Глава 2. О бдительности над помыслами и о том, что тело не есть зло, как предполагают некоторые

First of all, we must use all measures to restrain the thought, establishing sober supervision of the mind over it, so as not to allow the soul to indulge in thoughtless aspirations according to the hobbies of the body. Just as bodily vision is in the eye, so the eye of the soul is in its innate mind; but not as one in the other, but one and the same - the soul and the mind, which is a certain natural force, and has not surpassed the rational part of the soul. For when the soul, setting in motion its mental power, which is naturally invested in it by the Holy Trinity, which created it, desires what is due and proper, then it avoids the attacks of the body, anticipating and curbing its disorderly movements, maintains within itself the silence appropriate to it and in serene peace engages in contemplations characteristic of it, and this does this, if possible, raising its attentive gaze to the venerable Trinity and concluding about the inaccessibility of God's glory due to the abundance of its radiance, about the luminosity of bliss, about boundless wisdom, about the constancy and non-excitement of serenity, about the dispassionate and motionless nature; for with whom nothing can happen by chance, because in Him, as in a treasury, the knowledge of everything present and future is collected, who embraces everything and holds everything in His hand, and to whom absolutely nothing can oppose or resist, in Him there should be silence and unceasing serenity. For sudden confluences of unexpected events in the minds of men usually produce riots. Therefore, anyone who is not outraged by any vice, but is accompanied by every virtue and everything that is beautiful, can rightly rejoice with unshakable and endless joy, because joy is the companion of virtue and goodness, as the Prophet says: “The Lord will rejoice in His deeds” (Ps. 103:31). Therefore, the soul that maintains its mental strength in sobriety and decent actions will be established in the contemplations described above and will exercise its disposition in what is right, just, decent and peaceful. And as soon as he stops thinking and stops delving deeper into proper contemplation, then the rebellious bodily passions, like disorderly and arrogant dogs over which there is no overseer, begin to bark loudly at the soul and each passion intensifies to torment it in every possible way, separating for itself a part of its vital force. For I think that although the soul is one and the same, its power is twofold: one is the actual vital force of the body, and the other is the force that contemplates existing things, which we also call reason. But the soul, since it is connected to the body, naturally, as a result of this connection, and not arbitrarily, imparts vital force to the body. For just as it is impossible for the sun, having risen, not to illuminate that on which it has cast its rays, so it is impossible for the soul not to animate the body in which it resides. And the contemplative force is set in motion at will. Therefore, if the soul makes its contemplative and rational power always awake, as the Prophet says: “He who guards you will slumber below” (Ps. 120:3), then it lulls bodily passions in a twofold way, that is, by being occupied with the contemplation of what is best and related, and by the fact that, overseeing the serenity of the body, it calms and calms its passions. If, having loved laziness, he leaves the contemplative force inactive, then the bodily passions, having found the vital force idle, and dividing it among themselves, since no one rules them and no one stops them, carry the soul towards their aspirations and actions. Therefore, bodily passions in us are strong when the mind is inactive, but they are submissive when the mind controls and controls the body. Therefore, the body does not deserve reproach in the eyes of those who want to judge it correctly. When presenting this opinion, it is proper to refute the false opinions of those who think poorly about the body. Beloved, a beautiful thing is a horse, and the faster and hotter it is by nature, the better, but it requires a rider and a manager, because it is not endowed with reason. If the rider is on it, then he himself will try to take advantage of the natural properties. Therefore, if the rider properly manages the aspirations of the animal under the jugular, he will use it to his advantage and achieve the intended goal, and he himself will remain safe, and the animal will turn out to be very suitable for business. If a rider drives a young horse poorly, then the horse repeatedly strays from the main road, ends up on an impassable road, and, falling down a rapid, sometimes takes the rider with it, and the rider’s negligence puts both of them in danger. So talk about the soul and the body. The body received natural aspirations, which are not meaningless, but, without a doubt, are good and useful for something, but it did not receive its share of reason, so that the soul would be honored with the advantage of reason. If the soul controls the aspirations of the body as it should, then the body is saved and the soul is out of danger. If, however, it neglects management and, overwhelmed by the sleep of carelessness, ceases to keep the body in check, then the body itself, as having no reason, is seduced from the straight path, and plunges the soul into falls equal to its own - not due to its own worthlessness, but due to the negligence of the soul. For if the bodily passions were such that the soul could not tame them, then in justice the body would be guilty. But if they have become submissive to many who have tried to overcome them, then the body cannot be blamed by those who try to denigrate it, calling it the first culprit of vice. The soul that has weakened its power over the body, but also not by its very nature has evil in itself, but has placed itself in evil, through the impoverishment of good in it, is worthy of reproach for negligence, because vice is nothing more than the impoverishment of virtue. You might be interested in: