By Cassian Omongot
According to the monks (Desert Fathers and Spiritual Direction), man is the source and summit of Spiritual Direction. He is never to be put on a pedestal. His inability to avoid doing evil, his everyday realities and daily problems must be considered. He is to choose his own spiritual director and in accordance to God’s image, he must find a solution to his own problems as an authentic person cooperatively with his spiritual director.
It is man’s task to struggle with his demons, resist his Logismoi, and control his desire to do evil through discernment of his spirits and freeing himself from dependency on his thoughts and desires by differentiating good thoughts from evil ones. (In psychological terms: this is interpreted as exercising self-control over actions, thoughts, desires, feelings and emotions so as to become a fully developed, mature, and functioning person). Basically, this is what man needs to know about his spiritual direction.
Monks believe that man’s emotions and desires should not be judged. Their consequences should be allowed to run their course so that man discerns on them well for a proper spiritual journey. This is because man cannot prevent such thoughts, emotions and desires but he can only resist them. This is reflected in the short text below:
“A brother came to see Abba Poemen and said to him, ‘Abba, I have many thoughts and they put me in danger.’ The old man led him outside and said to him, ‘Expand your chest and do not breathe in.’ He said, I cannot do that.’ Then the old man said to him, ‘If you cannot do that, no more can you prevent thoughts from arising, but you can resist them. One should not be agitated in this spiritual struggle. Agitation is very harmful to the struggling soul. When a passion crowds in on us, we must not be upset. Allowing ourselves to be disturbed by these experiences is sheer ignorance and pride because we are not recognizing our own condition and are running away from labour. We must be patient, wrestle and call on God.” (Michael Plattig & Regina Baeumer: Phronema, Vol. XIII, 1998)
Professor M. Schneider interprets this situation as told by the monk, that demons in man’s inner life are neither a phenomenon of occultism, nor are they merely a psychological reality within the person. The idea of demons is rather a theological expression and refers to salvation. He avers that the life of every Christian is hanging in the balance in this struggle between powers and dominions, which are in heaven and earth. However, man should decide to fight the good fight and to resist the powers of darkness he struggles alongside Christ. Together they do God’s work for the salvation.
In my opinion, Professor M. Schneider means that both powers have a salvific end. There is no shortcut to be saved readily or attain heaven without one passing through the desires of the flesh that stray one from God unless it be given by the grace of God. As a common saying goes there is no “Easter without the Cross”. In like manner, for one to move from poverty to richness, he has to go through many attempts like hard work. Also, for one to be transformed from poverty in spirit to grace, he has to fight sin. To some extent, these daily struggles are necessary to help man realize his true self and become a holy person.
Monks believe that man is capable of following a spiritual path. He can be guided by God’s mercy and the Holy Spirit. They were not thrown into self doubt if a disciple or another monk committed a sin. They trusted in God’s ability to use darkness and sin to open a man’s soul. It often seems that the monks believed that it was necessary for a man to sin in order to become conscious of the fact that his life does not depend only upon himself but rather on God’s grace and God’s mercy. They didn’t pass judgement against a sinner as we find below:
“One day Abba Isaac (the Theban) went to a monastery. He saw a brother committing a sin and he condemned him. When he returned to the desert, an angel of the Lord came and stood in front of the door of his cell, and said, I will not let you enter.’ But he persisted saying, ‘What is the matter?’ and the angel replied, ‘God has sent me to ask you where you want to throw the guilty brother whom you have condemned.’ Immediately he repented and said, I have sinned, forgive me.’ Then the angel said, ‘Get up, God has forgiven you. But from now on, be careful not to judge someone before God has done so”. (Michael Plattig & Regina Baeumer: Phronema, Vol. XIII, 1998)
The monks did not encourage sinning but they were convinced that man is capable of falling into sin just like our first parents Adam and Eve. This is because we are weak and can be easily weighed down by our trials and temptations. However, the main point of focus is that we should never be so preoccupied with condemning others. But, we should bear other people’s weaknesses with patience.
This is why it is necessary for spiritual fathers to accompany their disciples on their path wherever it led, just as like a mother watchfully and patiently allows a little child to discover himself or herself and the surrounding nature without letting him or her fall into harm. However, this requires the active part of the disciple to open up to the spiritual father by expressing himself freely and accepting any advice diligently.
It was then beautiful that in former times disciples asked questions and monks answered and disciples did what they were told to do and all was a gift from God. However, nowadays disciples ask but they do not follow the advice they are given. And so, it seems God does not speak through the monks any longer. It seems as though God has withdrawn his Spirit because there is no longer one who is willing to follow Him.
The goal of spiritual direction is to bring man to contemplation of God and mystical union with Him. Anselm Grün, a bénédictine monk once stated: The path that the spiritual fathers led their disciples down was a mystical path. They were never preoccupied with whether the path was the path of morality and righteousness, knowledge or the doing of God’s will or making the right choices. Rather it is always a question of achieving mystical union with God.
However in pursuing this, one has to consider what the spiritual dimension of his deepest emotions is? What the experience of the relationship to God in daily life is? What is God trying to communicate to me? What spiritual counsel from God is striving to reveal itself in one’s daily life? What is the purpose and meaning of my life?
It is worth noting here that the monks never had any written records of their methods they used in achieving the above goal. However, they achieved this through giving of concrete advice, comfort and support especially by not passing judgement and deepening the grief of their disciples. They rather provided them with solace and reassurance, guiding the disciple toward and not interfering with the making of a good decision, teaching by example, silence as answer by not engaging in spirited theological debates and encouraging disciples to become aware of emotions and desires.
As a matter of fact as St. John Cassian states, “He who obeys his own personal inspiration and trusts too much in his own judgment will not be able to reach the heights of perfection. It is impossible for him to not to succumb to the dangerous illusions the devil plots for him everywhere… No one is authorized, however wise he may be, to believe that he is able to do without the advice of his brother.
The illusions of Satan will deceive him and he will not escape the bonds of pride and presumption.” Cassian also underscores the importance of sincerity on the part of the person receiving direction. “Pulling aside the veil with which false shame seeks to cover them, let us show our elders all the secrets of our soul, and let us go with confidence to seek in them the remedy for our wounds and the example of a holy life.” Therefore, man becomes the centre of his very spiritual direction which is necessary for the attainment of sanctity. (JOHN CASSIAN, Collationes 2 and 16)
The writer is SEM: Omongot Cassian,
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