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And a mind cleansed of thoughts and freed from prejudices, enlightened by the mercy and grace of God, will be able worthily to behold the contemplation of beings according to the measure of its enlightenment.

35. Just as at night with our physical eyes we see only in that place where we light a lamp, but all the rest of the world, as far as we are concerned, is night, so for those sleeping in the night of sins the good Master becomes a small light, being a God incomprehensible to all, sparing our weakness. And then suddenly the man looks up and beholding the nature of beings, as he had never seen it before, he is astonished and painlessly pours forth tears automatically, by which he is cleansed and baptized with the second baptism, that baptism of which the Lord speaks through the Gospels, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." And again, "Unless one is born from above," and by saying from above, he indicated the birth from the Spirit.

36. The first baptism has the water prefiguring the tears, it has the myrrh of anointing signifying the intelligible myrrh of the Spirit. But the second is no longer a type of the truth, but is the truth itself.

37. It is necessary to abstain not only from evil deeds but (393) but the ascetic must also strive to be free from contrary thoughts and concepts, and to dwell always on soul-profiting and spiritual meditations, so that in this way he may remain free from the cares of life.

38. Just as one who has stripped his whole body naked, if he has his eyes covered with some covering and is unwilling to lift it and shake it off, cannot from the nakedness of the rest of his body alone see the light, so also one who has disdained all other things and possessions and has been delivered from the passions themselves, if he does not also free the eye of the soul from worldly meditations and evil concepts, he will never see the intelligible light, our Lord Jesus Christ and God Himself.

39. As a covering placed on the eyes, so worldly thoughts and meditations of life become in the mind, that is, in the eye of the soul. For as long, therefore, as they are allowed, we will not see; but when they are lifted up by the remembrance of death, then we may clearly see the true light, which illumines every man coming into the world above.

40. He who is blind from birth will not understand nor believe the power of what is written, but he who has been deemed worthy to see will testify that what is said is true.

41. He who sees with his physical eyes knows when it is night and when it is day; but the blind man is ignorant of both. And he who has spiritually looked up and sees with intelligible eyes, having beheld the true and unsetting light, when out of sloth he turns back to his former blindness and is deprived of the light, he keenly feels its deprivation and is not ignorant of whence this came to be. But he who remains blind from birth knows nothing about these things by experience and in reality, unless (394) he hears by hearsay and learns about what was seen, and will relate to others what he has heard, while neither he nor his listeners know what matters they are discussing with each other.

42. It is impossible both to fill the flesh to satiety with foods and to enjoy spiritually the intelligible and divine goodness. For to the extent that one serves the belly, to that extent he will deprive himself of that goodness; but to the extent that he disciplines the body, he will be filled accordingly with spiritual food and consolation.

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καί νοῦς καθαρθείς λογισμῶν καί ἐλευθερωθείς τῶν προλήψεων, ἐλέει τε καί χάριτι Θεοῦ φωτισθείς, κατά τό μέτρον τοῦ φωτισμοῦ καί τήν θεωρίαν τῶν ὄντων ἀξίως δυνήσεται κατιδεῖν.

λε΄. Ὥσπερ ἐν νυκτί τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ τόπῳ βλέπομεν μόνον ἔνθα ἄν τοῦ φωτός τόν λύχνον ἀνάψωμεν, ὁ δέ λοιπός ἅπας κόσμος τό καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς νύξ ἐστιν, οὕτω τοῖς ἐν νυκτί ἁμαρτημάτων καθεύδουσιν ὁ ἀγαθός δεσπότης φῶς μικρόν γίνεται, Θεός ὤν τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀχώρητος, φειδόμενος τῆς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν. Καί τότε αἴφνης ἀναβλέπων ὁ ἄνθρωπος καί θεωρῶν τήν φύσιν τῶν ὄντων, ὡς οὔποτε αὐτήν ἐθεάσατο, ἐκπλήττεται καί ἀνωδύνως αὐτόματα προχέει τά δάκρυα, δι᾿ ὧν καθαίρεται καί βαπτίζεται τό δεύτερον βάπτισμα, βάπτισμα ἐκεῖνο, ὅ λέγει διά τῶν εὐαγγελίων ὁ Κύριος «Ἐάν μή τις γεννηθῇ δι᾿ ὕδατος καί πνεύματος, οὐ μή εἰσέλθῃ εἰς τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν». Καί πάλιν «Ἐάν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν», ἄνωθεν δέ εἰπών, τήν ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος ᾐνίξατο γέννησιν.

λστ΄. Τό πρότερον βάπτισμα ἔχει τό ὕδωρ προϋπογράφον τά δάκρυα, ἔχει τό μύρον τοῦ χρίσματος προσημαῖνον τό νοητόν μύρον τοῦ Πνεύματος. Τό δέ δεύτερον οὐκέτι τύπος τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀλλ᾿ αὐτή ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια.

λζ΄. Οὐ πράξεων μόνον πονηρῶν ἀπέχεσθαι δεῖ ἀλλά (393) ἀλλά καί λογισμῶν καί ἐννοιῶν ἐναντίων χρή σπουδάζειν τόν ἀσκητήν ἐλεύθερον εἶναι, ἐνδιατρίβειν δέ ἀεί ταῖς ψυχωφελέσι καί πνευματικαῖς ἐνθυμήσεσιν, ἵν᾿ οὕτως ἀμέριμνος ἀπό τῶν βιωτικῶν διαμείνῃ.

λη΄. Ὥσπερ ὁ ὅλον αὐτοῦ ἀπογυμνώσας τό σῶμα, ἐάν καλύμματί τινι κεκαλυμμένους ἔχῃ τούς ὀφθαλμούς καί μή θελήσῃ ἆραι καί ἀποσείσασθαι αὐτό, οὐ δύναται ἀπό μόνης τῆς γυμνότητος τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος ἰδεῖν τό φῶς, οὕτω καί ὁ πάντων τῶν ἄλλων πραγμάτων ὁμοῦ καί χρημάτων καταφρονήσας καί αὐτῶν ἀπαλλαγείς τῶν παθῶν, εἰ μή καί τῶν βιωτικῶν ἐνθυμήσεων καί τῶν πονηρῶν ἐννοιῶν ἐλευθερώσῃ τόν τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμόν, οὐκ ὄψεταί ποτε τό νοητόν φῶς, αὐτόν τόν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστόν καί Θεόν.

λθ΄. Ὥσπερ κάλυμμα ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐπιτεθέν, οὕτω λογισμοί κοσμικοί καί βιωτικαί ἐνθυμήσεις ἐν διανοίᾳ ἤγουν ἐν ὀφθαλμῷ ψυχῆς γίνονται. Καθόσον οὖν ἐαθῶσι χρόνον, οὐ βλέψομεν ἐπάν δέ ἐξαρθῶσι τῇ τοῦ θανάτου μνήμῃ, τότε τρανῶς ἴδωμεν τό φῶς τό ἀληθινόν, ὅ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον εἰς τόν ἄνω κόσμον ἐρχόμενον.

μ΄. Ὁ ἐκ γενετῆς ὤν τυφλός οὐ νοήσει οὐδέ πιστεύσει τῶν γραφομένων τήν δύναμιν, ὁ δέ βλέψαι ποτέ καταξιωθείς συμμαρτυρήσει εἶναι ἀληθῆ τά λεγόμενα.

μα΄. Ὁ βλέπων τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς οἶδε πότε μέν νύξ, πότε δέ ἡμέρα ἐστίν ὁ δέ τυφλός τά ἀμφότερα ἀγνοεῖ. Καί ὁ πνευματικῶς ἀναβλέψας καί τοῖς νοεροῖς ὁρῶν ὀφθαλμοῖς, θεασάμενος τό ἀληθινόν καί ἄδυτον φῶς, ὅταν ἐκ ῥᾳθυμίας εἰς τήν προτέραν ἀποστραφῇ τύφλωσιν καί τοῦ φωτός ἀποστερηθῇ, εὐαισθήτως αἰσθάνεται τῆς τούτου στερήσεως καί πόθεν αὕτη συνέβη γενέσθαι οὐκ ἀγνοεῖ. Ὁ δέ γε μένων τυφλός ἐκ γενετῆς οὐδέν τῇ πείρᾳ καί τῇ ἐνεργείᾳ περί τούτων ἐπίσταται, εἰ μή τι (394) ἐξ ἀκοῆς ἀκούσῃ καί μάθῃ περί ὧν ἐθεάσατο, καί διηγήσεται ἄλλοις ἅπερ ἀκήκοεν, αὐτοῦ καί τῶν ἀκουόντων μή εἰδότων περί ποίων πραγμάτων ἀλλήλοις προσδιαλέγονται.

μβ΄. Ἀδύνατον καί τήν σάρκα τῷ κόρῳ τῶν βρωμάτων κατεμπιπλᾶν καί πνευματικῶς τῆς νοερᾶς καί θείας ἐπαπολαύειν χρηστότητος. Ὅσῳ γάρ τήν γαστέρα τις θεραπεύσει, κατά τοσοῦτον ἐκείνης ἑαυτόν ἀποστερήσει καθόσον δέ τό σῶμα ὑπωπιάσει, ἀναλόγως καί τῆς πνευματικῆς τροφῆς τε καί παρακλήσεως ἐμπλησθήσεται.