"Spending a life in seclusion from society does not deepen the indwelling for when we are saved we have as much of the Spirit as we are going to have."
Here is something else the archimandrite wrote:
"While we are still in this life we shall often waver in our self-determining, hesitating whether to fulfill the commandments or give way to our passions. Gradually, as we struggle, the mystery of Christ will be revealed to us if we devote ourselves totally to obeying His precepts. The moment will come when heart and mind are so suffused by the vision of the infinite holiness and humility of the God-Christ that our whole being will rise in a surge of love for God."
You see, herein lies the difference. Even before the end of the Roman persecutions, men and women went into the desert to live lives of prayer and seclusion, withdrawing from the world. The hope was and is that such a life might lead to a death to the self so that one's entire existence is focused solely on God. The result of such a dying to the self is this:
"When the intellect has been perfected, it unites wholly with God and is illumined by divine light, and the most hidden mysteries are revealed to it. Then it truly learns where wisdom and power lie.... While it is still fighting against the passions it cannot as yet enjoy these things.... But once the battle is over and it is found worthy of spiritual gifts, then it becomes wholly luminous, powerfully energized by grace and rooted in the contemplation of spiritual realities. A person in whom this happens is not attached to the things of this world but has passed from death to life." +Thalassios
Put another way, +Symeon the New Theologian wrote this:
"Can a man take fire into his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?' says the wise Solomon. And I say: can he, who has in his heart the Divine fire of the Holy Spirit burning naked, not be set on fire, not shine and glitter and not take on the radiance of the Deity in the degree of his purification and penetration by fire? For penetration by fire follows upon purification of the heart, and again purification of the heart follows upon penetration by fire, that is, inasmuch as the heart is purified, so it receives Divine grace, and again inasmuch as it receives grace, so it is purified. When this is completed (that is, purification of heart and acquisition of grace have attained their fullness and perfection), through grace a man becomes wholly a god."
For Eastern Christians, this describes the fulfillment of God's plan for us at creation, lost in the Fall and restored by the Incarnation.
Sorry, Kolo. But his experience reminds me a bit of Buddhism.
Christ did not call us to seclude ourselves from the world in any permanent way. There are times where we may take time for a retreat to refocus. But entire lives divorced from society seem antipathous to the Great Commission. John lived in the desert, but eventually came out for ministry. Paul apparently spent some time learning, but boy did he engage himself when his ministry kicked into gear! Being in the world but not of it means we actually have to be IN the world.
With that said, meditation and focus on Christ and Scripture will most certainly reap spiritual benefits. We grow through these things and become more like Christ.
I will reiterate though, we do have as much of the Spirit as we are ever going to have when we are saved. Throughout life, He works in our lives so that more and more He has more of us (not speaking of our souls, but rather our devotion).