Questions about Delusion

Questions to Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman) after his conversation about delusion in the Gospel.

Question. What does it mean to "humbly strive for a higher spiritual gift"?

Answer. This means knowing your constitution and striving for improvement, soberly assessing yourself - that is, forcing yourself, but at the same time understanding what you can do. We are unable to compel ourselves to unceasing prayer, we are unable to compel ourselves to dispassion, I am not even talking about miracles. Something else may occur: under the pretext of humility, people lose zeal, this is also wrong. Therefore, you need to force yourself and strive for more, but at the same time know your measure. Although sometimes it happens that the Lord visits a person beyond his measure, one must also have the right attitude to such a state. You need to understand that grace is not given according to merit. If we believe that we are unworthy of grace, then we assume that we have not yet deserved it, and if we do something else, we deserve it. But sometimes the Lord gives grace as if in advance, beyond all merits, therefore, what is given must be evaluated not by one's own worthiness, but focusing on how the holy fathers describe it, to see if this matches their explanation of this or that spiritual experience or not. At the same time, there is no need to ponder whether we are worthy or not (because we are not only unworthy to be in a monastery at all, but not worthy to live), this approach is also a hidden manifestation of pride.

Question. If the schema-nun, about whom you told, was in delusion, how could she, not having the grace of God, lead such a harsh life for years?

Answer. Those who are deceived just lead a harsh life, for example, yogis show more vigorous physical labours than Orthodox ascetics. Yogi is put on glass, and a car is driven on him, and he is buried in the ground, then they take him out - and he is alive. And Porfiry Ivanov, the founder of his own sect, did not eat or drink for 100 days. How can all this be possible? 

Gospel on Delusion

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman). "Good part. Conversations with cloisterers. Conversation 44. About delusion".

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman)

Today I would like, based on the Gospel, to hold a conversation about delusion. At first glance, it seems that nothing is said about it there, but this is only at first, superficial, glance. If we delve into the Gospel, remember its entire content and think a little, then we will find several passages in which (though without using the word "delusion") a false spiritual state is spoken of, which is quite natural, because the Gospel is the source of truth, and such an important subject as delusion must be mentioned in it. First of all, a false spiritual state, an attempt to deceive the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, is spoken of in the Gospel when it tells about the temptation of the Savior in the wilderness. Many holy fathers, comforting and encouraging us in our spiritual warfare, remind us that even Jesus Christ Himself experienced warfare from the devil.

But if the devil comes to us mostly through thoughts, since we are fallen beings and our mind, damaged by the fall, became accessible for satanic suggestions, then the Lord Jesus Christ, as a sinless man, could not be tempted in this way. The devil-tempter (and the evangelist calls him namely "the tempter") approached Him personally, because he could not tempt His mind, and, seducing Him, tried first of all to awaken the desire for vain glory in the Lord, the desire to visibly prove His spirituality, His Divine origin. Of course, one can consider these temptations of the Savior in the wilderness from different points of view: one can say that the devil tempted the Lord with thoughts of gluttony, glory and power, but one should pay attention to such words of the tempter when he approached the Lord: "If you are the Son of God..."- that is, the devil tried to convince the Savior of the need to glorify Himself with miracles - first by turning stones into bread, and then by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple in front of everyone and remaining unharmed. Finally, he already in the most frank way demanded worship for himself, promising the Lord all the kingdoms of the world for this, shown, as it is said in the Gospel, in a moment of time.

Circular Prayer within the Heart has no Danger of Delusion

Elder Joseph the Hesychast. "Monastic wisdom". Letter 36.

(complete letter)

Elder Joseph the Hesychast (1897 - 1959)

May the God and Lord of all Who dwells in the heavens, Who gives us breath and life and everything, and constantly cares for our salvation, send forth into your holy souls the comforting Spirit; may He enlighten your nous as He enlightened the Disciples of our Savior; may He shine the light of His divine radiance upon your entire spiritual and noetic being; may your whole heart burn with divine eros as did Cleopas’s, and may it leap for joy learning of the conception of the new Adam, and the utter destruction of the old Adam along with all his passions. Then, in this manner, tears will continuously flow every moment like a fountain streaming forth sweetness. Amen.

Today, my little child, I received your letter and saw what you wrote, and I shall answer your questions. The method of noetic prayer is as your holy eldress tells you. Circular* prayer within the heart has no danger of delusion ever. The other method or methods are dangerous, because a fantasy can easily approach them, and then delusion enters the nous.

O how dreadful is the delusion of the nous! And how imperceptible! Let me write a little about it for your information. I was very daring with these things and examined every kind of prayer. I tried out everything, because when grace approaches a person, his nous—that “shameless bird” as Abba Isaac calls it—seeks to penetrate everywhere, to try out everything. It begins with the creation of Adam and ends up plunging into depths and soaring to such heights that if God did not set any boundaries, it would not return.

How to Confess?

Bishop Panteleimon (Shatov), Chairman of the Synodal Department of Church Charity and Social Service.

Bishop Panteleimon (Shatov)

At confession, you need to repent, listing your sins. Sometimes, coming to confession, people begin to tell something like the following: “I came home yesterday, my husband met me, he, as always, was drunk, I reproved him and he began to shout at me, I got angry and hit him in his face. I, of course, did the wrong thing. But what could I do?..” This is not a confession. The confession should be a repentance, and not a story about your life, and, moreover, with an attempt to justify your sins.

Although there are people who, by their simplicity, do not know how to repent in any other way. And, of course, their confessor will accept their confession in this form, but nevertheless it would be more correct to say this: “I am angry, I am very irritable; when my husband misbehaved, I got angry, hit him in the face. I am very sorry about this, I repent. I asked him for forgiveness and I promise God that I will never do this again.” This is how, it seems to me, the correct confession will sound.

Often people write a lot in their notes, they tell too much about something, it is not entirely correct. There is an opposite thing, also wrong, when a person simply lists his sins in separate words: “I sinned with vanity, despondency, irritation ...” “I broke my fast, I had bad thoughts,” the children say “I misbehaved...” What does “vanity” mean? What does irritation mean? What do bad thoughts mean? What do you mean saying “misbehaved”? We should not speak in general terms about the passion that works in you, it works in everyone, but about how this passion manifests itself in you. For example, it would be more correct to say not “I was annoyed with my daughter,” but “I humiliated my daughter, called her with bad words, hit her ...” Or, for example, pride... How does it manifest itself, your pride? You humiliate other people, look down on everyone, you are rude to someone, wanting to humiliate him? That is, confession should not be a detailed story of all the circumstances of a particular case, but should be repentance for specific sins, but, on the other hand, these sins should not be designated by one word.

It is Better to Deal with Bodily Impurities than with Pride

From the letters of the Venerable elder Leo of Optina.

St. Leo of Optina

We will not be afraid if we have to struggle after the confession

We will not be afraid, if we have to struggle after the confession, it is better to deal with bodily impurities than with pride, and although we fall in the battle, we should not leave the battle field: then we have much more need for a doctor.

Fear of God force us to confess sins

You are worried most of all and you reproach yourself that you care more about pleasing the mentors than God, that the thought that you should confess every sin to me holds you back more than the fear of angering the Lord. These thoughts lead you to self-assurance. Don’t you do this because of fear of God, when you repent of your sins before God, having as a witness His servant, who was entrusted the keys to bind and loose. St. John Climacus in the 4th step writes: “By resolving to make one’s confession, the soul is thereby held from sinning as by a bridle; for we do not confess our crimes to henceforth shamelessly repeat the manifested ulcers, as if in the darkness, not to make them set on the bitter, but healed, this opinion is contrary to yours.” Therefore, you clean yourself of passions and sins, you do not lose anything, but you gain piety and peace of conscience, not thinking that by yourself, but by the prayers of others you received this, while many who walked the high path fell with a great fall. Think, do you refrain from sins fearing me? I'm not a reader of the heart. If you hide anything from me, I will not call you to account and denounce you, and you have nothing to fear from me. From this you see that the fear of God compels you to confess your sins, and, consequently, to refrain from them, and not the fear of me. You see yourself prone to arrogance – try to reject self-assurance as much as possible, and rejecting this thought that disturbs you completely, please be peaceful and calm.

The Holy Fathers commanded those new in the faith to generally confess all their sins from their youth

But in order for you to foresee faults and to protect yourself and those who follow your wise admonition, you deign to ask our wickedness with a true sincerity about the previous bad impulses; although they were confessed to confessors, the burden of conscience is not alleviated, but you are burdened and embarrassed, i.e. you are not contented as you should, and it is evident that the confessor, who confessed you, was not very skillful. And therefore the holy spirit-bearing fathers commanded those new in the faith and wishing to adopt the monastic angelic life to confess all their sins in general from youth and, thus, purify their conscience and soul, and lay a new foundation, i.e. having cleansed themselves and relieved from such a burden, easily accept the obedience. - So I, sinful, advise your love to ask and pray to the Most Merciful Lord and God, so that by His providence He would send you such a spiritual father, to whom you could confess all your sins from youth to this age and who could instill in you the importance of them. Although we are now unable to satisfy them with penance, at least we must satisfy with repentance and tears, so that we will propitiate the Merciful Lord to relieve us from the burden and grant us courage and strength to resist the universal enemy, the devil. When the Lord, in response to your faith and diligence, grants you such a spiritual father and you do as written above, then you will see peace within your soul, and joy of the heart, and tenderness, comforting you with invaluable comfort.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/how-to-prepare-for-confession/865-the-venerable-leo-of-optina-on-confession

Father Anthony Knew How to Make a Person Want Pure Confession

From the biography of the Venerable Anthony of Optina.

St. Anthony of Optina

Anthony of Optina imperceptibly led everyone to getting conscious of their spiritual weaknesses. So once, someone repented before him in some sins, and kept silence about others. Anthony of Optina did not denounce the incompleteness of repentance, but, on the contrary, told the repentant that with his repentance he had pleased the Angels in heaven, and with these words great contrition and zeal for the perfect cleansing of conscience aroused in this man.

“When you ask someone,” said Anthony of Optina, “then you receive benefits according to the measure of faith: whoever comes with little faith, receives little benefit, and who comes with great faith – gets a great benefit. It happened to me at first to ask the elder, as if tempting: “What will he say to this?” Well, the answers were corresponding. And if you put it in your heart that you will hear the answer of God himself from the elder, then God will notify, and a completely different person will appear, and you will hear what you do not expect.” To some visitors, Anthony spoke about their circumstances in hints, and to simple people who accepted his words with simplicity of heart and with faith, he spoke directly and simply. If someone had already proved his sincerity and devotion by a long-term spiritual relationship, he sometimes even called for an explanation. It happened that one of his spiritual children, disturbed by a thought, revealed it to him not in the course of the confession, but in a simple conversation, narratively; then the elder himself resumed the conversation about this, and calmed down only when everything had been properly confessed. And in conclusion he would say: “Now it’s good; otherwise you show the shell, but you do not show the grain itself”. It also happened that he reminded some of those who referred to him about the cases, which they never revealed not only to him, but forgot about themselves; or commanded to pray for some sin, of which they were not aware in themselves, and did not understand at all, or did not consider it a sin, and after some time, with a careful review of their life, they discovered in themselves with a surprise what the elder had indicated. But the elder did this to those whose sincerity he tested, and when it was clear to him that they were hiding this or that, not because of stubbornness or lack of frankness, but precisely because of ignorance. In other cases, with extraordinary patience, he waited until the person himself came to his senses and consciousness; because only then spiritual healing is effective. Also, when the remarks made out of paternal love and care were not taken in the way it should have been, then he refrained from such remarks; and if he did not have the opportunity to influence on somebody with the word, he tried to bring to goodness by secretly praying for such person.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/concealment-of-sins-in-confession/868-father-anthony-knew-how-to-make-a-person-want-pure-confession

About Pseudo-eldership

Hegumen Nektariy (Morozov). Pseudo-eldership: where does it come from and how not to get caught by it?

Not to replace the Lord

Hegumen Nektariy (Morozov)

Spiritual guidance is one of the most challenging tasks for a priest. Therefore, both he himself and the person who comes to him for advice should always remember about precautionary measures. It is even difficult to say for whom they are more important.

Each of us, priests, should very well understand our own spiritual level and be aware of our personal Christian and human imperfection. Then we realize how careful we need to be in all our actions in relation to those people who expect from us a word about God and instruction in following Him.

After all, the priest will give an answer to the Lord not only for himself, but also for those whom God himself has entrusted to him, and sometimes even a stricter answer. Putting a stone in an outstretched hand instead of bread or giving a snake instead of a fish is very scary!

As for the person who follows the advice of this or that priest, he probably needs to look first of all at how much the priest trusts himself.

