Discourse 66

An epistle which he sent to his beloved, and wherein he makes known something concerning the mystery of silence. And how many are deceived, because they do not succeed in this wondrous practice. And their end is like that of those who are accustomed to the sitting-place of the cell, because of the torrent that flows in the place of the last ones, together with the breaking of the intervals that are necessary for the exercise of silence. End. Because, my brother, I have gathered for you the obligation to send to you concerning those who are in need, I will make known my love to you through my writings, according to the promise that was made to me by you. For I found in you, because of the sincerity of your conduct, that you are inclined to sit in the place of silence; and also I, those things which I heard from the solitaries concerning this practice, while I take a sorrowful thought of their words, together with the near trials that are in them in their actions, I will inscribe for your memory in the simplicity of the word. While you also assist, you are able to stand from the exercise of this epistle in the diligence that is found in you, in that by the manifestation of wisdom you approach, you, to the reading of the words from the conclusions of this our epistle, beyond the ordinary course. And as a kind of illumination you take them to the rest of the reading, because of the subtle meanings and the power that is hidden in them. For in a great manner the mind is exercised by readings such as these.

And he takes from them a burden against the clarity of thoughts, and against the cessation of what is accustomed to be, from the harshness of labors, and the tranquil mountain of stillness. And he casts his secret to the world with the purity of his actions, by means of the flame that is kindled from those who encounter it, like the sign that is placed for you in this epistle. What is the seat and service of stillness, and what mysteries are hidden in it, in this practice which is concealed from many; and after which excellent ones run to attain through stillness. And why do they despise the righteousness that is practiced in the house of the world, and flee from the sight of the world, and choose afflictions and bonds in a tranquil seat and solitude? From their understanding, and from those who encounter this epistle, they give blessing to solitaries, those who spend the days of this world in a hidden seat with themselves. For those who have not perceived in themselves, it is more excellent for them than the instruction with all its warnings concerning the canons of stillness. Here, however, as to the wise I write and speak with love. If you wish to find life that is not corrupted by the brevity of your days, O brother, your entry into stillness shall be with discernment, so that you may find the advantage that is fitting for the wise in the practices of stillness.

And he presses on with his labor, and does not run after a name. And he enters deeply, and he is diligent, and he learns, and he is silent, and he meets with all the wonderful and free distinctions of the labors of stillness, so that he may attain, along with all the saints, the height, depth, length, and breadth of this unceasing manner of life, because of the unceasing wealth which his merchants strive after at its source. And he does not rest until he meets with all the paths of his labors. For every action of the one who seeks the beginning of his activity, a thought, something that is possible from the occurrence of the action, moves the mind toward the establishment of the foundation of the intention. And the mind of this one strengthens the thought to overcome the difficulties in it. And a certain confidence takes from it in the light that is with it. And like a holder, it holds that air until the completion of the action. Thus also for the weighty labor of stillness, for the sake of the mysteries, there are distinct minds, with which the thought looks, from when it casts the first foundations until the end of the request.

And in all his labors, which are harsh and difficult, like the eyes of the vault of the heavens that gaze upon the stars, so does he direct his inner gaze, the solitary one, in the whole course of his discipline. Woe to him who takes it into his mind, on the first day that he gives himself to row upon the difficult sea of stillness, until he finds that pearl for the sake of which he cast himself into its unfathomable depths. And the reward of his success lightens for him the whole weight of his labor, and the difficulties sweeten the victory that he encounters in his discipline. And that which at the beginning of his entry into stillness he thought to be evil, this does not become a burden to him from his labor, but he works with joy, like a man who does not feel weariness. Thus, he never partakes of the spirit of contention in all his life. And one of two things happens to him: either, while he does not bear the unbearable weight, he is purified and emerges from stillness to perfection; or, if he tarries in it, his dwelling becomes a prison wherein he is tormented, because he does not know how to attain the maturity that is born from the labor of stillness, nor does he know how to ask with pain of heart and seek with the suffering of prayer, and he has abandoned the possibility of finding it, for those whose fathers are full of mercy, lovers of their children, have left for us indications in the writings for the discovery of our life.

