#goettmann

[hieromonkcharbel]

Understanding the Passions according to the Philokalia - Healing of the Soul and through the Science of the Fathers:

Now that we have spoken a bit about asceticism and its goal, theosis or deification, it is appropriate I think to address the specifics of that path of conversion and transformation. What is it that we must do on our part and with the grace of God on the path of return - to restore the image that has been sullied by our sin and to open ourselves up to the gift of becoming partakers of the divine nature made possible through Christ?

Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann, in their wonderful book “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart” describe this path beautifully; with an understanding arising from and obviously rooted in personal experience. It is perhaps the clearest description that I have come across and since the book is out of print I offer you the following lengthy excerpt:

“Rediscovering that which unifies us, rediscovering our first innocence leads us to become one with God to such an extent that there is no longer the consciousness within us of a differentiated self, distinct from God. All that we know then is love, nothing else: the unique desire for the unique desired One which makes life a communion of love with the Creator and with all that He endlessly creates at each moment.

The opposite is our propulsion toward the exterior which kindles the multiplicity of desires and makes of life only hatred and division: ‘We devour ourselves reciprocally like serpents. The communion of love is replaced by the hidden fear of death, and this death,’ says Maximus the Confessor, ‘is the cause of our turning love into destructive passions.’ The self is so closed in upon itself by this metaphysical anguish that the other, including God, is always, even unconsciously, a potential enemy.

In a person whose spirit is cut off from God, the soul enters into a radical change of perspective and passes into a state of dualism. Instead of living through God, of seeing in His light and with His eyes, the soul sees and lives through the self in an autonomous way. This is a false self, nonbeing, the empirical existence where each act of affirmation of the self increases the dualistic tension between the self and God, between the self and others. And as the self depends upon things to affirm it, the ditch never ceases to be dug and God Himself becomes an antagonistic and hostile being, a rival. Little by little all relationships are falsified: with oneself, with others, with God, with the whole of creation. This ontological denaturation brings to life in us a sort of predisposition to bad faith, where we constantly try to make things other than what they are, so that they serve our appetite for pleasure and power and our arbitrary impulses in every moment. This is the ‘noisy tumult of the passions’ according to the patristic expression . . .

Here is the beginning of decay. Our existence is fractured and we plunge into internal contradictions that can only make us suffer. A person who persists in walking with a broken leg will only suffer; and every desire comes out of this deep fracture which we carry within and which inevitably brings us to tragedy. The great significance of true asceticism is found here: in discerning the motives behind our way of being and acting.

Where does my desire come from and where is it going? That is the ground of asceticism, its primary matter, and the very place of our penitence. Asceticism is a guardian over every interior and exterior movement. Nothing is possible - no accomplishment, no happiness, no peace - as long as desire is turned in upon itself, egocentric and greedy! There is no spiritual way or prayer which can be maintained without battling these passionate desires” (Goettmann, “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart,” 120-121).

The Desert Fathers understood the word “passion” to mean all the egocentric desires through which the demon seeks to capture human beings. These we must know along with their most subtle workings within us if we are to fully engage in the spiritual battle that confronts us. Such knowledge and the hard won skill of recognizing evil in order to avoid it is so valuable that St. Isaac the Syrian stated: “He who sees his sin is greater than he who resurrects the dead.” It is through this interior work that the passions are not destroyed but have their energy redirected and reordered toward God - to eternal Life.

The Goettmann’s aptly describe this purification of the passions as a kind of “‘homemade psychoanalysis,’ a therapy which attacks the roots of the illnesses of our being, not only to heal us on a human level, but to heal us for our union with God” (Ibid., 122). Faith is the point of departure for the Desert Fathers from modern psychology; the goal is to share in the life and intimacy of the Holy Trinity and the Fathers see the full flowering of the personality not simply as a function of human needs and potentials.

This is exactly the approach to and understanding of the writings of the Fathers of the Philokalia presented by Hierotheos Vlachos in his masterful work “Orthodox Psychotherapy: the Science of the Fathers.” He presents us with much different understanding of the word "Psychotherapy" than we often have in mind.

Psyche, Vlachos reminds us, comes from the Greek and means "soul". In the Hebrew and Christian tradition the soul is the essence of one's existence. It represents the whole living being of an individual person. The soul in this sense is manifested through the body, the mind and other facets of the one's being. When we speak of "Psychotherapy" then we mean the healing of one's soul.

There are great differences then between modern psychotherapy and Christian psychotherapy. Contemporary psychotherapy focuses more on the mental and emotional dimensions of a person, thoughts, emotions and feelings; in particular by addressing the disorder and pathology that one may be experiencing in these dimensions. But most modern psychotherapy does not see itself as facilitating growth of person in their relationship with God; that is, in the realization and expression of divine truth. It hopes certainly to encourage more efficient living and functioning in the world. And yet, its values and intentions often reflect those that prevail in the culture at the given time. For example, modern psychotherapy often seeks to bolster one's capacity to gratify needs and desire and to achieve a sense of autonomous mastery over self and circumstance; that is, self-realization and self-fulfillment.

Christian Psychotherapy seeks liberation from disordered attachments and self-giving surrender to the power and will of God. The manner in which personal growth and healing take place depend not on self-mastery but upon the grace of God. The true healer, the Physician, is Jesus. The root of our illness, the disorder and lack of integration we experience, our sickness of soul, comes from sin. It is this we seek to remedy in and through our relationship with Jesus Christ (see “Orthodox Psychotherapy, pp 97-118).

