One day, the disciples came to the elder and asked him: “Why do bad inclinations easily take hold of a person, but good inclinations take hold of a person with difficulty and remain fragile in him?”
- What happens if a healthy seed is left in the sun and a sick one is buried in the ground? - asked the old man.
“A good seed that is left without soil will die, but a bad seed will germinate and produce a sick sprout and bad fruit,” answered the students.
“This is what people do: instead of secretly doing good deeds and cultivating good beginnings deep in their souls, they put them on display and thereby ruin them. And people hide their shortcomings and sins deep in their souls so that others do not see them. There they grow and destroy a person in his very heart. Be wise.
The disciples thanked the Abba for his teaching and went away in meditation.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru