How to Focus by John Cassian;

Author:John Cassian;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2023-09-08T00:00:00+00:00

A MANTRA

Cassian and Germanus Consult Abba Isaac Again

Germanus said, “We are parts amazed and dazed by our prior conversation with you, which is why we came back here. As excited as we are by this teaching, as much as it makes us long for a state of complete bliss, we’ve lowered our expectations that much more, because we don’t know how we can possibly strive for—let alone achieve—such exalted conduct. Maybe this calls for a lengthy follow-up? We had started going over and over all of this in a long meditation in our cell, and we beg you to put up with us as we unpack it all (which isn’t to say that your blessed self usually gets irritated with needy and presumptuous people!). This way everything will be laid out on the table, so whatever screwy ideas we’ve got can be set straight.

“So okay, here’s the impression we have. When it comes to perfecting a given craft or discipline, it’s essential in the early stages to be trained with beginner-level exercises that are easier, forgiving, and very low impact. Gradually, a person will grow when raised in this way, nursed on a kind of milk of reason: little by little, step by step, they will climb from the depths to the heights. And when they’ve made it through this accessible introductory training and passed through the ‘doors’ of the profession they’ve taken up, they will eventually summit the innermost and highest trails of perfection, without even breaking a sweat.

“After all, how could children learn to pronounce simple sequences of syllables without first really knowing the letters of the alphabet? How would they go on to be fast readers if they aren’t yet capable of grouping short phrases together? How in the world would someone who isn’t educated in grammar attain the fluency of rhetoric or the knowledge of philosophy? I’m sure that the same is true of this incomparably exalted discipline, through which we’re taught to cling tightly to God nonstop. Certain educational foundations need to be set solidly in place first. Then the framework of perfection can be built on top of them and sent soaring.

“Our tentative theory is that these are the beginning steps: first, we need to figure out what exactly we should be reciting to grasp and think about God. Then, we should keep a very close watch on this material,40 whatever it might be, because we have no doubts that the peak of complete perfection will come into view. So we want you to show us what this methodological stuff of the memory actually is—the material that the mind uses to perceive and hold on to God constantly. That way we can keep it right in front of our eyes, and when we notice that we’ve fallen away from it, it will be easily accessible when we snap back to attention and get right back to work. We’ll be able to pick it up again without going around in circles or looking all over the place.

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