Nous

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-six Part II

We picked up again this week with homily 66. Saint Isaac presents us with perhaps the most formative part of his book. While this might seem to be an overstatement, St.  Isaac speaks with such clarity about the key aspect of the eastern Fathers’ understanding of the human person - the nous - the organ of spiritual perception. St.  Isaac lays out with striking clarity not only the nature of the nous but how it is to be formed and purified. Only through the ascetical life and the ordering of the appetites and the passions toward God is the nous, the eye of the heart, purified in such a way that it allows for true discernment.  Aided by grace, our capacity to perceive the truth the God increases as well as our capacity to embrace it. Isaac is very quick to warn us that this spiritual perception involves the whole person. It is not simply a philosophical or intellectual perception of truth, a mental vision. It is asceticism aided by grace that allows us to contemplate the truth and so develop a greater awareness of God. This awareness of God gives birth then to love and love is strengthened and emboldened by prayer. 

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-five Part IV and Homily Sixty-six Part I

Tonight we concluded Homily 65. Isaac closes his discussion on the value of silence and the work that surrounds it and allows it to develop and bear fruit.   Chief among these is fasting and stillness. External stillness fosters internal stillness and fasting humbles the mind and body and order that prayer may deepen and the mind and the heart become more open to God. The group spoke great deal about fostering a culture that supports the renewal of fasting. Saint Isaac closes the homily by holding up the joy that comes to the individual by living in this holy silence. It is the joy the kingdom itself and that comes through seeing and participating in the mysteries of God.
 
Homily 66 is Isaac‘s attempt to open up for us an understanding of eastern anthropology and how it shapes the spiritual tradition. Chief among the things that he speaks about is the nous, or the eye of the heart and how it must be purified through asceticism. The passions must be overcome in order that the dullness of the vision of the nous, which is the faculty of spiritual perception, might be overcome. There is no discernment outside of purity of heart. True theology can only be done by one who is experiential knowledge of God and has spent years in prayer, stillness and ascetical practice.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Forty-three

Tonight we were able to read homily 43 in its entirety. St. Isaac describes the various modes of discipline in the spiritual life - the purification of the body and senses, the purification of the soul (which is freedom from secret passions) and finally the purification of the mind or the nous which comes from God‘s revelation of himself to us and raising us up to Divine visions.  The third mode draws us into what he describes as hypostatic Theoria, where an individual begins to experience the limpid purity of his primordial nature as one created for God and union with God. In this experience one becomes awestruck with wonder at God; tasting what will be experienced in all of its fullness in existence after the resurrection.  Such a state carries with it no sorrow or attachment to the things of the world. If we only knew the depths of God’s blessings we would long to experience that intimate union with him now and always.   
 
We must remind ourselves that Christian mysticism is distinctive and unique.  It comes about not through altering the consciousness through asceticism or meditation but through God’s revelation of Himself and raising us up by His grace as a prelude to beholding Him with mediation unto the ages of ages.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Twenty-six and Homily Twenty-seven Part I

In homilies 26 and 27 we find ourselves walking along a very difficult path to traverse. St. Isaac begins to develop for us an outline of the order of creation; emphasizing in particular the order of Angels. While at times the language and ideas seem very confusing, St. Isaac’s purpose is eminently practical. He wishes to show us that we are not living the spiritual life in isolation. He is intent on showing us that “humans and angels ultimately constitute one hierarchy, that of rational created beings, in which humans have angels as guides and teachers. Indeed one of the most interesting remarks in Isaac‘s writings is that human nature cannot have inner growth or illumination without the guidance given by angels. Illumination does not come by itself and impersonally but through intercession. The main function of angels in relation to man consists of guidance, spiritual illumination and teaching in order to achieve inner growth.”  
 
We engage in our spiritual labors with great zeal understanding this support and pursue purity of heart in order that our vision of Angels and what they reveal grows ever clearer. Likewise we engage in Divine Liturgy, exercising our faith and humbling the body with great labor, in order that the will might not be driven by blind compulsion but by grace. Only in this way do we overcome the inconstancy and unevenness of a will enslaved to sin. 

