Discernment of Thoughts - Saint Symeon the New Theologian

Saint Symeon gives advice on how to properly discern which thoughts are good for us to act on and which ones will lead us away from God. For him it is very clear: Check to see if your thoughts are in agreement with Holy Scripture, the teachers of the Church fathers, and other holy persons. Those that are in agreement go ahead and act on them. Those that are not, aggressively discard them. Here is how he says it.

“We must carefully discern the thoughts that come on us and set against them the testimonies from the divinely inspired Scriptures and from the teaching of the spiritual teachers, the holy father‘s, so that if we find them to agree with these witnesses and correspond to them we may all with all our might hold fast these thoughts and boldly act on them. But if they are not in harmony with the “word of truth” we must expel them from us with much anger, as it is written, “Be angry and not sin.” 

Holy Scripture tells us where we can find truth we can rely on. Saint Paul says,

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Eph 1:13-14)

Saint Paul further emphasizes how important this is. He says because of our hope of eternal life we need to carefully discern the thoughts we should pay attention to. The words that we need to pay attention to are found in the Gospel which is Truth. He writes,

“Because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth” (Col 1:5-6)

Then in Psalms we see that we must have anger and remorse in what we make up in our hearts, that which is not I n accordance with Scripture.

“Be angry, and do not sin; Have remorse upon your beds For what you say in your hearts.” (Ps  4:5)

Saint Symeon points out that it is Jesus who has told us to place our Trust in the Scriptures. We read in John’s Gospel,

Accordingly we need great soberness, great zeal, much searching of the divine Scriptures. The Saviour has shown us their usefulness by saying, “search the Scriptures.“ (John 3:38-39) 

We find recorded in John where Jesus is rebuking those who do not believe in Him. Those who do not heed or properly read the Scriptures, will not find the eternal life He promises. He says,

“But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 3:38-39)

Saint Symeon encourages us study the Scriptures and pay attention to what they say about what we are to believe and what we are to do. It is only in this way that we will understand God’s will and know the difference between good and evil. This is the way we can recognize the thoughts we are to honor and those we must reject. He says,

“Search them and hold fast to what they say with great exactitude and faith, in order that you may know God’s will clearly from the divine Scriptures and be able infallibly to distinguish good from evil and not obey every spirit nor be carried away with harmful thoughts.”

Saint John warns us about the many voices who proclaim falshoods, who misinterpret Scripture or have no belief in Jesus Christ as our savior. He writes,

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.”  (1 John 4:1-3)

Paul, too, reminds us to learn from those who have faith in Jesus and have been called to teach us.  If we are not careful we can be manipulated like children and lead down a path that takes us away from God. He says,

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,† for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” (Eph 4:11-14)

Saint Symeon looks at the word of God as a two edged sword. It helps us to recognize and cut off our bodily desires that can dominate our thoughts and lead us astray, and it can also give us the needed zeal that motivates us to make changes in our lives by only giving credence to the thoughts that lead is closer to Him. He says,

“For the word of God is “like a two edged sword“, which cuts off and separates the soul from every bodily lust and feeling. Even more, it becomes like a burning fire in that it kindles the zeal of the soul. 

We find this teaching also in the writing of Paul.

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb 4:12)

How well we are able to control our thoughts, only allowing those that are good for our relationship with God to influence our actions, determines not only our salvation but also the quality of our life. Saint Symeon says,

“It causes us to despair all life’s painful experiences and to count as joy every trial that assails, and to desire and embrace death, which is so frightening to other men as life and the cause of life.”

This discernment of thoughts is the front line in spiritual warfare. It is our thoughts that always come before our actions. If we can win the battle in the mind we can take actions that are pleasing to God, that lead us toward a union with Him. They way to do it is to compare them with Scripture and the teaching of our Church fathers. We must remember that our aim is to realize our hope of eternal life with Him. Saint Symeon reminds us that this is a never ending battle. We must be ever vigilant of our thoughts, ever discerning between those that are good and those that are evil.

“Warfare goes on constantly, and the soldiers of Christ must at all times be armed with their weapons.”

Reference: Saint Symeon the New Theologian: The Discourses, Chapter 3, pp 67-68.

Saint John Cassian on Controlling Thoughts

Troubled by negative thoughts? Saint John has a solution. Follow the Orthodox way of life and you will fill your mind with godly thoughts.