It has been said that the Desert Fathers have provided us with a map of the soul:

“The passions and temptations which must inevitably beset any Christian were unearthed and described with almost scientific precision. Pride, vainglory, lust - each passion was isolated and catalogued. This ‘map’ of the Christian soul was then passed on from one generation of ascetics to another, each generation profiting from the discoveries of the previous ones. Not only were the passions and temptations which afflict the soul unearthed, however, but a ‘system’ was developed to combat them. This system was later to become know as ‘hesychasm’ or ‘prayer of the heart’” (Coniaris, “Philokalia: Bible of Orthodox Spirituality”, 148-149).

In future posts, we will consider how the Fathers of the Philokalia came to categorize the principle vices that give rise to these passions, how they manifest themselves and how they are remedied. The Fathers had no illusions about human nature, its woundedness and through the insights born from their spiritual life we stand to gain a deeper understanding of the human person and the truth that peace of soul can be bought only at the price of a long struggle.

[jollybananapenguin]

Toenail Fungus Remedies - Find Out What Fungal Treatments Work For Healthier Nails

Rare in children, common in adults and especially the elderly, onychomycosis is an attack of the nail by a fungus. Innovative lotions exist and the laser has made its appearance. But all these treatments are not unanimous.

Nail fungus: avoid self-medication

About 10% of  people in france and england are affected by onychomycosis, most often caused by dermatophytes (fungi), sometimes mold. "But many attacks of the nail are unduly called mycoses, underlines Dr. Sophie Goettmann, dermatologist. While it is actually mechanical trauma (friction of the shoe, especially in athletes or women who wear narrow shoes with high heels). No need to treat with antifungals… if there is no fungus! "

Self-care is therefore not a good idea. You have to be sure of the diagnosis. In some cases, the skin's eye is enough. The specialist nevertheless requests a sample for cultivation in order to identify the responsible fungus. If there is any doubt, he may wish a histological analysis of a fragment of nail (looking for filaments visible under a microscope). But be careful, if you have put antifungal varnish for months at all costs, it will no longer be possible to take a correct sample.

Antifungal varnish: it's really effective

The treatment most often involves the daily application of varnish for 3 to 12 months, whether or not associated with the taking of tablets or capsules: terbinafine for dermatophytes; itraconazole for molds. The former is generally well supported. But the second is often the cause of bothersome side effects (diarrhea) and its effectiveness is not always guaranteed.

If the yeast infection is extensive or resistant to treatment, the nail should be removed first. This requires softening it with a urea cream (daily, for one to three weeks), or surgically removing the nail before taking the treatment. Well followed, it cures the mycosis in the majority of cases. "But the shoes must also be treated to prevent recurrence", underlines Pr Louis Dubertret, dermatologist.

[nabeelisa]

شمس والا مو شمس ، يمشي 😎 . . . . . . . . #instagood #instalove #instafashion #instabahn #fatrunnerbh #mydubai #dubai #ksa #q8 #khabibvsmcgregor #khabibtime #girl #velvet #bluehair #blue #السمنه_لا_تليق_بي #دعم_المشاريع_البحرينية #goettmann #capsandhats #caps #hats #summerfashion #fashionable #lookbook #summerlookbook #instafashion #fashionista #lookinggood #feelinggood #summervibes #accessories #accessoriesformen #menswearstyle #mensweardaily (at Amwaj Lagoon) https://www.instagram.com/p/Brxe7Z6BjoV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n6afbar2i6f4

[unitedfact]

Police: A Woman in Pittsburgh's Troy Hill Neighborhood Was Shot Over an Alleged Parking Disagreement

Police: A Woman in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill Neighborhood Was Shot Over an Alleged Parking Disagreement

Overnight, a woman was shot in the Troy Hill section of Pittsburgh over what appears to be a parking issue. Just after midnight, officers from Pittsburgh police were called to the 100 block of Goettmann Street in response to reports of multiple shots being fired. Police reported that they discovered a woman with gunshot wounds to both of her legs at the location. She was sent to a nearby hospital…

[amazonepedia]

"Orice bucurie îşi are rădăcina în bucuria creativă a lui Dumnezeu. El exprimă în fiecare fiinţă vitalitatea sa proprie şi vibrarea voioasă pentru a face din acestea o notă unică în polifonia universului. Această bucurie fundamentală a fost înscrisă în genele celulelor noastre. Este "da"-ul în faţa vieţii, cea mai înaltă victorie a omului asupra tuturor încercărilor care îl apasă, cel mai puternic mijloc de transformare. Autenticitatea unei vieţi spirituale se măsoară după gradul de bucurie care o locuieşte. Ea este deci culmea misticiii şi a oricărei împliniri. Nu există decât o singură datorie: să fii fericit, şi o singură trădare: să nu fii." - Alphonse Goettmann⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ #amazonepedia#amazon#afacereamea#afaceridesucces#vanzarionline#castigabanionline#afacereaamazon#dezvoltarepersonala#motivare#libertate#antreprenor#banipeamazon#afaceri#dezvoltare#antreprenoriat#lansare#liberfinanciar#afacere#cursonline#vanzari#bucurestioptimist#romania#bucharest#blogpost#bucuresti#inspiratie#viata#educatie#motivatie#bani

[christianlib]

كتاب صلاة القلب السر الروحي الجوهري في قلب المسيحية - اصدارات مدرسة الاسكندرية

كتاب صلاة القلب السر الروحي الجوهري في قلب المسيحية – اصدارات مدرسة الاسكندرية

كتاب صلاة القلب   السر الروحي الجوهري في قلب المسيحية – اصدارات مدرسة الاسكندرية

كتاب صلاة القلب

كتاب صلاة القلب السر الروحي الجوهري في قلب المسيحية الاب الفونس و راشيل جوتمان  Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann تعريب راهب من البرية الشرقية سلسلة مدرسة الاسكندرية للدراسات المسيحية ترجمات (كتب مسيحية مترجمة) المراجعة عن النص الانجليزي و الاعداد للنشر : دينا طارق

لقد غير هذا الكتاب حياتي ,  فقد قدم لي…

[joeyfirst]

“Bock auf was grusliges?

Im Flieger nach Faro habe ich zwei Deutsche kennen gerlernt. (Nee, das war noch nicht gruslig, jetzt geht es aber los:)

1. Sie sind beides Grün-Wähler (hörte ich aus den Einstellungen heraus.

2. Sie arbeiten beide im Öffentlichen Dienst

3. Sie finden, über den Klimawandel darf man keine Witze machen (eine Rüge in meine Richtung)

4. Sie sitzen neben mir im Flieger nach Portugal.

5. Ihre MOTORRÄDER sind bereits nach Portugal verschifft worden. Sie wollen hier mit ihren Motorrädern mit einer 26-köpfigen Gruppe, plus Guide, eine Reise durch Portugal machen.

6. Dieser Tripp dauert 5 TAGE! Dann werden ihre Mopeds wieder nach Deutschland gebracht, sie fliegen zurück und sitzen wieder an ihren Schreibtischen.

7. Sie finden das ja selbst dekadent: aber "Man lebt nur einmal" (von Steuergeldern ganz gut)

:-)“

Paula Goettmann bei Facebook

[full-imagination]

Randy Belk

Randall “Randy” Eugene Belk, 54, of Roebuck, SC, died Sunday, August 18, 2019, at Spartanburg Medical Center. Born April 23, 1965, in Union, SC, he was the son of Anna Lou Jackson Belk of Pacolet, SC and the late Roger Eugene Belk. In addition to his mother, surviving are his wife, Ruth Goettmann Belk; daughters, Nona Burgett (Mike) and Marissa Belk, all of Roebuck, SC; grandchildren, Bianca Burgett and Dustin Burgett; sister, Michelle Rider of Pacolet, SC; and brother, Chris Belk of Clinton, SC. A memorial service will be conducted at a later date. Floyd’s North Church Street Chapel from The JF Floyd Mortuary via Spartanburg Funeral

[pro-city-consulting]

Die Pro City Consulting UG stellt heute die Firma Göttmann aus Veitsrodt vor.

[hieromonkcharbel]

Purity of Heart in the Writings of the Philokalia

What is the purpose of the asceticism and repentance that have been described in the previous posts? Again, it is a question the Fathers often asked of themselves, realizing how easy it is to make these practices ends rather the means to an end. As with so many things in life we can be investing a lot of energy, working very hard but lose sight of where we are heading or what we are seeking. In this the spiritual life (as we often make it) can become, strangely enough, analogous to an infatuation. The word infatuation comes from in-fatuous which means “false light”. Following a false light is the experience often had by those traveling in the desert at night. They believe they see a light in the distance and so set out to reach it and find warmth and comfort for themselves. However, it is actually an optical illusion and more often than not they would travel a great distance, expending much effort, only to realize that what promised light and warmth was nowhere to be found.

Thus, knowing what our immediate purpose and ultimate end are in the spiritual life is essential and there is no better place to begin than with those who walked the path, the “narrow way,” before us. In particular, there is a notable conversation on this very subject in the Philokalia. John Cassian and his fellow monk and friend Germanus travelled from Gaul to Egypt in the 4th century to live with the Eastern monks in the Nile delta in order to bring back the wisdom of the Hesychast tradition to the West. For nearly 20 years they lived with the monks and hermits in order to observe their way of life and learn from their collective wisdom.

In the first volume of the Philokalia we find Cassian and Germanus engaged in a discussion with Abba Moses who puts this question to them:

“‘You have given up your country, your families, everything worldly in order to embrace a life in a foreign land among rude and uncultured people like us. Tell, what was your purpose and what goal did you set before yourselves in doing all this?’ We replied: ‘We did it for the kingdom of heaven.’ In response Abba Moses said: ‘As for the goal, you have answered well; but what is the purpose which we set before us and which we pursue unwaveringly so as to reach the kingdom of heaven? This you have not told me.’ When we confessed that we did not know, the old man replied: ‘The goal of our profession, as we have said, is the kingdom of God. Its immediate purpose, however, is purity of heart, for without this we cannot reach our goal. We should therefore always have this purpose in mind; and, should it ever happen that for a short time our heart turns aside from the direct path, we must bring it back again at once, guiding our lives with reference to our purpose as if it were a carpenter’s rule. . . .If we forget this purpose we cannot avoid frequently stumbling and losing our way, for we will be walking in the dark and straying from the proper path’” (Philokalia, Vol. 1, 95).

Yet, what is this purity of heart of which Abba Moses speaks? Throughout the Philokalia it is described in various ways but most often the Fathers speak of purity as having God at the center of all of our thoughts, words and actions - having God as our one true desire, our beginning and end. Anthony Coniaris captures this with great clarity and simplicity:

“Purity of heart is not, first and foremost, a matter of avoiding all sorts of bad things; it is more so, desiring one supreme good above all. It is to want one thing, to focus our whole life on that one thing. What is that one thing? It is to know God, love HIm, and serve Him with all our mind, heart and soul and strength. When you are pure of heart, you place all your focus on what God wants of you. You want to be godly, a person of integrity. Your deepest desire is for God, not for the approval of people. Thus, purity of heart means loving all people and having a single supreme purpose and direction, not being double minded and unstable (James 1:8). Such purity or singleness of heart leads to illumination which, in turn, leads to glorification and union with God” (Coniaris, “A Beginner’s Introduction to the Philokalia”, 122-123).

