Chapter 52

Perfect Non-thinking of Contemplation is Foreign to the Holy Fathers

Only one feature of what Speranski2 expresses seems untrue or falsely expressed. “The form,” he says, “of my contemplation was always emptiness, an absence of every image and every thought.” Such perfect thoughtlessness is foreign to the holy fathers. They taught that one must abandon everything, but in order to be united with the Lord. They stood during noetic prayer and counseled all to stand in the conviction that the Lord is near and listens, that is, to stand mentally before the Lord and call out to Him: “I seek You; let my face come before You” (), as the Prophet sings, “Your face, O Lord, I will seek” (). When they spoke of the need to drive away every thought, they always added: drive away every foreign thought. (16, 228)