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Twenty-five Part II

We picked up this evening about midway through Saint Isaac’s Homily 25. St. Isaac has been speaking about the beauty of the solitary way of life and the constant called to intimacy with God. In the sections considered this evening Isaac warns of the pitfalls solitaries often experience. As one is separated from the false self and the ego diminished one experiences the full vision of the poverty of their sin and the darkness it brings.  The self is left to walk in the darkness of faith to rely only on the mercy of God. The temptation is to shrink back from this intimacy and knowledge of God or to seek worldly and sensible consolations. Worse yet one might fall into despair having been stripped of all worldly consolations but not seeking rest in God. This is by far the most pitiable state of man.
Isaac presents this all as a prelude to calling us to live out our lives in Expectation of the promise of life and eternal love that come to us through Christ. To seek the Kingdom above all things and to desire the things of the Kingdom frees us from the net of despair and fosters an invincible form of long suffering. Come what may one lives in and through hope.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Twenty-three Part II

With the concluding section of Homily 23, we reach the apex of St. Isaac’s thought on what he describes as pure prayer and what is “beyond prayer”. Prayer always involves the movement toward God, seeking him out and desiring Him, offering up supplication and pleas for his mercy. Pure prayer takes places when the law of God is embraced and fulfilled and when no thought or distraction commingles within the soul completely directed toward God. 
 
Prayer always acts as the seed planted and what is beyond prayer, divine vision, is the harvesting of the sheaves. Theoria, knowledge, or noetic vision is an operation of the Spirit who guides the soul. Our senses and their operations become superfluous and the soul becomes like unto the Godhead by an incomprehensible union and is illumined by a ray of sublime Light. The understanding gazes in ecstasy at incomprehensible things that lie beyond this mortal world. This is the “unknowing” that has been called higher than knowledge; a walking in the darkness of faith where one comes to know God as He is in Himself. 
 
Discussion also ensued regarding the struggles of the Western mind to grasp the spiritual tradition of the Eastern Fathers; the moralizing and legalizing of the spiritual life and virtue versus deification. 

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Nineteen

How do we foster stillness and unceasing prayer in our lives?  St. Isaac counsels us in Homily 19 to always keep our eye - the eye of the heart - fixed on God. This means not only fostering a virtuous life but also avoiding that which would pull us away from this aim. We must seek to free ourselves from obsessive concerns with the things of the world and from falling lockstep into its frenetic pace. Don't multiply the occupations of your life for in this you may very well be pushing God away.  The spiritual life cannot be a part time occupation. It must be our life. God cannot be pushed to the margins nor can we neglect the grace he offers and its sweetness without quickly losing it.  Meaningless chatter and the noise of dissipated converse destroys stillness as frost destroys new buds on the tree. A divided heart obscures the vision of God and his love.  The ego and pride-driven self-interest draws us down into darkness. Only a humble and contrite heart is lifted up and exalted to share in the life of God. 
 
Have we lost a clear sense of our identity in Christ?  Has the faith been so obscured that we no longer invest ourselves in it but simply take what measure we desire? 

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Six Part II

St. Isaac presents us with the identity of the monk and his defining characteristics. Discussion ensued about interiorized monasticism and our embrace of the call to sanctity. Holiness, the control of the passions and unceasing prayer are meant not only for the monk but for all. 
 
Like the monk we are called to love chastity and to pursue it through nourishing ourselves upon the writings of the scriptures and the Fathers and through prolonged prayer. We must immerse ourselves deeply in the love and mercy of God in order that the deep wounds we bear may be healed. 
 
Our life is found not in the things of this world but in God. We are strangers to the city and citizens of the Kingdom. Our detachment must be such that we fear not the loss of our reputation but endure all dishonor quietly in order to defuse hatred and anger. 
 
Bearing such affliction purifies and solidifies the particular virtues within us as gold is purified in the fire. 

