who recognize that the deity must be served with divine wisdom and knowledge and worshiped “in truth and spirit” (John 4:24). Such, precisely, can, in justice, be called rich among the people of God, being illuminated by the mysteries of many contemplations and having with their “wealth the depth” of great divine and spiritual “wisdom and knowledge” (Rom. 11:33), which, according to Paul, is not characteristic of everyone (1 Cor. 8:7). Therefore, as it is said, the wonderful David speaks to God: “The rich of the people will pray to Your face” (Ps. 44:13). It is for this reason that the glorious Solomon, as being filled more than all with divine wisdom (1 Kings 3:12), knowing this better than anyone else, says, teaching very wisely: “Do not be quick to utter a word before the Lord, for God is in heaven, but you are down on earth” (Eccl. 5:1). When, by a divine gift, you would stand before the face of the Lord in a divine and unique representation to yourself, that is, when the contemplation of the mind rises to grief, then “a time of silence” (Eccl. 3:7). So, do not rush to pronounce a word, even just one, thoughtlessly carried away by the custom of conversation, because then it is not “the time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). For you, while still on earth, become a god, angelically contemplating the face of the heavenly God. For “angels,” as the Savior said, “always see the face of our heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10). Therefore, also, when you hear Solomon say in another place: “There is always light for the righteous” (Prov. 13:9), then you, reflecting, take into account that they naturally feel it from the illumination of the face of the Lord, seeing angelically, by divine grace, the face of the Lord, from which, as from a source, light pours out. For a person becomes and remains on earth the same angel, not to say god. Without a doubt, you return to the gift corresponding to the concept of the grace of the Lord, becoming on earth below - that which is God of grief, which is worthy of wonder. At the same time, you do not penetrate this miracle with your mind, you do not cross it even with the help of thought, and you do not move your own judgment, as if divided mentally, but you strive with one mind, and like God you look recklessly and motionlessly with a simple and single glance, and moreover, you enjoy the most clear and unapproachable light emanating from the face of the Lord. This, therefore, is the highest disposition of the mind towards God, worthy of competition for the prudent, one might say the color of mental purity, the desirable unity of faith (Eph. 4:13), accomplished in communion with the Spirit, the glorious fruit of divine and god-creating wisdom, the foundation of the spiritual world, the abode of unimaginable joy, the door of God's love, the branch of enlightenment, the reason for the inexhaustible waters of the Spirit flowing from the heart, truly the nourishment and delight of the soul educational manna; enlargement and transformation of the soul; the beginning of divine and ineffable mysteries and revelations, the conclusion from the one and first truth, the destruction of any thoughts, the cessation of all thoughts, the dominion over thinking, the original cause of amazement, the transformation and change of the mind that transcends the mind into the simple, limitless, limitless on any side, immense, formless and ugly, qualityless, non-varied, without quantity, an intangible and worldly and entirely new dispensation - into a God-like one. So, having become in such a dispensation and being deified in some way by the love of mankind, do not rush in any way out of ignorance to utter even one word before the face of the Lord (Eccl. 5:1), because to Him will be one and simple glory forever. 77. The mind, wanting to contemplate the spiritual, higher than itself, if in its own heart does not find assistance for this with the help of divine grace, sees the inactive, unenlightened and fused. Therefore, he needs at least a more substantial satisfaction than his own, although out of ignorance he imagines that he is enjoying, since he has not yet had the opportunity to taste it; just like someone who eats bread made from barley - although it is much inferior in taste to real bread - but, due to ignorance of the taste of wheat bread, apparently finds some pleasure. 78. After the mental unity of the heart through grace, the mind sees unmistakably in the spiritual light and rushes towards its own desire, which is God, becoming completely outside the senses, obviously colorless and qualityless, becoming free from ideas of what is comprehensible by the senses. 79. The mind, guided by the grace of contemplation, is truly always fed with spiritual manna. For, indeed, the sensual manna that Israel ate contained within itself a delicious and wonderful power to nourish the body. But what it essentially was was unknown. Hence it was called manna, since this word means unfamiliar. The word means: what is it? And those who did not know the essence of what they saw and ate said in bewilderment: “What is this?” (Exodus 16:15). In the same way, the one who contemplates all the time comes into a frenzy of mind and says to himself: “What is this that, when contemplating, amuses and, when eaten spiritually, fattens the mind, but in itself transcends the boundaries of thinking as divine and supernatural, in an extraordinary way nourishing and watering the mind; it cannot be comprehended by the mind, not only as essentially incomprehensible, but also as infinite and limitless.” 80. There are three things that testify to the truth, I myself could say thoroughly: creation, Scripture and testimony in the spirit, for from the spiritually visible Scripture and creation one simple truth and a complex one are contemplated. And whoever, with the help of the three said objects, successively reached two of them and stood on them, by the grace of Christ he has found an infallible path, for from simple truth he reaches mental height and depth, as well as boundless breadth (Eph. 3:18). As a result, having entered a state of frenzy, he sings in fear. From the complex truth, in addition to the above, he gains heart peace, love, and joy. So he sings with love in amazement. But a person needs a great deal of time, work, and endurance in order to, in some way, putting aside feelings and dissolving with the mind what is accessible to them, to stand on the intelligible, after which the contemplation of truth shines in the soul. Of course, I do not say that the truth, in order to find itself, in order to be comprehended, needs such means as time distance, or work, or endurance, but I said that man needs it; since it is truth that is united and simple, although during contemplation