Fighting the Tree of Sin
www.donskoi.org/12178
In the published article, the author provides an analysis of the teachings of the Optina and Glinsk elders about thoughts: what should be the attitude of a Christian towards thoughts? What means did the elders consider the most effective in the fight against passions? To what extent does their teaching agree with the patristic teaching? The author poses many other questions, while simultaneously giving answers to them. “Beware that no wicked thought enters your heart”
(Deut. 15.9)
Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches that internal sins - evil thoughts and lusts - are just as sinful as external iniquities: “Whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). That is, the first thoughts themselves are the root from which the last, external iniquities are formed. “That which comes from man defiles man,” says the Savior, “for from within, from the heart of man, come evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, malice, deceit, lasciviousness, an envious eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7, 21-22). Paying special attention to the words of the Lord, the holy fathers of the ancient East attached paramount importance in the fight against passions to the art of fighting thoughts. Even the Venerable Anthony the Great, the head of Egyptian monasticism, noted that in spiritual warfare, first of all, it is necessary to be attentive to your thoughts[1]. And the Monk Ephraim the Syrian wrote about the meaning of thoughts: “Just as someone who renounces faith denies it with one word, so whoever professes faith puts on it with a word. The word that mediates the deed replaces the deed, therefore a vicious thought can have the same power as a vicious deed.”[2] “Sometimes even the one who only thought is worse than the one who did it, because he does not give room for repentance... Saul was rejected, having deigned his thoughts to idolatry, and Manasseh, having repented of idolatry, was accepted”[3].
Paying attention to the ancient patristic tradition, we notice that in order to defeat sinful thoughts one must defeat their causes, and vice versa, defeat thoughts in order to defeat the reasons. This idea was developed in his works by the Venerable Mark the Ascetic: “Neither evil thoughts separately from their causes, nor causes separately from thoughts, can be overcome by those who fight with them, for if we reject one thing separately, then after a little, through the other we will be possessed and one and the other”[4]. In the same way, in the teachings of the venerable Optina and Glinsk elders, spiritual warfare with sinful thoughts is inextricably linked with the struggle against the causes due to which they arise. In order to fully understand the spiritual work of these elders against sinful thoughts, it is necessary to examine the patristic tradition, in particular the tradition of spiritual struggle against the thoughts of the Philokalia fathers.
As is known, the Optina and Glinsk elders traced their succession to the Monk Paisius (Velichkovsky). Therefore, they gave primary importance to the study of the ancient patristic tradition. The elders knew patristic literature very deeply. We can conclude that the Philokalia and such works of the holy fathers as the works of St. Isaac the Syrian, John Climacus, and Abba Dorotheus were their reference books. This confirms that the Optina elders even carried out some translations of them into Russian. Some of the instructions of these elders quote these holy fathers almost exactly and are undoubtedly very close in spirit.
The art of cutting off sinful thoughts was considered very important and necessary in the spiritual work of the venerable Optina and Glinsk elders. “Every passion begins with sinful thoughts,” [5] wrote the Glinsky elder Schema-Archimandrite John (Maslov). Therefore, in order to fight passions, you need to learn to fight thoughts. According to the confessor of the Glinsk Hermitage, Hieromonk Barsanuphius (first half of the 19th century), “a person who has allowed evil thoughts into his heart violates close unity with the Source of life - God, because God dwells only in immaculate hearts”[6]. To understand well how a sinful thought acts on a person, let us cite the story of one Glinsky monk. “One day I somehow got carried away by unclean thoughts; due to my inexperience in fighting, I was unable to repel them. The unclean but seductive pictures painted in my imagination completely clouded my mind. According to the enemy’s dispensation, I had to meet with people who sympathized with my unclean sinful lust, and I set out to carry out my sinful thoughts”[7]. When this monk already wanted to commit the fall, he was stopped by the Monk Iliodor (Golovanitsky). The elder, being perspicacious, sensed that his disciple was in danger. “The elder (Iliodor) took me tightly by the hand,” says the monk, and began asking me: “Where are you going, child, huh?..” To my answer that I was going on business, he said: “Son, tell me the truth, I I’m not your boss, there’s nothing to fear from me. You speak to the point, but the matter is not good. Look, look who is forcing you to go on this business, so that he can then take your soul!” At the same time, he pointed down to the refectory building. I looked there, and a strange sight presented itself to my eyes: near the stone bull supporting the body, I saw the devil in the ugliest form: black, fiery eyes, teeth protruding from the mouth, entrails outside and somewhat covered with a long beard; he was all in flames. At the sight of such a vile monster, I trembled with horror; the blood seemed to freeze in all my veins, I could not move from my place, I could not utter a single word and stood as if petrified. I only remember that the elder, holding my hand, led me with him: “Let's go, child! Let’s come to me!”[8].
