Discourse 4

Discourse Four. The soul that loves God: it is in God alone that it rejoices. First, loose from yourself the external bonds, and then you will be able to bind your heart to God. The beginning of the loosening of the bonds is from God. The infant, after it is weaned from milk, then it is brought to the food of bread. And the human who wishes to be nourished by God: first, his soul is weaned from the world, like an infant weaned from its mother's breasts. Before the bodily labors, the spiritual labors, just as also in nature: the body's creation is prior to the soul's. For if one has no bodily labors, neither does he have spiritual labors. For these are born from those, just as light from coals that are kindled. And if one has no spiritual labor, he is also deprived of the hidden gifts of the Spirit. The pains of the present time for the sake of truth do not outweigh that delight which is prepared for the laborers in virtue. Just as the tears of the seed are bound to the palms of the rejoicings, so too is rejoicing bound to the labors for God. The bread from sweat is given to the laborer. And the labors for righteousness: to the heart that receives the knowledge of Christ. Endure the silence of humility in the discipline of virtue, because of the freedom of the heart toward God.

Every harsh word that a person endures in discernment, apart from the cause of foolishness, receives a crown of stars upon his head because of Christ and his blessedness. And he too is crowned, in a sacrifice that he does not know, for he flees from praise through knowledge, in his hope of the future world, by which he perceives in his standing the forgiveness of the world that is to come. He who acknowledges the forgiveness of the world and contends with the beasts for the sake of the passions, because he has not been tested by his life, is completely blind. He who willingly abandons the whole world and contends for a member of his own body, flees from the pains of error; for the future world, his mind burns, being held by acquisitions. He is a servant of sufferings. It is not gold and silver alone that are considered acquisitions, but everything that holds your will's desire, by which you are bound. He who cuts off his sins because of fear of suffering is truly wise. Without the practice of the work of virtue, knowledge of the truth cannot be attained. Not solely by bodily labors is the knowledge of the life of truth established, but when the mind is set upon labors for the cessation of the sufferings of thought. He who does not work with discernment, even when the causes of sin confront him, easily falls into them.

Never disparage a person whose body is weary and whose senses are relaxed and at ease, but rather with a gentle hearing, an open mouth, and joyful eyes. When you set yourself to be exercised in the practice of compassion, first train yourself so that bitterness does not enter you through other doors. Do not let it be seen that with one hand you work and with the other you destroy. For there, necessity constrains; but here, freedom of choice. Let the forgiveness of your faults be accounted to you in these matters as the work of righteousness. And then you will see the gate of the just one in your mind from both sides. That is, when you are above necessity and bitterness in your path, and in freedom in every place you will give. For one of the saints, when speaking about these matters, said: The compassionate one, if he is not bitter, is blind. For he said: From the courses of bitterness and the labors of himself he spreads out to others, and not from the spoils of deceit and oppression and injustice and occasions. As also in another place this man makes known: If you do not fear in the midst of trials, sow from your own. For from the fruits of others, more than from the bitter thorns. But if she says: The compassionate one, if he is not even above bitterness, he is not compassionate.

This is the one who does not merely have compassion on the poor from his own possessions, but also endures injury gently according to his will, so that not even the whole of envy stands and pursues his deed, that he might be with his companion, but has compassion on him. For when by compassion he conquers envy, he crowns him—not with the crown of the envious of the Old Law, but with that of the perfect of the New Testament. That which the Old Law commanded—that a man give from his own to the needy, and when he saw the naked he covered him, and loved his neighbor as himself, and did not oppress or lie—these things also the Old Law commanded. The perfection of the practices of the New Law commands thus: If a man takes what is yours, do not pursue it; and to everyone who asks of you, give; and not only endure injury from the poor and the rest of these outside you with joy, but also give your own life in place of your fellow man. This is the compassionate one: that he does not have compassion on his neighbor only by means of gifts, but that even when he hears or sees something that pains a man, his heart does not endure the burning, but even when he has swallowed a blow from his brother, he does not allow that he should even by a word cause him pain in return, and he quiets his mind. Esteem the labors of vigil, that you may find a near resting place within yourself. Be exercised in silent prayer, that you may be led to the river of all times.

