Let us reflect briefly on this most harsh dimension of the spiritual life.
"Another of [his] disciples said to him, 'Lord, let me go first and bury my father.' But Jesus answered him, 'Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.'" (Mt 8:21-22)
"Having resolved to run our race with ardor and fervor, let us consider carefully how the Lord gave judgment concerning all living in the world, speaking of even those who are alive as dead, when He said to someone: Leave those in the world who are dead to bury the dead in body." (St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step II)
"Moreover, it happens fairly often that [the inner part] dies in a man while his personality and his body are still alive. A considerable percentage of the people we meet in the streets of a great town are people who are empty inside, that is, they are actually already dead. It is fortunate for us that we do not see and do not know it. If we knew what a number of people are actually dead and what a number of these dead people govern our lives, we should go mad with horror." (G. I. Gurdjieff, Fragments of an Unknown Teaching, 164)
