Слово 58. О том, что Бог на пользу душе попустил, чтобы она была доступна страстям, и о подвижнических деланиях

To crawl towards something sinful reveals human weakness, because God allowed the soul to be accessible to passions for the benefit of the soul. For He did not consider it useful to place it above the passions before rebirth. And the soul to be accessible to passions is useful for wounding the conscience; to be in passions is bold and shameless. There are three ways in which every rational soul can approach God: either by the fervor of faith, or by fear, or by the admonition of the Lord. And no one can approach God’s love unless he is led in one of these three ways. Just as rebellion of thoughts is born from gluttony, so from verbosity and disorderly conversations is unreasonableness and frenzy of the mind. Concern about the affairs of life confuses the soul, and confusion by them confuses the mind and deprives it of silence. It is fitting for a monk who has devoted himself to heavenly work to always and at all times be outside of all worldly worries, so that, immersed in himself, he does not find in himself anything that belongs to the present age. For, having become idle from all such things, he can study the law of the Lord day and night without entertainment. Bodily labors without purity of mind are the same as a barren womb and withered breasts, because they cannot approach the knowledge of God. They tire the body, but do not bother to eradicate passions in the mind, and therefore they will not reap anything. Just as he who sows among thorns cannot reap anything, so he who destroys himself through rancor and covetousness cannot succeed in anything, but groans on his bed from much vigil and from the difficulty of his affairs. And the Scripture testifies, saying: “For men who have done righteousness” and have not neglected a single one of the Lord’s commandments, seek righteousness and truth from Me and want to draw closer to Me, God, “saying: Why have we been silent, and have you not seen? Have you humbled yourself and not been led away? During the days of your fastings, do your wills” (Is. 58:2-3), i.e. your evil thoughts - and offer them as burnt offerings to idols - and the evil thoughts that you recognized in yourself as gods, and you bring them the most precious of all sacrifices - your free will 483, which you had to devote to Me through your good deeds and a clear conscience. The good soil pleases its worker with fruit bearing even up to a hundred. If the soul has shone with remembrance of God and vigilant vigil day and night, then the Lord arranges a cloud there to protect it, overshadowing it during the day and illuminating the night with fiery light; in its darkness a light will shine. Just as a cloud blocks the light of the moon, so the vapors of the womb drive God’s wisdom out of the soul. And as the flame of fire is in dry wood, so is the body when the belly is full. And just as one combustible substance applied to another increases the fiery flame, so the variety of brushes increases the movement in the body. The knowledge of God does not dwell in a voluptuous body; and whoever loves his body will not benefit from God’s grace. Just as in the diseases of birth a fetus is born that brings joy to the one who gave birth, so with the labor of the larynx 484 a fruit is born in the soul - knowledge of the mysteries of God, but for the lazy and voluptuous - the fruit of shame. Just as a father cares for his children, so Christ cares for the body that suffers for His sake, and is always near his lips. The acquisition of doing things done with wisdom is priceless. He is a wanderer 485 who, with his thoughts, has become outside of everything worldly. He who weeps 486 who, in the hope of future blessings, spends all the days of his life in greed and thirst. That monk who is outside the world and always prays to God to grant him future benefits. The wealth of a monk is the consolation found in crying, and the joy of faith shining in the recesses of the mind. He is merciful who in his thoughts does not distinguish one from another, but has mercy on everyone. He is a virgin who not only has preserved his body undefiled by carnal intercourse, but is even ashamed of himself when he is alone. If you love chastity, drive away shameful thoughts by practicing reading and prolonged prayer, and then you will have a weapon against natural impulses, and without this it is impossible to see purity in the soul. If you want to be merciful, train yourself first to neglect everything, so that the mind does not get carried away by the weight of it and does not go beyond its limits. For the perfection of mercy is shown in the patience of one who chooses to endure insults; The perfection of humility is to bear false accusations with joy. If you are truly merciful, then when what you have is unjustly taken from you, do not grieve internally and do not tell about the damage to outsiders. Let it be better that the damage caused by those who have offended you be absorbed by your mercy, just as the astringency of wine is absorbed by a lot of water. Prove the abundance of your mercy by the benefits that you repay to those who have offended you, just as blessed Elisha did with his enemies who intended to take him captive. For when he prayed and blinded them with darkness, he showed them what power he had, and when, having