Того самого преподобного і богоносного отця нашого Ніла-посника Слово подвижницьке

Many Greeks, and many Jews, tried to make wise the very necessary and useful ascetic word of our venerable and god-bearing father Nilo the fasting person. But only Christ’s disciples achieved true wisdom. Because only they alone had Wisdom as a teacher, who in deed showed a life that was pleasing to this novice. Because the first ones, showing plays in the theater, decorated themselves with someone else’s likeness. It was in vain that they called themselves all-wise, not having true all-wise. They showed their wisdom with a chlamys, a beard and a wand, pleasing the body and serving lust like mistresses. They were slaves to the stomach and hypogastric sweets, having them as a natural thing. They obeyed anger and marveled at glory, greedily like dogs, leaping to rich meals, not knowing that a wise man likes to be free above all, and more to flee from passions, so as not to become their slave, than from being sold into slavery. I think nothing can harm the righteousness of one who has become a slave. And when he becomes a slave to passions, as if these are the greatest pleasures, he will experience great shame and will be ridiculed. Among them there are those who do not care at all about actions and think that they have learned verbal wisdom, having learned to talk about high things and tell about things that are hard to believe. They say that they know about the greatness of the heavens, and the size of the sun, and the movements of the stars, and sometimes they try to divine, even though this is already an immeasurable truth and difficult words; and they live even more dishonorably than pigs. Even though some of them were active, they became worse than the first, because they worked for glory and praise. Not for anything else, but for show and out of vanity, these wretched people invented many things and endured poverty and humiliation for a meager reward. Trying to always be silent, and to feed on potions, and to wear a hairdress, and to climb into a barrel and live in it is the greatest madness for those who do not expect any reward after death. For them, with this life, the reward of virtue ends, they have chosen a feat for which they will not receive crowns, and a constant struggle, devoid of honors and support, which brings nothing but sweat. Those Jews who chose such a life are the sons of Jonadab; they teach everyone who wants to live like this to live like this. They live in tents and abstain from wine and from everything that leads to lust (Jer. 35, 6), they eat simple food, and their needs are moderate. They strive very hard for moral skills and are often in contemplation. Hence their name – Essenes. Simply put, they have the intention of attaining wisdom through deeds that do not contradict their vow. But what is the benefit to them of exploits and a life full of toil, when they killed Christ’s Sustainer, and because of this, their city perishes for toil. They rejected the one who distributes honors and gives eternal life, therefore they sinned against wisdom. Wisdom is the arrangement of customs with the thought of true knowledge of the Deity.Against this, both the first and the second – the Jews and the Greeks – sinned, because they rejected the Wisdom that came to them from heaven, and dared to practice wisdom without Christ, who alone showed true wisdom in word and deed. Because he was the first to open the way to it with his life, showing how to live cleanly, keeping the soul higher than bodily passions. And in the end, he despised her too, when the salvation of people, which he arranged, required death. With this, He showed how one should practice wisdom to those who want to practice wisdom correctly, that is, to renounce all the pleasures of life, to valiantly overcome labor and passions, disdaining the body. To have an honest soul and to give it zealously, when for the sake of virtue one would have to give one’s life. Having learned this, the holy apostles imitated His life. And when He called them all, they renounced their lives and, disdaining their homeland, family, property, took upon themselves a hard and hard life, went through all the hardships, suffered wrongs and insults, were persecuted, naked, did not even have the necessary things, and then they were not afraid to go to death, imitating the Teacher in everything and showing with their lives how to live best. However, the Christians who were supposed to live according to this model either could not or did not want to follow it. Only a few managed to detach themselves from the worldly turmoil and avoid the storm that exists in the cities, and, thus finding themselves outside the hustle and bustle, they welcomed a secluded life, imitating the apostolic virtue, instead of accumulating wealth they chose non-acquisition, in order to mortify the passions they preferred simple food to refined food, satisfying the needs of the body with a small amount of food; scorned soft garments as a useless invention of human voluptuousness, and put on plain clothes to cover the body only; they thought that it would be unwise to care about earthly things and about animals that live without labor instead of heavenly things; they did not know ornaments that would be beyond human passions; there was no one among them who would give or take usury; there were no judges or defendants in them – everyone had his own conscience as an incorruptible judge; there were no richer or poorer; it never happened that one was torn apart by hunger, and the other by gluttony; the need of the poor was met by the generosity of those who had plenty. And there was equality and the same life, because inequality was banished by the fact that the wealthy voluntarily shared with the poor. But even then there was no equality, because the zeal of those who wanted to humble themselves again led to inequality, as it does now to the inequality of those who want to be famous. Then envy was thrown out, hatred was driven away, vanity was removed, pride was destroyed, all causes of unrest were banished – they became as if dead and insensible to the increase of passions, not accepting dreams about them even in their dreams, because from the very beginning they turned away from memories of them and got used to it through daily effort and patience.They simply became lamps that shine in the darkness, and unquenchable stars that illuminate the dark night of life, and defenders of shelters that show how one can avoid the onslaught of passions without harming oneself. But even this harsh life and stay in heaven is like an image that is carelessly drawn and slowly reduced so that it ceases to resemble itself. Those who crucified themselves for the world, and rejected the worldly life, and renounced to live as other people, and strived to achieve the dispassion of the fleshless, turned back, darkening with worldly tours and dishonorable possessions the whole world of those who led a good life. On those who could be praised for their virtue, they bring shame by their inattention. Although we still keep our hand on the plow, we are not capable of the Kingdom of God, because we look back (Lk. 9, 62) and carefully keep in our memory what we should have forgotten. We don’t care about what is needed in life, and we don’t look for comfort – which is very useful in order to distance ourselves from ancient defilements. We take care of things that are not useful for our true intention, and petitions for earthly things defeat saving instructions. The Lord persuaded us in every possible way not to worry about earthly things and commanded us to seek “the first Kingdom of God” (Mt. 6:33), but we went in the opposite direction, neglected the Lord’s commandments and, retreating from His providence, put our hope in our own hands. The Lord told us: “Look at the birds of the sky: they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them!” And also: “Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not toil and do not spin” (Mt. 6, 26, 28). And he commanded not to take “any bag for the journey, nor clothes for two, nor shoes, nor a staff” (Mt. 10:10), but to live only by that unchanging promise, which he expressed when he sent the apostles to preach: “A worker is worthy of his maintenance” (Mt. 10:10), knowing that such a promise is more certain in the pursuit of what we need, than our petitions. And we, when we can buy some land, we do not refuse; we buy herds of sheep and plow oxen, beautiful in appearance, and well-fed donkeys, so that we can generously shear wool from the sheep when needed, and use the oxen to work in the fields and obtain food for ourselves and feed them and other animals, and donkeys – to carry burdens and bring from other countries goods that are not available in our country, so that we can prepare food and thus enjoy our life. And we choose the most profitable crafts, which do not give us time to remember God at all, drawing all attention to ourselves. It seems that we are condemning either the German sword of the Industrialist or ourselves for the first blow. Although we do not say this in words, we show it in our actions, rejoicing in the lives of the laity, when we think the same as they do.Perhaps we work even more for them and even consider piety to be an asset, and think that the ancient silent and blissful life serves for nothing else than to avoid hard service and gain the freedom of pleasure through feigned piety, and unhindered, with great shamelessness, rush to what we want, being proud in front of ordinary people, and sometimes in front of nobles, as if a virtuous life prompts us to arrogance, and not to humility and meekness. Therefore, those to whom we are supposed to be fathers look at us as simpletons, we are ridiculous to foreigners and to all people, because there is nothing in us that would distinguish us from everyone else. We want to be recognized not by our deeds, but by our appearance, we refuse the labors necessary to acquire virtues, but instead we madly desire glory, showing in ourselves a shadow of the former truth. And now some have taken on this venerable image, and have not yet washed away the filth of their soul, and have not erased the imprints of ancient sins in their thoughts, and maybe even shamelessly dream about them, and have not yet prepared to fulfill their vows with their customs, and have not yet learned what the intention of a wise man according to God is, but have already frowned, like a Pharisee, and magnanimously over their appearance, and everywhere he carries a weapon that he has not learned to wield, shows by his appearance a knowledge that he has not learned in the least, and becomes not a shelter, but a stumbling block, not a temple – but a whitewashed tomb, not a sheep – but a wolf that pushes those brought to destruction. When such people run away from monasteries because they do not want to endure the rigors of life, and feast in the cities, then, driven by the needs of the stomach, they bow their heads and assume a pious appearance in order to seduce others, and are ready to do anything to satisfy the needs of the body. Because there is nothing stronger than physical necessity, it will make you find access to the inaccessible, especially when idleness is added to it. Having learned their cunning plans, they, like vermin, resort to the houses of the rich, run to them at the markets, almost like bought slaves, disperse people passing by in order to make a free way for the rich. And they do this in order to beg for a meal, because they did not learn to restrain their lust and did not want to carry a shovel under their belt, as Moses commanded (Deuteronomy 23, 14). Because if they had learned self-restraint, they would have known that hunger becomes the limit of enjoying food, and a simple meal, satisfying the need of the body, hides the nothingness of an untimely desire. That is why the name of God is heavily blasphemed, the desired life becomes very vile, and the gains of those who live truly virtuously are mistaken. Cities are filled with those who wander in vain, bothering the owners of houses, and even the sight of those who sit at the gates shamelessly like beggars is unpleasant to them. And many of them were taken into houses, and at first they feigned the virtues of the left and hid evil thoughts, and then they robbed the owners and left, so that their whole life seems dishonorable. They are expelled from the cities as destroyers, and they were once completely destroyed. They are hated as impure and possessed by leprosy.And robbers and robbers who undermine walls are more trusted than those who live a different life, because it is better to beware of someone who openly plots a trick than of someone who inspires trust, but secretly plots evil. They did not even begin a pious life and did not know what profit there is from silence, perhaps due to some need, they recklessly came to the life of someone else and look at it as an opportunity to acquire everything they need. I think it would be more honest if they did not go to every door, were ashamed to collect rich alms, but only accepted what was necessary for the body. But in them, the immeasurable desire increases the desire for delicious food, which is why it is difficult to heal the terminally ill. Who and in what words will be able to explain to the sick what health is, when they have never been healthy, but are brought up from diapers in a disease that relaxes them, and by habit think that their rotten insides are no different from real natural forces. Every word will be superfluous if the listeners themselves reach for the worst and counter with useful words, and most of all when the hope of pleasures inflames desire and passion makes them deaf to all advice, therefore advice about the whole world does not find entrance when the thought is turned to the desire for filthy acquisitions. Christ, why are we bound again by worldly petitions? Why do we build poorly what we first destroyed well? Why do we join the evil counsels of those who live unworthily in their rank, and by our pleas for vain things inflame the desires of the weak, and become for the inexperienced a way to gain? The Lord commanded us to treat those who are inclined to backslide and to serve them what is useful, and not what pleases us, so that we do not follow our own desires, and do not push the simple