Here we begin to see why purity of heart is so important, why it is the purpose of our asceticism, and something to which we must be entirely and exclusively consecrated. Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann in their work “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart” express it ever so pointedly:

“To be on the way with a divided will, a small fraction of our energy and a mental hesitation, leads nowhere! We must break radically with our habits, with our way of being and introduce into ourselves - through a decisive act which shakes our whole nature - a new idea force, a consecration of our energies to Jesus Christ so complete that to live from Him becomes for our heart the only desire, and for our will the only activity in all that we live and do. . . .all life becomes a single adoration. Behind everything, there is the presence: we must feel it always and everywhere, awaken to its constant, intimate, enveloping nearness, intensely perceive it and commune with it in every moment. To turn all our emotions toward the presence of Christ is the most intense way of purification for the heart. Sooner or later ‘the pure in heart will see God,’ will feel Him, touch Him, hear Him, smell Him” (155-156).

Indeed, the more we are purified the more we shall see. This is captured in exquisite fashion by St. Maximus the Confessor who wrote in the 7th century:

“If, according to the words of the Divine Apostle, Christ dwells in our hearts by faith and in Him ‘are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’, then in our hearts are to be found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And they (these treasures) are revealed to the heart according to the measure of purification of each person by the commandments. This is the ‘treasure hid in a field’ of your heart, which you have not yet found because of your inaction. For if you had found it, you would have sold all that you had and bought that field. But you have abandoned that field and work nearby, where there is nothing but thorns and thistles. Therefore, the Savior says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’ They will see Him and the treasures that are in Him, when they purify themselves by love and self-mastery; the more they are purified, the more (of God) will they see.”

Ultimately, the importance of purity of heart lies in our destiny. “The more of God’s love and mercy we receive, the more we commit ourselves to Him, the more we love Him and serve Him, the more we shall be able to experience His kingdom within us, and the better prepared will our eyes be for the brilliance of heaven” (Coniaris, 132).

[hieromonkcharbel]

Understanding the Passions according to the Philokalia - - Healing of the Soul and through the Science of the Fathers:

Now that we have spoken a bit about asceticism and its goal, theosis or deification, it is appropriate I think to address the specifics of that path of conversion and transformation. What is it that we must do on our part and with the grace of God on the path of return - to restore the image that has been sullied by our sin and to open ourselves up to the gift of becoming partakers of the divine nature made possible through Christ?

Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann, in their wonderful book “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart” describe this path beautifully; with an understanding arising from and obviously rooted in personal experience. It is perhaps the clearest description that I have come across and since the book is out of print I offer you the following lengthy excerpt:

“Rediscovering that which unifies us, rediscovering our first innocence leads us to become one with God to such an extent that there is no longer the consciousness within us of a differentiated self, distinct from God. All that we know then is love, nothing else: the unique desire for the unique desired One which makes life a communion of love with the Creator and with all that He endlessly creates at each moment.

The opposite is our propulsion toward the exterior which kindles the multiplicity of desires and makes of life only hatred and division: ‘We devour ourselves reciprocally like serpents. The communion of love is replaced by the hidden fear of death, and this death,’ says Maximus the Confessor, ‘is the cause of our turning love into destructive passions.’ The self is so closed in upon itself by this metaphysical anguish that the other, including God, is always, even unconsciously, a potential enemy.

In a person whose spirit is cut off from God, the soul enters into a radical change of perspective and passes into a state of dualism. Instead of living through God, of seeing in His light and with His eyes, the soul sees and lives through the self in an autonomous way. This is a false self, nonbeing, the empirical existence where each act of affirmation of the self increases the dualistic tension between the self and God, between the self and others. And as the self depends upon things to affirm it, the ditch never ceases to be dug and God Himself becomes an antagonistic and hostile being, a rival. Little by little all relationships are falsified: with oneself, with others, with God, with the whole of creation. This ontological denaturation brings to life in us a sort of predisposition to bad faith, where we constantly try to make things other than what they are, so that they serve our appetite for pleasure and power and our arbitrary impulses in every moment. This is the ‘noisy tumult of the passions’ according to the patristic expression . . .

Here is the beginning of decay. Our existence is fractured and we plunge into internal contradictions that can only make us suffer. A person who persists in walking with a broken leg will only suffer; and every desire comes out of this deep fracture which we carry within and which inevitably brings us to tragedy. The great significance of true asceticism is found here: in discerning the motives behind our way of being and acting.

Where does my desire come from and where is it going? That is the ground of asceticism, its primary matter, and the very place of our penitence. Asceticism is a guardian over every interior and exterior movement. Nothing is possible - no accomplishment, no happiness, no peace - as long as desire is turned in upon itself, egocentric and greedy! There is no spiritual way or prayer which can be maintained without battling these passionate desires” (Goettmann, “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart,” 120-121).

The Desert Fathers understood the word “passion” to mean all the egocentric desires through which the demon seeks to capture human beings. These we must know along with their most subtle workings within us if we are to fully engage in the spiritual battle that confronts us. Such knowledge and the hard won skill of recognizing evil in order to avoid it is so valuable that St. Isaac the Syrian stated: “He who sees his sin is greater than he who resurrects the dead.” It is through this interior work that the passions are not destroyed but have their energy redirected and reordered toward God - to eternal Life.

