Have you ever heard the expression, “Don't be vain”? In what situations was it used? Have you ever thought about what vanity is and what its impact on a person is? Let's find answers to these questions.

So, vanity. Translated from Greek, it means desire, the desire to look good in the eyes of other people. Often expressed in the need to hear flattery addressed to oneself for self-affirmation. The word “vanity” consists of two roots: “vainly” - “free” and “glory”. In other words, empty, vain glory coming from people.

A person infected with vanity often does not even suspect it. He expects praise from the people around him for every action, which is fraught with the appearance of mania, illness, and a feeling of inadequacy. As a result, groundless grievances, irritation, and then quarrels and conflicts arise.

Answering the question: “What is vanity?” - you can add that this is the fear of what they will think of you. The reluctance to be rejected pushes a person to be ready to gain approval in any way. This can lead to "people-pleasing." When a person demands complete respect and submission.

Vanity can arise in cases where a person is in search of himself, his capabilities, looking for the meaning of life, and not finding it, he becomes dissatisfied with everything, constantly complains about everyone, is offended by everyone. It is very difficult to coexist with such a person, so people try to avoid him. Sometimes it happens that a vain person gets satisfaction from the fact that he is hated, most often feared or laughed at. The main thing is that they pay attention.

He tries to surround himself with people with suitable weaknesses. For example, he considers himself the best at singing, then there will be more fans around him who admire his talent, but who cannot sing themselves. The concept of “star fever” is synonymous with the word “vanity.”

To briefly summarize the story of what vanity is, we can highlight several of its signs:

1. Increased, heightened attention to praise. The desire to always and in everything be the first, the best, the most important.
2. A person evaluates his actions from the point of view of other people, cares about people’s opinions of himself.
3. It is difficult to bear reproaches and does not tolerate criticism.
4. The desire to stand out from the crowd with clothes, appearance, talents, and exploits.
5. The desire to receive awards, certificates, and insignia.

Every person has germs of vanity. It is important to prevent their germination in time and not fall into the trap of this vice.

As you pass, you will definitely overcome periods of vanity testing. The only thing that matters is how you withstand the trials of fate. Will you “work for the public” so as not to fall on your face, or will you withstand criticism or reproach with dignity, without expecting praise?

Sometimes human vanity can destroy even strong relationships between close people or friends. The insatiable desire for honor and glory leads to abnormal rivalry, intrigue and enmity, envy and hatred. Crossing all reasonable boundaries, vanity can become an evil vice that poisons everything around.

1. What is vanity

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes about what is the passion of vanity and what sins are born from it:

“The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and cell things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. A disposition towards the dying sciences and arts of this age, a desire to succeed in them in order to acquire temporary, earthly glory. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Verbal justification. Disclaimer. Making up your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. People-pleasing. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Pretense. Unconscionability. The character and life are demonic.”

Priest Pavel Gumerov:

“Vanity is the desire for vain, that is, vain, empty glory. Why empty, vain? After all, people sometimes strive for a really very high position in society; their ambitions are limitless.

The word “vain” also means “perishable, fleeting.” Any earthly glory, in comparison with what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him, is only dust and ashes, steam rising from the ground and immediately disappearing. But earthly glory is futile not only on the scale of eternity. Even in the short period of our earthly life, fame, high position, position, fame are the most unreliable and short-lived things. But, nevertheless, many people strive for fame, honor and respect. And some make an idol out of it, turning vanity into an end in itself. But not only those who are completely obsessed with this passion suffer from vanity. Unfortunately, vanity is inherent in all of us to varying degrees. Everyone wants to look better in their own eyes, and most importantly, in the eyes of others, better than they really are. Any of us is pleased when he is praised, appreciated, and not scolded. Almost everyone strives to occupy a significant position in the society in which they move. But this is not what the Lord teaches us.”

Saint Basil the Great:

He is vain who does or says anything for the sake of worldly glory alone.

Georgy the Recluse of Zadonsky:

“What does the word vanity mean? This is how I understand it: it is a two-syllable word; it is made up of two meanings: vain and glory: from this it is clear that a vain person loves vain glory and in this he delights in the feeling of arrogant pride.

To be vain is an internal passion and a love for vain glory that depends on one’s own will. Yet this kind of human philosophizing and thinking about oneself is vain and impermanent, and therefore the glory in which our superstition and opinion clothe us is vain and not constant.”

Long Catechism says that sins of vanity are sins against the second commandment, since a person puts his own self as an idol in the place of God and how he looks in the eyes of people:

“In addition to gross idolatry, there are even more subtle sins against the second commandment, which include: 1) covetousness; 2) gluttony, or delicacy, gluttony and drunkenness; 3) pride, which also includes vanity.

Pride and vanity are considered idolatry because the proud values ​​his abilities and advantages above all else, and thus they are an idol for him; and the vain person wants others to honor this idol. This attitude of the proud and vain was even sensually manifested in the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who erected a golden idol for himself and ordered to worship it (Dan. 3).

There is also a vice close to idolatry - this is hypocrisy, when someone uses external works of piety, such as fasting and strict observance of rituals, to gain the respect of the people, without thinking about the internal correction of his heart (Matthew 6:5- 7).

The second commandment prohibits pride, vanity and hypocrisy and thereby teaches humility and doing good in secret.”

Rev. John Climacus:

A vain person is an idolater, although he is called a believer. He thinks that he honors God, but in reality he does not please God, but people.

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk:

God is the beginning and source of all good, and therefore glory and praise for good are due to Him alone. But when a person desires and seeks glory and praise for himself for good, then in the place where God should be and be revered and glorified, the person places himself like an idol and wants to be boasted and glorified. Therefore, he retreats from God with his heart and idolizes himself, although he does not notice this. What can a man boast about, who has nothing but sins and weaknesses? Are they sins? But what's the use? This is not praise, but reproach.

Abba Serapion:

Vanity, although it has many faces, is divided into different types, however, two kinds of it: the first one forces to be exalted in carnal, visible things, and second due to spiritual, invisible objects inflames us with a desire for vain praise.

2. Scripture on Vanity

“Also, when you fast, do not be sad like the hypocrites, for they put on gloomy faces in order to appear to people as fasting. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward. And you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to men as you fast, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. (Matthew 6:16-18)

“You know that the princes of the nations rule over them, and the great rulers rule over them; but let it not be so among you: but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant; and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; for the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20, 20-28).

« How can you believe when you receive glory from each other, but do not seek the glory that is from the One God?"(John 5:44)

“Again the devil takes Him to great lengths high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and says to Him: I will give all this to You, if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus says to him, “Get thee behind Me, Satan, for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and serve Him alone.” (Matthew 4:8-10)

“And, taking Him to a high mountain, the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the universe in a moment of time, and the devil said to Him: I will give you power over all these [kingdoms] and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to whomever I want.” ; So, if You worship me, then everything will be Yours. Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan; It is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.” (Luke 4:5-8)

“So you too, when you have done everything commanded you, say: We are worthless slaves, because did what they had to do"(Luke 17:10).

“If we live by the spirit, then we must walk by the spirit.

Let's not be vain, irritate each other, envy each other.” (Gal. 5:25-26)

«… [do] nothing [do] anything out of selfish ambition or vanity, but out of humility consider each other to be better than yourselves. Not only should each one take care of himself, but each one also of others.” (Phil. 2, 3-4)

“This, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sake, so that you would learn from us not to philosophize beyond what is written, and not to be proud of one another. For who makes you different? What do you have that you wouldn't get? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you didn’t receive it?"(1 Cor. 4:6-7)

“Now listen to you who say: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and we will live there for one year, and we will trade and make a profit”; you who do not know what will happen tomorrow: for what is your life? steam that appears for a short time and then disappears. Instead of telling you: “If the Lord wills and we live, we will do this or that,” you, in your arrogance, become vain: all such vanity is evil.” (James 4, 13-16)

“Be of the same mind among yourselves; do not be arrogant, but follow the humble; don't dream about yourself" (Rom. 12, 16)

“And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, because he has respected the lowliness of his handmaid, for from now on all generations will call me blessed; that the Mighty One has done great things for Me, and holy is His name; and His mercy throughout all generations is upon those who fear Him; He showed the strength of His arm; He scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the humble; He filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1:46-53)

“...this people has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and will not be converted, so that I will heal them. This is what Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke about Him. However, many of the rulers believed in Him; but for the sake of the Pharisees they did not confess, so as not to be excommunicated from the synagogue, for they loved human glory more than the glory of God. (John 12:40-43)

“But because you are warm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. For you say: “I am rich, I have become rich, and I have need of nothing”; but you don’t know that you are unhappy, and pitiful, and poor, and blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, so that you may become rich, and white clothes so that you may be clothed, so that the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see.” (Rev. 3:16-18)

"Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for the sake of Thy mercy, for the sake of Thy truth" (Ps. 113:9)

“Because of your beauty your heart was lifted up, because of your vanity you destroyed your wisdom; Therefore I will throw you to the ground, I will hand you over to shame before kings.” (Ezek. 28, 17)

3. The deceit of vanity

Vanity is the most multifaceted, subtle, insidious passion hidden from a person, which tempts a person not only from the carnal, but also from the spiritual side and ensnares him, admiring not only his sins, but even his virtues.

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes:

“The most hidden of all spiritual passions is vanity. This passion, more than any other, camouflages itself before the human heart., giving him pleasure, often mistaken for consolation of conscience, for divine consolation.

The Holy Fathers, teachers of the Church, in the light of Christ, in the light of the Holy Spirit, who peered into the depths of the human heart... call vanity a diverse passion, the most subtle, not easily discernible.”

The Holy Fathers, having experienced all the enemy’s networks, write about the various tricks of the spirit of vanity:

Rev. John Climacus:

“...The sun shines for everyone without distinction, and vanity rejoices in all virtues. For example: I am vain when I fast, but when I allow fasting in order to hide my abstinence from people, I again become vain, considering myself wise. I am overcome by vanity when I dress in good clothes, but when I dress in bad clothes, I also become vain. I will begin to speak, I will be overcome by vanity, I will remain silent, and again I will be overcome by it. No matter how you throw this three-horn, one horn will always go up.

I noticed that the demon of vanity, having inspired thoughts in one brother, at the same time reveals them to another, who incites him to tell the first brother what is in his heart, and through this pleases him as a seer. Sometimes this unclean one even touches the members of the body and produces trembling.

Do not listen to him when he instills in you the desire to be a bishop, or an abbot, or a teacher, for it is difficult to drive a dog away from the meat-selling table.

When he sees that some have acquired at least a somewhat peaceful dispensation, he immediately encourages them to go from the desert into the world and says: “Go to the salvation of perishing souls.”

One of the seers told me what he saw. “When I,” he said, “was sitting in the meeting of the brethren, the demon of vanity and the demon of pride came and sat down with me on both sides; and the first pushed me in the side with his vain finger, urging me to tell about some of my visions or deeds that I accomplished in the desert. But as soon as I managed to repel him, saying: “Let those who wish me evil turn back and be ashamed” (Ps. 39:15), immediately sitting on left side says in my ear: “Good, good, you have done and become great, having defeated my most shameless mother.” Then, turning to him, I uttered the words following in order after the verse I had spoken: “... let the abys return ashamed, saying to us: good, good have you done” (cf. Ps. 39:16).” Then I asked the same father: “How is vanity the matter of pride?” He answered me: “Praises elevate and puff up the soul, but when the soul ascends, then pride embraces it, which elevates it to the heavens and brings it down to the abyss.”