Our mind is constantly being filled with thoughts. This we cannot avoid. Often in prayer, when we want to concentrate on God, we become distracted by these thoughts. This is also an issue in our daily life. Our thoughts can keep us from following His commandments. We err because we are tempted by some these thoughts. Therefore, to be able to live a virtuous life in unity with the will of a God requires that we are vigilant and careful about which thoughts we choose to act on.

Saint John Cassian writes,

It is impossible for the mind not to be approached by thoughts, but it is in the power of every earnest man either to admit them or to reject them. As then their rising up does not entirely depend on ourselves, so the rejection or admission of them lies in our own power. But because we said that it is impossible for the mind not to be approached by thoughts, you must not lay everything to the charge of the assault, or to those spirits who strive to instill them into us, else there would not remain any free will in man, nor would efforts for our improvement be in our power: but it is, I say, to a great extent in our power to improve the character of our thoughts and to let either holy and spiritual thoughts or earthly ones grow up in our hearts. 

In the beginning chapter of his Conference he tells us that the first step is to have clearly in mind our goal. Just as in our education, our work or business a goal is essential to keeps us focused so we can excel. This is also true in the Orthodox way of life. So, what is our true Goal? As the Apostles tell us and Jesus showed us, it is the kingdom of heaven. But what is our immediate aim? Saint John says it’s “purity of heart.” Jesus told us in His sermon on the mount that with a pure heart we can see God,
He’s writes,

The end of our profession indeed, as I said, is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven: but the immediate aim or goal, is purity of heart, without which no one can gain that end: fixing our gaze then steadily on this goal as if on a definite mark.

With this as our aim we must organize our life to eliminate anything that restrains us from this and amplify those things that move us closer to it. Thoughts temp us, cloud our heart, distract us and hold us back. Therefore to attain a pure heart we must find ways to properly deal with our thoughts. Knowing that our aim is to have a pure heart so we will enter the kingdom of heaven, and having the zeal to attain this goal, we will be able to direct our energies towards this end.
Saint John writes,

And so when this object is set before us, we shall always direct our actions and thoughts straight towards the attainment of it; for if it be not constantly fixed before our eyes, it will not only make all our toils vain and useless, and force them to be endured to no purpose and without any reward, but it will also excite all kinds of thoughts opposed to one another. For the mind, which has no fixed point to which it may return, and on which it may chiefly fasten, is sure to rove about from hour to hour and minute to minute in all sorts of wandering thoughts, and from those things which come to it from outside, to be constantly changed into that state which first offers itself to it.

Saint John gives us a key insight about how to deal with the distractions we experience because of these many thoughts entering our mind. In effect he says the best way is to continually fill our mind with godly thoughts.
He writes,

For for this purpose frequent reading and continual meditation on the Scriptures is employed that from thence an opportunity for spiritual recollection may be given to us, therefore the frequent singing of Psalms is used, that thence constant feelings of compunction may be provided, and earnest vigils and fasts and prayers, that the mind may be brought low and not mind earthly things, but contemplate things celestial, for if these things are dropped and carelessness creeps on us, the mind being hardened with the foulness of sin is sure to incline in a carnal direction and fall away.

This is why the Church fathers are constantly reminding us about the importance of all the elements of the Orthodox way of Life. We need to live in a way that our our mind is constantly filled with godly thoughts. The more we fill our mind with godly thoughts the less chance there is that we will be led astray with other thoughts. We must learn to make time to read the Scripture daily, to read the psalms every day, to participate in all  the services that are available to us, to spend more time in our daily prayers, to follow the fasting recommendations of the church so we can strengthen our ability to follow the will of the soul, to only spend time in dialogue with fellow spiritual orthodox seekers so we won’t be misled by erroneous teachings. In this way our thoughts will be more inclined to be filled with good thoughts and the evil ones will be fewer and easier to discern.

Reference: The Conferences of John Cassian, Conference 1 with elder Moses

Ten Points for an Orthodox Way of Life

What's the Point of Slowing Down?

As I return from a delightful visit with my son and his family in Connecticut, I found in my mail a booklet from a group of spiritual people I knew at the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. It was lessons from their founder, Eknath Easwaran, that I was led to the practice of the Jesus Prayer. The theme in this issue was "slowing down". They began with the question, "What's the point of slowing down?  

Each time my wife and I visit our children we always comment about how hectic their life seems. My grandkids have no free time. They are off to dance lessons, cheerleading, soccer and other activities leaving barely enough time for home work. Their parents are busy with their own jobs, activities and getting their children from one place to another. They have little time left. It seems it's a very busy world these days. There is no time for prayer, meditation or reflection on why we are doing what we are doing. We act like prisoners of time, acting like slave robots. Have we lost our freedom to make choices? Are we living in automatic control governed by our compulsions? When do we take time to ponder on the deeper questions of life and to examine how we are spending our lives? Do we really enjoy this sped up life?

