A Course in Desert Spirituality

by Thomas Merton

  For Philoxenos, the first degree [of the spiritual life] equals ascesis in the cenobitic life (after the passage over the Red Sea, entering the monastery). The second degree equals passage to the solitary life in the cell (crossing the Jordan, entering the Promised Land and fighting the “seven nations”). The third degree equals attaining the height of contemplation in solitude.

  Foundations of the Spiritual Life (Homily 1)

  The basic idea is order in the spiritual life. Discipline involves starting at the beginning and going on from there. Prelude: the importance of starting, of recognizing the need to work, and not merely of being a “hearer of the word” who does nothing. He who simply reads the word without responding in his actions is like a dead man over whom a thousand trumpets are blown. He does not move. So failure to respond to the word of God in action is a sign that the will is dead. In apprenticeship and education, the master begins by having the pupil carry out the smallest tasks. Wrestlers and fighters are first taught the basic position which sets them “on guard,” then the first hold; after that they wrestle. In a palace, the new courtiers are taught by the old ones how to walk, how to conduct themselves and speak before the king.

  The basis of the spiritual life is the struggle against the passions. The novice must learn how the passions of the body work, what temptations to expect, how to confront them, and then he will later learn the more difficult combat against the passions of the soul (cf. Cassian). This means also learning what passions arise as a result of our good works. Certain passions are born of fasting, others of psalmody, vigils, etc.

  We must know what passion is born in the soul from fasting of the body, from continency, from psalmody in choir, from prayer in silence, from renunciation of property, austerity of clothing—what passion awakens in us when our rule is better than that of our brother, what passions come to us from the science of thought, what passion we fall into when we have overcome the love of the stomach for food, what other awakens against us when we have finally triumphed in the war against fornication; what passion is born in us from obedience to bishops, and what from obedience towards all; and what are the thoughts that are in us when we rebel against obedience; and by what teaching thoughts of indocility to the masters are overcome; by what thought we escape from the presumption of our own knowledge; etc.

  This will then be a study of great psychological subtlety. He will also play one passion against the other. For the beginner it is important to: concentrate on special commandments important for them; obey their masters without paying attention to the faults of these latter; learn how to profit from the good works they do; how to conduct themselves in the cells of their brethren; the measure of fasting—fasting of body, fasting of soul, fasting of spirit; how to overcome antipathies to other monks; how to fight distractions in the time of silence and how to keep alive in the soul the passion for God and the desire for pure prayer; how to recognize by experience the harm done by unnecessary human contacts, conversations, etc. Only if he knows these things can the beginner advance with confidence in the way of his vocation.

  Hence the first rule of all for the beginner is to recognize that he is a disciple, that he does not know these things, and that he must learn.

  Beginners must be prepared to receive the knowledge of these things from masters, just as the apprentice receives his training from his master. Further reasons: this knowledge is a new kind, a supernatural knowledge. Hence it has to be received through someone appointed by God. And if one is attached to his own natural knowledge, he cannot receive the supernatural knowledge. He becomes detached from his own knowledge and judgement by tears of repentance and humility. “It is only then that he will approach the banquet hall of the divine mysteries clad in the spiritual garments that are required if he is to enter.”

  [The] duty of the Master: he must “consider himself as a tutor to whom are entrusted the children of a heavenly king, having a King for Father, a king for brother, a queen for mother. And just as those who educate the children of a worldly king apply themselves with infinite care to form them and strive through the children to please the parents . . . so the master must be greatly attentive to his disciples and to their care and their progress.” We are all physicians entrusted with the health of one another. The remedy for every illness is found in the word of God. In the word of God we seek the proper remedy, the contrary to the sickness: i.e., faith, against doubt, etc. Here follows what is practically a list of instruments of good works. The résumé of all these works is that death of the physical desire is necessary before spiritual desire is born in the soul. The principle is that wherever there is a sickness there is a natural remedy near at hand. Our remedies are within reach, but we have to know our sicknesses and desire the remedies.

  What Is Simplicity? (Homily 4)

  1) True simplicity is acquired only in the desert.

  2) Only simplicity can please God.

  Man is made simple by nature. He comes simple from the hand of God. Society endows him with craftiness and duplicity. If a man were to remain in the desert, untouched by social influences, he would remain simple; and the characteristic of simplicity is that it attributes nothing to itself but sees all as coming from God. Even in monasteries perfect simplicity is not always found (Hom. 5). Ruse and craftiness exist in an atmosphere of “dealing, of buying and selling, of trading,” the adjustment of mutual advantage. Hence even in the monastery words may be spoken with the intention to mislead or to deceive. With this there may be a tendency to mock true simplicity. But the simple monk should not be ashamed of his childlikeness and his guilelessness. For the simple are essential to the Kingdom of God.

