Holy Resurrection
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St. Paisios on the Thoughts of the Sanctified vs. the Wicked
4:21
St. Paisios the Athonite distinguishes the thoughts of a sanctified person from those of a wicked person. A holy person recognizes wickedness but discerns that evil comes from the tempter and enters from outside, not from the inner man. With the eyes of his soul he sees his own faults as great and those of others as small.
He genuinely finds excuses for the wicked person, does not despise him, and may consider him better than himself. He may think a criminal fell because he lacked help, acknowledging that he himself might have done the same without God's help. The wicked person cannot know the good thoughts of a holy person, just as the devil cannot know them.
The person doing refined spiritual work justifies others but not himself. As he progresses he becomes freer, loves God and men more, and cannot even understand malice because he always thinks purely. He benefits from the falls of others as a brake for his own watchfulness.
By contrast, the unpurified person thinks maliciously, contaminates good things with his own darkness, and troubles himself and those around him. Such a person needs purification of mind and heart for spiritual clarity. Man is changeable, sometimes wicked, sometimes good. Evil thoughts come either from the tempter or from the person himself.
The tempter often creates situations to provoke evil thoughts. St. Paisios gives an example: an archimandrite visited the elder's kalyvi twice; when the elder was ill and asked him to return later, the archimandrite entertained the thought that the elder rejected him, complained to the monastery, and all this came from the tempter.
Key moments
- A holy person recognizes the wicked person just as he recognizes the holiness of a saint, seeing the evil but discerning it comes from the tempter and enters from outside, not from the inner man.
- With the eyes of his soul he sees his own faults as great and those of others as small, genuinely finding excuses for the wicked person, not despising him, and may even consider him better than himself.
- He sees a criminal's wickedness but thinks the man reached that point because he did not receive needed help, and that he himself might have been in the same position had God not helped him.
- The wicked person cannot know the good thoughts of a holy person, just as the devil cannot know them.
- The person doing refined spiritual work justifies others but not himself; the more he progresses, the freer he becomes, the more he loves God and men, and he cannot even understand malice because he always thinks purely.
- He benefits from the falls of his fellow men, using them as a strong brake upon himself to stay watchful; the unpurified person thinks maliciously, contaminates good things, and does not benefit even from others' virtues.
- The unpurified person is always troubled and troubles those around him with his spiritual darkness; he must understand his need for purification of mind and heart so spiritual clarity may come.
- An archimandrite visited the elder's kalyvi twice; when the elder was ill and asked him to return, the archimandrite entertained the thought that the elder did not want to see him, complained to the monastery, and all this came from the tempter.