posted November 18, 2009 03:59 PM         

Father Maximos then in his characteristic way illustrated his point with a story. He talked of Abba Theodoros, an ancient elder. A monk under the supervision of this elder was verbally abused by two other monks. "That monk," Father Maximos said, "showed great patience and did not respond to these provocations. Abba Theodoros was impressed and asked him to explain how he managed to maintain his tranquility in spite of the harassment. The monk replied, 'Am I to pay attention to these animals?' Then Abba Theodoros went to his cell and shed bitter tears for the spiritual fall of that monk who on the outside appeared so virtuous and patient but whose heart was completely perverted."

posted November 18, 2009 05:45 PM         

Logismoi ( Greek: λογίσμοι lo-yeez-mee, Russian: помыслы; )
is a term used to describe assaultive or tempting thoughts.

Fr. Maximos of Mount Athos

Fr. Maximos (Moschos?) of Mount Athos is quoted extensively on the subject of logismoi in Kyriakos Markides' book, Mountain of Silence. Fr. Maximos describes five stages of logismoi as detailed in the teachings of the Fathers of the Church:

Assault - the logismoi first attacks a person's mind
Interaction - a person opens up a dialogue with the logismoi
Consent - a person consents to do what the logismoi urges him to do
Defeat - a person becomes hostage to the logismoi and finds it more difficult to resist
Passion or Obsession - the logismoi becomes an entrenched reality within the nous of a person

Fr. Maximos explains that no sin is committed until the stage of Consent, though he warns that if a person is of weak temperment, they are unlikely to be able to resist the logismoi at the Interaction stage.

Fr. Maximos teaches that the best way to combat logismoi is to be indifferent, to ignore them. He suggests that a person should pray to combat logismoi, but only when not overcome by fear.