given them food and drink, he allowed them to leave, he proved to them what his mercy was (see 2 Kings 6:13–23). He who is truly humble, when offended, does not become indignant and does not say anything in his own defense about what he was offended about, but accepts slander as the truth, and does not try to assure people that he has been slandered, but asks for forgiveness. For others voluntarily brought upon themselves the name of prodigals, without being such; others endured the name of adulterers, being far from adultery, and testified with tears that they bore the fruit of sin, which they did not do, and with tears they asked those who offended them for forgiveness for the iniquity that they did not commit, when their soul was crowned with all purity and immaculateness. Others, so that they would not be glorified for the excellent rules of life that they observed in secret, were presented in the image of holy fools, having been dissolved with divine salt and unshakable in their silence, so that at the height of their perfection the holy Angels had heralds of their virtues. You think about yourself that you have humility. But others accused themselves, and you, accused by others, cannot stand this and consider yourself humble. If you want to know whether you are humble, then test yourself in what has been said: do you not become confused when you are offended 487? The Savior calls the many abodes of the Father the different measures of understanding of those who are installed in that country, that is, the differences and diversity of spiritual gifts, which are enjoyed according to the measure of understanding. For it was not the difference of places, but the degrees of talents that He called many abodes. Just as everyone enjoys the sensual sun in proportion to the purity and acceptability of the power of vision, and just as from one lamp in one house the illumination can be different, although the light is not divided into many illuminations, so in the next century all the righteous are inseparably settled in one country, but each in his own measure is illuminated by one mental sun and, according to his dignity, attracts to himself joy and gladness, as if from one air, from one place, seat, vision and image. And no one sees the measure of his friend, both higher and lower, so that if he sees the superior grace of a friend and his own deprivation, this would not be a cause of sadness and sorrow for him. Let this not happen where there is neither sorrow nor sighing! On the contrary, everyone, according to the grace given to him, rejoices internally in his own measure. But the spectacle 488, located outside of all, is one, and there is one place, and besides these two degrees there is no other intermediate degree, I mean one higher degree, the other lower, and in the midst of them there is diversity in the difference of rewards. If this is true (as indeed it is true), then what is more meaningless or unreasonable than such speech: “It is enough for me to avoid Gehenna, but I do not care about entering the Kingdom”? For avoiding Gehenna means this very thing – entering the Kingdom; just as to lose the Kingdom means to enter Gehenna. Scripture has not given us three countries, but what does it say? “When the Son of Man comes in His glory..., and He will set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left” (Matthew 25:31,33). He did not call the host three, but two - one at the right hand, the other at the left. And he divided the boundaries of their various abodes, saying: “and these,” that is, sinners, “go into everlasting torment, but the righteous” in the eternal life (Matthew 25:46) will be enlightened like the sun (Matthew 13:43). And again: “from the east and the west they will come and lie down” in Abraham’s bosom “in the Kingdom of Heaven; the sons of the kingdom will be driven out into utter darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11,12), which is more terrible than any fire. Have you not understood from this that the state opposite to the heavenly degree is that painful Gehenna? It is a wonderful thing to teach people the goodness of God, to attract them by the continuity of God’s Providence and to lead them from error to the knowledge of the truth. For this was the mode of action of Christ and the apostles, and it is very high. If a person, with such a way of life and frequent communication with people, feels in himself that his conscience is weak when looking at what exists, and his silence is indignant, and his knowledge is darkened, because his mind still has a need for protection and subordination of feelings, and, wanting to heal others, he ruins his own health and, leaving his own free will of his own, comes into confusion of mind, then let him remember that the apostolic word, inspiring us that “there is solid food for those who are perfect” (Heb. 5:14), and let him turn back, so as not to hear from the Lord what was said in the parable: “Physician, heal yourself” (Luke 4:23). Let him condemn himself and protect his health, and instead of his sensual words, let his good life serve, and instead of the voice of his mouth, let his deeds teach. And when he finds out that his soul is healthy, then let him benefit others and heal with his health. For when he is away from people, then he can do more good to them through zeal for good deeds than he can do with words, being