In The Ladder of Divine Ascent, is there a story about monks arguing about a rock?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-08

In The Ladder of Divine Ascent, there is no story about monks arguing over a rock.

However, you are most likely thinking of a famous account from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Apophthegmata Patrum), which is closely related to the ascetic tradition St. John Climacus draws upon:

The Two Elders and the Brick/Stone

Two elderly desert hermits had lived together in the wilderness for many years without ever having a single quarrel or harsh word between them. One day, observing how people in the world behave, one of them said to the other:

"Let us have at least one dispute between us, as other men do."

The other elder replied in simplicity:

"I do not even know how an argument begins."

The first elder picked up a brick (often translated as a stone, rock, or tile) and set it down between them, saying:

"I will place this stone here in the middle. I will say, 'This is mine,' and you must say, 'No, it is mine.' That is how an argument starts."

So the first elder said:

"This stone is mine."

The second elder paused and replied gently:

"Well, if it is yours, take it and go in peace."

Because neither of them had any pride, attachment, or desire for ownership, they found themselves utterly unable to quarrel.

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Other Monastic Stories Involving Rocks

There are a couple of other well-known stories in early monastic literature involving rocks and insults that are sometimes confused with this:

• Insulting a Rock or the Dead: In the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, an elder instructed a disciple seeking dispassion to go to a cemetery or a boulder and insult it, throw stones at it, and then praise it. When the disciple returned, the elder asked, "Did the rock answer back? Did it get angry when insulted or proud when praised?" The disciple replied, "No." The elder told him, "Go and do likewise; become like that stone—neither puffed up by praise nor moved by insult." (St. John Climacus refers conceptually to this state of dispassion in Step 8 on Meekness and Step 29 on Dispassion).
• Moving the Stone in Obedience: In the traditions of the desert elders (such as the life of St. John the Short and other disciples), fathers would test their disciples' obedience and humility by commanding them to roll an impossibly massive boulder or strike a stone, teaching utter surrender of self-will.

If you are looking for a specific passage or step from The Ladder of Divine Ascent dealing with conflict, anger, or detachment, let me know.