Venerable John Cassian the Roman:

“The seventh labor is before us against the spirit of vanity - diverse, varied and subtle, which can hardly be foreseen and recognized with the most insightful eyes.

For it tempts the monk not only from the carnal side, like other vices, but also from the spiritual side, afflicting the mind with the most subtle evil. So those who are deceived by carnal vices are more strongly wounded by vanity about spiritual success, and it is so much more fatal in the struggle, how much more secretive it is if we want to guard against it. The attack of other passions is more obvious, open, and in each of them the tempter, overthrown by strict contradiction, having become weaker, moves away and then weaker tempts his conqueror. And this passion, when it tempts the soul from the carnal side (for example, with beautiful clothes or other external things, accessories, advantages) and is driven out by the shield of bickering, then again, like various evils, changing its former image and disguise, under the guise of virtues it tries to pierce and kill winner.

For other passions are called monotonous and simple; A this is polysyllabic, diverse, varied - everywhere, from all sides, the warrior and the winner encounter it. Because she is in everything: in clothing, gait, voice, deed, vigil, fasting, prayer, hermitage, reading, knowledge, silence, obedience, humility, long-suffering - tries to hurt the warrior of Christ, and how some fatal rock, covered by stormy waves, causes an unexpected and pitiful shipwreck to those sailing with a favorable wind, when they were not afraid and did not foresee it.

... Vanity... He tries to extol someone because he is very patient in business and work, another because he is very quick to obey, and another because he is superior to others in humility. Some are tempted by the vastness of knowledge, others by reading, others by vigils. This passion strives to hurt someone only with his own virtues, placing disastrous obstacles in that in which they seek means of life. For those who wish to follow the path of piety and perfection, the enemies secretly lay snares of deception not in another place, but on the path along which they walk, according to the saying of blessed David: in the path that I walked, they secretly laid snares for me (Ps. 141:3 ), so that it is precisely on the very path of virtues that we follow, striving for the honor of the highest title, being proud of our successes, that we collapse and with tied feet our souls fall, being entangled in the nets of vanity.

Other passions are sometimes calmed down with the help of a place, and after the removal of the object of sin, or convenience, or the reason for it, they are usually tamed and reduced, but this passion penetrates even to those fleeing into the desert, and the place cannot exclude it, nor does it weaken from the removal of an external object. . For it is inspired by nothing other than the success of the virtues of the one it attacks. Other passions, as we have already said, sometimes weaken and cease over time; and this passion, if there is no caring diligence and prudence, even time not only does not suppress, but, on the contrary, encourages even more.

Vanity is more dangerous when combined with virtues.

Other passions, with the opposition of virtues opposite to them, openly, as if at war on a clear day, can be more easily overcome; and this one, clinging to virtues, interfering with the formation of the army, fights as if on a dark night, and therefore more insidiously deceives those who did not expect and were not wary of her.”

4. Manifestations of vanity. How to recognize this passion in yourself?

When the passion of vanity begins to develop, a person does good deeds not for the sake of God, not selflessly, but for the sake of satisfying his pride, secretly flaunting his “kindness” and his “deeds” to himself, or in order to receive praise from others. As a result, his entire structure takes a wrong direction.

Priest Pavel Gumerov writes how dangerous it is to underestimate the slightest movements of vanity in your soul:

“Vanity can be a passion, the meaning of life, or it can be small, everyday, but this does not mean that it is not dangerous, because a mighty tree grows from a small seed, and “it begins with a blue stream” big river».

The Holy Fathers describe in detail the signs of this passion, the behavioral traits of someone who is caught in the spirit of vanity, so that everyone can, having noticed them in themselves, arm themselves against this enemy hiding from our consciousness.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):

“The ascetic, for the sole reason that he has no concept of true spiritual activity... indulges in vain thoughts and dreams based on his exploits.

Vanity and conceit love to teach and instruct.

You recognize a vain person by his special ability for flattery, helpfulness, lies, and everything base and base.”

As we have already seen, Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) says that manifestations of vanity are:

“The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and cell things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. A disposition towards the dying sciences and arts of this age, a desire to succeed in them in order to acquire temporary, earthly glory. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Verbal justification. Disclaimer."

Rev. Ambrose Optinsky writes:

“Vanity and pride are of the same origin and have the same properties, but their action and signs are different. Vanity tries to catch the praise of people and for this it often humiliates itself and pleases people, while pride breathes contempt and disrespect for others, although it also loves praise.

Vanity, if you touch it with a finger, screams: skin is being torn.”

Georgy the Recluse of Zadonsky:

“We need a test, or temptation, for our salvation: can I assure myself that I do not like to be vain? Here it is necessary to withstand reproach and contempt from people: and if the heart is not offended, then the right philosophizes in the Lord and does not seek its own glory. And if he is embarrassed by reproaches, then from this his cowardice and passion for human glory are known, and at the same time his unbelief is exposed by the same thing.

We must be afraid of these beasts: pride, vanity and evil conceit; these passions are very secretive; they take upon themselves different types of virtues and therefore are not quickly recognizable; We need to have a strict and difficult test of ourselves: are these secret destroyers of our souls nesting in our hearts? Let us pray, imitating Saint David, king and prophet; he prayed: test me, O Lord, and “see if the way of iniquity is in me, and lead me on the eternal path” (Ps. 139: 23-24). From this it is clear that we are not able to test ourselves: we love, out of condescension for our weaknesses, to find all sorts of excuses and flattering self-justifications, and therefore we have the need to ask the Lord Himself to test us and guide us on the right path. To this we also add David’s prayer (Ps 18:13-14): Lord, “who understands the fall? Cleanse me from my secrets, and spare your servant from strangers.”

Rev. John Climacus:

“Watch and you will see that indecent vanity is decorated with clothes, incense, numerous servants, aromas and the like, right up to the grave.

...The sun shines on everyone without distinction, and vanity rejoices over all virtues. For example: I am vain when I fast, but when I allow fasting in order to hide my abstinence from people, I again become vain, considering myself wise. I am overcome by vanity when I dress in good clothes, but when I dress in bad clothes, I also become vain. I will begin to speak, I will be overcome by vanity, I will remain silent, and again I will be overcome by it. No matter how you throw this three-horn, one horn will always go up.

Vanity prompts frivolous monks to prevent the coming of worldly people and leave the monastery to meet those coming; teaches them to fall at their feet and, being filled with pride, is clothed in humility; shows reverence in actions and voice, looking at the hands of those who came in order to receive something from them; call them rulers, patrons and givers of life according to God; during meals he encourages them to abstain in front of them and to treat inferiors imperiously; during psalmody he makes the lazy zealous, and the voiceless - well-singing, and the sleepy - cheerful; flatters the charter leader and asks to give him the first place in the choir, calling him father and teacher until the visitors leave.

Vanity makes the angry meek before people.

Bad vanity will teach us to accept the image of virtue, which is not in us, convincing us of this with the words of the Gospel: “So let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds” (Matthew 5:16).”

Priest Pavel Gumerov:

« Vanity can have not only rough, direct forms, but also dress itself in humble, even monastic, clothes. Paradoxically, a vain person can even perform ascetic deeds and be proud of his “humility.” Fueled by vanity and the enemy of the human race, such a would-be monk can be very successful in his “exploits,” but the Lord will certainly humble him. Two brothers lived in Constantinople, laymen; they were very pious and fasted a lot. One of them went to a monastery and became a monk. He was visited by his brother who remained in the world. Then he saw that the monk was eating at lunchtime, and, tempted, said to him: “Brother, in the world you did not eat food until sunset!” The monk answered him: “It’s true! But in the world I was fed through my ears: empty human words and praise fed me a lot and eased the labors of asceticism.”

“From the hidden, secret vanity, let us move on to the open. Vanity is a very powerful motivator that helps people achieve great success. Let's look at the so-called “stars”, famous people whose activities are related to art, show business or sports. These people almost always serve the idol of vanity. They place the best years of their life, health, family happiness, and motherhood on the altar of this deity. Everything that is usually of great value to a person is sacrificed to vanity. All for the sake of one thing: to stay a little longer on the crest of glory, to bask in its rays. Famous opera singer, who recently divorced his wife, was asked what was higher for him: family or career, success; he confidently replied that he would even sacrifice his family for the sake of growth in his profession. Singing and music are the most important things in life for him. He spoke correctly Reverend Ambrose Optinsky: “Where there is a voice, there is a devil.” The devil of vanity.

What about professional sports? This is sheer vanity. Childhood, youth, health, everything free time given in order to hang a gilded or silver-plated circle made of a far from precious metal on the chest. Superhuman efforts are being made, the body is working for wear and tear. I had to communicate with professional athletes, almost every night is torture for them, their whole body, all old injuries and fractures begin to hurt. There is even a joke: “If an athlete doesn’t have any pain in the morning, it means he’s already dead.” And how much intrigue, envy and crime there are around show business, sports and politics!

If a person is already rooted in the passion of vanity, he cannot live without fame, life loses all meaning. Aging “stars” take advantage of any scandal, even directing and creating it themselves, in order to stay at the top of the star Olympus for at least a couple more years. Although, it would seem, everything that was possible has already been achieved, all awards, titles, regalia, and wealth have been received. Vanity is a drug, without it their life is impossible. Vanity goes hand in hand with envy. The vain person does not tolerate competition or rivalry. He is always the first and only. And if someone is ahead of him in something, black envy begins to gnaw at him.

It is very difficult to communicate with a person who is vain, narcissistic, and prone to boasting. After all, the word communication means that we have something in common with the interlocutor, but the vain person is only interested in his own person. His “ego”, self-esteem is above all. The pronoun “I” and its case forms “at me”, “to me” occupy the first place in his speech. “All this, at best, causes smiles from others, and at worst – irritation, envy and alienation.”

5. The destructiveness of vanity. Sources and creations of passion

Vanity arises and grows stronger in the soul from a lack of understanding of the depth of man’s fall, from ignorance of the fact that everything good has its source in God, and only Him alone, that a person cannot do anything good on his own as Jesus Christ Himself says:

“Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it is in the vine, so neither can you unless you are in Me. I am the vine, and you are the branches; He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes about the reasons for the development of the passion of vanity in the soul:

« Vanity comes from deep ignorance of God or from deep forgetfulness of God, from oblivion of Eternity and heavenly glory, and therefore it, in its darkness, insatiably strives to acquire earthly, temporary glory.”

St. Right John of Kronstadt:

The root of all evil is a proud heart, or self-pity, self-sparing; from self-love or excessive and unlawful love for oneself stem all passions: coldness, insensibility and hard-heartedness towards God and neighbor, evil impatience or irritability, hatred, envy, stinginess, despondency, pride, doubt, lack of faith and disbelief, greed for food and drink, or gluttony, covetousness, vanity, laziness, hypocrisy.

