“The main power of the prayer and the entire appetitive power of the soul lies in the cleansing of the heart by means of noetic prayer. What does the Lord say? “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” He does not say “Blessed are those who see visions and revelations.” So we should not rejoice in these things even if they are from God. But one should rejoice when one sees that the nous has found the heart and remained inside it. Then the entire body is at peace, the soul is calmed, the heart leaps, the nous illuminates its powers and tears run like a stream. The evil one is able to transform everything but these things that we are talking about now he cannot imitate.”
Elder Joseph
~Monastic Wisdom