The Monk

should be all eye, like the cherabim and seraphim.

If a man settles in a certain place and does not bring forth the fruit of that place, the place casts him out, as one who has not borne its fruit.

What ought I to do, Abbot? I am in great sadness. The elder said to him: Never despise anybody, never condemn anybody, never speak evil of anyone, and the Lord will give you peace.

Just as it is impossible for one to see one's face in troubled water, so too the soul, unless it be cleansed of alien thoughts, cannot pray to God in contemplation.

-The Wisdom of the Desert, 1960