When our spiritual fathers ask us to slow down, they are not asking us to give up achieving important things. They are asking us to focus on what is really important and to approach them with a positive, focused and reflective attitude with God's will I'm mind. It is only in this way that we are able to do His will. When our lives are in the fast lane our minds are there also. We find our thoughts racing through our minds so fast that we can't even complete them. We are not able to discern which have quality and must do really well.

When we slow our lives down we will slow our minds as well. We will be able to focus on our tasks with quality and discern how to live according the the Gospel virtues. As we slow down we will become more capable of discerning what is important and able to reflect on the best way to do these tasks. We can then choose to do what is important in a moderate pace, one that is not harried or stressful. 

Think about the craziness of our times, we have attained a material well being that is far superior to that of any civilization. Yet, we seem to have less time for what really matters. Our skills are diluted, our efforts are not aimed to create loving relationships, to have strong families, solid relationships at work, or to help our neighbors or community. We are living on the surface unable to dig deep into what truly matters for our salvation.

The key to a better life, to one that is lived in relationship with God, is living in a way that we can slow our mind down so we can become watchful of all our thoughts, providing discernment before we act. Fundamental to this is a sound prayer life. This takes time. To make the time we must do less of something else. As we take time for prayer, our thinking process will slow down and we will gain control over the busyness of our lives. Ask yourself, when was it you had the time to sit quietly and reflect?

What are we to do? To begin with you can make a simple list of all the things you do. Then, go over this list and cross out everything that is not necessary or beneficial. Be willing to accept that you cannot do everything. We all have unique skills and are called to contribute in different ways. We cannot allow ourselves to be trapped by thinking that we will only be valued if we try to do it all. This behavior of trying to do it all will only cause conflict with others and add more stress to life. No one gains by our busyness. It's only a false sense of our ego, our need to make ourselves feel important. But, in truth, the true sense of being valued only comes from our relationship with God. All our activities will not assure us a loving relationship with our Creator and Savior.

As you review this list you can seek input from you spiritual father or trusted friends and begin to create a purposeful list. Make sure your relationship with God is at the top of this new list. This implies that you will make time to be in communication with Him, to have time daily for prayer. I don't mean a quick minute or two, but a half hour or more in the morning and evening.

A life in the slow lane begins early in the morning. You get up early when it's still quiet, you pray. You make time for a leisurely breakfast with family or friends and enjoy the rising sun and the break of the new day. Don't eat standing up, but sit and make it a pleasurable time.

When you are ready to set out for work or errands, make time for a mental check to make sure you have everything you need. Leave early enough so you will get to work or your appointment a little early. This will give you time to speak with others and to get yourself organized for the days activities.

During the day don't forget to continually discern what is important. When it gets going too fast stop, say the Jesus Prayer to yourself, or take a short prayer walk until you have quieted your mind. When stressed, stop and pray! 

When you return home in the evening again allow time to relax, to make a quality dinner and to share with your family your activities of the day and to listen to their needs and experiences. When you are in a hurry you will tend to speak out angrily instead of lovingly when you are interrupted or distracted. It is not possible to love with a mind that is racing at high speed. Check yourself when you are rushing though activities like making a meal and examine your state of mind. I guarantee, you will not like what you find,

In the evening make time for spiritual reading, reading the Gospel, the Psalms and other spiritual works. Then, at the time you have designated for prayer, go to your special place and carry out your prayer rule. Briefly review the activities of the day. Give thanks for what went well. Ask forgiveness for what did not go as you desired. Remember, God is a loving God and will comfort you. He will give you strength for what is to come tomorrow, no matter how difficult it may seem.

A moderate paced life is a spiritual life. It is one that is possible for everyone. It is one when lived will not lead to laziness but to achievement of what is most important. Remember it is a process that involves all the ten points of an Orthodox way of life.

Grumbling

Have you noticed how some people are always grumbling?  I have a good friend who always begins his story about his latest trip by telling me endlessly about all the problems he had with the airlines.  Now, I have traveled a lot and have not normally had any particular difficulties other than an occasional delay or a lost bag, but generally I am thankful that the flight gets me from point A to point B in a very short time without much to be concerned about. But why is it that this person always has such dire troubles when he travels?  My only conclusion is that he is simply a grumbler. It's the way he looks at the world and therefore experiences it an a negative way.

