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of a great multitude, is established in the natural monastery, gathering the mind within, and contemplating what is fitting for it. For it is possible even while sitting at home, to wander outside with one's thoughts; and while being in the marketplace, but being watchful, to be as if in a desert, turning only to oneself and to God, and not admitting through the senses the disturbances that assail the soul from sensible things.

CHAPTER 6. That one must not associate unguardedly with all men

the ascetic. Nor is it fitting to trust oneself to all men, nor to expose, nor

to reveal oneself unguardedly. For he who lives according to God has many who lie in wait for him; and often even his closest relations are spies on his life. It is fitting, therefore, not to engage in meetings with outsiders without examination. For if the Savior, as the 31.1361 Gospel says, did not entrust himself to all (For Jesus himself, it says, did not entrust himself to them); if he, the pure, the blameless, the irreproachable, the just, the wholly virtuous, how shall we who are sinners, who are prone to fall, who do not always succeed in our purpose, partly because of natural weakness, partly because of the one who wickedly and relentlessly wrestles against us, if we give ourselves over to meddlesome people, not draw upon ourselves wicked slanders, and establish scandals for ourselves? For often the wicked attempt to slander even things that are done well, and cannot bear to leave even the smallest of failings unreproached. It is necessary, therefore, to conduct conversations with outsiders guardedly. For another affliction also befalls them from inexperience of thought concerning those who have withdrawn from the world. For they suppose not that the mind of those who change their way of life has been changed, but that their human nature itself has been transformed; and they do not judge ascetics as men who are subject to the same passions, but who by the power of the soul and by alienation from pleasures prevail over them; but they think that the passions have been completely removed from the nature of their body. Whence, indeed, if the spiritual man should err even a little from what is good, immediately all, even those who before were his most ardent praisers and admirers, become bitter accusers, and they convict themselves of not having offered true praise before. For just as when an athlete has slipped, his opponent immediately rises up against him, striking and trying to throw him down; so also they, when they see one who is living in the ascetic practice of virtue erring a little from what is good, attack him with reproaches and slanders, as if striking him with arrows; not considering in themselves that they themselves are wounded every day by countless arrows of the passions. But the combatants of piety, although besieged by the same passions, are either little, or often not at all, harmed by them; and this, even though they receive the adversary more fiercely than those others do. Since these have declared war against him, and for the evil one it is a great thing to win a victory over them, and again, to be defeated has brought a mortal wound, as if he were defeated completely and in all parts of virtue; but the war against those who have devoted themselves to the world has been 31.1364 despised; on the one hand, because most of them run to defeat of their own accord, being lured to sin by various pleasures and desires, and they offer him an effortless victory over themselves; on the other hand, because even those who seem to resist sin a little are easily drawn away from the contest by various distractions, and turning their backs, and unremittingly

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πλήθους πολλοῦ, ἐν τῷ φυσικῷ μοναστηρίῳ καθίδρυται, ἔνδον συνάγων τὸν νοῦν, καὶ φιλοσοφῶν τὰ αὐτῷ πρέποντα. ∆υνατὸν γὰρ καὶ οἴκοι καθήμενον, ἔξω περιπλανᾶσθαι τοῖς λογι σμοῖς· καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ὄντα, νήφοντα δὲ, ὡς ἐπ' ἐρημίας εἶναι, πρὸς ἑαυτόν τε καὶ πρὸς Θεὸν μόνον ἐπιστρεφόμενον, καὶ οὐ δεχόμενον ταῖς αἰ σθήσεσι τοὺς ἐκ τῶν αἰσθητῶν τῇ ψυχῇ θορύβους προσπίπτοντας.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ς ʹ. Ὅτι οὐ χρὴ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀφυλάκτως συνδια τρίβειν

τὸν ἀσκητήν. Θαῤῥεῖν δὲ μηδὲ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἑαυτὸν, μη δὲ ἀπογυμνοῦν, μηδὲ

ἀνακαλύπτειν ἀφυλάκτως προσήκει. Πολλοὺς γὰρ ἐφέδρους ὁ κατὰ Θεὸν πο λιτευόμενος ἔχει· καὶ αὐτοὺς πολλάκις τοὺς οἰκειο τάτους, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ζωῆς κατασκόπους. Προσήκει τοίνυν μὴ ἀβασανίστους ποιεῖσθαι τὰς πρὸς τοὺς ἔξωθεν συντυχίας. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ Σωτὴρ, ὥς φησι τὸ 31.1361 Εὐαγγέλιον, οὐκ ἐπίστευε τοῖς πᾶσιν ἑαυτὸν (Αὐ τὸς γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἐπίστευεν ἑαυτὸν αὐτοῖς)· εἰ ἐκεῖνος, ὁ καθαρὸς, ὁ ἄμω μος, ὁ ἀνεπίληπτος, ὁ δίκαιος, ὁ τὸ πᾶν ἀρετὴ, πῶς ἡμεῖς οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ, οἱ εὐόλισθοι, οἱ μὴ κατὰ σκοπὸν ἀεὶ εὐοδούμενοι, τοῦτο μὲν διὰ τὴν φυ σικὴν ἀσθένειαν, τοῦτο δὲ διὰ τὸν πονηρῶς καὶ ἀνεν δότως ἡμῖν προσπαλαίοντα, ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδιδόντες πε ριέργοις ἀνθρώποις, οὐχὶ πονηρὰς ἐπισπασόμεθα διαβολὰς, καὶ ἑαυτοῖς τὰ σκάνδαλα καταπήξομεν; Πολλάκις γὰρ οἱ πονηροὶ καὶ τὰ καλῶς πραττόμενα διαβάλλειν ἐπιχειροῦσι, καὶ μὴ ἀλοιδόρητα καταλιμ πάνειν καὶ τὰ μικρότατα τῶν πταισμάτων ἀν έχονται. Χρὴ τοίνυν πεφυλαγμένας ποιεῖσθαι τὰς πρὸς τοὺς ἔξωθεν ὁμιλίας. Συμβαίνει γὰρ αὐτοῖς τι καὶ ἕτερον πάθος ὑπὸ λογισμῶν ἀπειρίας ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνα χωρησάντων τοῦ βίου. Ὑπολαμβάνουσι γὰρ, οὐ τὴν γνώμην μετατεθεῖσθαι τῶν μετατιθεμένων τὴν πολιτείαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν φύσιν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην μετεσκευάσθαι· καὶ οὐ κρίνουσι τοὺς ἀσκητὰς ὡς ἐν πάθεσι μὲν τοῖς αὐτοῖς στρεφομένους, δυνάμει δὲ ψυχῆς καὶ ἀλλοτριώσει τῇ πρὸς τὰς ἡδονὰς ἐπικρα τοῦντας αὐτῶν· ἀλλ' οἴονται, ὅτι πάντη ἐκποδὼν τὰ πάθη τῆς τοῦ σώματος αὐτῶν φύσεως γέγονεν. Ὅθεν δὴ, καὶ εἴ τι μικρὸν ὁ πνευματικὸς δια μάρτοι τοῦ καλοῦ, εὐθέως ἅπαντες, καὶ οἱ τὸ πρὶν θερμότατοι ἐπαινέται καὶ θαυμασταὶ, πικροὶ κατήγοροι γίνονται, καὶ διελέγχουσιν ἑαυτοὺς, οὐ δὲ πρότερον ἀληθεῖς τοὺς ἐπαίνους ποιούμενοι. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἀθλητοῦ τινος ὀλισθήσαντος, εὐ θὺς ὁ ἀντίπαλος κατεξανίσταται παίων καὶ προσκα ταβάλλων αὐτόν· οὕτω καὶ ἐκεῖνοι, ἐπὰν ἴδωσι τὸν ἐν ἀσκήσει ἀρετῆς διαζῶντα μικρόν τι τοῦ καλοῦ διαμαρτήσαντα, ἐπιτίθενται ταῖς λοιδορίαις καὶ ταῖς διαβολαῖς, ὥσπερ τοξεύμασι βάλλοντες· οὐ λογιζόμενοι καθ' ἑαυτοὺς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ μὲν ἐφ' ἑκάστης ἡμέρας μυρίοις τιτρώσκονται τοῖς βέλεσι τῶν παθῶν. Οἱ δέ γε τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγωνισταὶ, καίπερ ὑπὸ τῶν ὁμοίων πολιορκούμενοι παθῶν, ἢ μικρά τινα, ἢ οὐδὲν πολλάκις ὑπὸ τούτων ἐπηρεά ζονται· καὶ ταῦτα, καὶ τὸν ἀνταγωνιστὴν σφοδρό τερον ἤπερ ἐκεῖνοι δεχόμενοι. Ἐπείπερ οὗτοι μὲν τὸν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἀγῶνα διωμολόγησαν, καὶ μέγα τῷ πονηρῷ τὸ κατὰ τούτων ἄρασθαι νῖκος, πάλιν δ' αὖ τὸ ἡττηθῆναι καιρίαν τὴν πληγὴν ἤνεγκεν, ὡς ὁλοσχερῶς καὶ πᾶσιν ἀρετῆς μέρεσιν ἡττηθέντι· ὁ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς τῷ βίῳ προσνείμαντας ἑαυτοὺς κατα 31.1364 πεφρόνηται πόλεμος· τὸ μὲν, ὅτι οἱ πλεῖστοι αὐ τῶν αὐτομάτως ἐπὶ τὴν ἧτταν τρέχουσι, ταῖς ποι κίλαις ἡδοναῖς καὶ ἐπιθυμίαις πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν δελεαζόμενοι, καὶ ἄπονον αὐτῷ τὴν καθ' ἑαυτῶν νίκην παρέχοντες· τὸ δὲ, ὅτι καὶ οἱ δοκοῦντες μι κρὸν πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνταίρειν, τοῖς ποικί λοις περισπασμοῖς εὐκόλως τῆς ἀγωνίας ἀφέλκον ται, καὶ τὰ νῶτα στρέψαντες, καὶ ἀνενδότως