For one said: The advantage of silence is greater than I can say. For when I distanced myself from the encampment in which man is seated, my mind was weaned from the habits of battle, and it was turned to the labor of virtue. Another. Silence cuts off the causes that renew thoughts. And from its very beginnings it removes and purges the memories of former events. And when the old fillings have worn away from the mind, it turns the air to its own order. Another. But man runs toward silence, as if the words of reading and prayer were dissolved in my heart. And when, by the tranquility of their meanings, my tongue was silenced, as if in the sixth hour something fell into the quietness of my senses along with their movements. And when again, by the steadfastness that is in silence, my heart was watered from the disturbance of memories, and it poured over me in the waves of joy, which from the inner visions without end laugh at my poverty toward the delight of my heart. These, when by the sufficiency of my self I was shut in, and its nature was sealed from the rhythms of the world and from the life of the flesh, in the lower depths of the silence that is in God. Another. The melodies of your hidden places shall be understood from the distinctions of your movements. For steadfastness, a man says, is not for those whom the order moves, and time passes them by.

There is no one clothed in flesh who is not a guest in his own house, from both the changes of good things and of evil things. If he is successful in these things of scarcity, because the saying goes: The fathers of children; and if again he is elevated in these things of height, because the leaven of grace is that which casts into the wombs, because of that which is conceived in the taste of the kingdom on high. Another: Choose for yourself the service of the sweet vigil of the long nights, in which all the fathers put off the old man and drank of the renewal of the mind. In these times the soul perceives in the life that is not mortal, in the perception of which it puts off the garment of darkness and becomes receptive to the rays of the spirit. Another: It is not possible that when a man sees many faces and hears with the ears voices of various kinds, his spiritual meditation be turned to them, and he speak and be occupied with those like them, and his mind be satisfied that he look upon his hidden standing, and he remember his sins and his thoughts be hidden, and he hunt for those that come and be occupied in hidden prayer. And again: That a man should subdue these senses under the authority of the soul, apart from silence and the remembrance of God, is not possible.

Because it is a single and unified nature, substantially self-knowing, and is bent with its movements, if it is not vigilant in hidden prayer. And again, as one who is vigilant in his wakefulness with prayer and reading, who delights, makes wise, enriches, and adorns the soul, that one is more profitable, those whose entire time of their life was conducted in this hidden practice. But you, O man who loves silence, set before you these hints from the meaning of the words of the fathers, as for a mirror, and direct the course of your labor to their appointed time. And before everything, be wise concerning those things that are especially necessary for the mirror of your labor. And without them, you cannot be instructed by the knowledge of truth, and through them you will be more zealous to show your zeal. Silence is a mystery of the world to come. Speech is an organ of this world. A fasting man, a weeping man, heals the soul by making it like the spirits. By his silence and his continuous fasting, a man is distinguished who is constant in divine labor by his hiddenness. In these mysteries, it is fulfilled, even from those invisible powers, that service which fills the sanctities of that being, the lord of worlds.

Also those who were separated at the time to enter within from divine mysteries: they were inscribed in these natures. From then on, the governance of a difficult people was entrusted to them. And from then on, they also held sway over the elements, and the great orders of the natures of creation submitted to the command of their words. From then on, moreover, the hidden things that conceal in his silence the hiddenness of the Lord of all were entrusted to them for the renewal of the inner being. For it was not fitting that they should have made use of the flesh full of passions and a separated mind from service, as if for such mysteries, or that the holy ones should have been in need of petition to God and of ascending to the hidden things of his mysteries, except through the weakness of the limbs and the inner being that withers from the pain of hunger. And it was that he hastened to his taste through the emptiness from all earthly thoughts. For when, through the poverty of the time within the furnace, by means of laborious toils and hidden asceticism and the composure of your senses from all encounters, the power of stillness comes upon you, you will first encounter that joy which is without cause, which at the time rules over your self. And then your eyes will be opened to see the power of God's activity and the beauty of creatures, according to the measure of your purity.

And what was being done in this vision of contemplation: from then on, night and day become one for him, in the splendor of the works of God. And from there, this sensible soul is chosen from the passions, in a living manner, by this contemplation. And through it, it enters into both of the two known orders of revelations, which are placed in the rank after this: from purity and above.