Spiritual Warfare on the Passions

If we closely observe modern man, and generally, modern society, we will see immediately that it is dominated by the passion called ‘love of pleasure’ (φιληδονία), also commonly known as sensuality. Our age is chiefly sensual and pleasure-loving. Man is constantly inclined towards this terrible passion, which destroys all life, and deprives man of the possibility of communion with God. Truly, this passion is the one that ruins the work of salvation. A soul that is sensual is totally unsuitable to become a vessel of the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to feel within it the presence of Christ.

This topic is of great importance and in the paragraphs that follow, we will analyse this passion of sensuality. We will see its manifestations, we will examine its causes and we will attempt to describe the way in which we can be healed and freed from its hold on us.

First of all, it must be said that sensuality is one of the central causes of all anomalies, disturbances and abnormalities in our spiritual and physical being. From this passion, stems all evil and all other passions swarm into the soul and the body. St Theodore, the bishop of Edessa, teaches that there are three general passions from which are born all the other passions. These three passions are: love of pleasure (φιληδονία), love of money (φιλαργυρία) and love of glory (φιλοδοξία). From these three, are born other evil spirits and then “from them a great swarm of passions is born and all kinds of evil which manifests itself in multiple ways”.

The love of money and glory both hide a great deal of pleasure within them, so we can say that it is the love of pleasure which begets all other passions. It is this passion that is the cause of all perversion of the powers of the soul. St John Damascene also underlines this. “The root of all passions, and one can say the causes of them, are love of pleasure, love of glory , love of money- from which every evil is obtained”. So, whoever wants to be purified of the passions, must struggle firstly and foremostly against this passion of pleasure-loving and sensuality. According to the quality of the pleasure it experiences, the soul travels along a natural path or an unnatural and abnormal path. If we think about the fact that sensuality is what takes our mind hostage, and does not allow it to see the true path, then we will truly come to understand the great importance that the overcoming of this passion plays for our salvation.

Our Holy Fathers have expounded the fact that the passions are abnormal functions of the soul. Therefore, they are not just evil powers that have entered our soul and that we need to uproot, but they are perverted actions and energies of our own souls. The natural energies of our soul, with the instigation of the devil and our own free consent, are corrupted.

The same can also be said about pleasure. Pleasure, as we who are full of passions experience it, is the abnormal movement and expression of natural pleasure. For St Maximus, pleasure has a double meaning. St Maximus sees the positive aspect of pleasure when he says, “pleasure is one thing chiefly- the coexistence of the soul with the Word, the natural inclination of the mind towards God”. This kind of pleasure is “essential for our nature” and for this reason, is of great use in the attainment of virtue. Most times though, pleasure acts in its negative manifestation, which is contrary to our nature.

Depending on the quality, that is the illness or the health of the soul, pleasure also acts, sometimes according to nature, and sometimes against nature. The example given by St John of Sinai is very characteristic—an amazing example of purity was related to him and he in turn relates it to us. Somebody saw a beautiful naked body, and instead of being moved to lust, he glorified the Creator and just by the sight he was moved to the love of God and the shedding of many tears of thanksgiving to God for creating such beauty. Thus, what for most would be a cause for falling into sin, for him became a cause for spiritual rewards.

In another part of his writings, St Maximus, with his characteristic theological astuteness and spiritual well-being, teaches that nature cannot of its own accord understand or attain those things that are above nature, but neither can it attain those things that are contrary to nature. In other words, holy pleasure, that which is above nature, is not just a natural energy of the soul, but a gift that God gives by Grace to the person to whom He joins himself. This is why St John of Sinai advises us to be careful so that the growing abnormal love of pleasure in our souls, has not been put there by “bitter doctors”.

That is to say, pleasure of the soul can be due to the grace of God, or due to an action of the devil. The devil works with deceiving cunning, and many times “is transformed into an angel of Light”. This is why it is a possibility that he generates what seems to be a state of spiritual pleasure and exaltation, in order to take the mind of a person hostage, and to steal his love. This is why we should not take a great deal of notice of spiritual exaltation, when we are still filled with passions, lest we become objects of deception and demonic enslavement. The pleasure which stems from God generates no inner uneasiness of the soul, in contrast to demonic pleasure which always brings with it a sense of hidden uneasiness.

Adam was entrapped by the idea of theosis or divination. This idea, offered by the devil, caused a great deal of pleasure. It was deceptive though, and resulted in pain and suffering, spiritual and physical death. That is why it is said by the Holy Fathers that “false and deceptive pleasure” was the cause of Adam’s fall and death entering humanity.

The enjoyment of corrupt pleasure generates pain, suffering and misery. There is a close relationship and interdependence between corrupt pleasure and pain. Pleasure brings pain and the endurance of pain and suffering negates pleasure. The more one satisfies his evil lusts and pleasures in this life, the more he will suffer in the next life. Ilias the Presbyter says characteristically that “after the fall, desire and misery entered the soul and pleasure and pain entered the body”. All the pain and suffering, the misery of this life, is the result of the enjoyment of unnatural, unreasonable and corrupt pleasure.

