Discourse of the Same Father of Ours, Symeon the New Theologian, on the Three Methods of Prayer

By the same father of ours, Symeon the New Theologian, Discourse on the Three Methods of Prayer: three methods of attention and prayer, by which the soul is either raised and comes to success, or falls and perishes. And when it uses these three methods at their proper time, as is fitting, it comes to success; but when it uses them thoughtlessly and out of season, it falls. Therefore, attention must be so connected and inseparable from prayer, just as the body is inseparable and connected with the soul, so that one cannot live without the other. And attentiveness must go before and guard against enemies, like a watchman, and let it be the first to struggle against sin, and let it oppose the evil thoughts that come into the heart; after attention let prayer follow, which destroys and slays at once all those evil thoughts with which attentiveness first waged battle, but which it by itself could not slay. And on this time of battle of attention and prayer depends the life and death of the soul: if by attention we keep prayer pure, then we achieve success; if we do not care for its purity but leave it unprotected, then evil thoughts defile it, and we become unworthy and do not succeed. Since, as I have already said, there are three methods of attention and prayer, it is proper to explain also the characteristics of each method, so that he who wishes to be saved may choose the better and not the worse. On the First Method of Attention and Prayer. The characteristics of the first method are as follows: when someone, while standing in prayer, raises his hands, his eyes, and his mind to heaven, and imagines in his mind divine concepts, heavenly blessings, the ranks of holy angels, and the dwellings of the saints; in a word, he gathers in his mind everything he has heard from the Divine Scriptures and ponders it at the time of prayer, and looks to heaven, and by such thoughts excites his soul to desire and divine love, sometimes shedding tears and weeping. And thus, gradually, his heart begins to grow proud, without his intellect realizing it, and he thinks that what he does is through divine grace, in order to comfort him, and he prays to God that He would vouchsafe him to remain in this practice—and these are all signs of delusion, for good will not be good unless it is carried out well, as is proper. Therefore, such a person, even if he keeps silence in perfect quietude, cannot help but lose his mind and become insane; even if this does not happen to him, it is impossible for him ever to attain wisdom and achieve virtue or dispassion. Thus were led astray those who saw light and radiance with their physical eyes, and smelled fragrance with their sense of smell, and heard voices with their ears, and experienced other things similar to this. Some began to be possessed by demons because of this and, being insane, moved from place to place; others accepted a demon that appeared to them in the guise of an angel of light, and were deceived, and remained incorrigible until the end, accepting counsel from none of the brothers; some of them, instructed by the devil, killed themselves, others threw themselves into abysses, still others hanged themselves, and who can express the various devices of the devil by which he deceives, which are inexpressible? However, from this, as we have already said, every rational person can learn what harm this first method of attention and prayer brings. If it should happen that someone using this method suffers none of these evils of which I spoke, due to living together with the brethren (hermits suffer from this evil the most, because they live alone), such a person nevertheless spends his entire life without success. On the Second Method of Attention. The second method of attention and prayer is as follows: when someone collects his mind within himself, withdrawing it from all things of the senses, and guards his feelings, and gathers all his thoughts so that they do not wander among the vain affairs of this world; he now examines his thoughts, now listens to the words of the prayer he utters, and at one time gathers all his thoughts, taken captive by the devil and turned into evil and vain ones, and at another time, with great effort and necessity, returns to himself after having been overcome by some passion. And having such a struggle and battle within himself, he can never be at peace, nor find time to practice virtues and receive the crown of righteousness. Therefore, such a person is like a man who fights his enemies in the dark, when he both hears the voices of the enemies and receives wounds from them, but cannot clearly see who they are and where they came from, and how and why they fight against him. For the darkness in his mind and the storm in his thoughts cause him such losses, and he can never free himself from his mental enemies so that they do not crush him; and, undertaking such labor, he is deprived of reward, because he does not perceive how vainglory robs him; he has a high opinion of himself, that he is attentive, and often out of pride despises others and condemns them, and considers himself worthy in his dreams to