Chapters theological, speculative and practical

The essay “Theological, Speculative and Practical Chapters” consists of 3 parts: - theological and practical chapters (100 chapters); - theological and speculative chapters (25 chapters); - other theological and practical chapters (100 chapters). “Chapters” is a systematic presentation of the spiritual teachings of St. Simeon the New Theologian. The work covers a wide range of issues - from dogmatic foundations to practical aspects of monastic and Christian life. The work had a great influence on the subsequent development of the hesychast tradition. The main topics covered in the collection: 1. Theological foundations and dogmatics: the doctrine of the Trinity, Christology, the doctrine of the Church and the Sacraments. 2. Theoretical aspects of spiritual life: knowledge of God, deification (theosis), the presence of the Holy Spirit, human nature, soul and body. 3. Practical aspects of ascetic feat: repentance and humility, struggle with passions, prayer, obedience, love, reasoning. Many chapters contain spiritual meaning based on the author's personal experience and patristic tradition. The publication presents a translation from Greek made by Bishop Hilarion (Alfeev). Contents Theological and practical chapters (100 chapters) Theological and speculative chapters (25 chapters) Other theological and practical chapters (100 chapters) Theological and practical chapters (100 chapters) 1. For those who look bodily, God is nowhere, for He is invisible, but for those who think spiritually, He is everywhere, for He is present everywhere. He is in everything and outside of everything, therefore He is close to those who fear Him (Ps. 84:10), but His salvation is far from sinners (Ps. 119:155). 2. The memory of Christ enlightens the mind and drives away demons, and the light of the Holy Trinity, shining in a pure heart, removes it from the whole world and from here lifts up its participant to future glory, as much as possible for a person who, although under the influence of grace from above, is still covered with a veil of flesh (Heb. 10:20). 3. If nothing else remains after the end of the visible [world], except God alone, Who both is and will be, then, undoubtedly, those who abundantly partake of His grace in this world, despite the fact that they remain on earth, are already fully directed towards the future age, although they groan, being in darkness and burdened with heaviness. 4. The Lord calls blessed not just those who teach, but those who first, through the fulfillment of the commandments, were worthy to receive their sight and saw in themselves the enlightening and brilliant light of the Spirit and thanks to it, in this true vision, knowledge and action, they learned what to talk about and what to teach others. For those who strive to teach must, as we said, first rise up, so that by speaking about what they do not know, they do not deceive and destroy themselves, along with those who believe them. 5. He who does not fear God does not believe that God exists; such a person is a madman. But he who believes in God fears Him, and he who fears keeps His commandments. Whoever says that he fears God, but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and there is no fear of God in him. It is said: “Where there is fear, there is observance of the commandments”; if we have neither fear nor observance of divine commandments, then we are no different from pagans and unbelievers. 6. Faith, fear of God and keeping His commandments provide rewards in accordance with the degree of purity. For as much as we are purified, we are raised from fear of God to love for Him, and when, through success, we move from fear to loving God, we hear from Him: He who has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me (John 14:21). So, let's make every effort to actually prove love. When this happened, He, as promised, loves us, and when He loves us, His Father loves us equally, the Spirit, of course, comes in advance and prepares a house so that in the one council of Hypostases we become the abode of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 14:21-23). 7. The indwelling of the Trinitarian Deity, which occurs consciously and very clearly in the perfect, is not the satisfaction of a desire, but rather the beginning and reason for a desire for a stronger and greater desire. For it no longer allows the one who has received it to remain in peace, but forces him, as if constantly inflamed and burned by fire, to rise to the flame of an even more divine desire. For the mind cannot find a stop and limit in what it desires and cannot observe moderation in desire and love, but, trying to reach the unattainable end and grasp it, it always carries within itself an endless desire and insatiable love. 8. One who has come to such a state does not think that he has found in himself the beginning of desire or love for God, but feels as if he does not love God, because he is unable to embrace the fullness of love. Therefore, considering himself the last of all those who fear God, he with all his heart considers himself unworthy even of salvation along with the faithful. 9 . All things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23), for faith is counted as righteousness (Rom. 4:5). And the end of the law is Christ (Rom. 10:4). Faith in Him justifies and makes the believer perfect, since instead of the works of the law, faith in Christ is imputed (Rom. 3:28), confirmed and demonstrated through the Gospel commandments; it makes the faithful partakers of eternal life in Christ himself. 10. Faith is dying for the sake of Christ for His commandments. To believe means to be sure that such death brings life, to consider poverty as wealth, simplicity and humiliation as true glory and honor, having nothing, to think that you possess everything (2 Cor. 6:9-10), rather, to acquire the unsearchable wealth of the knowledge of Christ (Eph. 3:8) and to look at everything visible as dust or smoke. 11. Faith in Christ is [the ability] not only to despise worldly pleasures, but also to endure and endure every temptation that comes in sorrows, sorrows and accidents, as long as God wants it and until He visits us. For with patience,” he says, “I suffered with the Lord, and He heard me (Ps. 39:2). 12. Those who in any way prefer their parents to the commandments of God have not acquired faith in Christ, and their own conscience, of course, judges them for unbelief, if conscience is alive in them at all. For it is characteristic of the faithful never to transgress in any way the commandment of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. 13. Faith in God gives rise to the desire for good and fear of torment, and the desire for the best and fear of torment force one to strictly observe the commandments; strict observance of the commandments teaches people to recognize their own weakness, and true consciousness of our true weakness gives rise to the memory of death. With whom mortal memory lives, he painfully desires to know what will happen to him after his exodus and removal from this life. But whoever always strives to learn about the future must first completely deprive himself of the present. For he who is possessed by an addiction to any of this, even the most insignificant, cannot acquire perfect knowledge about it. Even if someone, by some condescension of God, tastes this knowledge, but does not immediately leave what and in which he is obsessed with addiction, and does not give himself entirely to this knowledge, not allowing himself to think about anything else besides this, then what he thinks he has will be taken away from him (Luke 19:26). 14. Renunciation of the world and complete withdrawal, accompanied by alienation from all everyday things, customs, opinions and persons, denial of body and will, in a short time becomes a source of enormous benefit for one who so ardently left the world. 15. O, fleeing from the world, be careful not to give in to your soul from the very beginning and make a home in the world, even if all your relatives and friends force you to do so. For the demons inspire them with this in order to extinguish the warmth of your heart; after all, if they cannot completely prevent your intention, then at least they can greatly cool and weaken it. 16. When you prove steadfast and adamant towards all worldly pleasures, then the demons induce relatives to so-called compassion, forcing them to cry and wail for you in front of your face. You will know the truth of what has been said when, having remained steadfast during this temptation, you see how they suddenly flare up against you with rage and hatred, turn away from you as from an enemy, and do not even want to look at you. 17. Seeing the grief of your parents, brothers and friends for you, laugh at the demon who throws all this at you in different ways. But go away with fear and much zeal, and diligently beg God so that you may reach the haven of the good [spiritual] father, in which he himself will rest your weary and burdened soul. For the ocean of life can become the cause of danger and ultimate destruction. 18. Whoever wants to hate the world must have in the very depths of his soul love for God and unceasing memory of Him, for nothing other than this allows him to joyfully leave everything [earthly] and turn away from it as an abomination. 19. Do not want to stay in the world for a long time - neither for good reasons, nor, especially for disrespectful ones, but when you are called, quickly obey. For God does not rejoice in anything else so much as if we are quick [to obey], because quick obedience with poverty is better than delay with a lot of money. 20. If the world and everything in the world passes away, and only God is eternal and immortal, rejoice, all who have left corruption for His sake. Not only wealth and money are perishable, but also every pleasure and peace of sin is corruption. The commandments of God alone are light and life - that’s what everyone calls them. 21. If you received the flame, brother, and because of this you ran to the monastery or to your spiritual father, then even if he or the brothers laboring with you offer you to use baths or food or other bodily consolations for the sake of peace, do not get used to it, but always be ready for fasting, enduring suffering and extreme abstinence, so that if your father in the Lord offers you consolation, you will be obedient to him, not even doing anything of your own free will and will. If not, then joyfully endure what you voluntarily wanted to do for the benefit of your soul. For by observing this, you will always be in everything as if fasting and abstaining and in every way renouncing your will. Moreover, you will keep unquenchable within your heart that flame that makes you despise everything [earthly]. 22. When the demons have used all their [means], but cannot hinder or hinder [the achievement of] our goal according to God, then they enter those who pretend to be reverent, and through them they try to hinder those who strive. At first, supposedly motivated by love and compassion, they advise them to allow themselves bodily rest, otherwise, they say, “the body will become exhausted, and you yourself will fall into despondency.” Then, challenging them to useless chatter, they force them to spend whole days in it. And if one of the zealous, having obeyed them, becomes like them, they turn [against him] and mock his death, but if he does not succumb to their persuasion, but remains alien to everything, focused and insolent, then they are moved to envy and contrive to do everything [possible], up to expelling him from the monastery. For shamed vanity cannot bear to see humility praised before it. 23. The vain person languishes, seeing how the humble sheds tears and receives great benefit, propitiating God through them and involuntarily moving people to praise. 24. From the moment you devoted yourself entirely to your spiritual father, know that you have become alien to everything that you brought from outside - I’m talking about human things and money. Without him, do not want to do or do anything with them, and do not ask permission for any small or large thing, unless he of his own free will orders you to take it or gives it to you with his own hands. 25. Without the [permission] of your father, according to God, do not give alms from the money you brought; Do not even want to take any of them from him even through an intermediary. For it is better to be and be known as a beggar and a stranger than to waste money and give to the poor, being a beginner. For perfect faith [consists in] committing everything to your spiritual father, as into the hand of God. 26. Do not even ask yourself for water to drink, even if you happen to be parched with thirst, until your spiritual father offers it out of his own impulse. Tomorrow yourself and constrain yourself in everything, convincing [yourself] and saying in your mind: “If God wants, [He Himself will give me what I need].” And if you are worthy to get drunk, He, of course, will reveal this to your spiritual father, and he will tell you: “Drink.” And then you will get drunk with a clear conscience, even if it was at an inopportune time. 27. He who had the experience of spiritual benefit and acquired undoubted faith, offering God as a witness to the truth, said: "I have put in myself such a thought that I would never ask my father to eat or drink, and not accept anything at all without him, until God inspired him to order me. By doing this," he said, "I never deviated from my goal." 28. Anyone who has acquired firm faith in his father according to God, seeing him, thinks that he sees Christ himself, and, being with him or following him, firmly believes that he is with Christ and follows Him. Such a person will never want to talk with anyone else and will not prefer any of the worldly things to the memory of Him and love for Him. For what is better and more useful in the present and in the future life than to be with Christ? And what is more beautiful and sweet than the vision of Him? If anyone is worthy of conversation with Him, then, of course, he draws eternal life from it. 29. He who sincerely loves those who insult him, or dishonors him, or hates him, or offends him, and who prays for them, quickly achieves great success. For when this happens in the feeling of the heart, then it leads thoughts into the abyss of humility and to the sources of tears into which the three parts of the soul plunge: it elevates the mind to the sky of dispassion and makes it contemplative. Thanks to the taste of heavenly grace, [a person] considers everything that is in real life as garbage, and even accepts food and drink without pleasure and infrequently. 30. Effective faith is demonstrated by the one who reverently reveres even the place where his leader and father stands as sacred, and collects the dust from his feet with his hands, sprinkling it on his head and anointing his heart with it, as if with a medicine that cleanses him of passions and sins, but does not dare to approach [the father] himself, or even just touch his clothes or mantle without his permission, and, doing anything for him, does it with fear and with respect, considering himself unworthy not only to see him and serve him, but even to be in his cell. 31. Many reject this life and worldly things, but few reject their own will. The Divine Word clearly points to them when it says: Many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). 