Although love of pleasure is a single passion that is hidden within us- it manifests itself in many different forms. It does not affect every person in the same way. The same can be said about the soul. For some, it affects the part of the soul from which the desires stem, for others it affects the part of the soul which is the seat of the emotions and for others it affects the part of the soul responsible for reason.

There are some people, for example, who love to daydream and procrastinate. This is the sensuality of the part of the soul responsible for reason. In this category are also those who enjoy thinking about theology using their logic and human reasoning. This is also a manifestation of the passion called sensuality or ‘love of pleasure’, and for this reason, the Holy Fathers teach that pure theology is a gift given to those who lead a life of purity and hesychia.

The study of the Faith through the mind and human reason is an expression and a living out of the corrupt sensuality which exists within us. Passion-filled people, who do not want to lead a sinful life externally, because for example, their place in society does not allow them to do so, find a way to channel their sinful passion through seeming unreproachable theological reasoning.

There are also people, who like to merely desire a sinful action, but to do not, for a variety of reasons actually want to do the sinful deed. This kind of pleasure aggravates and affects all parts of the soul. Externally, this person is moral and pure, within him though, he is immoral and filthy!! The satisfaction of this kind of pleasure does not allow a person to have a pure spiritual life. Even if he prays, and confesses regularly, even then he does not open his heart, but instead, satisfies his pleasure. For this reason, in the teachings of the Holy Fathers, we find the great truth that prayer must be accompanied by an ascetic way of life, otherwise it does not help the person to be internally purified.

In addition, people who are dominated and infused by this internal, hidden sensuality, can never make a clean confession. Only when they decide to rid themselves of this hidden passion, will they be able to make a complete and clear confession.

We thus conclude that in this part of the soul (responsible for reason) the passions of heresy, atheism and ingratitude have their seat. Likewise, in the part of the soul responsible for the desires, passions like fornication and gluttony have their seat and in the part of the soul from which the emotions stem, passions like hate, rage and revenge have their seat. The corrupt sensuality which develops in these three parts of the soul is the main reason and the root cause for all these other passions.

Sensuality is a many-headed beast, and for this reason, it is not always easy to discern it. In some great and obvious faults, we see it easily, but it is much more difficult to discern when it is connected with hate, ingratitude and heresy. Man often satisfies his pleasure when he goes against God and hates his brother. In any case, the desire to attain glory and material wealth hides within it the desire for satisfaction of corrupt pleasure.

Sensuality is not only a many-headed beast but a very unique one in each person. It has its own unique functions which make it discernible, which make its existence known, but which at the same time, hide it. St John of Sinai says that “many times, those who are dominated by this passion seem to be loving and merciful and fervent in prayer.” This observation of St John is truly horrifying because it shows that behind seeming virtues, may hide a cesspool of vile passions, and chiefly, the passion of sensuality.

How then, is it possible for one who is merciful and fervent in prayer to discern that he is dominated by the passion of sensuality? St Mark the Ascetic teaches that “the sensual person is upset when he undergoes hardship and ridicule, though the friend of God, on the contrary is upset when he is praised and given material things.”

When the sensual person is accused and falsely blamed for something, then he takes off the clothing of the lamb, the garment of mercy, and becomes a furious beast, a wolf that is ready to attack. The person who is dominated by sensuality cannot tolerate hardship and accusations. If he were a person who was truly pure and close to God, he would find comfort and peace in hardships and false accusations!

All that has been outlined above outlines the root of sensuality, how it is manifested and who is to blame for its manifestation. Of course, the chief role here, it must be pointed out, is played by our free will. When we freely accept the invasion of sensuality into our being, then all of the powers of our soul are distorted and the abnormal and corrupt pleasures are developed within us, both physical and spiritual.

The Holy Fathers teach that apart from the devil, who is the first instigator of passion within us, a major role in the growth of the passion of sensuality within us is played by excessive comfort and luxury. St Mark the Ascetic says that “comfort begets lack of faith”. Every physical luxury- food, sleep, drink, excessive rest, satisfaction of the senses, excessive and harmful entertainment, and the like, all these things which characterise comfort and luxury and are ways in which we seek to avoid hardship and toil, give rise to the passion of sensuality. This attachment to luxury is in turn caused by lack of faith.

When a person does not believe in God, when he does not await his Second Coming and denies it, then he falls into excessive luxury and a life of sensuality. From there, begins the passion that develops even more this lack of faith in God.

 A translation from Archimandrite Hierotheos Vlachos “Θεραπευτική Αγωγή- προεκτάσεις στην «Ορθόδοξη Ψυχοθεραπεία»