If in some difficult life situation or in some difficult spiritual issue, he says: “Look, this is what the Lord, the holy fathers, said about this in the Gospel. Let's figure out together how you should act in this situation.” Or he suggests doing this and that, but not because this is his pastoral opinion, but because the whole law of spiritual life tells it.

The priest does not reveal any secrets to the believer who turns to him, but simply turns him to face the law of God. The person himself does not want to look into the eyes of his own conscience, to peer into his own heart, and the priest helps him to do this. But the shepherd cannot do something instead of someone.

Venerable Ambrose of Optina on Confession

From the letters of the Venerable elder Ambrose of Optina.

St. Ambrose of Optina

It is useful to confess everything with self-reproach, however, if you do it with indignation at others, what is the use of full explanations?.

***

<From the memoirs of a spiritual daughter> to my confession - "I am sinful in everything," <the elder> asked: "Did you steal horses?" I answered: "No". “Well, you see, not in everything,” the elder said, smiling. In response to my words that I do not know how to confess at all, the father remarked: "You leave confession like a saint."

***

If you are carried away by something through weakness, do not be faint-hearted and embarrassed, but try to correct this by self-reproach and confession first to God, the reader of the human heart, and to your spiritual father in due time. Let the events happening teach you to eschew, be careful and guard yourself, through the fear of God. Surrender yourself to the will of God and wait with patience for the decision of your fate.

***

Question: "What does it mean to sincerely confess?" Answer: "It means not to hide anything, to speak directly, not to smooth over."

 

The Difference Between a True Work of Faith and a Delusional One

Monk Konstantin. “From conversations with the Caucasian hermit”.

Question: How to distinguish correct, saving work of faith from delusional work?

Answer: Of course, only a spiritually experienced person can do this - can determine what work is performed by someone. And for ourselves, we must learn this truth: you do not need to invent works. When a person comes to repentance, he naturally begins to correct his life, his behavior is not invented, not fabricated, but forced by the way of life, by the struggle with his passions. Such work is required by itself and taken for granted. It does not make arrogant, does not give a person a reason for self-conceit and self-exaltation, but only leads him along the path of repentance and correction.

Meanwhile, the delusional work is usually far-fetched and bright. And it is especially necessary to emphasize: it is “great”, but short-lived: it is completely abandoned with the course of time. It alternates with self-indulgence and relaxation: “You worked hard - you can relax! Work hard play hard”. A man has accomplished something: fasting, or vigil, or prayer, or a certain number of bows - that's all, now he is “having a rest”.

These are signs of a harmful deed, leading, to a greater or lesser extent, to delusion.

Question: What is delusion?

Answer: In brief: when we consider to be good something that is not good. When we take the demonic action or our heated blood for the action of the grace.

About the Most Common Types of Delusion

Archimandrite Markell (Pavuk), confessor of Kiev Theological Schools

- Father, what is spiritual delusion? Where does it come from?

- In Russian, the word “prelest” has a positive connotation (it means charm, loveliness), however, from a spiritual point of view, delusion is a deceived state of the soul the person is unconscious of, when, under the influence of the passion of pride, one wants to seem better than he really is. Any excessive adorning of oneself with expensive clothes, cosmetics, ornate words, insincere actions, and smiles are kinds of delusion. Its beauty is deceiving, and it cannot save the world, but on the contrary, deceives and destroys it. However, each person has an internal innate defensive reaction, which allows us to feel the insincerity of others, but you will not always immediately understand what the matter is.

In the state of delusion, a man does not live his own life, but rather that of the stranger he dreams of. For him, life is an ongoing play. It is not accidentally that the programs related to playing have the highest rating in the media. It is also clear why in ancient times the main competitor of the Church was the pagan theater. The Holy Fathers very sharply criticized the actors precisely because they were engaged in play-acting and voluntarily or involuntarily infected their viewers with this.

The church teaches a person to be his true self, not to pose, not to show off, not to play-act, but to live, as they say, breathing freely. It was precisely because of this desire to be real people, personalities, and not faceless mass or limp posers, the first Christians joyfully went to martyrdom. As St. Justin the Philosopher explained the phenomenon of martyrdom, we go to martyrdom because we do not want to live by deception.

