Three Guides for the Soul: A Reflection on Abba Poemen 35

In yesterday’s post, our old friend Abba Poemen commented on how much more common it was in the Desert for monks to achieve ascetic mastery than it was genuine perception. In today’s saying, he talks about three tools that just might get us to that place of true excellence:

Abba Poemen said: ‘Vigilance, self-awareness, and discernment; these three aptitudes are the guides of the soul.’ (Abba Poemen 35)

Each of these three is worth a little thought here. Vigilance is a trademark of monastic virtue; the Greek word behind the translation here, phylassein, originally meant ‘to guard a flock’, and for much of the history of Greek was used more generally for keeping watch over something. In this case, that something is one’s own soul. So it’s not about keeping watch over what other people are doing — that’s being nosy and intrusive, not being vigilant — but about keeping watch over your own life. (As the wonderful Lenten proverb puts it, “Keep your eyes on your own plate.”) So often we go through life sleep-walking, not aware of our patterns, the mess we’re making, or what else we could be doing. The first step to a wise and holy life is to wake up and pay attention.

The words translated here as ‘self-awareness’ are a bit more abstract. But the sense seems to be ‘steering one’s mind towards oneself’, like one would steer a ship towards shore. If vigilance is waking up to yourself, this is becoming aware of what it is you’re seeing upon waking: your actions, beliefs, attitudes, and motivations, and how those are impacting others.

Finally, there is diakrisis, ‘judgement, decision, discernment.’ Once you’re awake and aware of your life, it’s time to make a judgement call about it. In a simplistic way, it’s to decide what in our life is good and what is bad, and what to do about it. But, the reason why discernment is hard is that our lives are complex and far more nuanced than that. It’s actually less of a ‘What is good and what is bad?’ than it is ‘In what ways does this benefit me and others and in what ways does it harm me and others?’

I think when we’re looking for guidance, Abba Poemen’s advice here is right on the money. First we need to wake up (or once we’ve woken up, stay vigilant), then we need to become aware of what it is we’re seeing in our lives, and then make difficult decisions about them. Whether it’s managing unhappiness at work or in relationships, whether it’s managing our spiritual life, or wanting to be more intentional about how we spend our money, or anything else, these three steps can be great guides for the soul.