it appears doubly and loudly calls from almost everywhere to look at itself, testifying of itself to those who wish. Man, being complex, is associated with feelings, is subject to change and change, at times he somehow comes out of himself and, without knowing how, turns against himself, due to suspiciousness, acting cunningly and suffering from unbelief. And through these three shortcomings, that is, suspiciousness, wickedness and unbelief, he miserably falls away from the truth, testified by those three proofs, that is, Scripture, creation and spirit. Therefore, in order to eliminate the terrible suspiciousness in other things, which I said earlier: “so that, having humbled himself, the mind can believe in the simple” and then, in this way, immediately with the help of Scripture and the creature in the spirit, he can immediately clearly recognize not only the simplest truth, but also the complex one from it, and beyond this also see what once separated him from contemplation in truth and - I might add - what removed him from pleasure. So, the first truth is one and only one simple in nature. It is also followed by a complex one because of us being complex. And this is the extreme limit of our mind and the best object to which all life and asceticism of those who are guided by the goal of the spirit are directed, so that the mind in a state of nakedness, as far as possible, sees and wonderfully enjoys the light from the first and only truth and the complex one from it. And this can never happen otherwise than through humility and simplicity in faith, through the testimony of Scripture, creatures and testimony in the spirit. When the mind, as if in a mirror, sees the truth in its three faculties through the testimony of the three above [things], then again, as if returning from this [vision], it becomes in itself much more humble, simpler and a firm believer. And that is why he ascends, as they say, with joyful feet, to the contemplation of truth, and it shines brighter in him with its rays. Turning to himself with the help of this contemplation of truth, due to the greatness of the glory that he saw in it [contemplatively], he descends to greater humility and simplicity and is amazed, embraced by faith; and thus again ascending, as it were, along some divine circle, and walking along it in the way of humility, simplicity and faith, elevated and seeing the truth and led by the radiance of truth to greater humility, and becoming even more simple in faith, the mind does not cease to complete this course, while it is said “today” (Heb. 3:13), in humility, simplicity and faith, thanks to the testimony of Scripture and creation, contemplating in spirit the truth and returning again to where he started. And thus, deified all the time by grace and illuminated by that which transcends the mind, leading a life full of all joy in Christ our Lord, he, as if in pre-betrothal, tastes the pleasures of future eternal blessings. 81. The contemplative life, with the help of the following three [means], naturally becomes whole and impeccable - namely, through faith, the explicit communion of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of wisdom. For contemplation, to be specific, is the knowledge of the mental in what is comprehended by the senses, and sometimes [the knowledge of] exclusively the mental, separated from the senses, in people who are moving towards success. As a result, faith is also required. For “if you do not believe,” says [the prophet], “you will not understand” (Is. 7:9). The Spirit is also necessary, since “the Spirit tests all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10). Therefore, the divine Job said: “The breath of the Almighty teaches me” (Job 33:4). Then, in a natural way, the divine activity of the Spirit, of course, boiling or, so to speak, living in the heart and, therefore, most peacefully enlivening, indescribably attracts the mind to itself, collecting it, keeps it from any soaring and makes it possible with silence, with greater spiritual pleasure, consolation, and, moreover, with divine love, it is most convenient to see the divine and turn around it, imagine God in an unusual and appropriate way, and equally rejoice about Him with greater irresistible attractions [towards Him] and corresponding delight. The mind also needs wisdom, as I said, because “wisdom,” as Scripture says, “will enlighten the face of a person” (Eccl. 8:1), will enlighten for an easy transition from feeling to thinking, for ascending from what is comprehended by the senses to intelligible and divine sights and in order to behold the inexpressible in mental revelation; enlightens in order to see in clear contemplation and uniquely imagine the all-essential God. Truly “blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and teach him Your law” (Ps. 93:12), because such a one is truly wise, coming to faith through admonition and learning the ineffable mysteries of God through the instruction of the Spirit. Indeed, it is a great thing for a wise man to walk through faith in unity and supernatural communion with the Spirit. And in fact, there are three objects, as they say, irresistible: God, an angel and a wise man. [This latter] is, in a strange way, the same angel on earth, in any case a contemplator of the visible creation, a sincere hiding place of uncreated divine ways or even the gifts of God, if anyone wants to put it that way, angelically catching, in a certain way, with a general glance, the knowledge of God Himself, invisible in any way. This is, in general terms, the case of a man who is wise by faith in the Holy Spirit, and thus he is blessed. However, for me it would undoubtedly be enough to say what Luke tells in the Gospel, specifically about the Lord Jesus, in order to be free from concern about expounding the meaning and praise of wisdom and goodness. For in one place of Scripture he says this: “Jesus abounded in wisdom and stature and grace” (Luke 2:52); and again that [the baby] “grew and was strengthened in the Spirit, being filled with wisdom” (Luke 2:40). Now, having the intention of speaking more clearly about what has been assumed, I also propose what the holy Solomon says to God: “What is in heaven, who has searched? Who would know Your will if You had not bestowed wisdom and sent down Your Holy Spirit from above? And so the ways of those living on earth were straightened, and people learned what was pleasing to You, and were saved by Your wisdom” (Wis. 9:16-19). Do you see to what great power wisdom reaches with the participation of the Spirit? And how far from salvation does one go who has not acquired wisdom and the Spirit from God and is not even guided by the wise and partaker of the Spirit? If something similar is written about the Savior, in whom “all the