According to the Word of God, delusion is the most direct invention of the evil one, who parasitizes on a person’s natural desire to become better. Who of us does not want to grow spiritually, intellectually, physically and materially, who does not dream of a career? It was the promise of the evil one that let the delusion enter the world. The devil, in the form of a serpent in paradise, assured the ancestors that they would be like gods, and by this he tempted them, but instead of the promised things, it resulted in spiritual and physical death.

What Pride of Mind and Pride of Will Are

Archimandrite Cleopa (Ilie). "What pride is and what it is born of".

Archimandrite Cleopa (Ilie)

Brother: Rev. Father, please tell me what pride is and what kinds of it are there in the world?

Elder: Let it be known to you, brother John, that pride is the beginning, root and source of all sin and all lawlessness. And since you have asked what kinds of it are there, then let it be known that, as St. Gregory the Dialogist says, “pride has five stages, and to understand these steps, you should first understand that there are five kinds of benefits to be proud of, namely:

natural benefits, that is, quick wit, beauty, courage, and the like;

the second type is the acquired benefits, such as knowledge, wisdom, skill, and the like;

the third type includes random goods, such as wealth, fame, position, and the like;

the fourth is the benefit of strong will;

the fifth is spiritual blessings, that is, the gift of prophecy, miracles and the like.”

So, brother John, at the first stage of pride is peculiar to the person who, possessing any of these benefits, does not recognize that he has received them from God, but believes that he has them by himself, in a natural way.

The second stage of pride is when a person admits that these benefits were given to him by God, but not for nothing, but because they befit him as supposedly worthy of them.

The third stage of pride is when someone thinks that he has some talents, which he, however, does not have.

The fourth stage of pride is when someone defames others and wants to be revered by all as more worthy than them.

The fifth, and last, step of pride is when a person comes to the point that he defames the holy laws and does not obey them as the holy fathers prescribed.

Let it be also known to you, brother John, and remember that pride has twelve daughters: vanity, curiosity, arrogance of mind, boasting, laziness, insolence, a hypocritical confession, self-justification, apostasy, self-will, willfulness, and getting completely accustomed to the sin.

A Warning to Those Wishing to Practice Noetic (Mental) Prayer

Venerable elder Macarius of Optina. "A warning to those reading spiritual books of the holy fathers and wishing to practice the noetic Jesus prayer".

St. Macarius of Optina.

This “Warning” was compiled about a century and a half ago by the venerable Optina Elder Macarius (Ivanov). It is addressed to those who wish to practice the noetic Jesus Prayer, but who do not have expert mentors and guides.

However, the creation of the elder Macarius can be equally addressed to all Christians - as advice not to look for high spiritual gifts and conditions in themselves, but to humbly walk by the way of the fulfillment of Christ's commandments, relying on God's will in everything. Citing the testimonies of the great ascetic fathers, the elder convinces: an untimely desire for a "high", "contemplative" life is fraught with delusion, and often not only mental, but also physical death.

At the same time, the venerable Macarius, who himself had experienced the path of noetic prayer, in no way seeks to avert contemporary monks and pious laymen from salvation and the prayer in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ commanded by the holy fathers. He only asserts: the measure for a novice is an oral prayer, not accompanied by any “artistic means”, information about which is contained in patristic works.

A contemporary of the elder Macarius - Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes very clearly about this in his instructions about Jesus prayer: “Novices should keep the most reverent attention while practicing the Jesus prayer, concentrate the mind on the words of the prayer. (...) Here is my command to you (the novice): do not seek the place of the heart. Do not try in vain to explain to yourself what is meant by the place of the heart; the experience will explain it satisfactorily (in due time). If God wants to give you this knowledge, He will give it when the due time comes. Practice exclusively the prayer of repentance with all diligence; try to perform penance by the prayer” [1].

The venerable Macarius also explains what mental order it is necessary to have while practicing the Jesus prayer, what should be the active life of a Christian, and what kind of spiritual fruits should be aspired by the one praying in the name of Christ. We believe that the “Warning” of the Optina elder will be useful to modern Christians who strive to lead a spiritual life, will help to avoid various schemes of the enemy of the human race and not become a victim of delusion or incorrect “opinion” about themselves.

The Novice Escaped Perdition Only through the Prayers of the Elder

Archimandrite Ioannicius (Kotsonis). "Athonite Paterikon".