The Goettmann’s aptly describe this purification of the passions as a kind of “‘homemade psychoanalysis,’ a therapy which attacks the roots of the illnesses of our being, not only to heal us on a human level, but to heal us for our union with God” (Ibid., 122). Faith is the point of departure for the Desert Fathers from modern psychology; the goal is to share in the life and intimacy of the Holy Trinity and the Fathers see the full flowering of the personality not simply as a function of human needs and potentials.

This is exactly the approach to and understanding of the writings of the Fathers of the Philokalia presented by Hierotheos Vlachos in his masterful work “Orthodox Psychotherapy: the Science of the Fathers.” He presents us with much different understanding of the word "Psychotherapy" than we often have in mind.

Psyche, Vlachos reminds us, comes from the Greek and means "soul". In the Hebrew and Christian tradition the soul is the essence of one's existence. It represents the whole living being of an individual person. The soul in this sense is manifested through the body, the mind and other facets of the one's being. When we speak of "Psychotherapy" then we mean the healing of one's soul.

There are great differences then between modern psychotherapy and Christian psychotherapy. Contemporary psychotherapy focuses more on the mental and emotional dimensions of a person, thoughts, emotions and feelings; in particular by addressing the disorder and pathology that one may be experiencing in these dimensions. But most modern psychotherapy does not see itself as facilitating growth of person in their relationship with God; that is, in the realization and expression of divine truth. It hopes certainly to encourage more efficient living and functioning in the world. And yet, its values and intentions often reflect those that prevail in the culture at the given time. For example, modern psychotherapy often seeks to bolster one's capacity to gratify needs and desire and to achieve a sense of autonomous mastery over self and circumstance; that is, self-realization and self-fulfillment.

Christian Psychotherapy seeks liberation from disordered attachments and self-giving surrender to the power and will of God. The manner in which personal growth and healing take place depend not on self-mastery but upon the grace of God. The true healer, the Physician, is Jesus. The root of our illness, the disorder and lack of integration we experience, our sickness of soul, comes from sin. It is this we seek to remedy in and through our relationship with Jesus Christ (see “Orthodox Psychotherapy, pp 97-118).

It has been said that the Desert Fathers have provided us with a map of the soul:

“The passions and temptations which must inevitably beset any Christian were unearthed and described with almost scientific precision. Pride, vainglory, lust - each passion was isolated and catalogued. This ‘map’ of the Christian soul was then passed on from one generation of ascetics to another, each generation profiting from the discoveries of the previous ones. Not only were the passions and temptations which afflict the soul unearthed, however, but a ‘system’ was developed to combat them. This system was later to become know as ‘hesychasm’ or ‘prayer of the heart’” (Coniaris, “Philokalia: Bible of Orthodox Spirituality”, 148-149).

In future posts, we will consider how the Fathers of the Philokalia came to categorize the principle vices that give rise to these passions, how they manifest themselves and how they are remedied. The Fathers had no illusions about human nature, its woundedness and through the insights born from their spiritual life we stand to gain a deeper understanding of the human person and the truth that peace of soul can be bought only at the price of a long struggle.

[hieromonkcharbel]

“To be on the way with a divided will, a small fraction of our energy and a mental hesitation, leads nowhere! We must break radically with our habits, with our way of being and introduce into ourselves - through a decisive act which shakes our whole nature - a new idea force, a consecration of our energies to Jesus Christ so complete that to live from Him becomes for our heart the only desire, and for our will the only activity in all that we live and do. . . .all life becomes a single adoration. Behind everything, there is the presence: we must feel it always and everywhere, awaken to its constant, intimate, enveloping nearness, intensely perceive it and commune with it in every moment. To turn all our emotions toward the presence of Christ is the most intense way of purification for the heart. Sooner or later ‘the pure in heart will see God,’ will feel Him, touch Him, hear Him, smell Him”.

Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann

“Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart”

[hieromonkcharbel]

Understanding the Passions according to the Philokalia: Healing of the Soul and through the Science of the Fathers

Now that we have spoken a bit about asceticism and its goal, theosis or deification, it is appropriate I think to address the specifics of that path of conversion and transformation. What is it that we must do on our part and with the grace of God on the path of return - to restore the image that has been sullied by our sin and to open ourselves up to the gift of becoming partakers of the divine nature made possible through Christ?

Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann, in their wonderful book “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart” describe this path beautifully; with an understanding arising from and obviously rooted in personal experience. It is perhaps the clearest description that I have come across and since the book is out of print I offer you the following lengthy excerpt:

“Rediscovering that which unifies us, rediscovering our first innocence leads us to become one with God to such an extent that there is no longer the consciousness within us of a differentiated self, distinct from God. All that we know then is love, nothing else: the unique desire for the unique desired One which makes life a communion of love with the Creator and with all that He endlessly creates at each moment.

The opposite is our propulsion toward the exterior which kindles the multiplicity of desires and makes of life only hatred and division: ‘We devour ourselves reciprocally like serpents. The communion of love is replaced by the hidden fear of death, and this death,’ says Maximus the Confessor, ‘is the cause of our turning love into destructive passions.’ The self is so closed in upon itself by this metaphysical anguish that the other, including God, is always, even unconsciously, a potential enemy.

In a person whose spirit is cut off from God, the soul enters into a radical change of perspective and passes into a state of dualism. Instead of living through God, of seeing in His light and with His eyes, the soul sees and lives through the self in an autonomous way. This is a false self, nonbeing, the empirical existence where each act of affirmation of the self increases the dualistic tension between the self and God, between the self and others. And as the self depends upon things to affirm it, the ditch never ceases to be dug and God Himself becomes an antagonistic and hostile being, a rival. Little by little all relationships are falsified: with oneself, with others, with God, with the whole of creation. This ontological denaturation brings to life in us a sort of predisposition to bad faith, where we constantly try to make things other than what they are, so that they serve our appetite for pleasure and power and our arbitrary impulses in every moment. This is the ‘noisy tumult of the passions’ according to the patristic expression . . .

Here is the beginning of decay. Our existence is fractured and we plunge into internal contradictions that can only make us suffer. A person who persists in walking with a broken leg will only suffer; and every desire comes out of this deep fracture which we carry within and which inevitably brings us to tragedy. The great significance of true asceticism is found here: in discerning the motives behind our way of being and acting.

Where does my desire come from and where is it going? That is the ground of asceticism, its primary matter, and the very place of our penitence. Asceticism is a guardian over every interior and exterior movement. Nothing is possible - no accomplishment, no happiness, no peace - as long as desire is turned in upon itself, egocentric and greedy! There is no spiritual way or prayer which can be maintained without battling these passionate desires” (Goettmann, “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart,” 120-121).

The Desert Fathers understood the word “passion” to mean all the egocentric desires through which the demon seeks to capture human beings. These we must know along with their most subtle workings within us if we are to fully engage in the spiritual battle that confronts us. Such knowledge and the hard won skill of recognizing evil in order to avoid it is so valuable that St. Isaac the Syrian stated: “He who sees his sin is greater than he who resurrects the dead.” It is through this interior work that the passions are not destroyed but have their energy redirected and reordered toward God - to eternal Life.

The Goettmann’s aptly describe this purification of the passions as a kind of “‘homemade psychoanalysis,’ a therapy which attacks the roots of the illnesses of our being, not only to heal us on a human level, but to heal us for our union with God” (Ibid., 122). Faith is the point of departure for the Desert Fathers from modern psychology; the goal is to share in the life and intimacy of the Holy Trinity and the Fathers see the full flowering of the personality not simply as a function of human needs and potentials.

This is exactly the approach to and understanding of the writings of the Fathers of the Philokalia presented by Hierotheos Vlachos in his masterful work “Orthodox Psychotherapy: the Science of the Fathers.” He presents us with much different understanding of the word "Psychotherapy" than we often have in mind.

Psyche, Vlachos reminds us, comes from the Greek and means "soul". In the Hebrew and Christian tradition the soul is the essence of one's existence. It represents the whole living being of an individual person. The soul in this sense is manifested through the body, the mind and other facets of the one's being. When we speak of "Psychotherapy" then we mean the healing of one's soul.

There are great differences then between modern psychotherapy and Christian psychotherapy. Contemporary psychotherapy focuses more on the mental and emotional dimensions of a person, thoughts, emotions and feelings; in particular by addressing the disorder and pathology that one may be experiencing in these dimensions. But most modern psychotherapy does not see itself as facilitating growth of person in their relationship with God; that is, in the realization and expression of divine truth. It hopes certainly to encourage more efficient living and functioning in the world. And yet, its values and intentions often reflect those that prevail in the culture at the given time. For example, modern psychotherapy often seeks to bolster one's capacity to gratify needs and desire and to achieve a sense of autonomous mastery over self and circumstance; that is, self-realization and self-fulfillment.

Christian Psychotherapy seeks liberation from disordered attachments and self-giving surrender to the power and will of God. The manner in which personal growth and healing take place depend not on self-mastery but upon the grace of God. The true healer, the Physician, is Jesus. The root of our illness, the disorder and lack of integration we experience, our sickness of soul, comes from sin. It is this we seek to remedy in and through our relationship with Jesus Christ (see “Orthodox Psychotherapy, pp 97-118).

It has been said that the Desert Fathers have provided us with a map of the soul:

“The passions and temptations which must inevitably beset any Christian were unearthed and described with almost scientific precision. Pride, vainglory, lust - each passion was isolated and catalogued. This ‘map’ of the Christian soul was then passed on from one generation of ascetics to another, each generation profiting from the discoveries of the previous ones. Not only were the passions and temptations which afflict the soul unearthed, however, but a ‘system’ was developed to combat them. This system was later to become know as ‘hesychasm’ or ‘prayer of the heart’” (Coniaris, ��Philokalia: Bible of Orthodox Spirituality”, 148-149).

In future posts, we will consider how the Fathers of the Philokalia came to categorize the principle vices that give rise to these passions, how they manifest themselves and how they are remedied. The Fathers had no illusions about human nature, its woundedness and through the insights born from their spiritual life we stand to gain a deeper understanding of the human person and the truth that peace of soul can be bought only at the price of a long struggle.

[hieromonkcharbel]

Purity of Heart in the Writings of the Philokalia:

What is the purpose of the asceticism and repentance that have been described in the previous posts? Again, it is a question the Fathers often asked of themselves, realizing how easy it is to make these practices ends rather the means to an end. As with so many things in life we can be investing a lot of energy, working very hard but lose sight of where we are heading or what we are seeking. In this the spiritual life (as we often make it) can become, strangely enough, analogous to an infatuation. The word infatuation comes from in-fatuous which means “false light”. Following a false light is the experience often had by those traveling in the desert at night. They believe they see a light in the distance and so set out to reach it and find warmth and comfort for themselves. However, it is actually an optical illusion and more often than not they would travel a great distance, expending much effort, only to realize that what promised light and warmth was nowhere to be found.

Thus, knowing what our immediate purpose and ultimate end are in the spiritual life is essential and there is no better place to begin than with those who walked the path, the “narrow way,” before us. In particular, there is a notable conversation on this very subject in the Philokalia. John Cassian and his fellow monk and friend Germanus travelled from Gaul to Egypt in the 4th century to live with the Eastern monks in the Nile delta in order to bring back the wisdom of the Hesychast tradition to the West. For nearly 20 years they lived with the monks and hermits in order to observe their way of life and learn from their collective wisdom.

In the first volume of the Philokalia we find Cassian and Germanus engaged in a discussion with Abba Moses who puts this question to them:

“‘You have given up your country, your families, everything worldly in order to embrace a life in a foreign land among rude and uncultured people like us. Tell, what was your purpose and what goal did you set before yourselves in doing all this?’ We replied: ‘We did it for the kingdom of heaven.’ In response Abba Moses said: ‘As for the goal, you have answered well; but what is the purpose which we set before us and which we pursue unwaveringly so as to reach the kingdom of heaven? This you have not told me.’ When we confessed that we did not know, the old man replied: ‘The goal of our profession, as we have said, is the kingdom of God. Its immediate purpose, however, is purity of heart, for without this we cannot reach our goal. We should therefore always have this purpose in mind; and, should it ever happen that for a short time our heart turns aside from the direct path, we must bring it back again at once, guiding our lives with reference to our purpose as if it were a carpenter’s rule. . . .If we forget this purpose we cannot avoid frequently stumbling and losing our way, for we will be walking in the dark and straying from the proper path’” (Philokalia, Vol. 1, 95).

Yet, what is this purity of heart of which Abba Moses speaks? Throughout the Philokalia it is described in various ways but most often the Fathers speak of purity as having God at the center of all of our thoughts, words and actions - having God as our one true desire, our beginning and end. Anthony Coniaris captures this with great clarity and simplicity:

“Purity of heart is not, first and foremost, a matter of avoiding all sorts of bad things; it is more so, desiring one supreme good above all. It is to want one thing, to focus our whole life on that one thing. What is that one thing? It is to know God, love HIm, and serve Him with all our mind, heart and soul and strength. When you are pure of heart, you place all your focus on what God wants of you. You want to be godly, a person of integrity. Your deepest desire is for God, not for the approval of people. Thus, purity of heart means loving all people and having a single supreme purpose and direction, not being double minded and unstable (James 1:8). Such purity or singleness of heart leads to illumination which, in turn, leads to glorification and union with God” (Coniaris, “A Beginner’s Introduction to the Philokalia”, 122-123).

Here we begin to see why purity of heart is so important, why it is the purpose of our asceticism, and something to which we must be entirely and exclusively consecrated. Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann in their work “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart” express it ever so pointedly:

“To be on the way with a divided will, a small fraction of our energy and a mental hesitation, leads nowhere! We must break radically with our habits, with our way of being and introduce into ourselves - through a decisive act which shakes our whole nature - a new idea force, a consecration of our energies to Jesus Christ so complete that to live from Him becomes for our heart the only desire, and for our will the only activity in all that we live and do. . . .all life becomes a single adoration. Behind everything, there is the presence: we must feel it always and everywhere, awaken to its constant, intimate, enveloping nearness, intensely perceive it and commune with it in every moment. To turn all our emotions toward the presence of Christ is the most intense way of purification for the heart. Sooner or later ‘the pure in heart will see God,’ will feel Him, touch Him, hear Him, smell Him” (155-156).

Indeed, the more we are purified the more we shall see. This is captured in exquisite fashion by St. Maximus the Confessor who wrote in the 7th century:

“If, according to the words of the Divine Apostle, Christ dwells in our hearts by faith and in Him ‘are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’, then in our hearts are to be found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And they (these treasures) are revealed to the heart according to the measure of purification of each person by the commandments. This is the ‘treasure hid in a field’ of your heart, which you have not yet found because of your inaction. For if you had found it, you would have sold all that you had and bought that field. But you have abandoned that field and work nearby, where there is nothing but thorns and thistles. Therefore, the Savior says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’ They will see Him and the treasures that are in Him, when they purify themselves by love and self-mastery; the more they are purified, the more (of God) will they see.”

Ultimately, the importance of purity of heart lies in our destiny. “The more of God’s love and mercy we receive, the more we commit ourselves to Him, the more we love Him and serve Him, the more we shall be able to experience His kingdom within us, and the better prepared will our eyes be for the brilliance of heaven” (Coniaris, 132).

[hieromonkcharbel]

Understanding the Passions according to the Philokalia: Healing of the Soul and through the Science of the Fathers - -

Now that we have spoken a bit about asceticism and its goal, theosis or deification, it is appropriate I think to address the specifics of that path of conversion and transformation. What is it that we must do on our part and with the grace of God on the path of return - to restore the image that has been sullied by our sin and to open ourselves up to the gift of becoming partakers of the divine nature made possible through Christ?

Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann, in their wonderful book “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart” describe this path beautifully; with an understanding arising from and obviously rooted in personal experience. It is perhaps the clearest description that I have come across and since the book is out of print I offer you the following lengthy excerpt:

“Rediscovering that which unifies us, rediscovering our first innocence leads us to become one with God to such an extent that there is no longer the consciousness within us of a differentiated self, distinct from God. All that we know then is love, nothing else: the unique desire for the unique desired One which makes life a communion of love with the Creator and with all that He endlessly creates at each moment.

