Becoming unattached

Abba Poemen (called the Shepherd):

Do not give your heart to that which does not satisfy your heart.
(p. 178, Poemen 80)

Abba Anthony the Great:

... Remember him who gives death and life. Hate the world and all that is in it. Hate all peace that comes from the flesh. Renounce this life, so that you may be alive to God.
(p. 8, Anthony the Great 33)

Amma Syncletica:

For those who are capable of it, {poverty} is a perfect good. Those who can sustain it receive suffering in the body but rest in the soul, for just as one washes coarse clothes by trampling them underfoot and turning them about in all directions, even so the strong soul becomes much more stable thanks to voluntary poverty.
(p. 231, Syncletica 5)

Abba Euprepius:

He who loves the world loves occasions of falling. Therefore if we happen to lose something, we must accept this with joy and gratitude, realizing that we have been set free from care.
(p. 62, Euprepius 3)

©1999 by Deb Platt