Many years ago, on the southern outskirts of Katunaki, there lived a very reverent elder with his novice named Spyridon. At first, Spyridon was diligent and obedient in everything. However, over time, the invisible worm of vanity began to corrode his monastic living. He performed excessive deeds, increased number of bows, the number of prayers with the prayer rope, kept vigil for more time without taking permission and blessing from his spiritual father. He began to consider himself much higher than other monks and, little by little, doing his own will, reached the point that he was completely possessed by the spirit of pride.

One night, he heard someone knocking on his cell, saying: “Through the prayers...”. He opened the door and saw an Angel in front of him. But it was an Angel only in appearance, and not in essence.

The Delusion Due to Mistrust to the Confessor

Archbishop Theophan (Bystrov). "Letters".

78. To Archbishop Averky (Taushev) (?)

A request for blessing to become a monk.

Honorable friend,

I answer your main question. If you want to accept monasticism and if there is the consent and blessing from your parents, then, of course, I have nothing against your desire. But I consider it my duty to give you advice: first thoroughly test yourself: can you conduct a monastic life in the conditions of your actual life? It is better to foresee everything before enduring the frustration of unforeseen surprises. Without objecting to the merits, I only warn against haste. But in the end, this question will have to be decided not by me, but by your diocesan bishop.

At the beginning of monastic life, it is especially necessary to have experienced, wise guidance. As a spiritual guide, if one is not available on the spot, I could recommend you the hieroschemamonk from Athos, father Lot, who is well known to you. I advise you to have confidence in this guide: otherwise thoughts may confuse you. And it can cause great spiritual harm.

Arch. Theophan. 1931. V. 3. Clamart.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/847-the-delusion-due-to-mistrust-to-the-confessor

Liberation from the Delusion of the False Desire for Martyrdom

"The Great Watch". The cell notes of Hieromonk Jerome.

Once he [the monk Paisius] came to me for confession and said: “Father! I have a great desire to become a martyr, bless me to go to Thessaloniki or to Smyrna to be tormented for Christ, I really want this, my heart burns day and night, everything draws me to lay down my life for Christ.” Hearing this from him, I was surprised and asked him: “Where did such a strange thought come to you from? What is this for?” “So that,” he answered, “Firstly, by these means I can sooner be saved, and secondly, I will be forever in the rank of martyrs who are most glorified in the Kingdom of God. That’s why I want to be a martyr.” I told him a lot from the Scriptures regarding this; I tried to convince him that every Christian, especially a monk, should be ready, if necessary, to sacrifice his life for God, and this is Christian selflessness. But we are forbidden to go into temptations without permission, but, on the contrary, we are commanded to pray so that we are not led into temptation. “And you,” I continued, “you needlessly dare to do such a terrible thing. Your desire is correct, but bringing it into practice is not God-pleasing and it is very dangerous for your salvation because of the weakness of our nature. Remember the example of Peter the Apostle, and besides him, there were many unfortunate examples of people who dared for such a great thing without a high calling and could not stand the torment and fell away from Christ. It can easily happen to you.” But he was little convinced by my exhortations. After our conversation with him, the thought of martyrdom bothered him for more than a year, and he himself did not understand that it was not the love of God that attracted him to martyrdom, but his love for himself, in order to become famous and in order to surpass others. And this idea was born in him from a misunderstanding of the essence of selflessness. But, when I invited him to make sure by his own experience in small and even insignificant matters of the difficulty of selflessness, or of cutting off his own will, then he was quite convinced that cutting off his will is a true torment.

Never Accept Images without Asking the Experienced

Patriarch Callistus and Ignatius of Xanthopoulos. "Directions to hesychasts, in a hundred chapters".

73. More on imaginings and fantasies of the mind, and on the distinctive Signs of prelest and of truth

The signs of prelest

Keeping silence and wishing to be alone with the one God, if you see something sensory or mental, whether within or without - such as the face of Christ, or of an angel, or the image of a saint, or some radiant image dreamed of by the mind - never accept it, but indignantly refuse to believe in it, even if it is good, until you have questioned someone with experience. Such behaviour is the most practical, profitable and pleasing to God. Always keep your mind empty of colour, image, form, appearance, quality or quantity, solely listening to the words of the prayer, learning from them and pondering over them in an inner movement of the heart, thus following St. John of the Ladder who says: 'The beginning of prayer is to banish oncoming thoughts as soon as they appear. Its middle stage is to keep the mind contained in the words we say or think. The perfection of prayer is ravishment to the Lord' (Ch. 28). St. Nilus speaks of it thus: 'The highest prayer of the perfect is the ravishment of the mind and its total transcendence of everything sensory, when "the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. viii. 26), before God, Who sees our heart like an open book, intimating its desire by the soundless signs written therein. Thus St. Paul was "caught up to the third heaven", "whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell" (2 Cor. xii. 2). Thus "Peter went up upon the housetop to pray" and saw a vision (Acts x. 9 ). The stage of prayer which comes second to this higher prayer, is when the words are pronounced with a contrite mind following the words, conscious of Him to Whom it sends its prayer. But a prayer interrupted by cares of the flesh and mixed with them is far from a level becoming to one who prays.' Abide in this and accept nothing else until your passions are subdued, always questioning the experienced, as has been said. These are the signs of prelest.