32. When you sit with all the brethren at a meal, and everything internally appears before your eyes like a shadow, and you do not feel the pleasure of food, but your whole soul is seized with amazement and filled with tears, then know that the grace of God shows you this in this way for your great humility, which comes from fear [of God], so that you, seeing the works of God and realizing the impermanence of sensible things, change your fear for the love of the mental. This is precisely the spiritual knowledge that you hear said to be between fear and love, imperceptibly and safely leading a person from the first to the second. 33. It is impossible for anyone to acquire the inalienable perfect love of God except in accordance with the measure of spiritual knowledge; and it grows little by little in every diligently working soul. Knowing this, the apostle said: “According to the greatness and beauty of creatures, the Creator is contemplated” (Rom. 1:20). 34. No one can truly know with the help of sensory eyes either the size of the sky, or the breadth of the earth, or the meaning of everything else. For how can bodily eyes understand that which surpasses mind and understanding? Only if the mind is cleansed of thoughts, freed from adversity and enlightened by the mercy and grace of God, will it be able, in accordance with the measure of enlightenment, to worthily achieve the contemplation of existence. 35. Just as at night we see with our sensual eyes only the place that we illuminate with the light of a lamp, and the rest of the world is night for us, so for those sleeping in the darkness of sins, the good Lord, being God, inconceivable for everything, becomes a small light, sparing our weakness. And then a person, suddenly looking and seeing the nature of what exists, as if he had never seen it before, is amazed and without difficulty involuntarily sheds tears, through which he is cleansed and baptized with a second baptism - that baptism about which the Lord speaks in the Gospels: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:5). And again: Unless someone is born again (John 3:3); Having said “from above,” He meant birth from the Spirit. 36. In the first baptism, water foretells tears, and the anointing oil foreshadows the intelligent ointment of the Spirit. The second [baptism] is no longer an image of the truth, but the truth itself. 37. The ascetic should not only abstain from evil deeds, but also take care to be free from negative thoughts and thoughts, and always remain in soul-helping and spiritual reflections, in order to thus remain outside of everyday worries. 38. Just as the one who has exposed his entire body, if he leaves his eyes covered with some kind of veil and does not want to take it and throw it off, will not be able to see the light thanks to the bare exposure of the rest of his body, so the one who has rejected all his other things and money and got rid of addictions to them, unless he frees the eye of his soul from worldly memories and vicious thoughts, will never see the mental light - our Lord and God Jesus Christ himself. 39. What a veil placed over the eyes is, so are worldly thoughts and everyday memories for the mind, that is, for the eye of the soul. So, as long as we admit them, we will not be able to see; when they are expelled with the help of the memory of death, then we clearly see the true Light, which enlightens every person coming into the world (John 1:9). 40. He who is blind from birth will not understand the meaning of what is written and will not believe it; anyone who has ever been worthy of receiving his sight will testify with me that what has been said is true. 41. He who sees with sensual eyes knows when it is day and when it is night; the blind man knows neither one nor the other. And a spiritually sighted person, looking with mental eyes, if, having seen the true and unstoppable Light, then through carelessness returns to his former blindness and is deprived of the Light, he acutely feels the deprivation of it, but does not know why this happened. Whoever is blind from birth knows nothing about this, either from experience or from action, unless he hears and learns by ear about something that he has never seen, and will tell others what he has heard, although neither he himself nor the listeners know what things they are discussing with each other. 42. It is impossible to saturate the flesh with food and spiritually partake of mental and divine goodness. For to the extent that someone serves the stomach, he will be deprived of goodness, and to the extent that he will exhaust the body, to the same extent he will be filled with spiritual food and consolation. 43. Let us leave everything that is on earth - not only wealth, gold and all other worldly things, but let us completely banish the lust for them from our souls. Let us hate not only the pleasures of the body, but also its unreasonable disturbances, and we will try to kill it through labor, for through the body lusts are aroused and brought into action; and while the body is alive, our soul is inevitably dead and difficult to move to any commandment of God, or even completely motionless. 44. Just as the flame of a fire always rises in height, especially if you stir burning logs, so the heart of a vain person cannot humble himself, but if you tell him something useful for him, it becomes more and more puffed up; when he is rebuked and admonished, he sharply contradicts, and when praised and encouraged, he is exalted in a bad way. 45. A person who has learned to contradict himself is a double-edged sword, unconsciously killing his own soul and making it alien to eternal life. 46. Anyone who contradicts is like someone who voluntarily gave himself into the hands of enemies, opponents of his king. For contradiction is a bait that has self-justification as bait, by which, being seduced, we swallow the hook of sin. So the unfortunate soul is usually kidnapped by the spirits of malice, as if grabbed by the tongue and throat, and then rises to the heights of pride, then drowns in the stormy abyss of sin, and is condemned along with those who have fallen from heaven. 47. Whoever, when he is dishonored or insulted, suffers greatly in his heart, let him learn from this that he carries within himself an ancient serpent. So, if he endures in silence or responds with much humility, this will make the serpent weak and weakened. If he answers with bitterness and speaks with insolence, he will give strength to the serpent to pour poison into his heart and brazenly devour his entrails, so that, day by day becoming stronger as a result, the serpent will make his prey the good disposition and strength of that unfortunate soul. From then on, [this person] will live to sin and become completely dead to righteousness. 48. If you want to renounce [the world] and learn the gospel way of life, do not give yourself over to an inexperienced teacher who is in passions, lest you learn the devil’s way of life instead of the gospel, for good teachers teach good lessons, and bad teachers teach them bad; Poor quality seeds, of course, also make plants unusable. 49. With prayers and tears, beg God to send you a dispassionate and holy leader. Also, study the Divine Scriptures yourself, especially the practical writings of the Holy Fathers, so that, comparing with them what your teacher and primate teaches you, you can see it, as in a mirror, and compare it, and accept what is consistent with the Divine Scriptures inside and hold in your thoughts, and identify and discard what is false and alien, so as not to be deceived. For know that in these days there are many deceivers and false teachers. 50. Anyone who does not see, and at the same time undertakes to lead others, is a deceiver and plunges those who follow him into the pit of destruction, according to the word of the Lord: If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14). 51. The one who is blind in relation to the One is completely blind in relation to everything, and the one who sees in the One remains in contemplation of everything. He both refrains from contemplating everything, and is in contemplation of everything, and remains outside of what is contemplated. Being thus in the One, he sees everything and, being in everything, sees nothing of everything. 52. He who sees in the One, through the One, sees himself, and everyone, and everything in general, and, being hidden in Him, sees nothing of everything. 53. Whoever in his rational and mental man has not tangibly and consciously put on the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Man and God, is only flesh and blood, and cannot through reason receive the sensation of spiritual glory, just as those blind from birth cannot recognize the light of the sun through reason alone. 54. He who hears, sees and feels thus knows the power of what I say, as having already bore the image of heavenly things (1 Cor. 15:49) and having come to be a perfect man of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Being like this, he is able to lead the flock of Christ well on the path of God’s commandments. And whoever does not know [this] and is not like that, it is clear that the feelings of his soul are not purified and not healthy. It is much better for him to be led than to lead at risk. 55. Whoever looks at his teacher and leader as God cannot contradict [him]. If anyone thinks and says that he has both, let him know that he is mistaken, for he does not understand what kind of disposition towards God those who live according to God have. 56. Whoever believes that his life and death is in the hand of his shepherd will never contradict; ignorance of this gives rise to contradiction, causing mental and eternal death. 57. Before the defendant is sentenced, he is given the opportunity to defend himself before the judge and justify what he did. After that, when what has been done becomes clear and the judge pronounces a sentence, he will not contradict the perpetrators of the punishment in anything - neither small nor large. 58. Before a monk enters this judgment seat and reveals what is in his heart, he can probably argue: either out of ignorance, or hoping to hide his deeds. After he opens and sincerely confesses his thoughts, he should never contradict his judge and ruler after God, until death. For the monk, who from the beginning entered this judgment seat and exposed the secrets of his heart, is convinced from the very entrance, if he has at least some knowledge, that he is worthy of a thousand deaths, but believes that through his obedience and humility he will be delivered from all punishment and torment, if, of course, he correctly understands the meaning of this sacrament. 59. Anyone who keeps this indelible in his mind, being taught, admonished or rebuked, will never be troubled in his heart, because he who falls into these sins - I mean contradiction and disbelief to his spiritual father and teacher - is pitifully relegated during his lifetime to the depths and abyss of hell and becomes the home of Satan and all his unclean forces as the son of unbelief and destruction. 60. I ask you, [child of] obedience, to constantly turn this over in your mind and fight with all your zeal so as not to fall into the hellish torments mentioned above, but every day fervently pray to God and say this: “God and Lord of all, having power over everything that breathes and over every soul, You alone are able to heal me; hear my prayer, the insignificant [Your servant], and destroy the dragon nesting in me, destroying it with the breath of Your All-Holy Spirit. And grant me, poor and deprived of all virtue, to fall with tears at the feet of my holy father, and draw his holy soul to compassion and mercy towards me. And grant, O Lord, humility to my heart and thoughts befitting a sinner who has decided to turn to You, and do not completely abandon the soul that once united with You, confessed You, “I chose You and preferred You to the whole world. For You know, Lord, that I want to be saved, although my bad habits pose an obstacle to me. But to You, Master, everything is possible that is impossible for people.” 61. Those who, in the courtyard of piety, with fear and trembling, have laid a good foundation of faith and hope and have unshakably established their feet on the rock of obedience to the spiritual fathers, listening, as from the mouth of God, what they command, and without hesitation, with humility of soul, build a house on this foundation of obedience - quickly succeed and achieve this great and first success: renunciation of oneself. For fulfilling someone else’s will, and not one’s own, produces not only renunciation of one’s soul, but also deadness in relation to the whole world. 62. The demons rejoice at the one who contradicts his father, and the angels are surprised at the one who humbles himself to the point of death. For such a person accomplishes the work of God, becoming like the Son of God, who fulfilled obedience to His Father even to the point of death, even death on the cross (Phil. 2:8). 63. Strong and untimely sadness of the heart darkens and confuses the mind, destroys pure prayer and humility in the soul, and produces heartache, hence callousness and boundless petrification; through this, demons cause despair among spiritual people. 64. If you ever encounter something like this, O monk, and you find in your soul zeal and a great desire for perfection, so that you want to fulfill every commandment of God, even to the point of not falling into idle talk and sinning, and not being in any way inferior to the ancient saints - neither in doing, nor in knowledge, nor in contemplation, but you see that, by sowing the tares of cowardice, [the devil] prevents you from reaching such a height of holiness, throwing such thoughts at you and saying: “It is impossible for you to be saved in the midst of the world and it is unacceptable to keep all the commandments of God,” then you sit alone in some corner, constrain yourself, collect your mind, and give good advice to your soul, saying: “Why are you sad, my soul, and why do you confuse me? Trust in God, for I confess to Him. For the salvation of my face is not a matter of works.” mine, but my God (Psalm 41:6). For who will be justified by the works of the law (Gal. 2:16). No one who lives will be justified in Your sight (Psalm 142:2). But through faith in my God Himself I hope to be saved freely, according to His ineffable mercy. Get away from me, Satan, I worship the Lord my God and have served Him from my youth (Matthew 4:10) - the One who can save me by His mercy alone. Get away from me. God, who created me in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26), will destroy you!” 65. God does not require anything else from us humans except that we not sin – and that’s all. And this is not a matter of the law, but the inviolable preservation of the image [of God] and the highest dignity, which, possessing by nature and wearing clothing shining with the Spirit, we abide in God, and He in us (1 John 4:13), and we become by adoption gods and sons of God, sealed with the light of the knowledge of God (Ps. 4:7). 