The Interior Heaven

Ἰδοὺ λοιπὸν καὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ τεθέντες ἐν λάκκῳ ἀγνωσίας βαθυτάτῳ καὶ σκοτεινοῖς πάθεσι, καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου τούτου τοῦ σώματος, περὶ τοῦ ἐπιγείου οὐρανοῦ ἐκ θρασύτητος φιλοσοφεῖν ἀρχόμεθα. Ἔχει μὲν γὰρ τὸ στερέωμα τοὺς ἀστέρας κάλλος, ἡ δὲ ἀπάθεια τὰς ἀρετὰς κόσμον· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἕτερόν τι ἔγωγε ἀπάθειαν ὑπείληφα εἶναι· ἀλλ᾿ ἢ ἐγκάρδιον νοὸς οὐρανόν, τὰς τῶν δαιμόνων πανουργίας, ἀθύρματα λοιπὸν λογιζόμενον. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης τῆς Κλίμακος, ἡ Κλίμαξ, Λογος ΚΘ' Source: Migne PG 88.1148b

Behold, here are we who are laying in the deepest pit of ignorance, in the dark passions and in the shadow of death of this body, having the temerity to begin to philosophize about heaven on earth. For the firmament has the stars for its beauty, and dispassion has the virtues for its adornment; and by dispassion I mean nothing else but the interior heaven of the mind, which considers the snares of demons to be mere toys. Saint John Climacus, The Ladder, from Step 29