Evagrius the monk points out that one of the sources of vanity is the love of money:

The demon of the love of money seems to me to be very diverse and inventive in seduction. ... gradually seducing the soul, he entangles it with thoughts of love of money and transfers it to the demon of vanity.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes that vanity, born from arrogance, in turn becomes the cause of falling into delusion, with all the passions that accompany delusion:

“He who is in the delusion of “opinion” acquires a false view of everything around him. He is deceived both within himself and without. Daydreaming... constantly creates pseudo-spiritual states, close friendship with Jesus, internal conversation with Him, mysterious revelations, voices, pleasures, builds on them a false concept of oneself and of the Christian feat, builds a generally false way of thinking and a false mood of the heart, leading to ecstasy himself, then into excitement and enthusiasm. These various sensations arise from the action of refined vanity and voluptuousness... Vanity and voluptuousness are aroused by arrogance, this inseparable companion of “opinion.” Terrible pride, similar to the pride of demons, is the dominant quality of those who have acquired both charms. Pride leads those seduced by the first type of charm into a state of obvious insanity; in those deceived by the second type, it, also producing mental damage, called corruption of the mind in Scripture, is less noticeable, clothed in the guise of humility, piety, wisdom, and is known by its bitter fruits. Those infected with an “opinion” about their own merits, especially about their holiness, are capable and ready for all intrigues, all hypocrisy, deceit and deception, all atrocities.”

If the passion of vanity has taken possession of a person, his mind is blinded by passion, he falls into many sins: man-pleasing, self-indulgence, ambition, envy, slander, slander, condemnation, fornication, deceit, hypocrisy and lies, and delusion. He ceases to see his sins and is deprived of the spirit of repentance. All this deprives him of God’s grace and separates him from God. Vanity gives rise to pride in him. This happens if a person attributes all his successes to his personal efforts. Pride is the cause of such spiritual troubles as loss of the fear of God, hardening of the heart, and blasphemy against God. The holy fathers write about this:

Saint Basil the Great:

Doing not out of love for God, but for the sake of praise from people, whatever it may be, finds itself not praise for piety, but condemnation for man-pleasing, or for self-indulgence, or for ambition, envy, or for other similar guilt.

Vanity is not only the eradicator of good deeds, but also a guide to evil deeds.

St. John Chrysostom:

Such is the spirit of vanity that it blinds the minds of people even in relation to the most obvious objects, encourages them to contradict even the most recognized truths, and makes others, both very well aware of the truth and confident in it, hypocritically resist it.

A person susceptible to the disease of vanity does not know friendship, does not want to respect anyone at all; on the contrary, having expelled all the good from the soul, he is fickle, incapable of love, and takes up arms against everyone.

This passion perverted everything: it gave rise to covetousness, envy, slander, slander; it arms and embitters people.

Vanity is terrible: it can blind and wise people, if they don't stay awake.

Just as a worm eats the trees in which it is born, rust eats iron and moths eat fabric, so vanity destroys the soul that has nurtured this passion in itself. Therefore, it takes a lot of effort to exterminate this passion in oneself.

I would rather be a slave to many barbarians than to one man, since barbarians do not command what vanity commands to their subordinates. Be a servant of all, it says, whether they be greater than you or lesser. Don’t worry about your soul, don’t worry about virtue, laugh at freedom, sacrifice your salvation, and if you do any good, then do it not to please God, but for show to people, so that you can receive a crown from them; If you give alms or fast, endure the labor, but try to destroy the benefit. What could be more inhumane than such demands? This is where envy, arrogance, and love of money originate.

A soul thirsting for honor and glorification will not see the Kingdom of Heaven.

Venerable Macarius Egyptian:

Sometimes seemingly good undertakings are carried out for the sake of glory and human praise, and this before God is equal to untruth, theft and other sins.

Venerable Neil of Sinai:

“Often thoughts of fornication arise from vanity...

The previous man-pleasing and vanity is, of course, followed by pride, arrogance and all sorts of shameful demonic passion.

If you begin to be vain and proud, the Lord will depart from you...

He who is caught in vanity cannot be at peace either with himself or with his neighbor.”

“...who, having conquered vanity, can have pride? Between these passions there is the same difference as between a boy and a man, between wheat and bread, for vanity is the beginning, and pride is the end. So, according to the order of the Word, let us now briefly talk about the wicked ascension, about this beginning and the fulfillment of all passions...

Vanity in its appearance is a change in nature, corruption of morals, observation of reproaches. In terms of quality, it is a waste of labor, a loss of sweat, a thief of spiritual treasure, the offspring of unbelief, the forerunner of pride, drowning in a harbour...

The simple at heart are not very susceptible to poisoning by this poison, for vanity is the destruction of simplicity and feigned living.

Vanity makes those who are preferred proud, and those who are despised - spiteful.

Then I asked the same father: “How is vanity the matter of pride?” He answered me: “Praises elevate and puff up the soul, but when the soul ascends, then pride embraces it, which elevates it to the heavens and brings it down to the abyss.”

It often happens that a worm, having reached full age, receives wings and flies to heights, and vanity, having intensified, gives birth to pride, the master and finisher of all evil.

Whoever is not caught by vanity will not fall into insane pride, hostile to God.

Often the Lord heals the vain of vanity through dishonor.

Vanity is often the cause of dishonor instead of honor, for it brings great shame to his angry disciples.”

Rev. Neil Sorsky:

“...always being zealous, let us protect ourselves in every possible way from vanity. If we are not sober, but we often entertain vainglorious thoughts, then soon, once established, they will give rise to arrogance and pride, which is the beginning and end of all evils.”

Abba Serapion:

... vanity and pride are connected to each other in the same way as the previous passions, so that the strengthening of one gives rise to the other: from excessive vanity the passion of pride is born.

Rev. Barsanuphius and John:

Question 457. Who is vain? And who is proud? And how does a person become proud?

Answer. From the desire to please people, a person comes to vanity. When it increases, pride comes.

Reverend Abba Isaiah:

It is impossible for one who loves human glory to achieve dispassion: envy and zeal live in him.

Rust eats up iron, and ambition is the heart of the man who indulges this passion.

Far from crying is he who indulges in worldly concerns because of vanity.

Possessed by the passion of vanity, he is alien to the world, hardens his heart against the saints and, to complete his evils, falls into arrogance, pride and the habit of lying.

Venerable Ephraim the Syrian:

Do not try to show yourself (before people) to be skillful in any matter, so as not to fall into vanity, which leads to voluptuousness, anger and sadness.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):

Vanity makes the soul incapable of spiritual movements, which begin when the movements of spiritual passions become silent, being stopped by humility.

Rev. Ambrose Optinsky:

Vanity and pride are one and the same. Vanity shows off its deeds so that people can see how you walk, how cleverly you do. And after that pride begins to despise everyone. Just as a worm first crawls and bends, so does vanity. And when his wings grow, his pride flies upward.

Vanity does not give us peace, inciting us to jealousy and envy, which trouble a person, arousing a storm of thoughts in the soul.

We are all quite often, more or less, afflicted with vanity and pride. And nothing hinders success in spiritual life more than these passions. Where there is indignation, or disagreement, or discord, if you look carefully, it turns out that the majority of this is due to love of glory and pride. This is why the Apostle Paul commands, saying: “Let us not be vain, annoying one another, or envious of one another” (Gal. 5:26). Envy and hatred, anger and resentment are the common offspring of vanity and pride. The Monk Macarius of Egypt also denotes the chain itself, how these passions are linked to one another and one gives birth to the other. He writes in the book “Seven Words”: “hatred comes from anger, anger from pride, and pride from self-love” (Word 1, chapter 8). And the Lord in the Gospel directly declares that those who do good for the sake of glory and praise will receive their reward here. Likewise, those who practice virtue with pride and condemnation of others are rejected by God, as the Gospel parable of the publican and the Pharisee shows. And blessed humility, as stated in that parable, justifies the faulty and sinful before God.

Georgy the Recluse of Zadonsky:

The Lord in the Gospel denounces those who love glory: “How can you believe, if you accept glory from one another, and do not seek glory that is from one God” (John 5:44)? You see the meaning of the Lord’s word: that those who accept vain glory, or those who are vain, cannot believe and live in the glory of God.

Evagrius the monk:

Of the thoughts, only one thought of vanity is multi-material; it covers almost the entire universe and opens the gates to all demons, like an evil traitor to a certain city. He especially humbles the hermit’s mind, filling it with many words and things, and destroys his prayers, with which the hermit tries to heal all the ulcers of his soul. This thought is nurtured by all the already defeated demons; and, on the other hand, thanks to him, all [other] demons enter the souls of [people] - and then they really make “the last worse than the first” (Matthew 12:45). From this thought the thought of pride is born, which casts down from heaven to earth “the seal of likeness and the crown of kindness” (Ezek. 28:12).

When demons cannot bring the violent and desirable [principles of the soul] into confusion at night, then they invent dreams generated by vanity and reduce the soul to the quagmire of thoughts. As an example of these demonic dreams, the following can be cited: often someone sees himself [in a dream] either distributing punishments to demons, or healing some bodily ailments, or [worthily] wearing the vestments of a shepherd and tending [his] small [verbal] flock . And upon waking up, he immediately begins to dream about how he will be ordained a priest - and about such things, and similar ones, [the hermit sometimes] thinks all day long. Or [he dreams that he] will be given the gift of healings, then he sees in advance the miracles [performed by him, and joyful] healed people, honors from the brethren and offerings from outsiders who come to him both from Egypt and from foreign lands, attracted by [his] fame.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:

Do you see what satanic poison is hidden in vanity? All deeds, no matter what a person does, it turns into abomination and desolation how the sea makes the water of all the rivers flowing into it salty. This disease of the spirit makes us vile before God, and how hidden this vice is, so vile. We can protect ourselves from sensual idols and other sins, since we see them, but it is very difficult to protect ourselves from this idol, which nests in our hearts, because it resides so secretly in the heart.

Vanity is a poison that kills the soul.

You see an apple... beautiful in appearance, but inside eaten away by a poisonous worm, not only no longer useful to a person, but also harmful. This can be the case with a human deed: although it seems good from the outside, when it comes from the heart, filled with self-love, vanity and pride, it is not only not useful for it, but also harms it. For such a person does not give glory to God, from Whom all good things come, and what should be given to God alone, he ascribes to himself. With God's gifts he is not God's glory, but he abuses his own, and so in the place in which he should place God, he places himself, like an animated idol, and so falls away and departs in heart from God and falls into the godless vice of spiritual idolatry. Such are those who give abundant alms, create God's temples, almshouses, but from this they seek human glory and praise, who teach and instruct people in order to be known as wise and reasonable, and so on; and these are the devil’s machinations and the pride of a foolish and blind heart.

Shiig. John (Alekseev):

Yes, spiritual life, science from sciences, requires spiritual reasoning, and reasoning is born from humility. Among the Egyptian elders, if any virtue was discovered, it was not considered a virtue, but a sin. This is how the saints feared vanity! Holy Archbishop Theophilus visited Mount Nitria and the Abba of the mountain came to him. The archbishop said to him: “What virtue, according to your experienced consciousness, is the highest on the monastic path?” The elder answered: “Obedience and constant self-reproach.” The Archbishop said: “There is no other way but this.” Saint Barsanuphius the Great said: "If you fulfill three conditions, no matter where you live, you will be peaceful. 1st - leave your will behind you; 2nd - reproach yourself and 3rd - consider yourself worse than everyone else."

I sincerely thank you for the watermelon, although I received it in a disheveled state, the watermelon was broken, the paper was all wet, the postal lady was unhappy, the other packages were wet. You probably sent it with vanity; It always happens that whoever does something with vanity, expect dishonor.

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets:

Geronda, why do I feel empty inside?

It's out of vanity. When we strive to rise in the eyes of people, we feel inside emptiness - the fruit of vanity. After all, Christ does not come into emptiness, but into the heart of a renewed person. Unfortunately, often people of spiritual life often strive to acquire virtue, but they also want to have something that would feed their pride - social recognition, privileges, etc. This is how emptiness appears in their souls, the emptiness of vanity. There is no completeness, no heartfelt joy. And the more vanity grows in them, the more the emptiness in their soul increases and the more they suffer.

Geronda, what causes the heaviness that I experience in my work?

You do not strive with humility. He who strives with humility does not encounter difficulties in his work. But when a person has spiritual aspirations, accompanied by vanity, then heaviness arises in the soul. The remaining passions do not hinder us so much in our spiritual ascent if we humbly call upon the mercy of God. But when the tangalashka catches us with vanity, then blindfolds us and forces us to follow him along a narrow and dangerous path, then we feel heaviness in our souls, because we are in the area of ​​action of the tangalashka’s forces.

6. Vanity steals work

Vanity deprives a person of all the fruits of his labors, turning them into nothing, as the holy fathers write about:

Venerable Ephraim the Syrian:

Vanity is a ghost... convincing us to work for virtue and turning these works into nothing.

The devil destroys vigil and fasting, alms and deeds and all other blessings because of hated vanity and arrogance.

St. Basil the Great explains how and why vanity deprives a person of the fruits of his labors, God’s rewards for virtues:

We must especially avoid vanity ... which deprives us of crowns after labors - this invincible enemy of our salvation, which, under the very heavenly circles, sets an ambush against us and tries to overthrow the virtues that have sprouted to Heaven itself. When vanity sees that the merchant of piety has already filled the ship with all sorts of goods of virtue, then, stirring up a storm, he tries to capsize and sink it. Convincing the mind of a swimmer, hurrying to the Heavenly Kingdom, to turn his gaze to the world below and to human glory, suddenly dissipates all his spiritual wealth and, razing the foundations of virtue to the ground, overthrows the labors that reached to Heaven. It leads to the fact that we ask people for rewards for what we have done, when we should, fixing our gaze on God alone and for His sake, keeping our good deeds secret, expect a worthy reward from Him alone. A We, preferring to good for the sake of God - labor for the sake of glory from people and demanding from them a vain reward - praise, are worthily and righteously deprived of God's rewards, not working for God, but giving ourselves over to work for people, and from them, instead of rewards, receiving the loss of all rewards . What can we ask ourselves from God, for whom we did not want to do anything?.. Let us avoid vanity, this flattering robber of spiritual wealth, this flattering enemy of our souls, this worm that undermines virtues; vanity, which with pleasure plunders our goods, calling honey the poison of its seduction and serving a destructive cup to human minds so that they can revel in this passion without satiety, because human glory is sweet for the inexperienced.

Venerable Neil of Sinai:

A bag with holes does not retain what is put in, and vanity ruins the reward for virtue.

Saint John Chrysostom:

Do not ruin your work with vanity, do not let your sweat be shed in vain, and you, having run thousands of miles, lose all reward. The Lord knows your merits much better.

Anyone infected with vanity - whether he fasts, prays, or gives alms - is deprived of his reward. What misfortune could be greater than, exhausting oneself, being ridiculed and being deprived of heavenly glory?

The misfortune is that there is a disease - vanity; it harms you not only when you sin, but also when you have merit; in this case she subjects you to countless reproaches, in another she deprives you of any reward.

Venerable John Climacus:

Vanity in its appearance is a change in nature, corruption of morals, observation of reproaches. In quality, it is a waste of labor, a loss of sweat, a thief of spiritual treasure, the fiend of unbelief, the forerunner of pride, drowning in a pier, an ant on the threshing floor, which, although small, nevertheless plunders all labor and fruit. The ant awaits the collection of wheat, and vanity - the collection of wealth, for he rejoices that he will steal, and this - that he will waste it.

Every person who likes to show off himself is vain. The fast of a vain person remains without reward and his prayer is fruitless, for he does both for human praise.

A vain ascetic causes double harm to himself: first, that he exhausts his body, and second, that he does not receive a reward for it.

Abba Dorotheus:

When someone saves himself from this, he must note that, while doing even a small good, he does not do it with vanity, or out of man-pleasing, or for some human impulse, so that this small thing does not ruin everything that he has done, as we talked about caterpillars, hail and the like.

Priest Pavel Gumerov:

“When we start any good business, we need to be especially on guard so as not to be captivated by vanity. After all, very often, when we help people, deep down in our souls we are driven by pride and vanity, and, having seemingly accomplished a good deed, we can spoil all the work by expecting vain praise. He who works for the sake of vanity and praise already receives a reward here, which means he will not receive it from the hands of the Creator. Sometimes we can observe how easily and quickly things go if we are driven by vanity, and, conversely, with what difficulty and what temptations a truly good deed, started without a secret desire to receive praise and self-satisfaction, sometimes progresses. If we have succeeded in anything, we need to more often remember the words of the prophet David: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory” (Ps. 113:9). And it is especially useful if we are not only not rewarded for our work, but, on the contrary, are even reviled. St. Isaac the Syrian says: “Drink reproach as the water of life.” This is the kind of thing that will truly benefit the soul. And “God gives thanks for the ungrateful,” as one of my good friends, now deceased, said.

Saint Theophan the Recluse calls vanity a “household thief”; it creeps up unnoticed and steals from us the work that we have undertaken for the sake of God and our neighbor, and the reward for it. The same thing happens when, out of boasting, we begin to tell other people about our good deeds, robbing ourselves of the opportunity to receive a reward from the Lord for them. Vanity can also steal prayerful works if they are performed without humility.”

Rev. Macarius of Optina:

Just as in every good deed vanity and an opinion about oneself are intertwined, one must resist and reject it; and just as a climbing plant dries out many trees, so vanity destroys good deeds.

Georgy the Recluse of Zadonsky:

It is true that vanity must be guarded more than death itself! It, like hell, devours the great virtues of people who love to be vain.

7. Praise harms a person

St. Theophan the Recluse writes about the spiritual harm praise brings to a person:

"Praises, as I already wrote, It’s the same as tripping someone running… and someone else is out of breath!.. God forbid!”

“You write: “Why not sometimes praise someone else?” - It happens that they praise. Good involuntarily evokes praise; praise revives the praised and gives him wings. But This is not a safe matter. It can seed conceit, and further lead to arrogance and pride. That's the trouble: for pride is cursed by the Lord. You expect that praise will give birth to humility, when you think that you are not worth it. - It happens, maybe this too; but this kind of birth, due to its rarity and unnaturalness, must be called a miracle. One of the fathers said that praising is the same as giving a leg to someone walking in a hurry.. This one falls and breaks his nose until it bleeds. Something similar, one must assume, is produced by praise in the soul of someone who is good on the spiritual path. - Therefore, it is better to admit that the idea that praise leads to humility is not of heavenly origin. This is the suggestion of one who has the custom of putting on the Angel of Light without being one.”

“Having raised the daughter of Jairus, the Lord “strictly ordered” her parents “so that no one knew about it” (Mark 5:43). This tells us: do not seek glory, and do not strain your ear to hear people’s praises, even though your deeds are of such a kind that they cannot be hidden. Do what the fear of God and conscience force you to do, and treat human talk as if it did not exist at all. And look after your soul: as soon as it leans in the slightest degree towards this side, return it to your rank. The desire for people to know is driven by the desire for praise. When there is praise, then the goal seems to be achieved, and this undermines the energy and stops the praiseworthy activity, therefore, the continuation of the praise. It turns out that anyone who wants people to know his good deeds is his own enemy! What people praise, they do good, for what is good if not praised? But don’t have this in mind, and don’t expect it, and don’t look for it. If you indulge yourself in this, you will be completely spoiled. One indulgence will lead to another. Doing the same things more often will turn into a disposition, and you will become ambitious. And when you get to this point, then not all your deeds will be praiseworthy, and your boasting will be reduced. For lack of external praise, self-praise will begin, which the Lord called blowing a trumpet before himself. This is even worse. The soul then becomes petty, chases only tinsel, and you don’t expect true good from it.”

Rev. Ambrose Optinsky:

“Whoever reproaches us gives us gifts, and whoever praises us steals from us.”

Etc. Macarius of Optina:

How harmful is human glory! Even if a person definitely had something worthy of praise, when he delights in the noise of these words, he is already deprived of future glory, according to the teaching of the holy fathers.

Rev. John Climacus:

...The Lord often hides from our eyes those virtues that we have acquired; the person who praises us, or, better said, misleads us, opens our eyes with praise; and as soon as they are opened, the wealth of virtue disappears.

The flatterer is a servant of demons, a leader to pride, a destroyer of tenderness, a destroyer of virtues, a diverter from the true path. ...Your blessed ones flatter you... - says the prophet (Is. 3: 12).

St. Basil the Great:

Flattery is a hidden crime against one’s neighbor, committed under the guise of goodness.

Rev. Isidore Pelusiot:

Sensible people should avoid being flattered and flattering themselves.

One should shun flatterers more than arrogant people. For such honor makes the inattentive more harm rather than an insult, and It is more difficult for a person to gain control over himself when he is flattered than when he is insulted.

St. John Chrysostom:

"How much harm our friends do to us when they praise and caress us, our enemies bring just as much benefit by speaking ill of us, although fairly, if only we want to take proper advantage of their censures. After all, friends often flatter us out of love, and enemies expose our sins. Out of pride, we do not see our shortcomings, but out of enmity, they look at us carefully and with their slander put us under the need to improve. And so their enmity becomes a source of greatest benefit for us, because, admonished by them, we not only recognize our sins, but also lag behind them.

Praises are puffed up to the point of madness and with their sweetness they destroy what deserves reward.

Why do you seek praise from people? Don’t you know that this praise, like a shadow, dissolves into thin air and disappears? Moreover, people are so fickle and changeable: the same people praise the same person today, and blame tomorrow.

The significance of praise usually burdens the conscience no less than sins.

Those who praise us increase arrogance in us, arouse pride, vanity, carelessness and make the soul pampered and weak.

Avoid human approval - and then you will receive many praises from both God and people.

By seeking human praise, you dishonor not only yourself, but also God.”

Reverend Abba Isaiah:

If you willingly listen to praise for yourself, there is no fear of God in you.

Woe to us that we, filled with all filth, delight in the praises of men.

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets:

“- Geronda, I heard praise and...

So what? What should we care about? How do others treat us or how does Christ treat us? Will others be our driving force or will Christ? You serious man, so don't act frivolously. I am often praised, including by important people, but their praise makes me sick. I laugh to myself and brush their praise aside. And you too, as soon as you hear something like that, immediately throw it away from you. These things are rotten! What do we gain from others praising us? Just that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow the Tangalash girls will laugh at us? A person who rejoices when others praise him is deceived by demons.