66. Dejection and bodily heaviness, which appear in the soul from laziness and negligence, distract from the usual rule and bring darkness and despair to the mind, which is why thoughts of fearfulness and blasphemy dominate in the heart, and one tempted by the demon of despondency cannot go to the usual place of prayer, but indulges in laziness and thinks wrongly about the Creator of all. So, knowing the reason for this and where it came from, quickly go to your usual place of prayer and, falling before the man-loving God, beg with groaning and tears, with pain in your heart, to deliver you from the severity of despondency and evil thoughts; and if you knock intensely and relentlessly [on the door], you will soon be given liberation from these [passions]. 67. He who has acquired a pure heart has overcome timidity, and he who is still purifying himself sometimes overcomes it, and sometimes he is overcome by it. He who does not fight at all is either completely insensitive and a friend of the passions and demons, suffering, in addition to vanity, from pride and thinking that he is something, whereas he is nothing (Gal. 6:3), or is a slave of timidity, subject to it, trembling like a child in reason, and afraid of fear where there is neither fear (Ps. 13:5), nor fear for those who fear the Lord. 68. He who fears God is not afraid of the onslaught of demons, nor their powerless attacks, nor the threats of evil people, but, being all like a kind of flame or blazing fire, passing through places inaccessible and unlit either at night or during the day, he puts to flight the demons, who flee from him faster than he from them, so as not to be burned by the fiery ray of divine fire emanating from him. 69. He who walks in the fear of God, moving among evil people, is not afraid, having the fear of Him within himself and carrying the invincible weapon of faith, thanks to which he can and is able to do everything - even what seems difficult and impossible to many. But he walks like a giant among monkeys or a roaring lion among dogs and foxes: he trusts in the Lord and with the strength of his mind defeats them, confuses their thoughts, defeating them with the word of wisdom, like a rod of iron (Ps. 2:9). 70. Do not be surprised if, when timidity dominates you, you tremble, afraid of everything, for you are still imperfect and weak and, like a baby, afraid of monsters. For timidity is the infantile and laughable passion of a vain soul. Do not want to speak words with this demon or contradict him, for when the soul is in trembling and confusion, words do not help. Leave them, humble your mind as much as you can, and you will soon realize that timidity has disappeared. 71. When someone is overwhelmed by despondency, has a sluggish and darkened mind, an empty soul, then the crying in his heart gradually becomes less abundant, the flame of the Spirit goes out in him, and everything in the house of his body is filled with smoke; In addition, he even experiences numbness in the limbs of his body, and from indecision he falls into an immense sleep, so that involuntarily he [has] to abandon his usual following. When he contrasted this with abstinence and vigil, with which sleep was conquered, his heart immediately hardened with arrogance and, due to the impoverishment of crying, timidity crept into him. If, while she was still in him, at an inopportune hour he found himself outside his cell, and, having gone to a gloomy and dark place, stood on it, raising his hands to the sky and depicting the sign of the cross on himself, raising the eye of his soul to God, so that he humbled his thoughts a little, immediately the demon of timidity retreated a little from him. However, the terrible demon of vanity, which is stronger than [the demon of timidity], imperceptibly stole his thoughts, wanting to catch it and immediately transfer it to the demon of timidity. Realizing this, [the man] was surprised and began to fervently beg God to deliver his soul from such snares of the devil. 72. The combination of these demons, their malice and tricks, I believe, are manifold and difficult for everyone to understand. For I learned that the demon of timidity accompanies the demon of despondency and attacks with him, and he helps this and grabs [the victim], and the first brings fear into the soul with hardness, while the second produces darkness and relaxation in the soul and mind, as well as petrification and despair. Dejection can be a test for ascetics, bringing them humility. 73. The demon of despondency, of course, most of all, as a rule, fights against those who have succeeded in prayer or who care about prayer. For no other demon has power against them, unless he receives power against them by providential permission, or, which seems more likely to me, receives power against us due to bodily disorders. The meaning of what has been said is this: when I ate a lot, weighed down my stomach and slept well, passion took possession of my mind, and I was defeated; but, again, when I showed excessive abstinence, I made my mind darkened and motionless, and immediately fell into the same passion. This can also happen to ascetics from a combination of atmospheric phenomena - I don’t know how to say it - and from the gloomy stuffiness of the southern wind. 74. Dejection is the death of the soul and mind. From him, if God allowed him to act against us according to his strength, none of the ascetics could ever be saved. It is equally up to us to resist him according to the strength of each of us, and it is up to God to mysteriously arouse us and clearly make us victorious over him. But it is impossible for anyone who has died to be resurrected without the help of the One Risen from the Dead himself. 75. When the mind, stolen by pride, plunges into it and thinks that it is something in itself thanks to its exploits, then the grace that invisibly enlightens it withdraws and soon leaves it empty; his weakness is immediately exposed, and passions pounce on him like wild dogs, trying to devour him. He, perplexed and not having where to run or where to save himself, through humility resorts to the Lord, Who is able to save him. 76. Anyone who is outside the whole world feels as if he were in an impenetrable desert and surrounded by animals. For this reason, overwhelmed with unspeakable fear and inexpressible trembling, he cries out to God, like Jonah from the whale and from the sea of life (Jonah 2:1-3), like Daniel from the den of wild passions and lions (Dan. 6:16), like the three youths from the furnace filled with the fire of flaming lust (Dan. 3:23), like Manasseh from the brass fetters of this earthy and mortal body (2 Chron. 33:12). Having heard him, the Lord takes him out of the depths of ignorance and love for the world, like that prophet from the whale, so that he will never return there again; like Daniel, he extracts him from the ditch of evil thoughts of lust that kidnap and devour human souls. From the passionate attacks of the fire, which burns and defiles his soul, forcibly pushing and drawing him to obscene deeds, he keeps him unharmed, irrigating his soul with the Holy Spirit, like those Israelites; and keeps him unhumbled and untouched by this earthly, heavy and highly passionate flesh, making him a son of light and day (1 Thess. 5:5) and grants him already here to taste immortality. 77. The soul that willingly lives in this base body, strives for bodily pleasures and clings to human glory, or, even if it neglects these things, still feels a desire for their atmosphere, is absolutely motionless in relation to any virtue and commandment of God and does not want to [fulfill them], being terribly burdened and entangled with the said vices. If, having awakened through labors, suffering and tears of repentance, she throws off the weight of the flesh and the mire of earthly worries, is washed with streams of tears, rises above the lowly visible [world], tastes pure light and is rewarded with liberation from tyrannical passions, then she, like a prophet, will exclaim to God: You have taken off my sackcloth from me and girded me with joy, let him sing to You. and let not my soul be silent (Ps. 29:12–13). 78. Divine Scripture designates three places in which the mind loves to dwell. I would rather talk about two - not because I teach contrary to Scripture - but it won’t be! - but because I don’t consider the middle to be the beginning and the end. I say, for example: someone who has moved from city to city and from country to another country does not call the name of the country or city the road along which he walked, even though he saw many wonderful things on it. For the one who crossed from Egypt to the Promised Land and settled on it, remembers all the intermediate [stages] and tells everyone about them, but does not talk about the transition from the first city to the second, from the second country to the third, but talks about the return from slavery to freedom, from darkness to light and from captivity to his fatherland. This usually happens with our human mind, which has passed from a passionate life to dispassion, from slavery to passions to freedom of the Spirit, from unnatural struggles, which spiritual law calls captivity, to supernatural ascent, from the abyss of life and storms to a quiet haven that is outside the world, from the bitterness of everyday worries and sorrows to indescribable sweetness and the absence of worries about any earthly things. in fact, from being overwhelmed by many lusts and from confusion - to only the One, to complete affection and love for Him. 79. The transition of the mind from the visible to the invisible and the migration from the sensory to the supersensible produces in it oblivion of everything left behind. This is what I truly call silence and the land of silence, and a place to which, having been worthy to ascend, he will not descend from there again, like Moses, who stayed on the mountain for forty days and the same number of nights, for it is better to remain there and never return down at all. From now on, having become the house of the Trinity, the mind itself settles in the Trinity, as if being in the Kingdom of Heaven itself, supported, of course, by the love of God, which does not allow it to fall. 80. Not only one who is silent or subordinate, but also an abbot and abbot over many, and even one who performs his ministry must be carefree, that is, completely free from all worldly affairs. For if we worry [about worldly things], then we find ourselves violating the divine commandment, which reads: Do not worry about your life; what will you eat? or what to drink? or what to wear? all this the pagans seek (Matthew 6:31); and also: See that your hearts are never burdened with overeating and drunkenness and the cares of this life (Luke 21:34). 81. Anyone whose mind is occupied with caring about everyday affairs is not free, for he is obsessed with caring about this and is enslaved to it, whether this concern is about himself or about others. He who is free from this will not take care of the things of life either for himself or for others, be it a bishop or an abbot or a deacon. However, he will never be idle and will not neglect anything, even the most recent and insignificant, but, doing and accomplishing everything pleasing to God, he will remain carefree in relation to everything throughout his life. 82. There is inactive care, and there is carefree activity, as well as vice versa - active carelessness and preoccupied idleness, which the Lord clearly indicated, for [on the one hand] He said: My Father works hitherto, and I work (John 5:17); and also: Work not for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life (John 6:27), not forbidding work, but teaching us to work without worry. [On the other hand,] He also said: Who, by caring, can add even one cubit to his height? (Matthew 6:27), prohibiting useless care; and about that which is for benefit, he said: And what do you worry about clothing or food? Do you not see the lilies of the field and the birds of the air - how [God] raises some and nourishes others? (Matthew 6:26–28). Thus, by forbidding one thing and allowing another, the Lord teaches us how to work carefully, remaining without worries, and how, being carefree, not to abandon necessary tasks. 83. Do not destroy your house, wanting to build your neighbor’s house: this is a difficult and difficult task; Be careful that you don’t end up destroying your own house by taking it on, and not being able to build that [person’s] house at all. 84. If you have not acquired complete impartiality in relation to worldly things and money, do not wish to be entrusted with economic affairs, lest you be captivated by them and, instead of receiving a reward for your service, be condemned as a thief and blasphemer. If the abbot forces you to do this, conduct the matter as if you were holding a blazing fire in your hands, and drive away the pretext of thoughts with confession and repentance, and you will be preserved unharmed through the prayer of the abbot. 85. He who has not become dispassionate not only does not know what dispassion is, but cannot even believe that there is anyone dispassionate on earth. For how can one who has not previously denied himself and willingly exhausted his blood for this truly blessed life imagine that anyone else has done this in order to acquire dispassion? Likewise, he who thinks that he has the Holy Spirit, without actually having anything, will never believe, hearing about the actions of the Holy Spirit in those who have Him, that there is someone in this generation equal to the apostles of Christ and the ancient saints, who is under the action of the Divine Spirit and moved by Him, or consciously and clearly abiding in a vision of Him. For each person judges what concerns his neighbor according to his own condition, whether it concerns virtue or vice. 86. One is the dispassion of the soul, and another is the dispassion of the body. For the first sanctifies the body with its own radiance and the light outpouring of the Spirit, and the second in itself does not bring any benefit to the one who acquired it. 87. The other is the immobility of mental and physical members, and the other is the acquisition of virtues. For one depends on nature, while the other even holds back all natural movements. 88. Not wanting any of the pleasures and delights of the world is not the same as striving for eternal and invisible blessings: this is one thing, and this is another. Many have despised the first, but few people have known the second. 