This attitude can be very dangerous for our spiritual well being. Negative thoughts can fill our minds and corrupt our view of the goodness that is all around us. We are not able to see and experience God's grace for us. 

Elder Paisos tells a story about this issue.

I knew two farmers in Epirus. One of them was a family man who had a couple of small fields and who entrusted everything to God. He worked, as much as he could, without anxiety. He would say, "I'll do as much as I can manage." Occasionally, some of the hay bales would spoil in the rain because he didn't gather them in time, while other bales were scattered by the wind; and yet for all things he would say, "Glory to you, O God!" and everything went well for him. The other farmer had many fields, cows, and so on, but no children. If you asked him, "how are you doing?"; he would invariably respond, "Forget about it; don't even ask!"  He never said, "Glory to You, O God"; he was always grumbling. And so that  you will see -- sometimes a cow of his would die; sometimes one thing would happen to him, sometimes something else. He had everything, but he made no progress.

So what is the spiritual message here? If we are bound up with negative thoughts all the time we will never recognize God's blessings. We become separated from God. As Elder Paisios puts it, "How are we to taste God's blessings, if He gives us, for example, bananas and we're thinking of whatever better things some ship-owner might be eating?" Those who accept what God's gives them with thanks, develop a spiritual sensitivity and are able to know and experience God's love for them. Those who continually grumble miss His energies that are always their to comfort and guide them. They live blind to God bound up by their own negative thoughts.

As the Elder puts its, "We don't understand that happiness is in eternity and not in vanity."

Reference: Elder Paisios of Mount Athos Spiritual Counsels IV: Family LIfe, p 158

Saint Poemen On The Beginning of the Spiritual Path

Repentance and grieving over one's sins is the beginning of the Divine path is the teaching of St. Poemen. Why is this so?  When we repent and stand against evil we will do good and begin to do the will of God.  If we do not repent then we will not recognize our evil actions and continue to go against the will of God.  The is why we so often find ourselves separated from God.  This effort  is mostly a struggle with our thoughts.  We must be ever watchful and ever ready to attack thoughts which are temptations to go against the will of God.


Saint Poemen was approached by one of his spiritual children with the following concern:

"Father! I have many thoughts, and I am in danger because of them."  The old man took him outside and said, "Expand your chest and do not inhale!"  "I cannot do that." answered the brother.  "If you cannot do that then neither can you stem the flow of the thoughts," said the old man. "But your job is to resist them."

It is not the elimination of thoughts that we seek as this is impossible but the ability to minimize and resist them. How do we do this? In general, Saint Poeman would say, "the thing you need most is a sober mind."

First of all, be attentive to yourself and be sober. A brother said that when he was with others, he would amuse himself and return to his cell not the same as when he left it.  He asked how he should act. The elder told him, "When you return to your cell, do you want to find yourself the same as when you left?  Maintain vigilance over yourself both at home and outside the home." 

This is one of our major challenges.  Saint Theophan has also advised us that one way to do this is to  avoid those situations, places and people who led to conditions that arouse thoughts that tempt us.  This is also what Saint Poemen teaches. We must remove ourselves for everything passionate.


Saint Paul also instructs us,

Keep away from any of the brothers who refuses to work or to live according to the tradition. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

What does this mean practically:  Why go to a bar on Friday evening after work when we might be tempted to drink to much and then our resistance is almost zero?  Why maintain a friendship with a person who continually is asking to do things which you know are not proper?  Why engage in discussions that you know will lead to heated arguments where you end up saying things you wish you had never said?  Why watch movies or TV shows that stimulate unwanted desires? You can surely think of more which apply to your own personal life.  Act on eliminating these temptations from you life.  This combined with a life of prayer, repentance and regular participation in the sacraments will bring you closer to God.


Saint Poemen says,

If a trunk full of clothing is not looked after, then in time the clothing will disintegrate.  So too will the thoughts, if we do not in fact carry them out, vanish in time, as if they disintegrated.

The cure is obvious but not easy to do as we must exercise our will to order our lives is a way that avoids undue temptations. 


Reference: The Spiritual Life, pp 267-269

Advice on Controlling Thoughts in Prayer

One of the most common questions asked about prayer is about how to control distracting thoughts.  When we get serious about our prayer life we assume that all we have to do is to make the time and commit to doing it.  We quickly find that we have very active minds and there are forces that try to disrupt our prayer time.  We desire to concentrate on God but we are continually brought back to concerns of this world through thoughts that continually interrupt our prayer.  If you find this tendency disturbing, this is a good sign of your sincerity.  Prayer is not a time for daydreaming, relaxation, or problem solving.  It is a time to lift ourselves above our worldly minds, above the control of our brain and senses to God.  Concern about our ability to focus and concentrate is essential for developing a meaningful prayer life.


