The monks are forever talking about the struggle that life with God demands. Life in the wilderness is a continuous combat with the demons, and it demands constant effort from the monks. Mother Synkletika said: “Those who go to God have at first struggles and many hardships. But afterward the joy is unspeakable. Just as those who wish to light a fire are first bothered by the smoke and have to cry, but in this
The spirituality bequeathed to us by the moralizing theology of modern times works from the top down. It presents high ideals that we are supposed to translate into reality. Typical ideals include selflessness, self-control, continuous amiability, selfless love, freedom from anger, and mastery of sexual desire. Spirituality from above surely has some positive meaning for young people, since it challenges them and tests their powers. It prompts them to grow up and out of themselves
Silence and Purity of Heart The disciples of Abba Pachomius learned that silence is not simply the absence of sound. It is a unique form of human consciousness. In the silence of their teacher they were drawn beyond themselves into a transpersonal form of listening, seeing and learning. They witnessed the presence of God in Pachomius in such a way that the judgments of their egos were released. They were lured beyond the boundaries of
During the Roman imperial persecutions of Christianity martyrdom was esteemed as the highest offering of one’s self to God. Martyrdom in blood, red martyrdom, was the most esteemed path toward sainthood. When the persecutions ended a new path to heaven led, for many, to the desert and a life of self-denial, white martyrdom. As we have seen, the first step was withdrawal, anachoresis. This was accompanied by xeniteia, or “indifference toward worldly values,” through non-attachment
The knowledge of Christ is another expression for contemplation. Without gentleness there is no true contemplation. To Rufinus Evagrius writes: “For I am convinced that your gentleness has become a cause of great knowledge. No single virtue produces wisdom as gentleness does, for whose sake even Moses was praised as gentler than all other men. And I too beg to become and be called a disciple of the Gentle one.” Thus gentleness is a sign
When we look within, the “I” that looks is saturated by this Vastness; when we look without, this “I” is liberated of itself by its immersion in the very Vastness that indwells it (Jn 14:10; 17:22-23), much like the sponge that is immersed in the ocean depth that fills its every membrane. When the sponge looks out, it sees only ocean; when it looks within, it sees only ocean. We are graciously immersed in Jesus’
Gentleness as a Sign of the Spiritual Person The goal of the spiritual path is not the great ascetic, not the indefatigable faster, not the consistent person, but the meek and gentle one. Evagrius continually mentions gentleness as a sign of spirituality. He challenges us to be like Moses, of whom Scripture says: “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the men that were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3).
The spiritual path of the early monks is, then, not a moral way, but a mystical, a mystagogical way, that leads us into God. That is why the writings of Evagrius breathe, not some sort of dour severity, but love, attentiveness, and joy over our calling, to be allowed to be one with God in prayer. One senses in his words the longing for God. To be able to pray undisturbed, without distraction, is the
The creative momentum of returning to our practice whenever we become aware that our attention has been stolen is now completely well established. This itself implies that there has been an expansion of awareness. We spend less time battling with the fact that there are thoughts stealing our attention. We have more or less stopped commenting to ourselves on the fact that we are forever commenting on the incessant commentaries in our heads. We let
Evagrius insists as strongly as St. Hesychios on the importance of cultivating this first stage of watchful awareness. In our discovery of inner stillness, we first learn a good deal more about our obsessive mental habits than about inner stillness. But Evagrius is convinced that this ordeal with thoughts is crucial to our contemplative training and that we should take every opportunity to observe all we can about these thoughts; which thoughts “arc less frequent
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