fullness” ( Col. 1:19 ) of divinity dwelt, then, in a consistent manner, it will not be difficult to understand in general regarding the entire human race in its entirety, how necessary wisdom is with the assistance of the Spirit, and how much strength and success the spiritual sage receives from the loving God, by His mercy, “searching for the heavenly things” ( Proverbs 1:3 ) and reaching the knowledge of “the counsel of the Most High” ( Ps.106:11) is an amazing thing, and yet it is true. But since we have expounded so much this time about the contemplative, we should say and immediately expound, albeit a little, about contemplation and partly guide and, as it were, nourish the thinking of the disposed listener. For God decisively commands thinking [people] both to give generously, of course, to the lower ones, and to receive from the higher ones with reverence what is available from divine enlightenment and mental treasures, and to treat people of equal status sociably and not vainly, and to conduct conversations with them about mental subjects and about God. For, in this way, not only would rightness and infallibility shine very clearly in the living Church of God, but also the most venerable, most beautiful face of love, a sign of the disciples of Christ, would shine unceasingly in our hearts, ready to be poured out through the Holy Spirit on us for the perfect and simple love of God and people, and thus we would lead an angelic life on earth, truly blessed, as well as the most pleasant, as adherents to that divine and God-created twofold love, on which “all the law and the prophets hang” (Matthew 22:40), sweeter than which there is absolutely nothing else for the soul, and especially when it has its origin directly from the contemplation and knowledge of God and the divine, in other words, from enlightening grace. So, whoever considers it a good and wonderful thing to deliberately ascend to God in order to unite with Him, and actually perceive deification, in other words, to be saved - since, according to the divine teachers, without the deification of the mind it is impossible for a person to be saved - he, with the achievable fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord, reaches the possible contemplation of what exists and appears, and he has neither blind activity as isolated from contemplation, nor soulless contemplation, which it, of course, happens without activity. As a result of this, with wisdom in accordance with reason and meaning with written sacred knowledge {with the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures} he thus begins, as they say, with a fair wind, to look correctly at the world with the understanding of the sensory comprehensible at the direction of the infinitely strong and infinitely wise Artist and successively reaches the infinite in strength and in universal difference, as far as possible for the view, and enjoys and nourishes the mind in secret through secret. And precisely, over time, having lived a serene life in silence, philosophizing only on the divine through Scripture and the visible world, he really tries, as far as possible, with a more unifying gaze to see the spiritual creation, according to Scripture, and omens, according to the truth. When this happens, then the mind, with the favor and action of the worshiped Spirit, is elevated to “vision and knowledge of sacred truth,” as the great Dionysius says (On the Church Hierarchy), to the sacred level of contemplation, strictly speaking the second, that is, to divine sights and thoughts, without veils and images. As a result of this, of course, the mind, as if naked, rushing towards naked thoughts and placing above all things, through its own purity and desire for God, to imprint in itself, as if in some clearest mirror, divine phenomena, emitting light above the sun, being, under the action of grace, brought up again on the path by impressions available to it, it reaches, as it were, the third step to those very many blissful sights, and at the same time it is more uniform and condensed by the successful thus elevates divine manifestations from many varieties to the ineffable love of the unchangeable and secret Unit, transforming with all mental feeling into fire and heartfelt, god-creating, unceasing love for God as a contemplator under the guidance of truth and the inspiration of the enlightening Spirit. And again, according to the great Dionysius (On the Church Hierarchy), this is “divine communion with the One, the One Himself, as far as possible.” So, blissfully soaring to such levels of communion of the Trinitarian One, clearly and brightly enjoying the unbearable languor of divine rapture and among it the enthusiastic outbursts of love, seeing itself wounded and as if burned by love (Song. 2:5), the triblissfully God-bearing and God-thinking mind is very noticeably delighted with the ensuing disposition and really goes into a frenzy, having entered with a bright face into the indescribable mysteries of theology, in reckless glances enjoying the beginningless and endless, incomprehensible, and completely inexpressible, and completely unthinkable, and at the same time imagines some kind of “endless and impenetrable sea of the being” of God, “surpassing every thought about time, about nature,” according to the Theologian who spoke about this (Word 38). “This,” as the holy Dionysius also says (About the church hierarchy), “is a feast of sight, mentally nourishing and deifying everyone who strives for it,” beginning, however, from contemplation and knowledge of beings, as this sacred teacher says where he explains the sacred signs of our hierarchy. As Basil the Great also relates, saying: “When someone, having passed through the contemplative image of beauty in what is revealed, appears before God Himself, the vision of Whose usually appears only in pure hearts, then, having made progress in the highest areas of theology, he can become a contemplator” (Interpretation of St. Isaiah). And again, in response to the saying of David, who speaks in the Spirit: “In the morning I will stand before You and see” (Ps. 5:4), the Great [teacher] says: “When I stand before You and draw closer with my mind to the very contemplation of You, then I will perceive visual activity in the light of knowledge” (Interpretation on St. Isaiah). The same can be heard from the sacred Maximus, who, in turn, says the same thing and points out directly what and how great success is the contemplation and knowledge of God through Scripture and creation, and that usually comes from here that light of knowledge, thanks to which there is a blessed deification during contemplation - a thing, if in former times it was rare and difficult to meet among the silent, then especially now, due to the lack of a person who could teach