Once St. Paisios was asked:

 

Once St. Paisios was asked:

"When I was attending university, Father, I could observe my progress by looking at my grades. Here, however, in the spiritual life, I don't know where I stand."

He replied:

"You can know where you stand, even here, simply by examining your thoughts. If evil thoughts constantly crop up and you drive them away, and then they crop up again and once again, you drive them away, you must recognize that you have entered the arena of repentance and are struggling. Sometimes, you may have evil thoughts, which you drive away, and other times, good thoughts. If you grade evil thoughts with zero and good thoughts with ten, you can calculate your grade according to the number of points. For example, when you see that evil thoughts have decreased and good ones have multiplied, you know that the zeros have decreased and the tens have increased; therefore, your grade has improved. When evil thoughts cease to crop up and only good thoughts arise, then you should know that purification has taken place: your heart, your cave, has been cleansed and transformed into the Cave of Bethlehem."