The Tree of Passions and the Ascetic Strategy of St. Theophan the Recluse

Abstract

The article emphasizes that for Saint Theophan’s asceticism, finding a vivid image was no less important than building a convincing argument in favor of hesychastic values. One of such working images is the tree of passions. Saint Theophan outlines the image, starting with the root passion of self-love and the three branches extending from it (the passions of self-exaltation, self-interest, and sensuality). The entire intricacy of human passions is the product of the three passions on this tree. The branches of passion are masked by leaves (of absent-mindedness and carelessness) and fog (of ignorance, insensitivity and carelessness). All elements of the described structure can be correlated with the anthropological triads, characteristic of the asceticism of St. Theophan, and with the teaching on the eight passions. The strategy of fighting passions involves recognizing the main passion, despite the leaves and fog, tracking the subordination of one’s passions in dynamics. This determines the sequence of actions for invisible warfare. In the article, the tree of passions described by St. Theophan is compared with other ascetic images: with the image of fruit trees from the Apophthegms, with the images of plants-thoughts and the tree of gnosis in St. Gregory the Theologian, with the eradication of passions in the image of cypresses in Abba Dorotheus.