with the help of experience drawn from the own content of grace, as the high teacher of silence, Saint Isaac the Syrian, says in the word in which he begins the conversation about spiritual feeling and contemplative ability. So, at least, says Saint Maximus: “We call the teaching of the saints divine lights, as imparting the light of knowledge and deifying those who obey” (cit. not oral), - according, obviously, with the all-holy Dionysius, who says (About the divine names): “How many other divine lights the secret tradition of our God-inspired mentors clearly bestowed upon us, following the instructions of enlightened people, we also learned this,” and in another place he says (About the heavenly hierarchy): “Divine knowledge directs those who, if possible, turn to it, to the best of their understanding, and unites by virtue of its own simple unity.” And again: “Every manifestation of light descending from the Father, beneficially passing to us, again as a single-creating power, elevating, simplifies us and directs us to the unity and idolizing simplicity of the Father, for “from Him and in Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36)” (On the heavenly hierarchy). Do you understand how one who aspires wisely, reaching out to grief as a result of conversion, that is, divine looking at God, or sees God, reaching out to grief from beings, or is united with God and is deified from Scripture, will it be transformative or, in some way, divine, and how even one is called by name God? “For all,” he says, “as many mental and rational beings as possible are directed entirely towards the unity of God’s original hiddenness, in an incomprehensible way they strive, as far as possible, towards the divine illuminations of it through feasible, if I may say so, imitation of God and are awarded the name identical with God” (On the heavenly hierarchy). As the theological language of the great Gregory clearly says about man: “A living being, here created, directed and passing into another state, as the highest degree of mystery, is deified by an inclination towards God” (cf. Homily 38 and Homily 45). And Saint Maximus says: “The spiritual image of the divine Scripture through wisdom transforms cognitive thinkers to the point of deification, since as a result of the transformation of their minds, they see with an open face, as if in a mirror (2 Cor. 3:18), the glory of the Lord” (Chapters Theological and Economic, I, 97). This contemplative life requires the three conditions mentioned above: faith, the participation of the Spirit and the wisdom of knowledge in Christ Jesus our Lord. 82. The contemplative life with the life-giving Spirit fills the contemplator in secret with some many wondrous mental spectacles; not immediately, not suddenly, but after some time and prolonged scientific research (τῆς φιλοσοφίας), and also in a certain gradualness and, as it were, along a ladder; and sometimes you could hear how this contemplative says from an excess of peace and deviation from everything except God: “I am alone until I pass over” (Ps. 140:10); sometimes, as a result of a cognitive appeal to beings, [he says]: “How majestic are Your works, Lord! In wisdom You have created everything” (Ps. 103:24), and the following: “The smell of your clothes is like the smell of a full field, which You have blessed, O Lord” (Gen. 27:27). Sometimes, forcing us to look with greater aspiration and inspiring us to rise to spiritual ascents, he convinces us to say: “In the fragrance of your peace I will hasten after God” (Song. 1:3), and the following: “I will exalt You, my God, my King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever. The Lord is great and very glorious, and His greatness has no end” (Ps. 144:1-3). “Wonderful is Your knowledge for me! I cannot [comprehend] it” (Ps. 139:6). In other [cases], he prepares the spectators, rushing to grief, to sing under the impression of what is essential in the vision: “You are the highest forever, O Lord” (Ps. 91:9), and “Your memory for generations and generations” (Ps. 101:13), “highly exalted above all gods” (Ps. 96:9). Sometimes it leads the audience to a clear expression in the exclamation: “There is none like You, O Lord, among the gods, and there is none (like) according to Your works” (Ps. 85:8), and also shows the spiritually contemplating the rational mountain on which they ascend, and the holy place of God, on which stand “those who are innocent in hands and pure in heart” (Ps. 23:3, 4). But in addition, it makes it possible to see in this way the paths of ascent to the heights of heaven and descent to the depths of the abyss, that is, to the mysteries of the Spirit; and sometimes, in an amazing way, it even sets one before the contemplation of a personal vision in the Trinity, sometimes, in the midst of amazement, it disposes one to contemplate Jesus, His economy in the flesh and the supernatural mysteries that follow him, and then, after many and blessed visions, he in no way leaves the contemplator without introducing him, in an unprecedented way, enlightened - oh wondrous grace! - into the very bosom of God, into true peace, and ineffable rest, and spiritual and supernatural pleasure, not to say intoxication, in the beauties of God, and into divine delight - into those blessed depths that contain the great depth of the divine mysteries and are sufficiently close to the feeling of the supremacy of God, in those depths that Abraham also received as an inheritance from above, when God Himself became Abraham's lot according to the expression: “I am the God of Abraham” (Gen. 26:24). Therefore, since God is the God of Abraham par excellence, then, consequently, the bosom of God is “the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:22). So, the contemplative life in the Spirit, elevating, leads into the bosom of God, or, if someone wants to express it differently, into the “bosom of Abraham,” in all simplicity and very joyful joy; it truly deifies and, amidst spiritual sweetness and completely inexpressible pleasure, brings into a state of bliss the mind, which partakes of wisdom and, perhaps, more exercised in looking at Christ Jesus our Lord. 83. Since both creation and Scripture are clarified by the Word of God and everything contemplated, visible spiritually, confirms the mind and all its powers to the sight and understanding of God, and first spiritually experiences their action and influence of the heart, then, teaching in the highest degree wisely, the sacred David says in one place, [that] by the “Word of the Lord” the minds are established, which he calls in this case the heavens, “and by the Spirit of His mouth is all their power” ( Ps.33:6). When exactly? “When the spiritual earth,” that is, our heart, is quite perceptibly and obviously full of the