be a shepherd of sheep and lead them; and he becomes like a blind man who tries to lead other blind men. This is the second method of attention, and it behooves everyone who desires salvation to watch carefully and recognize the harm it causes the soul. However, this second method is better than the first, just as a moonlit night is better than a moonless night. On the Third Method of Attention. The third method is indeed a most glorious thing, and it is not easy to explain it, and for those who do not know it, it is not only not easy to achieve, but sometimes completely impossible. Therefore, in these times we do not find such a method in many, and, in my opinion, such a benefit comes to us through obedience. For the obedience we show to our spiritual father makes everyone carefree. Such a person is already far from the passionateness of this world, and is a very good and non-lazy practitioner of this third method, if only he finds a teacher and a true spiritual father who has not strayed from the path and has no deceit in himself. So, when someone has given himself and all his sorrow to God and to his spiritual father, and by true obedience lives not for himself to do his own will, but has died to all worldly passions and to his body, what transitory thing can conquer and subdue such a person? Or what sorrow and trouble can such a person have? Thus, by this method, which is acquired through obedience, all demonic wiles and all their inventions, by which they strive to lead the mind to numerous and diverse thoughts, are destroyed; and then the mind of that person is freed from everything, and with great authority tests in a timely manner the thoughts sown by demons, and with great skill drives them away and with a pure heart offers his prayers to God. This is the beginning of true life, and those who do not make this beginning labor in vain and do not understand this. The beginning of this third method of attention is not in looking at the sky and raising hands, imagining heavenly things in one’s mind and asking for help from there—for these, as we said, are signs of the first method, close to delusion; nor is it in keeping one’s feelings in the mind and listening only to it, while failing to see and pay attention to the inner struggle inflicted on the soul by enemies—for these are signs of the second method, and he who follows them is overcome by demons, while he himself overcomes no one, receives wounds and does not know that he is falling into captivity and becoming a slave, unable to repay those who took him captive, whereas his enemies always openly and secretly rise up against him and make him vainglorious and proud. You, beloved, if you wish to be saved, must begin this third method with the following. Perfect obedience, of which I spoke, you must maintain towards your spiritual father and do all your deeds with a clean conscience, as before God. Without obedience, the conscience can never be clean; and your conscience in three things you must keep clean: first, towards God; second, towards your spiritual father; and third, towards other people and things. Towards God, you must keep your conscience clean, that is, not to do anything that is unpleasant to God and does not please Him. Towards your spiritual father, also do everything he tells you, neither more nor less than what is said, so that you walk according to his word and according to his will. As for other people, it behooves you to keep your conscience clean and not to do to them what you yourself do not like and do not want to be done to you. And also in things you must guard against abuse, that is, to use everything in a proper manner—food, drink, and clothing; in a word, you must do everything as before God, so that for no deed your conscience would reproach you and gnaw at you that you did not do well. And thus you will walk the true and undeceptive path of the third method of attention and prayer, which consists in this: let the mind guard the heart during prayer and let it always remain within it, and from there, that is, from the depths of the heart, let it send up prayers to God; and when within the heart it understands that the Lord is good, and is delighted, and will no longer leave the place of the heart, then it will say, like the Apostle Peter: “It is good for us to be here” (Matt. 17:4). And you will always look there, that is, inside the heart, and turn there, devising some way to drive away all thoughts that the enemy sows there. However, to those who know nothing of this saving work, it often seems difficult and incomprehensible. But those who have tasted its sweetness and delighted in it in the depths of their hearts will say together with the divine Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom. 8:35). Our holy fathers, knowing, as the Lord says in the Holy Gospel, that “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man” (Matt. 15:19-20), and knowing, as in another passage from the Gospel Christ commands us to cleanse “the inside of the cup” (Matt. 23:26) so that the outside may be clean also, left every other work and struggled in every way in this practice, that is, in the guarding of the heart, knowing for certain that together with this practice