The patristic tradition identifies the following causes of sinful thoughts. The first reason was attributed by ancient ascetics to imagination. The second reason was passion. Even the Monk Gregory of Sinaite[9] and St. Theodore of Edessa argued that “if there were no passions in the soul, then passionate thoughts would not chill it”[10]. The ancient holy fathers attributed idle thoughts to the third reason. The Monk Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, wrote about idle thoughts, who said that they, like the first, are an entrance for the second (sinful)[11]. The fathers attributed demons to the fourth reason. St. Gregory of Sinaite said that “thoughts are the words of demons”[12].
We see the same spiritual understanding of the causes of sinful thoughts in the teaching of the Optina and Glinsk elders. Like the fathers of the Philokalia, the elders tried in every possible way to protect themselves from unclean, passionate imagination, from empty idle thoughts and from demons that constantly try to destroy a Christian; they tried to think purely. In their spiritual work we see special attentiveness and depth. The elders truly attached great importance to purity of thoughts.
In order to fully understand what significance thoughts had for the Optina monks and for their spiritual work, we must turn our attention to the Serbian elder Thaddeus Vitovitsky, who can be called one of the last successors of the Optina eldership. Being the spiritual son of the disciple of the Venerable Ambrose of Optina, Elder Schema-Archimandrite Ambrose (Kurganov), [13], abbot of the Milkovsky Vvedensky Monastery in Serbia, Elder Thaddeus managed to absorb into his heart not only their special Optina spirit, but also the spiritual tradition. He, one might say, accepted their spiritual work. In his teachings, Father Thaddeus constantly emphasizes the teaching of thoughts. This is his fundamental teaching. He says: “Thoughts, moods, desires control our lives. What thoughts occupy us – such is our life.”[14] According to the teachings of Elder Thaddeus, our thoughts materialize. Everything begins from a thought. Both good and evil. The elder says: “To this day we see that everything that is created, and everything that exists on the globe and in the universe, is a Divine thought materialized in time and space, and we are created in the image of God. A great reward has gone to the human race, but we do not understand this and do not understand how our thoughts affect others... destructive thoughts destroy our world and we have no peace.”[15] “People pay little attention to their thoughts, and because of this there is a lot of suffering.”[16] Elder Thaddeus’s teaching about thoughts is very deep and at the same time very simple. In his instructions we see the Optina spirit, because he learned mental-heart prayer from the Optina monks. Constant composure of the heart, the unceasing Jesus Prayer and keeping oneself from sinful thoughts gave Elder Thaddeus that Divine knowledge that only the Lord gives, and only with a pure heart. In his instructions, Father Thaddeus advised learning to “free yourself mentally”[17]. “When we are burdened with something, we must turn to the Lord and convey to Him all our worries and anxieties about our neighbors”[18]. His spiritual work and teaching about the importance of preserving the mind and thoughts fully expressed the spiritual tradition that lived in the Optina Monastery and was subsequently passed on to all Optina monks.
The Holy Fathers of the Philokalia placed sobriety at the head of all means of combating sinful thoughts. “This work,” says the Monk Simeon the New Theologian, “some of our fathers called silence of the heart, others – attention, others – sobriety and contradiction, others – struggle with thoughts and guarding the mind.”[19] The Monk Hesychius called sobriety “the firm installation of the mind and its standing at the door of the heart: so that he sees how alien thoughts approach like thieves, hears what these murderers say and do, and what is the image drawn and represented by demons through which they encroach dreamily seduce the mind”[20]. If we turn to the Holy Scriptures, it is clear that sobriety is commanded by the holy apostles to all Christians in general. “Be sober and watchful,” says the Apostle Paul, “for your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Likewise, the holy Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonica Christians: “Let us not sleep, like others, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6-8). “The gift of sobriety does not allow thoughts to enter, and if they do enter, it does not allow them to do harm,” [21] answers the Monk Barsanuphius the Great to the question of one brother.