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Four Part III

In this section of the 4th Homily Isaac warns: "Do not take it upon yourself to teach others while still in ill health; rather consider yourself ignorant and always a novice - preferring humility, holiness and purity to all things. Guard against becoming mere vendors of words and arm yourself with the weapons of tears, fasting and the study of scripture and the Fathers.
 

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Four Part II

Last night’s reading from St. Isaac the Syrian’s 4th Homily was extraordinary.  As is so often the case, one is left with the feeling that there is no going back to a lesser vision of the faith and ascetic life.  He warns us not to sacrifice our freedom, the freedom of simplicity, by enslaving ourselves to the things of this world.  We must not live our lives to support luxury and ease and so make ourselves “slave of slaves”; that is, slaves to our passions and senses.  Humble living is to be met with restraint in speech and love of silence.  We are to constrict our thoughts and reduce distraction in order to seek contemplation above all things.  To stand before God with a pure heart to better than all things - even all acts of charity.  Care must be given not to gain the whole world and lose our souls in the process.  “It is more profitable for you to attend to raising up unto the activity of your cogitations concerning God the deadness of your soul due to the passions, than it is to resurrect the dead.”

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily One Part III

St. Isaac continues to lay the foundations for the discipline of virtue which include in particular the purification of the passions and the avoidance of distractions.  He emphasizes reading as an ascetical discipline - especially the reading of scripture.  Such reading helps free the mind and imagination from worldly things and the more one immerses himself in the wonder of God's love, the more the thoughts are prevented from running to the body's nature.  If the heart is not occupied with study, it cannot endure the continuous assault of thoughts.
Inconstancy of mind and heart is overcome through fear and shame - a recognition of our mortality and the repentance from sin that flows from it.  This is the foundation of one's spiritual journey and the quickest path to the kingdom.  
We must remember that not every person will be wakened to wonder by what is said in the scriptures and the great power it contains within it.  Faith more than reason must guide that study and illuminate that word and purity must clear one's vision. "A word concerning virtue has need of a heart unbusied with the earth and converse."
It becomes clear that simplicity of life and clarity of purpose and desire are necessary for those seeking the kingdom.  Our faith cannot be an auxiliary construction or something to which we lesser energies.  Nor can we compartmentalize our faith.  The path to holiness must be tread with firm purpose and with the full self invested.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily One Part II

St. Isaac begins by encouraging us to become drunk with faith in God; to be so immersed in our relationship with Him that we are constantly under the influence of His grace.  Only in this way will the malady of the senses and the passions that arise out of them be healed.  It is this understanding of Christian Asceticism that must be regained.  Instead of seeking distraction and entertainment in our lives, we must seek solitude and silence; to purify the heart in order to be drawn into the Mystery and Wonder of God. 
When God's grace is abundant within us we easily scorn the fear of death and are willing to endure the greatest tribulations.  In fact, Isaac tells us, such trials are necessary for the perfecting of faith and lead us to rely more and more upon the providence of God.  Without this trust, a person is continually waylaid by his fears of the world around him and the unknown.  
Fear of God, the offspring of faith, and obedience to the commandments is the only means to avoiding distractions.  As human beings we are constantly in a state of receptivity through our senses and unless we turn away from the senses we will gradually be driven away from our delight in God.  A conscious choice must be made to simplify our lives in order to provide them with the solitude that is need for prayer and study.  Without such intent we will be driven back to the inveterate habits of licentiousness.

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Twenty Three On Sinlessness Part VI

We continued to follow Abba Theonas' discussion with Germanus and Cassian on Theoria and the obstacles to lasting contemplation.  Theonas drives home the experience of wretchedness of the holy individual who is pulled away from contemplation of God by distraction and the weakness of the fleshly mind.  We "Fall" from contemplation and if we had a true sense of the loss that that is to us we too would experience deep compunction.  Yet, it is the action of constantly turning back to God that brings the holy soul the immediate outpouring of God's grace.  The anguished longing and desire of the soul is met by the immediate desire of God for renewed union.  
The group sought to understand this through the place where we all experience the deepest intimacy with God - the Mass.  In a world that fosters distraction and celebrates noise, it is easy for us to lose a kind of "custody of the eyes" - or custody of the Nous (the eye of the heart) that keeps us focused on the gift of love that is being offered to us and the sacrifice through which it has been made possible.  Only one who has tasted the sweetness of God's loves can understand the "Wretchedness" that St. Paul speaks of and the desire to be delivered from this body of death.  The deeper the love, the greater the pain at losing sight of the Beloved!