If a person is damaged, that is, infected with pride or predisposed to it, then any praise, “worldly” or “spiritual” (relating to the body or soul), is harmful. Therefore, it is better not to simply praise others. After all, if a person is spiritually weak, then with our praise we will only harm him, he may die.

Praise is like a drug. For example, a person who begins to preach sermons in a church may, after the first time, ask others whether the sermon was a success, what he should pay attention to so as not to harm the listeners. Another person, in order to encourage him, can say: “You spoke well, but I think it’s worth paying attention to this.” But then a prideful preacher may come to the point where he will ask the opinions of others just to get their praise. And if they tell him: “Yes, it was a good sermon,” he will be happy. “This is how they praise me,” he will think and become arrogant. But if they tell him: “Bad sermon,” he will begin to worry. Do you see how a tangalashka deceives a person with just a candy of praise? First, a person asks with a good disposition in order to understand where he needs to improve. And then he begins to ask the opinions of others in order to hear praise, which brings him joy!

If you rejoice and feel a sense of satisfaction when you are praised, and get upset and hang your nose when you are reprimanded or told that you did something not very well, then know that this state is worldly. And your worldly excitement and worldly joy. A spiritually healthy person rejoices if you tell him: “You did a bad job,” because by doing this you help him see his mistake. He admits that he did not do the job very well, so God enlightens him, and next time he will do it well. But again, he will believe that it was not he who made it, but God. “What could I do alone?” says such a person. If God did not help me, I would do nothing but absurdities.” Such a person has the right structure.

Geronda, how can we make sure that we feel the same both when we are praised and when we are scolded?

If you hate worldly glory, then you will accept both praise and reproach with equal disposition.”

Schema-abbot Ioann (Alekseev):

Know that reproach and shame, although unpleasant to endure, are very useful and saving for us; If you listen to yourself more strictly, you will learn by experience. We must be afraid of praise, because it fosters vanity and conceit: Woe if praise comes before deeds.

8. About praising yourself

They often ask what’s wrong with praising yourself a little for something well done, supporting, comforting yourself such praise, especially in difficult times. Here it is important to know that this “consolation” is fraught with the opposite - the seed of passions, sorrow, depriving us of the one true Comforter. According to the patristic teaching, any praise of oneself leads to loss of grace, to self-delusion, to delusion, to temptation and a fall in that in which we praised ourselves. It would be correct not to praise ourselves, but to give glory to God for what we have done good, while reproaching ourselves The point is that we could have done it better, but failed due to our corruption by sin. The praise of God attracts to us God's grace, which enlightens and strengthens the soul, and promotes all that is good in us.

Rev. Macarius of Optina:

“You write about your highly intelligent thoughts, that in every correction your thoughts praise you: this is very dangerous and is the beginning of delusion.

Your laudatory thoughts are the fault of other falls.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):

“The feeling of crying and repentance is the only thing needed by a soul that has come to the Lord with the intention of receiving forgiveness of its sins from Him. This is the good part! If you have chosen her, then may she not be taken away from you! Do not exchange this treasure for empty, false, violent, supposedly blessed feelings, Do not destroy yourself by flattery.

If you need to talk with yourself, bring yourself not flattery, but self-reproach. Bitter medicines are useful to us in our state of decline. Those who flatter themselves have already accepted their reward here on earth - their self-delusion, praise and love of a world hostile to God: they have nothing to expect in eternity except condemnation.”

“While protecting our virtues from damage by human praise, we must protect them from the evil that lives in us... not to be carried away by vain thoughts and dreams... and vain pleasure.”

Rev. John Climacus:

“It is a great thing to reject human praise with your soul, but it is even more important to turn away from yourself the demonic praise that comes from your thoughts.

Whoever exalts himself by natural gifts, that is, by wit, understanding, skill in reading and pronunciation, quickness of mind and other abilities that we have acquired without difficulty, will never receive supernatural benefits, for he who is unfaithful in small things and in many things is unfaithful and vain.”

Venerable Barsanuphius and John:

“Question 423. When people praise me, or a thought is in my heart, and this weighs on me, then how should I deal with this thought?

Answer. When a thought praises you and you cannot avoid harm, try to call on the name of God and tell your thought: Scripture says: “My people who are blessed with you deceive you and trouble the paths of your feet.”(Isa. 3:12). What is praise, brother? Nothing more than seduction; (listen) to the Prophet, who cries out about this, saying: “Every man is grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of grass” (Isa. 40:6). And that he who receives human praise does not receive any benefit, the Master Himself says: “As much as you can believe in Me, who receives glory from man” (John 5:44). If anything happens according to God, then we must remember what was said: “Let him boast in the Lord” (2 Cor. 10:17), for the Apostle, having achieved great measure, did not boast within himself, but cried out, saying : “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10). To him indeed be glory and splendor forever, amen.”

Saint John Chrysostom:

“Why do you examine your virtues and flaunt them? Or don’t you know that by praising yourself, you will no longer be praised by God?

A person carried away by fame is incapable of thinking anything great and noble; he inevitably becomes shameful, low, dishonest, insignificant.”

St. rights John of Kronstadt:

When a reckless thought comes into your head - to count some of your good deeds, immediately fix this mistake and quickly count your sins, your continuous, countless insults to the All-Good and Righteous Master, and you will find that you have them like the sand of the sea, and, in comparison with them, there are no virtues.

9. Vanity prevents a person from seeing his sins.

As we have already read from the holy fathers, Vanity blinds a person's mind. In his distorting mirror, he sees himself full of all merits and virtues, a righteous man, not in need of a doctor, not in need of a Savior - he is unable to see his sins, and therefore to repent of them and through repentance receive healing from God. And thus he remains a slave to passions, thinking that he has already been saved by his imaginary virtues.

Venerable Isidore Pelusiot:

External glory enhances internal ignominy, and Imaginary health, instilling in a person the idea that he is really healthy, does not allow treatment.

Priest Pavel Gumerov writes that vanity hides our sins from us:

“Why did the holy fathers, ascetics, who seemingly conquered all passions, see their sins as countless as the sand of the sea? Precisely because they overcame vanity and acquired humility. There was no need for them to appear in their own eyes and in the eyes of other people less sinful than they were. Approaching God, they saw themselves as insignificant before the greatness of the Creator. Remember how Abba Dorotheos asked one of the noble citizens of the town of Gaza: who will he consider himself to be when he approaches the emperor? Byzantine Empire? And he answered: “Almost a poor man.” How closer person to God, the more objectively he evaluates himself.

Shiig. John (Alekseev):

How much I told you, spiritual child, for the benefit of the soul and gave spiritual advice borrowed from Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers, but you turned out to be very stupid; I’m even ready to hang a millstone on myself and in the water. Do you know the reason? I'll explain to you: conceit and vanity: they do not allow you to see yourself as you really are, but dreamed something great about yourself.

10. Fighting the passion of vanity

The passion of vanity is resisted and overcomes by the virtue of humility, say the holy fathers.

To resist the passion of vanity, it is necessary to realize the deep mental and physical weakness of a person whose nature is upset by original sin, and therefore his own weakness. Following the Word of God:

« You can't do anything without Me"(John 15:4-5),

- the holy fathers instruct that we cannot do anything good on our own, but only with the help of God, and therefore we must give all the glory to the one God, thank Him for everything good, and reproach ourselves for the shortcomings and imperfections of our deeds, even if we do according to our weaknesses, we cannot see our sins. We also need self-reproach in any unpleasant case: we must learn to blame ourselves for everything, not others.

The Holy Fathers say that the passion of vanity “is driven out by intense prayer and voluntary renunciation of doing or saying anything to [acquire] accursed glory” (Evagrius the monk), sobriety, fear of God, remembering one’s sins and reproaching oneself for them, thoughts about the perfection of the Lord's commandments, the memory of death and the Last Judgment.

This is how it grows in the soul the virtue of humility, which purifies the mental vision.

The vain person sees the world as if in reverse perspective. He thinks that what is actually insignificant is important. A humbling himself, striving for things above and despising the worldly, temporary, transitory, a person learns to see things in the true light, in the light of God's truth. Then he can see the futility and insignificance of worldly glory, the temporary - small and unworthy of attention, and the great and eternal - truly great.

St. John Chrysostom writes about this true perspective:

"How can we overcome vanity? Let us contrast glory with glory. How we despise earthly wealth when we look at heavenly wealth and do not value real life, when we think about a much better life, in the same way we will be able to despise the glory of the present world, when we think about a much higher glory, about true glory.

Why can’t you overcome vanity when others overcome it, having the same soul, the same body, the same appearance, living the same life? Think about God, think about the highest glory, contrast it with the present - and you will soon leave behind vanity. If you absolutely desire glory, then seek true glory. Is glory the kind that makes you seek honor from those below you and has a need for it? Honor consists in enjoying glory from those above. If you absolutely desire glory, then seek better glory from God. Having loved this one, you will neglect that one, you will see how dishonest she is, and until you recognize this one, you will not see how shameful she is, how ridiculous she is. And while this passion possesses us, we cannot see what this evil is."

Rev. John Climacus:

“If we diligently want to please the Heavenly King, then, without a doubt, we will taste the glory of heaven; and the one who tastes it will despise all earthly glory; and I would be surprised if someone, without tasting the first, could despise the last.

Some, in order to obtain extreme dispassion and a wealth of talents, the power of miracles and the gift of clairvoyance, exhaust their bodies in vain, but these poor people do not know that it is not labor, but most of all humility, that is the mother of these blessings. Whoever asks God for his talents for his labors has laid a dangerous foundation; A whoever considers himself a debtor will suddenly and unexpectedly become rich.

Do not obey this leader when he teaches you to proclaim your virtues for the benefit of those who hear: “What good is it for a man if he uses the whole world but loses his own soul” (Matthew 16:26)? Nothing brings so much benefit to others as a humble and unfeigned character and word. In this way, we will also encourage others so that they do not ascend, and what could be more useful than this?

There is glory from the Lord, for the Scripture says: “... those who glorify Me I will glorify...” (1 Sam. 2:30); and there is glory that comes from the devil’s deceit, for it is said: “Woe if all men speak good things to you” (Luke 6:26). You will clearly recognize the first when you look at fame as harmful to you, when you turn away from it in every possible way and, wherever you go, you will hide your residence. The second one you can recognize when you do even the smallest thing so that people can see you.

The beginning to the destruction of vanity is guarding the lips and loving dishonor; the middle is cutting off all conceivable tricks of vanity; and the end (if there is an end in this abyss) is to try to do in front of people what humiliates us, and not feel any sorrow at it.

Do not hide your mistakes with this thought, so as not to give your neighbor a reason to stumble; although, perhaps, it will not be useful in every case to use this plaster, depending on the nature of the sins.

When we seek fame, or when it comes to us from others without seeking on our part, or when we attempt to use certain tricks that serve vanity, then let us remember our crying and think about the holy fear and trembling with which we stood before God in our solitary prayer; and thus, without a doubt, we will disgrace shameless vanity, if, however, we strive for true prayer. If we don’t have this in us, then let us hasten to remember our outcome. If we do not have this thought, then At the very least, let us fear the shame that follows vanity, because he who is exalted will certainly humble himself (Luke 14:11) even here, before the age to come.

