Editing Hesychasm (section)

==Practice==

===Acquiring inner stillness===
The hesychast interprets Jesus's 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:
{{Blockquote|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.<ref>''Ladder'', Step 27, 5, (Step 27, 6 in the Holy Transfiguration edition).</ref>}}

===Stages in hesychast practice===
{{See also|Christian contemplation}}

''[[Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)|Theosis]]'' is obtained by engaging in contemplative prayer resulting from the cultivation of watchfulness (Gk: ''[[nepsis]]''). This doesn't mean that human, created energy obtains theosis by itself, ie. without God. Holy Spirit is a doer of theosis, because He gives Christ's grace and Father's love to the purifying ones. According to the standard ascetic formulation of this process, there are three stages:
* ''[[Catharsis|Katharsis]]'' ({{lang|el|[[wikt:κάθαρσις|κάθαρσις]]}}) or [[purgative way|purification]],
* ''[[Theoria]]'' ({{lang|el|[[wikt:θεωρία|θεωρία]]}}) or [[illuminative way|illumination]], and
* ''[[Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)|Theosis]]'' ({{lang|el|[[wikt:θέωσις|θέωσις]]}}) or [[deification]] (also referred to as [[unitive way|union with God]]).{{refn|group=note|name="purification for love"|Purification, and illumination of the noetic faculty, prepare for the vision of God. Without this it is impossible for man's selfish love to be transformed into selfless love. This transformation takes place during the higher level of the stage of illumination called theoria, literally meaning vision, in this case vision ''by means of unceasing and uninterrupted memory of God''. Those who remain selfish and self-centered with a hardened heart, closed to God's love, will not see the glory of God in this life. However, they will see God's glory eventually, but as an eternal and consuming fire and outer darkness. From ''Franks, Romans, feudalism, and doctrine: Diagnosis and Therapy'', Father [[John S. Romanides]] Diagnosis and Therapy<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.03.en.franks_romans_feudalism_and_doctrine.02.htm#s8 |title =Franks, Romans, Feudalism, and Doctrine – Part 2 }}</ref>}}

====''Katharsis'' (ascese/purification)====
{{see also|Catharsis}}

Sobriety contributes to this mental ascesis that rejects tempting thoughts; it puts a great emphasis on focus and attention. The hesychast is to pay extreme attention to the consciousness of his inner world and to the words of the Jesus Prayer, not letting his mind wander in any way at all. While he maintains his practice of the Jesus Prayer, which becomes automatic and continues twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the hesychast cultivates ''[[nepsis]]'', watchful attention, to reject tempting thoughts (the "thieves") that come to the hesychast as he watches in sober attention in his hermitage. St. John of Sinai describes hesychast practice as follows:
{{quote|Take up your seat on a high place and watch, if only you know how, and then you will see in what manner, when, whence, how many and what kind of thieves come to enter and steal your clusters of grapes. When the watchman grows weary, he stands up and prays; and then he sits down again and courageously takes up his former task.<ref>St. John of Sinai, Step 27, 21 of the ''Ladder'' (Step 27, 22–23 of the Holy Transfiguration edition)</ref>}}

The hesychast is to attach [[Eros]] ({{langx|el|eros}}), that is, "yearning", to his practice of sobriety so as to overcome the temptation to [[acedia]] (sloth). He is also to use an extremely directed and controlled anger against the tempting thoughts, although to obliterate them entirely he is to invoke Jesus Christ via the Jesus Prayer.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Much of the literature of hesychasm is occupied with the psychological analysis of such tempting thoughts (e.g. [[St. Mark the Ascetic]]). This psychological analysis owes much to the ascetical works of Evagrius Pontikos, with its doctrine of the eight passions.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

====''Theoria'' (illumination)====
{{See also|Theoria}}

The primary task of the hesychast is to engage in mental ascesis. 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. In solitude and retirement, the hesychast repeats the [[Jesus Prayer]], ''"Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner."'' The hesychast prays the Jesus Prayer 'with the heart'{{snd}}with meaning, with intent, "for real" (see [[ontic]]). He never treats the Jesus Prayer as a string of syllables whose "surface" or overt verbal meaning is secondary or unimportant. He considers bare repetition of the Jesus Prayer as a mere string of syllables, perhaps with a "mystical" inner meaning beyond the overt verbal meaning, to be worthless or even dangerous. This emphasis on the actual, real invocation of Jesus Christ mirrors an Eastern understanding of mantra in that physical action/voice and meaning are utterly inseparable.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The descent of the mind into the heart is not taken literally by the practitioners of hesychasm, but is considered metaphorically.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9196947 |title=The Philokalia : the complete text |date=1979–1986 |publisher=Faber and Faber |others=the Hagiorite, Saint Nicodemus, Saint, Metropolitan of Corinth Makarios, G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Bishop of Diokleia Kallistos |isbn=0571130135 |location=London |page=193 |oclc=9196947}}</ref> 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''). 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

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".{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

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.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

There is a very great emphasis on humility in the practice of the Jesus Prayer, great cautions being given in the texts about the disaster that will befall the would-be hesychast if he proceeds in pride, arrogance or conceit. It is also assumed in the hesychast texts that the hesychast is a member of the Orthodox Church in good standing.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

====''Theosis'' (deification)====
{{main|Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)}}
[[Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)|Theosis]] is from the guard of the mind that he is raised to contemplation by the grace of God.{{Clarify|date=April 2022}}

The hesychast usually experiences the contemplation of God as light, the "uncreated light" of the theology of St. Gregory Palamas. The hesychast, when he has by the mercy of God been granted such an experience, does not remain in that experience for a very long time (there are exceptions{{snd}}see for example the ''Life'' of St. Savas the Fool for Christ (14th century), written by [[Philotheus I of Constantinople|St. Philotheos Kokkinos]] (14th century), but he returns "to earth" and continues to practise the guard of the mind.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The uncreated light that the hesychast experiences is identified with the Holy Spirit. Experiences of the uncreated light are allied to the 'acquisition of the Holy Spirit'. Notable accounts of encounters with the Holy Spirit in this fashion are found in St. [[Symeon the New Theologian]]'s account of the illumination of "George" (considered a pseudonym of St. Symeon himself); in the "conversation with Motovilov" in the ''Life'' of [[St. Seraphim of Sarov]] (1759–1833); and, more recently, in the reminiscences of [[Starets|Elder]] [[Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) of Kafsokalivia]] (''Wounded by Love'' pp.&nbsp;27–31).

===''Prelest''===
Orthodox tradition warns against seeking [[religious ecstasy|ecstasy]] as an end in itself. Hesychasm is a traditional complex of ascetical practices embedded in the doctrine and practice of the Orthodox Church and intended to purify the member of the Orthodox Church and to make him ready for an encounter with God that comes to him when and if God wants, through God's grace. The goal is to acquire, through purification and grace, the Holy Spirit and salvation. Any ecstatic states or other unusual phenomena which may occur in the course of hesychast practice are considered secondary and unimportant, even quite dangerous. Moreover, seeking after unusual "spiritual" experiences can itself cause great harm, ruining the soul and the mind of the seeker. Such a seeking after "spiritual" experiences can lead to [[Prelest|''spiritual delusion'']] (Ru. ''prelest,'' Gr. ''plani)''{{snd}}the antonym of sobriety{{snd}}in which a person believes himself or herself to be a saint, has hallucinations in which he or she "sees" angels, Christ, etc. This state of spiritual delusion is in a superficial, egotistical way pleasurable, but can lead to madness and suicide, and, according to the hesychast fathers, makes salvation impossible.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

===Liturgy and sacraments===
Hesychasts fully participate in the liturgical and [[sacraments|sacramental]] life of the Orthodox Church, including the daily cycle of liturgical prayer of the [[Canonical hours|Divine Office]] and the [[Divine Liturgy]]. However, hesychasts who are living as hermits might have a very rare attendance at the Divine Liturgy (see the life of [[Saint Seraphim of Sarov]]) and might not recite the Divine Office except by means of the Jesus Prayer (attested practice on Mt Athos). In general, the hesychast restricts his external activities for the sake of his hesychastic practice.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}