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Since our soul is a thing of many powers, and it uses as an instrument the body which is by nature suited to live according to it, by what instruments does this power of the soul, which we call the mind, operate? But no one has ever supposed that the intellect resides either in the fingernails, or in the eyelids, nor even in the nostrils or the lips; rather, all agree that it is within us, but some have differed as to which of the internal parts it uses first as its instrument. For some enthrone it in the brain as in some acropolis, while others assign to it as its vehicle the very center of the heart and the purest part of the vital spirit there. And we ourselves, although it is neither inside as in a vessel, for it is incorporeal, nor outside, for it is united, yet know precisely that our reasoning faculty is in the heart as in an organ, having been taught this not by man, but by the very One who formed man, who, showing how “it is not what goes into, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man,” says, “For out of the heart come forth thoughts.” Therefore, the great Macarius also, (p. 126) says, “The heart directs the whole organism and, when grace takes possession of the pastures of the heart, it reigns over all thoughts and members; for there is the mind and all the thoughts of the soul.” Therefore our heart is the storeroom of the reasoning faculty and the first fleshly reasoning organ. Thus, in our haste to examine and correct our reasoning faculty with precise watchfulness, with what could we examine it, if not by gathering our mind, which is dispersed outwards through the senses, and leading it back inwards and to this very heart, the storehouse of thoughts? For this reason also the aptly named Macarius says, following shortly after what he said above: “There, therefore, one must look to see if grace has inscribed the laws of the Spirit.” Where is ‘there’? In the ruling organ, in the throne of grace, where the mind and all the thoughts of the soul are, that is, in the heart. Do you see how most necessary it is for those who have chosen to attend to themselves in quietude to lead back and enclose the mind in the body, and especially in the innermost body within the body, which we call the heart?

And if, according to the Psalmist, “all the glory of the king’s daughter is within,” how shall we seek it somewhere outside? And if, according to the Apostle, God has sent His Spirit into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father,” how shall we not pray together with the Spirit in them? And if, according to the Lord of prophets and apostles, “the kingdom of heaven is within us,” how could one who earnestly tries to lead his mind out of what is within himself not be outside the kingdom of heaven? “An upright heart,” says Solomon, “seeks perception,” which he himself elsewhere has called spiritual and divine, toward which the fathers exhort all, (p. 128) saying, “A spiritual mind is certainly clothed also in spiritual perception, which, being both in us and not in us, let us not cease seeking out.” Do you see that whether one desires to stand against sin, or to acquire virtue, or to find the prize for the contest of virtue—or rather, the pledge of the prize for virtue—the spiritual perception, it is necessary to lead the mind back inside the body and oneself? But to place the mind outside, not of the carnal mind, but of the body itself, so that it might encounter spiritual visions there, is the very essence of Hellenic error and the root and source of all false belief, an invention and teaching of demons, productive of folly and a child of madness. For this reason also those who speak from the inspiration of demons are outside of themselves, not even understanding what

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Ἐπεί δέ καί ἔνεστι πολυδύναμον πρᾶγμα ἡ καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ψυχή, χρῆται δ᾿ ὡς ὀργάνῳ τῷ ζῆν κατ᾿ αὐτήν πεφυκότι σώματι, τίσιν ὡς ὀργάνοις χρωμένη ἐνεργεῖ ἡ δύναμις αὐτῆς αὕτη, ἥν καλοῦμεν νοῦν; Ἀλλά γάρ οὐδείς ποθ᾿ ὑπενόησεν, οὔτε ἐπί τοῖς ὄνυξιν, οὔτ᾿ ἐν τοῖς βλεφάροις, οὐδέ μενοῦν ἐν τοῖς μυκτῆρσιν ἤ τοῖς χείλεσιν ἐνῳκισμένην εἶναι τήν διάνοιαν˙ ἐντός δ᾿ ἡμῖν ἐνεῖναι πᾶσιν αὕτη συνδοκεῖ, διηνέχθησαν δέ τινες, τίνι πρώτῳ ὡς ὀργάνῳ χρῆται τῶν ἐντός. Οἱ μέν γάρ ὡς ἐπ᾿ ἀκροπόλει τινί τῷ ἐγκεφάλῳ ταύτην ἐνιδρύουσιν, οἱ δέ τῆς καρδίας τό μεσαίτατον καί τό κατ᾿ αὐτό τοῦ ψυχικοῦ πνεύματος ἐπειλικρινημένον ὄχημα διδόασιν αὐτῇ. Ἡμεῖς δέ καί αὐτοί, εἰ καί μήτε ἔνδον ὡς ἐν ἀγγείῳ, καί γάρ ἀσώματον, μήτε ἔξω, καί γάρ συνημμένον, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὡς ἐν ὀργάνῳ τό λογιστικόν ἡμῶν εἶναι ἐπιστάμεθ᾿ ἀκριβῶς, οὐ παρ᾿ ἀνθρώπου τοῦτο διδαχθέντες, ἀλλά παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πλάσαντος τόν ἄνθρωπον, ὅς, δεικνύς ὅπως «οὐ τά εἰσερχόμενα, ἀλλά τά ἐξερχόμενα διά τοῦ στόματος κοινοῖ τόν ἄνθρωπον», «ἐκ γάρ τῆς καρδίας ἐξέρχονται», φησίν, «οἱ λογισμοί». Ταῦτ᾿ ἆρα καί ὁ μέγας Μακάριος, (σελ. 126) «ἡ καρδία», φησίν, «ἡγεμονεύει ὅλου τοῦ ὀργάνου καί, ἐπάν κατάσχῃ τάς νομάς τῆς καρδίας ἡ χάρις, βασιλεύει ὅλων τῶν λογισμῶν καί τῶν μελῶν˙ ἐκεῖ γάρ ἐστιν ὁ νοῦς καί πάντες οἱ λογισμοί τῆς ψυχῆς». Οὐκοῦν ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν ἐστι τό τοῦ λογιστικοῦ ταμεῖον καί πρῶτον σαρκικόν ὄργανον λογιστικόν. Τό τοίνυν λογιστικόν ἡμῶν ἐν ἀκριβεῖ νήψει σπεύδοντες ἐπισκέπτεσθαι καί διορθοῦν, τίνι γ᾿ ἄν ἐπισκεψαίμεθα, εἰ μή τόν ἐγκεχυμένον διά τῶν αἰσθήσεων νοῦν ἡμῶν ἔξωθεν συναγαγόντες πρός τά ἐντός ἐπαναγάγοιμεν καί πρός αὐτήν ταύτην τήν καρδίαν, τό τῶν λογισμῶν ταμεῖον; ∆ιά τοῦτο καί ὁ φερώνυμος Μακάριος ἐφεξῆς τοῖς ᾶνωτέρω μικρόν εἰρημένοις παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ φησιν˙ «ἐκεῖ τοίνυν δεῖ σκοπεῖν, εἰ ἐνέγραψεν ἡ χάρις τούς τοῦ Πνεύματος νόμους». Ἐκεῖ ποῦ; Ἐν τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ ὀργάνῳ, ἐν τῷ τῆς χάριτος θρόνῳ, ὅπου ὁ νοῦς καί οἱ λογισμοί πάντες τῆς ψυχῆς, ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ δηλαδή. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἀναγκαιότατον τοῖς προηρημένοις ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ προσέχειν ἑαυτοῖς ἐπανάγειν καί ἐμπερικλείειν τῷ σώματι τόν νοῦν, καί μάλιστα τῷ ἐν τῷ σώματι ἐνδοτάτῳ σώματι, ὅ καρδίαν ὀνομάζομεν;

Εἰ δέ καί κατά τόν ψαλμῳδόν «πᾶσα ἡ δόξα τῆς θυγατρός τοῦ βασιλέως ἔσωθεν», πῶς ἡμεῖς αὐτήν ἔξω που ζητήσομεν; Εἰ δέ καί κατά τόν ἀπόστολον ὁ Θεός ἔδωκεν αὐτοῦ τό Πνεῦμα κρᾶζον ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν, ἀββᾶ ὁ πατήρ, πῶς ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἐν αὐταῖς συνευξόμεθα τῷ Πνεύματι; Εἰ δέ καί κατά τόν προφητῶν καί ἀπόστολον Κύριον «ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐντός ἡμῶν ἐστι», πῶς οὐκ ἔξω καί τῆς οὐρανῶν βασιλείας γένοιτ᾿ ἄν ὁ τῶν ἐντός ἑαυτοῦ τόν νοῦν ἐξάγειν διά σπουδῆς ποιούμενος; «Καρδία ὀρθή», φησίν ὁ Σολομών, «ζητεῖ αἴσθησιν», ἥν ὁ αὐτός νοεράν καί θείαν ἀλλαχοῦ προσείρηκε, πρός ἥν οἱ πατέρες πάντας (σελ. 128) προτρεπόμενοι, «νοῦς, φασί, νοερός πάντως καί νοεράν αἴσθησιν περιβέβληται, ἥν ἐν ἡμῖν καί οὐκ ἐν ἡμῖν οὖσαν ἐκζητοῦντες μή παυσώμεθα». Ὁρᾷς ὅτι κἄν πρός τήν ἁμαρτίαν ἀντικαταστῆναί τις προθυμηθῇ, κἄν τήν ἀρετήν προσκτήσασθαι, κἄν τοῦ κατ᾿ ἀρετήν ἄθλου τό βραβεῖον, μᾶλλον δέ τόν ἀρραβῶνα τοῦ κατ᾿ἀρετήν βραβείου, τήν αἴσθησιν τήν νοεράν εὑρεῖν, ἐντός τοῦ τε σώματος καί ἑαυτοῦ τόν νοῦν ἐπαναγαγεῖν ἀνάγκη; Τό δ᾿ἔξω τόν νοῦν, οὐ τοῦ σωματικοῦ φρονήματος, ἀλλ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ σώματος ποιεῖν, ὡς ἐκεῖ νοεροῖς θεάμασιν ἐντύχοι, τῆς ἑλληνικῆς ἐστι πλάνης αὐτό τό κράτιστον καί πάσης κακοδοξίας ρίζα καί πηγή, δαιμόνων εὕρημα καί παίδευμα, γεννητικόν ἀνοίας καί γέννημα τῆς ἀπονοίας. ∆ιό καί οἱ λαλοῦντες ἐκ τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπιπνοίας ἐξεστηκότες ἑαυτῶν εἰσι, μηδ᾿ αὐτό τοῦτο συνιέντες ὅ τι