Ancient Eastern Orthodox Christian Meditation Techniques & Breathing Exercises. Hesychasm (Greek: ἡσυχασμός, hesychasmos, from ἡσυχία, hesychia, stillness, rest, quiet, silence). Kallistos Ware distinguishes five distinct meanings of the term hesychasm: 1.solitary life, a sense, equivalent to eremitical life, in which the term is used since the 4th century; 2.the practice of inner prayer, aiming at union with God on a level beyond images, concepts and language, a sense in which the term is found in Evagrius Ponticus (345-399), Maximus the Confessor (c. 580 - 662), and Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022); 3.the quest for such union through the Jesus Prayer, the earliest reference to which is in Diadochos of Photiki (c. 450); 4.a particular psychosomatic technique in combination with the Jesus Prayer, use of which technique can be traced back at least to the 13th century; 5.the theology of St. Gregory Palamas,- Palamism Hesychastic practice involves acquiring an inner focus and blocking of the physical senses. In this, hesychasm shows its roots in Evagrius Ponticus and even in the Greek tradition of asceticism going back to Plato. The Hesychast interprets Christs injunction in the Gospel of Matthew to go into your closet to pray to mean that one should ignore the senses and withdraw inward. Saint John of Sinai writes: Hesychasm is the enclosing of the bodiless primary Cognitive faculty of the soul (Orthodoxy teaches of two cognitive faculties, the nous and logos) in the bodily house of the body. The Hesychast is to bring his mind (Gr. nous) into his heart so as to practise both the Jesus Prayer and sobriety with his mind in his heart. The descent of the mind into the heart is taken quite literally by the practitioners of Hesychasm and is not at all considered to be a metaphorical expression. Some of the psychophysical techniques described in the texts are to assist the descent of the mind into the heart at those times that only with difficulty it descends on its own. The goal at this stage is a practice of the Jesus Prayer with the mind in the heart, which practice is free of images (see Pros Theodoulon). What this means is that by the exercise of sobriety (the mental ascesis against tempting thoughts), the Hesychast arrives at a continual practice of the Jesus Prayer with his mind in his heart and where his consciousness is no longer encumbered by the spontaneous inception of images: his mind has a certain stillness and emptiness that is punctuated only by the eternal repetition of the Jesus Prayer. This stage is called the guard of the mind. This is a very advanced stage of ascetical and spiritual practice, and attempting to accomplish this prematurely, especially with psychophysical techniques, can cause very serious spiritual and emotional harm to the would-be Hesychast. St Theophan the Recluse once remarked that bodily postures and breathing techniques were virtually forbidden in his youth, since, instead of gaining the Spirit of God, people succeeded only in ruining their lungs. The guard of the mind is the practical goal of the Hesychast. It is the condition in which he remains as a matter of course throughout his day, every day until he dies. It is from the guard of the mind that he is raised to contemplation by the Grace of God. The Hesychast usually experiences the contemplation of God as light, the Uncreated Light. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Prayer The Jesus Prayer. Lord Jesus Christ, (Son of God,) have mercy on me (a sinner).”(slightly different variations of the prayer ) The prayer has been widely taught and discussed throughout the history of the Eastern Churches. It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use being an integral part of the eremitic tradition of prayer known as Hesychasm (Ancient Greek: ἡσυχάζω, hesychazo, to keep stillness). The prayer is particularly esteemed by the spiritual fathers of this tradition (see Philokalia) as a method of opening up the heart (kardia) and bringing about the Prayer of the Heart (Καρδιακή Προσευχή). The Prayer of The Heart is considered to be the Unceasing Prayer that the apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament.[2] St. Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesus. People who say the prayer as part of meditation often synchronize it with their breathing; breathing in while calling out to God (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God) and breathing out while praying for mercy (have mercy on me, a sinner). Another option is to say (orally or mentally) the whole prayer while breathing in and again the whole prayer while breathing out and yet another, to breathe in recite the whole prayer, breathe out while reciting the whole prayer again. One can also hold the breath for a few seconds between breathing in and out. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis_(Eastern_Orthodox_theology) Theosis In Eastern Orthodoxy deification (theosis) is both a transformative process as well as the goal of that process. The goal is the attainment of likeness to or union with God. As a process of transformation theosis is brought about by the effects of katharsis (purification of mind and body) and theoria. According to eastern Orthodox teaching theosis is very much the purpose of human life. It is considered achievable only through a synergy (or cooperation) between humans activities and Gods uncreated energies (or operations).[1][2] The primacy of theosis in Orthodox theology is directly related to the fact that Orthodox theology (as historically conceived by its principal exponents) is based to a greater extent than Western Catholic Latin theology on the direct spiritual insights of the saints or mystics of the church rather than the apparently more rational-deductive tradition of the West. Eastern Orthodox consider that no one who does not follow the path of union with God can be a theologian.[3] Theology in Eastern Orthodoxy is not treated as an academic pursuit, instead it is based on revelation (see gnosiology), meaning that Orthodox theology and its theologians are validated by ascetic pursuits, rather than academic degrees (i.e. scholasticism). Theosis has three stages: first, the purgative way, purification, or katharsis; second, illumination, the illuminative way, the vision of God, or theoria; and third, sainthood, the unitive way, or theosis. Thus the term theosis describes the whole process and its objective. By means of purification a person comes to theoria and then to theosis. ............................................. PRAYING WITH THE BODY: THE HESYCHAST METHOD Metropolitan Kallistos addresses the question of whether there are parallels between the hesychastic method of prayer and other apparently similar techniques of prayer in Hinduism and Islam. Looking at the origins of hesychasm and the teachings of figures such as St Gregory Palamas, St Gregory of Sinai and Nikiphoros the Hesychast, Metropolitan Kallistos addresses the question: is the Jesus Prayer an essential and authentically Christian practice, or is it unnecessary and perhaps even harmful? bogoslov.ru/en/text/2671134.html ................................................................. THE CHRISTIAN ORIGIN OF HEART RHYTHM MEDITATION St. Simeon the New Theologian A saint of the 11th century. Your mind should guard your heart in time of prayer; the mind should constantly descend into the heart and from the depths of the heart offer up prayer to God. You should do all this until such time as you taste the sweetness of the Lord. When finally the mind is in the heart and it tastes how sweet the Lord is, then it will not wish to leave the heart but will say with St. Peter, Lord, it is wonderful for us to be here (Matt. 17:4); then the mind will constantly look into the heart, and if it wanders, it will return there again and again. For those who have no knowledge and understanding of this inner activity it will seem difficult and oppressive. But those who have taste the sweetness of the Lord in prayer will cry with St. Paul, Nothing therefore can come between us and the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35). If you wish to learn how to descend into the heart and remain there I will tell you. First you must observe the following three conditions: You must be free from all cares, not only from vain and unholy cares but even from good things. In other words, you should be dead to everything; your conscience should be pure and it should not denounce you in anything. You should be completely free from passionate attachments; your thoughts should not be inclined toward anything worldly. Then: Sit alone in a quiet place, close the door, take your mind from every temporal and vain thing, Bow your head toward your chest, and stay attentively inside of yourself, not in the head but in the heart. Holding the mind there with your inner eyes watch your breathing. With your mind find the place of the heart and let it abide there. In the beginning you will experience darkness and discomfort, but if you will continue this activity of attention without interruption, you will attain unceasing joy. If the mind continues with this activity, it will find the place of the heart and will see things it never knew and saw before. Then, no matter what distracting thoughts would come, it will immediately repel and destroy them through the name of Jesus. From this time also the mind will experience anger toward the demons and will pursue and overcome them. In addition what usually follows from this you will learn by experience if with the help of God you will guard your attention and keep your mind on the prayer Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me! https://appliedmeditation.org/heart_rhythm_meditation/origins/christianity.php ........................ Symeon the New Theologian The Three Ways of Attention and Prayer myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/symeon_threeways.html ........................................ Creating a Magnetic Centre This idea of magnetisation to God clearly expresses the higher stages of hesychastic prayer, prayer of stillness, which concerns the stage where, when the psyche reaches a certain point on the path, it is then rapt in God, being drawn away from the attraction of the world by the glory given by God within him. Theophan uses an image closer to that of St. Gregory when he says: `Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. And: `Take the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. ( Ephesians 6.13) praxisinstitute.net/Praxis%20Past/Abstracts-Text/917.%20MAGNETIC%20CENTRE/17_PAGE_1.htm ........................................... A technical reappraisal of ‘attention and ‘awareness’ in a Christian context douglaslockhart/pdf/LOST_SECRET.pdf .................................................................... Metropolitan Kallistos joins Father Josiah for a conversation on the Philokalia, a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters of the Eastern Orthodox hesychast tradition. The Philokalia is the foundational text on hesychasm (quietness), an inner spiritual tradition with a long history dating back to the Desert Fathers.[5] The practices include contemplative prayer/meditation, quiet sitting, and recitation of the Jesus Prayer. https://youtube/watch?v=R4qtQ6AUrRE
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 23:16:09 +0000
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