On why we judge wrongly about things and

The reason why we judge wrongly of the things of which we have spoken is that we do not look into their depths in order to see what they are, but we perceive love or aversion to them at once at the first glance and from their appearance. This love or aversion to them predominates our mind and darkens it, which is why it cannot have the right to judge them as they truly are. And so, my brother, if you wish that such delusion should not find a place in your mind, take heed to what is good; and when you either see with your eyes or imagine in your mind what is a thing, hold on to your desires as long as you can, and do not allow yourself at first to be lovingly disposed to this thing, nor to have an aversion to it, but consider it detachedly with your mind alone. In such a case, the mind, not being darkened by passion, is free and pure in its nature, and has the opportunity to know the truth, to penetrate into the depths of things, where evil often hides under a deceitfully attractive appearance, and where good is hidden under an evil appearance.

But if your desire goes ahead and immediately either loves a thing or turns away from it, then your mind will no longer be able to know it well, as it should. For such a disposition, which precedes all judgment, or, rather, this passion, having entered in, becomes a wall between the mind and the thing, and, darkening it, does what it thinks of this thing according to passion, i.e. otherwise than it is in fact, and thereby strengthens the original disposition still more. And the more it stretches forward, or the more it loves and hates a thing, the more it darkens the mind in relation to it, and finally completely obscures it. And then the passion for that thing grows to the utmost limit, so that it seems to a person to be more amiable or hateful than any thing that he has ever loved or hated. In such a way it happens that when the rule I have shown is not observed, i.e., in order to restrain the desire from loving or hating a thing before discussing it, then both these powers of the soul, i.e., the mind and the will, always succeed in evil, sinking more and more from darkness to darkness and from sin to sin.

Therefore, beloved, be careful not to love or disgust any thing out of passion, before you have time to examine it well, in the light of reason and the right word of the Divine Scriptures, in the light of grace and prayer, and with the help of the reasoning of your spiritual father, so that you do not sin and do not count the truly good for the evil and the truly bad for the good; as is the case for the most part with certain works of this kind, which in themselves are good and holy, but because of the circumstances, namely, because they are done either at the wrong time, or at the wrong place, or in the wrong measure, cause no small harm to those who do them. And from experience we know what misfortunes some have suffered from such laudable and holy deeds.

On Guarding the Mind from Useless Polyphony

and idle inquisitiveAs it is necessary, as we have said, to guard the mind from ignorance, so it is equally necessary to guard it against the opposite ignorance of polygnance and curiosity. For as soon as we fill it with a multitude of knowledge, notions, and thoughts, not excluding vain, useless, and harmful ones, we will make it impotent, and it will no longer be able to comprehend what is suitable for our true self-correction and perfection. Why should you behave in this way in relation to the knowledge of earthly things, although sometimes permissible, but not necessary, as if you were already dead; and always gathering one's mind within oneself, as concentrated as possible, leave it idle from thoughts about all the things of the world.

Let the tales of the past and new information about what is happening pass you by, and let all the revolutions in the world and kingdoms be for you as if they had not existed at all, and when someone brings them to you, turn away from them and cut them away from your heart and imagination. Listen to what St. Basil says: "May it be a bitter taste for you to hear worldly news, and to hear the stories of the venerable men with a honeycomb" (part 5, p. 52); hearken also to what the Prophet David says: "Thou hast told me the transgressors of mockery, but not as Thy law, O Lord" (Psalm 118:85). Love to pay attention only to spiritual and heavenly things and study them, and want to know nothing in the world except the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2), except His life and death, and besides what He requires of you. By acting in this way, you will act pleasing to God, Who has as His chosen and beloved those who love Him and strive to do His will.

Any other investigation and inquisition is the offspring and nourishment of self-love and pride; These are the bonds and snares of the devil, who, seeing how the will of those who listen to the spiritual life is strong and strong, attempts to conquer their minds with such curiosity as to take possession of both them. For this purpose, he usually puts into them lofty, subtle and astonishing thoughts, especially those of them that are witty and quick to arrogance. And they, carried away by the pleasure of having and contemplating such lofty thoughts, forget to preserve the purity of their hearts and to heed the humble wisdom about themselves and true self-mortification: and thus, being entangled in the bonds of pride and self-conceit, they make for themselves an idol out of their minds, and as a result, little by little, without feeling it, they fall into the thought that they no longer have need of the advice and admonition of others, for they are accustomed to resort to the idol of their own understanding and judgment in every need.

This is an extremely dangerous and difficult matter to cure; the pride of the mind is much more miserable than the pride of the will. For the pride of the will, being manifest to the mind, can sometimes be conveniently healed by it by bowing it under the yoke of the due. And the mind, when it is presumptuously confirmed in the thought that its own judgment is better than all others, by whom can it finally be cured? Can he listen to anyone when he is sure that the judgments of all others are not as good as his own? When this eye of the soul, the mind, with the help of which a person could recognize and correct the pride of the will, is itself blinded by pride and remains unhealed, who will heal the will? And then everything inside is upset, and moreover, in such a way that there is nowhere and no one to apply the plaster. That is why it behooves you to resist this pernicious pride of the mind as soon as possible, before it penetrates to the marrow of your bones; resist, curb the quickness of your mind, and obediently subordinate your opinion to the opinion of others; Be ye out of love for God, if thou wilt be wiser than Solomon. If anyone thinks that he is wise in this world, let it be that he may be wise" (1 Corinthians 3:18).

CHAPTER TEN.

How to train your will, so that it is in all affairs

their own, internal and external, as the last

In addition to the instructive exercise of your mind, it behooves you to govern your will in such a way as not to allow it to be inclined to your desires, but, on the contrary, to lead it to be completely one with the will of God. And with this good, keep in mind that it is not enough for you to always desire and seek that which is pleasing to God, but that you must also desire it, as moved by God Himself, and for the sole purpose of pleasing Him from a pure heart. In order to endure in this end, we have to endure a stronger struggle with our nature than with all that has been said above. For our nature is so inclined to please itself that in all its deeds, even the kindest and most spiritual, it seeks comfort and pleasure for itself, and by this, imperceptibly and secretly, lustfully feeds itself as food.

From this it happens that when spiritual deeds are set before us, we immediately desire them and strive for them; however, not as moved by the will of God, or for the sole purpose of pleasing God, but for the sake of that consolation and joy which is engendered in us when we desire and seek that which God desires of us; which charm is the more secretive and hidden, the higher in itself and the more spiritual is that which we desire. Wherefore I say that we ought not to be content with that which God wills, but that we ought to desire it, how, when, why, and for what purpose He willeth it. And the Apostle commands us to tempt what is the will of God, which is not only good, but also acceptable and perfect in all circumstances, saying: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in which ye shall be tempted, which is the will of God good, and acceptable, and perfect" (Romans 12:2). For if there is a defect in a deed for any one circumstance, or if we do it not from all volition and not with all intensity, then it is obvious that it is imperfect and is named. Conclude from this that even when we desire and seek God Himself, there may be some wrongs and omissions in this matter, and a kind of flattery of our love for ourselves, or our self-love, may creep into it: since in this case we often have in mind our own good for ourselves rather than the will of God for God Himself, Who is pleased with works done only for His glory, and wants us to love Him alone, to lust after Him alone, and to work for Him alone.