The opposite is our propulsion toward the exterior which kindles the multiplicity of desires and makes of life only hatred and division: ‘We devour ourselves reciprocally like serpents. The communion of love is replaced by the hidden fear of death, and this death,’ says Maximus the Confessor, ‘is the cause of our turning love into destructive passions.’ The self is so closed in upon itself by this metaphysical anguish that the other, including God, is always, even unconsciously, a potential enemy.

In a person whose spirit is cut off from God, the soul enters into a radical change of perspective and passes into a state of dualism. Instead of living through God, of seeing in His light and with His eyes, the soul sees and lives through the self in an autonomous way. This is a false self, nonbeing, the empirical existence where each act of affirmation of the self increases the dualistic tension between the self and God, between the self and others. And as the self depends upon things to affirm it, the ditch never ceases to be dug and God Himself becomes an antagonistic and hostile being, a rival. Little by little all relationships are falsified: with oneself, with others, with God, with the whole of creation. This ontological denaturation brings to life in us a sort of predisposition to bad faith, where we constantly try to make things other than what they are, so that they serve our appetite for pleasure and power and our arbitrary impulses in every moment. This is the ‘noisy tumult of the passions’ according to the patristic expression . . .

Here is the beginning of decay. Our existence is fractured and we plunge into internal contradictions that can only make us suffer. A person who persists in walking with a broken leg will only suffer; and every desire comes out of this deep fracture which we carry within and which inevitably brings us to tragedy. The great significance of true asceticism is found here: in discerning the motives behind our way of being and acting.

Where does my desire come from and where is it going? That is the ground of asceticism, its primary matter, and the very place of our penitence. Asceticism is a guardian over every interior and exterior movement. Nothing is possible - no accomplishment, no happiness, no peace - as long as desire is turned in upon itself, egocentric and greedy! There is no spiritual way or prayer which can be maintained without battling these passionate desires” (Goettmann, “Prayer of Jesus, Prayer of the Heart,” 120-121).

The Desert Fathers understood the word “passion” to mean all the egocentric desires through which the demon seeks to capture human beings. These we must know along with their most subtle workings within us if we are to fully engage in the spiritual battle that confronts us. Such knowledge and the hard won skill of recognizing evil in order to avoid it is so valuable that St. Isaac the Syrian stated: “He who sees his sin is greater than he who resurrects the dead.” It is through this interior work that the passions are not destroyed but have their energy redirected and reordered toward God - to eternal Life.

The Goettmann’s aptly describe this purification of the passions as a kind of “‘homemade psychoanalysis,’ a therapy which attacks the roots of the illnesses of our being, not only to heal us on a human level, but to heal us for our union with God” (Ibid., 122). Faith is the point of departure for the Desert Fathers from modern psychology; the goal is to share in the life and intimacy of the Holy Trinity and the Fathers see the full flowering of the personality not simply as a function of human needs and potentials.

This is exactly the approach to and understanding of the writings of the Fathers of the Philokalia presented by Hierotheos Vlachos in his masterful work “Orthodox Psychotherapy: the Science of the Fathers.” He presents us with much different understanding of the word "Psychotherapy" than we often have in mind.

Psyche, Vlachos reminds us, comes from the Greek and means "soul". In the Hebrew and Christian tradition the soul is the essence of one's existence. It represents the whole living being of an individual person. The soul in this sense is manifested through the body, the mind and other facets of the one's being. When we speak of "Psychotherapy" then we mean the healing of one's soul.

There are great differences then between modern psychotherapy and Christian psychotherapy. Contemporary psychotherapy focuses more on the mental and emotional dimensions of a person, thoughts, emotions and feelings; in particular by addressing the disorder and pathology that one may be experiencing in these dimensions. But most modern psychotherapy does not see itself as facilitating growth of person in their relationship with God; that is, in the realization and expression of divine truth. It hopes certainly to encourage more efficient living and functioning in the world. And yet, its values and intentions often reflect those that prevail in the culture at the given time. For example, modern psychotherapy often seeks to bolster one's capacity to gratify needs and desire and to achieve a sense of autonomous mastery over self and circumstance; that is, self-realization and self-fulfillment.

Christian Psychotherapy seeks liberation from disordered attachments and self-giving surrender to the power and will of God. The manner in which personal growth and healing take place depend not on self-mastery but upon the grace of God. The true healer, the Physician, is Jesus. The root of our illness, the disorder and lack of integration we experience, our sickness of soul, comes from sin. It is this we seek to remedy in and through our relationship with Jesus Christ (see “Orthodox Psychotherapy, pp 97-118).

It has been said that the Desert Fathers have provided us with a map of the soul:

“The passions and temptations which must inevitably beset any Christian were unearthed and described with almost scientific precision. Pride, vainglory, lust - each passion was isolated and catalogued. This ‘map’ of the Christian soul was then passed on from one generation of ascetics to another, each generation profiting from the discoveries of the previous ones. Not only were the passions and temptations which afflict the soul unearthed, however, but a ‘system’ was developed to combat them. This system was later to become know as ‘hesychasm’ or ‘prayer of the heart’” (Coniaris, “Philokalia: Bible of Orthodox Spirituality”, 148-149).

In future posts, we will consider how the Fathers of the Philokalia came to categorize the principle vices that give rise to these passions, how they manifest themselves and how they are remedied. The Fathers had no illusions about human nature, its woundedness and through the insights born from their spiritual life we stand to gain a deeper understanding of the human person and the truth that peace of soul can be bought only at the price of a long struggle.

[nabeelisa]

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