Peace comes from humility and meekness
When you want to find true peace of mind, listen to the Lord, who commanded us: "Learn from Me , for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" ( Matt. 11:29 ). You see what the Lord commands us to learn most—humility and meekness, which alone can bring us peace. But this knowledge is not acquired once, or in a single day or year, but over time, through self-forcing and the help of God (V, 363, 491).
…When you humble yourself, you will receive peace and tranquility… (III, 18, 70).
You think that by leaving for another monastery you will find peace: who knows whether you will find peace? Peace is found in humility; so the Lord taught us ( Matthew 11:29 ). Do not look at the weaknesses of others, but pay attention to yourself and resist the passions, ask for God's help, and the Lord will enlighten you and strengthen you on the true path (III, 55, 139).
…To have no sorrow and suddenly find peace is by no means an impossible thing; when we conquer all passions, destroy pride and acquire humility, then we will find peace, for the Lord also commanded us to learn from Him meekness and humility in order to find peace ( Matthew 11:29 ) (V, 451, 613–614)
…We, by condemning others, imagine ourselves to be something, and we lose peace; you know the word of the Lord: learn from Me , for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls ( Matthew 11:29 ); then if we do not have peace of mind, it means we do not have humility and meekness (VI:5, 70 ).
Peace is found in humility and meekness
...Peace is found in humility and meekness, according to the commandment of the Savior Himself... ( Matthew 11:29 ); and failing to achieve this, we should blame or hold ourselves to be the cause, not someone else. Previously, you were to blame for your unrest, wandering through other people's cells and listening to gossip; now you have your own cell, and there is no gossip, why is there no peace? - In the Eldership it is written: "Even if you build a new heaven and a new earth, you will not find peace unless you have patience and humility." Peace is acquired after struggling with the passions and the labors that come with it; peace found without labor is doubtful and unstable. Many, even having found it through labor, asked the elders to pray for peace from them and send them battles, as they felt benefit from them. It is not peace, but the cross that leads us into the Kingdom of God: if we seek peace, it flees from us, and when we consider ourselves unworthy of it, then it is unknown how we find peace; by this our love and faith in God is tested, when we endure and bear, without faltering and valiantly, an inner or outer cross, whatever the Lord pleases to send for our benefit; only this is known: those who magnanimously bear external sorrows, reproaches, annoyances, humiliations, deprivations, and the like, have more inner consolations (V, 472, 639-640).
Peace comes from humility, and humility comes from labor, exploits, and enduring sorrows.
You desire peace and tranquility of soul, but cannot attain it. Oh! This is a great gift from God, and the Lord Himself has shown us where to seek it… ( Matthew 11:29 ). And to attain this, temptations and sorrows are essential, just as the Lord Himself, before His death on the cross, suffered and endured much: He was reproached, vexed, humiliated, and left us an image of Himself, that we might follow in His footsteps. Read the Book of St. Isaac, Words 78 and 79 – you will see that temptations are necessary, and why they are permitted, and how to free ourselves from them. There is more mention there of spiritual inner temptations, and you should apply this to yourself; if you find some of them within yourself, do not be troubled, but humble yourself and calm down. I will also tell you: peace and tranquility are a great reward, but just as warriors receive a reward for their exploits and the shedding of blood, so we – spiritual warriors – must first endure many temptations and sorrows with humility, blaming ourselves and not others, and having diminished (in this way) our passions, that is, having conquered them, and especially pride and arrogance, anger, rage, etc., then we will be worthy of this gift – peace of mind (I, 212, 402–403).
As for inner or spiritual peace, this is not in our power, but, according to each person’s arrangement, God Himself either rewards or takes away for a time, arranging our salvation by His all-wise Providence... However, I will only remind you of one truth that the Savior Himself spoke to us for the attainment of peace: learn from Me , for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls ( Matt. 11:29 ), and: in our humility the Lord will always remember us ( Ps. 135:23 ); but to acquire this most precious pearl requires much labor and effort, not so much physical as spiritual... (II, 17, 28).
From your two letters, I see that you are all in a state of despondency and sorrow... but what can we do? Where can we hide from them? "Even if we could make a new heaven and a new earth , we would not be able to find rest." It is found in humility and meekness, according to the word of the Lord ( Matthew 11:29 ) (VI, 113, 181).
...Put aside this thought that others are granted peace, but you alone are not. What peace? Even if you ascend to heaven without humility, you will not find peace, and the passions will not give you rest there. Believe this and strive to exorcise them here... (V, 397, 555 ).