Love poverty in your manner of life, so that your mind may be restrained from distraction. Cease from loquacity, that you may be preserved from the confusion of thought. Separate yourself from the many and take the pure portion of your conduct, that your soul may be freed from the disturbance of its inner tranquility. Love asceticism, so that you may not be put to shame at the time of need before the one who sets the crown. Acquire humility in your conduct, that you may enrich your soul in prayer. And by the remembrance of death, joy will be established in your thought. Be one who stands upon small things, that you may not fall into great ones. Do not entangle yourself with labors, that you may not be put to shame when you are commanded to stand against all the sons of your generation. With knowledge, bear your labor, that the remainder of your course may not be left unfinished. Do not be empty of provisions, lest your provisions fail you in the midst of the way, suddenly and in a moment. Acquire freedom in your conduct, that you may be freed from servitude. Do not give your freedom to the cause of life, that you may not become a servant of servants. Love simplicity in your conduct, that the subtle thoughts of the height of the heart and frivolity may be repelled together. For a thought that is overturned cannot be far from folly; necessarily, for the inner heart, together with the external forms, is guided in equality. For when the soldier fights, is it possible that the bent of the mind be found?

Or who is there that is able to attain to the glory of praise from without, and to stand within it with pure thoughts? And who is there that is contemptible in his outward appearance and wasted in his limbs, yet is exalted in his heart and humble in his thoughts? When, then, the soul is governed by the senses, the food of the animals is consumed along with them. But when the senses are governed by the soul, the heavenly order of the angels is consumed along with it. Vain glory is the servant of pride. When, however, it is through conduct that it occurs, it is the cause of humility, of restraint, of love. But glory, when it is through wastefulness, is bound up with it. This is because of persistent grief: it falls upon theoria and adorns the soul with poverty. This, however, is because of the persistent dullness of the mind, through the assault of the passions, it darkens the senses and confuses the heart. For this, through the tears of the passions, falls contemptibly, and disturbs the mind through contemptible thoughts. That, however, through its own theoria, is composed spiritually, and moves its possessors towards the glory of praise. Do not, therefore, compare all the powers and signs that are set in motion in the whole world with that which lives in knowledge and sits in silence. Love the victory of silence more than the satiety of the hungry of the world, and turn the multitude of peoples from error to the worship of God.

ed in your eyes to release yourself from the bonds of sin: more than to release captives to freedom, from the subjugators of their bodies. Drink, you, with yourself in the harmony of your virginity: body, soul, and spirit: more than to reconcile the wrathful by your teaching. Love the poverty of words with the knowledge of healing from within: more than to pursue the laughter of teaching: from the shame of thought and the disturbance of hearing and sight. Devote yourself to the contemplation of the death of your soul from the passions towards the mobility of the limbs of the godly: more than to raise from the dead the dead of weeping. Many were those who performed mighty deeds and raised the dead, and labored among the erring, and performed great signs, and in their pride they led many to God by the means that were in their hands, but afterwards these same fell into things that harmed others: into drunken and destructive passions. And when they gave life to others, they themselves died, and turned and stumbled and fell into the opposition of the revelation that had been shown from them in their deeds. For while they were still sick, they themselves were in themselves, concerning the healing of their standing they did not devote themselves.