Peter of Damaskos on Discernment

St Peter of Damaskos. "Book II. Twenty-Four Discourses". XI. Discrimination.

It is excellent to seek advice about everything, but only from those with experience. It is dangerous to ask questions of the inexperienced, because they do not possess discrimination. Discrimination knows when the time is ripe, what means to employ, the inner state of the questioner, what level he has reached, his strength, his degree of spiritual knowledge and his intention, as well as God’s purpose and the meaning of each verse of Holy Scripture, and much else besides. Hence he who lacks discrimination may exert himself enormously, but he cannot achieve anything; while the person who possesses it is a guide to the blind and a light to those in darkness (cf.Rom. 2:19). We should refer everything to such a person and accept whatever he says, even if because of our inexperience we do not see its import as well as we would like. Indeed, he who has discrimination is to be recognized in particular from the fact that he is able to communicate the sense of what he says even to those who do not want to know it. For the Spirit searches things out; and God’s presence has the power to persuade even an unwilling intellect to believe. This is what happened in the case of Jonah (cf. Jonah 1:3), Zacharias(cf. Luke 1:18) and - the monk David, once a brigand, whom the angel prevented from saying anything except the psalms that he recited according to his rule of prayer.

Peter of Damaskos on Humility

St. Peter of Damaskos. "Book II. Twenty-Four Discourses". X. Humility.

The truly humble man never ceases to reproach himself, even when the whole world attacks and insults him. He acts in this way, not simply in order to attain salvation as it were passively by enduring with patience whatever befalls him, but in order to press forward actively and deliberately to embrace the sufferings of Christ. From these sufferings he learns the greatest of all the virtues, humility: the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, the gateway to the kingdom of heaven, that is to say, to dispassion. He who passes through this gateway comes to God; but without humility his road is full of pain and his effort useless. Humility bestows complete repose upon whoever possesses it in his heart, because he has Christ dwelling within him. Through it grace remains with him and God’s gifts are preserved. It is the offspring of many different virtues: of obedience, patient endurance, shedding of possessions, poverty, fear of God, spiritual knowledge and others as well. But above all it is the offspring of discrimination, the virtue that illumines the farthest reaches of the intellect. Yet let no one think that it is a simple, casual matter to become humble. It is something beyond our natural powers; and it is almost true to say that the more a person is gifted, the harder it is for him to attain humility. It presupposes great judgment and endurance in the face of the trials and evil spirits that oppose us. For humility slips through all their snares.

On Living According to the Advice

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov). "On Prelest". On Living According to the Advice.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

The previous chapter compares spiritual life, provided by the Divine Providence to our time, with grains. Such life is based on the guidance to salvation by the Holy Scripture and the works of the Holy Fathers, with advice and edification borrowed from modern fathers and brethren. In the proper sense, this is the obedience of the ancient monks, just in a different form adapted to our weakness, mainly spiritual. Spiritual guides announced the will of God to the ancient novices immediately and directly; currently, the monks themselves must seek the will of God in the Scriptures, and therefore they must face frequent and prolonged perplexities and errors. Previously, success was achieved quickly according to the properties of the activity: now it is inert, again according to the properties of the activity. Such is the favor of our God for us: we must obey Him, and worship Him with thanksgiving.

Our modern monastic life according to the Scripture and the advice of fathers and brethren is consecrated by the example of the head of monasticism, the Venerable Anthony the Great. He was not in obedience to the elder, but being novice, he lived separately, and borrowed the guidance from the Scripture and from different fathers and brothers. He obtained temperance from one person; meekness, patience, humility were gained from the other, from one more person he got strict vigilance over himself, in silence, trying to embrace the virtue of every virtuous monk, obeying everyone as much as possible, humbling himself before everyone and praying to God unceasingly (Menaion Reader, January, 17th).

For Neglect of Monastic Life, the Hierodeacon Was Punished with Paralysis

Hegumen Mark (Lozinsky). "The patericon of the preacher."

In the early 1870s, someone from the “white” deacons, father Joasaph entered the monastery of St. Sergius. His daughter was a nun in the Khotkovo convent. Once, father Joasaph served in the church of the Great Martyr Barbara by the Lavra Hospital. Having performed the litany before the Cherubic Hymn, he entered the altar and managed to take only a few steps to the holy table, when with indescribable anxiety on his face fell without feelings. He was transferred to the hospital, where he lay unconscious for three days. When he came to his senses, he told his spiritual father the following: “As soon as I entered the altar, I saw an angel standing by the holy table in a sticharion, girdled by an orarion under the breast, and with a sword in his hand. He quickly approached me, removed the sticharion and the orarion from me and, hitting my arms and legs with a fire sword, said: “I would quicker take your soul out of your body for your neglect of monastic life, but look who is interceding for you before God” - and pointed a finger to the altar. There I saw Venerable Sergius kneeling to the table of oblation and praying fervently. Hierodeacon Joasaph, paralyzed, lay motionless for about a year. Throughout this time, he shed tears of repentance to God, asking Him to forgive his sins. Father Joasaph, apparently, was forewarned about the day of his death. One morning, he asked his daughter, who kept vigil over him, to get him funeral clothes and put on him. Being in full memory, he received the Holy Mysteries and, addressing some invisible visitors, said with a sense of gladness: “You have come,” and he died immediately. (Trinity Lavra flowers from the spiritual meadow. P. 19.)

A Penance from God after Compliments

A story included only in English edition of "My Elder Joseph the Hesychast".

Only once in his life did Elder Joseph not wake up for his vigil. One day Papa-Ananias said to him, “Geronda, is there anyone else in the entire Holy Mountain who mindfully and seriously practices hesychasm with praxis and theoria? I doubt it. You are the only one.” 

He was momentarily enticed by this compliment, and his face looked as if he was in a daze. But a second later he regained his senses and exclaimed, “Get behind me, Satan!” and punched himself on the thigh with all his might. “Forgive me, my God!” As a “penance” for him, God allowed him to be so sleepy the following night that he slept right through his vigil until late in the morning. To make up for not doing his prayer rule that night, he did it during the day instead of working. 

After experiencing how easy it is to accept vainglorious thoughts and seeing how much damage they do, he later wrote to someone: “Be careful … not to compliment one another in each other’s presence, for if compliments harm the perfect, how much more harmful they will be to you who are still weak.”

https://orthochristian.com/125452.html

The Elder was Attacked by Demons due to Sloth

From Patericon

An elder lived in an idol's temple.

The demons came to him, saying:

- Get out of our place. The elder answered:

“You have no place.”

Demons began to scatter his branches. The elder patiently gathered them. After that, one demon, taking his hand, pulled him from the temple. When he dragged the old man to the door, the man bumped up against the door with his other hand and exclaimed:

- Jesus! Help me!

The demon immediately ran away, and the elder began to cry. The Lord asked him what he was crying about. The elder answered:

“I cry that demons dare to possess a man and do this to him.”

The Lord said to him:

“You were negligent. When you sought Me, you see how soon I appeared to you.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/817-the-elder-was-attacked-by-demons-due-to-sloth

Many Misfortunes May Be Permitted by God Due to Sloth

Venerable Isaac the Syrian. "Ascetical Homilies".

217. Therefore, the Lord leaves the reasons for humility and contrition of the heart in intensified prayer to His Saints, so that those who love Him will come closer to Him through humility. And often frightens them with the passions of their nature and the creeps of shameful and unclean thoughts, and often with reproaches, insults and slaps from people, sometimes with bodily illnesses and ailments, at other times, with poverty and lack of necessary things, then with excruciating strong fear, abandonment, obvious attacks of the devil, and various terrible incidents. And all this in order for them to have reasons for humility and not to fall into the sleep of sloth.

http://oprelesti.ru/index.php/what-is-spiritual-delusion/815-many-misfortunes-may-be-permitted-by-god-due-to-sloth