to stumble, and do not teach them to care about earthly things. Why do we consider as something great those things that we have learned to despise? Why do we worry about wealth and possessions and scatter our minds on numerous and various requests? Begging for them takes us away from the necessary attentiveness, teaches us not to care about spiritual goods and leads to a great destruction of those who enjoy wealth for great bliss. Those who promised to be wise and boast that they have become above pleasures rush to satisfaction faster than the laity. Nothing leads so inevitably to torment as to make many imitators of one’s wicked deeds. The death of those who follow the villain gives him more patience. And those who did not reject the inheritance will face considerable condemnation, because they learned from the teacher of evil deeds, and those who, thanks to a generally bad idea, escaped from the shameful science, avoided him. Therefore, let no one be embarrassed by what has been said, but let him correct what, due to the negligence of many, was a sin and shame for the monks, or let him renounce monasticism. When it is necessary to be wise, accumulation is for yvi, because a wise man renounces even his body for the sake of the purity of his soul.When some are very eager to acquire property and experience pleasures, they honor wisdom with words, but with deeds they are alienated from it, they refuse the works of the vow, but they adorn themselves with honorable names? Are we not ashamed when the lesser ones, whom we call the laity, reproach us that we violate the commandments of the Savior, and those whom we should teach teach us? When we quarrel, they say: “A servant of the Lord should not be quarrelsome, but friendly to everyone”; when we argue about property or money, they will remind us: “Whoever wants to argue with you and take your clothes, give him your cloak as well” (Mt. 5, 40). What else can they do but rebuke, laugh and mock when they see our deeds that contradict our vows? There is no need to quarrel with someone who encroaches on our property, and do everything that property concerns require. Someone dismantled the fence of the vineyard and added a part of your vineyard to his, another let his cattle into your field and diverted the water that flowed into your garden to one side – is it necessary to be angry or furious because of this, to become worse than a madman, to prepare revenge for them all. Is it suitable for the condition, which should be practiced in the contemplation of things, to be attached to judgments and to turn the power of contemplation to a cunning trick, in order to gain success in earthly things that are not at all useful for us. Why do we appropriate other people’s things, arranging for ourselves the heavy shackles of matter and not listening to the one who rebukes such things. “Woe to him,” says the prophet, “who accumulates what does not belong to him, and who burdens himself with pledges?” (Av. 2, 6). Those who persecute us are not burdened by anything, according to the word of the prophet: “Those who chased us were fiercer than the eagles under the sky” (Pl. Jer. 4, 19). And we burden ourselves with worldly things, that is why we move more slowly, and it is easier for enemies to catch us. The apostle Paul taught us to flee from them, saying: “Flee from [grabbing]” (1 Cor. 6, 18). Sometimes even those who are in good condition hurry to honor, when they do not hurry with all their might, the enemies catch up with them, because they move much faster. A great obstacle for those who hasten to virtue is the passion for worldly things, which prepares soul and body for great destruction. What killed Na utei the Israelite? Wasn’t the vineyard, arousing the envy of Ahab’s neighbor, the cause of Ahab’s death? (1 Tsar. 21, 7-8) Why did two and a half tribes remain outside the promised land? Is it not because of the numerous cattle? What separated Abraham and Lot? Are there not many sheep and quarrels between the shepherds, which even divided them with each other? (Gen. 13, 7). When, therefore, property not only inflames the envy of the envious, but also diverts the owners of property from the best impulses, and breaks family ties, and incites enmity between friends, and has nothing to do with the future life, and does not bring much benefit in the present, then why, moving away from the service of God, do we all become vain? We are not in control of our lives. God arranges it, and human zeal, if it does not receive God’s help, will not complete its undertakings. And God’s providence provides perfect benefits even without human help.What is the use of jealousy for those to whom God will say: “You sowed much, but gathered little… I scattered it [from your hands]” (Hagg. 1, 6.9)? Did those who lived virtuously and didn’t care at all miss something that was indispensable? Didn’t Israel feed in the desert for forty years (Exod. 16:35), without consuming any fruits of agriculture? And they did not need food, because the sea unexpectedly gave them food, releasing quails from itself (Numbers 11, 31), and the sky fed them with manna – unusual and strange rain. The dry stone, opening up, gave generous streams of water, and the clothes and shoes served all the time and did not tear. And did Elijah have to plow the land and feed on its fruits, didn’t the crows bring him food (1 Sam. 17, 6)? And when he came to Sarepta, didn’t the widow, who lacked even what was necessary, give him bread, tearing it from the mouths of her children, to show that virtue is greater than nature? And this is very wonderful, but not so difficult. When God wants, you can do without food. How did Ilya pass the forty-day journey, eating only once? How did Moses pray to God on the mountain for eighty days and did not eat any human food (Deuteronomy 9, 18)? When the forty days had passed, he came down from the mountain and was angry that the people had poured out the golden calf. He immediately broke the tablets, and returned again to the mountain, and, having stayed on the mountain again for forty days, received the second tablets, and again descended to the people (Deuteronomy 10, 4). What human thought can imagine the reason for this miracle? How did the weak physical nature hold fast for so long, if its strength was daily depleted and was not replenished? The Divine Word explains this miracle when it says: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt. 4, 4). Why, therefore, do we throw heavenly citizenship to the ground, delving into the worries of earthly things, and why does the one “who was brought up in purple” “crouch in dung” (Pl. Jer. 4, 5), as the prophet Jeremiah once said, sobbing over some. When we ascend to God with bright and ardent thoughts, then we feed on purple, but when, abandoning such an order, we interfere with earthly things, then we are clothed in dung. Why, having abandoned hope in God, do we rely on our own strength and attribute the Lord’s providence to our hands. And we do what Job called a great sin, when he “kissed [his] hand with his mouth” (Job 31:27). Now we are not afraid to do so. Many follow the custom of kissing their hands and say that this brings them prosperity. This is what the law figuratively says about them: “Every four-legged thing that walks on four legs will be unclean to you… anything that crawls on four or many legs… it is an abomination” (Lev. 11,

27.42). The one who relies on his hands and has all his hope in them walks on four legs, the one who trusts in sensual things and constantly turns his mind to them walks on all fours. He who holds fast to those woods walks on many legs. Therefore, the wise storyteller wants the perfect to have not two legs, but one, and that it should not often move towards bodily things. “Keep the nogusva from your friend’s house, so that he does not become overfed with you, and does not displease you.” Those who do not often turn to Christ for the needs of the body belong to those friends about whom the Savior speaks to the disciples: “You are my friends” (John 15:14). And those who do it often become hated. What will he experience and how will he not become hated, who endlessly thinks only about his own needs and will not rise to a bad life in any way? And he will not get up until he has legs to lift himself off the ground. Because the lower legs take the weight of the body, bend a little to the ground and help jump up. This is also the case with thought, which distinguishes the nature of things. When he humbles himself with regard to the needs of the body, he immediately sends up a light meditation and does not add to it anything of corruptible thoughts. Not very voluptuous, and those who do not tear themselves away from the earth at all, can have straight homilics, but holy forces can also have them, because they never need anything corporeal and do not agree to it. The great Ezekiel says about this in the following words: “Their legs were straight, and the soles of the feet were like the soles of a calf” (Ezek. 1:7), which means unshakable thought and quick movement in striving for those conditions of beings. And it is enough for a person to have legs that bend, and to use them sometimes for physical needs, and sometimes for spiritual exercises that lead upwards. Due to such affinity of the soul with evil forces, it often ascends to them, and through the body it cares about earthly things as much as there is a need. To always seek that which leads to pleasure is not a clean deed and is indecent for a person who has received blessed knowledge. The law determined that a creature that walks on all fours is unclean if it always walks on all fours. This gives an opportunity to those in the body to take care of the needs of the body. When Jonathan fought with the Ammonite Naas (1 Sam. 14, 13) and passed on four, then he won, because he served only a natural need. After all, when he fought with a snake (this is how the name Naas is translated), which crawls on his chest, he was forced to resemble it, crawling for a while on all fours, and then, straightening up in his righteousness, he could more easily defeat him. And does not the story about Ishbaal (2 Sam. 4, 1) command us not so much to sweat about the body and not to trust our senses? Ishbaal was a king, and he was sleeping on his bed once, and he ordered a woman to guard the door. When Rahab and Baanai came, they saw that the keeper, having cleaned the wheat, had fallen asleep. Then they entered the house and killed Ishbaal (2 Sam. 4, 7). This means that when the mind, soul, and senses attend to bodily things, then they are asleep.The fact that the janitor cleaned the wheat means turning one’s mind to bodily things – and not simply, but with an effort to keep them clean. And that the Scriptures tell us this story not just like that, but to teach us, it can be seen from this: why did the king order a woman to guard him, when he was supposed to be guarded by armor-bearers and he was surrounded by all dignity? Was the king so poor that a woman cleaned wheat? Something incomprehensible is often added to the story, which means the truth. The mind of each person is like a king, inside, and thought serves as his gatekeeper. When she trusts in those easy things – and the cleaning of wheat indicates bodily things – then it is easy for enemies to sneak up and kill the mind. That is why the great forefather Abraham did not trust a woman to guard the entrance, because he knew that the sense is easy to mislead, it enjoys the vision of sensual things, divides the mind and persuades it to taste pleasures, even though it is clearly visible that this pleasure will cause harm. Abraham himself sits on a hundred faces, opening the entrance to divine thoughts and closing the door to worldly petitions. What is the benefit to us in life from this vain work? Didn’t the preacher say that “all a man’s work is for the mouth” (Ecclesiastes 6, 7), and didn’t the apostle say that “having food and clothing, they will be satisfied with these” (1 Tim. 6, 8). Why do we endlessly do something and work “in the wind” (Eccl. 5, 15), as Solomon says? Striving for the earthly, we forbid souls to enjoy divine benefits and, loving the flesh and caring for it more than is necessary, we make it our enemy. And then we cannot avoid fighting with her, because she will fight harder against the soul due to excessive care and will not allow her to win honors and crowns. What is the need of the body that forces us to spread our desires so far? The body needs bread and water. Don’t the fountains give us plenty to drink? But is it so difficult for those who have hands to earn their living? You can earn enough bread for yourself with such labors that do not exhaust us. Do you have to work so hard to earn money for clothes? It is not necessary, if our clothes serve a common need, and not pride. Did the first man dress in soft clothes, cotton or purple, or wear luxurious robes? Didn’t the Creator order her to dress in clothes made of skin and feed on potions (Gen. 3, 21)? Having commanded in this way, He set limits on the needs of the body and pushed far away the current intemperance of man. I do not say that even now he will feed and clothe us, who feeds the birds of the sky and clothes the lilies of the field with such glory. Because in this you cannot convince those who have strayed so far from such a belief. But when someone lives virtuously and asks for something, won’t it be given to him? When even the Babylonian barbarians, who captured Jerusalem in the battle, respected the virtue of Jeremiah and gave him everything needed for the body, not only food, but also the dishes normally used for eating, then won’t the countrymen who cleansed their thoughts from barbarism to understand the good and diligently take care of virtues respect the virtuous life?And when they themselves could not, due to the weakness of nature, fulfill the virtues, they respect the virtuous life and marvel at its ascetics. Who taught the Shunammite woman to build Elisha’s sanctuary and put “tables, chairs and a lampstand” there (2 Kings 4, 10)? Isn’t it Eliseyev’s virtue? And what prompted the widow, when famine raged throughout the country, to put the service of the prophet above her own needs (2 Kings 17, 12)? Truly, if she had not been captivated by Ilya’s wisdom, she would not have taken away from herself and her children a