Evagrius Ponticus became esteemed for his thinking and teaching because he could see so deeply into the soul.
He taught that there were two peaceful states of the soul. We might use a different word that soul today. Some may not even know of its existence within them. Some modern philosophers of the past 100 years or so have even denied its existence. You can deny it, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. You just haven’t faced it, yet.
One peaceful state comes when we put on humility, not thinking of ourselves as the greatest, and realize our guilt.
Another when we put aside pride recognizing the drives and passions that control us–the ancients called these demons, but we moderns have tried to sanitize and even glorify them. Whatever we might call them, they exist. And they drive us as restless and unhappy beings seeking pleasure and relief in all the wrong places. At least until we lose the pride and drive the passions and desires out.
The Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible and the religious writing of many cultures agree on this most basic yearning of humans–to find that state of peace in the soul from whence we can truly begin to live.
Faith Venture 
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