According to the thought of the Venerable Elder Paisius (Velichkovsky), the spiritual father of the Optina and Glina ascetics, a Christian must be constantly prepared for temptation, remember that he is waging war against evil disembodied spirits. “Look, man, pay attention, don’t make a mistake,” says the monk, “they will not leave even to your grave, but they are preparing a big ambush, looking carefully for how to start again and rise up, for they do not rest. When the warmth of zeal cools down in the ascetic, they secretly, having prepared some kind of net, come again and spread it out and catch it.”[22] He claims that “the evil demons carefully and relentlessly watch us, which we are inclined to do, and encourage us to do so; noticing our sinful desire, they darken our mind, and day after day they steal our time, and, like thieves, secretly penetrate our thoughts and force us to care about perishable things, and to leave God and our soul.”[23]. According to the monk, “such is the cunning of the crafty demons: they are constantly busy with us; how watchmen notice our inclinations and wishes: what we think about and what we love, what we do besides them; and whatever passion they notice in us, they encourage us to do so, and they set nets for us; Thus, we ourselves first arouse every passion against ourselves and become the cause of it.”[24].
Considering the teaching of the Optina and Glinsk elders, one can see that they, too, put sobriety in the first place in spiritual warfare with thoughts. Constant inner attentiveness and composure of mind have always been their characteristic feature. It was this spiritual disposition that they constantly strived for. For example, the Optina elder, Venerable Nikon, called sobriety the path of all virtue[25], and said that every reverent Christian is simply obliged to spend his life in attention to himself and sobriety[26]. The Monk Macarius of Optina says that one must “try to have strict supervision over one’s dispensation”[27]. The instruction of the Glinsky elder George (†1961) is deeply edifying. When young monks asked him about spiritual life, the elder said that “the main thing is to keep peace in the soul. This world is a place inaccessible to the evil one. An evil spirit seeks, first of all, to unbalance a person, to outrage him, to upset him. When he succeeds in this through some kind of temptation or obsession (most often through another person), then in all the “muddy waters” of the soul the enemy begins to make his catch, to push a person, weakened by passion, to commit a crime, that is, disobeying the law of Christ.”[28 ]. When asked what is most important for spiritual life, Elder Thaddeus Vitovnitsky answered: “The most important thing, I think, is keeping peace in the heart. Do not allow anxiety into your heart at all costs. Peace, silence, silence should reign in it. Mental chaos is the state of fallen spirits. Our mind must be collected, attentive, focused. Only in such a mind can God dwell.”[29]
Getting sober isn't easy. It is said about Glinsk Schema-Archimandrite Ioannikis (†1912) that even in his youth he worked hard to acquire it. For a long time, he asked himself every evening: “How did you spend your day? What will I bring to court? What have I acquired today for eternal life?”, and in the morning - “How was the night?”[30]. Glinsky Hieromonk Julian (†1911) believed that the only correct path is “constant attention to all your actions, and especially your words. The elder taught to protect your mind from absent-mindedness, for it brings disorder into spiritual life... calling on his disciples to gain attention to their souls, Father Julian pointed out to them the patristic saying about preserving feelings: “The gift of wakefulness (sobriety) does not allow thoughts to enter, and if they enter , then does not allow them to be harmed”[31]. The Glinsky elder Schema-Archimandrite John (Maslov) in his writings gives a clear explanation of what sobriety is, how it works, why it is so necessary: “The rule of spiritual struggle: conquer every passion by the power of Christ, immediately as soon as it arose. We cannot heal or completely expel it right away, but we can always drive it “to the bottom” so that there the passion dies under the influence of the waters of grace, and our soul would always be peaceful, crystalline, ... awake, spiritually sober. If a “breakthrough” is planned or occurs on any side of the soul, now all the attention of the heart must be directed there, that is, through prayerful struggle it is necessary to restore the peace of the heart and soul. This is spiritual sobriety. For a spiritually sober person, the enemy is not scary. The enemy is terrible and dangerous only for the sleepy and lazy, relaxed in soul. You can do many feats in war, but if they all end in treason, they will mean nothing.”[32]
The Venerable Glinsk Elder Iliodor (Golovanitsky) gives very effective advice on how to cleanse the soul of harmful thoughts. In one of his letters to his spiritual child, he writes: “You ask: how to cleanse the soul from harmful thoughts? What more, if not the memory of death, for it is said: “Remember your last and you will not sin forever” [33].
