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2.87 (87) There are three more general moral states among monks: and the first is, not to sin in act; the second, not to let passionate thoughts linger in the soul; and the third, to look dispassionately upon the images of women and of those who have caused pain in the mind.

2.88 (88) He is possessionless who has renounced all his belongings and possesses absolutely nothing on earth except his body; and having broken his attachment even to this, he has entrusted his own welfare to God and to the devout.

2.89 (89) Of those who possess things, some possess them without passion, for which reason they are not grieved when deprived of them, like those who accepted with joy the seizure of their belongings. But others possess them with passion, for which reason they become very grieved when they are about to be deprived of them, as the rich man in the 14__256 Gospel went away grieving; and if they are in fact deprived, they are grieved until death. Deprivation, therefore, tests the disposition of the dispassionate and the passionate.

2.90 (90) Demons wage war against those who pray in the highest manner, so that they might not receive simple concepts of sensible things; against the gnostics, so that passionate thoughts might linger in them; and against those struggling in the active life, so that they might persuade them to sin in act; and in every way they fight against all, so that the wretched ones might separate men from God.

2.91 (91) Those who in this life are trained in piety by divine providence are tested by these three temptations: either through the giving of pleasant things, such as health and beauty and good children and money and glory and the like; or through the infliction of painful things, such as the loss of children and money and glory; or through things that cause pain to the body, such as diseases and torments and so forth. And to the first the Lord says: 'If any man does not renounce all that he has, he cannot be my disciple'; but to the second and third: 'By your patience possess your souls.'

2.92 (92) They say these four things alter the temperament of the body and through it give to the mind thoughts either passionate or dispassionate: namely, the angels, the demons, the airs, the diet. And they say the angels alter it by a word; the demons, by touch; the airs, by their changes; and the 14__258 diet, by the qualities of foods and drinks and by excess and deficiency; apart from the alterations happening to it through memory and hearing and sight, when the soul is first affected by painful or joyful things that befall it. And from these, the soul, being affected, alters the temperament of the body; but from the aforementioned things, the temperament, being altered, provides thoughts to the mind.

2.93 (93) Death, properly speaking, is separation from God; and the sting of death is sin; having received which, Adam was exiled at once from the tree of life and from paradise and from God; upon which of necessity followed also the death of the body. And Life, properly speaking, is He who said, 'I am the life'; He, having been in death, led the one who was dead back again to life.

2.94 (94) A written discourse is written either for one's own remembrance or for the benefit of others or for both, or for the harm of some, or for show, or out of necessity.

2.95 (95) A place of green pasture is practical virtue; and the water of rest is the knowledge of created things.

2.96 (96) The shadow of death is human life; if someone, then, is with God and God is with him, this one can say clearly: 'For even if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.'

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2.87 (πζ') Τρεῖς εἰσιν ἠθικαὶ καταστάσεις γενικώτεραι ἐν τοῖς μοναχοῖς· καὶ πρώτη μέν, τὸ μηδὲν ἁμαρτάνειν κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν· δευτέρα δέ, τὸ μὴ ἐγχρονίζειν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τοὺς ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμούς· τρίτη δέ, τὸ τὰς μορφὰς τῶν γυναικῶν καὶ τῶν λυπησάντων ἀπαθῶς θεωρεῖν κατὰ διάνοιαν.

2.88 (πη') Ἀκτήμων ἐστὶν ὁ ἀποταξάμενος πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὐτῷ καὶ μηδὲν τὸ σύνολον ἐπὶ γῆς κεκτημένος πλὴν τοῦ σώματος· καὶ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸ δὲ σχέσιν διαρρήξας, τῷ Θεῷ καὶ τοῖς εὐσεβέσι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κατεπίστευσεν οἰκονομίαν.

2.89 (πθ') Τῶν κτωμένων οἱ μὲν ἀπαθῶς κτῶνται, διὸ καὶ στερούμενοι αὐτῶν οὐ λυποῦνται, ὡς οἱ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῶν μετὰ χαρᾶς προσδεξάμενοι. Οἱ δὲ ἐμπαθῶς κτῶνται, διὸ καὶ μέλλοντες στερεῖσθαι περίλυποι γίνονται, ὡς ὁ ἐν τῷ 14__256 Εὐαγγελίῳ πλούσιος ἀπῆλθε λυπούμενος· εἰ δὲ καὶ στεροῦνται, μέχρι θανάτου λυποῦνται. Τοῦ οὖν ἀπαθοῦς καὶ τοῦ ἐμπαθοῦς τὴν διάθεσιν ἡ στέρησις ἐλέγχει.

2.90 (ƒ') Τοὺς μὲν ἄκρως προσευχομένους πολεμοῦσιν οἱ δαίμονες, ἵνα τὰ νοήματα τῶν αἰσθητῶν πραγμάτων ψιλὰ μὴ ἀναλαμβάνωσι· τοὺς δὲ γνωστικούς, ἵνα ἐγχρονίζωσιν ἐν αὐτοῖς οἱ ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμοί· τοὺς δὲ περὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν ἀγωνιζομένους, ἵνα πείσωσιν αὐτοὺς κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτάνειν· παντὶ δὲ τρόπῳ πρὸς πάντας ἀγωνίζονται, ἵνα ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ δείλαιοι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους χωρίσωσι.

2.91 (ƒα') Οἱ κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον ὑπὸ τῆς θείας προνοίας εἰς εὐσέβειαν ἐγγυμναζόμενοι, διὰ τῶν τριῶν τούτων πειρασμῶν δοκιμάζονται· οἷον ἢ διὰ τῆς τῶν ἡδέων δόσεως, ὡς ἐπὶ ὑγείας καὶ κάλλους καὶ εὐτεκνίας καὶ χρημάτων καὶ δόξης καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων· ἢ διὰ τῆς τῶν λυπηρῶν ἐπιφορᾶς, οἷον στερήσεως τέκνων καὶ χρημάτων καὶ δόξης· ἢ διὰ τῶν ὀδύνην ἐμποιούντων τῷ σώματι, οἷον νοσημάτων καὶ βασάνων καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς. Καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς πρώτους λέγει ὁ Κύριος· Εἴ τις οὐκ ἀποτάσσεται πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὐτοῦ, οὐ δύναταί μου εἶναι μαθητής· πρὸς δὲ τοὺς δευτέρους καὶ τοὺς τρίτους· Ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ ὑμῶν κτήσασθε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν.

2.92 (ƒβ') Τὰ τέσσαρα ταῦτά φασιν ἀλλοιῶσαι τὴν κρᾶσιν τοῦ σώματος καὶ διδόναι τῷ νῷ λογισμοὺς εἴτε ἐμπαθεῖς εἴτε ἀπαθεῖς δι᾽ αὐτῆς· οἷον τοὺς ἀγγέλους, τοὺς δαίμονας, τοὺς ἀέρας, τὴν δίαιταν. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀγγέλους λόγῳ φασὶν ἀλλοιῶσαι· τοὺς δὲ δαίμονας, δι᾽ ἐπαφῆς· τοὺς δὲ ἀέρας, ταῖς μεταβολαῖς· τὴν δὲ 14__258 δίαιταν, ταῖς τῶν βρωμάτων καὶ πομάτων ποιότησι καὶ πλεονασμῷ καὶ ἐλαττώσει· πάρεξ τῶν διὰ μνήμης καὶ ἀκοῆς καὶ ὁράσεως συμβαινουσῶν αὐτῇ ἀλλοιώσεων, πρωτοπαθούσης τῆς ψυχῆς ἐκ τῶν συμπιπτόντων αὐτῇ λυπηρῶν ἢ χαροποιῶν. Καὶ ἐκ τούτων μὲν προσπάσχουσα ἡ ψυχὴ ἀλλοιοῖ τὴν κρᾶσιν τοῦ σώματος· ἐκ δὲ τῶν προειρημένων ἡ κρᾶσις ἀλλοιουμένη παρέχει τῷ νῷ λογισμούς.

2.93 (ƒγ') Θάνατος μέν ἐστι κυρίως ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ χωρισμός· κέντρον δὲ τοῦ θανάτου, ἡ ἁμαρτία· ὃ δεξάμενος ὁ Ἀδὰμ ὁμοῦ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλου καὶ τοῦ παραδείσου καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐξόριστος γέγονεν· ᾧ ἐπεκολούθησεν ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ ὁ τοῦ σώματος θάνατος. Ζωὴ δὲ κυρίως ἐστὶν ὁ εἰπῶν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωή· οὗτος ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ γενόμενος, τὸν νεκρωθέντα πάλιν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν ἐπανήγαγεν.

2.94 (ƒδ') Ὁ λόγος συγγραφόμενος ἢ πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ὑπόμνησιν συγγράφεται ἢ πρὸς ὠφέλειαν ἑτέρων ἢ καὶ ἄμφω ἢ πρὸς βλάβην τινῶν ἢ πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης.

2.95 (ƒε') Τόπος χλόης ἐστὶν ἡ πρακτικὴ ἀρετή· ὕδωρ δὲ ἀναπαύσεως, ἡ γνῶσις τῶν γεγονότων.

2.96 (ƒστ') Σκιὰ θανάτου ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη ζωή· εἴ τις οὖν ἐστι μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν, οὗτος δύναται εἰπεῖν ἐναργῶς τό· Ἐὰν γὰρ καὶ πορευθῶ ἐν μέσῳ σκιᾶς θανάτου, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι κακά, ὅτι σὺ μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ εἶ.