Evagrius on persevering with persistent thoughts

 I have had a persistent fascination with Evagrius of Pontus, ever since I read about him in John Mark Comer's book Live No Lies. His notebook entitled Antirrhetikos or Talking Back (translated by David Brakke, 2009) is a long list of specific tempting thoughts classified under eight headings, with each thought countered by a verse from Scripture. 

Here are three of my favorites, creatively addressing the feelings of impatience, laziness, and loneliness that try to make me think of giving up the fight:

Against the thought that supposes that in a single hour the evil thoughts of fornication will flee from it:

'I will not cast them out in a year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the land multiply against you. Gradually I will cast them out from before you, until you have increased and will inherit the land' (Exodus 23:29-30).

Against the intellect that is contending with thoughts of fornication, but does not want to shake them off of it completely and does not recognize the fetter of sin and the anxiety of evils:

'And Delilah said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he woke up from his sleep and said, “I will go out just like every other time, and I will shake them off.” And he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. And the Philistines seized him, cut out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground at the mill in the prison house' (Judges 16:20-21).

Against the soul’s thought that succumbs to distress and sadness and supposes that it is the only one that is tempted so severely:

'Discipline yourselves, keep watch. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering' (1 Peter 5:8-9).

As Evagrius says in Praktikos 6, "There are eight general and basic categories of thoughts in which are included every thought. First is that of gluttony, then impurity, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia, vainglory, and last of all, pride. It is not in our power to determine whether we are disturbed by these thoughts, but it is up to us to decide if they are to linger within us or not and whether or not they are to stir up our passions." 

Surfing the urge

G. Alan Marlatt and Jean L. Kristeller. 1999. Mindfulness and meditation. In William R. Miller (ed.), Integrating spirituality into treatment: Resources for practitioners, 67-84, at 78-79. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

As an example of ... insight meditation procedure, Marlatt (1994) developed the technique of "urge surfing" in the treatment of addictive behaviors. Designed as a relapse prevention method, the purpose of urge surfing is to help clients cope with craving or urges that otherwise might trigger a setback or lapse. Ask the client to first self-monitor any urges, cravings, or strong desires to engage in the target behavior (e.g., to ingest a substance or to engage in a high-risk sexual behavior). Encourage clients to identify the specific form that the urge takes when it occurs. Urges often take the form of a verbal intent or command, such as "I must smoke or I will go nuts" or "Just this once won't hurt me" or "Damn it! I OWE myself a drink after this!" Such verbal statements may or may not be accompanied by strong physical sensations or desire cravings. Such urge reactions often appear to take the form of classically conditioned responses, usually triggered by a cue or situation associated with the target behavior (e.g., a recent ex-smoker sees an open pack of cigarettes lying on the table). Contextual and environmental factors such as the client's mood and social environment may also elicit strong urges to indulge. 

This method first arose in the course of working with a client who was trying to give up smoking. After he had quit for a week, he reported constant urges to smoke that felt like a growing ball of discomfort that was increasing in intensity to the point that he felt that he would "go crazy" unless he gave in. Recalling a prior account of his reputation as a surfer during his youth, the therapist asked, "What if you could see the craving in the form of a cresting wave instead of a growing ball?" We then discussed his experience as a budding surfer. He described how he learned to keep his balance as the ocean wave swelled up beneath his surfboard and he rode the wave as it finally crested and diminished in size. He learned to keep his balance without being "wiped out" by the wave. He agreed to transfer this surfing metaphor to his meditation practice. As soon as he experienced any indication of a rising urge in his thoughts or feelings, he would direct his full attention to this growing wave while keeping his balance until the wave gradually crested and subsided. Because many urges in fact take the form of conditioned responses elicited by trigger events, their duration and intensity do not necessarily last unless they are reinforced by engaging in a consummatory response (smoking or drinking). The client reported using this meditative urge surfing technique as an effective means of coping with cravings to smoke.