little joy in life, and would not have given him, and would not have hospitably fed a stranger, but would have chosen a premature and quick death. They [Elijah and Elisha] were made such by their bravery, unrelenting labor and contempt for worldly things. Having acquired poverty and demanding nothing even in it, they resembled incorporeal forces. Therefore, although unknown and not glorified by bodily works, they were stronger than the rulers. They spoke so boldly to those who are crowned with royal crowns, as they did not dare to speak even to their subjects. What weapon and what power did Elijah rely on when he said to Ahab: “I am not the one who is troubling Israel, but you and your family” (1 Sam. 18, 18)? How did Moses begin to compete with Pharaoh with nothing but virtue? As Elisha, when the army gathered for battle, and there were two kings, one Israeli and the other Jewish, said to Joram: “As surely as the Lord of hosts lives, I serve Him, if I had not weighed Jehoshaphat, the king of the Jews, I would not have looked at you or looked at you” (2 Kings 3, 14), – neither the assembled soldiers nor the king were afraid anger And the king, perhaps, had some foolish intention, and his thoughts were disturbed by military exploits. But can a king do something like virtue does? What crimson parted the river like Elijah’s cloak? What diadem healed diseases like the clothes of the apostles? The prophet alone rebuked the law-breaking king, who was with the whole army. And because the king was angry at the rebuke, he stretched out his hand to the rock – and did not catch it, and his hand withered, and he could not hold it close to his body (1 Tsar. 13, 4). This is how virtue and royal power competed. And virtue won. It was not the prophet who fought, but virtue overthrew the enemy. The ascetic did nothing – faith acted. The tsar’s rivals witnessed the feat. And the hand became a witness of the victory of virtue. They did so because they chose life for the soul, and turned away from the body and those easy needs. The fact that they had no need for anything made them superior to everything. For they would rather leave the body and be freed from life in the body, than choose honors instead of virtue and for the sake of the needs of the body flatter someone from among the rich. And we, when we need something, stop valiantly doing a feat to sorrows, and – like dogs that merrily wag their tails and flatter those who give them a bone or crumbs – so we run to the rich, calling them our benefactors and guardians of Christianity. We attribute all kinds of virtues to them, even if they live extremely dishonorably, just to get what we want. We do not follow the lives of the saints, whose virtues we supposedly imitate.Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, came to Elisha (2 Kings 5:1) and brought numerous gifts with him. And what is a prophet? Have you met him? Did you rush to him? Was it not through one young man that he explained what should be done, and did not even accept him himself, so that he would not think that the healing happened because of his offering. This is said so that we do not learn pride and flatter those who love what we promise to despise. Why do we, abandoning the intentions of the wise man, care about farming and buying? Is our petition something great before God? And the effort to cultivate the land is a joint business. Man with his efforts plows the earth and sows the grain, and God waters it with timely rains and arranges for its roots to grow in the soft earth. The sun shines and warms the earth, and its heat gives growth to plants. God sends the breaths of the wind depending on the age of the fruits: thin breaths of the wind blow on the green field so that the sown does not burn from the scorching wind, stronger gusts of the wind bring the milky juice of the grains to ripeness, when the grain is threshed – the necessary heat comes, and when they blow – moderate winds. If only one thing were missing, human labor would be in vain and our diligence would be empty, not sealed by God’s gifts. It often happens that nothing necessary for a good harvest is missing, but an untimely downpour falls – and destroys an ear of corn that has not yet been threshed or even a clean, threshed wheat in time. And sometimes, even in the silos, the worm will destroy it, as if taking ready food from the mouth. So where is our effort and what is its use, when God holds the soap in his hands and does everything and brings it down as he wants? Some will say that a weak body needs comfort. But how much better to die than to do something contrary to the vow. Of course, when God wants us to live, he will either give strength to the body, so that it can bear the labor of the feat and accept the crown for valor, or he will find a way to comfort the one who is exhausted, and the Source of reward for strength will not end ingenuity. It is good, beloved, very good to descend to the ancient bliss and live as the ancients lived. I think that it will be easy for everyone who wants it. If you have to work hard, then this work will not be fruitless, the good fame of the predecessors and the success of the successors will be rewarded by it. Those who started this life and left their successors with an example of a refined life – an encouragement to the weak – will have a lot of success. Therefore, let us avoid staying in cities and villages, so that those who are in cities and villages come to us. Let us love the desert, so that, if it pleases someone, we can attract to us those who are now fleeing from us. Because it is written with praise about some that they left the cities, lived among the rocks, “like doves from the valleys” (Eze, 7, 16); and John the Baptist lived in the desert, “and all who lived in the cities went out to him” (Mark 1:5). Those dressed in silk came out to look at his leather belt. Those who had gilded houses chose to talk in the open air. Those who had luxurious beds decorated with precious stones preferred to rest on the sand.All this was within their power, although it was against their customs, because the desire to see relieved their sense of sorrow; the labor of a hard life was relieved by the miracle of virtue. So virtue is more honest than wealth and a silent life is more glorious than many possessions. How many rich people there were in those days and those who greatly desired fame – and there is not a word about them anywhere, but the miracle of the infamous is sung to this day, and the memory of the desert dweller is pleasant for everyone. The ever-singing praise of virtue sends a message that proclaims its beauty. Therefore, let us renounce pastoralism in order to accept the shepherd’s rank, let us leave the despised trade in order to acquire a precious pearl, let us avoid cultivating the land, which will give birth to thorns and thistles, so that we may become guardians of paradise. Let us reject everything and choose a silent life to shame those who are now mocking our conquest. Nothing shames mockers like the correction and meekness of those who have been mocked. The change of the mocked becomes a shame for the scoffers. I think it is shameful and truly shameful that all of us are rightly mocked. Now someone comes to a different life, only learns about the customs of the feat, that is, how to pray, and when, and what are the rules of common life – and immediately becomes a teacher, although he has not studied, and attracts many students to himself, although he himself still has to learn. And the more he does this, the more convenient this work seems to him, because he does not know that the most difficult of all works is the petition for souls, which need first of all to be cleansed from ancient impurities, and then great care, so that the skills of virtues are imprinted in them. And who knows nothing more than bodily feats, how he will correct the dispositions of his subordinates, how he will change the accustomed to evil customs? How will he help those who are overcome by passions when he does not know mental struggle at all? Or how will he heal the wounds received in battle, when he himself is still wounded and in need of bandages? To master any art, it takes a lot of time and study. Only the art of arts is taken up without learning. An inexperienced person will not dare to cultivate the land, a person who has not learned the art of medicine will not undertake to treat the sick. Because otherwise he will be reproached for not only not helping the sick, but also increasing their pain, and the first will be reproached for having devastated the good land and because of him it was overgrown with weeds. And the uneducated approach divinity as if it were the easiest thing, supposedly easy for many. Even the apostle Paul says that he has not yet reached perfection (Philippians 3:12), and they claim that they have come to know exactly what they do not know at all. That is why the monastic life is not respected now, and those who go through it are treated with contempt by everyone. Who does not laugh, seeing the one who yesterday carried water to the tavern, how today he teaches virtues and is surrounded by students; or one who has recently withdrawn from all worldly affairs, and now proudly passes with a crowd of disciples through the whole market. If they knew for sure that it is a great work to guide others to piety, and they would see how dangerous this work is, they would have given up on it, as something beyond their strength.But while they do not know this and think that it is a great glory to be abbots over others, they voluntarily fall into the pit and think that it is so easy to jump into the burning furnace, and they call out the laughter of those who know their previous life, and they anger God with such audacity. If nothing freed the priest Eli from the wrath of God: neither honest old age, nor previous daring, nor priestly dignity, because he neglected the upbringing of children – what will save from God’s wrath those who, by their previous deeds, did not incline God to themselves and do not know the signs of sin, nor the way to correct themselves, but without proper skill, they undertake this difficult work for the sake of glory? That is why the Lord, calling the teachers Pharisees: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who cross sea and land to buy one new convert, and when you find him, you make him worthy of hell, twice worse than you” (Mt. 23, 15), warns with this reproach those who are to come after them and fall into the same sins. So that they listen to the word “grief” and restrain their untimely desire for human glory, reflecting on their martyrdom. Let them learn from Job to take care of their subordinates as he did, or to abandon this government when they do not know how to do as he did, or do not want to take care of their subordinates. Because if he, wanting his children to be clean from all mental filth, offered sacrifices for them every day, saying: “Perhaps my children have sinned and blasphemed God in their hearts” (Job 1:5), then how can those who do not know how to distinguish even obvious sins, because their thinking is still clouded by the struggle with passions, undertake to teach others and heal others, when they have not yet recovered from their passions, they cannot teach others to win with their victory? At first it is good to fight the passions and with great prudence to remember what happens in battle, and then to teach others from their own experience so that it will be easier for them to win the victory when they know how to fight. There are such ascetics who conquered the passions with great firmness of life and did not know how they won the victory, because they fought as if at night and did not consider the enemy’s tricks in their minds. This was illustrated by Joshua, who with his army crossed the Jordan at night and ordered to take a stone from the river (Is. Nav. 4, 5). From the stones he ordered a pillar placed on the bank to be whitewashed and written on how the army crossed the Jordan, signifying by this that it is necessary to reveal the secret thoughts of a passionate life, explain them to everyone and not envy the knowledge of others, so that not only the one who crossed over knew how to cross over, but so that those who wanted to cross over could do it more easily, you learned. But those teachers do not see this and do not hear how others tell them about it. They stand firm in their position and command the brethren as mercenaries, desiring great glory because they teach many.And each of them wants to lead no fewer slaves than the other, although they are more like merchants than teachers. When they think that it is an easy thing to command with words, even if they command something difficult, and they do not even try to teach with deeds, then it is clear from this that they are looking for their own pleasure, and not for the benefit of their students, and they accept teaching in order to satisfy their passion. Let them, if they wish, learn from Gideon and Abimelech that it is not the word, but the deed that prompts subordinates to follow. Abimelech, having cut down a branch and thrown it on his shoulders, said to the people: “What I have done, you also do” (Judges 9, 48). And Gideon, teaching everyone what to do, does it himself, and says: “Look at me and do as I do” (Judg. 7, 17). And the apostle says about himself: “My needs and those who are with me were served by otsiruk” (Acts 20, 34). And the Lord himself first did, and then taught. Don’t they convince you that not words are more reliable for learning, but deeds? But these teachers pretend not to notice these patterns and arrogantly dictate what should be done. And when they hear something like that, they carry a sword on their shoulders, like the shepherds whom the prophet reprimanded for their ineptitude (Zech. 11, 17). That is why their shoulder withers and their right eye goes blind. Because a good deed abandoned because of pride extinguishes itself and extinguishes the light of the eyes. This will be experienced by those who give cruel and inhuman orders as soon as they take power into their hands. In them, contemplative thoughts, which belong to correct thoughts, quickly die out, and therefore action, deprived of contemplation, dies. And those who have a sword on their shoulder, and not “at their side” (Exodus 32, 27), cannot do or see