89. Turning away from human glory and not seeking it is not the same as clinging to the glory of God; there is a great difference between the one and the other. For the first was rejected by many of those who are subject to other passions, but the second, with great difficulty and effort, was awarded to a few. 90. It is not the same thing to be content with poor clothing, not wanting beautiful clothing, and to put on the light of God: this is one thing, and this is another. For some of the lusts caught by thousands easily despised clothing, but only those who constantly seek it through all suffering, who became sons of light and day (1 Thess. 5:5) through the fulfillment of the commandments, were clothed in the light. 91. One is humility, and the other is humility; and one is humility, another is the flower of humility, and the other is its fruit; and one is the beauty of this fruit, another is the sweetness of this beauty, and another in comparison with this is the actions of that fruit. And some of this depends on us, while others do not depend on us. It is up to us to think, contemplate, reason, speak and do everything that leads us to humility; Holy humility itself and its other properties, gifts and actions are the gift of God, and not from us. No one will ever be worthy of this unless, with all diligence, he sows in himself the seeds of everything [that is in his power]. 92. Another thing is not to be irritated [in response to] dishonor, insults, temptations and sorrows, another thing is to accept them with complacency, and another thing is to pray for those who cause this to us, another thing is to love them from the heart, and another thing in comparison with this is to imagine in the mind the face of each of them and dispassionately greet them as close friends, with sincere tears of love and, of course, then absolutely not finding any trace of hostility in the soul. Above what we said, when someone, even at the very time of temptation, has an equal and invariably identical disposition not only towards those who clearly offend, expel, condemn, insult him, slander and spit on him, but also towards those who put on the outer guise of friendship, but secretly commit such deeds, although they cannot hide it. But again, I consider this incomparably better - when someone forgets about everything and, regardless of whether his offenders are present or not, does not remember anything that happened, but equally cordially welcomes those he meets as friends, talking with some and eating food with others. 93. Remembering God and loving God are not the same thing; and it is not the same thing to fear Him and keep His commandments: this is one thing, and this is another, however, both are characteristic of the perfect and dispassionate. 94. Another is the absence of sin, and another is the keeping of the commandments; for the latter is the work of those who carry out exploits and live according to the Gospel, and the former is the lot only of those who have acquired initial dispassion. 95. Idleness and silence are not at all the same thing, but silence is not the same as silence: this is one thing, and this is another. For the first is the lot of people who do not want to know anything about the participation of divine goods, nor do anything good, and the second is the lot of those who diligently exercise themselves in the knowledge of God and study the word filled with the wisdom of God, and seek the depths of the Spirit, and are initiated into strange divine mysteries. The third is the lot of those who are engaged in intelligent work, carefully listening to the thoughts of the mind. 96. Removal, that is, moving from one place to another, is not the same as true wandering: they are different things. The first is characteristic of believers who, either due to negligence, are carried here and there by a restless mind, or because of an excess of ardor, they desire even greater feats. The second is characteristic of those crucified for the world (Gal. 6:14) and worldly affairs, always wanting to be with one God and the angels and not at all to return to anything human. 97. It is another thing to resist enemies and fight with them, and another thing to completely defeat, subdue, and kill them. The first is characteristic of fighters and those who are noble in feat, while the second is characteristic of those who are dispassionate and perfect. 98. Such are all the works of saints who walk in the light of dispassion. Those who understand that they are outside of these matters, let them not be deceived by anyone and let them not deceive their souls, but let them know that they are walking in vain, as if in the dark. 99. Many, one for one reason, another for another, rushed towards this, but there are very few who accomplished their feats, being filled with fear and love for God. They - and only they - with the help of grace from above, quickly succeed in doing virtues and strive in every possible way towards the specified goal. Others, according to the word [of Scripture], remain to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way (Ps. 107:40), according to the words: I have left them according to the manners of their hearts; they will walk according to their own manners (Ps. 80:13). 100. Anyone who has experienced this, through the desire for the best, learns the power of what is said. The one who has not experienced it will understand everything that is said in a sensual way, but about what is said spiritually and speculatively, he will have only theoretical ideas, or, rather, he will form false ideas about it in his mind and will be, like a deluded person, very far from the true meaning of what was said. 101. When, through many toils and sweats, you have become higher than the base body and rejected its needs, wearing it as light and spiritual, feeling neither fatigue, nor hunger, nor thirst, then you see more clearly than in a mirror the One who surpasses the mind; with open eyes, with tears, you see Him whom no one has ever seen (John 1:18), and your soul is wounded by love for Him and you sing a song of lamentation mixed with tears, then remember me and pray for me, humble, as having achieved union with God and unashamed boldness towards Him. Chapters theological and speculative (25 chapters) 1. Repentance does not correspond to the one who theologizes, nor does theology correspond to the one who repents, for as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12), so far is theology superior to repentance. For the one who is in repentance and who truly does works of repentance is like a person vegetating in illness and disease, or a poor man dressed in rags and begging for alms. The theologian is like one who rotates in the royal palace, in the splendor of the most royal clothing, who, being close to the king, always speaks to him and every hour directly from him clearly hears his orders and desires. 2. The increase in the knowledge of God becomes the cause and source of ignorance of everything else, and not only of everything else, but also of God himself. And the abundance of His illumination is complete invisibility, and the supersensible feeling, going beyond the limits of the senses, is insensibility of everything that is outside of Him. For a feeling that does not know what it is and what it is, where and how and what is in it, and has absolutely no power to recognize or understand it, how will it be a feeling? Isn’t it rather that those [things] are higher than feelings, and the mind, in the feeling of its own weakness, will not turn out to be insensitive in relation to what is higher than feelings? For how can something be felt that the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard and that has not entered the heart of a person? (1 Cor. 2:9). 3. The Lord, who gives us that which is above the senses, gives us through His Spirit another supersensible sense, so that we supernaturally, through all the senses, clearly and purely feel His supersensible gifts and gifts. 4. Anyone insensitive in relation to the One is insensitive in relation to everything, just as he who has a feeling for the One is in the feeling of everything and [at the same time] outside the feeling of everything. He is in the feeling of everything, but everything does not embrace him with its feelings. 5. He who is deaf to the Word is deaf to every voice, just as he who hears the Word hears everything. Whoever is thus deaf to every voice hears everyone and hears no one except those who utter their words in the Word - but does not even hear them, but only one Word, Which is silently pronounced in their voice. 6. He who hears, sees and feels thus knows the power of what is said. And those who do not know, obviously, have feelings of the soul that are not enlightened and healthy. He who was in such a state did not yet know that he was created as a “contemplator of the visible creation and initiated into the intelligible,” but, being in honor, he was reduced to the state of unreasonable and beasts of burden and became like them; and, having become like them, remains so until he is converted, called or elevated to his original dignity according to the gift of the economy of our Master and Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 7. While you are below, do not explore what is high, and before you are on top, do not be curious about what is low, lest you slip and lose both, or better yet, so as not to be left with those below. 8. Just as the one who is elevated from the last poverty by the king to wealth, clothed by him in a high rank and luxurious clothes and invited to stand before his face, looks at the king himself with love and loves him beyond measure as a benefactor, the clothes in which he is clothed clearly sees, and is aware of his dignity, and understands that wealth has been given to him, so is the monk who has truly withdrawn from the world and all worldly affairs and has come to Christ, who clearly feels the call and, through the fulfillment of the commandments, ascends to the heights of the spiritual contemplation - he unmistakably sees God Himself and clearly recognizes the change that has taken place in himself. For he always sees the grace of the Spirit illuminating him, which is called the robe and the royal scarlet, or rather, it is Christ Himself, for those who believe in Him are clothed with Him. 9 . Whoever has been enriched with heavenly wealth - I’m talking about the coming and indwelling of Him who said: I and the Father will come and make an abode with him (John 14:23) - he understands in the consciousness of his soul what grace he has received and what and how great wealth he carries in the palaces of his heart. For, conversing with God as with each other, he boldly stands before the face of Him who lives in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). 10. Blessed is he who believes in this, thrice blessed is he who strives through activity and sacred deeds to gain knowledge of what has been said. An angel, not to say anything more, is one who, through contemplation and knowledge, has reached the height of such a state and has become close to God as a son of God. 11. Just as someone standing on the seashore sees an immeasurable ocean of waters, but cannot reach their limit, but only sees a certain part, so he who is privileged through contemplation to behold the immeasurable ocean of the glory of God and mentally sees it, does not see it fully, but as much as the mental eyes of his soul are capable of. 12. Just as one who stands near the sea not only sees it, but also enters its waters as much as he wants, so those spiritual people who desire remain in the light of God, in communion, and also in contemplation of it, as far as they are drawn by this desire. 13. Just as someone who stands on the seashore, while he is outside the waters, sees everything and embraces the expanse of the ocean with his mind, when he begins to enter the waters and plunge into them, as he descends, he sees less of what is outside the waters; so those who become involved in the divine light, to the extent that they succeed in the knowledge of the divine, to the same extent they fall into ignorance [of external things]. 14. Just as someone who enters the waters of the sea knee-deep or waist-deep clearly sees everything that is outside the waters, but when he descends into the depths and finds himself completely under water, he cannot see anything that is outside the water, and only knows that he is entirely in the depths of the sea; this also happens to those who grow in spiritual success and ascend to the perfection of knowledge and contemplation. 15. When those who succeed in spiritual perfection are partially enlightened, that is, illuminated only by the mind, then they mentally see, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, and divine grace mysteriously teaches them the consciousness of knowledge and the revelation of secrets, raising them from the contemplation of existing things to the knowledge of Him who is above all existing things. 16. Those approaching perfection and still seeing infinity only partially, understanding the incomprehensibility of what they see, come to amazement; for to the extent that they enter the light of knowledge, to the same extent they receive the consciousness of their own ignorance. When that which appears to them in some way hidden, is seen as if through a dark glass (1 Cor. 13:12) and only partly illuminates what their mind is directed at, deigns to reveal itself even more to the illuminated and unite with him through communion, drawing him all into himself, and the whole of him is immersed in the depths of the Spirit, as in an immeasurable abyss of light-like waters - then he ineffably ascends to complete ignorance as having become above all knowledge. 17. The mind, being simple, or rather, naked from all thought and entirely clothed in the simple divine light covered by this light, cannot find anything other than that in which it abides in order to strive to comprehend it, but remains in the depths of the divine light, and is not at all allowed to look out. This is what [the words] mean: “God is light, and the highest light,” which “for those who have achieved it is repose from all contemplation.” 18. The always moving mind then becomes motionless and devoid of thoughts, when it is completely covered with Divine darkness and light, however, it is in contemplation and feeling and tasting the good things in which it is located. For the depth of the Holy Spirit is not the same as the depth of the waters of the sea, but it is the water of eternal life. Everything that is there is incomprehensible, inexplicable and incomprehensible; the mind finds itself in these [realities] when it passes through everything visible and intelligible, and motionlessly moves and rotates in them, living in a life above life, being light in light, but not light in itself. For then he sees not himself, but the One who is above him, and being changed by his thoughts from the glory there, he is completely unaware of himself. 19. He who has reached a [high] measure of perfection, being dead and not dead, lives in God, in Whom he abides, as if he does not live for himself. He is blind as one who does not see by nature; he became above all natural vision as having received new eyes, which are incomparably better than natural ones, and seeing supernaturally; he is inactive and motionless as having completed all his work; he has no thoughts, as having achieved unity with the One who is above thought and who has found peace where there is no action of the mind, that is, any impulse at all to memory or thought or thought. For he cannot understand the incomprehensible and impossible or learn it, and, as it were, calms down in this peace, [which is] the immobility of blissful insensibility, with a clear feeling of ineffable blessings, which he enjoys without difficulty. 