they would easily acquire every other virtue, but without it they could not acquire or retain any virtue. This work some of our fathers called silence of the heart, others attention, still others sobriety and opposition to thoughts, others the testing of thoughts and the guarding of the mind. All practiced it and by this were vouchsafed divine gifts, of which Ecclesiastes also says: “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth” and walk in the ways of thy heart blameless (Eccl. 11:9) and pure, and remove thy heart from thoughts. He also says: “If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place” (Eccl. 10:4) [in the translation of Khomenko: not the devil, but the noble—author’s note]. By saying “place”, he means the heart. And our Lord says in the Holy Gospel: “Neither be ye of doubtful mind” (Luke 12:29)—that is, do not wander with your mind here and there; and in another place He says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3)—that is, blessed are those who have not kept in their hearts a single thought about this world, but have become poor as to every worldly thought. And all our divine fathers wrote much about this, and whoever wishes to read their writings, let him see how much the ascetic Mark wrote, and how much Saint John Climacus said, and the venerable Hesychius, and Philotheus of Sinai, and Abba Isaiah, and the great Barsanuphius, and numerous others. In a word, he who does not guard his mind diligently cannot be pure in heart and be vouchsafed to see God. He who is not vigilant cannot be poor in spirit, cannot weep and mourn, or be meek and humble, or be merciful and a peacemaker, or be persecuted for righteousness’ sake; indeed, in general, it is impossible to acquire virtue in any other way than by such attention. Therefore, it behooves you most of all to care for it, so that you may experience in your own practice what I am talking about. If you wish to know also the method of how to do this, I will tell you this too, as far as possible—and you listen well. Three things you must keep first of all: first, not to care about any matter, whether important or unimportant and vain, that is, mortification to all this; second, to keep a clean conscience in everything, as we said, so that your conscience does not reproach you in any matter; and third, complete dispassion, so that your thought does not incline to the passion of any worldly thing. Then sit in some solitary and quiet place, alone in a corner, and shut the door, and gather your mind from every temporary and vain thing, also lower your beard to your chest and be attentive in your heart with your mind and your physical eyes, and hold your breath a little, and keep your mind there, and try with your mind to find the place where your heart is, let your whole mind be there; at first you will find there great darkness, and great blindness and hardness, later, when you keep attention thus unceasingly day and night, you will find—O wonder—unceasing joy. As soon as the mind that struggles in this finds the place of the heart, it will immediately see there such things as it has never seen and did not know. For it will see the air that is there, inside the heart, and all of itself—luminous and filled with all good understanding and discernment. And from then on, from wherever some thought should come or arise, before it enters and manifests itself, the mind immediately drives it away from there and destroys it by the name of Jesus, that is, with the words: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!” And from then on, the human mind acquires resentment and hatred towards demons, and unceasing struggle, and raises against them natural anger, chases them, strikes and destroys them. The rest that comes, you will know with God’s help when you learn yourself to keep your mind attentive and hold Jesus in your heart, that is, this prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ…” For one of the fathers says: “Sit in your cell, and it will teach you everything.” Question: Why is it impossible to achieve this by the first and second methods we spoke of? Answer: Because we do not perform them as is proper. For Saint John Climacus also compares these three methods to a ladder of four rungs and says: “Some suppress and diminish passions; others sing, that is, pray; still others practice mental prayer; and yet others ascend to contemplation. Therefore, let those who want to ascend these four rungs not undertake to go from top to bottom, but from bottom to top; let them step on the first rung, then on the second, then on the third, and afterwards on the fourth. Thus everyone can rise from the earth and ascend to heaven. First, one must struggle so that the passions are calmed and settled; second, one must practice psalmody, that is, that the lips pray; when the passions settle, then prayer by nature gives joy and delight to the tongue and is considered well-pleasing to God; third, let him pray mentally; and fourth, let him ascend to contemplation. The first concerns beginners, the second those who are progressing, the third those who have achieved the greatest success, and the fourth the perfect.” So, the beginning is nothing other than the diminution of