According to Father Iliodor, constant mortal memory helps to keep one’s heart from passionate thoughts and protects one from many passions. This thought of the monk is a continuation of the spiritual covenant of Elder Paisius (Velichkovsky): “To live as if dying daily”[34]. “Oh man! Be attentive to your soul, because you have one, and one time of your life, and the end is unknown - death, and the abyss of the air is impenetrable and filled with your enemies.”[35]. “When evening comes, think: will this be the night I will die, or death will suddenly come, or a tree will strike me, or the house will collapse and kill me, or my breathing will suddenly stop and, like a flower falling away, I will wither and, like grass dries up, I will die and then be left without a trace; God alone knows where I will be then; for He judges each one according to his works.”[36]
Immediately after sobriety, the ancient holy fathers placed a component and connected with it, as if one action, the immediate rejection of attacking thoughts. Having placed the mind in a sober state, according to the thoughts of the holy fathers of the Philokalia, one must vigilantly listen and look at the attached thoughts and immediately reject them at their very appearance, not accepting them and not allowing them to penetrate the heart[37]. The Monk Hesychius speaks of the need to “immediately cut off thoughts as soon as you recognize them, at the very moment of their discovery and attack”[38]. A good comparison can be made. Residents of those countries where poisonous animals are found try to look for the eggs of echidnas, scorpions and toads in their houses and yards and, as soon as they find them, immediately trample and crush them so that, having reproduced, these animals do not cause harm to people. In the same way, evil sinful thoughts must be suppressed in the very embryos, at the very beginning, so that, having received strength, they do not turn into poisonous snakes. For the devil is a serpent, and if we open a small hole for him in our heart, into which he can only penetrate with his head, then he will immediately invade with his whole body. The Apostle Paul himself warns us “not to give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27). “A person cannot cleanse himself of passions until he cuts off the reason for passions,”[39] says the Monk Paisius (Velichkovsky). His phrase “the beginning of purity is disagreement with the sin of the mind, and the end is mortification—deadness to the sin of the body”[40] shows us that cutting off sinful thoughts is a necessary, obligatory task of the ascetic. By cutting off sinful thoughts, the ascetic protects himself from passions, because “the beginning of all passions: addiction, weakness and negligence, which we do not reject with our soul and thought and do not cut off the original cause of each passion that finds itself, but the demons apply even more.”[41] “The pretext of desires and bad thoughts, through which we are bound by every passion and fall into every sin; better to say, this is the door to demons and passions, through which they enter us and plunder our spiritual treasure”[42].
In the same way, in the spiritual work of the Optina and Glinsk elders, an important role in the fight against thoughts, immediately after constant sobriety, is played by the instant cutting off of thoughts. “The excuse of some bad thought comes; it is your will to accept it or reject it; when you combine with him and become one, you are already captivated and defeated, and when you reject the pretext, you win,” writes the venerable Optina elder Macarius. “Resist the first mental attack,” says the monk, “crush the infants of Babylon. While they are still babies, through prayer and humility, but when they grow up, they will already be giants and it will be difficult to resist them.”[44] In his instructions, the elder talks about how important it is not to immediately give room to a sinful thought in the heart. Because if we leave it in our heart, that is, we begin to talk with it, enjoy it, it takes root in us more and more and leads us straight to the point.
“To protect your soul from thoughts,” says the Monk Barsanuphius of Optina, “is a difficult matter, the meaning of which is not even clear to worldly people. They often say: why protect the soul from thoughts? Well, the thought came and went, so why fight it? They are very wrong. Thoughts don't just come and go. Another thought can destroy a person’s soul, another thought makes a person completely turn around on the path of life and go in a completely different direction than he was going before”[45]. The monk strongly advises not to enter into a conversation with thoughts, but sometimes to simply say: “God’s will be done!” [46] - this is very calming.
The Monk Barsanuphius completely repeats the teachings of Elder Macarius. He attaches very serious significance to thoughts, one on which our lives can completely depend. After all, according to Elder Nikon, “agreement with the thoughts of sin is communication with the enemy, hence the retreat of God’s power and help from us”[47]. This can be a very serious consequence. St. Nikon says that “The Lord is waiting: where our heart will incline - whether it will remain faithful to Him or betray Him because of the temporary sweetness of sin. The holy fathers said: “cut off a thought, and you cut off everything.” It is very important to remember that by any agreement with sin, and through sin with demons, we betray the Lord, we betray Him for the abominable price of sin. Who and what are we exchanging for?! Personal disagreement with sin and the fight against it through prayer and confession are necessary”[48].