but they gave themselves to fall into the sea of the world, to heal the souls of others, while they themselves were still sick. And they lost themselves from the hope of God, this evil one of which I spoke: because the weakness of their senses was unable to reach the sparks of the passions, which prepare the way for the strongholds of the passions in those who are still lacking in vigilance. For the visions of women and youths, and silver, and passions, and the pain of wickedness and the inflammation over others, are proclaimed. He is instructed by fools because of stupidity, and not by the wise because of prudence. He is drawn because of humility, and not because of boldness. With the sweetness of your virtues, hide yourself from the bold ones, and not by means of speech. And with the silence of your lips, to the crown that is not to be grasped, and not by means of sounds. Humble yourself before the lowly by the gravity of your conduct, and before the prudent by the senses, by the humility of your fathers, who are cast down before you in haste. Consider yourself a stranger everywhere you go all your days, so that you may measure from the great lacks that are born from freedom. At all times, be making known to yourself that you know nothing, so that you may be delivered from the contentions that are stirred in you by the making-known, that you may suffice for the instruction of others.

Let your mouth be filled with blessings, and may a reproachful word never come upon you from a man. Shame: shame begets shame; blessing: blessing begets blessing. At every moment consider yourself, that you have gone up to the teaching, so that throughout all your life you may be found wise. Do not deliver to others, as if from your own possession, a manner of life to which you yourself have not yet attained, lest you be put to shame by yourself, and the falsehood of your boast be revealed by the judgment of your companions. Rather, speak concerning the obligation as the order of disciples speaks, and not authoritatively, while you yourself first restrain yourself and show that you are lesser than he. So that also to your hearers you may give an example of humility; for the sound of your words runs more eagerly to the course of action, and you will be honored in their eyes. As much as you are able, speak concerning such passions with tears, so that both yourself and your companions may profit, and grace may be on your side. If by the grace of Christ you have been deemed worthy to be delighted in the mysteries of the visible creation, which is the first step of knowledge, arm yourself against the spirit of blasphemy. But do not stand in this place without a weapon, lest you be quickly slain in secret by the deceivers. Let your weapon be: fasting and these tears which you shed in continuous vigils.

Beware of reading books that distinguish between the thoughts of fear and evil, such as those that say: "Let him be zealous over himself for the spirit of blasphemy especially." When your belly is full, do not hasten to sit, lest you become drowsy. Consider that the mouth says: "There is no knowledge of the mysteries of God in a full belly." Be greatly astonished that the books that set forth the dispensation of God, which the holy fathers made to show the evil of the mutability of his works in the power of the distinction of his natural laws of the world, have not satisfied you. So that your mind may be strengthened by them, and bright tremors may arise from their exactness, to guide your thought smoothly along its path towards the evil of the rectitude of the order of the creation of the world, like the glorious contemplation of the wise thought of the Creator of the pure ones. Read both Testaments, which God placed as knowledge for the whole world, so that you may be amazed by the power of his governance in every generation and be swallowed up in wonder. These readings and those like them are suitable for this good evil. Your reading: in stillness from every thing, when freed from the multitude of the body's desire and the disturbance of actions, so that a sweet taste may be given in yourself, by subtle thoughts above the senses, which the soul feels in its stability in them.

Do not set your hope on words from reading, like a madman who sells words: lest you remain in darkness until the end of your life, while you are stripped of their benefit and you grope about like a blind man in the alleys of battle, so that you cannot say that you have been overthrown by one of the attacks in the person of truth. Let this be a sign for you: when you have approached to enter within from that place, when grace begins to open your eyes, to make you perceive it in the firm vision of its own of the wills, at that time your eyes begin to shed tears, until your cheeks are drenched with their abundance, and the agitation of the senses is stilled, and they are fixed quietly within you. If there is anyone who teaches you otherwise than these, do not believe him. Apart from tears, however, that seek something else from the body for the knowledge of the perception of truth by a manifest sign, it is not permitted to you, except in silence alone, which is from the workings of the members. This, then: when the mind is raised above existences, and also above tears, the body remains, and above perception and above agitation, apart from natural life. For that knowledge is not subject to be taken with it, the place, the canons of the wills of the perceptible world, as if in the vision of the mind.