When our praisers, or, better to say, seducers, begin to praise us, then let us hasten to remember our many iniquities and see that we are truly unworthy of what they say or do in our honor.”

St. rights John of Kronstadt instructs:

Remember, man, that you are a moral and physical nonentity.; moral - because you are all sin, passion, weakness, and physical - because your body is earthly dust; - so that through this they can vividly and tangibly show their humility before God, as the ancient people, and even today some, visually depicted this, sprinkling ashes on their heads, taking off their light clothes, which feed vanity and vanity in the immortal human spirit. So, man, the slightest good in you is from God., like the smallest trickle of air that is in you or exhaled by you, from the air around you.

Rev. Barsanuphius and John teach to humble the thoughts of vanity and arrogance:

Question 407. Also, when I do something good, how should I humble my thoughts? And how can you reproach yourself after doing something good?

Answer . For humility of thought, when you have done all good deeds and kept all the commandments, Remember Him who said: “When you have done everything commanded you, say: we are worthless slaves, because we did what we had to do.”(Luke 17:10), especially when we have not yet achieved even one commandment. This is how one should always think and reproach oneself when doing a good deed, and say to oneself: I don’t know whether it pleases God. It is a great thing to do according to the will of God, and to fulfill the will of God is even greater: this is the totality of all the commandments; for to do something according to the will of God is a private matter and less than fulfilling the will of God. That is why the Apostle said: “forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead” (Phil. 3:13). And no matter how much he stretched forward, he did not stop, but always saw himself as insufficient and succeeded; for he (the Apostle) said: “Whoever is perfect among you should think this way” (Phil. 3:15), that is, in order to prosper. He also said that if you think anything else, the Lord will reveal it to you.

Question 408, same. When I fulfill a commandment, how can I avoid arrogance, so as to know that, although I have done good, I am alien to it?

Answer. Brother! We must both recognize good deeds as good and resort to them as good, for good should not be considered evil. But if someone does good without the goal of pleasing God, this good turns out to be evil, according to the intention of the doer. Everyone must try to always do good, and subsequently, by the grace of God, it is given to him that his deeds will be accomplished out of the fear of God. So, when good is done through you, thank the Giver of good things as the Author of that good, but reproach yourself, saying: if I, too, were good at this work, then I could be a participant in this good - and then it will be possible for you to pray to God with tenderness that He will grant you to be a participant in the good work that has been accomplished through you.

Question 409, of the same thing. If I happen to show long-suffering in any matter, then my thoughts become wise; What should I think?

Answer. And before this I already told you that, when you happen to do something good, you should know that it is a gift from God, given to you by the goodness of God, for God has mercy on everyone. Pay attention to yourself, so that through your weakness you do not destroy the mercy He shows to you, which extends to all sinners. Do not lose what the Lord has given you for good in evil; This gift is lost when you praise yourself for having endured for a long time and forget God, who has blessed you.. On top of this, you will bring condemnation upon yourself as soon as you dare to attribute to yourself that for which you should send thanks to the Lover of Mankind. The apostle says: “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you didn’t receive it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). To the thought that praises you for something, say: those who swim in the sea and during the silence do not forget that they are still in the abyss, but always expect storms, dangers and drowning; what happened on short time silence does not bring them complete benefit, because they consider themselves safe only when they arrive at the pier. It also happened to many that even at the very entrance to the pier their ship sank. Likewise, a sinner, while he remains in this world, must always fear drowning. So, never be tempted to believe a thought that praises you for a good deed. Everything good is God’s, and due to our negligence we cannot ensure that it will remain with us. How can we dare to be arrogant after this?

Question 776. When I do something unjust and then correct myself, my thought becomes arrogant, convincing me that I have done something good; What should I tell him in this case?

Answer. Tell him: he who acts unjustly is punished, and whoever corrects his injustice escapes punishment and deserves praise: it is another to do good, and another to act unjustly. One pleases God and prepares us eternal peace, while the other angers Him and prepares eternal torment. This is the very thing that David says: “Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15). But without God we cannot do anything good, for He said: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5); and the Apostle says: “ What do you have that you wouldn't receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you didn’t receive it?"(1 Cor. 4:7). And therefore, when we cannot be arrogant in doing good, much less in keeping away from evil. It is great madness to take credit for the fact that we do not sin.. Take heed to yourself, brother, so that you are not deceived by evil demons, whom may the Lord abolish through the prayers of His saints. Amen.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):

Let us avoid vanity and pride as a renunciation of the Cross of Christ.

Venerable Anthony the Great:

Do not imitate the Pharisee, who did everything for show.

Don't wear clothes that make you vanity.

Evagrius the monk:

« This demon is driven out by intense prayer and voluntary refusal to do or say anything to [gain] damned glory.

No one can overcome these passions unless he neglects food, wealth and [worldly] fame, and also unless he neglects the body, for demons often try to strike [their] blows on it. It is necessary to imitate those who, exposed to danger at sea from strong winds and surging waves, things are thrown [overboard]. However, when doing this, you should be careful not to be in front of people, because otherwise you can suffer a more terrible shipwreck than before, falling into the headwind of vanity. Therefore, our Lord, cultivating the mind of [our] helmsman, says: “See that you do not do your alms before people so that they see you: otherwise you will have no reward from your Heavenly Father” (Matthew 6:1). Also: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; And again: “When you fast, do not be sad like the hypocrites: for they put on gloomy faces in order to appear to people as fasting. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward” (Matthew 6:16).”

“So, whoever wants to go royal way one must go with the weapon of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, in honor and dishonor, in reproach and praise (2 Cor. 6, 7, 8), and with such caution amid the surging waves of temptation, under the control of prudence and under the blowing of the Spirit of God, to guide the path of virtue, so as to know that if you deviate a little to the right or left side, you will immediately break on the underwater, fatal rocks. Therefore, the wise Solomon exhorts: do not turn aside to the right or to the left (Proverbs 4:27), i.e. do not be vainglorious in virtues, do not exalt yourself with happy successes in the spiritual, do not deviate onto the left path of vices, according to the Apostle, do not seek glory for yourself in your shame (Phil. 3:19). For in whom the devil could not generate vanity with the sight of well-tailored, neat clothes, he tries to tempt him with dirty, poorly made, wretched clothes. Whom he could not overthrow with honor, he will be crushed with humility; whoever could not be forced to exalt himself with knowledge and eloquence is deceived by the importance of silence. If anyone openly fasts, he will be tempted by vain glory. If, in order to avoid fame, one hides it (fasting), one is subject to the same vice of exaltation. In order not to stain himself with the infection of vain glory, he avoids performing lengthy prayers in front of his brothers; and when he begins to secretly practice them, without having a witness to this matter, he also does not avoid the arrows of vanity.

Remedies against vanity.

So, the ascetic of Christ, who wants to legitimately strive for a true, spiritual feat, must try with all his might to defeat this diverse, varied beast. We can avoid this, the many-sided evil that confronts us on all sides, if we reflect on the words of David: “God will scatter the bones of men-pleasers” (Ps. 53:6). Firstly, let us not allow ourselves to do anything with a vain intention, in order to obtain vain glory. Secondly, what we have done well at first, we must try to protect with due attention, so that the creeping passion of vanity does not subsequently abolish all the fruits of our efforts. Also, in order not to pay tribute to vanity, we must with all diligence avoid what is not done in the society of brothers or is not of common use, and avoid what can distinguish us from others and cause people to praise us for the fact that we are alone. we do. For these signs will indicate that the deadly infection of vanity has clung to us. We can easily avoid this by thinking that we will not only destroy the fruit of our labors if we do anything with a vain intention, but also, having become guilty of a great crime, like blasphemers, we will be subjected to eternal torment; since we wanted to do the work intended for God better for people, then the one who knows all the secrets will expose us that we preferred people to God and the glory of the world to the glory of the Lord.”

Rev. Neil Sorsky gives advice on how to deal with thoughts of vanity:

We need a lot of sobriety against the spirit of vanity, because very secretly, with all his tricks, he robs our intention, leaves the monk without success and tries to pervert our work, not for the sake of God, but out of vanity and man-pleasing. Because At all times it is appropriate for us to carefully examine ourselves, [our] feelings and thoughts, so that our work is for the sake of God and for the sake of spiritual benefit, and avoid human [praise] in everything, always before the eyes of [the mind] what was said by Saint David: “The Lord scattered the bones of men-pleasers” (Ps. 52:6), - and so always sweep away thoughts [of] praising and doing something compelling to please mankind; and with all our souls let us affirm the thought of doing everything for the sake of God. If someone, having a firm intention for God, is overcome by weakness, involuntarily by a [vain-glorious] thought, but confesses, praying to the Lord, and turns away from thoughts of vanity, then he is immediately forgiven and boasts of Him who knows our intentions and hearts. Let's do it this way: If, out of vanity, we begin to think about something, then we will remember [our own] crying and fear-filled anticipation of our solitary prayer, if we have them, but if not, then we will perceive the thought of our outcome - and we will certainly reflect shameless vanity. If this does not [work out], then at least we will fear the shame that follows vanity. For “he who ascends” will certainly “humble himself” here, before the next [age], (Luke 14:11) - this is what John Climacus says. If someone ever begins to praise us, or if an excuse for a vain thought is brought to our mind by invisible enemies, presenting us as worthy of honor, and majesty, and high thrones, as greater than others, - Immediately, we will rather remember in our minds the multitude and severity of our sins, or one of the worst ones. And holding him back, say: “Are those who do such things worthy of these praises?” And we will immediately find ourselves unworthy of those human praises, and demonic thoughts will run away and will no longer confuse us with their power, says Nikita Stifat. If, he said, you do not have any evil deeds, then think about the perfection of the commandments - and you will find yourself [as] insufficient as the font is small [in comparison with] the size of the sea.

Rev. Macarius of Optina:

“You write that you are carried away by praise and self-praise, and you ask: how can I resist this? Seems, It is best to resist with humility; do not attribute anything to yourself, but to God, for He said: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). What's yours? you are all God's creation; and the gift that you have is His; and ours is only sinfulness, which should humble us.

Vanity was also woven into your zeal, and you yourself know quite well how to avoid it; drive out this serpent from your hearts by self-reproach and avoid anything that can give him food; and whatever good you do, it is not yours, but God’s help and His property; you are only a tool, and the weakest one at that.

You write about your highly intelligent thoughts, that in every correction your thoughts praise you: this is very dangerous and is the beginning of charm. If every correction were followed by humility, it would be good. Remember your sins more and consider yourself less than everyone else; then the grace of God will justify you. Where are your corrections when you cannot stand any insults? And how can you stop eating dairy? This means adding oil to the fire, and there will be food for your vanity. Consume dairy with moderation, for the glory of God, and you will not be harmed in the least. And you are sick not from milk, but from impatience and lack of humility.

I only consider it necessary to remind you that everything good that you do should be imbued with humility: whether prayer, fasting, almsgiving, forgiveness of neighbors, etc. do all this for the glory of God and with humility. I offer this to you because I know that the hater of goodness, the devil, when he does not have time to turn us away from some good deed, he tries to darken it with arrogance and vanity.