himself weak and having more need of healing than they. “If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14). Solid food is appropriate for those who are healthy, have trained senses, are able to accept all kinds of food, that is, fight against all senses 489 and, due to perfect training, do not see harm to the heart from any encounters. When the devil wants to defile the minds of such people with prodigal memories, then he first tests their patience with the love of vanity, and the origin of this thought does not seem to be passion. This is what he usually does with those who guard their minds and in whom it is impossible to quickly implant any indecent thoughts. When he pulls a person out of his stronghold 490 and he begins to converse with his first thought 491 and move away from this stronghold, then the devil catches him with something reminiscent of fornication and seduces his mind into indecent deeds. And at first he is embarrassed by their sudden attack - by the fact that the previous chastity of thoughts met with such objects that the ruler was far from viewing - the mind. And if the devil does not defile him completely, then at least he degrades him from his former dignity. But if the mind steps back and prevents the first attack of thoughts 492, which serves as the cause of the invasion of second thoughts, 493 then it can conveniently, with the help of God, overcome passion. It is better to turn away passions by remembering virtues than by resistance, because passions, when they emerge from their domain and are raised up for battle, imprint their images and likenesses on the mind. This warfare acquires great power over the mind, greatly disturbing and confusing thoughts. And if you act according to the first rule we said, then there will not be a trace of passions in the mind after driving them away. Physical labor and teaching in the Divine Scriptures protect purity, while labor is supported by hope and fear. Hope and fear are strengthened in the mind by distance from people and unceasing prayer. Until a person accepts the Comforter, he needs the Divine Scriptures so that the remembrance of good is imprinted in his thoughts and by constant reading the striving for good is renewed in him and protects his soul from the subtlety of sinful ways: because he has not yet acquired the power of the Spirit, which removes the delusion that steals soul-helping remembrances and brings him closer to coldness through the distraction of the mind. But when the power of the Spirit descends into the spiritual power operating in a person, then instead of the law of the Scriptures, the commandments of the Spirit take root in the heart, and then one learns secretly from the Spirit and has no need for the aid of sensory substance. For while the heart learns from substance, error and forgetfulness immediately follow the teaching, but when the teaching is taught by the Spirit, then remembrance remains unharmed 495. There are good thoughts and good intentions; There are evil thoughts and an evil heart. The first degree 496 is the movement that occurs in the mind like the wind raised in the sea and raising the waves; the second degree 497 is the support and foundation. And according to the firmness of the foundation, and not according to the movement of thoughts, there is reward for good and evil. The soul is never at rest from the movement of changeable thoughts. If for each of them, although it has no basis in the depths of your heart, you assign a reward, then you will be close to changing both your good and your opposite a thousand times a day. The wingless chick is the mind that, through repentance, has recently emerged from the shackles of passions and during prayer strives to rise above earthly things, but cannot, and on the contrary, still steps on the face of the earth, not having the strength to fly. However, with the help of reading, doing, fear and caring for various virtues, he gathers his thoughts together. For he cannot know anything other than this. And this preserves the mind for a short time without defilement and confusion, 498 but later memories come and disturb and defile the heart, because a person has not yet felt that calm air of freedom into which, after only a long time 499, he leads the mind into oblivion about earthly things, for he has acquired only bodily wings, that is, virtues that are performed externally, but has not yet seen the contemplative virtues and not vouchsafed the sensation of them, and they are those wings of the mind on which a person approaches the heavenly and moves away from the earthly. As long as a person serves the Lord with something sensual, the images of this sensual are imprinted in his thoughts and he represents the Divine in bodily images. When he receives a sensation of the inner, then, as he senses it, the mind from time to time will rise above the images of things. “The eyes of the Lord” are on the humble in heart, “and His ears are at their prayer” (Ps. 33:16). The prayer of the humble man seems to be straight from mouth to ear. During your silence, cry out with good deeds of humility: “Lord my God,” You “enlighten my darkness” (Ps. 17:29). When your soul gets closer to emerging from darkness, then let this be a sign for you: your heart burns and, like fire, flares up day and night; and therefore you regard the whole world as waste 500 and ashes, you