Whether with a body or without a body, it is not known; God knows. And that which hears words without letters. For everything that is heard through the ears is spoken. But that which is not perceived through sounds, nor through the sight of forms, nor through the gross images of the senses, but through the movements of the mind, through the stripping away from the body, and not while sharing its will. A tree that has not seen its like anywhere, and a knowledge that has not heard its equal. And the silence of its sight the heart did not disturb, to ascend by means of the memory of the small things of its knowledge, of something that God has prepared for the pure of heart to reveal in their death from the world. Not the gross sight that is received through the eyes in their coarse distinctions, nor again the thoughts that are formed from matter in a shadowy manner, but the simplicity of the theory of the known and believed things, which is fitting for the constitution and the distinct parts, showing the elemental natures. For the period of the sun's course, according to the power of your vision, direct your gaze to delight only in its rays, and not even to measure the course of its wheel, lest it be taken from you, and also the measuring vision. If you find honey, eat your fill. Do not, when you are sated, become weary of it.

The will is a slight thing, the knowledge of the soul. And in passing from one moment to the next, while it hastens to learn those things that are from its own knowledge. And many of the passions, from the course of reading and the contemplation of the wills, perceive something, something. For when they are understood, many are less than the measure of the knowledge of the understanding of its discovery. And until where its knowledge enters, until it puts on movement and trembling in its thoughts. And again, to turn back to its hiddenness, it is hastened by fear, while it passes to extend itself over the primary wills. But fear restrains it, because of the power of the wills. And discernment, by silence, signifies to the soul's self: Do not extend yourself, do not die. And from the hard things within you, do not seek. And from the strong things within you, do not dig. In that which has empowered you, trust, and it is not for you to extend yourself over the covered things. Bow down, confess, and praise in silence, and acknowledge the incomprehensible. For many things have been revealed to you, and concerning the rest of his works, do not occupy yourself. And that which is like much honey, it is not good, nor is it fitting to seek out words of praise. Lest, when from a high mountain many desire to see, and when they have not yet reached nearness to him, from the lack of preparation of the path of love, and also from the power of vision, they become dizzy.

In that place where truth is, the lamps of the mind serve. For when the intellect does not attain to perception, it also loses its own certitude. And the wise Solomon said well: just as a straight line has no end, so is the man whose spirit is not disturbed. Do not compel yourself to pursue God in heaven and on earth, nor to guard your thoughts in their places. Purify yourself, O man, and remove from yourself the thought of memories outside nature, and hang upon your movements the face of the door of asceticism and humility. And through these, you can find him who is within you. To the humble, mysteries are revealed. If you give yourself to the luminous service of prayer of contemplation and to the wakefulness of the nights, so that your thought may be like a lamp, separate yourself from the visions of the world, and cut off from yourself the habit of speech. And do not desire to receive within yourself from your heart a friend of custom, nor an evil one of excellence; turn away from any who is not of your own kind and of your own mystery in your conduct. If you are cut off from the personal habit and speech of the secret, that which from itself is accustomed to be moved without our will, then cut off from yourself also the external habit.

Direct your prayers toward the end, that you may see the radiance of the truth’s awe. The more the heart is freed from external memories, the more your contemplation will receive the channel of intellectual words. The soul is easily wearied by exchanging one reading for another, if it shows even a little negligence and takes on a burden. Impose upon it the labor of reading the books that reveal the precision of the paths of conduct, and the theology and the lives of the saints; and even if it does not perceive at the beginning the sweetness, because of the obscurity and confusion from recent memories, as one reading is exchanged for another. And when you rise for prayer and the liturgy, instead of the meditation on worldly things, let the reflections from the books be imprinted in your mind. Through them, the memory of what you have seen and heard from the books is stirred and illuminated. And thus your mind will come to purity. And this is what is said: that the soul is wearied by reading, when it comes to prayer, and from reading it is not purified in prayer.