mercy of the Lord (Ps. 33:5), that is, spiritual power, action and movement. But before the mind feels action, force and movement in the heart, not only will it lack strength from the contemplative and spiritual consideration of creation and divine Scripture and from bringing into one meaning what is contained in them, but on top of this, a very great fear is also felt, lest it perish from the incongruity of its ideas. As a result of this, precisely, if we, suppose, decided to indulge in the contemplation of God from Scripture and creation, uniformly and uniquely generalizing many meanings and contemplations of beings into one meaning and spirit, seeing a uniform, simple and formless contemplation in unlimitedness, limitlessness and originlessness, then we will first try to find the treasure inside our hearts, and we will beg the Holy God to fill our earth with His mercy, and then, according to possibility, let us freely surrender our mind to the understanding of God, as it is said, the one-formed and singular, simple, formless, eternal, infinite and boundless, with the contemplation and help of the Word and the Spirit. 84. When a person, as a result of the direct and simple dispositions of the soul, makes a course in virtues through the virtues {commandments}, with humble thoughts, in patience and hope based on faith, the life-giving and ever-flowing power and action of the Holy Spirit will take root in the heart, truly illuminating the spiritual forces with its natural and obvious movement, and, consoling, directs the activity of the mind to itself as quickly as possible, and unspeakably unites with it, so that indeed the mind and grace are in this time, undoubtedly, unite into one spirit - then, just then, the mind by itself, assisted by the inspiration of grace, moves on to contemplation, having inexpressibly ceased, of course, by the action and light of the life-giving and Holy Spirit, the local distraction and wandering, and comes to the revelation of divine spiritual secrets, and with all possible silence and calm natural gaze reaches the entry into the supernatural ineffable sacraments, and to the extent that he contemplates and is God-embracing and extends, if possible, to see God with the knowledge of the divine, collected from sacred readings, to the extent that he rationally retires, humbling himself and praying with the assistance of God’s help in the Holy Spirit. And therefore, then, he is also not outside of theology, but at the same time he actually is a theologian and cannot help but theologize even incessantly. But alas! everything that only the mind sees without the said heavenly gift and, therefore, without the Spirit, clearly and ever-movingly breathing in the heart, is only his dreams, and no matter how much he theologizes, all these are empty words poured into the air, which do not properly awaken the feelings of the soul: for he is under the influence of hearing and words coming from the outside, from where, mainly, unfortunately, the all-destructive wandering of mental ideas and himself has found access. theology, and not from the heart, inspired by the influx of the enlightening Spirit, from where comes the uniform truth of mental ideas and the immutable truth of theology; for, generally speaking, in all that and, of course, in the heart, where the communicant clearly has the life-giving and enlightening power and action of the Spirit, or breathing, if you wish to put it that way, or flowing in unceasing abundance, there is no mental unity, but rather division, there is no strength and stopping, but weakness and variability, also, in the same way, there is no light and vision of truth, but rather darkness and empty fiction of dreaming, and, in general, the path of meaninglessness and self-delusion. For the mind, according to the teaching of the fathers, can pass through the realm of contemplation in three ways or ways, that is, naturally, supernaturally and unnaturally. When the mind sees something spiritual in an object, it sees by nature, but with the supernatural action of the Spirit; when he accidentally sees in a personal image, and not on an object, a demon or an angel, then if the mind is united in the world and the enlightenment of the Spirit is kindled more strongly, he sees supernaturally and, as is obvious, without being mistaken; if the mind, looking at the visible, is divided and darkened, and the life-giving power fades away, then it sees unnaturally, and this vision is characteristic of error. Therefore, if we wish to be in a sound and chaste mind, we should neither stretch our mind to a spiritual vision in a personal way, nor even trust the vision in any way, if the heart does not direct its activity and movement in the above-mentioned manner by the power of the Holy Spirit. 85. Some try to heal the decay of their passions with the heavenly dew of grace and, of course, do very well. It is obviously written about them: “The dew that comes from You will be our healing” (Is. 26:19). And for some, this so-called dew somehow connects with a greater divine perception, and turns into manna, and, as if from some kind of grain bread, is somehow baked through contrition of heart humility, the water of tears and the fire of the spiritual mind, and in a worthy and completely natural way it undergoes this action [of grace] and becomes real angel-shaped food. About this, mainly in relation to the meaning, it is said: “Man ate the bread of angels” (Ps. 77:25). But there are people for whom, as they succeed in some higher way, their own nature clearly becomes and is manna. The Gospel says about them: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). The first category is of the wise silent ones, the next one is those who labor in silence with divine knowledge, and the third is those who have generally become simple and changed in Christ Jesus our Lord. 86. Having spiritually escaped by grace, as befits, Pharaoh, Egypt and the horrors and hardships there, as well as carnal life, which raises passionate waves of bitterness and caustic malice; Having become in spiritual solitude, that is, in a position free from the spiritual Pharaohs, and, generally speaking, having experienced and been delivered in a spiritual sense from the calamities that weighed on the Jews in a sensual way at that time, the mind then safely tastes with its spiritual sense the spiritual manna, the image of which Israel sensually ate in ancient times (Ex. 16:35). And at first, when remembering, he sometimes desires the spiritual sacrifices of the Egyptians, like that material meat (Exodus 12:8), mostly with danger and to the same extent hesitantly, and, of course, at the same time he experiences disgust from himself to the deity, until he appropriately appeases the deity with a prayer when repentance