Discipline of the Mind
by Hegomen Athanasius Iskander
UNPROFITABLE KNOWLEDGE:
If you wish to pursue Christian perfection, you have to protect your mind from information that is unprofitable to your soul. Unfortunately this is the age of information and information technology, and the world is offering it to us like never before, an explosion of information through TV, books, magzines, newspapers and last but not the least, the Internet. But this leads to what I call pollution of the mind with useless information. Today we have information junkies, people who seek information, not to improve their efficiency at work, but information for its own sake.
St. Paul writing in 1 Cor 2:2, tells us, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” That is all the knowledge that St. Paul cares about, Jesus and his life-giving crucifixion.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 tells us, “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.”
The first example of unprofitable knowledge is excessive watching of the news. It is good to know what is happening in the world around us, but to be obsessed about knowing all the minute details of something happening somewhere else is not profitable if you are seeking Christian perfection. TV stations, responding to people’s insatiable appetite for news have invented the 24 hour news channel, radio channels followed suit!
Take an example, the proceedings of the O. J. Simpson trial were watched by more people around the world than any other event. I can understand watching a hockey game for example, but court proceedings? What could I possibly get out of it? Nothing that is profitable to my soul, mind or body!
Let me tell you about an exercise that I do during Lent, I refuse to listen to news on Radio, or read newspapers or magazines. Of course, we agreed that T.V. is not going to be operational during Lent. Believe me, I don’t miss anything, rather my mind is freed from the information pollution, and I feel that it functions better.
We are told a story of a monk who was sitting chatting with the other monks, then, going to his cell; another monk saw him circling around his cell several times, so he asked him what he is doing He answered, “ I am getting rid of all the worldly talk we were talking about, because I don’t want to bring it in with me into my cell!”
The second example of unprofitable knowledge is idle curiosity. Seeking information about many things for the sole purpose of becoming knowledgeable! How can this hurt me? Well, the Fathers say that this glut of general knowledge, leads me to think that I know more than others and this leads to pride and arrogance. It also leads to talkativeness, because I want to parade my knowledge in front of others. Theophan the Recluse tells us that ultimately our mind becomes an idol which we worship. We ultimately become opinionated, refuse to consult or accept advise, since we know it all! This is pride of the mind which leads us to depend on ourselves even in spiritual matters, which is very dangerous.
If you want to follow after Christian perfection, you have to wean your mind from this addiction to knowledge. St Paul says, in 1 Cor 3:18_19, “If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Spiritual wisdom and worldly wisdom do not go hand in hand. People who seek after the wisdom of this world in an excessive way often become atheists. Puffed up by their own conceited minds they deny God who created their minds. Of these St. Paul says, in 1 Tim 6:20_21 “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.”
In Ps 73:22_24 David the prophet says, “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” This is the meaning of becoming foolish in order to be wise. If you declare your foolishness before God, He will hold your right hand, guide you with His counsel, and afterwards receive you to Glory.
Curiosity led Lot’s wife to perish. And the Lord gives us the same example in warning us about curiosity in the time of Antichrist. In Matthew 24:15_18 the Lord tells us, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the house top not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.”
What this means is to avoid meeting or seeing or hearing the Antichrist at any cost, just to flee from him. People with very strong curiosity who just want to take a look, will perish just like Lot’s wife. Luke 17:31_32 tells us the same thing and warns us not to fall in the mistake of Lot’s wife . In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife.
In those days, one should curb any curiosity to watch TV, listen to the Radio, go to his “Revival Meetings” or any curiosity to know anything about him. St. John Chrysostom warns us, " He did not say, "Go, and do not believe;" but, "Go not forth, neither depart thither." For great then will be the deceiving, because that even deceiving miracles are wrought. If you ignore these warnings and follow your curiosity you will be deceived and will perish.
That is why it is good to exercise yourself in fasting from TV during Lent so that should the time of Antichrist come upon us, we can get rid of our TV altogether and keep our eyes fixed on heaven waiting for the coming of the Lord on the clouds to gather us unto Him.
Another deadly kind of curiosity is curiosity about the Occult, Witchcraft, Ouija boards and the like, which can lead to demonic possession and suicide or murder.
So far we have spoken about unprofitable knowledge, now let us talk about harmful knowledge. This is obsession with knowing things about other people, or what the Bible calls being a busybody. 1 Pet 4:15 tells us, “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.”