do not even desire food from the sweetness of new, flaming thoughts that are constantly aroused in your soul. Suddenly a source of tears is given to you, like a stream, flowing without compulsion and mingling with everything you do, that is, during your reading, and your prayer, and your meditation, and when you take food and drink; and in every matter you do, it turns out that your tears are mixed with it. And when you see this in your soul, be trustworthy, because you have crossed the sea; and be so diligent in your deeds, guarding yourself so carefully, that grace will increase in you from day to day. Until you achieve this in yourself, you have not yet completed your path and have not entered the mountain of God. If, even after you have found and accepted the grace of tears, they stop and your ardor cools down without changing anything else, i.e. without bodily weakness, then woe to you: you have ruined something by falling either into conceit, or into negligence, or into relaxation. But what follows tears after receiving them and what happens to a person after this, we will write about this later in another place, in the chapters about Providence, how we are enlightened in this from the fathers, to whom such secrets were entrusted, and from the Scriptures. If you have no business, do not talk about virtues. More precious than any prayer and sacrifice before the Lord are sorrows for Him and for His sake, and more than all fragrances is the smell of their sweat. Consider any virtue performed without bodily labor to be a soulless miscarriage. The offering of the righteous is the tears of their eyes, and the sacrifice pleasing to God is their sighs during vigils. The righteous, oppressed by the weight of their bodies, will call to the Lord, and with pain they will send up prayers to God, and in response to the cry of their voices, the holy Orders will come to their aid - to encourage them, to console them with hope, because the holy Angels, approaching the holy men, are accomplices of their sufferings and sorrows. Good deeds and humility make a person a god on earth; and faith and alms cause him to soon approach purity. It is impossible for one soul to have both ardor and contrition of heart, just as in intoxication it is impossible to control one’s thoughts. For as soon as this ardor is given to the soul, tearful contrition is taken away from it. Wine is given for joy, and fervor for spiritual joy. Wine warms the body, and the word of God warms the mind. Those who are inflamed with ardor are delighted by thinking about what they hope for and prepare their thoughts for the future age. For just as those who are drunk with wine imagine some perverted likenesses of things, so those who are intoxicated and warmed by this hope do not know either sorrow or anything worldly. All this and other similar things that are prepared for those who walk the path of virtue happen to people who are simple-hearted and have ardent hope - after constant practice and after acquiring purity. This is accomplished at the beginning of the journey by the faith of the soul, for the Lord does whatever He wants 501. Blessed are those who, for the love of God, have girded their loins for the sea of ​​sorrows with simplicity and an inquisitive disposition and do not turn their backs 502. They are soon saved to the harbor of the Kingdom, rest in the villages of those who have labored well, are comforted from their suffering and filled with the joy of their hope. Those who set out on the obstinate path 503 with hope do not return and do not stop to enter into research about this. But when they cross the sea, then, looking at the difficulty of the path, they give thanks to God for delivering them from cramped conditions, rapids and such roughness on the way, while they did not even know it. And of those who think a lot, want to be very wise, indulge in delays and fearful thoughts, prepare themselves and want to provide for harmful causes, the majority find themselves always sitting at the door of their house. The lazy one, sent on a journey, will say: “there is a lion in the paths, but in the paths are robbers” (Prov. 22:13), like those who said: “I saw the sons of giants there and ran before them like fools” (Num. 13:34). These are those who, at the time of their death, find themselves still on the road: they always want to be wise, but do not at all want to make a beginning. But an ignoramus, setting off on a voyage, swims across with the first ardor, without taking the slightest care of the body and without reasoning with himself whether or not there will be any success from this work. Take heed to yourself, so that your excess of wisdom does not become a drag on your soul and a snare before your face; on the contrary, having placed your trust in God, courageously begin a path full of blood, so that you do not always find yourself poor and deprived of God’s knowledge. The fearful one “does not sow wind” (Eccl. 11:4). It is better to die for God than to live in shame and laziness. When you want to begin God's work, first make a will, as a person who can no longer live in this world, as one who has prepared for death and despairs of this life, as one who has reached the time of his 504 term. And really keep this in mind, so that the hope of extending your present life does not prevent you from struggling and winning, because the hope of