Thus, instead of the external visible, you will find the soul filled with the transformation of the powers of prayer, subtle thoughts of the intellect are born from the memories of the air, which at many times silence and astonish it even from prayer itself, and establish it without movement, that power of contemplation which comes from the holy books at those times. That prayer ceases by means of tranquility, as was said, and silence casts upon the heart, and silences the movements of the heart by means of the rest of the members, both spiritual and bodily. You know what I say: those who have received the experience of this passion in themselves and have been within its mysteries, and not from the teaching of others and from the experiments of writings, those who at many times are able to deceive the truth. A feast upon a table full of the noise of spiritual discourses is like a barren woman speaking about chastity. A stomach full of diseases vomits even from the food of health. And the intellect that is full of the world cannot approach the reward of divine works. A fire in damp wood does not burn, and the boiling of God in a heart far from the world is not kindled.

The solitary who is not constant in love with one, and the soul that is bound by many things, cannot abide in the love of spiritual teaching. Just as one who has never seen the sun with his eyes, but only hears of it, cannot by his intellect take its likeness in himself, nor perceive the beauty of its rays, so one who has not perceived in himself the taste of spiritual practice, and has not entered into the experience of its mysteries through his conduct, cannot by his intellect take a likeness that would persuade him of the truth. From the teaching of reading and the study of the holy scriptures, he cannot find a true conviction in himself, nor attain to the certainty of the truth of the desire. If you have found something more than the endurance of the trial of the day, go give it to the beggars, and come, offer the prayer of the Pharisee. But rather, speak with God as a son with his father. There is nothing that brings the heart near to God as much as compassion, and nothing that gives peace to the intellect as much as voluntary need. Many are your enemies, as if you did not know, because of the simplicity of your hands and your abundance of alms without measure, by the evil of the fear of God, and your wise and upright conduct is not esteemed, because of your restraint.

If you ride upon a horse, stretch out your hand; do not hold back your hand from it. In whatever is necessary, be truthful because of its necessity. At that hour, however, like one who is empty of necessities, and what you give, give with a generous hand, and brighten your face toward him, and add to him beyond what he sought, even that which he did not ask. Cast your bread upon the face of the waters, and for a great sacrifice you will find recompense. Do not distinguish between the rich and the poor, and do not know what is worthy and what is unworthy. To all the living, as from your side, be equal in goodness. Especially, by these you draw them toward the truth. For the soul is secretly bound by bodily things to the contemplation of the fear of God. He also used to share his table with tax collectors and prostitutes, while not distinguishing between those who are unworthy, as by this he would draw them to the fear of God. And by the communion of bodily things, he would bring them to the communion of the spirit. Therefore, be equal in goodness and honor to all the living, whether he be a Jew, or an infidel, or a murderer. Especially, that he is your brother and of your kind, and without knowledge errs from the truth. When you do good, do not set your mind on the thought of a near recompense; and in the end you will be recompensed by God.

If you are able, not even on account of the reward of that hour, that you might be increased more abundantly in divine love. Within that degree of love, even from the service toward God, and within its mystery, from that, and more than from within, the soul from the body. If you have placed your soul in the rank of freedom from need, and by the goodness of God you have been freed from need, and you have become above the world through your freedom from need, see that you are not, on account of compassion for the needy, drawn to fall into the need of the little ones and the desires, as if to do a work of righteousness, and to cast yourself again into confusion, to take from that one and give to this one, and that your gravity may be lost in the agitation of a base approach to the poor, through the request of those who are like these, and you fall from the height of your liberated thought again into the servitude of earthly things. Your rank is higher than that of the doers of righteous deeds. It is demanded of you: do not be deceived. That is: it is the order of the upbringing of childhood. This, however, is the way of perfection. If you have it, keep them both at one time. And if you do not have it, do not be agitated that it might become yours. Cleanse your dwelling from anxieties and superfluities, for this necessarily brings you to crookedness.

