March
24, 2002
"Directions
in Spiritual Life - Part II"
-- Sts. Barsanuphius and John
In today's reading, we will continue our reading
of the counsels of Sts. John and Barsanuphius. At the end of the
reading, you will find notes about two fantastic books I have just begun
reading here in Kosovo that are simply incredible. They are especially
valuable in light of our recent discussion of how to find a spiritual
father. Both these books are written by modern day searchers who tell
about their search for spiritual fathers and their experiences are very
useful for all of us.
Now, on to today's "thought!"
Sts. Barsanuphius and John lived in the sixth
century as fellow spiritual strugglers in Palestinian monasteries and in
isolation in the desert. We are blessed today to have a wonderful
collection of their teachings on the spiritual life which should be
studied by every serious student of the Christian faith. St.
Barsanuphius spent some fifty years in his cell, forbidding himself the
sight of another person. A great ascetic, he was brought three loaves of
bread a week by the monastery purser, but often did not eat even that.
St. John was his equal in asceticism and was blessed with the additional
gift of prophecy.
The book written by these two fathers contains
850 answers to various questions asked by a wide variety of people. Some
were written by St. John, but the vast majority were give by St.
Barsanuphius. He did not actually write the answers down himself, but
dictated them to Abba Serid. When the saint first began to give his
answers to questions, he asked Abba Serid to write it down. Not
expecting to retain in his memory all the words said to him by the great
desert father, Abba Serid was in a quandary how to write down so many
words and expected the saint to tell him to bring paper and ink in order
to take dictation as he listened. By his gift of clairvoyance, St.
Barsanuphius read the secret thought of Serid. His face became like a
flame and he said to Serid, "Go, write it down and fear not. Even
if I say innumerable words for you to write down, know that the Holy
Spirit will not you write one single word more or less than what I have
said, even though you wish it, but will guide your hand in writing down
everything correctly and in right order."
Obviously, we cannot put all 850 of their answers
in our newsletter, but we will share some of our favorites with you over
the next couple of newsletters.
Today, we will look at several wonderful
selections on fasting and controlling the appetite, an especially
relevant topic now that we are in the period of Great Lent before the
Feast of the Lord's Resurrection.
DIRECTIONS IN SPIRITUAL WORK --
PART II
-- About the measure of abstinence in food and
drink, the fathers say that one should partake of the one and the other
in a measure somewhat less than one's actual need, that is, not to fill
the stomach completely. Everyone should establish a measure for himself,
whether in cooked food or in wine. Moreover the measure of abstinence is
not limited to food and drink but embraces also conversations, sleep,
garments and all the senses. Each of these should have its own measure
of abstinence.
-- How to establish a measure of food and drink,
at less than one needs? Take away about one ounce from the total
quantity of bread and other foods. As regards water and wine taken
together, take away less than half a cup. If you have attention in
yourself and it is not hard for you to drink only once a day, it would
be well to do so; if you cannot, drink twice a day, but each time less
than you need. At times when thoughts are troubled and at war, even the
customary quantity of food and drink should be reduced, that is, food by
another ounce and all drink by a cup, so that in all food is reduced by
two ounces and drink by one cup.
-- How to establish the needful measure or to
find out how much a man should eat and drink? By observing himself over
several days in relation to the total amount of food, that is, bread,
other foods and vegetables, a man can learn by experience how much food
and drink his body requires (to be satisfied without overloading it).
This measure he should reduce by one ounce of food and half a cup of
drink. And at times of struggle he should reduce it by another ounce and
another half cup.
-- What does it mean to abstain according to
one's strength? To abstain according to one's strength means precisely
to use food and drink as I said, namely: to take slightly less than one
needs. The same applies to sleep. But if owing to hardship and
exhaustion a man somewhat increases the measure, this will not mean an
infringement of the rule: "according to one's strength." You
will ask: What should be the measure of sleep? The Fathers set it as
half the night. As regards food, stop eating when you would like to have
a little more, and in this way always take it in moderation.
-- What does it mean to take food to satisfy a
whim, and what to satisfy natural requirements? To satisfy a whim means
to want to take food not because the body needs it but to pander to the
belly (and the palate). But if you notice that your body takes some
foods more willingly than others, not for pleasure, but because it is
lighter, then to take it would not be a whim. If the nature of some
demands sweet food, the nature of others -- salt food and the nature of
yet others -- acid food, that is not a whim. But to be particularly fond
of some kind of food and to lust for it is a whim -- serving gluttony.
If you wish to find out whether you are addicted to the passion of
gluttony, you can find it out in the following manner. If food captures
your thought (so that you cannot resist it) -- you are a glutton. If you
are not possessed by it and partake freely of all kinds of food to the
extent your body requires it, you are not a glutton.
Another sign of gluttony is to have a craving for
food before the appointed time. This should never be allowed, unless
there is some valid reason for it.