Obsession about knowing the affairs of others is the root of gossip. The Devil may convince you that you want to know those things so that you can help the other person. But, I can pray for a sick person without knowing about the kind of illness he has. I can help someone move into his new house without prying into how much he paid for the house. I can congratulate someone for his new job without asking him how much salary he is getting. Young people especially are obsessed by knowing the “secrets” of their friends. If you don’t tell me your secrets then you are not my friend. Or, I’ll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours. This is harmful knowledge and the Bible tells us that being a busybody is as bad as being a murderer or a thief. Many people complain to me about other people wanting to know things about them. Some people even tell me, “I have to lie sometimes because I don’t want people to know my personal affairs.” My standard answer is, “Don’t lie, just tell those people, this is personal!” And if they get upset and don’t want to talk to you anymore, don’t worry for they are not true friends any way. True friends respect the privacy of their friends rather than insist on knowing their secrets.
SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE:
We all read the Bible and memorize verses, but do we implant these spiritual principles that the verses contain in our minds? In Deut 6: 6_ 9 we are told, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates”.
That means that we have to assimilate what we read in the Bible and imprint them in our hearts and minds, until they become part of our thought process. Here are some examples,
The Bible tells us in Luke 6:26 “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!” and again in Luke 6:22_23, “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven.” According to this, to be despised is more blessed than to be praised. Have I implanted in my mind that when people praise me this is dangerous for my spiritual perfection, and when they despise me and say evil things against me falsely, I am blessed? You may say that this is impossible but it has been done.
Bishop Youannis of blessed memory used to go every Thursday to preach in a nearby village. As it is usual in Egypt he had to share a cab with some other people to go to that village. It so happened that a fanatic Moslem used to take the same cab at the same time on Thursdays, and as soon as Bishop Youannis would enter the cab, he would turn the other way and spit! This went on for years. One day the Bishop went on the Taxi but the other guy did not come. Bishop Youannis felt grieved in his heart and started complaining to God, “Why did you deprive me of this blessing Lord? Is it on account of my many sins that you decided that I am no more worthy of this blessing?”
Another Bishop of blessed memory was Bishop Samuel, who was a tireless worker for the Lord, and as usual he had many enemies, people who hated him and sent him very nasty letters. He kept these nasty letters in a drawer. Each time he felt discouraged or cast down, he would open the file and start reading the nasty letters and he would feel refreshed once again because he saw in each insult that he read in these letters a blessing. This is what we mean by implanting what we read in the Bible on our hearts.
The Fathers took training in accepting insults and rejecting praise very seriously. The book of the Paradise of the Fathers tells us two wonderful stories about this discipline of the mind.
One Abba told a novice disciple, go and insult the dead! So, out of obedience, he went to the graveyard and started shouting insults at the dead for a whole day. The next day, his Abba told him, go and praise the dead. He went to the graveyard and started heaping praise on the dead. When he came back in the evening, his master asked him, “When you insulted the dead, did they feel it?” He said,“ No.” Again he asked him, “When you praised the dead, did they feel it?” He answered, “No.” The old man told him, “Go and be like this.”
The other story is about a young man from a rich family who went into a monastery to become a monk. His Abba told him, “Train yourself in accepting insults with joy!” He looked around him, but there was no one to insult him in the monastery. So, he went to the village and hired a man to come to the monastery to insult him, until he got really trained in accepting insults with joy.
One day, he was on an errand in the city, together with the other monks,when a mad man started hurling insults at him and he started laughing! The other monks asked him why he is laughing? He told them, “I used to pay for this, now I am getting it for free!”
The Bible tells us in I Jn 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” and again in James 4:4, “ know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Have we implanted this in our minds? The way to perfection is despising the world and all the things in the world. St. Paul says in Phil 3:8 “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” St. Paul says I’d rather loose everything to gain the knowledge of Christ, considering all things of the world as dung. Garbage! Have you implanted in your heart that this world is a big garbage can and all the things in it are garbage? If I still look at a car and I am spellbound with awe, is this car not becoming an idol that I worship?
I remember one day I was giving a ride to a group of young people, coming back from an activity, all the way from Mississauga to Kitchener; all they talked about was cars. Have you ever seen one of those big trucks that carry the carcasses of cars, flattened into pieces of metal on the way to the dump? Or have you ever seen a car dump? It looks ugly. Every time you covet a car, tell your mind, in a few years this car will be an ugly piece of metal sitting in an ugly car dump. Train your mind to despise worldly things and to covet spiritual perfection.
