Becoming unattached

St. John of Karpathos, in Texts for the Monks in India, 37:

To anyone among you who is oppressed by a sense of his worthlessnss and inability to attain holiness, this is our message: if he attains dispassion he can see Jesus, not only in the furture, but coming to him here and now with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30). Though his soul, like Sarah, has grown old in barrenness, it can still bear a holy child, contrary to all expectation; like her he can still say: "God has made me laugh" (Gen. 21:6) - that is, God has granted me great joy after the many years that I have spent in sorrow, dominated by the passions...
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 306)

St. Neilos the Ascetic, in Ascetic Discourse:

Those who travel by sea, when overtaken by a storm, do not worry about their merchandise but throw it into the waters with their own hands, considering their property less important than their life. Why, then, do we not follow thier example, and for the sake of the higher life despise whatever drags our soul down to the depths? Why is fear of God less powerful than fear of the sea? In their desire not to be deprived of this transitory life, they judge the loss of their goods no great disaster; but we, who claim to be seeking eternal life, do not look with detachment on even the most insignificant object, but prefer to perish with the cargo rather than be saved without it.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", pp. 242-243)

Evagrios the Solitary, in On Prayer:

If you long for prayer, renounce all to gain all.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", text 37, p. 60)

St. Diadochos of Photiki, in On Spiritual Knowledge, 57:

He who dwells continually within his own heart is detached from the attractions of this world, for he lives in the Spirit and cannot know the desires of the flesh.
("Philokalia (Vol. 1)", p. 270)

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

Self-control and strenuous effort curb desire; stillness and intense longing for God wither it.
("Philokalia (Vol. 2)", p. 314)

A Discource on Abba Philimon:

If you want to develop spiritually you must above all renounce your own will; you must acquire a heart that is sorrowful and must rid yourself of all possessions, giving attention not to the sins of others but to your own sins, weeping over them day and night; and you must not be emotionally attached to anyone. For a soul harrowed by what it has done and pricked to the heart by the memory of past sins, is dead to the world and the world to it; that is to say, all passions of the flesh become inoperative, and man becomes inoperative in relation to them. For he who renounces the world, ranging himself with Christ and devoting himself to stillness, loves God; he guards the divine image in himself and enriches his likeness to God, receiving from Him the help of the Spirit and becoming an abode of God and not of demons; and he acts righteously in God's sight. A soul purified from the world and free from the defilements of the flesh, "having no spot or wrinkle" (Eph. 5:27), will win the crown of righteousness and shine with the beauty of virtue.
("Philokalia (Vol. 2)", p. 354)

St. Theognostos in On the Practice of the Virtues, Contemplation and the Priesthood

Regard all you possess as trash in the hope of better things. Shake off even your body when the time comes, and follow the angel of God that takes you from it.

... For changeless dispassion in its highest from is found only in those who have attained perfect love, have been lifted above sensory things through unceasing contemplation, and have transcended the body through humility. The flame of the passions no longer touches them: it has been cut off by the voice of the Lord (cf. Ps. 29:7), since the nature of such people has already been transmuted into incorruptibility.
("Philokalia (Vol. 2)", p. 365)

©1999 by Deb Platt