Monday, January 28, 2019

Mental Vigilance_St Silouan The Athonite



Sin becomes sin after completing specified stages in its inner development.
The first stage is when some spiritual influence approaches from without, which may be quite vague and shapeless. The initial stage in formation is the appearance in the field of man’s inner vision of an image. Images in some cases appear to take on visible form, while others are mostly products of the mind, but more often it is a combination of the two. At this stage it is not regarded as a sin as this does not depend on one’s will.
Ascetics label all images intrusive thoughts as visible images generate some thoughts.
The man who is not in thrall**to the passion can recognize the force of an intrusive thought and yet remain completely free from its power. But if there is some ‘place’ in one- some suitable soil for the development of the intrusive thought- the thought will strive to take possession of one’s psychic being- of the heart, the soul. It achieves this because it prompts a feeling of the delight to be afforded by one or another passion. The delight figures ‘temptation’. But even the fleeting pleasure, though it testifies to man’s imperfection, is not yet to be reckoned as sin. It is only a ‘proposal’ for sin.
The further development of a sinful intrusive thought can be portrayed roughly as follows: the mind is attracted by the delectation+ to be afforded by the passion, and this is an extremely important and crucial moment because the fusion of mind with tempting ideas provide fertile soil for passion. If the mind doesn’t by an exercise of the will tear itself away from the suggested delights but continues to dwell on them, it will find itself pleasantly attracted, then involved and finally positively acquiescent^. After that, the ever increasing delight in the passion may take possession of mind and will.
Such captivity may happen once only and never recur if it had come about because of the inexperience of someone engaged in ascetic struggle. But if the enchantment repeats itself, passion becomes second nature, and then all man’s natural forces are at its service.
The initial appearance of the delights offered by passion should start off a struggle which can continue through every stage in the development of a sinful thought. And at each of these stages the wrong thought can be mastered and so not transformed into deed. Nevertheless, the instant the will wavers, an element of sin enters, which must be repented of lest we forfeit grace.
The spiritually inexperienced man generally encounters sinful thoughts only after they have progressed, unnoticed, through the first stages of development- that is, after they have acquired a measure of strength- when the danger approaches of actually sinning.
In order not to let this happen, it is essential to stay the mind in prayer in the heart.This is an urgent necessity for every ascetic striver desirous, through true repentance, of consolidating himself in the spiritual life, because, as pointed out above, where the heart is so established sin is cut off at the very moment of conception.
Shutting the doors of his heart, stationing his mind on guard like a sentinel, unfettered by imagination and cogitation but armed with prayer and the name of Jesus Christ, the ascetic strive embarks on the struggle against all external influence, all thoughts from without. This is the essence of mental vigilance. Its purpose is to contend against the passions.

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* causing disruption.

**state of being in someone’s power.
+ pleasure and delight
^ready to accept without protest