The Bible tells us in Proverbs 16:32, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” Did I implant in my mind that controlling my anger is actually strength and not weakness? It is easy to respond to angry words with angry words or to aggression with aggression, that is the easy way, the way of the weak. But to control your anger and not to respond in the same kind is the difficult way the way of the strong and the mighty. Have you implanted in your mind that turning the other cheek is not cowardice but is actually courage? You tell me it can’t be done, but I tell you it can.
This is a real story that happened in the nineties. A monk went out to Cairo to do some necessary repairs to some equipment belonging to the monastery. In one of the narrow streets of Cairo, the car he was driving scratched another car parked there. He enquired about the owner, apologized to him and offered to pay for the repairs. The owner was a fanatic, who saw a chance to vent his hatred towards Christians, so he started abusing the monk verbally then slapped him on the face. The monk simply turned the other cheek. The man was taken by surprise, he started crying and apologizing to the monk, telling him, “They tell us that you are bad, but really, you are better than us!” The man asked the monk, what brings him to Cairo, and when he told him about the repairs needed, the man told him that he has a business for repairing this kind of equipment. Not only did he do the repairs for free, but he asked the monk to promise him that every time he needs repairs, he would go no where else.
St. Paul tells us in Phil 1:23, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:” and again in Phil 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Did I implant in my mind that death is actually a gain and not a loss? And that to depart and be with Christ is far better? Have I trained my mind to covet that which an eye has not seen, nor an ear has heard, neither have come upon the heart of man? Have I got the proper spiritual understanding of the true meaning of life and death?
Comments
Please pray for me
Thank you so much for sharing this... I really needed this word of advice!
pray for me,
Diana
Who is Harry Potter?
A lady asked me at the Southern Diocese Family Convention, "Anba Youssef, what do you think about Harry Potter for the children?" My reply was "Who is Harry Potter?"
Upon asking others in the Diocese that are familiar with the book (and now a movie I am also told), these are the facts that I have collected regarding a small orphan boy named Harry Potter:
1) He is born a wizard with parents who have been murdered.
2) He carries a deep flesh scar on his head from an evil person who murdered his parents and is now seeking to murder him
3) He converses with snakes
4) He attends a school of wizardry and black magic, can ride a broom, and practice witchcraft with ease
5) Befriends other small wizards his age who can perform special feats of wizardry almost as well as he
6) Some say it is sorcery actually not wizardry that he performs; both have connotations of black magic
7) A unicorn is killed within the plot of the book/movie and the blood is drunk of this dead animal to restore youth and life to another human
8) Evil and ominous creatures are throughout; one lady stated that her son kept his eyes covered for most of the movie and could not sleep alone for nights
9) The adoptive parents of Harry Potter abuse and neglect him
10) A wrong move in a "game" of chess can result in a someone's head being cut off swiftly and unmercifully with a sword
These are only points derived from conversations of others. I cannot image a parent encouraging this type of reading for any child, particularly their own. What type of message does this give to our children? Evil in some forms are acceptable and good?
I do not think so. It amazes me that a mother would not leave surroundings where her child becomes this frightened from "entertainment", showing visible signs with covering his eyes and looking down at the floor and most probably wishing to leave but not wanting to say this in front of older siblings or peers. How did it make her feel when her child could not sleep at night? Is there a message here?
Is this living a Christian life in the modern world? Does this type of reading and entertainment away from God satisfy us? The basic Christian issue here is, is this right or wrong?
Through the grace of God we can become better than societal influences, which surround us by using discretion. Parents should not escape responsible behavior. The parental Christian role of parents is to teach their children the Will of God. His Holy Word, Teachings of the Church, Lives of the Saints, Guidance in selecting reading and program participation, seeking inner peace, and quiet thinking and reason.
"All things are lawful for me but all things do not edify. Give no offenseto the Church of God" (I Corinthians 10:23,32).
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind" (II Timothy 1:7).
Parenting is a great and serious responsibility.
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (Proverbs 22:6).
God bless you and grant you wisdom for the sake of our children.
H.G. Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
May God Bless
well i found one from lacopts.org
LOL!
sounds like a gang name like lacrips
but with regards to the first post
with regards to unprofitable knowledge
i take a debating course in school which requires me to be familiar with what is going on in the world is what the first post said saying this is wrong?
i dont really see that being well informed and well learned in the subjects of the world to be a bad thing as long as you dont use it to drift away from God
Please correct me if i am wrong