The fight against thoughts according to the teachings of the Optina and Glinsk elders should be so skillful that a Christian must put in a lot of effort and patience. The Glinsky elder Schema-Archimandrite John (Maslov) wrote: “All thoughts, no matter how good and sinless they may seem, should be cut off at the beginning of their appearance, otherwise they will devastate our soul like a burning wind. And if we do not learn to remove them, they will multiply so much that they will make our soul incapable not only of the Jesus Prayer, but also of any good deed.”[49] According to the teachings of Father John, thoughts have the ability to devastate the soul and cause great harm to it. But a Christian has the power to let them into the soul or not, to talk with them or to reject them: “It is entirely up to us to disagree with them and not enter into conversation, and then they will gradually begin to move away from the person” [50], writes Father John.
The Glinsky elder Arkhip (Shestakov) wrote about the fact that there is no need to talk with thoughts at all. He gave an interesting example: “When a board floats down the river. We pull her ashore and carry out an investigation: where is she from, why is she swimming, who let her in? Don’t touch her, let her float and everything will be peaceful.”[51] The great Glinsky elder Filaret constantly exhorted his spiritual children to cut off sinful thoughts: “As much as possible, do not even allow bad thoughts to enter your heart, because from these comes the stomach (Proverbs 4:23). By maintaining purity of heart, we can preserve physical purity.”[52] Likewise, the Glinsk ascetic Hieromonk Barsanuphius, who was the confessor of the desert in the early twenties of the 19th century, said: “A follower of Christ must resist evil thoughts and not allow them into his heart.”[53] “The science of sciences and the art of arts consists in the ability to cope with malicious thoughts,” [54] said another Glinsk elder, Father Macarius (19th century). It is interesting that the Optina and Glinsk elders taught that often the thought itself may turn out to be innocent at first glance and even seemingly necessary for us, but we still often need to cut it off.
Sinful thoughts not only act on the heart, but also burden the conscience. For example, the Glinsk hieroschemamonk Paisiy (died after 1961) wrote: “Whoever wishes and strives to receive eternal salvation must fight not only with sin, but is obliged to disagree with vicious thoughts and wishes that violate the peace of his conscience”[55]. To cut off thoughts, you need to cut off your will. “Someone, walking a short distance,” said Elder Philaret Glinsky, “saw something, and a thought says to him: “Look there,” and he answers the thought in his mind: “I won’t look,” doesn’t look and cuts off his want. He meets idle talkers, and his thought says: “Say such and such a word,” but he does not speak. The thought inspires me to go and ask the cook: “What’s cooking?” – he doesn’t go and cuts off the desire. I saw an object, and my thought said: “Ask who brought this?” - but he doesn’t ask. Thus, starting with small things, a person gets used to cutting off his will in great things calmly and without difficulty: finally he reaches the point where he has no will at all. No matter what happens, he remains calm, as if he has no passion, and from this he becomes completely dispassionate.”[56]
Another important patristic way of resisting sinful thoughts, without which even the first cannot succeed, according to the saints, is to preserve one’s feelings. One day, one holy ascetic, Pachon, told the Monk Palladius, the compiler of Lavsaik, about himself. In his youth, he saw an Ethiopian girl when she was collecting straw in the summer; from a vision of this, he endured fornication for many years with extreme confusion of soul, even reaching despair[57]. Along with the sense of vision, ancient ascetics advised to curb other senses. For example, the Monk Barsanuphius the Great says: “Strongly curb your senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch”[58]. “Block your ears with wax from obscene words and the relaxing sounds of cheerful songs, for from hearing them the soul is embarrassed and begins to imprint shameful images in the imagination and engage in lewd thoughts in the heart.”[59] The Monk Paisiy Velichkovsky himself writes that every Christian must bridle his tongue, since “he who bridles and restrains his tongue will also restrain his whole body”[60]. For “the silent man is terrible to the demons, because they do not see the secrets of the heart of the perfect, when they do not speak with their lips. But he who loves verbosity will not avoid sin.”[61]
In the spiritual work of the venerable Optina and Glinsk elders, the preservation of feelings in the fight against thoughts is considered simply necessary. “If every deed, word and thought puts a stamp on us, then we must take all measures to preserve ourselves from everything harmful,” [62] said the Optina elder Reverend Nikon. “A Christian must constantly preserve all his feelings from everything that harms his immortal soul,”[63] writes Elder Schema-Archimandrite John (Maslov) of Glinsky. According to Father John, a Christian needs to curb his feelings, because “thoughts enter a person’s soul through feelings”[64]. The elder advises “to carefully think through everything and remove everything sinful and nasty that interferes with the work of our salvation. It would be very good to curb our bodily, sinful feelings with the fear of God, especially the eyes, ears and tongue, which are the doors of sin, leading their victims, like the prodigal son of the Gospel, “to a distant country”[65]. “Warmed by warm prayer, inspired by the reading of the Word of God, enlivened by the Holy Mysteries of Christ, faith elevates the mind of a Christian, controls his will, sanctifies his feelings”[66].