Peace must be sought in the cross
…We seek peace, but it is of no benefit to us. Peace is found in the cross and in surrendering ourselves to the will of God, and as long as we are warred by passions and poorly armed against them, peace cannot be found (V, 268, 392 ).
Before the heart is cleansed of passions, peace is of no use.
…Even peace of mind is of no use to us until we are cleansed of passions, and especially of vanity and arrogance. St. Isaac the Syrian teaches this in his 78th Word: “When you find unchanging peace on your path, then fear,” and so on (III, 11, 52 ).
You write that at this time you were busy with books and other things, "forgetting that there were people," but don't imagine that this calm of yours was a hopeful one, but rather a prelude to real unrest. After all, even the sea during a calm foretells storm and unrest, and your calm couldn't have been lasting, given the passions that were hidden within you and unconquered (III, 27, 86).
You write that you are now at peace in all things, yet you fear whether this will be of any use? Don't rely on this peace of yours; there will still be warfare to reveal your weaknesses and expose your passions. However, do not fear this; God sends us according to our strength, as we can bear, so that we may be trained in warfare and come to humility. And true peace is born of true humility, which you are still far from attaining (III, 111, 229).
Peace is in distance from passions
...You describe your troubles and want to find peace where no one will know you, or to withdraw so as not to see anyone except God's light, as schemamonks sometimes do. I must tell you that your opinion is very mistaken; wherever you go, wherever you hide, you will not find peace anywhere in your current situation. It is not places or people that disturb you, but yourselves with your opinions. You will be alone everywhere and will not escape your confusion until you humble yourself and abandon the notion that everyone is looking at you and thinking about you. This is an enemy's temptation, but it acts upon you strongly because of your spiritual pride; You may have previously undergone struggles and labors, and thought that by this you were pleasing God, and did not humble yourself, considering yourself last of all, as the Lord commanded: When ye have done all that is told you, ye say, We are unprofitable servants: for we have done what we ought to have done ( Luke 17:10 ). Through this, having been deceived, instead of a good, peaceful, and calm arrangement, you acquired confusion and unrest... Now all your labor and struggle must be directed toward humility, and when it is with you constantly, you will be completely at peace. What worries you? It seems to you that they think ill of you; what does this matter to you? You think of yourself as worse than everyone else, and this opinion will calm you; but you, instead, are worried out of self-love, even when no one thinks anything about you; everyone has something to think about - their own salvation. You have only one means to peace: self-reproach and humility. However, solitude not only will not help you, but will do you even more harm, as St. John Climacus teaches —he does not allow those like you "to see even a trace of silence." When you and others can no longer arrange yourselves according to God's commandments, how will you struggle in solitude against invisible enemies? (V, 497, 667–668).
We think to find peace in removing ourselves from everything that offends us; but, on the contrary, it is found in our removal from the world and the passions: love of glory, love of pleasure, and love of money, from which other passions are born and struggle against us. But we must resist them and endure sorrow. But since we do not resist them at all, but always act more according to passion, and instead of humbling ourselves, self-love and pride increase even more; and in our imaginary sorrows, instead of blaming ourselves, we blame our neighbors; and, thinking to fight against them, we fight against ourselves; and since we do not voluntarily bear any sorrows, but repel them, then God sends another kind of sorrow—anguish and languor of the spirit, so that we humble ourselves and seek help from Him. Read the 79th Word of St. Isaac the Syrian ; There you will see how the Lord allows such temptations: agonizing boredom and despondency, and offers a cure for them - humility of heart; and try to heal your spiritual wounds with this cure (V, 366, 494-495).
T. U-na mentioned that without external peace it is impossible to have internal peace; this is wrong; we see many in all external peace, but internally troubled; peace brings humility (V, 465, 630 ).
The place of residence cannot give peace
You ask my advice on where to settle after selling your property: in M-e or in K-e, and you say that you need peace. In response to this, I must tell you that the inner peace you seek is acquired not by place of residence, but by fulfilling God's commandments with humility: "Learn of Me , for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" ( Matt. 11:29 ), said our Savior. In dealing with our neighbors, we become more aware of our weakness than in solitude; and through the knowledge of our weakness we come to humility; but always and in everything we must ask help from Almighty God, He is our peace, according to the word of the Apostle ( Eph. 2:14 ), and only His grace is powerful enough to grant us peace of mind (1:156, 316).
…Wherever you go, even to distant lands, until you humble yourself, you cannot find peace… You think that by moving to another place where you are not known, you will already be at peace, but, on the contrary, this will be so for two weeks or a month; and there the same battles will arise against you, and you will only move from place to place… (V, 498, 669, 670).