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Thirteen On God’s Protection, Part I

Last night the group took up Cassian's Thirteenth Conference "On God's Protection" which discusses the essential interplay between Grace and Free will.  Part of our close reading of the text allows for a "redeeming" of Cassian's understanding of this delicate subject from what has been, I believe, gross misrepresentation of this thought.  When read in light of and in the context of the Eastern Christian spiritual tradition and its understanding of SYNERGY, Cassian's Conference is revealed as being the most refined and beautiful explication of difficult subject matter, based upon the lived experience of the ascetical life.  It also highlights the importance of the Eastern view of theology as an experiential knowledge of God rooted in purity of heart and the life of prayer and not simply being a rationalistic approach to the mysteries of the faith.

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Seven on the Changeableness of the Soul and on Evil Spirits

Cassian and Germanus seek out the guidance of the elder Serenus, whose name captures his character.  Serenus had attained great purity of heart, peace, and freedom from the carnal desires of the flesh.  Cassian and Germanus come to him in a state of despair; for although having labored for years they found their thoughts wandering and pulling them back to the things of the world and the passions.  In their desolation they had begun to give up any hope of attaining such virtue and complain to Serenus that it is their nature that has prevented stability of mind and heart.  Serenus in both his teaching and example is becomes the cypher though which we are meant to come to understand both the path to and nature of purity of heart.  It is desire and thirst for God alone that can bring us to this freedom.  Faith, Hope and Love are the weapons we use to engage in the battle (the theological virtues that have God as their end) and the depths of the heart is purified by the sharp sword of the Spirit.  Once again the discussion was thoughtful and enriching and Cassian’s insights immeasurably valuable.

Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Six on the Slaughter of Some Holy Men Part IV

We continue to make our way through Cassian's analysis of the spiritual life and its trials.  As we approach the end of the Sixth Conference, Cassian makes it clear that there is no unchanging state in the spiritual life.  We are either seeking God and growing in virtue (driven by desire) or we are being drawn deeper into the life of sin.  Love of God, desire for the Beloved, must draw us on through the life of grace.  With an intensity of mind, we must pursue what lies ahead and not let ourselves be molded and shaped by the things of the world.  We must be held by God and shaped in accord with His wisdom and will.

Ladder of Divine Ascent - Step 27 On Stillness

 Stillness may be equated to peace of soul; the absence of spiritual warfare and the presence of calm. We beginners in the spiritual life cannot imagine what it would be like to be totally unaffected by the disquietude of the world; it is beyond our ability to comprehend never being tempted to speak in haste and never experiencing the movements of anger in our hearts. The beginner must be content with experiencing moments of this peace. He must strive to win this peace, by overcoming all the passions which seek to overthrow it.   It is only when we begin to center our thoughts on the spiritual world within by pushing far from us the noise of the external world that we notice how little peace is found there. The first notice of this peacelessness is often enough to drive many back to the diversions of the world. For some, the existential pain of their passionate soul is too great to bear and they choose to run away rather than stay and face it. For those who choose to stay, the experience of the true state of their souls is a necessary lesson. We first learn the presence of our soul by its pain rather than its peace. As we continue in our spiritual lives, it is this pain which will always direct us back to the concerns of the soul when we begin to stray. As we set a priority on peace, we will begin to notice more and more the things in our lives that rob us of peace. We will begin to find the noise of this world to be a hindrance rather than a help. We will notice how much of our time is spent following distractions. We will begin to change our lifestyle on the basis of what produces peace in our souls. We will inevitably be led to a love of quiet and solitude. However, an important thing to note is that this is a gradual process. St. John is very quick to point out the dangers of embracing too much "stillness" before we are spiritually ready: "The man who is foul-tempered and conceited, hypocritical and a nurse of grievances, ought never to enter the life of solitude, for fear that he should gain nothing but the loss of his sanity." Above all, then, we must remember that the path to internal peace is not an easy one. Therefore, we must set ourselves for a long struggle. We will not achieve the state of constant peace in a day. Perhaps it is enough for us today not to have allowed anger to enter our soul; perhaps it is enough for us to have refrained from that idle word which stirs up passion; perhaps it is enough for us to have refrained from viewing those things which would have aroused our sexual passions. Each day we add virtue to virtue. Each day we embrace the struggle. Each day we repent of our failures. Each day we continue the struggle. In this way, although we may never be completely successful, we will never stop trying. And God who grants the prize, will consider our struggles to be victory and will grant us His peace for eternity.

