world, a man cannot overcome at all. Except the merchant’s ship be laden with manifold hope it will not be able to endure the storms, and will sail on the path of tribulation.”
687. The brethren said, “In what way doth a man go forth from the world?” The old man said, “He doeth this when he forsaketh the gratification of all his lust, and when, so far as it lieth in his power, he runneth to fulfil the commandments; the man who doth not do this will fall.”
688. The brethren said, “Through what did the men of old triumph over nature?” The old man said, “Through the fervour of their love which was above nature, and through the death of the man which is corruptible, and through contempt of arrogance, and through abatement of the belly, and through the fear of the judgement, and through the sure and certain promise; through the desire of these glorious things the Fathers acquired in the soul a spiritual body.”
689. The brethren said, “How can we vanquish the passions which afflict us, since they are placed in our nature?” The old man said, “Through your death to the world, for except a man burieth himself in the grave of continence the spiritual Adam can never be quickened in him. For when a dead man departeth from this temporary life, he hath no perception of the world, and all his senses are at rest and they are useless. Now if that which appertaineth to thy natural body thou dost forsake naturally, and thou dost not do the same voluntarily in respect of thine own person, thou wilt die; but if thy desire dieth through repentance, [thy] nature will cease from this temporary life in the death of the spirit, even as the natural emotions of the body ceased through its natural end.”
690. The brethren said, “To what extent is a man held to be worthy of revelations?” The old man said, “To the same extent as he is held to be worthy to cast off sin inwardly and outwardly. For when a man dieth through spiritual slaughter to all the conversation of this temporary life, and when he hath committed his life to the life which is after the quickening, Divine Grace alighteth upon him, and he is held to be worthy of divine revelations; for the impurity of the world is a dark covering to the soul, and it preventeth it from discerning spiritual meanings.”
691. The brethren said, “Can the man who loveth money befaithful to the promises?” The old man said, “If he believeth why doth he possess [anything]? Is our hope fixed upon gold? Or is the hand of the Lord too short to redeem? He gave us the Body of our Lord for happiness, and His holy Blood as a drink unto our redemption; and hath He kept back from us the loaf of bread and the apparel which grow old?