returns again. And, of course, if someone is more often filled with manna in peace, then over time, when grace begins to give him meaning and strength, he obviously very clearly sees how his spiritual flesh is in some way transformed into the nature of manna, as one might say; but such a mind, eating manna, has spiritual scales (Lev. 19:36) and weighing bowls, using which as a measure for the manna, it collects no more than what is needed for its daily food, so that, collected in quantities exceeding moderation, it becomes prey for worms and does not all perish, and along with it the mind that does not observe the measure does not perish from lack of food. It may be noticeable that the mind that eats manna, if it does not feed on anything else, clearly leads a better life than anyone who eats anything and no matter what, I say spiritually. However, a sign that he himself in some way passes from the quality of nutrition, so to speak, into the quality of manna, is the absence of desire for anything extraneous, which he desired before, and when he can eat manna everywhere and will become a baby, clinging to piety; but, of course, it is not surprising that someone passes into the quality of what he constantly tastes and is satisfied with for a long time. And the transformation of the mind into a property of manna cannot in any way be implausible, for food constantly and continuously taken naturally has the property of transforming what is nourished into itself. Then the mind not only clearly occupies the position of an angel, but also becomes a participant in the divine sonhood, passing in a worthy manner “from spiritual glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18), not only looking at the One, but also becoming one with itself, and in it it lives, and delights in the most peaceful way, and, so to speak, partakes of the inexpressible mysteries in a God-like and God-loving manner in the Holy Spirit, and actually becomes some image in accordance with what is visible and sung, so that he sees himself in a state of manna. In this position, he is much higher and more honorable than the one who knows that he eats manna, but has not turned into some state of manna. For the first state can sometimes be experienced during the initial gathering of the mind into mental unity with itself, while the second is a clear manifestation of a more obvious unity, the revelation of rational secrets, high detachment from everything and the most simplified speculation. 87. The mind is simple by nature, because that which it is an image of is also simple, that is, divine. Being like that, he loves to simply act. For everything loves what is identical to itself by nature. But the mind perceives various impressions not by itself, but through feeling and what is comprehended by the senses, with the help of which it perceives mental objects. When he puts his own understanding between himself and the senses with the objects of their comprehension, which, if possible, skillfully disassembles and judges, and does not make the feelings weaker than they should, nor frivolously darkens or ignoblely exalts the beauties of sensory objects and disdainfully humiliates the power of the mind in front of them, but prudently gives everyone their due - then the mind immediately becomes one with itself, returning to the previous state of simplicity, as it was by nature, and evading the separate, he again naturally begins to love the one and simple and the one and simple activity, and, loving precisely this, he seeks, and while seeking, he makes his flight above any connection [with anything] until he finds truly and essentially the One simple, which is God. Then it is with His wings alone that the mind, sometimes covered and sometimes elevated, rejoices, just as it is natural for it to indulge in joy when it is protected by God and bears God. 88. The cloud of passions, which has descended upon the discerning part of the soul like some kind of gloomy thickness, makes one see something else instead of what actually is. When, through frequent prayer and fulfillment of the commandments, and striving for the contemplation of God, the mind, with the help of grace, destroys the said dark shell, it itself clearly sees that it [sees] God, without in any way needing an interpreter for this, just as a sensory seer does not need someone who could point out, unless he has something irritating and darkening on the pupil of his eye. For just as what is comprehensible by the senses is assimilated by the senses when they are healthy, so what is intelligible becomes the property of thoughts, pure from the cloud of passions, and just as from sensory perception the comprehension of the sensuous usually comes, so from mental vision - the vision of the mental, after which, by the grace of God, there is a formless, qualityless, unimaginative and simple contemplation of God, which, restraining the mind, makes it free from everything. whatever it is, comprehended by feeling and mind, enclosing it in the depths of infinity, incomprehensibility and limitlessness in amazement and wonder that cannot be expressed in words. 89. O Master, the Almighty principle of everything visible and conceivable, the Uncreated, having a beginningless beginning, and the Infinite, having the limitless as a boundary, the Immense, having the supernatural by His nature, the Unrealized, as having the super-essential being, the Invisible, having in His form the formless, the Imperishable, having by His property the ever-present, the Unsearchable, having the ugly in His image, the Boundless, having the boundless in place, the Incomprehensible, having the incomprehensible of the incomprehensible, the Inaccessible and Inconceivable, having the invisible and the unknowable with knowledge and contemplation, the Inscrutable, having the voiceless word, the Ineffable, having the inexplicable in explanation, the Incomprehensible, having in thought the inaccessible to the mind, Supreme, having in general by His position an elevation above everything. You are all a miracle, peace, hope, love, sweetness, spiritual joy, hope in everything (lit. “in all”), truly freedom from worries and joy, the only hypostatic (ἐνυπόστατος) glory, kingdom, wisdom, strength. Therefore, You, ineffable God, naturally become inexpressibly detached from everything visible, repose from everything conceivable, and in You a wondrous peace is found for those who contemplate You, with the communion of the Holy Spirit. 