For it is a great and manifold patience, those who, when there is an opportunity, are not overcome by the one who is patient. Those who, in the external battle, have conquered, they also take the fear of the internal, and there is no longer any bond that leads them forcibly. When he plays the cithara from the front and from the back. The external battle I call that which, with the senses awake, a person attacks himself foolishly. This is: by means of food and drink, hearing and sight, speech and the belly, and that which increases the hand in hand with works for himself as if to be wounded, and from the disturbances from without, so that the hidden cithara, which is moved, may not be able to see itself, and because of the power, it conquers those that are kindled from within. If, however, a person binds the reins of the city, the cithara will be face to face. And from the hidden movements of the city, he does not fear. Blessed is the person who knows these things and is silent, and does not increase the work for himself even there, but replaces all bodily service with the labor of prayer, if it is sufficient.

and the service of the service, together with the work of God, which is prayer and reading. Do not join anything with it, and believe that when you serve with God, you are at peace with him day and night. Do not deprive him of anything from the necessities that are required of him, because his reasons are not for work. If there is something apart from work that cannot be endured in silence, work under compulsion. But take it as a helper, not as a burden. And the second after these, and not as a primary command. This, as for the weak, the work of the hands, which disturbs the memory of God, the renowned Evagrius. For the needy and the poor, the fathers established work, and not as for the negligent in the depths of the law. At the hour when God opens the door of your thought from within, and you give yourself to the custom of bending the knees, do not give your heart to the edge of anything, while demons secretly persuade you, and then see and marvel at what is born to you from these. Do not change any of the practices for the one who, day and night, falls on his face before the cross, while turning his hands to his side. You wish that your mind not be disturbed by anything, and that you not be moved by tears. In these, be prepared. Blessed are you, O human, if in these you are content with what I have said to you, and day and night you seek nothing with him.

Then your light will shine like the dawn, and your righteousness will quickly be revealed. You will be like a garden of delight, and like a spring of waters that never cease. See how many good things are found for a person through diligence. There is a time when a person rests on his knees during the time of prayer, and his hands are spread or stretched toward the face of the heavens, and his head looks toward the cross, and as if his whole movement and thought are directed toward God with supplication. And when in these postures and sighs the person is, at that time, from silence he is moved from his heart the spring of life, and his limbs are loosened, and his eyes are dimmed, and his face is downcast, and his thoughts are disturbed, so that even the knees are unable to rest on the ground before the intensity of that goodness which pervades the whole body. O man, is it possible for you to know these things from reading? Or perhaps from the written texts the taste of honey passes through the palate of the reader? If you do not strive, you will not find. And if you do not knock fervently and watch diligently at the door, you will not be admitted. Not everyone who hears these things is inflamed with righteousness outwardly, but that which cannot endure the bonds of stillness.

But if there is a person who is unable to shine, because the gift is from God, that person remains outside the door, and also does not depart from that other side, so that he is not shut out from both sides of the ways of life. For as long as the outer person dies to the activities of the world, not only from sin, but also from all bodily service, and the inner person dies from the oppressive memories of the senses, and again the pure movement is changed and the body dies, being quickly worn down by labors, so that the sweetness of sin does not find a place in the heart, the sweetness of the Spirit of God does not work in the person. And his members are not revealed to life, and divine movements are not seen in the soul. And as long as the heart is not abolished from the thought of the world, apart from the constraints which that nature follows in the time of its passions, when it also leaves it to God to arrange, the spiritual intoxication is not awakened in him. And he does not perceive that tranquility in which the Apostle was established. Many of the writers have done this. But this: I do not say this to cut off hope, that unless a person reaches the depth of perfection, the grace from God is not given to him, or that he does not encounter consolation.

Truly, when a person abandons evil deeds and is fully changed, and turns to good deeds, in a short time he perceives assistance. And if he is a little negligent, he is able to find forgiveness of sins in his person, and he becomes worthy of grace, and receives many good things. But he is small, as it were in comparison, from that one who is completely changed to the world and found in his person the mystery of the future beatitudes, and attained that thing for the sake of which Christ attained—to whom, and to his Father, and to the Holy Spirit, praise and glory forever and ever. Amen. End of the Fourth Discourse.