anything. Those who cut their own passions with a word carry a sword at their side, and on their shoulders – those who quickly punish the sins of others. Similarly, Ammonium Nahash (which means “snake”) (1 Sam. 11, 2) threatens the discerning Israel that he will blind everyone’s right eye so that no one has a single right thought that would lead to the right action of the one who acquired it. Nahash knew that the transition from contemplation to action becomes a great success, because the action of such people occurs without any defilement, because they foresee it with the sharp vision of their eyes. And it is known from experience that the teaching of others is undertaken by frivolous people who have no benefit from solitude. For the one who has begun the feat of silence and has learned contemplation will not want to bind the mind with worldly concerns, to distance it from contemplation and from the heights where it comprehends many things, to reduce it to earthly things. This is what is said in the well-known parable that Jotham told us from the village of Shechem: “Once upon a time, the trees set out on a journey to anoint a king over them (Judges 9:8). And they said to the vine: Come, reign over us! (Judges 9:12). And the grape also says to them: Shall I neglect my delicious fruit, which pleases God and people, and go swaying over the trees? (Judg. 9, 13, 11)”. So the fig tree refused, because its fruit is sweet, and the olive – because its fruit is fat. Then the thistle – a barren and thorny tree – began to reign over them (Judg.9, 15), it did not have fatness either in itself or in subordinate trees. The parable tells that the king was not asked for paradise trees, but forest trees. For both the grape and the fig tree and the olive tree refused to reign over the trees of the forest, rejoicing more in their fruit than in the dignity of the kingdom. Thus, those who see in themselves some fruit of virtue and feel benefit from it, even though many people force them to become a teacher, refuse, preferring the benefit of their soul to the honors of the teacher. And what the thorn from the parable promised to do with the trees, the same thing happens with people who take on such obligations. Because it is said that “fire will burst out of the thorn and devour” (Judg. 9, 15) the trees of the forest, or fire will burst out of the trees and devour the thorn. When an unprofitable covenant is made, then trouble falls on those who have obeyed an inexperienced teacher, and on those who have taken upon themselves the burden of teaching through disobedience of students. Because the teacher’s inexperience destroys the students. And the carelessness of the students brings trouble to the teacher, especially when the students become weaker because of his ignorance. You cannot hide anything from the teacher that serves to correct the students, and the students should not ignore any of the teacher’s orders. Trouble will be for the students and the teacher: for the students – when they do not obey the teacher, and for the teacher – when he does not see the students’ transgressions. Let the teacher not think that the work of teaching will bring him joy and satisfaction; the most difficult thing is to manage souls. Those who manage livestock have herds in front of them, which do not oppose them in anything, so their efforts bring great success. It is much more difficult to teach people, because each person has a different temperament, and the cunning of the heart is added to it. He who undertakes teaching likes to strengthen himself as he who goes on a difficult feat, so that with great ruthlessness he will bear the sins of everyone and teach everything that they do not know. Therefore, the font in the temple is carried on the backs of oxen, and the lamp must be solid and polished. A lamp shines for others, therefore all its parts must be solid and nothing in it should be light, or empty, or superfluous – useless to those for whom it is a model of a blameless life. The oxen holding the font mean that the one who accepts the work of teaching cannot refuse anything, but must bear the burdens and filth of the younger ones, as long as it does not pose a danger to him. After all, whoever wants the deeds of those who come to him to be cleansed must himself touch some kind of impurity. Because even the basin, which cleanses the hands of those who wash, takes their dirt into itself. Likewise, he who talks about passions and cleanses others from passions cannot remain undefiled. The very mention defiles the opinion of the speaker. And although he draws certain images shallowly, with the output of the word he defiles the face of the mind, as if with dirty paints. The abbot likes to know about this, nothing of the enemy’s plans was hidden from him and he showed all the subtleties of the secret struggle to those who trusted him, and, anticipating the tricks of the enemy, led them to an easy victory and led them out of the feat crowned.But there are many of them, and it is not easy to find them. The great Paul testifies about himself, saying: “His [Satan’s] plans are well known to us” (2 Cor. 2, 11). And the wonderful Job, wondering at this, says: “Who has ever lifted up before his clothes? Who has passed through his double breastplate? Who has opened the gates of his mouth?!” (Job 41, 5-6). And these words of Job have the following meaning: Satan’s face is invisible, and his malice is covered with many clothes, his appearance is deceptive and flattering, and he secretly prepares destruction. Job cannot be counted among those who do not know, he clearly names the signs of Satan, emphasizing everything that is strange about him: “His eyes are like the lashes of the dawn… His back is a row of shields” (Job 41, 10.7). So says Job, exposing the wiles of Satan, that he, assuming the form of a light bearer, attracts to himself those who look at him, and with his shields prepares death for those who approach. And the parable tells what kind of trouble comes from him: “He who chops firewood is exposed to danger, [when] the sap is dulled” (Prop. 10, 9-10). He who separates things with a word, and what is considered united, separates, and alienates one from the other in every way, in order to show that the true difference is in what is considered good, – if he does not have the word established everywhere, he will receive trouble from those who listen, as soon as the approval of the word falls and the listeners have a reason for temptation. So one of those who came to Elisha was chopping a tree on the Jordan, and when the ax fell into the river, he saw that there was trouble, and shouted to the teacher: “Oh, sir! But it is borrowed!” (2 Kings 6, 5). This is what happens to those who try to teach, having no experience themselves, and cannot complete the work, because it is beyond their power. But when the listeners rebuke them for saying something that contradicts their own words, then they confess their ignorance, regretting their words. Therefore, the great Elisha threw a piece of wood into the river so that the ax would melt (ibid., verse 6), so that the thought that the student did not understand and that was hidden in the depths was revealed, and he explained it to his listeners. Jordan means repentance, because there John performed the baptism of repentance. But he who speaks of repentance without experience leads his listeners to the point that they neglect to discover the hidden goodness, and thereby throws the ax into the Jordan. The tree that appeared to us lifts the ax from the depths and forces it to float to the surface, that is, until there was a tree of the cross, the word of repentance was hidden. And anyone who wanted to say something about him was reprimanded as reckless. And after the cross, it became clear, because the tree of the cross showed him in a timely manner. I say this not in order to turn away from teaching others in general or to forbid instructing beginners in piety, but so that he who undertakes to teach should first get used to the virtue that is so necessary for him in this great work, and was not in a hurry to take up it, did not think only about convenience, the respect of his disciples and the glory of those around him, but he remembered the burdens that would fall upon him, and, until peace came, he did not melt down his weapons of war into plowshares and ploughshares.When all the passions have already been conquered, and there is nowhere to wait for an attack, and there is no need to take up weapons to defend yourself, then it is good to transform them into other tools. And as long as the passions reign and the battle with the mind of the body continues, it is not good to let go of the weapons, lest the enemies attack us when we are weakened and defeat us. The words of Scripture are addressed to those who strive hard to gain virtue, and because of great humility do not think that they have already won the victory: “They beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks” (Is. 2, 4). These words advise them that, when they defeat their enemies, they should not practice unnecessarily for themselves, but for the benefit of others, they should withdraw from the struggle and return their mental strength to the care of others, who are still flourishing in our evil deeds. And for those who have not yet reached such a state and, due to inexperience or arrogance, took on a task beyond their strength, Scripture advises the opposite: “Beat your swords into plowshares, and your sickles into spears!” (Joel. 4, 10). What is the use of agriculture when there is a war and the fruits are picked by the enemies, not the farmers. Therefore, when the Israelites passed through the desert and fought with various peoples, they were not ordered to cultivate the land, so as not to neglect their martial skills. When they defeated the enemies and peace came, they were given this advice: “When you come to the land that I want to give you, let the land rest” (Lev. 25, 2), – you will not sow anything”. This was the order, and it is correct. Until the sowers improve, the sown will not be strong, because the sowers are shaken by inconstancy. And order and consistency, if they are in others things are also in the works of piety, and they must be established from the beginning. Those who despised the beginning and were led by false promises, are forced to return to order and consistency. When Jacob was attracted by the beauty of Rachel, he did not pay attention to Leah’s sick eyes (Gen. 29, 17), but he did not shy away from the virtue of work and served for Rachel for seven more years (Gen. 29, 27) He who wants to go through a feat, not from the end, but from the beginning, he will get what he wants, and he will lead his subordinates to perfection of virtue. But some, without having done any small or great deed, recklessly pursue the name, and not only do not refuse. when others encourage them to do this, and, going around the streets, they drag everyone they meet with them, making an agreement with them, as with mercenaries, about food and clothing. to please the whims of the disciples, to allow their wishes to carry them unhindered over the precipices, as horses carry riders who have dropped the bridles from their hands, to let them run where they will, and knock down everyone who stands on his feet, for there is no one to stop them and quell their idle impulses.But let them listen to the blessed Ezekiel, how he rebukes those who allow others to indulge their lusts and, satisfying the desires of everyone, accumulate grief for themselves: “Woe to those who sew ribbons for every joint of the hands and make marks on the head of every size to catch souls… for handfuls of barley and for a piece of bread” (Ezek. 13, 18.19). So they also collect for themselves what is necessary for the body from alms, and are content with what they say are rags, and they dishonor those who should pray or prophesy with their heads uncovered, putting on a veil and turning a man’s being into a woman’s, and thus destroy souls that do not like to die. Those who listened to the true Teacher – Christ, would like to refuse, as much as they can, from ruling over others. Because Christ says to his disciples: “Do not call yourself Teacher” (Mt. 23, 8). When Christ advises Peter, John and the entire apostolic body to consider themselves incapable of such a worthy deed, then who dares to think that he is higher than the apostles and can take upon himself the dignity that they were forbidden to take. Or maybe the words “Don’t call yourself Teacher” mean that you can’t be called a teacher, but you can be one? If someone, against his will, because he has accepted one or two disciples, is forced to teach others, then let him first test himself in detail, whether he can teach not by word, but by deed, how to live, giving his life to the disciples as an example of all virtue, so that those who write off from the example do not diminish the beauty of virtue by an incomparable fall. In addition, let him know that he should care about subordinates no less than about himself, because he will answer both for himself and for everyone, because he took care of their salvation. And the saints took care that their students were not inferior to them in virtues, but brought them from the original state to a better state. Apostle Paul made a martyr out of the fugitive Onesimus, Ilya appointed the plowman Elisha as a prophet, Moses appointed Jesus, the youngest of all, in front of everyone; the priest Eli made Samuel greater than himself. If the vigilance of the disciples helped them to acquire virtue, the first cause of success is that they had teachers who kindled the spark of zeal and made it shine. That is why they became God’s mouthpieces and announced God’s will to people. You have heard the Lord say: “When you bring forth the pure from the unworthy, you will become my mouth.” God offers Ezekiel the role of a teacher, teaching from whom to choose disciples. “Son of man,” says the Lord, “take a brick, put it in front of you and draw on it the city of Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 4:1), indicating that the teacher makes the student a holy temple out of clay. These words are also good: “put [a brick] in front of you.” They mean that the student will quickly achieve success if he is always in front of the teacher. Frequent reminders of beautiful