90. “That which is the object of wonder, that is, the divine, evokes the most powerful attraction, and when it becomes desirable, it purifies,” as Gregory’s theological voice says, “by purifying, it makes them god-like, and when they become such, it converses with [them] as with its own” (Homily 38). But not only does God treat them in this way, but also those who are purified treat the divine and God as their own, “in spirit and truth” (John 14:17). Therefore, the Theologian further says: “God united with the gods and known [by them]” (Sermon 38). Do you see the miracle of unity? After all [St. Gregory] says: “God uniting with the gods.” If there is in some way a combination of one and the same thing, then obviously the same mental dispositions and pleasures are the same. Therefore says [St. Gregory]: “and known.” In exactly the same way, therefore, both the godlike and the gods by grace converse with the divine and God as their own and perceive how God in the same way contemplates, converses and is in unity with those who, according to what has been said, become godlike and gods. Therefore, the great Gregory adds (Homily 38), and quite thoroughly, for clarification: “And God, perhaps, is known by the pure and these gods to the extent that He already knows them,” accordingly - as God by nature of gods by position. Exactly to what extent could you imagine this similarity if you reasoned correctly? Indeed, very blessed are those who duly, with all the strength of the soul and spiritual knowledge, stretch out to visions and contemplations, when you see how all who are in God, through the incomprehensibility of God, are plunged into wonderful surprise and such great delight because of His inherent originlessness, immensity, boundlessness and, in general, eternity and infinity. From then on, their soul with love “cleaves after God” (Ps. 62:9), and, melting away in the midst of bliss, what unbearable languor they experience in the contemplation of the divine Face and His incomparable beauty! And then, successively, of course, they are purified in this way, and, subject to divine influence, become god-like and gods, and are united with God in an intelligent way. At least such [a person], having already become with the advantage of the deified in accordance with their supernatural gift of deification and unity with God, amazingly understands every spiritual feeling and every desire thanks to the superiority of their beauty, and around him he has those who with delight, as if the same angels, sing incessantly and in a completely appropriate manner: “God has become in the assembly of gods, in order to carry out judgment among the gods” ( Ps.81:1), and the following: “The God of gods, the Lord has spoken and called the earth,” that is, earth-born, “from the east of the sun to the west” (Ps.49:1). Therefore, “the princes of men gathered together with the God of Abraham” (Ps. 46:10) and in a sequential order stood around God, [and] as if “seraphim stood around Him” (Is. 6:2), perceiving the divine illuminations of the worldly mysteries and inseparably holding on to God, who infinitely surpasses everyone in an infinite number of times. If “the pure in heart,” according to the saying of the Lord, “are blessed, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8), then are not the contemplatives clearly blessed, purified by wonder from the knowledge of God and ascending with success to the dignity of God? Therefore, therefore, those who desire blessedness must undergo deification, and thus become motionless, like the cherubim, around God, and with all possible diligence adhere to contemplative knowledge and activity in Christ Jesus our Lord. 91. Most of all, I want to see [You] and then, of course, sing of You, O Life-Giver, the Life of those who see You anywhere, O Lord my God! But even though I want to, I don’t know how to name You worthily, and truly I am perplexed and languishing. Oh, how the mind is disposed towards You, Master, Creator of all wisdom, and, seeing You alone, it enjoys the peace and relaxation characteristic of it. Moreover, as is natural, the mind, freed and abolished from external and visible dealings with the world, even strives to think about itself, and most importantly, with natural speed, reflect on more sublime things and actually turn to objects more subtle than its own immateriality. Without a doubt, and in a natural way, he quickly ascends, as if by himself, to the most excellent of all and beyond all immateriality - obviously, to You - and, of course, receives help in this mainly in the assistance of the Holy Spirit through faith, and, of course, grief extends in this way, or, rather, as it actually happens, the mind, carried away by spiritual objects surrounding You, as if to a certain extent akin to it, is tormented by a strong desire to see You with all the zeal of my soul. But what wonderful and blissful impressions he naturally experiences, since his nature, as I said, being spiritual and, of course, more than all creatures, is flighty and fast, accordingly, the object of its aspiration is the spiritual and feels the need to think, like sensual animals - to eat, for for the mind to think in some way means the same thing as to eat for animals endowed with feelings. For from thinking the mind receives the ability to live, and grow, and enjoy, and have fun, like animals endowed with feelings; this also comes from nutrition. The mind, of course, experiences a similar state from activity, that is, from thinking in particular, and most of all when its desire indescribably reaches You, according to Your spiritual goodness, united in the delight of Your ineffable glory. For what exactly can a being who has a special desire for something naturally experience when encountering something attractive, and especially something like You, and, moreover, with the assistance of Your providence for such a great object of desire as You are? For You, O all-wise, all-powerful, all-good Lord, having created a thinking living being - the mind, make it capable of naturally finding great joy in Your [perfections], feeling inexpressible delight with amazement in divine love for You and, as it were, some ecstatic animation towards You from such ecstatic inspiration. And the mind, created to highly love the beautiful, is in precisely this position, and as a result of a strong love for the beautiful, as naturally and consistently, it has a conscious desire to think the best, always desire the highest and further, and have a joyful instinct from reality to the best. What kind of person You appear to [him] and how extremely wisely You delight him at a time when he delights in the attraction to contemplating You and, with all the disposition of his soul, decisively deviates from everything except You alone! For You, most sweet, are neither exclusively different, nor simple, nor comprehensible, nor incomprehensible, nor terrible, nor meek, but one or the other, so that in this way, on one side or the other, the movement, as well as the change of the mind, cannot in the least incline towards any one of the objects that are