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If you should find such a one, give yourself to him, having spit out and cast away all your own will, so that you may be found as a clean vessel, preserving the good things cast into you for your praise and glory. For if you leave behind for yourself any of the pre-existing passions within you, having changed the good things cast into you into sour wine, you will be cast out, like one of the useless vessels. This is the second struggle against the antagonist of our salvation. For from good teachers come good lessons; and doubtless from evil ones, evil. For when our evil adversary is not strong enough to persuade us to remain in the confusion and destruction of the world, he hastens to persuade us not to give ourselves over to a strict life, or to a man who brings all our sins into view and corrects them, but to one of those who are vainglorious and who commends his own passions under the pretext of condescension toward those living with him, so that, having thus inconspicuously made us subject to countless passions again, he may place us under his own bonds of sin. But if you give yourself to a man of many virtues, you will become an heir of the good things in him, and most blessed 31.633 before God and men.

But if, out of regard for the body, you should seek a teacher who is condescending toward the passions in you, or rather, one who falls down with you, you have undergone the contest of renunciation in vain, having given yourself over to a life of passion, using a blind guide, and being led toward a pit. For if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. For it is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher. This is the voice of God, and it will not fail. You must live by the law of athletes, otherwise, you will not be crowned, as the Apostle said: And if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. If, therefore, you find by the grace of God (for if you seek, you will surely find) a teacher of good works, keep this resolution with yourself, to do nothing contrary to his judgment. For everything done without him is a kind of theft and sacrilege leading to death, not to benefit, even if it seems good to you. For if it is good, why is it done secretly, and not openly? Question your thought that contrives to rob you through right-handed means; for through supposedly good acts of disobedience it prepares left-handed deeds for you. Do not wish to correct the incantations for those bitten by wild beasts, being unskilled in chanting, lest, having attracted the serpents and been seized by them, then being unable to resist, you be inexcusably consumed by them. Do not rely on nobility of the flesh and seek honor; For the carnal man does not receive the things of the Spirit. Do not be tempted to counterfeit anything in the practice of the truth, and by your own laxity to trip up those who are striving, while heaping up a burden of sins for yourself, not in softer bedding, not in clothes, or footwear, or any other habit, or in a variety of foods, or a table beyond the time of your renunciation, or in standing, or in sitting, or in more restful or cleaner handiwork. For all these things, not only those you possess but also those you seek, will not have a good outcome. For if you do not quickly recognize the method to be diabolical and cut it out from your heart, they will bring about for you a fall from the way of life in Christ.

But resolving 31.636 within yourself to be more dishonored and more sinful than all men, and a stranger and a wanderer, and one taken in out of pity by those who renounced before you, hasten to be the last of all, and the servant of all. For these things will bring you true honor and glory, not those. Having ears opened to obedience, and hands ready for the fulfillment of what has been heard, keep a silent mouth, and a watchful heart. Be slow to idle talk, but intelligent and knowledgeable in the salvific hearings of the divine Scriptures. Let the hearing of worldly narratives be a bitter taste to you, but the narratives of holy men a honeycomb of honey.

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εὕροις τοιοῦτον, ἔκδος σεαυτὸν αὐτῷ, ἅπαν θέλημα σὸν ἀποπτύσας καὶ ἔξω ῥίψας, ἵνα εὑρεθῇς ὡς καθαρὸν ἀγγεῖον, τὰ ἐν σοὶ βαλλόμενα ἀγαθὰ διατηρῶν πρὸς ἔπαινόν σου καὶ δόξαν. Εἰ γάρ τι ἐγκαταλίπῃς ἑαυτῷ τῶν προϋπαρ ξάντων ἐν σοὶ παθῶν, εἰς ὀξίνην μεταποιήσας τὰ ἐμβεβλημένα ἐν σοὶ ἀγαθὰ, ἔξω βληθήσῃ, ὥσπερ τι τῶν ἀχρήστων σκευῶν. Αὕτη δευτέρα πάλη πρὸς τὸν ἀνταγωνιστὴν τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν. Ἀγαθῶν γὰρ διδασκάλων ἀγαθὰ τὰ μαθήματα· πάντως που καὶ κακῶν κακά. Ὅταν γὰρ μὴ ἰσχύσῃ ὁ πονηρὸς ἡμῶν ἀντίπαλος πεῖσαι ἡμᾶς ἐναπομεῖναι τῇ τοῦ κόσμου συγχύσει καὶ ἀπωλείᾳ, σπεύδει πεῖσαι μὴ ἀκριβεῖ βίῳ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδοῦναι, ἢ ἀνδρὶ πάντα ἡμῶν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑπ' ὄψιν ἄγοντι καὶ διορθουμένῳ, ἀλλά τινι τῶν δοξο μανούντων καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα πάθη προφάσει συγκατα βάσεως τῆς πρὸς τοὺς συζῶντας συνιστῶντι, ἵνα, οὕτως ἀσυμφανῶς πάλιν μυριοπαθεῖς ἡμᾶς ποιή σας, ὑπὸ τὰ οἰκεῖα δεσμὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἡμᾶς κατα στήσῃ. Εἰ δὲ ἐκδῷς σεαυτὸν πολυαρέτῳ ἀνδρὶ, γε νήσῃ κληρονόμος τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἀγαθῶν, μακαριστό 31.633 τατός τε παρὰ Θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώποις.

Εἰ δὲ φειδοῖ τοῦ σώματος ζητοίης πρὸς τὰ ἐν σοὶ πάθη συγκαταβα τικὸν διδάσκαλον, ἢ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν, συγκαταπίπτοντά σοι, μάτην ὑπέστης τὸν τῆς ἀποταξίας ἆθλον, ἐμπα θεῖ βίῳ ἑαυτὸν ἐκδεδωκὼς, τυφλῷ ὁδηγῷ χρησάμενος, καὶ ἐπὶ βόθυνον προβιβαζόμενος. Ἐὰν γὰρ τυφλὸς τυφλὸν ὁδηγῇ, ἀμφότεροι εἰς βόθυνον ἐμπεσοῦν ται. Ἀρκετὸν γὰρ τῷ μαθητῇ γενέσθαι κατὰ τὸν διδάσκαλον αὐτοῦ. Θεοῦ ἡ φωνὴ, καὶ οὐ δια σφαλήσεται. Ἀθλητικῷ νόμῳ δεῖ σε πολιτεύεσθαι, εἰ δὲ μὴ, οὐ στεφανοῦσθαι, καθὼς εἶπεν ὁ Ἀπό στολος· Καὶ ἐὰν ἀθλῇ τις, οὐ στεφανοῦται, ἐὰν μὴ νομίμως ἀθλήσῃ. Εἰ τοίνυν εὕρῃς Θεοῦ χάριτι (πάντως γὰρ ζη τήσας εὑρήσεις) ἀγαθῶν ἔργων διδάσκαλον, τήρησον παρ' ἑαυτῷ, μηδὲν παρὰ γνώμην αὐτοῦ διαπράττε σθαι. Ἅπαν γὰρ τὸ ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ γινόμενον κλοπή τίς ἐστι καὶ ἱεροσυλία πρὸς θάνατον ἄγουσα, οὐ πρὸς ὠφέλειαν, κἂν δοκῇ σοι ἀγαθὸν εἶναι. Εἰ γὰρ ἀγαθὸν, τίνος ἕνεκεν λάθρα, καὶ μὴ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ γίνεται; Ἐρώτησον τὸν λογισμόν σου τὸν λῃστεύειν σε διὰ τῶν δεξιῶν μηχανώμενον· διὰ γὰρ τῶν ἀγαθῶν δῆθεν παρακουσμάτων τὰς ἀριστεράς σοι πράξεις παρασκευάζει. Μὴ θέλε διορ θοῦν ἐπᾳσμοὺς τῶν θηριοδήκτων, ἄπειρος ὢν τοῦ ἐπᾴδειν, μήπως, ἐπισπασάμενος τοὺς ὄφεις, καὶ περιδραχθεὶς ὑπ' αὐτῶν, εἶτα ἀδυνάτως ἔχων πρὸς τὴν ἀντίστασιν, ἀσυγγνώστως ἀναλωθῇς ὑπ' αὐτῶν. Μὴ ἐπερείδου εὐγενείᾳ σαρκὸς, καὶ τιμὴν ἐπιζήτει· Σαρκικὸς γὰρ οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Μὴ πειρασθῇς τι τῶν ἐν συνηθείᾳ τῆς ἀληθείας παρα χαράξαι, καὶ τῇ οἰκείᾳ χαυνότητι ὑποσκελίζειν μὲν τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους, ἑαυτῷ δὲ φόρτον ἁμαρτη μάτων ἐπισωρεύειν, μὴ ἐν στρωμνῇ ἁπαλωτέρᾳ, μὴ ἐν ἐνδύμασιν, ἢ ὑποδήμασιν, ἢ ἑτέρῳ τινὶ σχήματι, ἢ ἐν βρωμάτων παραλλαγῇ, ἢ τραπέζῃ ὑπὲρ τὸν τῆς ἀποταγῆς σου χρόνον, ἢ ἐν στάσει, ἢ ἐν καθέδρᾳ, ἢ ἐν ἐργοχείρῳ ἀναπαυτικωτέρῳ, ἢ καθαριωτέρῳ. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα, οὐ μόνον ὑπάρχοντά σοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπι ζητούμενα, οὐκ ἀγαθὴν ἕξουσιν ἔκβασιν. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὴ ἐν τάχει ἐπεγνωκὼς διαβολικὴν εἶναι τὴν μεθοδείαν ἐκκόψεις ἐκ τῆς σῆς καρδίας, ἔκπτωσίν σοι τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ πολιτείας κατασκευάζουσιν.

Ἀλλὰ θέ 31.636 μενος ἐν σεαυτῷ πάντων ἀνθρώπων εἶναι ἀτιμότερον καὶ ἁμαρτωλότερον, ξένον τε καὶ ἀλήτην, καὶ κατ' οἶκτον παρειλημμένον ὑπὸ τῶν πρὸ σοῦ ἀποτα ξαμένων, σπεῦδε πάντων εἶναι ἔσχατος, καὶ πάντων δοῦλος. Ταῦτα γάρ σοι οἴσει τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν ἀλη θινὴν, οὐκ ἐκεῖνα. Ὦτα ἔχων ἠνεῳγμένα πρὸς ὑπακοὴν, καὶ χεῖρας ἑτοίμους πρὸς ἐκπλήρωσιν τοῦ ἠκουσμένου, στόμα ἔχε σιγηρὸν, καὶ καρδίαν περί βλεπτον. Ἔσο ἀργὸς περὶ ἀργολογίαν, συνετὸς δὲ καὶ ἐπιστήμων πρὸς τὰς σωτηριώδεις τῶν θείων Γραφῶν ἀκροάσεις. Ἤτω σοι πικρὰ γεῦσις ἡ τῶν κοσμικῶν διηγημάτων ἀκρόασις, κηρία δὲ μέλιτος τὰ τῶν ὁσίων ἀνδρῶν διηγήματα.