The Glinsky elder Seraphim (Romantsev) believed that in order to fight thoughts, you need to protect yourself from all idle talk: “Isn’t it from one spark, sometimes very small and barely noticeable, that great fires happen, and from a small grain it grows over time? time great tree. Therefore, it is necessary in every possible way to beware of sinful thoughts and dreams, free words and conversations”[67]. “Do not give free rein to your mind and tongue,” the elder wrote, “confine them, and you will be calm. Give your mind and tongue and also your eyes something to do that is appropriate to your Christian life, that is, engage and use your free time in reading and prayer, which can be done in any place and at any time and under all circumstances.”[68] Optinsk and Glinsk elders especially urged people to take care of their eyesight. “Take care of your eyes,” says the Monk Anatoly of Optina. - If your eye fails, change it (Matthew 5:29). The Lord commanded. You will bring a fight on yourself if you do not take care of your eyes and tongue.”[69] “What the eye does not see and what your ear does not hear, will not enter your heart,” [70] says the Venerable Elder Anthony of Optina.
When curbing and restraining external feelings, according to the patristic teaching, it is also carefully necessary to guard and restrain the inner feeling, that is, the mind, which often precedes the external feelings in its sinful ideas and transmits its sinful inclinations to them. The Lord Himself said that “the lamp of the body is the eye. So, if your eye is clean, then your whole body will be bright; if your eye be evil, then your whole body will be dark” (Matthew 6:22-23). According to the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom, the Savior’s words concerned “enslavement and captivity of the mind”[71], which was incomprehensible to many, and therefore the Lord used such a comparison. “What the eye means for the body, the mind means the same for the soul,” explains the saint. “Just as with regard to the body we are most concerned about having healthy vision, so with regard to the soul we must primarily take care of the health of the mind.”[72] “When you see that what is inside you has come into strong motion and is drawing the silent mind to passion, then know that the mind once warned this: He brought it into action and put it in the heart,” [73] said the Monk Mark the Ascetic.
Thoughts
They are lighter than fluff and more invisible than a weak breeze. There are so many of them during the day, and they are so varied that it is hardly possible to track them all and give yourself an account of their quality. We are talking about thoughts.
Everyone has them, and they are not only diverse. At times they are also ugly. And also empty, or unexpected, or phantasmagorical. Who will catch them with a net like a butterfly? Who can count them like grains of sand in a handful?
Is it worth paying attention to them at all, or can you give up on this mental moth, on this dust, missing a wet rag?
Well, you really need a wet rag, but you won’t be able to simply brush away this dangerous little fry.
In his First Council Epistle, the Apostle Peter reminds Christians of their former life, of the moral filth that they rejected with disgust:
“It is enough,” he says, “that in the past time of your life you acted according to the will of the pagans, indulging in uncleanness, lusts (sodomy, bestiality, thoughts), drunkenness, excess in food and drink and absurd idolatry; therefore they (former companions in sin - approx. A.T.) are amazed that you do not share with them in the same debauchery, and they slander you” (1 Pet 4: 3-4)
The apostle’s thoughts stand in close proximity to such obvious abominations as sodomy and bestiality
It is very important and no less surprising here that in the list of lusts of the apostle, thoughts are in close proximity to such obvious abominations as sodomy and bestiality. If you and I were compiling lists of sins and their classification, we would never place ephemeral (seemingly) thoughts next to flagrant carnal sins. Obviously, we do not fully understand some fundamentally important things.
Here is Cain. Before he rebelled against his younger brother and killed him, the firstborn of Adam and Eve was tormented by a persistent thought. The clear signs of this internal struggle, which Cain lost, are described in detail.
