Discourse 1

Discourse on the Ascetical Life Composed by Mar Isaac, Bishop of Nineveh. On the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, he begins to write the first half of the discourse on the ascetical life of the holy Mar Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of the city of Nineveh. May our Lord assist us through his prayer. Amen. First Chapter. The fear of God is the beginning of virtue. For it is said to be the daughter of faith, sown in the heart, when the mind is troubled, and it turns away from the disturbances of the world, so that it may still its agitated movements. Within the inner chambers of the thoughts of that future repose, it lays the foundation of virtue. There is nothing that precedes the very principles of virtue themselves, which, when one is firmly established in the earnestness of actions, leads to the word of light of the rectitude of the holy ways, which is shown demonstratively by the singer through the Spirit. A person can be found who is able to bear honors, or perhaps not at all. And this is because of the slight capacity for receiving disturbances, as the troubled mind says, even if he is like an angel in his time. The beginning of the way of life is to be filled with the words of God and with the practice of patience. The remainder, however, from the end, assists towards the perfection that is in these things.

Thus, the beginning of the discipline of training is toward the perfection of this life. There is no other way to approach God except that one who has withdrawn from the world. Withdrawal, however, does not mean separation from the body, but from its desires. This is the advantage: that a person be empty of the world in his mind. As long as the senses stir up desires, the heart cannot be free from their agitations, nor do pains cease, nor do evil thoughts end, except through the discipline of solitude and silence. For until the soul is saturated with the confidence of faith in God through the reception of the perception of its powers, the weakness of the senses is not healed, nor is the power that can overcome that which is visible—which is the boundary of the inner one, who is not perceived—attained. Rationality is the cause of freedom, and the fruits of both are prayer. Without the first, not even the second; and where the second is lacking, there, as in a prison, the third is bound. When grace increases in a person, then through the love of righteousness, the fear of death is abolished.

on of the body from the world, but the separation of the soul from the world through the mind. And many are the causes that one can find within oneself: for the fear of God is the cause that replaces all other fears. A person endures afflictions and those things that are harsh for the body, and they are set aside; and with difficulty, the senses are directed toward nature, and the thoughts are set in order, as if nothing were in the mind of that which is to be perceived. From the time when his eyes are considered, and without the ability to do anything except through the taking up of the knowledge of the sufferings that he has known for the truth, the understanding of this from the thought is firmly possible. And great is the negligence that God has toward man, and it is not left without care. And especially for those who are patient in their request and those who are lost in the suffering of their cause, as if by a finger they see clearly. But when the deficiency of faith is engraved in the heart, then all things are found in opposition. Not because of testing; and for the one who trusts in God, it is not always that he does not succeed. And if it is not so, God has not become idle over you, as if it were something that is set aside. Gently, hints are given from these things that are hidden, and with depth they cast their seeds. The true beginning of the life of a man is the fear of God. And this, with the clarity of the desires that are increased in the soul, is not to be grasped. For the heart is distracted by the service of the senses, from the tranquility that is in God.

The movements of the senses are bound within their sentience by their serving faculties. The division of the heart brings fear upon the soul. Faith, however, even in the severing of limbs, can overcome thought. As the love of the body is strong in you, so that the heart may be, and not timidity, cannot come, because of many adversaries, who are pacified by the promise of the one who was merciful. He who is not worthy of honor cannot lack causes of afflictions. There is no man who, with a change of wills, does not experience a change of his thought toward the side to which he inclines with his judgment. If the twofold sensation is that of the senses, from which sensation is known to be born, as the saying of Evagrius: "Restrain those who are with the passions, and guard the thought that confesses." Humility is this: not that the one who restrains from the time of his movements is evil, but that the truth of his heart humbles the companion of his thought, so that he does not dwell on frivolous thoughts wantonly. And when the humility of his watch is testified by the companion of his fathers, who are faithfully chaste, a veil like the face of a door hangs in the hidden place of his thoughts. So that, like a chaste virgin, the chastity of his purity is faithfully preserved for Christ.

There is nothing so fitting to the abolishing of base habits from the soul, and to the restraining of the disturbed motions that arise from the fiery passions in the body, as the absorption in the love of learning, and the pursuit after the roots of the meanings of the words of the Scriptures. When, however, the motions are immersed in the depth of wisdom through the power of the word that comes from the mouth, everything leaves the hidden parts of his body. Then he wanders from the world and from everything in it, and from all the motions that give rise to the forms of the corporeality of the world, which are hidden from the soul. And from the thought of how many kinds of the habits of the pure one’s actions, the soul remains in wonder and in its own vision, because of the new things that encounter it from the sea of their mysteries. And even in his high waters, the mind becomes a wanderer, when it cannot find, in relation to all this depth, to deepen its motions, to see all the treasures in its abysses. It is sufficient for him that his love’s agitation thinks powerfully, by means of the thoughts of the shore, which are hindered from the vision and the running towards the nature of the body, as one of the clothed of God said. For because he has let go of the heart, he says: I cannot endure the evils that encounter him from without, and the battle from within. And know that the evil burden of the body is heavy.