outside of You, due to variety or simplicity, due to the desire for incomprehensibility or comprehensibility, due to fear or meekness, and since You, You are most good and beautiful, you contain within Yourself entirely the one goodness and beauty and the creative principle of all goodness and beauty, then the mind cannot fully contemplate, dwell in anything other than You, and enjoy in various and varied ways. For You contain everything in your entirety as the rational cause of it and are found above all as an infinite number of times the infinitely beautiful Creator [of it]. Therefore, being one in essence, You, God, are contemplated in various ways through manifestations of activity due to their multitude; and on the other hand, You are contemplated in multiple ways due to their impersonality. For the most amazing and amazing thing is that in whatever You are, in that, on the other hand, You again appear incomprehensible (ἄληπτος). After all, just as You are completely incomprehensible in essence and activity, so, moreover, you are in no way incomprehensible in power. For who has found the measure of Your power? Who has known Your wisdom? Who has explored the abyss of Your goodness? And in general, who has perfectly comprehended anything from Yours? (Wis. Sol.9:17; Isa.40:13) However, You are nevertheless comprehended according to this in some other way. But, of course, the mind, beginning to contemplate from the spiritual contained in the manifest, proceeding in a consistent manner, ascends to the One and incomprehensible, which is around You, Savior, and because of the sweetness and strong pleasure of the comprehensible and because of the love of the beautiful, it zealously hurries and in some way is jealous to ascend as high as possible. And since he is unable to penetrate further, then, recognizing, as he should, that what eludes him as lying above is undoubtedly superior [to him], as a result of this he becomes obsessed with some great passion of love, and is equally enthusiastically animated towards You, and arouses ardent desires in his soul, making of the comprehensible a means of kindling divine love for the incomprehensible and turning his bewilderment into an instrument for acquiring [various degrees] of love. Since what is comprehensible about You does not so much delight [the mind], O All-Wise, as it inflames what eludes it and, due to the unattainability of knowledge, prepares both strong surprise and a special desire, then I could add that it even forces one to seek something that is not at all what You are in essence - after all, this is absolutely in no way accessible to anyone; but it is also incomprehensible that what constitutes the subject of essential divine power and activity, and in general everything spiritual that is contemplated around You, O God, and is the subject of theology, so it is, as it is said, infinite in volume and unsearchable in multitude. Moreover, although it is generally impossible to reach the limit of these things as infinite, but by approaching You through purification and by looking at Your beauty, one can achieve clearer and brighter visions of what surrounds You, and in this way be deified. That is why You scorch with the ulcer of love the mind that is appropriately abiding in You, enlightening it more and more and really leading it into some inaccessible secret heavenly spectacles. Oh, Precious Unity and Most Honorable Trinity! Bottomless depth of power and wisdom! As if from slavery itself - if anyone wanted to put it that way - or even from a state of registration [to it], You introduce the mind, legally purified, into the most divine darkness that covers You, leading it “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18), although, however, it often remains inside this bright darkness, into which Moses was anciently led (Ex. 20:21). Either this is the image of this, or that image of that, I only know that this is obviously spiritual darkness and in a divine and supernatural way, in an indescribable way, the sacraments of spiritual unity and love are accomplished in the secret of the soul: those who are introduced with the illumination of the enlightening Spirit understand this very clearly. 92. Who does not rejoice, Lord Trinity, when with due disposition he sees that You are the King and the unceasing ruler and dispenser of everything beautiful and good and that You exude the wealth of all this? And who could rejoice with true joy before the vision of Thy omnipotent sovereignty? Obviously, no one in any way. Therefore, truly “blessed are the pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8), because they see with the eye of the soul You, Who is truly spiritual joy par excellence, and they rejoice with joy and are filled with great spiritual sweetness and unbearable outbursts of love, often enduring struggles with bodily conditions and suffering from demonic attacks. For the spiritual light of the beauty of Your face, Lord, is infinitely exalted an infinite number of times above any touch with worldly sorrow, if anyone is given by grace to be illuminated by it. Therefore You are the perfect pleasure, the perfect desire, the object of holy longing, of inexpressible love. Therefore, Your love with unbearable supernatural stings hurts those who in some way see You. Therefore, following You with strong and unrelenting tension, in the fragrance of Your world (Song. 2:5; 1:4) the souls {hearts} of those with whom You see, ineffable God, rush forward, and these try in every possible way to attract You to themselves, being completely defeated and miraculously fading from longing for You. Therefore, they unforgettably have You in their minds, being in a state of delight from Your prenatural beauty. Rather, before You continuously and spiritually contain their hearts, of course, both night and day, and sleep flies away from their eyes... 5 [not only for them..., but although they remain asleep all the time, their heart is Sejum (Song. 5:2) and in this position, and “they rejoice,” as the prophet says, “on their beds” (Ps. 149:5). And in the same way they see, are attached and do not know what will happen to them, they are perplexed and amazed due to the location of the unspeakable brightness of Your Face, due to the greatness of the glory of Your holiness, due to Your premium ascensions, which they believe in themselves (Ps. 83:6), due to mysterious revelations, due to countless secret and inexpressible very beautiful and very good gifts surrounding You, Father! ... and You establish those who “live in righteousness with Your countenance” (Ps. 139:14) ...] The text is provided only in Russian, see the source for the original. – Editorial of the ABC of Faith The corrupted passage, missing from the Slavic translation, is placed in square brackets