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to repay evil without being forced; for doing good from disposition to those who hate us belongs only to perfect spiritual love.

2.50 (50) He who does not love someone does not necessarily already also hate him, nor again does he who does not hate necessarily already also love; but he can be in a middle state towards him, that is, neither loving nor hating. For only the five modes mentioned in the ninth chapter of this century are of a nature to produce the loving disposition, both the praiseworthy, the intermediate, and the blameworthy.

2.51 (51) When you see your mind gladly occupied with material things and lingering on their concepts, know that you love these things more than God; For where your treasure is, says the Lord, there your heart will be also.

2.52 (52) A mind united with God and dwelling in Him through prayer and love, becomes wise and good and powerful and philanthropic and merciful and long-suffering; and, to speak simply, it bears within itself almost all the divine attributes. But withdrawing from Him and cleaving to material things, it becomes either brutish 14__238 having become a lover of pleasure, or bestial, fighting with men for these things.

2.53 (53) Scripture calls the material things "the world," and "worldly" are those who occupy their mind with these things, to whom it also says rather reproachfully: Do not love the world or the things in the world; the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not from God, but is from the world, and so on.

2.54 (54) A monk is one who has separated his mind from material things and through self-control and love and psalmody and prayer perseveres with God.

2.55 (55) Intelligibly, a herdsman is the man of practical life; for moral achievements hold the place of cattle, which is why Jacob also said: Your servants are herdsmen. But a shepherd of sheep is the gnostic; for thoughts hold the place of sheep, being shepherded by the mind on the mountains of contemplation, for this reason also: Every shepherd of sheep is an abomination to the Egyptians, that is, to the opposing powers.

2.56 (56) The wicked mind, when the body is moved through the senses towards its own desires and pleasures, follows and consents to its images and impulses; but the virtuous mind controls itself and restrains it from passionate images and impulses and rather philosophizes to make such movements of it better.

2.57 (57) Of the virtues, some are of the body, and some are of the soul. And 14__240 the bodily ones are, for example, fasting, vigils, sleeping on the ground, service, manual labor so as not to be a burden to anyone or for the sake of sharing, and so on. But the ones of the soul are, for example, love, long-suffering, gentleness, self-control, prayer, and so on. If, therefore, due to some necessity or bodily circumstance, such as illness or something of that sort, it should happen that we are not able to perform the aforementioned bodily virtues, we have pardon from Him who also knows the causes. But if we do not perform the ones of the soul, we shall have no excuse; for they are not under necessity.

2.58 (58) Love for God persuades its partaker to despise every passing pleasure and every toil and grief. And let all the saints persuade you, who have suffered so many things for Christ with joy.

2.59 (59) Beware of the mother of evils, self-love, which is the irrational love of the body. For from this are born, with a specious appearance, the first, passionate, and most general three thoughts, I mean, that of gluttony and love of money and vainglory, ostensibly taking their pretexts from the needs of the body.

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ἀνταποδοῦναι κακοῦ ἀβιάστως· τὸ γὰρ ἐκ διαθέσεως καλῶς ποιεῖν τοῖς μισοῦσι μόνης ἐστὶ τῆς πνευματικῆς τελείας ἀγάπης.

2.50 (ν') Οὐχ ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν τινα ἤδη πάντως καὶ μισεῖ αὐτόν, οὐδὲ πάλιν ὁ μὴ μισῶν ἤδη πάντως καὶ ἀγαπᾷ· ἀλλὰ δύναται ὡς μέσος εἶναι πρὸς αὐτόν, τουτέστι μήτε ἀγαπᾶν μήτε μισεῖν. Τὴν γὰρ ἀγαπητικὴν διάθεσιν μόνοι οἱ ἐν τῷ ἐνάτῳ κεφαλαίῳ ταύτης τῆς ἑκατοντάδος εἰρημένοι πέντε τρόποι ἐμποιεῖν πεφύκασιν, ὅ τε ἐπαινετὸς καὶ ὁ μέσος καὶ οἱ ψεκτοί.

2.51 (να') Ὅταν ἴδῃς τὸν νοῦν σου τοῖς ὑλικοῖς ἡδέως ἐνασχολούμενον καὶ τοῖς τούτων νοήμασιν ἐμφιλοχωροῦντα, γίνωσκε σεαυτὸν ταῦτα μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν Θεὸν ἀγαπῶντα· Ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, φησὶν ὁ Κύριος, ἐκεῖ καὶ ἡ καρδία σου ἔσται.

2.52 (νβ') Νοῦς Θεῷ συναπτόμενος καὶ αὐτῷ ἐγχρωνίζων διὰ προσευχῆς καὶ ἀγάπης, σοφὸς γίνεται καὶ ἀγαθὸς καὶ δυνατὸς καὶ φιλάνθρωπος καὶ ἐλεήμων καὶ μακρόθυμος· καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, πάντα σχεδὸν τὰ θεῖα ἰδιώματα ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιφέρει. Τούτου δὲ ἀναχωρῶν καὶ τοῖς ὑλικοῖς προσχωρῶν, ἢ κτηνώδης γίνεται 14__238 φιλήδονος γεγονὼς ἢ θηριώδης, διὰ ταῦτα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μαχόμενος.

2.53 (νγ') Κόσμον λέγει ἡ Γραφὴ τὰ ὑλικὰ πράγματα καὶ κοσμικοί εἰσιν οἱ τούτοις τὸν νοῦν ἐνασχολοῦντες, πρὸς οὓς καὶ λέγει ἐντρεπτικώτερον· Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ· ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστί, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.

2.54 (νδ') Μοναχός ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ὑλικῶν πραγμάτων τὸν νοῦν ἀποχωρίσας καὶ δι᾽ ἐγκρατείας καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ ψαλμῳδίας καὶ προσευχῆς προσκαρτερῶν τῷ Θεῷ.

2.55 (νε') Κτηνοτρόφος μέν ἐστιν νοητῶς ὁ πρακτικός· κτηνῶν γὰρ λόγον ἐπέχουσι τὰ ἠθικὰ κατορθώματα, διὸ καὶ ἔλεγεν ὁ Ἰακώβ· Ἄνδρες κτηνοτρόφοι εἰσὶν οἱ παῖδές σου. Ποιμὴν δὲ προβάτων, ὁ γνωστικός· προβάτων γὰρ λόγον ἐπέχουσιν οἱ λογισμοί, ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη τῶν θεωρημάτων ὑπὸ τοῦ νοῦ ποιμαινόμενοι, διὰ τοῦτο καί· Βδέλυγμα τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις πᾶς ποιμὴν προβάτων, ἤγουν ταῖς ἐναντίαις δυνάμεσι.

2.56 (νστ') Ὁ μὲν φαῦλος νοῦς, κινουμένου τοῦ σώματος διὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἐπὶ τὰς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας καὶ ἡδονάς, ἐξακολουθεῖ καὶ συγκατίθεται ταῖς τούτου φαντασίαις καὶ ὁρμαῖς· ὁ δὲ ἐνάρετος ἐγκρατεύεται καὶ κατέχει αὐτὸ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐμπαθῶν φαντασιῶν καὶ ὁρμῶν καὶ μᾶλλον φιλοσοφεῖ βελτίους ποιῆσαι τὰς τοιαύτας αὐτοῦ κινήσεις.

2.57 (νζ') Τῶν ἀρετῶν αἱ μέν εἰσι σωματικαί, αἱ δὲ ψυχικαί. Καὶ 14__240 σωματικαὶ μέν εἰσιν, οἷον νηστεία, ἀγρυπνία, χαμευνία, διακονία, ἐργόχειρον πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπιβαρῆσαί τινα ἢ πρὸς μετάδοσιν καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ψυχικαὶ δέ εἰσιν, οἷον ἀγάπη, μακροθυμία, πραότης, ἐγκράτεια, προσευχὴ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἐὰν οὖν ἔκ τινος ἀνάγκης ἢ περιστάσεως σωματικῆς, οἷον ἀρρωστίας ἤ τινος τῶν τοιούτων, συμβῇ ἡμῖν μὴ δυνηθῆναι ἐκτελέσαι τὰς προειρημένας σωματικὰς ἀρετάς, συγγνώμην ἔχομεν παρὰ τοῦ καὶ τὰς αἰτίας εἰδότος. Τὰς δὲ ψυχικὰς μὴ ἐκτελοῦντες, οὐδεμίαν ἕξομεν ἀπολογίαν· οὐ γάρ εἰσιν ὑπὸ ἀνάγκην.

2.58 (νη') Ἡ εἰς Θεὸν ἀγάπη πάσης ἡδονῆς παρερχομένης καὶ παντὸς πόνου καὶ λύπης πείθει καταφρονεῖν τὸν μέτοχον αὐτῆς. Καὶ πειθέτωσάν σε οἱ ἅγιοι πάντες, τοσαῦτα πεπονθότες διὰ Χριστὸν μετὰ χαρᾶς.

2.59 (νθ') Πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς τῶν κακῶν φιλαυτίας, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ σώματος ἄλογος φιλία. Ἐκ ταύτης γὰρ εὐλογοφανῶς τίκτονται οἱ πρῶτοι καὶ ἐμπαθεῖς καὶ γενικώτατοι τρεῖς λογισμοί, ὁ τῆς γαστριμαργίας λέγω καὶ φιλαργυρίας καὶ κενοδοξίας, τὰς ἀφορμὰς ἐκ τῆς ἀναγκαίας τοῦ σώματος δῆθεν λαμβάνοντες