The Struggle With Passions
by I.M. Kontzevich
PASSIONS, LIKE VIRTUES, are also interconnected, just as
"links of a single chain" (St. Isaac of Nitria), one
being an offshoot of another. There are eight of them; in the
order of birth they are as follows 1) gluttony, 2) lust, 3)
avarice, 4) anger, 5) despondency, 6) despair, 7) vainglory, and
8) pride.
The main concern of patristic asceticism is not with external
manifestations of sin, nor individual instances of sin, but
rather with their cause, i.e., the vices and passions
rooted in the soul, or diseases of the soul and hidden inner
states of sin. Using contemporary terms and concepts, Professor
Zarin expounds the teaching of the Holy Fathers about the
psychology of passion and the struggle with it. Here is a brief
resume of this exposition.
A thought is the initial moment in the emergence of a passion;
it is a moment of hesitation and an essential central element of
this psychological state.[1] The essence of asceticism amounts to
the struggle with thoughts. The Holy Fathers, ascetics, discern
as many as [six or] seven moments in the development and growth
of passions.
1. PROVOCATION (SUGGESTION)
The first impetus to the emergence of the psychological
phenomenon which may end as passion is known as a
"provocation" or "suggestion" (prilog).
It is a conception of an object or an action corresponding to
one of the stained inclinations within a person. Under the
influence of external impressions, or in connection with the
psychological working of the memory or imagination according to
the laws of association, this provocation enters the sphere of
man's consciousness. This first moment takes place independently
of man's free will, against his wish, without his participation,
in accordance with the laws of psychological
inevitability—"spontaneity"—and is,
therefore, considered "innocent" or dispassionate. It
does not incriminate man in sin if it is not caused by his
"wandering" thoughts, if it is not invited consciously
and voluntarily, and if a person is not negligent about it. This
is the touchstone for testing our will, to see whether it will be
inclined towards virtue or vice. It is in this choice that the
free will of man manifests itself. [2]
2. CONJUNCTION
Provocation evokes the response of the feeling, which
reacts to the impression or image intruding upon the
consciousness by either "love" or "hate"
(sympathy or antipathy). This is the most important moment, for
it decides the fate of the provoking thought: will it stay, or
will it flee? It is only the emergence of this thought in the
consciousness that occurs regardless of the will of man. If it is
not immediately rejected and lingers on, this means that in the
nature of a given person it finds compatable ground, which is
expressed in his sympathetic reaction to the provocation.
Sympathetic inclination attracts attention, allowing the
suggested thought to grow and turn into an image of fantasy
pervading the entire sphere of consciousness and ousting all
other impressions and thoughts. Attention lingers at the thought
because man delights in it. This second moment is called conversation
or conjunction (sochetanie). St. Ephraim
the Syrian defines it as a "free acceptance of the thought,
its entertainment, as it were, and a conversation with it
accompanied by delight." In the contemporary language of
psychology this means that the second moment in the development
of the thought lies in the following man's attention is directed
exclusively to the newly arisen impression or notion, which
serves as an impetus or cause for the development of a whole
series of associated notions. These notions give man the feeling
of pleasure while anticipating the enjoyment of the object of the
impression or notion obtained. In order to cut off the sequence
of notions, to remove it from his consciousness, and to terminate
the feeling of delight, man needs to distract his
attention. He must actively and firmly resolve to rebut the
images of sin assailing him and not return to them again.
3. JOINING
Otherwise, with the absence of willful rejection of the
intruding images, the third moment is induced, when the will
itself becomes increasingly attracted to the thought, and as a
result man becomes inclined to act upon what the thought
tells him and to get the satisfaction of partaking of it. At this
time the equilibrium of his spiritual life is totally destroyed,
the soul wholly surrenders itself to the thought and strives to
realize it with the purpose of experiencing an even more intense
delight. Thus, the third moment is characterized by the inclination
of will towards the object of the thought, by its agreement
and resolve to realize pleasurable fantasies. Consequently, in
the third moment the whole will surrenders to the thought and now
acts according to its directives in order to realize its
fantastic plans. This moment, called joining (slozhenie),
is the cooperation of the will, which is a declaration of
agreement with the passion whispered by the thought (St. Ephraim
the Syrian), or consent of the soul to what has been
presented to it by the thought, accompanied by delight (St. John
of the Ladder). This state is already "approaching the act
of sin and is akin to it" (St. Ephraim the Syrian). There
comes the willful resolve to attain the realization of the
object of the passionate thought by all means available to man.
In principle, the decision has already been made to satisfy the
passion. Sin has already been committed in intention. It now
remains to satisfy the sinful desire, turning it into a concrete
act.
4. STRUGGLE
Sometimes, however, before man's final decision to proceed to
this last moment, or even after such a decision, he experiences a
struggle between the sinful desire and the opposite inclination
of his nature.
5. HABIT
However, the last psychological moment of an unstable
vacillation of the will between opposing inclinations takes place
only when the habit has not yet been formed within the
soul, namely, the "bad habit" of responding to the evil
thought. It takes place when a sinful inclination has not yet
deeply penetrated man's nature and become a constant feature of
his character, a familiar element of his disposition, when his
mind is constantly preoccupied with the object of the passionate
urge, when the passion itself has not yet been completely formed.
6. CAPTIVITY
When in the power of passion, man gladly and violently rushes
to satisfy this passion, either without any struggle at all, or
almost without a struggle. He is losing the dominant, guiding and
controlling power of his volitional faculty over individual
inclinations and demands of volitional nature. It is no longer
the will that rules over sinful inclinations, but the latter rule
over the will, forcibly and wholly enticing the soul, compelling
its entire rational and active energy to concentrate on the
object of passion. This state is called captivity (plenenie).
This is the moment of the complete development of a passion,
of the fully established state of the soul, which now manifests
all of its energy to the utmost. [3]
"The best and the most successful struggle takes place
when the thought is cut off by means of an unceasing prayer at
the very start. For, as the Fathers have said, whoever opposes
the initial thought, i.e., the provocation, will stop its
subsequent disposition at once. A wise ascetic destroys the
mother of wicked fiends, i.e., the cunning provocation
(first thoughts). At the time of prayer, above all else, one's
intellect should be rendered deaf and mute (St. Nilus of Sinai),
and one's heart emptied of any thoughts, even a seemingly good
thought (St. Hesychius of Jerusalem). Experience has shown that
the admission of a dispassionate thought, i.e., a
distraction, is followed by an impassioned (wicked) one, and that
the entry of the first opens the door to the latter." [4]
This inner struggle is vividly portrayed to us by St. Hesychius of Jerusalem (5th
century), a disciple of St. Gregory the Theologian:
No. 145. Our mind, being something of light appearance and
innocent, easily gives itself over to daydreaming and is
unrestrainedly subject to evil thoughts, if it does not have in
itself such a concept which, like a monarch over the passions,
holds it constantly under control and bridles it.
No. 168. A ship does not move without water; and there is no
progress whatsoever in the guarding of the mind without sobriety
with humility and prayer to Jesus Christ.
No. 169. Stones are used for the foundation of a house; but
for this virtue (the guarding of the mind) both the foundation
and the root are the holy and venerable name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Quickly and easily can a foolish captain wreck his ship
during a storm, dismissing the sailors, throwing the sails and
oars into the sea, and going to sleep himself; but much more
quickly can the soul be drowned by the demons if, when the
thoughts begin to emerge, it does not guard sobriety, and invoke
the name of Jesus Christ.
No. 94. Sobriety and the Jesus Prayer mutually reinforce one
another; for extreme watchfulness goes with the content of
constant prayer, while prayer goes with extreme sobriety and
watchfulness of intellect.
No. 88. Many of our thoughts come from demonic suggestions,
and from these derive our evil outward actions. If with the help
of Jesus we instantly quell the thought, we will avoid its
corresponding outward action. We will enrich ourselves with the
sweetness of divine knowledge and so will find God, Who is
everywhere. Holding the mirror of the intellect firmly towards
God, we will be illumined constantly as pure glass is by the sun.
Then finally the intellect, having reached the limit of its
desires, will in Him cease from all other contemplation. [5]
Endnotes
1. There are three main moments 1) the appearance of a
concept, 2) the adding to it of the feeling, and 3) the adding to
it of the will. (Mind, feeling, will: a concept, in conjunction
with feeling and with the addition of the will.)
2. There are two causes for the occurrence of
"provocation," natural causes and evil spirits.
3. Zarin, Asceticism, Vol. 1, Book 2, pp. 248-258.
4. St. Nilus of Sora (Moscow, 1869), p. 19.
5. St. Hesychius of Jerusalem, Exhortations
on Watchfulness and Prayer (Moscow, 1890). [English
translation in The Philokalia (G.E.H. Palmer, et.
al.), Vol. I.]
From The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit in
Ancient Russia, by I.M. Kontzevich (Platina, CA: St. Herman
of Alaska Brotherhood, 1988), Ch. 2, pp. 39-43. It is a modern
classic, and basically a "textbook on ascetism."
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