examples draw similar images even on cruel and hardened souls. Gehazi began to embezzle, and Judah became a traitor due to the fact that both of them moved away from the eyes of the mentor.If each of them had been near the one who taught him, he would not have sinned. When the students are careless, the teacher is in danger, as God says later in these words: “Next, take an iron pan and put it, like an iron wall, between you and the city [brick]” (Ezek. 4, 3). Whoever does not want to punish a lazy person, after having made a city out of him – out of clay – let him remind him what torments await him who avoids such a system, so that these torments, becoming a wall, separate the guilty from the innocent. The Lord commands Ezekiel thus, saying: “Therefore, son of man, I have set you as a watchman over the house of Israel… [when you see the approaching sword] and the people will not be warned, and the sword will come and take away the life of one of them, (responsibility for) his blood I will demand from you” (Ezek. 33, 6.7). Moses builds the same wall for himself, saying to the Israelites: “Take care not to let yourself fall into a trap, imitating them, after they disappear before you.” This is what happens to those who do not pay attention to their thoughts, when all passions are cut off. Then the images of old dreams begin to sprout, as if some kind of branches, and if you let them often attack the mind and go inside, then the passions will return again and you will have to return to the ascetic life after the victory. It happens that tamed passions – like oxen accustomed to graze grass – due to the negligence of the tamer, become wild again and resemble beasts in their fury. And so that this could not happen, it is said in the scriptures: “Take care not to fall into the trap of imitating them, after they disappear before you”, so that the soul, accustomed to enjoying such dreams, does not return to previous evil deeds. Blessed Jacob, knowing that such things happen and that when such things are often seen, they harm the mind the most, imprinting on it clear and obvious images in shameful dreams, hid foreign gods in Sychem (Gen. 35, 4). Because labor in the fight against passions hides and destroys them not for a short time, but until the present day, that is, forever. Because the word “now” refers to the whole age, always meaning the present time. And the word “sykhima” means “strength”, that is, work in the fight against passions. That is why Jacob gives Joseph to Sychem (Gen. 48, 22), because he fought diligently against passions. Saying that he took Sychyma “with his sword and his bow”, Yakov confirms that he overcame his passions through battle and labor and buried them in the land of Sychyma. It seems contradictory to hide foreign gods in Sychem and hide an idol. To hide the gods in Sikhim is praiseworthy, but to hide an idol is reprehensible. Thus it is decreed with an oath and it is said: accursed is he who conceals an idol. Because these are different things: to hide in the ground forever and to hide for some time. After all, what is hidden in the ground and what the eyes cannot see, is erased from memory over time, and what is hidden may be unknown to others, but is constantly remembered by the one who concealed it, and the memory that contains the idol is constantly renewed. Every shameful thought that forms in the mind is a latent likeness of an idol.It is shameful to expose such thoughts to the general public. It is not worth concealing a likeness, and it is even worse to investigate and restore already reconciled images, because then the thought easily leans towards the rejected passion and outweighs the scales down to the ground. Such is the property of virtue that it is very easy to tilt it to any side: when it is neglected, it inclines to the opposite. The words of the Scriptures remind us of this when they say: “The land into which you are entering is moved by the movement of heathen nations.” As soon as one who has the skill of virtue surrenders to the adversary, virtue will surrender with him, for the earth is mobile. Therefore, from the very beginning, it is necessary not to allow dreams that are used to harm to enter the mind, and not to allow the thought to go down to Egypt, because from there it gets to the Assyrians. If thought descends to obscuration with impure thoughts (this is how Egypt should be understood), then involuntarily passions pull it to action. That is why the Lawgiver, prohibiting the secret coming of lust, orders to crush the head of the snake, otherwise it will stick in the heel (Genesis 3, 15). The snake tries not to bite, because otherwise it will not be able to release the poison. And we need to take care to destroy the adverb of voluptuousness. Its effect is weak when it is destroyed. Therefore, perhaps Samson would not have set fire to the fields of his fellow tribesmen if he had not tied the foxes by the tails (Judg. 5, 15). Because he was able to understand the tricks of cunning thoughts by actions, regardless of their beginning – because thoughts try to appear honest at first in order to reach their end – and, having compared their ends, he proved the inappropriateness of thoughts. Having tied the tails, he attached a torch to them, that is, exposure. In order to better explain what has been said, I will present the following two opinions. This will be a true confirmation for other thoughts as well. Often through vanity comes the idea of ​​fornication, and although it shows the honest the beginnings of the roads that lead to hell, it nevertheless hides the pernicious places through which it brings those who thoughtlessly follow it to the abode of death. Sometimes it offers the priesthood, and sometimes the perfect monastic life. He convinces that many come to him for benefit, teaches to dream of glory for word and deed. And having led someone far enough away from natural prudence, and then, imagining a meeting with an honest woman, pushes them to agree to a dirty deed, bringing their conscience to extreme shame. Therefore, let him who wants to tie the tails look at the ends of thoughts, that is, at the end of vanity – reward – and the end of fornication – dishonor, and when he sees that they are opposite, then let him think what Samson did. Even the thought of gluttony ends in fornication, the thought of fornication ends in sorrow; immediately, because sadness and boredom follow those who are overcome by these thoughts. Therefore, having banished these thoughts, let the ascetic think neither about the enjoyment of food nor about pleasures, but about the end of both thoughts, and when he understands that sorrow follows both thoughts, then let him know that he has tied his tails and set the fields on fire by exposing foreigners.When such knowledge and experience are required in the fight against passions, let those who have accepted the abbotship over others know what kind of knowledge they need in order to wisely lead their novices to the honor of the highest rank, and let them be taught everything that is necessary to know for battle, so that they do not think that victory is won only by waving their hands in the air, but know how to deal blows to the enemy in real combat, so that they do not stretch their hands in the air in vain, but hit the very opponent. Of all feats, this feat is the most difficult. In other feats, the ascetic’s body bends, but it is easy for him to get up, but here the souls fall, and when they have already been thrown down, it is difficult to return them to their place. If someone, still struggling with a passionate life and stained with blood, plans to build a temple to God from intelligent souls, he will hear the following words: “Will you open a house for me to live in? … you are a man of blood!” (2 Sam. 7, 5). It is necessary to be in a peaceful state in order to build a temple for God. And Moses, having accepted the tabernacle, set it up behind the camp, showing them how far away from military care it is for the mentor to be and to live far from the troubled army, moving to a peaceful and non-military life. But when there are such mentors, then you ask the students to renounce their will in such a way that they are like a soulless body or matter in the hands of the master. As the soul does what it wants in the body, and the body does not contradict it, or as the master shows his skill on matter, and the matter does not harm his intention, so that the teacher teaches students to know the virtues, and they do not contradict him. If they test the teacher’s system and want to test his command, they are harming their success. What seems true and good to the inexperienced is not always true and good. Otherwise, the master judges about some matter, and otherwise, not the master. Because the master takes his knowledge as a rule, and not the master – his imagination, which is rarely true, and very often far from correct, because there is much wrong in it. What would appear at first sight to be more unreasonable than the fact that the helmsman, when the ship capsizes, orders to sit on the capsized bikie to get off from the higher side, besides, the wind blows more on the side that is more heavily loaded? It would seem that it would be wiser to load the raised side and not switch to the more dangerous one. However, travelers trust the helmsman more than their own opinion, because necessity convinces them to submit to the skill of the helmsman, although, at first glance, it will not bring anything good. So let those who have entrusted their salvation to others, put aside their preconceptions and submit to the master’s skill, recognizing that his knowledge is more reliable than their preconceptions. And when they deny themselves, let them not hide anything, fearing what happened to Ananias, who planned to hide a part of the money he received from people (Acts 5:2), and received condemnation from God for deception. As they gave themselves, so let them give all theirs, knowing well that what is held back often attracts thought to itself and will first draw it away from the best, and then completely remove it from among the brothers.That is why the Holy Spirit wrote the Lives of the Saints in order to lead everyone who begins a spiritual life with these examples to the truth. How did Eliseus, having molested the teacher, leave the world? He plowed Safat in front of Elisha with twelve pairs of oxen, and Elisha slaughtered the oxen and burned them in vessels (1 Kings 19, 21). This is a sign of great effort. He did not say that he would sell the vessels, but that he would do as he should with the oxen, because if they were sold, there would be more profit from them. He was all full of desire, which drew him to the conversation with the teacher, so he despised the visible and hastened to abandon it, because it distracted him from a good intention, and he often saw how slowness distracted from a good intention. Would the Lord have commanded the rich young man, who sought a perfect life, to sell all his property, give it to God and keep nothing for himself (Mt. 19, 21), if he did not know that even giving something to the abandoned becomes the cause of scattering of thoughts? I think that this is why Moses commanded those who wanted to purify themselves with a great prayer, to shave their whole body and completely put off all care about property. When the cows were harnessed to the cart that carried the ark, they forgot their nature and their calves, which remained in the barns, and were not forced by anyone, and went their whole way without fail, neither turning to the right nor to the left; they did not roar out of pity for the calves, but, burdened by the weight of the ark, bowed their necks, because their nature remained in them, they walked, as a rule, defeated by the honor of the ark loaded on them. If cows were in such a mood, then what should be the mood of those who intend to carry a mental ark. They like to do even more, so that speechless creatures do not prove to be stronger than them, because they are able to do under compulsion what people cannot do with understanding. Or maybe Joseph got lost in the desert precisely because he was looking for perfection in family ties. Therefore, a man who wanted to know the truth, after asking him why he got lost, and learning that the reason was passion for his own (if Joseph had reasoned correctly, he would not have asked where his brothers were grazing, but would have asked where the pasture was), said to him: “They left here; for I heard them say: Let’s go to Dothan” (Gen. 37, 15). And Dothan means “great loss”, teaching this to one who still wanders in carnal lust. After all, perfection cannot be achieved in any other way, except by completely getting rid of the passions inherent in the body. And when a person leaves Haran (Gen. 27, 43), which means “sense” (because Haran is translated as “caves”), and comes out of the Hebron valley, that is, from unworthy deeds, and from the desert, through which wanders the one who seeks perfection, but does not go to complete abandonment, then there is no benefit for him from long labors due to attachment to relatives; such affection deprives her of perfect lust. And the Lord, forbidding the Virgin Mary, who was looking for Him among her relatives, and calling the person unworthy of Him who loves his father or mother more than Him (Lk.2, 44), thereby teaches not to seek connections with relatives. When the students achieve this, they should be advised that, since they have recently distanced themselves from worldly bustle, they should remain silent, and with the arrival of new thoughts, they should not aggravate the wounds caused by the senses, and should not add new images to the idols of old sins. Silence does not come easily to those who have just renounced the world. Their memory, having a lot of time, stirs up all the impurity that lies inside, and before it could not do this because of many other things. After that, there is also benefit from silence, because the mind is slowly freed from shameful thoughts. Whoever wants to wash his soul and cleanse it of all filth, must distance himself from all things through which filth multiplies, give silence to the mind and be far from everything that can annoy, not to live with unreasonable people, welcoming solitude – the mother of wisdom. But it is very easy for them to fall again into