  Unity [is found in] single-mindedness. “It hears the word of God without judging it and receives it without questioning it.” Abraham heard the word of God, held it at once as completely true, and obeyed without afterthought. “Abraham ran toward the word of God as a child to his Father, and all things became contemptible in his eyes as soon as he had heard God’s word.”

  The Apostles did not require a long instruction: they needed only to hear the word of faith. Since their faith was alive, as soon as it received the living voice it obeyed the voice of life; they ran at once after Christ and made no delay to follow Him; by this it was evident that they were disciples even before they were called.

  Simple faith does not require arguments, but as the healthy eye responds directly to light, so it responds directly to the living word of God (cf. St. Anselm, Proslogion). This implies a mind free from the tyranny of social prejudice and bad habits of thought acquired through conformism in the world. “The Apostles obeyed like living men and went forth unburdened because nothing in the world impeded them with its weight. Nothing can bind and impede the soul that is aware of God: it is open and ready, so that the light of the divine voice, whenever it appears, finds the soul ready and receptive.”

  Readiness [is important]: Zacchaeus “hoped to see Jesus and become his disciple even before he was called.” He had already believed the report of others. This is simplicity (cf. Homily of St. Gregory the Great on Zacchaeus.) The temptation of Adam: the simplicity of obedience is divided into “two wills” by temptation—this duplicity puts Adam in a position where he presumes to judge the divine command. But in this case he did not show real autonomy; he obeyed the deceit of the enemy, not the simplicity of the divine will. This is an erroneous concept of liberty—the presumption that liberty consists in judging reality and deciding not to conform to it! The Apostles were deliberately chosen for their simplicity, to confound the wise of the world.

  Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Cor. 1:20)

  Adam and Eve before the Fall knew nothing of “worldly affairs”—which were simply irrelevant to their state. God was always with them, taking them wherever they went. He showed them everything from near at hand like a man. And they received no thought about Him in their Spirit. They never
asked: Where does He live who shows us these things? How long has He existed? And if He created all else, was He also created? And we, why has He created us? Why has He placed us in this Paradise? Why has He given us this Law? All these things were far from their minds, because simplicity does not think such things, but is completely absorbed in listening to what it hears, and all its thought is mingled with the word of him who speaks, as is the little child absorbed in the one who speaks to him. So, then, God put simplicity into the first leaders of our race, and it was to simplicity that he gave the first commandment.

  Later, Philoxenos adds, in another connection: “God has chosen ignorant ones who do not imagine, when they have learned His word, that it is their word, but they know Him who has spoken and give thanks to Him.”

  At our birth, simplicity is at work in us before craftiness. When children grow in the world they learn deceit by acting and growing. [Philoxenos teaches:] If someone were to take a year-old child and bring him up in the desert where there is no occupation of men and no use of the things of this world, where he will see absolutely nothing of the activity of men, the child can maintain himself in all the simplicity of nature even when he has attained to the age of man, and he can quite easily perceive divine visions and spiritual thoughts and can promptly become a receptacle that will accept the divine wisdom. Note: compare here the idea of man’s natural simplicity in Chinese thought (Mencius).2

  “If deceit and wickedness are acquired by education in the world, it is certain that simplicity and innocence are acquired by training and occupation in silence, and that the more one dwells in silence, the simpler one becomes (Philoxenos).” Texts from the Psalms on simplicity are quoted and commented on. He does not even hesitate to call Jacob an example of simplicity—because he obeyed his mother in tricking Isaac! (Which in fact is not far from the mind of the Yahwist; Jacob did what he was told and the Lord took care of everything for him.) “Thou therefore, O disciple, remain in the purity of thy spirit. It is for the Lord to know how He will guide thy life and He will deal with thee as is best for thee,” [says Philoxenos in the homily]. Note the special aspect of “purity of heart.” In all things and in all trials the essential thing is to remain with one’s gaze towards God in trust and simplicity, not concerned with plans of our own.

  Hope is shown as the stabilizing power of simplicity:

  Remain simple with regard to all that you hear, and let those who talk about you not change you and not make you become as they are. For the adversary brings all this about in order to turn your spirit away from its meekness, to disturb and trouble your purity of heart, to make your simplicity deceitful, so that you will become like those who fight against you, that you may be filled with anger as they are and become a vessel of wrath like unto them, putting on the garment of iniquity.

  “Simplicity is the vessel which receives the revelations of God.” Simplicity in Philoxenos has the same function as Purity of Heart in Cassian.

  Letter to a Converted Jew

  This is a letter of encouragement and advice to a converted Jew who is seeking union with God in the monastic life. Its theme of the full development of the New Man in silence and solitude is characteristic of Philoxenos. Christ leads the Christian into solitude to defend him and lead him to full maturity and to the experience of God and spiritual joy.

  Introduction: “You have begun well; you are following the way of knowledge and thus we may hope you will attain to wisdom.”

  The two ways: asceticism and knowledge. Corporal asceticism consists in the works that are necessary for true knowledge, which is not acquired from words or books. “Words beget nothing but words and if one sets out to find Christ by words, one finds only words before him.” “But if one seeks knowledge by labors and austerities then this knowledge in person appears before him and lets herself be touched by him and leads him to ascend her highest steps.”

  Steps:

  a) a detachment from pleasure to attain to virtue;

  b) detachment from the world to attain to knowledge. Silence is the way to this. Note the importance of silence as the way to knowledge. It is silence that marks the transition from active asceticism to inner detachment and spiritual knowledge. “If you love silence then I know that you have experienced Christ Himself. If one does not understand the word of the wise man, one does not love to live with him, and if one has not first experienced the power of Christ, one does not love the silence that brings us close to Him.”

  Two reasons for choosing silence:

  a) One may live with a Master because one experiences the power of his word and one may choose silence because one has purity of heart and experiences God.

  b) Or one can follow a Master because of his reputation, and one can love silence because one has been told it is good.

  “Material silence introduces us into spiritual silence and spiritual silence raises man to life in God; but if man ceases to live in silence he will have no converse with God. Hence, as long as the mind has not silenced all the trepidations and agitation of the world it will not even begin to stammer a little conversation with God.”

  Philoxenos emphasizes the importance of interior silence—calming down before trying seriously to pray. The new man is a “man of silence”—there is a relationship of silence and joy. But again there are two levels: by grace (of the Sacrament) one puts on the new man but does not experience this silence; by the practice of joy one experiences the silence of the Spirit. This means getting rid of all the old man by renunciation, and putting on all the new man, made in the likeness of God. If one does not completely renew himself in Christ, the old man becomes merely “the tomb in which the new man is buried.” (Conflicts of monastic life are due to this!)

  Asceticism is perfected in silence—purity of body rejects desires but does not see God—but purity of heart rejects inmost thoughts of flesh and does see God. One should desire to have Christ always by one’s side. He is the perfect model. The spiritual man must see himself with Christ on one side and Satan on the other, and he must rely always on the power of Christ.

  Letter to a Novice

  There is hope for progress when the novice has:

  a) “taken root in the earth of doctrine.”

  b) been “consoled by the hope that gives strength.” This is hope in God, not in one’s own powers; it is based on a remembrance of the life one led in the world when abandoned to his own ideas, and gratitude for the grace that called one out of the world, an awareness that this grace puts us in debt and we must pay our debt to Christ, by fidelity to the knowledge He has given us of his love.

  The novice must put into his monastic life all the zeal and energy with which he formerly followed the things of the world. Perseverance is based on a “taste” for the things of God: “Receive the taste for Christ who has called you; this sense of taste is in the understanding; taste the chalice in secret; each thing is tasted in its proper place, and through those things which are related to it. The bodily senses taste the desires of the world, while the understanding of the soul tastes the sweetness of Christ.” Remembering Lot’s wife, the novice must not look back.

  Other aids include:

  a) constant thought of the presence of God;

  b) not associating with dissolute monks;

  c) strict discipline, austerity;

  d) readiness to carry out humiliating tasks in the interests of the monastery, motivated by the humility with which Christ rendered services to his disciples;

  e) prayer: awareness of the mysteries of Christ, especially the crucifixion;

  f) psalmody: “If you put your heart in the psalm you will learn, and if you enclose your mind in the verses of your office you will fill up what is wanting in the Passion”;

  g) obedience even to one’s juniors, when occasion offers;

  h) silence: not seeking to hear news;

  i) never mocking anyone;

  j) not undertaking great things without being proficient in little things; not multiplying ascetic p
ractices beyond one’s strength;

  k) stability: “Do not move from one monastery to another even if you think you are prevented from doing works of mortification where you are. Rather apply yourself to confronting the difficulties of the place where you are”;

  l) reading.

  Courage and humility are developed in overcoming our actual faults. “There is nothing greater in this world for us than to show, on the occasion of some fault, great or small, heroic strength of soul, and not allow ourselves to be downcast.” (Note the use of faults to face the truth. Control of thoughts is crucial.)

  Note the supreme importance of humility and obedience for beginners. Without humility and obedience the ascetic life has no foundations. See Letter on Monastic Life [as well]: “The first virtue which must be possessed by those who receive the habit must be humility, from which is born obedience, which is a fruit of the spirit . . . and from which all good actions are born.” Then he quotes: “He humbled himself . . . obedient unto death” (Phil. 2:8). As the disobedience of Adam brought into the world all evils, “so true obedience prepares, for him who possesses it, all the consolations and delights of the Spirit.”

  The qualities of obedience are then described:

  It does not consist in a man doing what he pleases . . . but in cutting away all his own will and doing the will of him to whom he has surrendered himself once for all, even if this is displeasing by reason of the carnal desires still in himself. If you do what you like, and do not do what is hard to you, you prove that you are not obedient and that you serve your own will.