What is done with good intention cannot harm; You just need to watch that ivy does not take hold of good plants, which can dry up their fruit - I mean ivy - vanity, which was approaching you; But For this you need to have courage of mind and see your thinness; and even the falls will be involuntarily subdued.

As far as I can see, you are driven by vanity, you want people not to notice your weakness, but you want to appear in good order; self-reproach and humility are not visible in you, for which you are not even trying.

You write that vanity fought you for your supposed prudence, but when I remembered the impurity of the high-hearted, it passed away; so it is necessary and always to purge this root of evil from the heart; He defiles all the plants of good deeds and makes them obscene. The holy fathers have a lot of instructions and teachings about this.

Lured by vanity, turn your thoughts to your fault. But what is there to be vain about when you are offering someone else’s teaching, not your own? and what God sends into the mind for the benefit of those who ask, according to their faith.

You explain your grief about what you got for your actions towards the world, and ask me to explain this to you, why does this happen? For in your very action your feeling is moved by love and fear. Let us assume that it is so, and let it not be defiled by arrogance and vanity, praise (which, however, later, it is true, the secret of your heart did not escape), but it must be cleansed by the fire of temptations and sorrows, and only then will it be pure love, when you lay down your soul for your neighbor; When you did it, you had time, but you didn’t put in your soul, you didn’t bear the labor and sorrow, but then she appeared, and you turned away into a murmur. What a rude and unenlightened people! You should be praised for this good deed, but they reproach you, and you were clearly looking for praise and reward for your good deed when you did not suffer reproach. Maybe you don’t see this in yourself, but look into the abyss of your heart, you will find a vain serpent nesting there, as if, under the guise of virtue, it brings secret pleasure and praises you that you have done good, for you see love and compassion in yourself, you see virtue, but there is no humility, which our Lord Himself teaches: “Even if you do all that is commanded, say, as we are unworthy servants: for whatever we ought to do, we have done” (Luke 17:10). And when I am an inexcusable slave, shouldn’t I endure everything and be sure that reproaches and annoyance could not be other than God’s watch for my correction, like an inexcusable slave; but we have only our righteousness, and I grow higher and higher, but it does not give me peace; Now consider yourself and the actions of God’s Providence over you to heal you.”

Schema-abbot Ioann (Alekseev):

“This...monastery was near the Nile River... Here’s another thing: in the same country and at the same times, two brothers lived in the same monastery, one was 12 years old, the other was 15 years old. The abbot sent them to bring food to the hermit. They carried it and on the way back they met a poisonous snake. The younger brother took the snake, wrapped it in a robe, and brought it to the monastery, of course, not without vanity. The monks surrounded the youths, were surprised and praised them for their holiness. The abbot was spiritually alive and sensible; He punished the youths with rods and said: “You have attributed God’s miracle to yourself; a weak conscience is better than virtue with vanity.” For he knew that miracles harm the saints.

Yes, we should not trust ourselves until we lie in the grave, and to persevere in virtue depends not on us, but on the grace of God. And the Lord protects for humility; The extent to which a person humbles himself, the extent to which he succeeds in spiritual life. Our work must be based on autocracy, and success depends on grace; So we must pray and ask the Lord for help. In spiritual life, the main feat is prayer.”

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets:

Geronda, how to drive away vanity thoughts?

Rejoice in things that are opposite to those that worldly people strive for. Only by having aspirations opposite to the worldly can one act in the realm of the spirit. If you want to be loved, be happy when they don’t pay attention to you. If you want a place of honor, sit on the bench. If you seek praise, love humiliation in order to feel the love of the humble Jesus. If you seek glory, strive for dishonor in order to experience the glory of God. And when you feel the glory of God, then you will feel happy and you will have within yourself a joy greater than the joys of the whole world.

Geronda, my thought tells me that if I change my obedience, leave the choir and stop painting icons, then I will stop constantly being proud and falling into temptation.

Even if you stop singing and painting icons, if you don’t hate vanity, you will make even more mistakes. And in your departure there will also be pride, even more pride, because in fact you want to give up your obediences so that your egoism is not infringed

Geronda, isn’t it better to do nothing at all than to do something and be proud at the same time?

If you are told to do something, then go and do it, but be careful not to stumble or fall. And if you stumble and fall, get up. Realize that you stumbled through inattention, and if you are told to do it again, do it, but be careful not to stumble again. If you fell once, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to do it next time! Now, if they tell you: “Don’t go, because you fell last time,” then don’t go. Understood? When you are told to do something, do it, but do it correctly and with humility. Doing nothing so as not to become proud is even worse. It’s like watching the battle from the outside, not fighting so as not to get injured. We need to fight, but we need to fight correctly.”

Priest Pavel Gumerov:

“How can we fight this cunning serpent, which gradually creeps into the soul and steals our works, reducing them to nothing?

As has already been said many times, by contrasting it with the opposite virtue - humility. For example, it is known that pride and resentment are a product of vanity. A person who does not tolerate criticism, is easily wounded, instantly takes offense and seems to say to himself: “How dare they? After all, I’m not like that, I’m good! How can they say that?” And although it will be unpleasant for us to hear this, most likely our offenders and critics are right. Well, maybe not 100%. After all, it’s clearer from the outside. We always imagine ourselves better than we really are, we forgive ourselves a lot that we would not tolerate in others. So there is something to think about. The touchy critic is despondent, but for smart person it is a stimulus for growth. Criticism generally invigorates and does not allow you to rest on your laurels, it forces you to correct. We must not only not be offended, but bow at the feet of the offenders as our educators, who at the right time “punch us in the nose” and clip the wings of our vanity.

Resentment, like anger, must be extinguished when it is still a small ember, a spark, before the flame of resentment flares up. If you don't add logs to the fire, it will go out. If you don’t “salt” the grievance, don’t cherish it, but try to forget it as soon as possible (or simply change your attitude towards criticism, that is, take it into account), the grievance will quickly pass.

Spiritual people, ascetics, not only are not afraid of reproach, but also joyfully accept it, as if they were asking for it, thereby hiding their exploits.

From Saint Theophan we also find advice on how to overcome vanity through humility. He writes to one woman: “It’s good not to sit down in church. And when vanity comes, sit down on purpose so that you can tell your thoughts when you start to feel vanity: after all, you sat down yourself. One father, when the thought of vanity came that he was fasting a lot, went out early to where there were a lot of people, sat down and began to eat bread.”

So, let's remember that vanity begins with little things: you boasted to someone good deed, somewhere they gladly accepted praise and flattery. And there it is not far before passion settles in our soul. To prevent this from happening, let us monitor vanity at the very beginning, treat ourselves critically and often say: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name.”

11. Reasoning in the fight against vanity

Rev. Barsanuphius and John teach reasoning in the fight against vanity:

Question 477. When I want to say or do a good deed and, fearing that it will cause confusion in my heart, I avoid it, do I do it well or not?

Answer . If, wanting to do or say something good, you are afraid that embarrassment will occur in you and, in fact, therefore you avoid it, then you are doing wrong, for you are giving in to the enemy and you will not avoid embarrassment: he will not cease to bring embarrassment and passion to you in every case. yours will intensify even more. And when you do things with prayer and the fear of God, then with God’s help, confusion will be abolished.

Question 473. You said, my father, that before I begin a conversation, I must consider the thought; what should I do if need demands that I say a word (before I have time to think it over), or if I am in general conversation, and in order not to seem silent, I also want to take some part in the general conversation and, moreover, I do not see any obvious sin in what I want to say, but, on the contrary, it seems to me that it is good or average. How do you command me to act in such a case, when I do not have time to fully judge whether there is a hidden sin in this?

Answer . When your word is really good or average and you need to say it, but you see that it can bring you vanity, either through praise from your listeners, or in some other way, then you must first affirm the thought not to accept vanity. But when you see that you are being defeated by him, it is better to remain silent than to harm yourself.

Question 778. Some, at the suggestion of the devil, think of me that I am reverent, because I do not often go to bargaining, and also do not interfere in worldly affairs. And when, without washing for a long time, I am forced to wash myself for the sake of a bodily need, I always feel shame, as if tempting those who think about me that out of reverence I refuse a bath. What does this mean, my father?

Answer. This is vanity; for you are a worldly man, and as we said, bathing is not prohibited to a worldly person in case of need. If Satan inspires some to assume that you are a prophet in order to lead your thoughts into arrogance, and at the same time you yourself want to confirm this false opinion about yourself, then know that you should be ashamed of what is the crime of God’s commandment, somehow : fornication, love of money and the like, for this contains temptation and for this everyone will give an answer not only regarding himself, but also regarding the harm caused through this to his neighbor. Washing in a bathhouse out of pampering, and not out of necessity, is a sin, and this really serves as a temptation. But there is no temptation to wash not out of pampering, but out of necessity, and whoever is tempted by this exposes himself to condemnation. And to be ashamed of this is demonic vanity.

Question 276, of the same thing. If someone is praised, shouldn't he respond, speaking as if with humility?

Answer . It is much more useful to remain silent. For if someone answers, it means that he accepts praise, and this is already vanity. Even when he thinks that he answers humbly, there is already vanity, for if he hears the same words that he speaks about himself from another, he cannot bear them.

12. Vanity is followed by fall.

Rev. John Climacus:

Often The Lord heals the vain of vanity through dishonor.

Rev. Neil Sorsky:

«… let us fear even the shame that follows vanity. For “he who is exalted” will certainly “humble himself” here, before the next [age], (Luke 14:11) - this is what John Climacus says.”

Rev. Macarius of Optina:

“What is done with good intention cannot harm; You just need to watch that ivy does not take hold of good plants, which can dry up their fruit - I mean ivy - vanity, which was approaching you; but for that you must have courage of mind and see your thinness; and even the falls will be involuntarily subdued.

...when we imagine something about ourselves and attribute good deeds to ourselves, then God’s help will be taken away.

Your laudatory thoughts try to catch them and place them among the same falls, or even worse, because they are the fault of other falls.

Anyone who boasts of anything will suffer temptation later.».

13. The fight against vanity does not stop until death.

Shiig. John (Alekseev):

Yes, we should not believe ourselves until we lie in the grave, and to persevere in virtue depends not on us, but on the grace of God. And the Lord protects for humility; The extent to which a person humbles himself, the extent to which he succeeds in spiritual life. Our work must be based on autocracy, and success depends on grace; So we must pray and ask the Lord for help. In spiritual life, the main feat is prayer...

Rev. John Cassian the Roman:

« When vanity is overthrown, then it rises even stronger.

All passions, having been overcome, wither, become weaker every day and in time diminish and subside, or at least, with the resistance of the opposite virtues, they can be avoided; and this passion, being overthrown, rises stronger; and when they think that she has been killed, she is strengthened even more alive by her death. Other passions usually only attack those whom they have defeated in the struggle, but this passion persecutes its winners even more cruelly; and the more she is crushed, the more she reeks of the pride of that very victory. And this is the subtlest cunning of the enemy, so that it forces the warrior of Christ, who was not defeated by the enemy’s weapons, to fall from his own arrows.