Philokalic Spirituality in a Post-Modern Culture

A study on the anthropology of Saint Gregory Palamas.
The theology of the person, as this is revealed in the hesychast ascetic tradition, is the most significant counter-argument to post-modern individualism and relativism. The ascetics of introversion and of conscious tranquility (hesychia) is not a psychological proposition but the authentic and only way of transforming the “repulsive mask” into a person.

Nous Part Ten - Theoretic Nous and Deified Nous

Theosis and Deification - "Mind that sees God"; cannot reached blessed state unless passing through practical stage of asceticism and purification; fixed and faultless movement between nous of man and Nous of God; joy that comes through theosis; seeing God's virtues in self.

Nous Part Nine - Nous in Temptation and Battle

Stages of Temptation; Inventiveness of the Demons and their strategies; Examining one's falls, their causes and committing them to memory; knowing one's weak spots; Ignorance and Captivity; Cures; Spiritual work and the beauty achieved through humility, silence and prayer.

Nous Part Eight - Prayer, Asceticism, Dispassion

Prayer; Body and its place in purifying the nous through asceticism; necessity of asceticism; impassioned nous and dispassionate nous; contemporary questions about connection between liturgy, worship and the ascetical life; group questions about disciplining the body as a means of purifying the nous and rigor and consistency needed in such discipline.

Nous Part Seven - Prayer That Transcends the Passions and Conceptual Thoughts

Prayer and the Apophatic tradition; imageless and without conceptual thoughts or the use of imagination; perceived and real differences from Western Spirituality; purification of the Nous essential for salvation; signs of such true prayer; virtue alone does not lead to God; how prayer binds us to God

Nous Part Six - Prayer and the Cultivation of the Soul, Fathers Understand of Demons

Prayer and the Purification of the Nous; Critique of Centering Prayer; The Fathers Understanding of Demons; Demons in the Desert; Snares of the Demons; Struggling Against the Demons, Indirect Warfare, Asceticism and Modernity

Nous Part Five - Memories, Imagination, Prayer

Cultural Collapse and Schizoid nature of modern society; purification of memories and imagination; Remembrance of Death and Perception of Religious and Spiritual Reality; Prayer as essential to identity as human beings and our life

Nous Part Three - Purifying the Nous and Asceticism in Modern Culture

Importance of Holy Spirit in teaching Nous how to heal the soul; Holy Desire necessary for pursuing purity of Nous, Striving for perfection; Asceticism and Modern Culture; How to communicate the value of asceticism.

Nous Part Two - Vigilant Gate Keeper

Nature of Struggle with attacks on Nous; Obedience and Remembrance of God; Hating Sin; Unceasing Prayer; Watchfulness and Prayer Linked together; Beginnings of Watchfulness - Temperance in Food and Drink, the Rejection of Different Thoughts, Peace of Heart; Purifying Fire of Holy Communion; Revealing of False Self

The Nous - Part One

Definition of the Nous; Man as Triune Image of God - nous, word, spirit; Three powers of the soul; Creative factor of every aspect of civilization; difference in object from other methods of meditation; Fall of Nous of Man before and after Christ; Nous as vigilant gate keep of soul