For the passionate, peace can be false
…You mention your state of mind and tranquility; but I advise you not to trust it or be deceived by it, but rather to look back on the time of your life that has passed and to condemn yourself; and who knows, perhaps this imaginary tranquility is not a planting of the enemy, so that you may be assured that you are already saved?.. (VI, 57, 92).
It is not sins, but pride that deprives us of peace.
Glory to God that you have been deemed worthy to partake of the Most Pure Mysteries of Christ and have received peace of mind. You say that this is rarely granted to you for your sins. Sins are sins, but the cure for them is repentance; and peace is granted even to sinners, but only to the humble and repentant. But there is another thing that deprives us of peace—pride, which you yourself do not deny possessing or possessing. So turn your full attention to it, at all times and on every occasion rejecting its dominance through self-awareness and self-reproach (IV, 219, 512).
…You think you'll find peace, but it's granted only when we humble ourselves and tame our passions. We must set ourselves up for sorrows and expect them every day ; for our journey is sorrowful, not long. However, the Lord is able to ease it and not burden us beyond our means, for the Lord's yoke is easy and His burden is light ( Matthew 11:29, 30 ). Only the proud aggravate their own sorrows, and therefore humility is always and everywhere necessary. And humility is best acquired by cutting off one's will and reason, and by not trusting oneself in anything, and by doing nothing of one's own free will…
…When we seek peace, it flees from us, but if we voluntarily surrender ourselves to every sorrow, then we invisibly find peace… (V, 460, 625).
From self-justification, envy and condemnation of others we lose peace and tranquility.
…Remember your proud and passionate nature, and humble yourself in every case: humility alone can bring you tranquility and peace. Your arrogance was the cause of it all; you could not discern the deep-seated passions that arose from your troubled nature; and now traces of envy still remain, troubling you… But if you had thought of yourself as last of all, you would surely have found peace. And now, beware of the enemy’s wiles against N.; when you see her praised and preferred to you in any way, then strive to humble yourself even more, knowing that you have previously suffered from similar incidents and were so blinded that you did not even notice this destructive effect within yourself. What fruits did you reap? Confusion, sorrow, loss of peace, and so on… (III, 126, 248).
You, Mother, complain that there is no harmony among you sisters: all this, it seems, is because we lose sight of our goal: to seek salvation, which is obtained through patience, humility, and love. Fasting, prayer, and other ascetic labors are necessary, but without these virtues we will make little use of them. The enemy’s battle is great against us, and our strength is feeble; and where there is humility, there all his strength is destroyed. But we, poor things, each seek his own, and not that of our neighbor for edification, and having a beam in our own eye, we never cease to talk about the speck visible in our neighbor; therefore we do not succeed, but become the enemy’s helpers… (VI, 238, 375).
…When he takes up reading the books of the fathers and reflecting on his own wretchedness and on the fact that everything here is fleeting, but the future is eternal, then he will receive peace… (IV, 75, 186 ).
Peace is sent to those who deserve it.
You have evidently remembered the patristic teachings and examples: if we were worthy of rest, then God would have informed even a Saracen (pagan) heart to give us rest. And remember also the hermit whose brother was abbot in a monastery: he, having abandoned hope in God, hoped that his brother would give him rest, and went to him at the monastery; the latter received him joyfully and gave him a cell, but then forgot about him. The hermit waited for several days, but no one visited him or brought him food. Seeing this, he locked the cell and went to his brother, who asked: "When did he arrive?" And learning that he had hoped for rest from him, he instructed him to put his trust in God, and not in man, for God proclaims our affairs even to man... (V, 435, 589-590).
...Rest, however precious during illness, is not something we can achieve by our own will, but rather a gift from God, bestowed upon the humble. Without having tried another way of life, one cannot rely on mere mental assumptions: we are thinking of the examples of those who held to their cells and those who fled from community, yet failed to find peace. Only through community can we practice the commandments and learn patience (V, 304, 429).
Only those who have mortified themselves to the world and humbled themselves enjoy joy and peace.
…You must know that even if you pursue a spirited spiritual life, you should not always seek joy and peace. Only those who have completely mortified themselves to the world and humbled themselves utilize this. Without humility, receiving spiritual gifts is extremely dangerous; it can deceive and harm. If you initially had spiritual joy and peace, then God's grace granted it to you, as to an infant who demands milk. But when we mature, we also demand solid food. The withdrawal of grace is for your humility (VI, 164, 267).
…A monk, if he humbles himself, will find peace in every place…” (III, 22, 78).
…Peace is obtained not so much from deeds, but from humility (I do not reject deeds by this, they are necessary), as the Lord teaches us: learn from Me , for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls ( Matthew 11:29 ) (III, 22, 77 ).