Chapter LXVI
A Letter Which He Sent To His Friend In Which He Expounds Some Things Concerning The Mystery Of Solitude And How It Is That Many Neglect This Wonderful Service Because They Are Not Acquainted With It Whereas The Main Part Of Them Cling To Sitting In The Cell Because This Is Current Monkish Tradition. Together With A Collection Of Short Sayings Useful For Those who practise solitude
Now that thou hast inculcated in me the duty to write to thee on those things which are necessary, I inform thy love by this my writing, in accordance with the promise which I gave thee. As I have found that thou art determined to practise sitting in solitude, with painstaking behaviour, so I from my side will describe to thee in simple words, that which I have heard from discriminating men concerning this service, combining the concentrated sense of their words with personal 1) experiences [gathered] by practice. And thou, on thy side, wilt profit by being occupied with this letter in thy usual diligent way, because with the discrimination of wisdom thou approachest. the concise terms of the lecture of this letter, and not in the usual groove. And thou shalt take them as some elucidation of the rest of thy lecture, because of the great insight and power hidden in them. For the mind is greatly strengthened by such a lecture and it takes from it a 466 weapon against distraction of the thoughts and against dejec tion which is wont to rise from the hardship of labours and the prolonged sitting in solitude. And it casts behind it the world with attention to its practices, through the radiancy with which it is clad [by the sight of] those things which it meets; the which is the aim of this letter, [namely to make known] what is dwelling and service in solitude, and what mysteries are hidden in this discipline which are not observed
1) lit.: near
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by many, and what events the prudent try to reach by solitude; and wherefore they reject the righteousness which is practised among men, fleeing from the sight of the world and choosing the troubles and struggles which are connected with quiet and lonely dwelling. On account of this insight and on account of those things which are found in this letter [readers] will call these solitaries who pass their life in this world in concentrated sitting by themselves happy. To those who do not perceive these things, admonition and advice concerning the order of solitude are vain. Here however I write to the wise, and I give advice in love. If thou seekest imperishable life during thy short days, o brother, then let thy entry unto solitude take place with discrimination 1), that thou mayest find the profit which awaits the wise in the path of solitude. Scrutinize its service and do not run after a name. Enter, be profound and bold, learn and acquire and train thyself in all the amazing and liberating distinctions of the ways of service in solitude. Then thou wilt understand, with all the saints, what is the height and the 467 depth and the length and the breadth of this illimitable discipline, because of the illimitable riches which its merchants seek to acquire. And thou wilt not rest, until thou art trained in all the ways of its service 2). From every human practice, at its beginning, some profit is expected when it shall be realised; this it is which moves the intelligent to lay its foundations. And this aim makes the mind heroic, so as to bear the difficulties of the matter. The mind even gathers some consolation from it by looking towards it. And after the fashion of an officer of the law, it apprehends the mind, till the matter is accomplished. So, in the eyes of the discriminate, the aim of the severe service of solitude is the harbour of mysteries towards which the mind looks, from the time when it lays the first foundations till the end of the work of building. And as the eyes of the helmsman look to the stars, so, in all his long and difficult labours, the inner gaze of the solitary, during his whole course, is directed towards the aim which he has fixed in his mind the first day when he gave himself to sailing the rough sea of solitude, till he shall find the pearl for the sake of which he has
1) Cf. The Book of the Dove, p. 19 2) Text has plural
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entrusted himself to the not-to-be-explored floods of the ocean. And his gaze of hope makes light to him the whole burden of service and the difficulties full of danger which meet him in his course. But he that, as soon as he enters solitude, does not set this aim to the profit [he wishes to gather] from his service, labouring at random as a man that combats the air, will never during 468 his life escape the spirit of despondency. And one of two things