Saint Theophan tells us,

Steadfastness and continuity of labor over oneself is an essential condition for success in the spiritual life.  Lasting pacification of thoughts is a gift from God, but this gift is not given without intensifying one's personal labors.

God is all loving but He will not give us something unless we put our full effort into it.


Saint Macarius the Great says,

It is necessary to force oneself even in prayer, if one does not have spiritual prayer... God seeing that a man is calling with effort and restraining himself (that is , his thoughts) against the will of the heart, grants him true prayer.

True prayer is a prayer that is not distracted by any thoughts, where one is absorbed in prayer, where the mind stands before God.  In this state it does not want to leave this place with God.


The dangerous condition is where we voluntarily allow our thoughts to wander.  Here is some advice from Saint Theophan when we are faced with involuntary thoughts during prayer. He says, "When your thoughts stray involuntarily, you must immediately turn them back, reproaching yourself, regretting and grieving over your weakness."


Saint Theophan also suggests that it is helpful to memorize your prayers.  Even better is to go to a church and pray.  But where we mostly pray, at home, we need a place where we will have minimal distraction, the comfort of icons, a cross, and candle lamp.


Saint Theophan also suggests that we prepare ourselves for prayer.

Make some preparations for prayer, trying to collect your thoughts ahead of time and direct them toward standing worthily toward God.  Rouse within yourself the need for prayer at this particular time, because there may not be another time. Do not forget to renew the consciousness of your spiritual needs and for the most immediate real need of all––the settling of your thoughts in prayer with the desire of finding satisfaction for them, namely in God. When there is is this consciousness and the feeling for such needs in the heart, the heart itself will not allow your thoughts to wander off to something else, but will feel more keenly your complete helplessness; without God, you are completely lost... Go into it with a feeling of total misfortune and the consciousness that there no one who can deliver you from it except the One God.

More on attention in prayer

Reference: The Spiritual Life, pp 209 - 212

Advice on Dealing with Stray Thoughts in Church

One of the problems we all face is the tendency for our minds to take over while we are in church where we are supposed to be in prayer. This happens to all of us as it i the nature of our mind to be always active unless we command through our soul to stop.   This part of our mind is part of the body and needs to be controlled by the higher part of our being.


Here is some advice from Saint Theophan the Recluse:
First we are to pray as follows:

Pray with sincere warmth, with an outpouring before God, with feelings of contrition, humility and reverential fear and with diligent petitions for your spiritual needs.

When we even approach prayer in church with this attitude we will still be faced with stray thoughts.  Here is how how recommends to deal with them

As soon as you notice your thoughts have left church, turn them back and do not ever allow yourself consciously to daydream or to stray in thought...  When the thoughts stray unbeknownst to you, this is also a small sin; but when you begin wandering off in thought purposely while you are in church , this is as sin...It is like a man who has gone to the king in order to ask him for something who then begins to make faces and fidget in the king's presence, without paying any attention to him...  With respect to thoughts there are these two rules: 1) As soon as you notice this straying, turn the thoughts back, and 2) do not consciously allow the thoughts to wander.

A remedy against straying thoughts is mental attention, attention to the fact that the Lord is before us and we are before Him.... The attention is attached to the Lord by fear of God and by the desire to please God.  From these come warmth of the heart, which draws the attention to the One Lord... Without labor and mental effort you will not attain anything spiritual...

Reference: The Spiritual Life, pp 151-152 

Are You a Fly or a Bee?

Which of the following two categories fits you. Are you a fly or a bee? This was a question Elder Paisios asked guests who came to him accusing others of of various things.


He says,

I know from experience that in this life people are divided in two categories.  A third category does not exist; people either belong to one or the other.  the first one  resembles the fly.  the main characteristics of the fly is that it is attracted by dirt.  For example, when a fly is found in a garden full of flowers with beautiful fragrances, it will  ignore them and will go sit on top of some dirt found on the ground.  It will start messing around with it and feel comfortable with the bad smell.  if the fly could talk, and you asked it to show you a rose in the garden, it would  answer: "I don't even know what a rose looks like.  I only know where to find garbage, toilets, and dirt."  there are some people who resemble the fly.  People belonging to this category have learned to think negatively, and always look for the bad things in life, ignoring and refusing the presence of good.

