The Way of Spiritual Transformation

By Hieromonk Damascene
Source

Hieromonk Damascene - St Herman of Alaska Brotherhood


A talk given at the Parish Life Conference of the Antiochian Orthodox
Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America, Sioux City, Iowa, June 9, 2005

Contents:
1. Transformation, Salvation, Deification
2. Living Sacrifices
3. Not Conformity but Transformation
4. The Renewal of the Mind
5. Watchfulness and Prayer
6. The Primary Mark of Spiritual Transformation
7. On Getting Out of Ruts
8. On Not Measuring One’s Progress


1. Transformation, Salvation, Deification
The Theme of this conference - "Be not conformed to this world but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind" - is a rather daunting theme
to talk about, because it is so vast and all-encompassing. It touches
on the whole purpose of our lives as Orthodox Christians. Our Lord
Jesus Christ said: I have chosen you out of the world (John 15:19).
We have been called out of this world in order to become citizens of 
another world: the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom begins now, in
this life, continues after we leave this world, and will reach its
consummation at the Second Coming of our Savior. In order to dwell
in that Kingdom, to be its citizens, we must be transformed.

Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of
your mind (Rom. 12:2). These words from the Epistle of the Holy
Apostle Paul to the Romans help to introduce a Divinely inspired
teaching on spiritual transformation. In this talk, I will speak first about
the theological meaning of transformation in the Orthodox Church.
Then I will provide a commentary from the Holy Fathers concerning
St Paul's teaching on transformation. Next, I will offer some practical
suggestions concerning the way to transformation, with an emphasis
on watchfulness and prayer. Finally, I will speak of authentic love as 
the primary mark of genuine spiritual transformation.

As I said, the theme of transformation points to the purpose of our
life. That purpose is unending union with God - deification, theosis.
But deification is not a static condition: it is a never ending growth,
a process, an ascent toward God. We do not reach the end in this
life, nor even in the life to come. St Symeon the New Theologian,
who attained what might be called the highest possible degree of
union with God in this life, said: "Over the ages the progress will
be endless, for a cessation of this growing toward the end without
ending would be nothing but a grasping at the ungraspable."

Our union with God is a continual transformation into the likeness
of God, which is the likeness of Christ.


For the rest of this talk, please go here.

Pain of Heart according to Fr Seraphim Rose

This book is available from St Herman Press

In my search for those things that can help me in my purpose to

achieve the purification of my heart, I pay particular attention to

those words, writings and personal encounters in which I come 

face to face with real Orthodox spiritual experience. It is very hard
to describe it. The gift of spiritual discernment is given to those
advanced in the spiritual life but, at a more humble level, there is
something to be said about the simplicity of a soul that intuitively
recognizes the still small voice of her Creator, our Lord Jesus
Christ, in the humble disguise of our fellow human beings who
know Him, and in the providential circumstances of our lives.

Fr Seraphim Rose knew very well how to recognize this small

voice and the state of a heart that is perceptive and open to
divine grace. He calls it 'pain of heart'. His disciple Fr
Damascene, describes this spiritual state in page 471 of the
book 'Father Seraphim Rose His Life and Works',
"Pain of Heart. In this is found the last and most crucial key to 

Fr. Seraphim's entry into the mind of the Fathers.In the Patristic

writings, 'pain of heart' generally refers to an elemental
inward suffering , the bearing of an interior cross while
following Jesus Christ, and a spirit broken in contrition.

'Suffering', Father Seraphim stated, 'is the reality of the human

condition and the beginning of true spiritual life'. From Archbishop 

John (of San Francisco), who had utterly crucified himself in this life,
Fr Seraphim had learned how to endure this suffering in thankfulness
to God, and from him he had learned its fruits. If used in the right way,
suffering can purify the heart and 'the pure in heart shall see God'
(Matthew 5:8). 'The right approach' wrote Fr. Seraphim ' is found
in a heart which tries to humble itself and simply knows that it
is suffering, and that there somehow exists a higher truth which
can not only help this suffering, but can bring it into a totally
different dimension.'

According to St Mark the Ascetic (fifth century), 'Remembrance of God
is pain of heart endured in the spirit of devotion. But he who forgets
God becomes self indulgent and insensitive'. And in the words of
St Barsanuphius the Great of Egypt, whose counsels Fr. Seraphim
translated into English, 'Every gift is received  through pain of heart'.

Besides its general meaning, 'pain of heart' has a liturgical meaning
in the writings of the church Fathers, for when the heart is
concentrated in fervent prayer to Christ, it may be actually
pained. As Fr. Seraphim noted, in Patristic terminology the
'heart' does not mean mere 'feeling', but 'something much
deeper - the organ that knows God'. The heart is both spiritual
and physical: spirituality is the center of man's being, identified
with his nous (spirit); physically, it is the organ where the nous
finds its secret dwelling place. Concentrated within the spiritual
heart, the nous cries out to the Savior, and such a heart-cry
born in pain and desperation, yet hoping in God - calls down
Divine grace. 

This is seen especially in the Orthodox practice of the Jesus Prayer.
(Note: The Jesus Prayer reads, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have
mercy on me,  the sinner'. It is very common to use an abbreviated form
such as, 'Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me'). When we approach
the Jesus Prayer simply, says Elder Paisios of Mount Athos (+1994),
'we will be able to repeat it many times, and our heart will feel a sweet
consolation inside our heart'.


'The Patristic teaching on pain of heart', Fr Seraphim wrote, 'is one
of the most important teachings for our days when head-knowledge is
so over-emphasized at the expense of the proper development of 
emotional and spiritual life. The lack of this essential experience is 
what above all is responsible for the dilettantism (superficiality, lack
of discipline), the triviality, the want of seriousness in the ordinary
study of the Holy Fathers today; without it, one cannot apply the
teachings of the Holy Fathers to one's own life....without pain of heart,
one can be a barren fig tree, a boring 'know it all' who is always
correct...(one) who does not know and cannot convey the true spirit of
the Holy Fathers."
From Fr Seraphim Rose - His Life and Works p. 471-472, by Hieromonk Damascene,
St Herman Press 2003