will happen to him: Either, no longer bearing the insupportable burden, he will be vanquished and give up solitude altogether; or, if he adheres to it, his cell becomes a dungeon in which he is tormented. And because he does not know that he may expect the consolation which is born from the service in solitude, he is not able to implore through his heart's pain or to beseech in passionate prayer or to embrace the token which our merciful Fathers, from love of their posterity, have left to us in their writings, whereby we could gain our life. One of them has said: To me the profit of solitude is this, that where I withdraw from the camp in which my abode is fixed, my mind becomes void of the occupations of war and turns to a service which is more profitable. Another: Solitude cuts off causes which give a new turn to the deliberations and within its walls there grow old and tasteless the recollections of previous things. And when the old matter has disappeared from the intellect, the mind returns to nature in order to direct it. Another: I run to meet solitude, with this aim, that in my heart the sentences of recitation and prayer may become sweet. And when my tongue has been made silent by the delight of their understanding, I fall, as it were, asleep, my senses and my emotion being benumbed. And when by prolonged solitude my heart has acquired peace from the trouble of recollections, solitude sends me continually waves of gladness which arise from emotions which burst forth from within unexpectedly and 469 suddenly, to the delight of my heart; the which, running against the ship of my soul, and [withdrawing it] from the sounds of the world and from the life of the flesh, immerse it in the deepest depths of quiet in God. Another: The degree of thy hidden things thou canst understand by thy different emotions. I mean the perpetual ones, not those which are set astir by accident and are made to
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pass by time. There is no one clad with flesh whose house is not visited by some traveller belonging to the two various states of good and of evil. If he is disprudent, by those of deficiency, through nature, the fathers of children. If he is faithful, by those of elevation, through the leaven of grace which He has mixed with our nature, the parents of the kingdom on high. Another: Choose the delightful service of continual vigils, by which all the Fathers have put off their old man and have become worthy of the renewal of the intellect. At these times the soul perceives that immortal life, by which apperception it throws off the garment of darkness and becomes the recipient of spiritual gifts. Another: It is not possible that a man, while seeing many faces and hearing various sounds foreign to spiritual meditation, and speaking and having intercourse with the like, should keep his mind free so as to gaze at himself secretly, to remember his sins, to hide his thoughts, and to look at those which come, and to become familiar with hidden prayer. 47 o Further it is impossible for a man to subdue the senses by the domination of the soul without solitude and alienation from men because the initiated soul becomes united to them and involved with them as in one person and is dragged along with their impulses, if it does not hold vigil with hidden prayer. And then, how vigils and alertness with prayer and recitation, will delight and gladden and give joy and make pure the soul, is well known to those who have practised these things during their whole life, in veracious asceticism. And thou, o man who lovest solitude, place before thee, as a mark, these indications based upon the words of the Fathers, and direct the course of thy service towards them, and before all things, judge which are those which suit best the aim of thy service. \Without them thou canst not be mature in true knowledge; try to show thy endurance especially in them. Silence is a symbol of the future world. Speech is an organ of this world. A man who fasts is trying to acquire likeness with the nature of the spiritual beings. Through his continual silence and fasting a man becomes distinguished that in his hidden state is constantly occupied with the service of God. By these mysteries is accomplished, even through those invisible forces, the holy service of the Essence
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which governs the world. Some men who have been marked 471 off to enter the divine mysteries, have been signed with such seals as these; some of them have been entrusted with the guidance of a strong people; others have even acquired power over the elements and, midst great admiration, the species 1) of nature have obeyed their commandments; others have been entrusted with the office of examining, for the universal re novation, the secrets that were hidden in the mysterious silence of the Lord of the universe. And it would not have been beautiful, if with a full belly and a mind distracted by wantonness, such mysteries had been administered, or if the sanits had ventured to elevate themselves to intercourse with God and unto His secret mysteries, unless with weak limbs and a colour livid by the pain of hunger, and a mind conscious of its reason by its having renunciated all earthly deliberations. When, on account of a long abode in thy cell and troublesome labours and secret observance and restraint of the senses from all contact, the power of solitude gets hold of thee, thou wilt find first that joy which from time to time, without a cause, dominates thy soul Then thy eyes are opened to see God's creative power and the beauty of the creatures, in accordance with the degree of thy purity. And when the mind by this sight has been snatched up in ecstasy, night and day become one to it in its admiration of the. glorious works of God. And then the apperception of the affections is taken away from the soul by the delight of this sight. And by it the soul enters 4 7 2 the two degrees of intelligible revelations which belong to what lies higher than purity.