Chapter 150

The Mind Can Only Be Anchored by Feeling

The mind constantly jumps from subject to subject. How can it be anchored? By nothing except feeling. When some feeling is present in the heart, it anchors the mind to the object of that feeling. Therefore, whoever wants to anchor the mind to God so that it continually sees God must awaken feeling toward God.

And what about wandering thoughts? When there is feeling in the heart, they won’t wander. When the tap on the samovar is open, water flows unstoppably, but when you turn it off, the water stops; it is the same with thoughts: they keep flowing and flowing, turn off the tap and they stop. This turning off of the tap is the awakening of holy feeling in the heart and maintaining it.