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to be at leisure always through self-control and love and prayer and psalmody and the things that follow.

3.51 (51) If for a long time we are at leisure for God and take care of the passionate part of the soul, we are no longer driven off course by the assaults of thoughts; but also by perceiving their causes more accurately and cutting them off, we become more discerning, so that what is written is fulfilled in us: And my eye has looked 14__286 upon my enemies, and my ear will hear of the wicked who rise up against me.

3.52 (52) When you see your mind conducting itself piously and justly among the concepts of the world, know that your body also remains pure and sinless; but when you see the mind occupied in thought with sins and you do not check it, know that your body also will not take long to fall into these very things.

3.53 (53) Just as the body has things as its world, so also the mind has concepts as its world; and just as the body fornicates with the body of a woman, so also the mind fornicates with the concept of the woman through the fantasy of its own body; for it sees the form of its own body being mingled with the form of the woman in the thought. Likewise also it takes revenge on the form of the one who caused pain in thought through the form of its own body. And it is similar in the case of the other sins; for whatever the body does in actuality in the world of things, these things the mind also does in the world of concepts.

3.54 (54) Is it not a thing to shudder at and be amazed and be beside oneself in thought that God the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son? And the Son cries out: “Judge not, that you be not judged; condemn not, that you be not condemned.” And the Apostle likewise: “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes,” and: “In whatever judgment you judge another, you condemn yourself.” But men, 14__288 having ceased to weep for their own sins, have taken judgment away from the Son and they themselves, as if sinless, judge and condemn one another; and heaven was astonished at this, and the earth shuddered, but they themselves, being senseless, are not ashamed.

3.55 (55) He who is meddlesome about the sins of others or judges his brother out of suspicion, has not yet laid a foundation for repentance nor for searching out and knowing his own sins, which are in truth heavier than lead of many talents, nor does he know why a man becomes heavy of heart, loving vanity and seeking falsehood. For this reason, like one who is foolish and journeys in darkness, leaving his own sins, he imagines those of others, whether real or supposed out of suspicion.

3.56 (56) Self-love, as has often been said, is the cause of all passionate thoughts. For from it are born the three most general thoughts of desire: that of gluttony and of avarice and of vainglory. From gluttony is born the thought of fornication; from avarice, that of covetousness; from vainglory, that of pride. All the others follow each of the three: that of anger and that of sadness and that of remembrance of wrongs and of despondency and of envy and of slander and the others. These passions, therefore, bind the mind to material things and hold it down to the earth, lying upon it like a very heavy stone, though it is by nature lighter and swifter than fire.

3.57 (57) The beginning of all the passions is self-love; but the end is pride. 14__290 And self-love is the irrational love for the body; he who has cut this off, has cut off with it all the passions that come from it. 3.58 (58) Just as the parents of bodies are attached to those born from them, so also the mind is naturally attached to its own reasonings. And just as to the more passionate of those, even if in all things

48

σχολάζειν διὰ παντὸς διά τε ἐγκρατείας καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ προσευχῆς καὶ ψαλμῳδίας καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς.

3.51 (να') Ἐὰν σχολάζοντες τῷ Θεῷ χρόνῳ πολλῷ τοῦ παθητικοῦ μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιμελώμεθα, οὐκ ἔτι πρὸς τὰς τῶν λογισμῶν προσβολὰς ἐξοκείλομεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκριβέστερον τὰς τούτων αἰτίας κατανοοῦντες καὶ ἐκκόπτοντες διορατικώτεροι γινόμεθα, ὥστε πληρωθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς τό· Καὶ ἐπεῖδεν ὁ ὀφθαλμός 14__286 μου ἐν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐπανισταμένοις ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ πονηρευομένοις ἀκούσεται τὸ οὖς μου.

3.52 (νβ') Ὅταν βλέπῃς τὸν νοῦν σου εὐσεβῶς καὶ δικαίως ἀναστρεφόμενον ἐν τοῖς τοῦ κόσμου νοήμασι, γίνωσκε καὶ τὸ σῶμά σου καθαρὸν καὶ ἀναμάρτητον διαμένειν· ὅταν δὲ τὸν νοῦν βλέπῃς κατὰ διάνοιαν ἁμαρτίαις σχολάζοντα καὶ μὴ ἀνακόπτῃς, γίνωσκε καὶ τὸ σῶμά σου μὴ πολυχρονίζειν τούτοις αὐτοῖς περιπεσεῖν.

3.53 (νγ') Ὥσπερ τὸ σῶμα ἔχει κόσμον τὰ πράγματα, οὕτω καὶ ὁ νοῦς ἔχει κόσμον τὰ νοήματα· καὶ ὥσπερ τὸ σῶμα πορνεύει μετὰ τοῦ σώματος τῆς γυναικός, οὕτω καὶ ὁ νοῦς πορνεύει μετὰ τοῦ νοήματος τῆς γυναικὸς διὰ τῆς φαντασίας τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος· τὴν γὰρ μορφὴν τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος βλέπει μιγνυμένην μετὰ τῆς μορφῆς τῆς γυναικὸς κατὰ διάνοιαν. Ὡσαύτως καὶ τὴν μορφὴν τοῦ λυπήσαντος ἀμύνεται κατὰ διάνοιαν διὰ τῆς μορφῆς τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος. Καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁμαρτημάτων ὁμοίως· ἅπερ γὰρ πράττει τὸ σῶμα κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν εἰς τὸν κόσμον τῶν πραγμάτων, ταῦτα πράττει καὶ ὁ νοῦς εἰς τὸν κόσμον τῶν νοημάτων.

3.54 (νδ') Οὐκ ἔστι φρίξαι καὶ ἐκπλαγῆναι καὶ ἐκστῆναι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὅτι ὁ μὲν Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ κρίνει οὐδένα, πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν κρίσιν δέδωκε τῷ Υἱῷ. Ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς κράζει· Μὴ κρίνετε, ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε· μὴ καταδικάζετε, ἵνα μὴ καταδικασθῆτε. Ὁ δὲ Ἀπόστολος ὁμοίως· Μὴ πρὸ καιροῦ τι κρίνετε, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ὁ Κύριος, καί· Ἐν ᾧ κρίματι κρίνεις τὸν ἕτερον, σεαυτὸν κατακρίνεις. Οἱ 14__288 δὲ ἄνθρωποι ἀφέντες τὸ κλαίειν τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἁμαρτίας ἦραν τὴν κρίσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὡς ἀναμάρτητοι κρίνουσι καὶ καταδικάζουσιν ἀλλήλους· καὶ ὁ μὲν οὐρανὸς ἐξέστη ἐπὶ τούτῳ, ἡ δὲ γῆ ἔφριξεν, αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ αἰσχύνονται ἀναισθητοῦντες.

3.55 (νε') Ὁ τὰς τῶν ἄλλων ἁμαρτίας περιεργαζόμενος ἢ καὶ ἐξ ὑπονοίας τὸν ἀδελφὸν κρίνων, οὔπω ἔβαλεν ἀρχὴν μετανοίας οὐδὲ τοῦ ἐρευνᾶν καὶ γνῶναι τὰς ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίας, ἐν ἀληθείᾳ βαρυτέρας οὔσας μολίβδου πολυταλάντου, οὐδὲ ἔγνω πόθεν γίνεται ἄνθρωπος βαρυκάρδιος ἀγαπῶν ματαιότητα καὶ ζητῶν ψεῦδος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὡς ἄφρων καὶ ἐν σκότει διαπορευόμενος, ἀφεὶς τὰς ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίας τὰς τῶν ἄλλων φαντάζεται ἢ οὔσας ἢ νομιζομένας ἐξ ὑπονοίας.

3.56 (νστ') Ἡ φιλαυτία, ὡς πολλάκις εἴρηται, πάντων τῶν ἐμπαθῶν λογισμῶν αἰτία καθίσταται. Ἐκ γὰρ ταύτης γεννῶνται οἱ τρεῖς γενικώτατοι τῆς ἐπιθυμίας λογισμοί· ὁ τῆς γαστριμαργίας καὶ τῆς φιλαργυρίας καὶ τῆς κενοδοξίας. Ἐκ μὲν τῆς γαστριμαργίας γεννᾶται ὁ τῆς πορνείας· ἐκ δὲ τῆς φιλαργυρίας, ὁ τῆς πλεονεξίας· ἐκ δὲ τῆς κενοδοξίας, ὁ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας. Οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ πάντες ἑκάστῳ τῶν τριῶν ἀκολουθοῦσιν· ὅ τε τῆς ὀργῆς καὶ ὁ τῆς λύπης καὶ ὁ τῆς μνησικακίας καὶ ἀκηδίας καὶ φθόνου καὶ καταλαλιᾶς καὶ οἱ λοιποί. Ταῦτα οὖν τὰ πάθη συνδεσμοῦσι τὸν νοῦν τοῖς ὑλικοῖς πράγμασι καὶ κατέχουσιν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν γῆν, λίθου δίκην βαρυτάτου αὐτῷ ἐπικείμενα, φύσει ὄντα αὐτὸν πυρὸς κουφότερον καὶ ὀξύτερον.

3.57 (νζ') Ἀρχὴ μὲν πάντων τῶν παθῶν, ἡ φιλαυτία· τέλος δέ, ἡ ὑπερηφανία. 14__290 Φιλαυτία δέ ἐστιν ἡ πρὸς τὸ σῶμα ἄλογος φιλία· ὁ ταύτην ἐκκόψας, συνέκοψε πάντα τὰ πάθη τὰ ἐξ αὐτῆς. 3.58 (νη') Ὥσπερ οἱ γονεῖς τῶν σωμάτων προσπάσχουσι τοῖς ἐξ αὐτῶν γεννωμένοις, οὕτω καὶ ὁ νοῦς φυσικῶς τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ πρόσκειται λόγοις. Καὶ ὥσπερ τοῖς ἐκείνων ἐμπαθεστέροις, κἂν πάντων κατὰ πάντα