“Cain became very sad, and his face fell. And the Lord God said to Cain: Why are you upset? And why did your face droop? If you do good, don't you raise your face? And if you do not do good, then sin lies at the door; he draws you to himself, but you have dominion over him” (Genesis 4: 5–7).
“Sin lies at the door, it attracts you to itself,” - here it is, an persistent, persistent thought that deprives a person of peace day and night. This is still just a thought, but it is already a sin lying at the doorstep. Man has the power to fight it (it is said: “dominate”). If she wins, and not you, then the sin, obvious in space and time, will happen with frightening inexorability.
An inveterate sinner, in fact, is a person who has been defeated by a persistent thought. She attracted attention, crawled over the threshold, climbed into her heart and didn’t want to leave. Thus, a pathological jealous person, a sexual maniac, an insatiable thief, a person who is always dissatisfied with life, who grumbles and envyes, and so on, are people who have been defeated in an invisible struggle. And in this fight, it’s no wonder you lose, since the lion’s share of people don’t even suspect that such a fight exists.
Biblical revelation before King David says little about the inner world of man, including the thoughts of the heart. Apparently, the person was not capable of such a turn of vision inward and attention to thoughts. Starting with David and his Psalter, the conversation about the mystery of the heart began, and it is unlikely to be stopped.
Sin is preceded by a thought
Sin is preceded by a thought, and constant sinful behavior is preceded by the creation within a person of a whole mental system of sin, complexly branched, like blood circulation. We owe this revelation to the son of Jesse and the father of Solomon. Before him, the Holy Spirit had no one to talk to about such subtle subjects. Here are examples from the Psalms.
In his arrogance the wicked despises the Lord: “he will not seek”; in all his thoughts: “There is no God!” This is from Psalm 9. In the same place: he says in his heart: “I will not be shaken; no evil will befall me from generation to generation.” And one more thing: he grabs the poor man, dragging him into his net; bends, fits, and the poor fall into his strong claws; says in his heart: “God has forgotten, He has hidden His face, He will never see.” That is, in order to rip your neighbor off like a stick, in order to devour him alive, set him up, drive him away from the world, you must first of all say within yourself: There is no God! And if there is, then He doesn’t see, he forgot, covered his face and so on. The villain needs a mental foundation for his activity. And since it is necessary, then it is inevitable.
All these words-thoughts are pronounced inside the heart. These are the thoughts of the accursed daughter of Babylon: she says in her heart: “I sit as a queen, I am not a widow and I will not see sorrow!” And here is what will happen to her for this ingrained way of thinking: “Therefore in one day plagues will come upon her, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned with fire, because the Lord God is strong, who judges her” (Rev. 18:7 -8).
“The fool said in his heart: “There is no God.” They became corrupt and committed vile deeds; there is no one who does good” (Ps. 13:1). These are already the words of a madman with an inexorable practical conclusion from them in the form of vile deeds and corruption. Scripture, as we see, leaves no room for secular humanism or godless kindness. It's pretty strict. Many believers are seriously frightened by this severity of the All-Good God. There is something to be afraid of. And if we ourselves had invented God, and not He had revealed Himself, then we would have invented Him as a model of tolerance. The real severity of Scripture confuses the evil cards for us.
However, this is no more severe than the fire pouring on Sodom. And this is no more severe than the waters that flood everyone except those sitting in the ark. But both Sodom and mankind under Noah had, it must be said, their own strong mental structures. Or rather, they seemed durable until water came to some, and fire covered others.
VANITY THOUGHT
It is difficult to avoid the thought of vanity, because whatever you do to drive it away becomes the beginning of a new movement of vanity.
Abba Evagrius of Pontus
Saint Gregory Palamas
Is vanity a concern?
And you, alone and before the judgment of your conscience, bring to mind the Lord’s advice about this in the Gospel, which says: do not seek to show yourself superior to others; perform as many virtues as you have in secret, having only God in mind and being visible only to Him alone, and Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly (Matthew 6:1-6,18). If, after you have dealt a decisive blow to the stimulants of each of the passions, an inner thought again disturbs you - do not be afraid, let it be a reason for you to receive crowns, for it no longer inclines or has an effect, but is only a powerless movement , as if defeated in your struggle about Bose.
Abba Evagrius of Pontus
The thought of vanity is the most subtle
. It is difficult to avoid the thought of vanity, for whatever you do to drive it away becomes the beginning of a new movement of vanity.
