Беседа 15. Того же мар Исаака. Глава, которая подробно показывает и хорошо объясняет, чт о есть чистая и нерассеянная молитва.

1. So, a wise person, when he sets his face to strive to acquire something necessary and necessary, the acquisition of which he usually yearns with lust, should not rush to acquire it, relying only on external hearing, without first knowing how and what it is. Otherwise, when this object falls into his hands, without being able to recognize it, he easily loses it. But with diligence to collect information 702 about this subject and acquire an infallible knowledge about it; then, when he knows what it is, he will know how to take care of its possession: what exactly he should strive for and what he should hope for. Otherwise, he will seek the impossible and hope for the impossible instead of an object that is truly. 2. Purity of prayer and concentration of the mind in, O man, student of truth, is precise reflection 703 on virtue, which we diligently engage in during prayer. Just as purity of heart, regarding which the Fathers exhort and encourage, does not mean that a person is completely without thought or thought or movement, but that his heart must be cleansed from vices, and that he sees everything as good and thinks about it in God’s way - in the same way with pure and undistracted prayer. The latter does not mean that the mind is completely devoid of any thought or wandering of any kind, but that it does not wander over empty objects during prayer. If he wanders about something good, this does not mean that he is outside the purity of prayer; but he must reflect on what is necessary and think about what is worthy of God while he prays. It is also not required of a person that empty memories should not come at all when he prays, but that he should not be carried away by them and not wander through them. 3. For there is bad wandering and good wandering. When you are in prayer, do not strive to ensure that your mind does not wander at all, for this is impossible, but strive to wander in what is good. For even pure prayer is also wandering in something, but this wandering is beautiful, for the search for good is beautiful. 4. Wandering is bad when a person wanders in empty thoughts or bad thoughts and when he thinks about evil while praying before God. 5. Wandering is good when the mind wanders after God throughout the entire time of prayer, according to His glory and greatness, thanks to the remembrance of Scripture and insight into divine sayings and holy words of the Spirit. And if someone tries to bind his thoughts from wandering or to forbid his mind from entering on such things without permission during prayer, then truly there is no one else as crazy as he, if he thinks that this type of wandering is alien and uncharacteristic of pure prayer. For we consider neither useful memories of the Spirit in the writings, 704 nor the awakening in the mind of insights and contemplation of the divine during the hour of prayer, to be alien to the purity of prayer and to disrupt the composure of thoughts in prayer. For a person to research, think and concentrate on the subject of prayer and the content of the prayer - this is a beautiful prayer if it is consonant with the purpose of the commandments of our Lord. This kind of concentration of mind is very good. 6. If the mind is freed from this and dissolves in the divine, or if some beautiful thought falls on it thanks to the insights of the Scriptures about God - either personal or belonging to the community, insights into the divine Providence and economy, either for each individual day, or for all together - from which praise to God is aroused in the depths of the heart, or thanksgiving and joy about His greatness, about the sublimity of His compassion and His love for us: such wandering is even better than prayer. No matter how sublime and pure a person’s prayer may be, this is the pinnacle of all concentration of the mind and beautiful prayer. 7. When the mind is completely without thought or thought, this is the silence of the mind, and not the purity of prayer. It is one thing to pray purely, and quite another thing for the mind to be silent from any wandering or insight into the words of prayer, and for it to remain motionless. No man would be so foolish as to desire to obtain this through struggle and willpower; for this is the gift of revelation of the mind - it exceeds the measure of pure prayer and is not subject to the will. 705 8. For besides this, in the two above-mentioned ways it is possible for the mind to wander in prayer - either in thinking about its petitions, or in contemplating the Scriptures and wisely thinking about God, the Lord of all, in some reasonable way. 9 . Whoever thinks differently about the purity of thoughts and composure of the mind, that there is another to achieve them, is ill in his ignorance and limited by the coarseness of his way of thinking. 706 10. But you, O wise one, do not demand immobility in prayer from the mind, as fools do, for this cannot be expected from nature. But try, as the wise do, to acquire beautiful movements during prayer, namely, thinking about the insights of the Spirit 707 and a refined consciousness, which in the hour of prayer thinks about pleasing the will of Him who is the Creator of everything: this is the pinnacle 708 of all virtue and all prayer. 709 11. When in all this you receive the grace-filled power 710 and are rooted in constant meditation on them, 711 you will become a man of God, 712 close to the spiritual, and also close to acquiring what you unconsciously strived for, namely, the feeling of God, 713 to the amazement of the mind, removed from all images, and to spiritual silence, which the Fathers talk about. 714 Blessed are you, for you will be rewarded with great joy and gladness in our Lord. To him be glory and honor. May He perfect us with the knowledge of His mysteries forever and ever. Amen. Or “acquire knowledge.” Or “in spiritual books” (ktabay ruha). Lit. “It is not a measure of pure prayer and not an object of will.” Lit. "village way of thinking." Or “about spiritual insights.” Lit. "strength from grace." Var. "to be constantly firmly connected with their movements." Var. “to the sense of God” (marganuta db-alaha). On the need for the mind to be free from all images, see, in particular, Evagrius. About prayer 67, 114 and 117. You might be interested in: