Fr. Maximos paused, waiting for another question. “I am puzzled by what the Fathers of the Ecclesia say about the Jesus Prayer,” Teresa commented. “They claim that when we pray, the mind, or nous, must be on the heart. I don’t understand what that means.”
“I appreciate your puzzlement,” Fr. Maximos replied. “This is what the tradition of the Ecclesia teaches as noetic prayer or prayer of the heart. When the Fathers say that the nous or mind must unite with the heart or penetrate the heart, they don’t mean this mind and this heart.” Fr. Maximos pointed to his head and then to his heart. “They mean that the energy of the human mind must unite with all the psychological and bodily powers of the person. It means that during our invocation of Christ, the whole person becomes integrated as body, mind, soul, and spirit. While the Fall shattered the icon of God inside us, we are asked to reassemble it during prayer and make it into an integral and unified whole again. This way one prays directly to God. This noetic prayer, the ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’ that we repeat, can help us enormously, particularly at the beginning of our spiritual efforts.”
“In what way?”
“It is short, inclusive, and not composed of diverse and complex meanings. Therefore, you can easily focus on it. At a certain point, when the mind concentrates on the single meaning of the Jesus Prayer, all meanings fade away, including the words of the Prayer. At that point the mind unites directly with the Holy Spirit. The person remains silent. All thoughts fade in preparing the way for the union of man with God. This process is a manifestation of Divine Grace. Of course, for Grace to be activated within us presupposes our own cooperation and freedom of will. We are expected to struggle up to the point of our capacities. Beyond that point we may be snatched by Grace, which will take us wherever It wishes.”
“I have a question, Fr. Maxime,” a young deacon asked. “Is the presence of temptations by demons through various forms of logismoi [thought forms] a sign that our spiritual growth has stalled? Is it a sign that we are not purified inside?”
“No. A person who is tempted by demons and by various forms of logismoi could be completely clean. Don’t forget that Christ Himself was tempted by demons. The Fathers of the Ecclesia taught that thought forms assault all human beings. And on the basis of their spiritual knowledge and science, they taught us that there are five stages in the formation of logismoi. They indicated at which point we are spiritually accountable. The first stage is called ‘assault,’ that is, a logismos hits our mind and makes a suggestion, such as ‘Take this microphone with you. Steal it.’ It does not mean that I have sinned if such a thought crossed my mind. No. I have nothing to do with this. I am indifferent and the logismos fades away. This first stage is free from sin. There is no responsibility on my part, even if I am pestered by thousands of such logismoi.”
“Many people are troubled by impure logismoi even while they are praying, and then they feel guilty and stop praying,” the priest added.
“We need great care here. This is a mistake. The best way is to ignore such logismoi and not to stop praying. Pay no attention to them and you have nothing to fear,” Fr. Maximos declared; then he continued to summarize the stages of the logismoi.
“The Fathers called the second stage ‘interaction.’ That is, I begin to converse with these logismoi. Should I do it, should I not do it? We engage in a dialogue with the logismos. This is dangerous, and it is wise to avoid such engagements. But still there is no sin here or accountability. The third stage is ‘consent.’ That’s when I begin to tell myself, yes, I will take this microphone. It is from here that a sin starts to emerge which makes me accountable. The Fathers, based on their extensive experiences with such matters, called the fourth stage ‘captivity’ The moment I consent, my mind, which is the steering wheel of my life, becomes a captive to the logismos. I cannot resist, and I commit the sinful act time and again. It becomes, according to the Fathers, a destructive ‘passion,’ the fifth stage in this process of the formation of sin.
“So,” Fr. Maximos concluded, “it is important to be on guard against the invasion in our mind of destructive logismoi that undermine our spiritual life. Again, the best attitude, in order to protect ourselves from them, is a healthy detachment and indifference.
“Keep in mind also that the Jesus Prayer we talked about is a very powerful antidote to these types of logismoi. It strengthens our nous. Our mind is toughened up. When there is an assault, the logismos hits it and bounces back. It does not enter the interior of our heart and mind.”
~Adapted from Kyriacos C. Markides, Inner River: A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christian Spirituality