-- If the passion (of gluttony) does not trouble
me beforehand but appears when I am taking food, what should I do --
leave off eating or not? If you are having a meal with someone else, do
not leave off but, calling on the name of God for help, banish lust and
eat a little, bearing in mind that the food will soon be transformed
into stench. But when you are alone and hungry, eat bread and some other
food towards which you are not drawn.
-- I want to curb my belly and reduce the amount
of food -- and cannot. Even if sometimes I reduce it, I very soon return
again to the old measure. It is the same with drink. Why is this so? No
one is freed from this except a man who has attained to the measure of
him who said: "I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of
my groaning my bones cleave to my skin" (Psalms 102: 4-5). Such a
man quickly succeeds in reducing his food and drink; for tears serve him
as bread -- and he finally reaches a state when he is fed by the Holy
Spirit. Believe me, brother -- I know a man of such stature; once or
twice in the course of a week, and sometimes more often he is
transported towards spiritual food, and its sweetness makes him forget
physical food. When he is about to eat bread, he is like one fully
satiated and has no desire for it; and, when he does eat it, reproaches
himself saying: Why as I not always in that state? And so wishes to
attain to still greater achievement.
-- How to reach such a state? When all man's
thoughts form one whole in God, then the flesh too follows the thought
of God and the joy of the Spirit comes to the heart, feeding the soul
and strengthening the body, and so fortifies both. Such a man no longer
weakens or grows despondent, for from then onwards Jesus becomes his
Intercessor and sets him at the door of that place where "sorrow
and mourning shall flee away" (Isaiah 51:11). And so the word of
the Scriptures becomes fulfilled in him: "Where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21). And what brings a
man to such a state is humility.
-- How to distinguish a natural infirmity of the
flesh (brought about by abstinence) from one simulated by the demons,
and how much food should one eat? About infirmity I should say: if
receiving daily food (with the habitual measure of abstinence) the body
grows weak -- it is from the demons. In the opposite case (if the
measure of abstinence is increased) -- the infirmity is natural. The
usual measure of abstinence is to get up from the meal slightly hungry,
as the fathers laid down for beginners. Later when a man becomes firmly
established in this and in a still greater measure of abstinence,
experience will have taught him to know clearly how much he should eat.
-- "Pray for me; I am sorely tired."
Those who completely die to the world come to the measure of stature
through patience and trials, O beloved brother! The Lord has suffered on
the cross. Should you not rejoice in sufferings, the endurance of which
leads you to the kingdom of heaven? That you suffer is a good sign. Do
you not know what sufferings and temptations become multiplied when the
Lord prepares His mercy? And, generally, do not seek bodily ease if the
Lord does not grant it to you, for bodily ease if abomination in His
eyes. And the Lord has said: "In the world ye shall have
tribulation" (John 16:33).
-- How to allot oneself daily food? If you allot
yourself daily food in the cell, it will lead you to cares and
struggles. Be content with what God provides. "He that walketh
uprightly walketh surely" (Proverbs 10:9). END
Kadloubovsky, E., and Palmer, G.E.H., trans., "Writings
from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart," (London: Faber and
Faber, 1983, pp. 350 - 355.
TWO NEW BOOKS FOR YOUR
CONSIDERATION
I began reading two new books this week that I
just received that are, quite simply, two of the best books I have ever
read on the search for spiritual truth. As most of you will remember,
several weeks ago our newsletter dealt with the issue of finding a
spiritual father in today's world or otherwise finding spiritual
direction through readings and study. Both of these books relate similar
experiences of modern-day people looking for spiritual direction.
The first book, "Wisdom for the
Journey," is by Dr. Serge Bolshakoff who visited with monastic
fathers of the Russian Orthodox Church over a fifty-year period in
Russia, Estonia, Finland, and Mount Athos. His detailed recollections of
conversations with these holy men over the course of his life are
extremely rich and rewarding and full of wonderful advice and guidance
from fathers living through a very turbulent period of Russian Church
history. Their advice to people living in the world is as valid today as
it was in past decades when it was given to Dr. Bolshakoff. This book is
also very well written and reads very easily. Check it out at Amazon by
following the link below and look out for cheaper, used copies you can
purchase at a good savings:
The second book which I have just begun reading
-- and has already made a very strong impression on me! -- is called
"The Mountain of Silence," by Kyriacos C. Markides, a
spiritual seeker who discovers the deep, inner wisdom of Orthodox
spirituality after many explorations of other religious traditions. In
this book, Markides follows Fr. Maximos from Mount Athos to Cyprus where
the Athonite monk establishes churches, convents, and monasteries in
that deeply divided land. As this Father and the conversations recorded
are our contemporaries (from the late 1990s), the words are especially
relevant to all of us seeking spiritual wisdom while maintaining secular
lives in the outside world. This book is wonderful.
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