Tămăduirea rațiunii și a gândurilor rele în scrierile Părinților filocalici
Healing of the Mind and Evil Thoughts in the Writings of the Philocalic Fathers

Summary/Abstract: The spiritual life depends on the thoughts that man cultivates in his mind and heart. He must constantly distinguish between good and bad thoughts and also fight against them. Evil thoughts are often „wolves in sheep’s clothing”, and if a man has been wounded by them he has to seek the necessary „medicines” for healing. The Philocalic Fathers tell us that man has to fight against four enemies: the body, the imagination, the sinful habits and the demons. When the soul loses the battle against one of these four enemies, the mind loses its freedom. In order to escape, in order to be cured, it can use the following medicines: vigilance or guarding of the thoughts, hesychia, fear of God, avoidance of occasions that give birth to evil thoughts, hard work and ascetic life, prayer, confession of thoughts and, last but not least, spiritual reading. All these are aimed at bringing the mind to its first state: apathia.

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