Vanity is not weakened by either desert or age.

Other passions are sometimes calmed down with the help of a place, and after the removal of the object of sin, or convenience, or the reason for it, they are usually tamed and reduced, but this passion penetrates even to those fleeing into the desert, and the place cannot exclude it, nor does it weaken from the removal of an external object. . For it is inspired by nothing other than the success of the virtues of the one it attacks. Other passions, as we have already said, sometimes weaken and cease over time; and this passion, if there is no caring diligence and prudence, even time not only does not suppress, but, on the contrary, encourages even more».

14. Humility

Humility is the opposite virtue of vanity; it conquers all passions, and it also conquers vanity.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes about What is the virtue of humility:

“Fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. Fear that arises during especially pure prayer, when the presence and greatness of God are especially strongly felt, so as not to disappear and turn into nothing. Deep knowledge of one's insignificance. A change in the view of one’s neighbors, whereby they, without any coercion, seem to the humbled person to be superior to him in all respects. The manifestation of simplicity from living faith. Hatred of human praise. Constant blaming and beating yourself up. Rightness and directness. Impartiality. Deadness to everything. Tenderness. Knowledge of the mystery hidden in the cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection and oblivion of flattering customs and words, modest due to compulsion, or intent, or the skill of dissimulation. Perception of the riot of the gospel. Rejection of earthly wisdom as indecent for heaven. Contempt for everything that is lofty in man and an abomination before God. Leaving word justification. Silence before those who offend, studied in the Gospel. Putting aside all your own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel. The casting down of every thought placed upon the mind of Christ. Humility, or spiritual reasoning. Conscious obedience to the Church in everything.”

The Gospel commandments command us to do everything in humility, in the name of the Lord:

“Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17).

“Which of you, having a slave plowing or herding, upon his return from the field, will say to him: Go quickly and sit down at the table? On the contrary, will he not say to him: prepare my supper and, having girded yourself, serve me while I eat and drink, and then eat and drink yourself? Will he thank this servant for carrying out the order? Don't think. So you too, when you have done everything commanded you, say: We are worthless servants, because we did what we had to do” (Luke 17:7-10).

Rev. Barsanuphius and John teach about the virtue of humility, which overcomes vanity:

"Question 275, the same and the same. My father, what is humility? What is humiliation? And what is contrition of heart? Does one acquire humility who humiliates himself in the heart? Or is it necessary for this to also endure external reproaches and annoyances from people and practice the lowest deeds [that is, those that are considered humiliating in the eyes of others]? Should the humble person also show his humility in words or try to be humble in actions?

Answer. Humility consists in under no circumstances considering oneself to be something., cut off our own will in everything, obey everyone and endure without embarrassment what befalls us from the outside. This is true humility, in which vanity has no place. A humble person should not try to show his humility in words, but it is enough for him to say: “Forgive me” or: “Pray for me.” One should also not be called upon oneself to perform low deeds [that is, those that are considered humiliating in the eyes of others], for both lead to vanity, hinder success and do more harm than good; but when something is commanded, not to contradict, but to carry out with obedience - this is what leads to success. Humiliation is of two kinds: one is heartfelt, and the other comes from reproaches received from the outside. Humiliation received from the outside is more heartfelt, for it is easier to humiliate oneself than to endure humiliation from others, because the latter produces a much greater illness in the heart. Contrition of the heart consists in guarding it and not allowing it to be carried away by unhelpful thoughts.”

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets.Words. Volume V. “Passion and Virtues”:

Evagrius of Pontus. About thoughts:

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priest Sergiy Dergalev

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Vanity- a pronounced (internal or external) desire for earthly glory, vain and meaningless from the point of view of God, useless in relation to salvation and eternal life; passion for earthly honors and veneration.

Is vanity a form of psychological addiction?

By its internal nature, vanity is. Like any other sinful passion, vanity, as it develops, takes possession of a person so much that it actually turns him into his captive or slave.

A vain man seeks glory almost wherever he can find it; struck by this vice, the unfortunate person is ready to boast of almost every more or less significant action he takes.

Vain people are found among representatives of various social strata and religious communities. They also exist in Christian circles.

Surprisingly, quite often vain people look for reasons for arrogance and praise even in what seems to be completely alien to arrogance and thirst for praise, for example, in.

“Humbling” in form, but not in essence, the vain person finds for himself additional reasons for self-exaltation, for vain self-esteem, they say, oh, how humble I am, what a great fellow! The falsely humble proud man experiences especially great pleasure when the people around him pay attention to his “humility” with delight: oh, how humbly he bows, how modestly he dresses, how meekly and humbly he talks to the priest, how humbly he beats his chest!

Often vain people publicly call themselves the first sinners, the most sinful of all sinners, which, again, shows feigned humility and. In reality, this kind of “humility” and “repentance” is the most sophisticated form of pride, they say, ah, how unhypocritical I am, ah, how sincere and open, ah, what a great fellow!

It happens that not a trace remains of “humility” and “repentance” as soon as a denunciation, even a fair one, is expressed by strangers. Hearing such denunciations, a vain person instantly forgets that he is a sinner of sinners, worthy of punishment, and instead of good-natured agreement with the accuser, he angrily answers him, approximately like this: look at yourself, wretched one! Who are you to tell me how to live?

A person infected with vanity reacts painfully to a lack of recognition of his personal merits, to a deficit. He does not simply strive for earthly, vain glory: he spends a significant part of his personal time, his own strength. Therefore, vanity is nothing more than one of the forms of unhealthy psychological dependence.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

…Today’s Gospel tells us about Zacchaeus the tax collector; about a man who managed to defeat perhaps the most difficult and most constant temptation in our life, namely vanity. And through this, having submitted himself to the judgment of God and despising the opinion and judgment of man, he became capable of being a child of the Kingdom of God. Pride is the assertion that we are self-sufficient, that we do not need either the Creator, or the Provider, or the Judge, or God, or man. This is the statement that we are our own law, the beginning and the end. But in vanity, as he says, we become arrogant before God and cowardly before people; because a vain person is a person who seeks approval from people, who betrays himself human court, forgetting that over him is the judgment of God, the judgment of eternal truth.

A vain person is a person who is afraid of what people will think and say about him; this is a person who is ready to buy their approval at any cost: to become unworthy of himself, to become unworthy of God, so long as he is not rejected, so long as he is not condemned, not ridiculed, so long as he is praised. And a vain person seeks this praise not in the greatest that is in himself, but in anything, the most base, the most insignificant, with which he can buy human approval or ward off human judgment. And what’s even worse is that he seeks this kind judgment, this approval, this support from people whom he himself despises in the secret of his soul, from people who often in his own eyes have no right to pronounce on him or anyone else. there was a judgment on everything, because their standards were too low, too insignificant. And through vanity a person becomes smaller, humiliated, becomes unworthy of his own respect; and at the same time he removes God's judgment: because God's court demands greatness from him, demands from him that he never sell himself to human court. This temptation of vanity is a danger for each of us, at every moment; he cleaves to good and to evil. And through what is good in us, and through what is despicable in us, we seek human approval, we seek to buy the good attitude of people, and therefore not only evil, but also good are poisoned by this vanity.

Date: 2014-04-16

Hello site readers.

In this article we will consider such a human threshold as vanity. What is vanity? Why are people vain? And is it possible to get rid of vanity? We will talk about these issues in this article. So let's start with the first question.

What is vanity?

Vanity is formed from two words: vain and glory. Vanity is a person’s desire to look good in front of others, the desire to show his superiority, to assert himself, and so on. In simple terms, vanity is the desire for glory. Vanity is one of the eight sins. Vanity is very close to and. Many people have desire occupy a very high position in society. This desire for everything fast is innate and embedded in us at the genetic level.

Vanity is like a star fever. Trying to stand out isn't a terrible thing. When a person strives to stand out from the herd, this means that he is endowed leadership qualities. But this article is not about leadership, but about vanity. IN explanatory dictionary The great Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl defines the term vanity as a human property, which is expressed in a greedy search for worldly fame, a desire for honor, praise, the need for recognition of imaginary merits by those around him, and a tendency to do good deeds for the sake of praise. Many vain people are even willing to listen.

Vanity is good because, thanks to lust and desire, it pushes a person towards development and growth. Yesterday I wrote an article about, in which I also insisted that it is not bad when something matters to a person strong meaning. Something must motivate a person, and even if it is vanity. The main thing is that he act and not sit on the couch waiting for a miracle.

A vain person feels constant internal discomfort and dissatisfaction. Vanity is like a drug that kills a person from the inside, poisons his soul and does not allow him to exist in peace. This can be compared to famine or collapse.

Vanity itself is bad for the person himself. The eternal desire to be the center of attention often makes a person behave thoughtlessly, thereby alienating himself from his goal. A vain person is ready to humiliate other people in order to prove his greatness and superiority. In the end he is left alone. Nobody recognizes him, loves him or respects him. Recognition can only be achieved in the opposite way.

How to recognize a vain person? Usually, a vain person strives for praise. As I said above, he is ready to listen to flattery. He will try to do everything to deserve this praise, otherwise he will walk around like a shabby person. For example, a spouse behaves towards his significant other in front of other people completely differently than in private, when he (she) can afford to be rude and rude.

Another sign is when a person expects approval from his choices. For example, a guy introduced his girlfriend to his relatives, and now he expects praise and approval from them. And if he receives praise, then he is ready to get married, and if not, then he will leave the girl. In this case, we are not talking about love, since there is none at all.

But is it possible to get rid of vanity? In fact, you can get rid of everything. There is a similar term to vanity. This is ambition. Ambition is interpreted as the desire for honor, fame and high position in society. Simply put, it is the desire to do some things better than others, to be number one. This is a desire. Is there a difference between vanity and ambition? Eat. Vanity is vain power. This is resting on your laurels. Ambition is the honor of loving. All successful people definitely ambitious. They enjoy the process. And to get rid of vanity, it needs to be replaced with ambition. Striving to be number one isn't such a bad thing. This is cool. A successful, ambitious person deserves recognition and respect.

social and moral feeling, manifested as a motive for actions performed for the sake of gaining fame, attracting everyone's attention, in order to arouse admiration and envy from others. When such motives become characteristic of the everyday behavior of a person, T. acquires the meaning of a moral quality of a person, which has an individualistic character. A vain person completely loses the ability to evaluate his actions from a perspective. their social significance. He takes the latter into account only insofar as it meets his thirst for fame. Such a person is generally incapable of independently assessing the essence of his actions; he is only interested in the external effect that attracts the attention of others. T. represents an exaggerated measure of pride, when the desire to be no worse than other people develops into the desire to appear better than others. In this sense, T. acts as a perverted feeling, which often leads people to commit antisocial acts. In the history of the moral consciousness of the society, T. has long been condemned. Since antiquity, the memory of mankind has preserved the legend of the Greek. the shepherd Herostratus, who, out of a desire to become famous, set fire to the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus - a wonderful architectural monument. This is where the expression “Herostratus glory” comes from, used to condemn actions that have earned a bad reputation. Bourgeois individualistic morality sometimes recognizes T. positive quality personality, condemning only its extreme forms. Communist morality is intolerant of T., requiring people to be modest and aware of the social significance of their actions.