Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Mortify Self-will

Poemen went with Anub to the country of Dioclos. Walking past the tombs they saw a woman beating her breast and weeping bitterly. They paused to see her. When they had gone a little further, they met a man and Poemen asked him, "What is the matter with the woman over there, that she weeps so bitterly?"

He said, "Her husband is dead, and her son, and her brother."

Poemen said to Anub, "I tell you, that unless a man mortifies all his self-will and has this kind of grief, he cannot be a monk. The whole life and attention of that woman is wrapped up in grief."

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