Being a shut-in is opening the door to inner life

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Read Apophthegmata Patrum [archive.org has a good epub conversion and proper pdf]

6. A brother came to Scetis to visit Abba Moses and asked him
for a word. The old man said to him, 'Go, sit in your cell, and your
cell will teach you everything.'

4. The same Father related this: 'Abba John, abbot of a great
monastery, went to Abba Paesius who had been living for forty
years very far off in the desert. As he was very fond of him and
could therefore speak freely with him, he said to him, "What good have
you done by living here in retreat for so long, and not being easily
disturbed by anyone?" He replied, "Since I lived in solitude
the sun has never seen me eating." Abba John said to him, "As for
me, it has never seen me angry." '

"44. Some old men came one day to Abba Arsenius and insisted
on seeing him. He received them. Then they asked him to say a
word to them about those who live in solitude without seeing
anyone. The old man said to them, As long as a young girl is living
in her father's house, many young men wish to marry her, but when
she has taken a husband, she is no longer pleasing to everyone;
despised by some, approved by others, she no longer enjoys the
favour of former times, when she lived a hidden life. So it is with
the soul; from the day when it is shown to everyone, it is no longer
able to satisfy everyone.' "

14. He also said, 'The man who has learnt the sweetness of
the cell flees from his neighbour but not as though he despised
him.'