The other category is like the bee whose main characteristic is to always look for something sweet and nice to sit on.  When a bee is found in a room full of dirt and there is a small piece of sweet in a corner, it will ignore the dirt and will go to sit on top of the sweet.  Now, if we ask the bee to show us where the garbage is, it will answer: "I don't know.  I can only tell you where to find flowers, sweets, honey and sugar; it only knows the good things in life and is ignorant of all evil."  This is the second category of people who have a positive thinking, and see only the good side of things.  They always try to cover up the evil in order to protect their fellow men; on the contrary, people in the first category try to expose the evil and bring it to the surface.

When someone comes to me and starts accusing other people, and puts me in a difficult situation, i tell him the above example.  then I ask him to decide to which category he wishes to belong, so he may find people of the same kind to socialize with.

Source: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, pp 43-44

Overcoming False Thinking

How does one overcome preoccupation with false thinking?  This is most difficult as when we are caught in wrong thinking we often do not realize our condition  We are so set on our own thoughts that we are unable to hear another viewpoint even when give to us by our spiritual father.


Here are the steps outlined by Elder Paisios for this condition.

1. Realize the state of our wretchedness.

Repent, go to confession and never again listen to the voice of your own thoughts; instead follow the advice of your spiritual father.

3. After you become aware of this miserable state of being, you should constantly ask God for His mercy through the Jesus prayer, so Christ will help you and His divine grace will return inside him.

One can only be cured and saved thorough humbleness...

 Source: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, pp 39-40

Turn the Wheel in the Right Direction

How often do we sit and reflect on spiritual questions, using our own thoughts to figure things out.  The more we think about the issue the more clear it becomes to us what is right.  Then when we go to talk with our spiritual father our mind is fixed and often we find ourselves only defending our own thought.


Elder Paisios, often had little patience for such people who were unable to listen to  to one such person he said the following:

Do not listen to your own thoughts, because you will end up losing your mind.  Be careful, you have a very good machine, but its wheel faces the wrong direction.  You have to turn it to the right direction, where the good thoughts are.  Only you, yourself, can do this along with the help of God.  Nobody else can do it for you, as you are free and self-dependent.  You turn the wheel, and your spiritual father will show you the direction.

Our thoughts, even well intentioned can block us from receiving the spiritual advice we badly need.


Source: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, p 35-36 

More on Positive Thoughts

Given that we must be cautious about relying on our own thoughts whether they are good or bad, certain good thoughts are still useful for our spiritual growth.


Elder Paisios says,

We should keep in mind that God "cannot" help us, even if He really wants to, unless we acquire a positive way of thinking.

What kind of positive thinking is he talking about?

He offers the example of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus. They both died, but one was granted a place in heaven with Christ.  The thief on the left thought negatively saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.' (Luke 23:39) The one on the right thought differently.  He rebuked the thief on the left saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." This man then turned to Jesus and said "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom." (Lk 23:4--42)  Jesus then said to the one on the right, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Lk 23:43)  Both of these men stood next to God on the Cross.  One on the left received no help from Jesus, but the one on the right even though he knew his guilt of terrible crimes moved Jesus with his positive thinking.


The kind of positive thinking he is pointing out that is essential is being positive about our relationship with God; Not good thoughts about our own egotistical earthly needs. No matter how badly we have failed in living the commandments, when we are repentive God can help us. This is an example of the positive thought that is essential for our salvation.


Source: Elder Paisios from the Holy Mountain, p 31

Power of Positive Thinking?

There are many non-spiritual self-help programs that are based on the idea of positive thinking.  Yet, many Fathers caution us about these approaches to happiness.  They tell us that all thought needs to purified.  But how?


Our Christian spiritual aim is to attain God's grace by giving our mind over to God––to align our will with His.  Our positive thoughts as well as our negative thought can limit us because they are a product of our ego and self-will.


Elder Paisios advises us in the following way:

We must always be careful and constantly question the nature of our thoughts.  When someone is preoccupied and trusts his own way of thinking, he becomes vulnerable to the devil, who is capable of transforming us into sly persons, even when we are honest by nature.

He does say that initially our positive thought can be helpful in leading us to God.  But out aim is to submit our own mind to the grace of God. All God asks of us is humility, to let go of our self-centeredness and our pride. 


He says,

In the beginning, we should willingly try to develop positive thoughts, which will gradually lead us to the perfect good, God, to whom belongs every glory, honor and worship; on the contrary, to us belongs only the humility of our conceited attitude.

Source: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, p29