passions, which will not diminish in the soul otherwise than by the guarding of the heart and attention. “For out of the heart,” as our Master says, “proceed evil thoughts” which defile a man (Matt. 15:19), and therefore it is necessary to guard the heart and attention. When the passions quiet down and diminish from the struggle and resistance that the heart wages against them, then the mind desires and seeks how to be reconciled with God, and thus multiplies prayer and practices it; and, strengthened by this desire and prayer, drives away all the thoughts around that try to enter the heart, striking them with prayer. And then there is a battle, the very disturbed evil demons fight and, by the action of passions, cause rebellion and a storm in the heart, but the name of Jesus Christ destroys and ruins them, as fire destroys wax. And again, when they are driven away and depart from the heart, they do not stop, but trouble the mind from without—by the external senses; and therefore very quickly the mind will feel quietness and silence within itself; but when they have no power to disturb the mind in the depths, they trouble it with dreams from without. Therefore, it is impossible to be completely free from struggle, so that these evil spirits do not attack. For this belongs to the perfect and to those who have completely withdrawn from everything and always remain with attention in the heart. He, therefore, who goes through this in order—each thing in its own time—can, having cleansed his heart from passions, practice psalmody completely, and oppose thoughts, and look up to heaven with physical eyes, and when it is necessary, see heaven with spiritual eyes, and pray purely in truth, as is proper. However, looking at the sky is proper only very rarely, out of fear of the evil spirits that are in the air, which is why they are called spirits of the air, for they cause numerous and diverse delusions in the air, so it behooves us to be vigilant. For God requires only this of us: that our heart be cleansed by guarding and attention. “For if the root be holy,” as the Apostle says, “so are the branches” (Rom. 11:16), and the fruit. He who does not do as we have said, but raises his eyes and his mind to heaven and wishes to imagine something mental, sees illusions and deceptive, rather than true, visions, because his heart is unclean. Often, as we have said, the first and second methods do not lead to success. When we want to build a house, we do not lay the roof first and then the foundations, because that is impossible; but first we build the foundations, then we erect the house, and only then do we lay the roof. So it behooves us to do also in spiritual work: first let us build the foundations, that is, let us guard the heart and diminish passions; then let us erect the spiritual house, that is, let us repel the attacks of the evil spirits who wage war against us through the senses, so that we may more quickly escape the battle with them; and then let us lay the roof, that is, let us completely withdraw from all things, so that we may be at peace, as is proper, and be completely united with God. Thus let us build the spiritual house in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to Whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Our holy father Gregory was tonsured a monk on Mount Sinai and was therefore called the Sinaite; he became famous during the reign of Andronicus. Around 1330 he came to Mount Athos and went around the monasteries and hermitages there, and saw many of them adorned with understanding and purity of customs, and diligent only in active work, but about the guarding of the mind and silence, vigilance and contemplation, they were not only untaught, but had not heard of such things at all. He came across only three in the skete of Magoula, which is opposite Philotheou (their names were Isaiah, Cornelius, and Macarius), who labored a little to acquire contemplation. Therefore, kindled by divine zeal, he taught sobriety and the guarding of the mind and mental prayer not only to those who lived in solitary silence, but also to those who lived the cenobitic life. And not only this, but he also established three great Lavras on the Macedonian coast and, having passed through numerous cities and regions, instructed everyone with his divine teachings on how to practice mental and unceasing prayer. And thereby he converted many sinners, and showed the unworthy to be worthy, and became the reason that they were vouchsafed the portion of the saved. His life, having witnessed it, was written in detail by Kallistos—the illustrious patriarch and his disciple. And just as in his life he was a glorious teacher of holy sobriety, so also after his death he leads to the same by his works. Best of all and most perfectly, he teaches the active method of heart and mental prayer and instructs on moral virtues and passions, and shows which are the signs of delusion and which of grace. And this work of his is very useful for beginners, for those in the middle, and for the perfect; the spiritual wealth hidden in it, whatever and how much it is, will be found by him who, not being lazy, reads it and will rejoice with indeed unspeakable joy when he finds it.