the same nets from which they allegedly already freed themselves, if they are carelessly surrounded by troublesome people. He who has passed over to virtue will have no joy in those things from which he has departed, having despised them. However, his habit attracts him, so even he who has come to silence with great zeal, will again renew his shameful intentions and remember forgotten evil deeds. A mind that has just turned away from sin is like a body that begins to recover from a long illness – even because of some small thing, the disease can return. In the same way, thinking powers weaken in people who have not yet established themselves in strength, so one must be careful not to return to the passions stirred by human carelessness. Therefore, it is necessary to stay in a cell, so as not to suffer from a disaster from the destroyer. So Moses commanded, saying: “Do not go out of the door of your house, lest the destroyer touch you.” Jeremiah means the same thing when he commands: “Do not go out into the field and do not walk along the road, because there is an enemy’s sword… all around” (Jer. 6, 25). The work of courageous ascetics is to attack enemies. And if someone could not fight at all, then let him stay safely in the house, safely establishing himself in silence (Deuteronomy 20, 8). Such was Joshua that it is written about him: “His servant, Joshua, still a boy, did not leave the tent” (Exod. 33, 11). Because he knew that those who go out in their youth sometimes die at the hands of their brothers and friends because of an early battle. He learned about it from the story about Abel, and from the story about Dinah you can learn it well, that it is characteristic of young men and women to take on work beyond their capacity and deceive themselves into thinking that they are capable of such work. Because if Dina had not taken to unwisely investigating how others live, thinking that it would not harm her, and if she had not sought comfort in them, she would not have prematurely destroyed her mental prudence, led astray by the ideas that her senses suggested, before she legitimately began a conversation with a courageous mind. God knows that this passion – I’m talking about arrogance – is well rooted in people, and wanting to tear it out of our habits, he says to Moses: “Teach the children of Israel good deeds.”After all, it is reckless to start a battle beyond one’s strength – this is a custom alien to the deity. Therefore, one does not like to join riots in the city, not having skills in fighting, but to run away from them as far as possible, protecting one’s thoughts from noise. There is little benefit from things to those who distance themselves from them, and then gather rumors about them and, leaving the city, sit at the gate, like Lot (Gen. 19, 1), full of confusion that reigns there. He likes to completely distance himself from the city, like the great Moses, who said: “As soon as I leave the city, I will raise my hands to the Lord, and the thunder will subside” (Exod. 9, 29). True silence comes when not only the actions, but also the memory of them, are silenced. Then the soul will have time to consider the images imprinted in it, will be able to work against everyone and cut him off. When other images also come, then it is impossible to erase the previous ones, because the mind is occupied with the present ones. They have to work hard to destroy the passions, because they come with the force of constant multiplication and, like a spring that ceaselessly bursts from the earth, flood the soul with constant ideas. Whoever wants to see the river dry, in order to see what is there at the bottom, worth knowing, does not get any benefit by drawing water in the place where he thinks he will find what he wants, because when he has drained it, it is replenished again from the source. But when the source dries up, it will be easy to get to the bottom, because the water will recede by itself, the earth will dry up, and then the desired will not be visible. In this way, it is easy to stop the active images of passions, when the senses cease to feed them from the outside. When the senses, like a current, bring images from the outside, then it is not only difficult, but also impossible to clear the mind of such excitement. Although passions do not bother us because of frequent conversations, because there is no time for their movement, however, hidden, they grow and gain strength over time. The ground, when you often walk on it, even though it has thorn sprouts in it, does not allow them to germinate. But then the thorn puts down strong roots in the depths of the earth, and when the opportunity arises, then it sprouts. So also passions, when frequent conversations do not allow them to come out, become stronger, and when there is silence, they come with force and force the one who has neglected the struggle to a difficult and painful struggle. That is why the prophet orders to destroy the Babylonian family, that is, images, while they are still in the receptacles of the senses, so that thoughts do not fall to the ground, and do not sprout, and, watered by abundant useless rains of incessant deeds, do not bear the fruits of sin. Another prophet praises those who do not wait for the blossoming of passions, but destroys their sprouts: “Blessed is he who takes and smashes your children against a stone” (Ps. 136, 9). And the great Job, being wise in himself, alludes to the same thing: “Does a reed grow without a swamp? Does a reed grow in a dry place? All evil, when the spring is dried up, and the ant lion dies when there is no prey.”The great Job, wanting to show how passion attacks, called it an ant-lion – combined the name of the bravest beast and the weakest insect – because the attacks of passion begin with small dreams that come imperceptibly, like an ant, and their consequences are very serious, the danger from them is no less than from the attack of a lion. Therefore, the ascetic likes to fight with passion when it comes, like an ant, luring with something insignificant. When it grows to the strength of a lion, it is not easy to defeat it and it is impossible not to serve food. And the food of passion, as we have already said more than once, is images of sensual things that enter the soul through the senses. They feed passions, arming every dream against the soul. Therefore, the Lawgiver ordered to build a temple of ten carpets (Exodus 26, 1), which means that we should keep our thoughts pure, like a temple. Just as there are bars on the windows in the temple so that nothing impure can enter, so the senses must be forbidden – thoughts about the future Judgment, which would block the entrance with impure dreams. Isn’t that why Ahaziah got sick because he fell over the railing? (2 Kings 1, 2). Not thinking about retribution when the temptation came (false wisdom) means being reduced to passions and “falling over the railing.” What could be worse than this ailment? A disease of the body means that the balance of bodily elements is disturbed, that is, one element prevails over others. And the disease of the soul occurs when the soul shies away from a righteous thought and is overcome by disease-causing passions. Solomon blocked the eyes of the one who can hear with a partition, saying: “You will see strange things, your heart will speak nonsense” (Prov. 23, 33). He calls nonsense what will happen to us after sin at the time of retribution. Thoughts about this and a proper state of mind prevent the eyes from looking at what is dangerous for the soul. It is also said about what the structure of thought should be at that time: “And you will be like one who sleeps in the middle of the sea, or like one who lies high on a mast” (Prov. 23, 34). When one fights against what irritates his sight, and can remember the torment to come as one who is at sea remembers the storm, then he will easily overcome those who attack him, without feeling the wounds that are inflicted on him. It is said about such a person: “They beat me, but I didn’t hurt, they pounded me, but I didn’t know anything.” “They beat me,” says one, “and they thought to make fun of me, but I did not feel the blows, because the wounds of the child’s arrow were their blows. I did not even notice their flattery and behaved as if they did not exist.” So David, scorning these opponents, says: “I did not know the cunning one who evaded me” (Ps. 100, 4), that is, he did not feel either when the opponents came or when they left. And who does not know that the senses are in close communication with sensible things, and that from such communication easily comes delusion, and does not suspect what harm can come from it, how will he, when he finds delusion, understand that it is an enemy attack, if he has not previously learned to distinguish between them? And that the senses fight with sensual things, and sensual things, when victorious, impose a tribute on the senses, is evident from the war between the Assyrians and the Sodomites.The Scriptures tell about how four kings of the Assyrian nation fought against five kings who lived in the vicinity of Sodom. At first there was an agreement between them and an alliance and peace sacrifices near the Salt Sea, then five kings served the conqueror for twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled (Genesis 14, 3-4). In the fourteenth year, four fought against five and took them captive (Gen. 14, 9). This is the end of the story, and we learn from this story about ourselves and how the senses fight with sensual things. Each of us, from birth to twelve years of age, has not yet purified his prudence, so our senses serve sensual things, as servants serve their masters. Sight – visible things, hearing – sounds, taste – moisture, smell – smells, touch – all sensual things that can be touched. Because of his youth, a person is not able to approach any of his senses judiciously. When prudence begins to mature and to feel harm from sensual things, a person immediately thinks about renouncing them and escaping from serving them. And if a person is strong in prudence, then he will be free forever, because he will avoid these cruel masters. When prudence is too weak, it will hand over the captive senses under the power of sensual things, and they will again have to be in heavy slavery without any hope for the better. Therefore, in the story, the five defeated kings fall into pits of pus (Genesis 14:10), so that we learn that those who have been defeated by sensual things find themselves, as it were, in pits or wells with each sense – because each sense serves some sensual thing – and turn to the sensual. They think of nothing but visible things, for their desires are bound up with earthly things, and they have loved the enjoyment of earthly things more than the enjoyment of mental things. Likewise, a slave who loved his master, wife and children, renounces true freedom for the sake of family ties, becomes a slave forever, and his ear is pierced with an awl (Exodus 21, 5-6), so that he does not once accept the words of freedom, listening with the natural opening of the ear, but forever remains a slave because of love for the present. Therefore, when two men fight, and a woman grabs one of them by the natural body, the law orders her hand to be cut off (Deuteronomy 25, 11). Because when the long battle thought about the choice between worldly and heavenly goods, she left this choice and grabbed what serves birth and decay (namely, this part of the body is intended for childbearing). There is no use in denying indecisive people, who are led and taught by thought, because they often return to what they renounced, showing their passion, like the Lotov woman. She looked behind herself, that is why she turned into a pillar of salt (Gen. 19, 26), and stands to this day as an example for unbelievers. Such is the habit, the symbol of which is the woman Lotova. Habit draws back to itself those who want to distance themselves from it. That is why the law commands those who enter the temple, after finishing the prayer, to leave not through the door by which they entered, but through the opposite one, so as not to return, but to go on.Doesn’t this mean that, on the way to virtue, one should not turn from the path because of doubts. Frequent returns to what one has departed from, induce one to go back, weaken the urge to move forward, and incline one to return to old sins. Habit is strong enough to keep within itself and prevent a return to the skill of virtue. Skill comes from habit, and habit becomes nature, and nature is difficult to change or rework. When she is forced to deviate a little, she immediately turns back. However, torn out of its limits, it does not reach perfection, unless it goes back with great effort in order to pass from a habit to a good skill. Look at the soul that lives according to its habits, how it sits on idols, attached to things that have no image, refuses to follow the training that will lead it to the heights, and says: “I cannot stand before you, because I have a woman’s case” (Gen. 31, 35). Such is the soul that for a long time comforts itself with worldly things and sits on that which in itself has no image, but receives it thanks to human skill. Wealth, and fame, and other worldly things have no image, there is nothing clear and divided in them. They pretend to be the truth with a deceptive appearance and change in different ways every day. We give an image to things, when in our thoughts we ascribe a benefit to some useless thing. When we satisfy the needs of the body with valuable inventions, that is, by preparing food seasoned with innumerable sweets, wearing bright clothes for luxury and pleasure, and when we are accused of this vanity, that we spend in vain and in vain on luxurious banquets, when we can do with little, we we justify ourselves as if we should. What do we do when we do not give offense to those things that have no offense. We rightly said that such a soul sits on idols. The soul, firmly convinced of what has been said, adheres to these things, that is, it serves habit, not truth, and with habits, like lunar impurity, it defiles nature. Sitting – according to the Scriptures – means laziness towards good deeds and voluptuousness. Scripture speaks of laziness, mentioning those who live in darkness and the shadow of death (Is. 9, 2), bound by poverty and iron, because