and if the heart is not absorbed in learning, it cannot calm the disturbance of the body's matter. For just as the weight of the scale counterbalances the sharpness of the fire of the passions against the disturbance of the senses, so too does the contraction and fear of the mind's prayer. And when the measure of virtue is complete, then the excess of the power of freedom in this is great. As the increase in virtue is complete, so too is the cause of the baseness and vileness of the passions without standing. And here, as freedom is elevated by the fear of the self, so too does the passion of the mind go forth sharply to every side. For motion is twofold: that of freedom, and the disturbances of thoughts, both after prayer. Be wise to lay a foundation for your discipline in the path of God, and establish for yourself small vigils at the gate of the kingdom, without the weariness of the path. Do not delay, like the order of the ranks of teachers, in words that are set down from experience for the training of your conduct, so that you may increase your self in the multitude of meanings that are in them. Discern the sense of the word in all the varieties in which you encounter it in the writings, so that you may deepen yourself to reach the great mysteries that are in the setting of the pure life.

whose deeds are guided by grace to be purified, just as a spark of something known makes the hearer perceive the sweetness of the words that drive between the verses. And it distinguishes before the mind a sweet discourse from the narratives that are spoken with great thought for the soul's expansion. A person who reads the great words in a sweet manner, his heart also becomes sweet and tranquil and rests from the holy power that gives the heart a sweet taste in the concepts that amaze the soul. Everything runs toward its own kind. And the soul that has a mixture from the spirit, when it hears something in which a spiritual power is hidden, it rushes with flame to its history. But not everyone is awakened to the wonder; the narrative that is spoken spiritually and in which a great power is hidden. The word about virtue requires a heart that is detached from the earth and its affairs. A person who labors his mind in the study of the passages, the narratives about virtue do not awaken his thought toward the mercy of the prayer of its acquisition. It is like the beginning of being from the elements to the bonds of God. And also like the divine gifts in joys, there is sometimes when one precedes the other, as mercy is hidden by mercy. In the order of the customary discipline of governance, it is ultimately in the inner order.

Now then: the inner order is preserved. If grace, which is itself, comes before you; and if not, on the path of all, one who runs with the current, ascend to the ascent of the spiritual tower. Everything that is accomplished and fulfilled in theory by its cause—even that which is invisible—all of it is for the life of the flesh. And everything in practice—all of it is composite. For it is one single cause, whose purpose is directed toward both. So then: both concerning theory and concerning practice. Because the corporeality and incorporeality and the fullness of both are from everything. For this reason, that which is its cause: the clear mind is sustained in a compacted manner, just as was previously commanded by the blessed Moses. And that which is simple is sustained, and that which is compacted. The priority of being from something done in a timely manner: not the perception of memory passes through, the labors of the pure are cared for. But the weakness of his memory takes from the thought, so that the one from the service of the passing of the thought may be superior. The victory of the soul is its humility in the acquisition of superiority, to the measure of the desire of its partner in the visible forms. For everything, measure is fitting. Apart from it, however, and also those who are struck for assistance, toward the turning of the changes, the need that stands from them, and nothing else.

You desire to participate in God through your intellect: by the tranquility of the senses, that serene state which does not enslave the perceptions. To the gate of compassion. For by whatever is his own, he praises: when it is found within the self, that holy beauty is formed in him. The cessation of the activities of compassion: which offers nothing in the middle, to the unity of its praise, the manifestation of divinity. Participation is bound to the self. Spiritual union is its being: a remembrance that does not sink, which in the flame of love, inseparably, burns in the heart. That which, from the simplicity of obedience to commands, takes power for discipline: and not as a petitioner nor as a natural, is found there fully, for the self's own vision, so that it may be supported by it in a stable manner. And because of this, it is drawn to the river, in the depth of the compression of perceptions, both bodily and spiritual. And there is no other path to spiritual love, which is the creator of an invisible yoke, unless first, through compassion, it feels and begins: like the echo of the Lord, which, towards the perfection of the Father, establishes a foundation. To this he commands his hearers. Another is the word of action, and other things are beautiful words.

and also apart from the service of the passions: that wisdom knows her words to be fitting. And to speak truth when not being tested by it, and to discourse on excellence when the service of her labor has never ceased: the word that is from labor is a treasury of trusts. And wisdom that is idle is a deceitful fraud. Like a drawing of water in a sieve, and for the thirst of the one who drinks, no quenching is found. And like seeing beautiful dreams. But he who speaks from the service of his labor concerning excellence, like one who from the courses of his merchandise brings forth a word to his hearers, and like one who from the measure of his own self sows his teaching in the ears of his listeners. He opens his mouth freely with his spiritual sons, in the manner of the elder Jacob to Joseph the chaste. And he said: Behold, I have given you a portion greater than that of your brothers, because you have taken from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow. Every man, therefore, who conceals his conduct, the life of sacrifice is beloved to him. And the second, however, is this: he who is deficient in knowledge. And it is well said by a man: that the anguish of the fear of death is a trial for a man. And he who has a good testimony in himself, he becomes eager, as for life.

Do not consider yourself wise in the truth, one who, in exchange for the life of service, subjects his mind to fear. All the goods and evils that befall the body will be accounted to you as dreams. For not only by death are you released from them, but many times before death they leave you and pass away. If there is any among them that shares in your self, see to it that their existence is your eternal acquisition, so that they may also go with you to the world to come. And if they are good things, rejoice and give thanks to God in your mind. And if they are evil things, be sorrowful and sigh, and seek deliverance from them while you are in the body. Every good thing, however, that is done to you openly and in secret, let it be a guarantee for you that baptism and faith are a mediator for you to it, those by which you were called in Jesus Christ to good works. To him and to his Father and to the Holy Spirit: glory, honor, and worship, now and at all times and forever and ever. Amen. The first discourse is completed.