The teacher

St. John Cassian in On the Holy Fathers of Sketis:

When Christ Himself spoke to Paul and called him, He could have opened his eyes at once and made known to him the way of perfection; instead He sent him to Ananias and told him to learn from him the way of truth, saying: Arise and go into the city, and there you will be told what you must do (Acts 9:6). In this manner He teaches us to be guided by those who are advanced on the way, so that the vision rightly given to Paul should not be wrongly interpreted; otherwise it might lead later generations presumptuously to suppose that each individual must be initiated into the truth directly by God, as Paul was, and not by the fathers...
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 107)

... the Lord fills His teachers with grace according to the quality and longing of those who listen.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 98)

St. Neilos the Ascetic in Asceitc Discourse:

{False teachers} lack personal experience, and do not even listen when others speak to them. Relying solely on their own self-assurance, they order their brethren to wait on them like slaves. They glory in this one thing: to have many disciples. Their main objective is to ensure that, when they go about in public, their retinue of followers is no smaller than those of their rivals. They behave like mountebanks rather than teachers. They think nothing of giving orders, however burdensome, but they fail to teach others by their own conduct. Thus they make their purpose obvious to all: they have insinuated themselves into a position of leadership, not for the benefit of their disciples, but to promote their own pleasure.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 217)

Most people, however, without exerting any effort or making any real progress, small or great, in the practice of virtue, simply chase after the status of spiritual director, not realizing how dangerous this is... Spiritual directors of this kind like to appear in public supported by a large crowd of attendants, and to have all the outward pomp of an abbot, as if playing a part on the stage. So as not to lose the services of their disciples, they are forced to keep on gratifying their whims. They are like a charioteer who drops the reins and lets his horses go where they like. Their disciples are allowed to run wild: carried away by their desires, they fall over precipices or stumble at every obstacle in their path, because there is no one to stop them or to restrain their disordered impulses.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", pp. 222-223)

Experience shows that the task of guiding others should be undertaken by someone who is equable and has no personal advantage in view.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 218)

St. Diadochos of Photiki in On Spiritual Knowledge:

{On becoming a teacher:} ... it is right always to wait, with a faith energized by love, for the illumination which will enable us to speak. For nothing is so destitute as a mind philosophizing about God when it is without Him.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 254)

St. Mark the Ascetic in On the Spiritual Law:

Do not become a disciple of one who praises himself, in case you learn pride instead of humility.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 111, text 10)

St. Thalassios, in On Love, Self-control and Life in accordance with the Intellect:

A wise man is one who accepts advice, especially that of a spiritual father counselling him in accordance with the will of God.
("Philokalia (Vol. 2)", p. 327)

St. Theodoros, the Great Ascetic in A Century of Spiritual Texts

... the demons, are exceedingly jealous of those pursuing the ascetic way under obedience to a spiritual father... They do and suggest everything possible so as to separate a monk from his spiritual father's care. They propose plausible excuses, they contrive irritations, they arouse hatred against the father, they represent his admonitions as rebukes, they make his words of correction seem like sharpened arrows. Why, they ask, since you are free, have you become a slave -- a slave to a merciless master? How long will you wear yourself out under the yoke of servitude and not see the light of freedom? Then they make suggestions about giving hospitality, visiting the sick and caring for the poor. Next they extol above measure the rewards of extreme stillness and solitude, and sow all sorts of evil weeds in the heart of the devout warrior, simply to cast him out of the fold of his spiritual father... Finally, when they have enslaved him to their own authority, they use him according to their own evil desires.
("Philokalia (Vol. 2)", pp. 21-22)

©1999 by Deb Platt

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