The demon of vanity is the opposite of the demon of fornication, and for both of them to attack the soul together is an impossible task, for one of them promises honor, and the other plunges into dishonor. Why, when one of them approaches and begins to bother you, you create in yourself the thoughts of a demon opposite to him, and if you are able, as they say, to knock out a wedge with a wedge, then know that you are close to the limits of dispassion, for your mind turned out to be strong human drive away demonic suggestions with thoughts. But, of course, to drive away the thought of vanity with humility, or with chastity the thought of fornication would be a sign of the deepest dispassion. Try to do this in relation to all demons that are opposite to each other. At the same time, you will find out which passion you are more filled with. However, with all your might, ask God to teach you and help you in the second way to drive away your enemies.
He appears before those who live well, and begins to proclaim their exploits and collect tributes of praise from people, imagining how demons being cast out scream, how wives are healed, how crowds of people crowd to touch his clothes; finally predicts the priesthood for him, brings to his door those who are looking for him, who, due to refusal, take him away bound against his will - and thus, having aroused empty hopes in him, he departs, leaving him to be further tempted either by the demon of pride, or by the demon sadness, which immediately gives him thoughts opposite to those hopes. It happens that he also hands over to the demon of fornication this venerable and holy priest not long before.
Of all the thoughts, only the thought of vanity is multi-objective, embracing almost the entire universe, and opening the door to all demons, like some evil traitor to some city. He robs the hermit’s mind and, filling it with many words and things, destroys his prayers, with which he strains to heal the wounds of his soul... From this thought the thought of pride is born, which casts down from heaven to earth the seal of likeness and the crown of kindness (Ezek. 28:12) . But jump away from it, without becoming rigid in it, so as not to betray our belly and our life to others to the unmerciful (Prov. 5:9). This demon is put to flight by fervent prayer and not doing anything arbitrarily or saying anything that leads to damned vanity.
When the hermit’s mind acquires a little dispassion, then, taking the horse of vanity, he begins to rush through the cities, uncontrollably intoxicated with praise and his glory. But, according to God's providence, having encountered the spirit of fornication and imprisoned him in some stable, he teaches him not to leave his bed before recovery and not to imitate those impatient patients who, still having remnants of the disease, set off on the road, or begin to go to baths and therefore fall into the same illnesses. Therefore, sitting in the cell, let us better pay attention to ourselves, so that, having succeeded in virtue, we may become motionless against evil, being renewed in knowledge, we will be worthy of many different contemplations, and rising in prayer, we will more clearly see the light of our Savior.
Venerable John of Carpathia
It happens sometimes that a vanity thought breaks through
It sometimes happens that during a meeting of the brethren the vainglorious thought of saying something at the wrong time breaks through. Angelic thoughts inspire themselves to drive away this chattering, timeless thought. So, if you do not drive him away with kind silence, but allow him to pass out, being pompous and arrogant, then you will have to suffer bad consequences from this, being righteously given over either to greater sin, or to some external sorrows, or to serious troubles on the part of the brethren, or torment in the next century, for we will give an account of the idle and vain word spoken through the unbridledness of the tongue. Therefore, we must carefully guard our language.
Venerable Joseph of Optina
It is impossible for vainglorious thoughts not to come
It is impossible for vain thoughts, like other bad thoughts, to come, but you just have to fight them and, with the help of God, drive them away. So you do, and continue to do so.
You write that you were in the Zosima Hermitage, sincerely confessed and received Holy Communion, felt good and thought that now you won’t be lazy. But soon after that I felt dryness, coldness, etc. You ask, did this really happen because I thought this and that? Yes, the dryness and coldness came about because I allowed myself to have arrogant thoughts: “I won’t be so distracted now” and so on.
Venerable Hilarion of Optina
During Matins you were overcome by vainglorious thoughts
You write that during Matins you were overcome by vainglorious thoughts, telling you that your treasury brought happiness to the monastery, that since you were the treasurer and the Bishop became merciful to Mother Abbess, and the matter of permission to build a chapel in Moscow was completed, that as if to counterbalance the fact that E.M. donated her tickets not to the monastery, but to the clergy, in reproach for the fact that you were appointed treasurer, and after that one collector brought money twice as much as usual. That you are ashamed of these thoughts. And you should be ashamed...
It is necessary to want others to live well, but one should not instruct them without asking questions; this can be a reason for vanity. Cutting off thoughts of vanity and boasting because God is most pleased with humility, but you don’t have it, therefore, you have nothing good, this is what you should do correctly.