darkness and iron prevent them from acting. The Scriptures speak of gluttony, recalling those who returned to Egypt with their hearts and said to each other: “There was a circle of meat pots sitting around and eating… to my heart’s content” (Ex. 16:3). And indeed, voluptuous people sit around Kazan, inflaming desire with voluptuous and incessant heat, and gluttony is the mother of voluptuousness. It gives rise to evil lust, followed by other passions. From it, as from a root, other passions sprout, slowly join the lust that gave birth to them, and send out the sprouts of sin all the way to the heavens. After all, love of money, and rage, and sadness are the offspring and sprouts of gluttony. A glutton needs wealth to satisfy its hunger for food, and it is never satisfied. And when it is not possible to collect wealth, then rage rises.Rage is inevitably followed by sadness, when rage is not translated into action due to impotence. For he who walks on his chest and on his stomach, when he has things in him that bring pleasure, then he walks on his stomach, and when he does not have such, he moves on his chest, from which rage comes. Sweet-toothed people get angry and offended when they are deprived of sweets. That is why the great Moses puts the judge’s breastplate on the priest’s chest (Exod. 28, 1), figuratively showing that impulses of secret rage must be directed by thoughts. Judge’s breastplate is a word of judgment. The priest restrains his rage with prudence, because he is imperfect. And the perfect Moses keeps away from himself all the rage, he does not wear a judge’s breastplate, but sacrifices his chest. Because it is said: “Moses took the Persian and offered it as a sacrifice before the Lord” (Lev. 8, 29). And others have not yet restrained all their fury, and do not restrain their passions with prudence, but conquer with hard work. These are those who sacrifice the breast and the scapula; the shoulder blade is a sign of action and work. Walking on the belly is the truest sign of voluptuousness, because the belly is the cause of voluptuousness. When the stomach is full, desires and other passions are strengthened, but when it is empty, they are more peaceful and peaceful. And here there is a difference between those who strive and those who are perfect. Because Moses, completely rejecting the enjoyment of food, “rinsed his insides and his feet” (Lev. 9, 14), – under the insides here one should understand pleasure, and under the feet – voluptuousness. And the one who performs a feat washes what is in the entrails, and not the entrails themselves. And also this: “rinsed” and “should be rinsed” have different meanings. The first is arbitrary, and the second is by command. The perfect person likes to undertake the fulfillment of virtues of his own free will, and the one who strives – through the encouragement of a mentor and zealously watches over the fact that the breasts are separated, and the crumbs are washed away. A wise man can reject and cut off all rage, but he cannot cut off the entrails. Nature forces even the most restrained person to eat the right foods, and those who do not follow the righteous and firm word of the soul, but are damaged by dirty sweets, have a burning stomach. And since the contents of the leaves of the body are filled, the desire cannot quench its thirst, and then, after the inflammation of the belly, “the womb withers” (Numbers 5, 21). The mind becomes powerless to generate good deeds, the stomach becomes inflamed from the multitude of dishes and destroys spiritual efforts – this means, according to the Scriptures, that the “womb withers.” That’s why a glutton walks on his stomach, because he leans all over to the sweets of pleasure. And he who has begun a virtuous life, he separates the fat from the entrails, refusing food that fattens the body; the ascetic rinses out what is in the stomach; and the perfect one washes out the whole belly, throwing away all the excess. It is rightly said in the Scriptures: “You will walk on your chest and belly.” Pleasure is not characteristic of those who stand still, but of those who move, full of confusion. And the closest to the power of gluttony is the power of the movement of prodigal lusts. Therefore, wanting to show the essence of these passions, nature placed the members of the family under the child’s belly, thereby indicating their closeness.When this passion is weak, it depends on the weakness of the stomach, but when it is inflamed and agitated, then its strength comes from the stomach. Gluttony nourishes and feeds not only promiscuous passions, it destroys all good things. When this passion develops in people and dominates them, it will destroy and destroy all good customs: temperance, temperance, courage, patience and all other virtues. The prophet Jeremiah illustrated this, saying: “The Chaldean army, which was with the chief of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem” (Jer. 52, 1). He calls the passion of gluttony the chief of security. As the chief tries with all his might to serve the stomach and invents all sorts of ways, finding numerous sweets for him, so gluttony contrives in every way to find sweets for the larynx, and the variety of dishes destroys the support of the virtues. Sweets and seasonings become an obstacle even to a strengthened virtue and bring it to ruin, shaking its strength and hardness and throwing it down. As excess destroys the virtues, so moderation destroys the resistance of vices. Just as the Babylonian guard destroyed the wall of Jerusalem, i.e. peaceful souls, by stirring up carnal pleasures with the mastery of cooking, so the barley sheaf, rolling, destroyed the Midianite targets (Judg. 7, 13). Simple food destroys prodigal desires. The Midianites are a type of the passion of fornication, because they introduced fornication into Israel and raised a great force of young men. It is very aptly said in the Scriptures that the Midianites live in tents, and Jerusalem is surrounded by a wall. For everything that contains virtue is firm and certain. And everything that contains malice is only an appearance and a shadow, which is no different from delusion. That is why the saints avoided cities and conversations with many more than a contagious disease, because they saw that life with debauched people leads to destruction. Therefore, they did not take anything with them, they left all their property and did not even look after it. Therefore, Ilya left Judea and lived on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18, 19), a desert full of animals, where there was nothing to eat, except the fruits of trees. He ate these fruits, satisfying the needs of the body. Elisha lived almost the same way, borrowing from the teacher with other good customs and love for desert life. And John dwelt in the wilderness of Jordan and ate locusts and wild honey, showing many how little the needs of the body really are, and reproving the pursuit of pleasure. Or maybe Moses, giving the Israelites the law about manna, ordered to gather it only for one day (Exod. 16, 4) and thereby indicated that a person should live for one day and not prepare provisions for the second day. Because he thought that what he has is enough for a rational being, and when he gives away what is superfluous to him, then he is confessing God. It seems that those who prepare supplies in advance do not believe in God’s providence and God’s grace, as if she does not always send her gifts to people. In a word, that is why all the saints, “of whom the world was not worthy, wandered through deserts, mountains, caves and earthly cradles; they wandered in sheep and goatskins, impoverished, oppressed, wronged” (Heb.11, 37-38), avoiding the fiercest human malice and vain, fleeting things that cities are full of, so that the power of vanity does not pick them up and carry them into a whirlpool of confusion. They were glad that they lived next to wild animals, because animals do less harm than humans. They thought that it was better to run away from people, because people are treacherous, and to trust animals as friends, because animals do not teach you sin, but, on the contrary, marvel at virtue and honor it. The saints mentioned that Daniel was killed by the people, but saved by the lions – they saved the unjustly condemned because of hatred and preserved the truth, which the people left unrewarded. The lions executed a righteous judgment on the unjustly condemned, so the virtue of this man became for people a reason for hatred and enmity, and for beasts – a reason for respect and honor. Who among us will feel the love for a better life, let us imitate the virtues of the saints and, moving away from the servile commandments of the flesh, let us catch up with freedom and run after the wild donkey, which its Creator set free (Job 39, 5), who mocks the warlord in the city and does not hear the cry of the chaser. If until now we taught him to carry burdens, yoked to the yoke of passions and sins, then today we can free him from the bonds. Although those who have become masters not by nature, but by habit, will object to us, when they hear how we demand him not only with our tongue and only with our voice, but also with our inner mood saying that “he needs the Lord” (Mark 11:3), they will immediately let him go so that, adorned with apostolic clothing, he may become a charioteer for the Word or, left in his pasture, seek every greenery, that is, we followed the blooming words of the Divine Scripture, heading towards a strange life, finding both food and great fun. And you also have to think, how is this wild donkey, which God left in the desert, looking for all kinds of greenery, having as a home the steppe and salt marshes, where almost nothing can grow? Unless someone says that one who has no passions, it is enough to seek the contemplation of Divine things, so that with this you dry the moisture of passions. Let’s leave worldly things and turn to what is good for the soul. How long will we play children’s games and not think like husbands? As long as our zeal is weaker than the zeal of children, do we not learn from them even success in great things? Growing up, they leave games and easily get rid of their passion for toys. Maybe in childhood they loved horses, whistling carts and had a passion for them while they were still small and games were the best thing for them. When the child grows up and becomes a man, he rejects games and watches other things with great zeal. And we remained in childhood, marveling at things worth playing and laughing at, we are in no hurry to move on to better things and accept thoughts that husbands like. We remain in earthly pleasures, causing the laughter of those who look at everything judiciously, according to age. It is shameful to see how a mature man sits in the dust and draws in the sand like a child, and it is also shameful and even more shameful to see those who can enjoy eternal benefits in the dust – they dishonor the perfection of the vow with the unworthiness of their actions.And the reason for this is that we do not think about anything more than the visible, we do not compare the meagerness of present blessings with the wealth of future blessings, we are illuminated by the brilliance of blessings that are considered honorable here, and our aspirations are attached to them. It always happens that when there is nothing better, the worse is revered, which takes the place of the better. If we had a higher understanding of future benefits, we would not look back at the present. So let’s start moving away from the present, let’s despise possessions, wealth and everything that drowns the thought and, weighing it down, drags it down. Let’s throw out some vantage to lighten the ship. When a storm comes, let’s throw away a few things, so that the helmsman – the mind and the swimmers – the thoughts can be saved. When a storm comes, sailors do not pay attention to property and throw their burdens into the sea with their own hands, because their lives are more valuable than property. They throw even the most expensive things into the sea, so that the ship, burdened with burdens, does not fill with water. Why, for the sake of life, do we not despise that which drags the soul down? Why does the fear of God not have the same power for us as the fear of the sea? Those who wish to preserve the temporal life do not greatly mourn the loss of their possessions, but we say that we desire the eternal life, but we do not despise the temporal, but rather wish to perish in time than to be saved by losing everything. Therefore, I beg you: let’s throw everything off, because our enemy has nothing on himself. Wrestlers go out to fight without clothes, the law of wrestling brings them naked to the arena. Whether it is hot or cold, they shed their clothes. When one of them refuses to take off his clothes, he refuses to fight. And we vowed to fight, and fighting against enemies much stronger than human enemies, not only did we not take off our clothes, but we also carry many burdens on our shoulders and try to fight, while we ourselves give the enemies weapons against us. How will he fight against evil spirits, who is looking for wealth – he is easily attacked from everywhere? How will he who possesses wealth fight against the spirit of money-loving? How will one who is bound by numerous troubles go into battle against demons, naked from all trouble? The Divine Scriptures say: “Naked will flee that day” (Am. 2, 16). Naked is the one who is not clothed in numerous clothes of worries about life’s affairs; naked is the one who is not stopped in motion by heavy thoughts about property and wealth. It is not easy for criminals to catch it, if not completely impossible. If the great Joseph had been naked, the Egyptians would have had nothing to grab onto, as God’s word says: “She grabbed him by his clothes and said: ‘Take me!’ (Gen. 39, 12). Clothes are bodily things through which passion drags us. Those who have not yet gotten rid of them, they attract to themselves. Yosif, an ascetic of the whole world, seeing that the need of the body forcefully pulls him to union and satisfaction, understood that he should be naked near his mistress, so that she would not hold him down and force him. He fled, throwing off his clothes, and went out, walking naked in virtue as in paradise, following the original Adam, who accepted nakedness from God as a special honor, until he needed clothes because of disobedience.While he was fighting against the enemies who advised him to break the commandment of God, until then he was naked, like a wrestler in the arena. When he was defeated and frightened, then he received clothes – having stopped the struggle, he lost his nakedness. That is why the wise Solomon says to the Undertaker: “Take his clothes, [because he will come]” (Prov. 20, 16). As long as he was outside the arena, he wore the good clothes of non-combatants, covering the courage of a wrestler with sensual clothes. And if he comes to fight, then take his clothes: he likes to fight naked, and not just naked, but anointed with oil. It is not easy for the opponent to grab a naked wrestler, and even if he does, it is easy for an anointed wrestler to break free. Therefore, opponents try to sprinkle each other with gunpowder, so that the body becomes less slippery and it is easier to grab it. And what dust is in the fight, so in our exploit are earthly things, and what oil is there, so in our exploit is neglect of earthly things. A yaktam, anointed with oil, easily breaks out of the enemy’s hands, and when he is sprinkled with gunpowder, it is not easy for him to break free, and here, too, it is not easy for the devil to seize him who does not bother about anything, and he who worries and fights, as if burdens the lightness of the mind with gunpowder and it is not easy for him to avoid the devil’s tricks. A perfect soul is characterized by carelessness, an imperfect soul is burdened with troubles. About a perfect soul it is said: “What is a lily among thistles” (P.p. 2, 2), this means a soul that lives carefree among those who worry about many things. Lily in the Gospel also means a carefree soul. It is said about lilies that they “do not work and do not spin, but… even Solomon in his glory did not dress like one of them” (Lk. 12, 27). And about those who have many troubles, it is said: “The whole life of the wicked is in troubles.” For this is truly an impious thing – to spend one’s whole life worrying about bodily things and not even thinking about the future; to give all one’s time to the body, even though it does not need much time, and to the soul, which takes so long to go to success that even a whole life will not be enough to become perfect, not to devote the least amount of time. Although it seems to us that for a time we are giving our souls, yet we do it carelessly and carelessly, because we are led astray by the vanity of visible things, and suffer what those who are seduced by ugly harlots, who, having no natural beauty, cunningly disguise themselves to deceive passers-by. And we, when the vanity of present things overcomes us even once, we become unable to see their shame, driven by passion. Therefore, we do not stop at satisfying the necessary needs, but want to arrange a full life for ourselves, we are satisfied with various acquisitions. We do not see that the measure of what is necessary for the body determines the need for acquisitions, and what exceeds the measure is already inappropriate. A shirt according to the size of the body both decorates and is necessary. And a long shirt, which entangles the legs and drags on the ground, does not look good and interferes with everything. Likewise, acquisitions that exceed the needs of the body are an obstacle to virtue and will find great condemnation in those who know how to discern the nature of things.Therefore, it is not necessary to listen to those who are brought up by sensual things, or unwisely follow those who do not know how to be in mental things, therefore they have a passion for temporal things. It is the same as consulting with the blind about colors, and with the deaf about music, that is, with those who cannot judge, and trusting them as those who have wisely chosen to be satisfied with present goods. The blind are those whose minds lack the ability to evaluate things carefully and dispassionately. One of them was Achan, the son of Karmi, who confessed to Joshua in the tent in front of the people that he had buried the stolen in the ground, and the silver was lying underneath (Is. Nav. 7, 21). He who takes precious and shiny objects for higher things, and hides his mind under them, is reduced to being speechless, obeying things and dreaming about them, because his mind has come down from the throne of power and found himself in the rank of slaves, moreover, condemned slaves. If he had remained in his position and reasoned, as entrusted to him, all things, then he would have correctly and truthfully passed the sentence, having stopped the impulse to delusion. It is a good thing to stay within the limits of need and try with all your might not to exceed them. Because when someone gives in even a little to the desire for worldly pleasures, no amount of reason will keep him from rushing forward. What is beyond need has no limits. Irresponsibility and endless idle work always spread the desire of the unnecessary, as fire spreads when throwing firewood. Having once crossed the limits of natural needs, they begin to achieve success in earthly life, they want some kind of pleasant food for bread, wine for water, and even expensive ones, they do not want to wear worn-out clothes, but buy new ones made of light wool, choosing even the color. From woolen clothes they pass to wool woven from linen, then they look for silk clothes, first simple, and then decorated with images of battles, animals and drawings for various stories. Silver and gilded dishes are bought, which are used not only for meals, but also to be placed in front of animals and in front of the bed. How can we talk about kindness with such extravagance, when the extravagance extends to the lowest needs. Even the dishes for defecation cannot be any simpler, and silver should serve such a shameful work. Voluptuousness reaches its extreme limits: products destined for dishonor are honored with the value of the material. And this is already unnatural. And life according to nature is what the Creator established for us and for animals. “Behold, I give you,” said God to the people, “every grass that sows seed on the whole earth … for you to eat” (Genesis 1, 29). We have obtained for ourselves food, the same as speechless animals, and have turned it into a luxury by fictions, are we not more speechless than them? After all, animals remain within natural limits, not violating any of God’s commandments, and we, honored by reason, have completely departed from the ancient law. Do animals have any dishes, do the inventions of bakers and cooks prepare delights for their bellies, do they not remain in primitive simplicity, eating grass and being content with little, drinking water from the spring, and even then not often.By doing so, they diminish the hypogastric pleasures, not inflaming the desire with fatty food and not knowing the difference between male and female sex. Only one season of the year reminds them of this difference, when the law of nature gathers them to sow their own kind for procreation. At other times of the year, they are so alienated from each other, as if they are completely unaware of this desire. And in people, because of exquisite food, an insatiable prodigal passion grows, filling them with wild desires, and does not allow passion to calm down even for a moment. Therefore, if the acquisition of property is very harmful and provides an excuse for all passions as a cause of illness, then let us destroy this reason if we want a good state of our soul. Let’s heal the passion of silver love by not acquiring it. Avoiding useless gatherings of people, welcoming solitude. Living together with the fuss of us people is harmful to the peaceful system and destroys it. Just as those who are exposed to infectious air fall ill with various diseases, so those who live with careless people become participants in their malice. What do those who have renounced the world find in common with the world? “No one, having been a soldier, interferes in the affairs of this life if he wants to please the one who hired him to serve” (2 Tim. 2, 4). The affairs of life do not allow him to take up military feats. And without experience, how do we fight against the experienced? However, the truth must be told: we fight so lazily and carelessly that even if our enemy falls, we cannot overcome him, but even if we stand, we are attacked by the defeated enemy. Those who, for the sake of profit, choose the slain after the battle, often themselves die from the lying ones, even if they collect some vile loot. The same thing happens to us when we approach a defeated enemy who is barely breathing. When those who, desiring wealth, tear the dead, approaching someone still alive and starting to be torn, often suffer a fatal blow, foolishly dishonoring the glory of victory, so we, when we have defeated a barbarian with all courage and self-control, or think that we have conquered, then, seizing on his clothing, which among men is considered honor, that is, money, power, good fame, we approach him in order to take something from him, and so we die, bringing ourselves to be slaughtered. Thus died five virgins who defeated the enemy with their purity, but because of their unkind heart, born of love of silver, they themselves threw themselves on his sword, although before that the defeated enemy could not destroy them, because they stood firm. Therefore, do not wish for anything from him, so as not to destroy your soul along with his things. He still calls out to everyone and is looking for the most loyal. Because he called the Lord himself, saying: “All this I will give you, if you will fall on your face and worship me” (Mt. 4, 9). If he tries to mislead the One who does not need it with what is considered necessary and glorious in life, then what can be said about people who are inclined to enjoy sensual things – he will not go astray and mislead them. Let’s practice piety, if we have achieved success in a physical feat. “Physical exercise is only useful [and good for teaching children], but godliness is useful for everything” (1 Tim.4, 8), it establishes a good system in the soul of those who want to defeat the enemies of passion. Just as it is appropriate for wrestlers to exercise their bodies even in children’s games, to move a lot, to learn courage and strength and to prepare for feats, so it is appropriate for those who are starting a feat of piety to stop the action of passions. It is also important for them that – if they have mastered their passions, and the lusts with which they grew up will irritate them and entice them to habitual deeds, and they have already reached active virtue and watch their thoughts – that they guard their minds with all vigilance, so that, moving disorderly, it does not descend into something imperfect. In a word, the former try to control the movements of the body, and the latter try to restrain thoughts and direct to a single, all-wise life, so that no worldly daydreaming distracts the mind from divine thoughts. He who desires pious things must direct all his energies to the desired, so that there is no time for ordinary human thoughts to act on passion. Every passion, when it moves in what it possesses, keeps the thought in captivity, why should not the zeal for virtue keep the thoughts free. When someone is wronged, does he pay attention to any external stimuli, thoughts fighting with the image of the wrongdoer? So is he who desires wealth: when he is seized with such dreams, he looks only at those things that bring profit. A prodigal often talks about something with others, but hides his feelings within himself and, having a desired image in his mind, conducts a conversation with him, forgetting everything that is around him, and sits like a voiceless pillar, not knowing anything that is being done or said in front of him, completely absorbed in his ideas. The law can call such a soul the one that sits apart, when it is far from its senses, engrossed in its own and does not perceive anything from the outside, because it is overwhelmed by impure dreams. If such inclinations hold the thought in this way for the sake of passion and free the senses, then how much love for wisdom takes the mind to the highest heights, and frees it from the senses and everything sensual, and teaches the mind to contemplate the mental world. As in a person who is being burned or cut, his thought will not go beyond suffering, because the pain obscures everything, so he who passionately thinks about something, cannot think about anything else, except what his passion drives him to. When there is pain – there is no place for work, when sadness – for joy, when sadness – for cheerfulness, and hard work does not bring pleasure, great joy does not combine with sadness, and sadness – with cheerfulness. These are all opposite passions, they never combine into one and are not inclined to friendship with each other, because their nature is embedded with irreconcilable hostility and alienation.Therefore, let the purity of virtue not be darkened by thoughts about worldly things, and the clarity of contemplation not be darkened by troubles, so that the image of a true wise man may shine with its beauty and not be scorned by presumptuous lips, and may not become a reason for ridicule due to the ignorance of those who write, but let him be praised, if not by men, then by the heavenly powers or even by the Lord Christ himself, from whom even the saints seek praise. The great David, having trampled human glory, sought praise from God, saying: “My praise is in You, and in the Lord my soul rejoices.” People often slander good things out of envy, but the Lord judges by deeds, regardless of persons, and justly evaluates deeds. Let the pleasure of our good deeds delight His sight. And about people who can neither reward for good deeds nor punish for bad deeds, it is not necessary to say much, although they, due to envy or passion, obscure virtuous deeds with evil words and slander the life known to God and the angels with blasphemy. For at the time of reward, those who lived virtuously will receive a reward not from human judgment, but from themselves, which may God grant to us also by the grace and eternal love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit now, and always, and forever and ever. Amen.