{"id":34924,"date":"2022-10-17T09:26:13","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T16:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=34924"},"modified":"2022-10-17T09:31:18","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T16:31:18","slug":"the-not-exactly-zen-wisdom-of-abba-john-the-dwarf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2022\/10\/the-not-exactly-zen-wisdom-of-abba-john-the-dwarf.html","title":{"rendered":"The Not Exactly Zen Wisdom of Abba John the Dwarf"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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I first heard of John the Dwarf when reading Thomas Merton\u2019s Wisdom of the Desert Fathers<\/em><\/a>. This book was enormously important to me, and remains so. Merton\u2019s selection and his translation of the texts emphasize the echoes of a spirituality akin to the early Chan masters of China.<\/p>\n

Later I would read texts that show the similarities were perhaps not quite as similar as Merton suggested. But, maybe that\u2019s even better. If we do drink from a single deep source, our particular wells are dug from wildly different soil. And the flavors of those waters can be quite different.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve come to learn how the universal is only ever known in the particular, importantly I\u2019ve found that universal in its kaleidoscopic particulars is always rich and lush. And it contains gifts. As well as the odd trap.<\/p>\n

Wisdom and foolishness are always mixed up. And seeking guidance and discerning which foolish wisdom is healthful and which might not be, at least on my way, has been an important project. And it remains so.<\/p>\n

Looking at the differences of the Desert Fathers and Mothers and those of my Chan ancestors has allowed me, and perhaps us, to notice what the great Transcendentalist divine Theodor Parker called out as the transient and permanent.<\/p>\n

And. But. Of course, all things are transient.<\/p>\n

But. And.<\/p>\n

I was so glad to be introduced to John and his teachings. A true pointer to the deep.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re unfamiliar with him John Colobus or Kolobos, and best known as John the Dwarf, was one of the greatest of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. He lived roughly between 340 and 405. He was born in Thebes, his family was said to be poor but devout. At eighteen he fled to the desert in quest of God. He became a disciple of Saint Pambo. There he grew in wisdom. After the death of his teacher, the Coptic Pope Theophilus ordained John a priest and set him as abbot of the monastics who were gathering around him. Driven out by war he eventually settled on Mount Colzim, where he died.<\/p>\n

His feast is celebrated today, the 17th<\/sup> of October, in both the Coptic and Roman Churches, and on the 9th<\/sup> of November in the Eastern Orthodox Churches.<\/p>\n

What I offer here are thirteen of the forty-seven preserved sayings as translated by Benedicta Ward and gathered in her wonderful collection Sayings of the Desert Fathers<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just a taste.<\/p>\n