extending this life weakens the mind. Therefore, do not at all manage 505 to the point of excess, but give faith a place in your mind; keep in your memory many future days and inscrutable centuries after death and judgment, and may relaxation never come upon you, according to the words of the Wise One, that a thousand years of the present age is not equal to one day in the age of the righteous (see Ps. 89:5). Begin every good deed with courage, and do not approach such deeds with double-mindedness; Do not waver in your heart in trusting in God, lest your labor become useless and your service become burdensome. On the contrary, believe in your heart that the Lord is merciful and gives grace to those who seek Him, as a Rewarder, not according to our deeds, but according to the zeal and faith of our souls. For he says: “As you believed, so be it for you” (Matthew 8:13). The actions of those who live according to God are the following: one beats his head 506 all day long and does this instead of performing a service, that is, hours. Others combine the number of their prayers with constant and prolonged kneeling. Another substitutes his many tears for his services and is content with that. Another is busy delving deeper into his thoughts and at the same time applying the rule 507 assigned to him. Another torments his soul with hunger, so that he is unable to perform services. And others, zealously studying the psalms, make this service continuous. Another spends time reading, and his heart warms. Others are taken captive by trying to understand the Divine meaning in the Divine Scriptures. Another, enraptured by the wonderful meaning of the verses, remains 508, enveloped in ordinary reflection and silence 509. The other, having tasted all this and was satisfied, returned back and remained inactive. And another, having tasted only a small something and became arrogant 510, fell into error. One was prevented from keeping the rule by his serious illness and impotence, and another was prevented by the dominance of some habit, or some desire, or lust, or vanity, or covetousness, or an addiction to collecting material things. Another stumbled, but rebelled and did not turn his back 511 until he received a pearl of great value. Therefore, always lay the foundation for God’s work with joy and zeal; and if you are pure from passions and hesitations of the heart, then God Himself will take you to the top, and will help you, and make you wise in accordance with His will, and you will receive perfection in amazement. To him be glory and power now, and ever, and unto ages of ages! Amen. The Greek reading “your body” is justified by the Serbian translation, but contradicts the translation of St. Paisius “autocracy” and the Syriac text. In our translation we followed him and the Syriac text, in which this whole passage is clearer than in the Greek (where, apparently, the phrase “and offer them as burnt offerings to idols” was in the wrong place, it should immediately follow the words “your will.” In the Syriac text this passage reads like this: “... On the day of your fast you do your will and offer all your idols. And by this we mean sinful thoughts and the evil thoughts that you consider in your soul to be idols, sacrificing to them daily the most precious sacrifice, namely your high free will, which you should devote to Me through good deeds and a holy disposition of the heart.” That is, abstinence and fasting. That is, an ascetic who died for the world. This word in Syriac also means monk. This passage is translated according to a Greek variant, consistent with the ancient Slavic translation. In the Syriac text: “object of contemplation.” Attacks of all thoughts through feelings. That is, with a thought of vanity. Rejects the attack of the thought of vanity. That is, good or evil intentions (in the Syriac text: “good will” and “evil will”). The word “embarrassment” is not in the Greek text; It is not in Syriac either, but in St. Paisia ​​it is. Here the ancient Slavic translation is preferred to the Greek text. In the Syriac text: "... (of free air) which can keep the mind for a long time in calm composure without recollection of external things." A comparison with the Syriac text shows that there is an irregularity in the Greek: the words “after constant work and after acquiring purity” are placed in the wrong place and should be placed after the words “the path of virtue”; and indeed Greek. the text is not clear. In the Syriac text this passage reads as follows: “this happens to those who have a pure heart and ardent hope, and they taste much already at the beginning of the path through the faith of the soul, which in other cases only after long labors of purification should be given to those who pass in order the separate degrees of the path of virtue. For the Lord can do whatever He wants.” That is, they do not flee. In the Syriac text: "...who simply and without thinking, out of ardent love for God, commit themselves to the sea of ​​afflictions and do not turn back." That is, live not only by your mind, but also by faith. Or: “hits his head on the ground.” In the Syriac text: “the delight of naming keeps the lips moving in their usual course.” The preferred interpretation here is one that is consistent with the ancient Slavic translation and the Syriac text. In Greek The text says “blinded.” You might be interested in: