It is very rare to find men whose intellects are in a state of hesychia. This belongs only to those who do everything possible to draw to themselves divine grace and consolation. If, then, we wish to follow the path of philosophy according to Christ —spiritual ascesis in the guarding of the mind, sobriety and watchfulness— we must commit ourselves to this path by abstaining from eating to excess, measuring food and drink with moderation according to our need. We have every reason to call sobriety a path that leads to the Kingdom, both the one already within us and the one yet to come; and to call it spiritual ascesis, insofar as it shapes, purifies the dispositions of the mind and transforms, acting as a bridge from what is passionate to what is dispassionate; for sobriety is like a luminous window through which God leans out to present Himself to the mind.
Philotheus of Sinai, Forty Neptic Chapters, 3. In Filocalía de los padres népticos, vol. 2, Spanish trans. Juan María de la Torre, Ediciones Monte Cassino, 2017, pp. 500-501.
As throughout the Philokalia, the fathers invite us, exhort us and earnestly recommend that we live a sober life. Sobriety in general means the moderate line in everything, the path of the golden mean. If we do not exercise control and self-mastery, above all with regard to the senses, and particularly in eating, drinking and sleeping, if we live in self-indulgence, it will be very difficult for us to enter an inner state of guarding the heart, guarding the mind and devoting our life to prayer and to serving the Lord in His presence.
Sobriety implies that the spirit that we are has taken command over the body and the mind. When this does not happen, the animal instincts proper to the body and the wanderings of the mind rule the whole person and lead it astray. Essentially, this is what we understand from these and other exhortations of Philotheus and of the Philokalia.
Comment by Mario
elsantonombre.org
Leave a Reply