20. He who is not worthy to achieve such a measure of perfection and become the owner of these benefits, let him blame himself, and not say in his defense that this is an impossible thing or that, although perfection is [attainable], it is nevertheless [achieved] unconsciously. And let him know, certified by the divine Scriptures, that this is a possible and true thing, which happens in practice and happens consciously, but in accordance with the measure of neglect of the commandments and failure to fulfill them, everyone deprives himself of benefits. 21. Many read the divine Scriptures, and others listen to them read, but few are able to correctly understand the power and meaning of what they read. Sometimes they claim that what is told in the divine Scripture is impossible, sometimes they consider it completely incredible or incorrectly interpret it in an allegorical sense, referring what is said about the present time to the future, and what is said about the future is perceived as having already happened or happening daily. Thus, they have neither a fair judgment nor a true [ability] to distinguish divine objects from human ones. 22. From the beginning God created two worlds - the visible and the invisible, but one king above the visible, having in himself the characteristic features of both worlds - both in his visible [appearance] and in that which is intelligible. In two worlds, two suns shine correspondingly - one sensual and the other mental. And what the sun is to the visible and sensible, God is the same to the invisible and mental, for He is and is called the Sun of righteousness. That is why, in accordance with this, there are two suns - one sensory and one mental, just like there are two worlds, as we have already said. One of the two worlds, that is, the sensory world, and what is in it is illuminated by this sensory and visible sun; the other, that is, mental, and what is in it is illuminated and illuminated by the mental Sun of Truth. So, the sensory is illuminated by the sensory, and the mental is illuminated by the mental separately from one another, having absolutely no unity or acquaintance or communication with the other - neither the mental with the sensory, nor the sensory with the mental. 23. From. God created everything visible and mental of one person as twofold, having a body composed of four elements, in which he participates and lives with the help of feeling and breathing, and an intelligent, immaterial, incorporeal soul, inexpressibly and incomprehensibly united with him, unmixed and unfused with him. This is what every person is: a living being, mortal and immortal, visible and invisible, sensory and mental, capable of seeing the visible creation and comprehending the mental. And just as in two worlds two suns are separated by actions, so in every person, one illuminates the body, and the other his soul, and each gives its own light to what it illuminates, either abundantly or sparingly, in accordance with its ability to contain. 24. The sensual sun is visible, but does not see; the mental is visible to the worthy, and sees everyone, and especially those who see it. The sensual does not speak and does not allow anyone to speak; the mental also speaks with its friends, and grants everyone [the ability] to speak. The sensual, shining in the sensual garden, with the warmth of its rays only dries up the moisture of the earth, but does not nourish the plants and seeds; the mental, having shone in the soul, does both - it dries up the dampness of passions, cleansing the filth that arises from them, and supplies the mental soil of the soul with fertilizer, feeding on which the trees of virtues gradually grow. 25. The sensual sun rises and illuminates the sensual world and everything in it - people, wild and domestic animals, and everything else over which it equally spreads light, but then again hides and leaves dark the place that it illuminated. The mental always shines and has been shining, inconceivably containing everything in everything, but separated from the creatures created by it and inseparably distant from them, being everything in everything and not being anywhere - everything in all visible creatures and everything outside them, everything in the visible and everything in the invisible, everything is present everywhere and everything is in no way anywhere. Other chapters theological and practical (100 chapters) 1. Christ is the beginning, middle and completion. For in all there is He who is in the first, and He who is in the average and in the perfect, as in the first. After all, for Him there is no difference between them, since there is neither barbarian, nor Scythian, nor Greek, nor Jew, but Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11). 2. The Holy Trinity, stretching through everyone from the first to the last, as from someone's head to his feet, gathers everyone and combines, unites and binds in Herself: by collecting, She makes them solid and indestructible. In each of them She is one and the same: She is God, in whom the last become first, and the first become last (Matthew 20:16). 3. We, the faithful, must look at all the faithful as One and think that in each of them there is Christ, and treat each with such love that we are ready to lay down our souls for him. We should never talk about anyone or think that he is evil, but see everyone as kind, as I said. For if you see someone overwhelmed by passions, hate not your brother, but the passions warring against him, and if you see someone possessed by lusts and desires, have even more pity on him, so that you yourself do not fall into temptation as one who is under the power of changeable and fickle matter. 4. Just as the intellectual ranks of the highest powers are illuminated by God in order - from the first rank to the second, and from this to the next and further, so that the divine outpouring of light reaches everyone, so the saints, illuminated by the divine angels, bound and united by the bond of the Spirit, become as worthy as the angels and equal to them. For the saints who come from generation to generation through doing the commandments of God are combined with the saints who precede them in time, are illuminated like those who receive the grace of God through communion, and become like a kind of golden chain, in which each of them is a separate link, connecting with the previous one through faith, deeds and love, so that in the one God they form a single chain that cannot be easily broken. 5. If anyone is deceitful through hypocrisy, or blameworthy for his deeds, or easily succumbs to any passion, or if he lacks anything due to negligence, he is not counted among the perfect, but is rejected as useless and worthless, lest in a moment of tension he break the link in the chain and cause division among the undivided and cause grief to both: for those who are in front will mourn those who are behind, these and about separation from those going ahead. 6. Whoever does not strive with love and a strong desire through humility to achieve unity with the last of the saints, but has acquired some small distrust towards him, will in no way ever be united and will not stand with him on a par with the former and preceding saints, even if he imagines that he has all faith and all love for God and for all the saints. He will be rejected by them as unable to occupy, with the help of humility, the place that was assigned to him by God before the ages. 7. Crying for God is preceded by humility, and is followed by inexpressible joy and joy; from humility for God, hope for salvation grows. For to the extent that someone from the heart considers himself the most sinful of all people, to the same extent, along with humility, hope grows in him and blossoms in his heart, giving him the confidence that he will be saved through humility. 8. The more someone descends into the depths of humility and despises himself as unworthy of salvation, the more he cries and gives freedom to streams of tears; as they do so, spiritual joy awakens in the heart, and with it hope flows out and grows, which strengthens the absolute confidence in salvation. 9 . Everyone should watch themselves and think about not relying on hope alone without crying for God and spiritual humility, or on humility and tears without accompanying spiritual hope and spiritual joy. 10. There is an imaginary humility that comes from negligence, laziness and strong condemnation of conscience: those who have acquired it think that it will grant them salvation. But it is not saving, because it does not have joyful crying associated with it. 11. There is crying without spiritual humility, and those crying in this way believe that it cleanses sins. But they deceive themselves, in vain thinking so, for they are deprived of the sweetness of the Spirit, mysteriously born in the mental treasury of the soul, and do not taste the goodness of the Lord. Therefore, such people are quickly inflamed with anger and cannot completely neglect the world and what is in the world. And whoever does not completely neglect this and does not acquire hatred for it with all his soul, he can never acquire a firm and undoubted hope of salvation, but always rushes back and forth in doubt, for he has not laid the foundation on a rock (Luke 6:48). 12. Crying has two effects: it, like water, through tears extinguishes every flame of passions, cleansing the soul from the filth that comes from them; - but also, like fire, with the presence of the Holy Spirit it revives, ignites, embraces and warms the heart, inflaming it with attraction and love for God. 13. Observe the actions that occur in you from humility and crying, study them and explore what benefit they bring you hourly. For beginners, they experience the setting aside of all earthly concerns, impartiality towards their parents and friends, renunciation of them, lack of concern for all things and money and contempt for them - not only down to the last needle, but also right down to their own body. 14. Just as earth, thrown by someone into the flame of a burning furnace, extinguishes it, in the same way, everyday worries and any addiction to even the most last and insignificant thing destroys the warmth that was initially ignited in the heart. 15. Whoever, in a perfect feeling of heart, joyfully renounces external objects, people and everything worldly, forgetting about this and overcoming addiction, like a wall, becomes, as it were, a stranger to the world and everything in the world, gathering his mind and having the only concern is the memory and thought of death. Therefore, he always reflects on Judgment and retribution, and in this reflection he is completely captivated by the inexpressible fear of such thoughts, rushing into exploring them. 16. Anyone who in the depths of [the soul] is gripped by the fear of Judgment is in the theater of this life like a certain condemned man shackled in chains. Therefore, he is drawn by fear, like some kind of executioner, and seems to be going to death; he does not think about anything else except the torment and suffering that he must endure from eternal punishment. He carries this [thought] indelibly in his heart, and the fear generated by it in no way allows him to care about anything human; for he always lives as if he were already nailed to the cross and overwhelmed by incredible mortal suffering, which does not allow him to look anyone in the face, or to pay attention to honor or dishonor from people. With all his heart, considering himself worthy of all dishonor and humiliation, he does not think about the insults inflicted on him. 17. He who carries within himself the fear of death will abhor all food, drink and beauty of clothing; he will not eat bread for pleasure, nor drink water, but will only satisfy the needs of the body, as far as it is necessary for life, he will reject every desire and will be a slave for everyone, with prudence in relation to what is ordered to him. 18. He who has given himself into slavery to his fathers according to God, when he is commanded to do anything, will not, out of fear of torment, choose that which eases the suffering of his heart or loosens the bonds of fear, and will not listen to those who encourage him to do so with friendship or flattery or imperiousness, but will rather prefer that which increases this suffering, will want that which tightens the bonds more tightly, and will love that which makes the executioner stronger. He remains in these [sufferings] as if he has no hope of ever gaining freedom from them. For the hope of deliverance makes heartache easier, which is not very useful for someone who ardently repents. 19. Anyone who begins to live according to God benefits from the fear of torment and the suffering it generates. And whoever imagines that he can make a beginning without such suffering and bonds and executioner, he not only lays the foundation of his affairs on the sand, but also dreams of building a house in the air without a foundation - and this is completely impossible. For such suffering gives rise to almost all joy, and such bonds break the bonds of all sins and passions, and such an executioner brings not death, but eternal life. 20. Whoever does not want to evade the suffering generated by the fear of eternal torment and avoid it, but will follow it with sincere determination and increasingly bind himself with its bonds, will quickly lead himself forward and appear before the face of the King of kings. When this happens, as soon as he sees, even if not quite clearly, His glory, the bonds will immediately break, the executioner-fear will run far away from him, and heartache will turn into joy and become a gushing source in him, sensually always pouring out rivers of tears, mentally - silence, meekness and unspeakable sweetness, as well as courage and readiness to freely and unhinderedly strive for complete obedience to the commandments of God, which is impossible for beginners, but characteristic of those who have ascended to an average level of success; For the perfect, this source becomes light, even though the heart suddenly changes and is transformed. 