Discernment

St. Paisios’s teaching on diakrisis (discernment) — the spiritual gift of distinguishing between divine, human, and demonic influences. The Elder emphasized avoiding prelest (spiritual delusion), testing the spirits, and maintaining spiritual sobriety in an age of confusion. He himself was widely recognized as possessing extraordinary gifts of discernment.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox | Athonite

Diakrisis: The Gift of Discernment

Discernment (diakrisis) is, in St. Paisios’s teaching, one of the most essential gifts of the spiritual life — the ability to distinguish between:

What comes from God and what comes from the devil
Genuine spiritual experience and prelest (delusion)
Truth and falsehood in spiritual matters
The right course of action in complex situations

St. Paisios taught that discernment is not mere intelligence or education — an intellectual person can be spiritually blind, while a simple person can possess profound discernment. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, given in proportion to humility and purification of the heart (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 3, Spiritual Struggle).

Avoiding Prelest (Plani)

Prelest (Russian; Greek: plani) — spiritual delusion — was a constant concern of St. Paisios’s teaching. Prelest occurs when a person mistakes their own imagination, psychological states, or demonic deception for genuine divine experience:

Forms of Prelest

Imagining visions: The person “sees” lights, angels, saints — but these are products of imagination or demonic deception, not authentic divine manifestations.
Emotional intoxication: Confusing intense emotions (ecstasy, euphoria, weeping) with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Genuine grace is peaceful and produces humility; false experiences produce agitation and pride.
Spiritual pride: The person believes they have achieved a high spiritual state and are superior to others. This is perhaps the most dangerous form of prelest because it masquerades as spiritual achievement.
False prophecy: Claiming to know the future, to have received special revelations, or to have a unique divine mandate.

Safeguards Against Prelest

St. Paisios taught several safeguards:

Humility: The primary defense. The humble person does not trust their own spiritual experiences but submits them to the judgment of their spiritual father and the Tradition of the Church. “If you have a vision and become proud, it was not from God. If you have a vision and become more humble, it may be from God — but still check with your elder.”
Obedience to a spiritual father: The person under obedience has a safeguard against prelest that the autonomous person lacks — someone who can objectively evaluate their experiences.
Conformity with Tradition: Any private revelation that contradicts the teaching of the Church, the Scriptures, or the Fathers is not from God, regardless of how vivid or convincing it seems.
Fruits: “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:16). Genuine spiritual gifts produce humility, love, peace, patience, and obedience. Prelest produces pride, division, disobedience, and spiritual instability.
Distrust of extraordinary experiences: St. Paisios taught that the safest approach is to distrust all extraordinary spiritual experiences — visions, voices, signs — unless they are confirmed by a competent spiritual father. “If God truly wants to communicate something to you, He will find a way that doesn’t lead you into pride.”

Testing the Spirits

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). St. Paisios gave practical criteria:

Signs of a Divine Origin

Produces humility and compunction (not exaltation or pride)
Leads to greater love, obedience, and repentance
Is consistent with the teaching of the Church
Comes unsought (not from techniques or self-induced states)
Leaves lasting peace (not temporary excitement)

Signs of a Demonic or Human Origin

Produces pride, a sense of superiority, or spiritual excitement
Leads to disobedience, division, or contempt for others
Contradicts the Church’s teaching in any way
Is sought through techniques, formulas, or psychosomatic methods
Leaves agitation, confusion, or anxiety after the initial experience

The Elder’s Gifts

St. Paisios was himself widely recognized as possessing extraordinary gifts of spiritual discernment:

Clairvoyance (Dioratikó)

Multiple credible witnesses — monastics and laypeople — reported that St. Paisios could perceive:

The thoughts and spiritual state of visitors before they spoke
Events happening at a distance
Future events concerning specific individuals
Hidden sins or spiritual problems that visitors had not revealed

These accounts are reported as what the authorized biography and witnesses attest, not as independently verifiable fact; details vary across retellings (Hieromonk Isaac, Elder Paisios of Mount Athos, passim).

How He Exercised These Gifts

He was discreet: he did not display his gifts publicly or use them to impress. He used them in private, to help specific individuals.
He attributed everything to God: “I don’t see anything. God shows me what He wants me to see, when He wants me to see it.”
He did not always reveal what he perceived — sometimes the most loving response was silence.
He used his gifts pastorally: to comfort, to warn, to guide — not to demonstrate spiritual power.

His Attitude Toward Spiritual Gifts

He considered spiritual gifts (charisms) as tools for service, not badges of achievement.
He warned against seeking spiritual gifts: “Don’t ask God for gifts. Ask for humility and love. If God wants to give you a gift, He will — and if He doesn’t, you don’t need it.”
He was deeply suspicious of people who claimed extraordinary spiritual gifts, especially if those claims were accompanied by pride or public display.

The Danger of Seeking Signs and Wonders

St. Paisios warned against the modern tendency to seek spectacular spiritual experiences:

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign” (Matthew 12:39). The desire for miracles and signs can itself be a spiritual disease — a form of spiritual greed.
He taught that the greatest miracles happen in secret — in the heart, in repentance, in the quiet transformation of a human life; for St. Paisios, a proud person becoming humble is a greater wonder than the raising of the dead (St. Paisios, Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 3: Spiritual Struggle — paraphrase; the saying is not located verbatim in the published text).
He was wary of charismatic phenomena (speaking in tongues, public prophecy, ecstatic states) and considered them potentially dangerous when they occur outside the sacramental and ascetical framework of the Orthodox Church.

How to Find a Genuine Spiritual Father

St. Paisios gave practical counsel for those seeking spiritual guidance:

Pray: Ask God to guide you to the right person.
Look for fruits: A genuine spiritual father bears the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience (Galatians 5:22–23). If these are absent, look elsewhere.
Look for humility: The genuine spiritual father does not advertise himself. He does not seek followers or build a personality cult.
Look for rootedness: He should be rooted in the Church — a priest or monk in good standing, in communion with the bishop, faithful to the Tradition.
Be patient: A genuine spiritual father is rare. It is better to wait and pray than to attach yourself to someone prematurely.
Start with confession: The regular practice of confession with a pious priest is the normal path to spiritual guidance. Not everyone needs a charismatic elder — a good, faithful confessor is sufficient for most people.

References

St. Paisios of Mount Athos. Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 3: Spiritual Struggle. Souroti: Hesychasterion of St. John the Theologian.
St. Paisios of Mount Athos. Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 2: Spiritual Awakening. Souroti: Hesychasterion of St. John the Theologian.
Hieromonk Isaac. Elder Paisios of Mount Athos. Translated from the Greek.
St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). On Prelest (the classic Orthodox treatment of spiritual delusion).
St. John Climacus. The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 26 (On Discernment).