"So listen to me once again. Lay a solid foundation.
Build a beautiful little palace in the heavens. Clean the inside of the cup, as the Lord instructs us, so that the outside becomes clean as well, because everything done with the body resembles leaves which merely decorate the outer man.
Those works are well and good, but everything I have written
to you about previously is what cleanses a person internally.
These things will open the eyes of the soul. It is through them
that the heart is purified to see God on that day. For without
noetic work, there is little benefit from outer works.
If you do not see tears pouring forth every time you remember God, you suffer from ignorance, which leads to pride and hardness of heart. So let humility serve as a garment in all your actions, and become a sponge in the brotherhood that mops up every reproach and abasement. Do not water your soul with honors and praises but with reproaches and accusations, even if you are innocent.
Never seek to find what is just, because then you are unjust.
On the contrary, learn to endure temptations bravely, regardless of what kind the Lord permits. Without a lot of excuses, just say, "Forgive me !" and without actually being at fault, repent as if you were. Do so with conviction of soul; not just outwardly admitting to be at fault for the sake of praise, while inwardly judging.
Taken from, Monastic Wisdom, The
Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast
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