21. He who has the light of the All-Holy Spirit within him, unable to bear to see it, falls prostrate to the ground, screams and cries out in amazement and great fear as one who sees and undergoes an action that is higher than nature, higher than words, higher than thought. He becomes like a man whose everything inside has, for some reason, been set on fire: scorched by it and unable to bear the burning of the flame, he becomes as if frantic. Completely unable to control himself, constantly watered by tears and refreshed by them, he kindles the fire of love even more. Because of this, he sheds more tears and, washed by their outpouring, shines even brighter. When, having completely flared up, it becomes like light, then what is said is fulfilled: “God, who entered into union with the gods and is known by them - and, moreover, probably to the extent that He is already united with those who were united with Him and is revealed to those who know Him.” 22. To the extent that God wants to be known by us, to the extent that He is revealed, and to the extent that He is revealed, to the extent that He is seen and known by those worthy. But no one can experience or see this unless he first unites with the Holy Spirit, acquiring through labor and sweat a humble, pure, simple and contrite heart. 23. Before crying and tears - let no one deceive you with empty words, and let us not deceive ourselves - there is no repentance in us, no true repentance, no fear of God in our hearts, we have not yet condemned ourselves, and our soul has not come to the sense of future Judgment and eternal torment. For if she had acquired this and remained in such [feelings], she would have immediately shed tears, for without them neither our cruel heart could ever soften, nor our soul could acquire spiritual humility, and we would not be able to become humble. And whoever has not become this way cannot unite with the Holy Spirit; one who has not united with Him through purification cannot be in contemplation and knowledge of God and is not worthy to learn the mysterious virtues of humility. 24. Just as someone who decides to teach rhetoric and philosophy to someone who is just learning to read in layman's terms will not only not bring him any benefit, but will rather end up neglecting those [lessons] that he began to take and will evade them, because his mind is completely unable to comprehend the meaning of what is being taught, so the one who speaks about perfection to beginners, especially those prone to laziness, will not only not bring them any benefit at all, but will also cause them to turn back. For, having looked at the height of virtue, realizing how far they are from its peak, and thinking that it is impossible for them to reach the end, they will neglect the little that they have already begun to create as useless, and will plunge into despair. 25. When those over whom passions dominate and reign, hear that the one perfect according to God considers himself more unclean than every person, every animal and every beast, so that being humiliated, he rejoices, being slandered, he blesses, being persecuted, he endures and with tears and suffering of heart prays for his enemies, asking God and pleading for them, then at first they do not believe this, trying to present themselves as similar to such [people]; then, being convicted by the divine Scriptures and refuted by the saints who have proven this by deeds, they confess that they cannot achieve this. When they hear that without doing this it is impossible for them to be saved, then, completely unwilling to cast out the vice and repent of what they have sinned, they fall into despair. 26. Those who pretend to be virtuous and wear sheep's clothing, but are one in appearance, others in the inner man, who, perhaps, are filled with all unrighteousness, full of jealousy, quarrelsomeness and the stench of [sensual] pleasures - such many respect as dispassionate and holy, having an uncleaned eye of the soul and not being able to recognize them by their fruits. And those who live in reverence, virtue and simplicity of heart, who are truly holy, are considered the same as other people, and pass them by with contempt. 27. Such people are more likely to consider a chatterbox and pompous person to be teaching and spiritual, while a silent person who keeps himself from idle talk seems to them like a hillbilly and dumb. 28. Those who are highly intelligent and sick with devilish pride turn away from the one who speaks in the Holy Spirit as being highly intelligent and proud, and his words are more likely to wound them than lead them to contrition. But the one who speaks eloquently from the belly or from external sciences and who falsely interprets their salvation is praised and accepted. And thus, none of them can see the matter well and properly and reason about it. 29. Blessed are the pure in heart, says God, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8). What makes the heart pure is not one, not two, or ten virtues, but all together, as if united, so to speak, into one, leading to perfection. But even in this case, they alone cannot make the heart pure without the coming and action of the Spirit. For just as a blacksmith, no matter how skillfully he wields his tools, can do absolutely nothing without the action of fire, so a person, no matter what he does, uses virtues as tools that, without the advent of spiritual fire, remain ineffective and useless, not purifying the filth and impurity of the soul. 30. Where there is deep humility, there is an abundance of tears, and where they are, there is the coming of the Holy and worshiped Spirit. When this [coming of the Spirit] happens, then in the one who is under the influence [of Him], all purity and holiness appear, and God appears to him, and God looks at him. For to whom,” he says, “will I look except to him who is meek and silent and trembles at My words?” (Isa. 66:2). 31. A person can conquer passions, but he cannot eradicate them; he received the power not to do evil, but not to think evil - he did not receive it at all. And piety consists not only in doing good, but also in not thinking evil. So, he who thinks evil cannot acquire a pure heart. For how [will it become pure] if it is defiled by these thoughts, like a mirror with dust? 32. I think that having a pure heart means not only not being disturbed by any passion, but also not thinking about anything evil or worldly, even if you wanted to, but having in yourself only the memory of God with uncontrollable love. For in pure light the eye sees God purely when nothing else interferes with contemplation. 33. I call dispassion not only for someone to become outside the influence of passions, but also for him to be alien to their desires. And not only this, but so that we can also be naked with our minds from the thought of them, so that whenever we want, we are above the heavens, becoming outside of everything visible and sensible, that is, when our feelings are contained and our mind enters into the supersensible, by force dragging with us the feelings, like an eagle - its own wings. 34. The mind does not show its actions apart from the feelings, and the feelings - in no way apart from the mind. 35. That heart is called and is pure, which does not acquire in itself any thought or worldly thought, but is so devoted to God and united with Him, so as not to remember the sorrows of life, nor its joys, but to remain in contemplation, as in the third heaven, and to be caught up into paradise (2 Cor. 12:2-4) and to see the guarantees of the blessings promised to the saints and to be convinced of these eternal blessings themselves, as far as possible for a human being. nature. This truly is a sure sign and indicator of a pure heart: in this a person recognizes the measure of purity and, as in a mirror, sees himself. 36. Just as one who is outside the house does not see those locked inside it, so one who was crucified to the world (Gal. 6:14), that is, killed, has no feeling towards the objects that are in the world. 37. Just as a dead body has no feeling either towards the living or towards the dead bodies that lie with it, so he who in the Spirit has become outside the world and abides with God cannot have any feeling towards the world or passion for its objects, although he is subject to the needs of the body. 38. There is death before death, and before the resurrection of bodies there is a resurrection of souls - in deed, power, experience and truth. For when mortal thinking is destroyed by the immortal mind, and deadness is expelled by life, then the soul, as if resurrected from the dead, clearly sees itself, as those risen from sleep see themselves, and recognizes the God who resurrected it, about Whom, thinking about and to Whom it thanks, it flows from the senses and the whole world, filled with indescribable sweetness, and calms in Him all its mental activity. 39. Something is brought in by us, and something is given to us from above from God. For the more we purify ourselves through our labors and sacred efforts, the more we shine with the light of tenderness, and the more we shine with light, the more we are purified with tears, bringing our own and in return receiving what is given from above. 40. Many, having brought their own, did not receive what is usually given from God: this is obvious from what Cain and Esau did and how they suffered. For if someone does not bring his own with the right thought, a pious disposition, ardent faith and much humility, then God will not look at him and will not accept what is offered. And if he does not accept, then he will not give his own in return to the one who brings in this way. 41. The world is dead to the saints, and so are the worldly people. Therefore, [the worldly], seeing, do not see the good deeds [of the saints], and, hearing, are completely unable to understand the divine words spoken by them in the Spirit. But even the spiritual ones cannot see the evil deeds of worldly and evil people or absorb their passionate words: they, too, seeing what is in the world, do not see, and hearing worldly people, are in such a state of feeling as if they do not hear them. Thus, there is no communication either between these with those, or between those with spiritual ones. 42. How obvious is the difference between light and darkness and how impossible is confusion between them - for what, it is said, is the communion of light with darkness, or what is the participation of the faithful with the unfaithful? (2 Cor. 6:14–15) - the distance and separation between those who have the Holy Spirit and those who do not have It are just as obvious. Those have residence in heaven (Phil. 3:20), having already become angels from people, and these still sit in ancestral darkness and the shadow of death (Ps. 106:10), chained to the earth and earthly affairs; those are illuminated by mental and non-evening Light, and these only by sensual; those see both themselves and their neighbors, and these, daily seeing themselves and their neighbors dying, do not understand that they are people and, like people, they die (Ps. 81:7), and, not knowing this, they do not believe either in the Judgment or in the fact that there will be a resurrection and reward for everyone in accordance with his life. 43. Whether there is the Holy Spirit in you, you can know for sure from His actions that happen in you, which the Apostle also speaks about, for he said: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17); and also says that the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness (Rom. 8:10); and that those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24). For as many as are baptized in the Holy Spirit have put on the whole of Christ, they are sons of light and walk in uneven light (Gal. 3:27; Luke 16:8; 1 John 1:7); They, seeing the world, do not see and, hearing the worldly, do not hear. For just as it is written about carnal people that when they see, they do not see, and when they hear about divine things, they do not understand it and cannot comprehend the spiritual (Luke 8:10), because it is foolishness to them (1 Cor. 2:14), so think about those who have the Holy Spirit within them: they bear a body, but do not live in the flesh, for you, it is said, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you ( Rom. 8:9). They are dead to the world, and the world to them, for to me, says [the apostle], the world is crucified, and I am to the world (Gal. 6:14). 44. He who sees such signs and miracles operating in him is truly a God-bearer and bearer of miracles, having God, that is, the All-Holy Spirit himself, living, speaking and acting within himself, according to the word of Paul. Whoever has not recognized this in himself at all, let him not be deceived, for he is still flesh and blood, clearly covered in the darkness of carnal lusts. But flesh and blood will not inherit the Kingdom of God, which is the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 15:50). 45. In Divine Baptism we receive remission of sins, are freed from the original curse and are sanctified by the coming of the Spirit, but we do not receive perfect grace - according to what is said: I will dwell in them and walk in them (2 Cor. 6:16; Lev. 26:11-12), for this is the property of those who are established in the faith and have proven faith by deeds. For after we have been baptized, we turn aside to bad and shameful deeds and, although we completely reject even sanctification itself, nevertheless, through repentance, confession and tears, we first receive remission of sins and, thus, sanctification along with grace from above. 46. From repentance comes the washing away of the filth of shameful deeds, and after this comes the communion of the Holy Spirit, but not simply, but according to the faith, disposition and humility of those who repent with all their souls; moreover, [this happens] only after receiving complete remission of sins from the father and successor. This is why it is good to repent every day, as the commandment commands, because the words Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2) show that our work has no limit. 47. The grace of the All-Holy Spirit is given to souls betrothed to Christ as a pledge. And just as, without a pledge, a wife has no confidence that her union with her husband will certainly ever happen, so the soul does not receive firm confidence that it will one day coexist with its Master and God forever, or be mysteriously and inexpressibly united with Him and taste His inaccessible beauty, unless it receives a pledge of His grace and consciously acquires it in itself. 48. If written consent documents are not accepted until they are signed in front of trustworthy witnesses, and the betrothal cannot be considered reliable [until then], then the illumination of grace is not firm before the fulfillment of the commandments and the acquisition of virtues. The fulfillment of the commandments and virtues are in spiritual betrothal the same as in the conclusion of a contract as witnesses, for through them everyone who must be saved receives a perfect betrothal. 49. First, contracts are written, as it were, through the fulfillment of the commandments, then virtues put a seal on them and sign them; and only then does the Bridegroom-Christ give the bride-soul a ring, that is, a pledge of the Spirit. 50. Just as a bride before marriage receives only a pledge from the groom, and hopes to receive the agreed dowry and gifts promised in the marriage contract after marriage, so that bride, [who is] the Church of the Faithful and the soul of each of us, first receives from the Bridegroom-Christ only the pledge of the Spirit, and hopes to receive eternal blessings and the Kingdom of Heaven after leaving this life, certified by a pledge that what was promised to her will not turn out to be false. 51. If, when the groom, being absent late or busy with something else, postpones the wedding, the bride, angry, rejects his love and erases or breaks the marriage contract, she is immediately deprived of the hopes placed on the groom. This usually happens with the soul. For if any of the ascetics says: “How long must I suffer?”, neglects ascetic labors and, due to negligence about the commandments and abandonment of constant repentance, seems to erase or break the contract [with God], he will immediately be completely deprived of the pledge and hope in God. 52. If the bride directs the love she has for her groom to someone else and begins to cohabit with him openly or secretly, then not only will she not be able to hope to receive anything of what the groom promised her, but she will expect the punishment and censure that she deserves, in accordance with the law. This usually happens to us too. If someone betrays his love for the Bridegroom-Christ and openly or secretly directs it to the lust of some other thing that will take possession of his heart, then [such a soul] will be hateful and disgusting to the Bridegroom and unworthy of union with Him, for He said: I love those who love Me (Prov. 8:17). 53. Betrothal for those who have received it is inexplicable: it is comprehended incomprehensibly, held irresistibly, seen invisibly, lives, speaks, moves and sets in motion the possessor, disappears from the casket in which it is sealed, and again unexpectedly appears inside it, thereby making the possessor think that its presence is not final, and its removal is not irrevocable. And thus, the one who possesses it, without having it, feels as if he has it, and having it, feels as if he does not have it. 54. If someone, while standing inside a house at night, the doors of which are locked on all sides, opens one door and bright lightning suddenly flashes across him, he, unable to bear such radiance for his eyes, immediately defends himself by closing his eyelids and concentrating in himself. In the same way, the soul, enclosed in sensual [objects], if it ever looks outside of them with its mind, as if through a door, and is illuminated by the lightning of the deposit located in it - I mean the Holy Spirit - then, unable to bear the radiance of the unbearable light, it is immediately amazed by the mind and concentrates entirely within itself, escaping, as if into some house, into sensual and human [objects]. 55. Each one should determine by these signs whether he has received the pledge of the Spirit from the Bridegroom and Master Christ; and if he has received it, let him try to keep it, but if he is not worthy to receive it, let him try through good deeds and deeds, through ardent repentance, to receive it and preserve it through the fulfillment of the commandments and the acquisition of virtues. 56. The roof of a whole house stands thanks to the same foundation as the rest of the building, and the foundation is laid to support the roof, because it is necessary and useful, and the roof does not stand without a foundation, and a foundation without a roof is completely unsuitable and unsuitable for life. In the same way, the grace of God is preserved through the fulfillment of the commandments, and the doing of the commandments thanks to God’s gift is laid as a foundation, and neither the grace of the Spirit will remain in us without fulfilling the commandments, nor will the fulfillment of the commandments be necessary or useful for us without the grace of God. 57. Just as a house left without a roof by the carelessness of the builder is not only unusable, but also makes the builder laugh, so the one who, thanks to the fulfillment of the commandments, laid the foundation and erected the walls of high virtues, if he does not receive the grace of the Spirit in contemplation and knowledge of the soul, remains unfinished and causes regret among the perfect. Such a person is completely deprived of this grace for two reasons: either because he neglected repentance, or because he abandoned the acquisition of virtues as some exorbitant task and rejected one of those commandments that seem insignificant to us, but are necessary for completing the house of virtues, so that without them the house cannot receive the roof of the grace of the Spirit. 58. If for this purpose the Son of God and God came down to earth in order through Himself to reconcile us with His Father, who were [His] enemies, and to consciously unite us with Himself through His Holy and Consubstantial Spirit, then whoever falls away from this grace will receive what other grace? He, of course, received neither reconciliation nor union with Him through the communion of the Spirit. 59. Does anyone take fire into his bosom, says the Wise One, so that his clothes do not burn? (Prov. 6:27). I say: who, having accepted the unveiled and heavenly fire in his heart, does not himself ignite, illuminate and shine with the radiance of the Divine as he purifies and accepts the fire? For after purification comes acceptance [of fire], and after acceptance comes purification; when this happens, the whole person becomes god by grace. 60. He who participates in the Holy Spirit is freed from passionate desires and pleasures, but is not freed from natural bodily needs. And, as freed from the bonds of passionate aspiration and united with immortal glory and sweetness, he is constantly compelled to ascend upward and abide with God and not for a moment retreat from His contemplation and insatiable pleasure; but, as having a body and subject to corruption, he is torn off and dragged by them, and returns to earthly things. And from this he then has such sadness, which, I think, the soul of a sinner has when it is separated from the body. 61. Just as for one who loves the body, life, pleasures and all worldly separation from this is death, so for one who loves purity, God, all immaterial things and virtues, even a small deviation of the mind from them is truly death. For if the one who sees this sensual light, when he closes his eyes even a little, or when someone else covers them for him, is burdened, sad and completely unable to bear it, especially if he looked at something necessary and unusual - then how much more will he grieve and grieve, illuminated by the Spirit and seeing in reality and mentally, in wakefulness and in sleep, those blessings that the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man ( 1 Cor. 2:9), into which the angels also desire to enter (1 Pet. 1:12), if someone is torn away from contemplating them? For this naturally seems to him like death and separation from eternal life. 62. Man is twofold, for he consists of soul and body; like him, the world is visible and invisible, and each of these worlds is assigned corresponding affairs and business concerns. I believe this to be true of visions and dreams as well. What the soul is busy with and what it thinks about in reality, the same thing it dreams about or philosophizes in dreams: if it thinks about human affairs, then in dreams it is occupied with vain things, and if it exercises itself in divine and heavenly affairs, then it remains in contemplation and philosophizes in visions, according to what the prophet said: And their young men will see visions (Joel 2:28). Such a soul is not deceived, but gazes intently into the truths and through revelation receives faith. 63. When the desirable part of the soul rushes towards passions, intercourse, pleasures and pleasures of life, then the soul sees corresponding dreams. And when the irritable part of her goes berserk against her own kind, then in her dreams she sees attacks by animals, wars and battles with reptiles, squabbles, as if in court, with her opponents. When the rational part of it rises in vanity and pride, then it imagines itself soaring into the air on wings or sitting on high thrones or leading the people accompanied by an escort of chariots. 64. True visions, which should be called not dreams, but visions and contemplations, occur only to those whose minds, due to the indwelling of the Spirit, have become simple and free from any burden of passions and from slavery to them, who always think about the divine and reflect on future rewards and rewards, whose life is higher than the life of the living - carefree, unentertained, silent, pure, full of mercy, wisdom, heavenly knowledge and good fruits grown by the Spirit. Others, who do not have this, have false and confused [dreams], in which everything is an obvious deception. 65. Many considered the hermit life blessed, others considered the mixed life, that is, the communal life, while others preferred to preside over the people, be mentors, teach and build churches - from which different [people] usually feed mentally and physically. I would not prefer any of these deeds to another and would not say that one deserves praise and the other blame, but in everything and in all deeds and actions life is all-blessed for God and according to God. 66. Human life is made up of various sciences and arts, each developing and introducing its own, and thus passing on to each other and receiving from each other, people live, delivering what is necessary to bodily nature. The same can be seen in spiritual people, each of whom goes through his own virtue and, although each follows his own path in life, they all move along different paths towards the same goal. 67. The goal of all those who labor according to God is to please Christ the God, to receive reconciliation with the Father through the communion of the Holy Spirit, and through this to achieve salvation. For this is the salvation of every soul and every person; if this is not the case, labor is in vain, our doing is in vain, and every path of life is useless that does not lead to this for those who run along it. 68. One who has left the whole world and retired to a mountain for silence and from there, as if for show, writing to those in the world, pleasing and praising some, flattering others, is like one who divorced a prodigal, indecent and vicious wife and left for a distant country in order to free himself even from the memory of her, but subsequently forgot about the purpose for which he came to the mountain, and wants to correspond with those who communicate with this a harlot and, so to speak, become defiled with her, and please them. If not in body, then, in any case, in heart and mind, such a person arbitrarily falls into the same passions as them, as if approving their connection with her. 69. Just as those who revolve among the world and at the same time cleanse their feelings and hearts from all evil desires deserve praise and are blessed, so those who live in the mountains and caves, if they desire praise and pleasure and glory from people, are worthy of blame and contempt, for they are like adulterers to God, who tests our hearts. For whoever wants his life, name and deeds to be heard in the world commits fornication towards God, like the ancient Jewish people, as David says (Ps. 106:6). 70. He who, with unshakable faith in God, has renounced the world and the things in the world, believes that the Lord is merciful and generous (Ps. 103:8) and that He accepts those who come to Him in repentance. Knowing that through dishonor He honors His servants, through extreme poverty He enriches them, through insults and humiliation He glorifies them, and through death He makes them partakers and heirs of eternal life, such a person strives, like a thirsty deer, to pass through [these trials], ascending along them upward, to the source of immortality, like a ladder along which angels ascend and descend to help those who ascend. God sits at the top of it, expecting all possible will and effort from us - not because He is pleased to see us in our labors, but because, being humane, He wants to give us rewards as what we deserve. 71. The Lord does not allow those who come to Him without hesitation to fall completely, but, seeing that they are exhausted, He assists and helps them, giving them the hand of His strength from above, and lifts them up to Himself. Sometimes He cooperates explicitly, sometimes implicitly, unknown and known, until they, having gone through the entire staircase, approach Him and are completely united with the All, forgetting everything earthly and staying with Him there - whether in the body or outside the body, I don’t know (2 Cor. 12:2) - and living with Him and tasting ineffable blessings. 72. In justice, we should bow our necks under the yoke of the commandments of Christ and not deviate to the side, not turn back, but go into them straight and willingly even to the point of death, renew ourselves and make ourselves truly a new paradise of God, until then. until the Son and the Father come and dwell in us through the Holy Spirit. And then we will gain all of Him as living in us and our teacher. And if He commands any of us anything or entrusts any service, it will be entrusted to him and he will readily carry it out as it seems best to him. But it is not permissible to strive for this [service] ahead of time and one should not accept it when it is given from people, but one must abide in the commandments of our Master and God and await His command. 73. If, after the service of divine things has been entrusted to us and we have distinguished ourselves in it, the Spirit directs us to another service or work or activity, let us not resist. For God does not want us to be idle, nor to remain to the end in the same work with which we began, but wants us to prosper and constantly move towards achieving the best, walking, of course, not according to our own, but according to God’s will. 74. He who has made his will dead becomes completely weak-willed; but among living and moving creatures there is not a single one who is weak-willed, unless someone would call those who are insensitive and motionless weak-willed. For although plants move and grow, we do not say that this movement and growth occurs by their natural will, because they are soulless; and everything animate has a natural will. So, whoever has killed his own will through feat and effort and has become completely weak-willed has lost his nature and, since he does not desire anything, he cannot do anything good or bad. 75. He who strives to mortify his will must fulfill the will of God and, instead of his own will, introduce it into himself, plant it in himself, graft it into his heart, and at the same time carefully monitor whether what is planted and grafted grows, has taken root deep, whether it has grown together and united [with the trunk], becoming a single tree, whether it has grown, whether it has blossomed, and whether it has borne beautiful and sweet fruit. Let him not forget [to follow] both the earth that received the seed and the root to which this incomprehensible and indescribable life-giving plant was grafted. 76. Whoever cuts off his will through the fear of God, to him - unknown to him, so that he does not know it - God gives His will and keeps it indelible in his heart, and opens the eyes of his mind so that he knows it, and gives the power to fulfill it. This is done by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and without it nothing happens. 