III. Union tmth God (Transition to the "Contemplative Life")

27. Stillness
28. Prayer
29. Dispassion
30. Love
While the book as a whole has in this way a clearly defined struc- ture, many of the individual steps have also an internal structure of their own. Thus most of the chapters on the vices are arranged on the following pattern:
Brief introductory statement, indicating the source of the vice •nd its place in the sequence of The Ladder; ^» Short definitions;
More detailed analysis: causes, symptoms, effects, remedies (with illustraiive anecdotes); B Final summary.
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INTRODUCTION
Glancing through the outline given above, a reader may gain the impression that John's approach is for the most part negative. For, omTf th?r"y chapters, six^en are concerned w.th the vices to be over come and only fourteen with the virtues to be acquired; and several of these fourteen chapters seem also to be mainly negative concerned as they are with such themes as "penitence," "sorrow, d.spassion_ But th.s initial impress.on is misleading. First, the chapters on the vices are usually shorter than those on the virtues; so the fourteen Lps on the virtLs, added together, are considerably more than tw.ce as Lg as the sixteen steps on the vices. Second, the chapters on the V ces fpeak also of the corresponding virtues: Step , for instance deals w'th meekness as well as anger, Step 11 -'^^ silence as well as talkativeness, Step 15 with purity as well as lust, Steps 1«- -^^ vigilance as well as insensitivity. Third and most fundamentally, as we shall see shortly, penitence, sorrow and dispassion are far from be- ing predominantly negative.
Withm this general scheme that we have indicated, there are skillfully balanced correspondences and contrasts:
I (\-i) balances HI (27-30).
II i (4-7) balances II iii (24-26).
11 ii b (14-17), on passions of a material type, '^^ ^1;'"'^^^^ by two balancing sections, each of six steps-II ii a (8-13) and II n c (18-23)- on passions of a less physical character.
Closer examination reveals more detailed structures of type and "antitype." A theme is adumbrated in the earlier P^^^ of /he work, and then taken up again at a higher level m the second part.
Step 2 (detachment) Step 4 (obedience) Step 5 (penitence) Step 1 3 (despondency)
Step 29 (dispassion) Step 26 (discernment)" Step 25 (humility) Step 18 (insensitivity)
Underlying these various parallels and oppositions there is, in ne Ladder Is a whole, a basic progression from human effort to d.v.e gift, from kopo. to chansma. Certainly, God's grace ,s absolutely mdis pensable for the attainment of any virtue, however humble. Yet.
^-he con.ect.on i. m.de clear in the definUion of obedience ^^^^^J^^^
bor.ten«.. to pu, ...de the c.pacuy ,o make one's own .udgment o. ^ore t.r.ll> . '-.n abandonment of discernment in a wealth of discernment ; 4 (68tlA), p. K.
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INTRODUCTION
while both the divine and the human elements are present through- out the ascent of the ladder, on the earlier rungs we are chiefly con- scious of our own toil and struggle, while on the higher rungs we are more and more aware of the freely granted grace of God. What begins as painful warfare ends as spontaneous joy:
At the beginning of our religious life, we cultivate the vir- tues, and we do so with toil and difficulty. Progressing a lit- tle, we then lose our sense of grief or retain very little of it. But when our mortal intelligence turns to zeal and is mas- tered by it. then we work with full joy, determination, de- sire, and a holy flame. ^^
Two further things are apparent in the structure of The Ladder. First, by far the larger part of the work is concerned with the practice of the virtues and the struggle against the vices; by comparison, the section on the contemplative life (Steps 27-30) is relatively brief — to many, no doubt, disappointingly so. But Jfthn has good reasons for concentrating in this way on the active life. He does not want his readers willfully and prematurely to seek after visions and ecstasies, instead of learning penitence and humility. The Ladder displays in this regard a marked sobriety. John is highly cautious about dreams;*'^ and it is significant that much the longest chapters in the book are those on obedience (Step 4) and on discernment or discretion {diakrisis; Step 26).
John is constantly warning us not to attempt too much too soon; we cannot "climb the entire ladder in a single stride."*' When, in the monastery at Alexandria. John tried to start a discussion about still- ness or inner silence (hesychia), he was kindly but firmly rebuked by his hosts:
Father John [they said], we are corporeal beings and we lead a corporeal life. Knowing this, we choose to wage war ac- cording to the measure of our weakness. ^^
.ly, I (Atyc), p, 77.
4(1, i (f.fi';U-/,72H), pp, K';.-w),
41. 14 (Hrt^m, p, 161'., ff. 25 (
42. 4(7(101)), p. 1(11.
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INTRODUCTION
John took the point. In The Ladder he insists that hesychta-xn^^mng both the solitary hfe and the more advanced forms of mner prayer- is only for "very few,"« only for those who have been prepared through long years of training in the practice of the virtues. No one should embark on "theology," in the sense of the contemplative lite, without first struggling against the passions: "It is risky to sw,m .n one's clothes. A slave of passion should not dabble in theology. That is why John speaks at length about the warfare against sin, but offers no more than a few veiled hints about the final transfiguration of the human person, in soul and body, by the uncreated light. His reticence is deliberate. He does not want us to reach out for the iced cakes before we have eaten the bread and butter.
Secondly, John did not mean the image of the ladder which dominates the book, to be interpreted too literally. While placed in ordered sequence, the different steps are not to be regarded as strictly consecutive stages, the one terminating before the next commences. For even though by God's grace we gradually progress to the higher steps we still continue to live and develop simultaneously on the low- er levels as well. This is true in particular of the fifth step, penitence, and of the seventh step, sorrow or mourning {pentbos). These are things that in this present life we never outgrow; they continue un- ceasing up to the gates of death. As John insists;
When we die, we will not be criticized for having failed to work miracles. We will not be accused of having failed to be theologians or contemplatives. But we will certainly have some explanation to offer to God for not having mourned unceasingly.*^
In our beginning is our end. In one sense, the supreme aim of the spiritual path is indeed "theology," the contemplation or vision of God. But in another and perhaps more vital sense, our end-pomt is our starting-point: penitence.
43. 44. 45.
4(725C), p. 119. 27 {1097C), p. 262. 7(816D). p. 145.
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INTRODUCTION