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  1. It was said of Abba John the Dwarf that he withdrew and lived in the desert at Scetis with an old man of Thebes. His abba, taking a piece of dry wood, planted it and said to him, \u2018Water it every day with a bottle of water, until it bears fruit.\u2019 Now the water was so far away that he had to leave in the evening and return the following morning. At the end of three years the wood came to life and bore fruit. Then the old man took some of the fruit and carried it to the church saying to the brethren, \u2018Take and eat the fruit of obedience.\u2019<\/li>\n
  2. It was said of Abba John the Dwarf, that one day he said to his elder brother, \u2018I should like to be free of all care, like the angels, who do not work, but ceaselessly offer worship to God.\u2019 So he took off his cloak and went away into the desert. After a week he came back to his brother. When he knocked on the door, he heard his brother say, before he opened it \u2018Who are you?\u2019 He said, \u2018I am John, your brother.\u2019 But he replied, \u2018John has become an angel, and henceforth he is no longer among men.\u2019 Then the other begged him saying, \u2018It is I.\u2019 However, his brother did not let him in, but left him there in distress until morning. Then, opening the door, he said to him, \u2018You are a man and you must once again work in order to eat.\u2019 Then John made a prostration before him, saying, \u2018Forgive me.\u2019<\/li>\n
  3. Some old men were entertaining themselves at Scetis by having a meal together; amongst them was Abba John. A venerable priest got up to offer drink, but nobody accepted any from him, except John the Dwarf. They were surprised and said to him, \u2018How is it that you, the youngest, dared to let yourself be served by the priest?\u2019 Then he said to them, \u2018When I get up to offer drink, I am glad when everyone accepts it, since I am receiving my reward; that is the reason, then, that I accepted it, so that he also might gain his reward and not be grieved by seeing that no-one would accept anything from him.\u2019 When they heard this, they were all filled with wonder and edification at his discretion.<\/li>\n
  4. One day when he was sitting in front of the church, the brethren were consulting him about their thoughts. One of the old men who saw it became a prey to jealousy and said to him, \u2018John, your vessel is full of poison.\u2019 Abba John said to him, \u2018That is very true, abba; and you have said that when you only see the outside, but if you were able to see the inside, too, what would you say then?\u2019<\/li>\n
  5. Abba Poemen said of Abba John the Dwarf that he had prayed God to take his passions away from him so that he might become free from care. He went and told an old man this: \u2018I find myself in peace, without an enemy,\u2019 he said. The old man said to him, \u2018Go, beseech God to stir up warfare so that you may regain the affliction and humility that you used to have, for it is by warfare that the soul makes progress.\u2019 So he besought God and when warfare came, he no longer prayed that it might be taken away, but said, \u2018Lord, give me strength for the fight.\u2019<\/li>\n
  6. Abba John said, \u2018Who sold Joseph?\u2019 A brother replied saying, \u2018It was his brethren.\u2019 The old man said to him, \u2018No, it was his humility which sold him, because he could have said, \u201cI am their brother\u201d and have objected, but, because he kept silence, he sold himself by his humility. It is also his humility which set him up as chief in Egypt.\u2019<\/li>\n
  7. He also said, \u2018Humility and the fear of God are above all virtues.\u2019<\/li>\n
  8. It was said of Abba John that when he went to church at Scetis, he heard some brethren arguing, so he returned to his cell. He went round it three times and then went in. Some brethren who had seen him, wondered why he had done this, and they went to ask him. He said to them, \u2018My ears were full of that argument, so I circled round in order to purify them, and thus I entered my cell with my mind at rest.\u2019<\/li>\n
  9. Abba John gave this advice, \u2018Watching means to sit in the cell and be always mindful of God. This is what is meant by, \u201cI was on the watch and God came to me.\u201d \u2018 (Matt. 25, 36)<\/li>\n
  10. It was said of the same Abba John that when he returned from the harvest or when he had been with some of the old men, he gave himself to prayer, meditation and psalmody until his thoughts were re-established in their previous order.<\/li>\n
  11. One of the Fathers asked Abba John the Dwarf, \u2018What is a monk?\u2019 He said, \u2018He is toil. The monk toils at all he does. That is what a monk is.\u2019<\/li>\n
  12. Abba John the Dwarf said, \u2018A house is not built by beginning at the top and working down. You must begin with the foundations in order to reach the top.\u2019 They said to him, \u2018What does this saying mean?\u2019 He said, \u2018The foundation is our neighbour, whom we must win, and that is the place to begin. For all the commandments of Christ depend on this one.\u2019<\/li>\n
  13. The old man said that there were three philosophers who were friends. The first died and left his son to the care of one of the others. When he grew up he had intercourse with the wife of his guardian, who found them out and turned the boy out of doors. Although the young man came and asked his guardian to forgive John the Dwarf [ 95 him he would not receive him, but said, \u2018Go and work for three years as a ferryman and I will forgive you.\u2019 After three years the young man came to him again, and this time he said, \u2018You still have not done penance; go and work for three more years, and give away all you earn, bearing all insults.\u2019 So he did this, and then his guardian said to him, \u2018Now go to Athens and learn philosophy.\u2019 There was an old man who sat at the philosophers\u2019 gate and he used to insult everyone who entered it. When he insulted this young man, the boy began to laugh, and the old man said, \u2018Why are you laughing, when I have insulted you?\u2019 He told him, \u2018Would you not expect me to laugh? For three years I have paid to be insulted and now I am insulted free of charge. That is why I laughed.\u2019 Abba John said, \u2018The gate of the Lord is like that, and we Fathers go through many insults in order to enter joyfully into the city of God.\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n