77. When we, with all our strength, diligence, determination and unstoppable speed, fulfill what is mysteriously and incomprehensibly taught and commanded to us by God himself, without missing anything at all, then [God] is clearly revealed to us as faithful and obedient, as true disciples and friends, just as He once appeared to His holy disciples and apostles and to all who believed through them in His name (Jn. 17:20). And then we become sons of God by grace, as Paul says: As many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God; and if sons, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:14, 17). 78. Not one of those who are worthy to be with God in the union of the Spirit and to taste His ineffable blessings is attracted either to the dishonest and contemptible glory offered to him by people, or to gold, or to clothes, or to stones, which are considered valuable by foolish people. He does not attach his heart to transitory wealth, does not want to have acquaintance with kings and rulers, who are not rulers, for many [passions] rule over them; he does not consider them to be something great and lofty, does not think that they bring more glory to those who approach them, does not desire absolutely anything that is wonderful and brilliant for people, just as no one [wants] to descend from wealth to poverty or from command and great power, fame and high rank to fall into extreme disgrace and dishonor. 79. If you have received remission of all your sins either through confession or through the endowment of the holy and angelic schema, then what a great source of love, gratitude and humility will be for you that, being worthy of countless punishments, you have not only been delivered from them, but have also been worthy of adoption, glory and the Kingdom of Heaven. Having this in mind and always remembering this, be ready and prepare yourself in advance not to offend the One who honored you and forgave you countless sins, but in all your deeds to glorify and honor Him, so that He, who honored you above every visible creature, glorified you even more and called you His true friend. 80. To the extent that the soul is more precious than the body, a reasonable person is better than the whole world. Do not think, man, when thinking about the size of the creatures within you, that for this reason they are more precious than you, but, looking at the grace given to you and realizing the dignity of your intellectual and verbal soul, sing to God, who has honored you above all that is visible. 81. Let us examine how we will glorify God. He is glorified by us in no other way than as He was glorified by the Son. For through what the Son glorified His Father, through this He Himself was glorified by the Father. Let us also try to do the same, so that through this we glorify our Father, Who was pleased to be called the Heavenly Father, and so that He glorifies us with the glory of Jesus, which He had with Him before the creation of the world (John 17:5). [God is glorified through] the cross, that is, deadness in relation to the whole world, sorrow, temptation and everything else from the suffering of Christ. By enduring this with great patience, we imitate the sufferings of Christ and through them we glorify our Father and God as His sons by grace and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). 82. A soul that does not feel that it has completely freed itself from attachment and addiction to the visible cannot blithely endure the sorrows that befall it and the insults that come upon it from demons and people, but, being bound by an addiction to human things, it suffers, suffering material damage, grieves when deprived of things, and is greatly saddened by the wounds inflicted on its body. 83. He who has torn his soul away from attachment and lust for the sensual and has connected it with God will not only despise the money and things that are near him, without feeling any grief at the Deprivation of them, as if they were foreign and alien to him, but he will even endure the wounds inflicted on his body with joy and due gratitude, always seeing, according to the divine apostle, that while the outer man is decaying, the inner man is from day to day renewed (2 Cor. 4:16). Otherwise, no one can endure sorrow for God with joy, for this requires perfect knowledge and spiritual wisdom. And he who is deprived of them always walks in the darkness of ignorance and hopelessness, being in no way able to contemplate the light of patience and consolation. 84. Anyone who imagines himself wise in mathematical science will never be worthy to penetrate into the mysteries of God and see them, unless he first wants to humble himself and becomes mad (1 Cor. 3:18), along with conceit, rejecting acquired knowledge. For he who does this and with unshakable faith follows the wise in the divine [sciences], guided by them, enters with them into the city of the living God and, led and enlightened by the divine Spirit, sees and learns what none of the other people can ever see or know or study; from that time on he becomes a disciple of God. 85. The disciples of the sages of this age consider the disciples of God to be mad, being themselves truly mad, for they have become sharpened in external maddened wisdom, which God turned into madness, according to the divine apostle (1 Cor. 1:20), and which the voice of the theologian recognized as earthly, spiritual, demonic, full of quarrelsomeness and envy (James 3:15–16). Such people, being outside the divine light, cannot see the miracles inherent in it, and those living in the light, seeing what is in it, and teaching it are considered as if they were deceived, being themselves deceived and not having tasted the ineffable blessings of God. 86. Filled with grace and perfect in the knowledge and wisdom that is from above, they only want to walk and see those who are in the world, so that through reminders of the commandments of God and through good deeds, they can be given the opportunity to receive some kind of reward, if, of course, they hear them, if they understand and believe, since they, not being led by the Spirit of God, wander in darkness and do not know where they are going, or whether they are succeeding in anything. For, perhaps, they will someday rise up from the conceit that possesses them, accept the true teaching of the Holy Spirit and, having sincerely and unfeignedly heard the will of God, repent, and, having done this, accept some kind of spiritual gift. If [the perfect] cannot bring them such benefit, then, mourning the hardness of their hearts, they return to their cells, praying day and night for their salvation. For those who continually abide with God and are filled with every good can never be saddened by anything else. 87. And now there are dispassionate and holy and filled with divine light, living among us, who have so mortified their earthly members, [cleansing them] from all impurity and passionate lust, that not only will they never conceive or even attempt to do evil, but even when they are attracted to this by others, they do not undergo any change in their inherent dispassion. Those who attribute foolishness to them and do not believe them when they teach in the wisdom of the Spirit about divine things would know this if they knew the divine words that are read and sung daily [in the church]. For if they knew the divine Scripture perfectly, they would believe the benefits promised by God and given to us; but since they are not involved in these benefits because of their conceit and negligence, they slander those who have joined them and teach about them. 88. What is the purpose of the economy in the flesh of God the Word, which is preached throughout the divine Scripture and about which we, reading it, do not know, if not this, that [God the Word], having partaken of our [properties], would make us fellow members of His? For for this purpose the Son of God became the son of man, that he might make us men sons of God, raising our race by grace to what He is by nature, begetting us again in the Holy Spirit, and immediately introducing us into the Kingdom of Heaven, or rather, granting us to have it within us, so that we not only hope to enter into it, but also, already possessing it, exclaim: Our life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). 89. Baptism does not take away our free will and independent choice, but gives us freedom, so that the devil no longer tyrannizes over us against our will. After baptism, it is up to us to either voluntarily abide in the commandments of the Lord Christ, into whom we are baptized, and walk in the path of His commandments, or to deviate from this direct path and again return to our adversary and enemy the devil. 90. Those who, after baptism, yield to the will of the evil one and do what is pleasing to him, alienate themselves from the womb of holy baptism, according to what David said (Ps. 57:4). For each of us does not change and does not leave the nature in which he was created, but, being created good by God - for God did not create evil - and remaining unchanged by the nature in which he was created, and in essence, does what he wants and does according to his voluntary choice - either good or evil. For just as a sword, whether someone uses it for evil or good, does not leave its nature, but remains iron, so a person, as we said, acts and does as he wants, but does not leave his nature. 91. Showing mercy to one person does not save, but treating one with contempt makes one guilty of fire. For “I was hungry and thirsty” is said, of course, not about one [incident] and not about one day, but indicates the whole life. So “to nourish” Christ, “to give drink” and “to clothe”, as well as other similar things (Matthew 25:35-36) [is said] not about what happens once, but about what is [obligatory] always and for everyone, [for] our Lord and God confessed that He accepts this from His servants. 92. How is it that some conclude in one poor man the One who is inseparably divided and who Himself is all in every needy person? So, imagine the hundred poor as one Christ, for Christ is completely undivided (1 Cor. 1:13). Therefore, if someone gave one obol to ninety-nine poor people, and insulted or struck one [poor] or drove him out with nothing, to whom did he do this, unless, of course, to the One who said and always says and will say: “What you did to one of the least of these, you did to Me” (Matthew 25:40)? 93. He who gave alms to a hundred [of the poor], but, having the opportunity to give to others, to drink and feed them, refused many who begged him and cried out to him, he will be condemned as having not fed Christ, because in all of these He is, and in each of the “lesser” we feed Him. 94. He who gave everyone everything they needed today, but, having the opportunity to do the same tomorrow, will neglect one of the brothers and leave him to perish from hunger, thirst and cold, he left him to die and despised Himself who said: “What you did to one of the least of these, you did to Me” (Matthew 25:40). 95. That the Lord takes into His account everything that relates to the poor and our brothers - this is one thing we can learn from the fact that He says to the righteous: “They did it to me,” and to those on the left: “They did not do it to me.” And [this applies] not only to those whom we did not have mercy on, or slandered, or robbed, or to whom we did many other nasty things, but also to those whom we neglected, because this is enough for our condemnation, because we do not despise them, but Jesus Christ, who takes into His own account everything that they [suffered]. 96. He deigned to take upon Himself the face of every poor person and likened Himself to all the poor so that none of those who believe in Him would exalt himself above his brother, but everyone, looking at his brother and neighbor as his God, considered himself “lesser” not in relation to his brother, but in relation to the One who created him, and accepted him and honored him as God Himself, and [was ready] to exhaust all property for the sake of serving him, like Christ and God drained His Blood for our salvation. 97. He who has received the command to treat his neighbor as himself (Luke 10:26–27) must, of course, treat him this way not only for one day, but throughout his life. And he who is commanded to give to everyone who asks (Matthew 5:42) has a commandment to do so throughout his entire life. And from the one who wants others to do him the good he wants, it is required that he himself do the same to others. 98. So, whoever treats his neighbor as himself does not allow himself to have more than his neighbor; if he has, but does not give away without envy, until he himself becomes poor and becomes like his neighbor, then he is not fulfilling the commandment of the Lord. Nevertheless, [is such] the one who wants to give to everyone who asks, but, having even a coin or a piece of bread, turns away from any of those asking him, as well as the one who does not do to his neighbor what he himself expects from others. And if someone fed, watered, clothed all the poor and “lesser” and did everything else for them, but neglected just one and treated him with contempt, then he himself will be considered to have despised the hungry and thirsty Christ God. 99. This may seem difficult to everyone, so they will consider it fair to say to themselves: “Who can do all this in order to serve everyone and feed everyone and absolutely not neglect any of them?” But let them listen to Paul, who clearly says: For the love of Christ compels us, reasoning thus: if one died for all, then all died (2 Cor. 5:14). 100. Just as the main commandments contain all the private commandments contained in them, so the main virtues collect in themselves all the private virtues contained in them. For whoever sold his property or squandered it on the poor and immediately became poor, in this alone fulfilled all the private Commandments; therefore, it is no longer necessary to give to someone who asks him or not to turn away from someone who wants to borrow from him (Matthew 5:42). In the same way, the one who constantly prays has included everything in this, and no longer has the need to praise the Lord seven times a day (Ps. 119:164) or in the evening and morning and at noon (Ps. 54:18) as he has already fulfilled everything that we pray for and sing according to the canon and at certain times and hours. In the same way, the one who consciously acquired within himself God, who gives knowledge to people, has read all the Holy Scriptures and collected all the fruits of the benefits of reading, and will no longer need to read books. Why is this so? [Because] he who has as an interlocutor the One who inspired those who wrote the divine Scriptures, and who is initiated by Him into the secrets of the hidden sacraments, will himself become for others a divinely inspired book, containing new and old sacraments written in it by the finger of God, as having accomplished everything and having rested from all his deeds in God, the supreme perfection. 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